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By James A. Barr

Prospecting methods used in Tennessee have gradually improved with the years, as required by depletion of the easily accessible and shallow deposits and the universal trend toward mechanization, and as necessitated by exploring deeper beds, often occurring under limestone and flinty overburden. In the early days it was a very simple matter to dig pits by hand, using a plentiful supply of local farm labor to expose relatively shallow deposits of "brown rock" under shallow clayey overburden that would stand up without timbering. Visual inspection of the exposed phosphate and expert judgment of the "grade" analysis, aided by a "biting" test to reveal presence of unwanted silica, furnished most of the information required. All this might be helped by a few samples sent to the local chemist† who supplemented his income by judicious trading or tanning a few bear skins. The extra curricula activities did not affect the accuracy of the analysis which hold up even under present day standards. Some shot and core drilling was done in Hickman County, mostly for the limestone-like blue Phosphate deposits. The next step was the use of a 4-in. posthole auger, hand operated as described by Guenther, followed by a completely mechanized rig, as described by Pickard. Both these methods are practically adapted to the prospecting of the relatively soft brown rock deposits at moderate depths of clay overburden. For prospecting in areas of deeper overburden, such as are often found in Hickman County, up to 150 or even 200-ft depths, a modified core-drilling method is described by Guenther. Johnston describes a special diamond-drilling technique, developed by TVA, to penetrate flint horizons, which was adopted by the International Minerals in chemical corporation to prospect in Hickman County where deposits had previously been prospected at considerable expense and with difficulty, by small, temporary, hand-dug shafts.

Jan 1, 1948

By T. Olrog

Dissemination of technical data on developments in rock-blasting techniques in Sweden initially takes place as personal contacts and contacts between companies. In addition to these informal contacts, contacts occur in Sweden in a somewhat more organized form. There exists an informal working group--the Rock Blasting Committee--which consists of a number of personal representatives from various companies that perform rock blasting on a large scale and from firms manufacturing the equipment that is used. This means that people from both mining and construction companies get together, plus the manufacturers of explosives, drill steel, drilling machines, and loading equipment. This working group has, so far, succeeded very well in ignoring the purely commercial interests of the companies concerned. Cooperation in this form was started in the 1940's when the tungsten-carbide drill steel was invented-the group originally concentrated entirely on the development of that product. Their activities have been broadened since that time and now a meeting is held every year, at which practical experiences are reported. Only in the past five years have subjects relating to blasting procedures to avoid rock damage been treated at such meetings. This, of course, does not mean that such techniques had been neglected previously. It does, however, reflect the fact that practice in this field is still under development. Why do we try to be careful about the rock surfaces? Obviously, it is a question of economic evaluation. An even rock surface provides, in certain cases, the conditions for more favorable maintainance costs later on, greater strength, and a diminished risk of slides. The economic connections in this field, however, are neither simple or clear. A well-controlled blasted rock surface limits the need for concrete when you later build the concrete constructions. In this respect, the connections are all the more clear. In certain situations, such as tunnels for hydroeletric power plants, a good rock surface that is not lined is hydraulically more favorable than a more coarsely blasted surface. This permits a gain in the height of fall, but the

Jan 1, 1970

By Robert A. Cook

Among the new devices for cheapening the cost of material entering into the manufacture of iron is the mechanical drawing of coke, by which the coke from bee-hive ovens is extracted with a minimum of manual labor. About twenty years ago, an ordinary plate-conveyer was put in use at the plant of bee-hive coke-ovens owned by the firm of Bell Bros. & Co., near Middlesboro, England. This conveyer ran close along the front of the ovens, and carried the coke to the cars. The ovens were drawn by hand, and a very great saving in cost was secured, as one man could draw and clean out twice as many ovens after the conveyer was put in use—he having no forking to do, and the coke being carried away as fast as it was drawn to the mouth of the oven. The next step was further to eliminate hand-labor as far as possible; and Mr. Thomas Smith of the Thorncliffe Iron Works, near Sheffield, patented in 1891 the machine for drawing coke which I here describe. This machine, the outcome of several years of experimenting, has now been in successful use since 1891, and there are between twenty and thirty of them in operation at present, and others building. The machine, as may be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, consists of a wedge-shaped shovel of proper width and thickness, connected with a steel rack of sufficient length to reach the back of the oven. The rack is supported by rolls, and guided by a device operated by a hand-wheel, which directs the shovel in the oven. The rack is driven by a pinion on a vertical shaft carrying a bevel-gear on the upper end. This bevel-gear is driven by another on the engine-shaft. The engine is single-cylinder, with reversible gear; and engine and machine are mounted on a truck, which is propelled

Jan 1, 1897

By Thomas Watson

Introduction THE occurrence of zircon in pegmatites of acidic composition is recorded by many observers both in this country and abroad, and they form one of the most important geologic modes of occurrence of the mineral.' As is well known, commercially the most important American locality for zircon is near Zirconia in Henderson County, North Carolina, where many tons of the mineral have been obtained from a kaolinized pegmatite dike 100 ft. wide and traced for 1 ½ miles along the direction of strike N. 50° E. Zircon may be developed in pegmatites as inclusions in the principal rock-forming minerals, chiefly quartz and feldspar, and as a separate megascopic constituent in the form of grains and crystals not exceeding, as a rule, 2 in. in size, and usually smaller. In the Henderson County, North Carolina, pegmatite, zircon occurs in prismatic crystals with pyramidal terminations measuring up to 30 mm. in diameter, associated chiefly with the feldspar. In some of the apatite veins of Canada, which are closely allied to pegmatite dikes, zircon is reported in crystals upward of 6 in. in length and 2 in. 'and more in thickness. Zircon in large masses occurs in Virginia in the well-known pegmatites near Amelia in Amelia County, and near Gouldin in Hanover County. Both localities are in the middle eastern portion of the Piedmont Plateau province, and are separated by a distance of about 40 miles in a northeast-southwest direction. The rocks of both areas, including the pegmatite bodies, are in an advanced stage of decay, and, the hard and moderately fresh rocks are concealed beneath a cover of variable thickness of rock decay derived by the normal processes of weathering. Exposures, there-

Jan 7, 1916

By AIME AIME

The Bulletin. The Bulletin of the Institute will be issued hereafter monthly instead of bi-monthly as heretofore. Among other reasons for this change, it is desired to effect thereby the earlier transmission to members of important papers, lists of candidates tin? membership, and other items of timely information. The New Haven Meeting. As already announced in special circular, the XCVIth meeting of the institute for the reading and discussion of papers will be held at New Haven, Conn., beginning Feb. 23, 1909. The Secretary of the Local Committee is Prof. J. D. Irving, Box D, Yale Station, New Haven. The program embraces visits to many interesting works in New Haven, Ansonia, Bridgeport, etc. The leading topics for discussion at the sessions will lie: The Conservation of Natural Resources; A Sea-Level Canal at Panama; and The Technical Education of Mining Engineers. But papers on other subjects also are announced. Lt is probable that a supplementary session of this meeting, will be held in New York City, at some time during March, 1909, as a joint session with other national engineering societies, for the farther discussion of the subject of The Conservation of Natural Resources. A Pacific Coast Meeting. It is now reasonably certain that the XCVIIth meeting will be held oil the Pacific Coast, including a. visit to the Exposition at Seattle, and various other points en. route going or coming, depending upon the route and program finally adopted. (lore definite information will be announced at the New Haven Meeting, or at the earliest possible date thereafter.

Jan 1, 1909

By Edwin S. Smith

Current research in the phenomenon of liquefaction has indicated some of the in situ material properties which should be considered in the planning of waste deposits. Practical experience in tailings disposal, however, must be combined with the results of theoretical and laboratory studies to develop the most economical and safe techniques against liquefaction failure. One of the many responsibilities of mining engineers and mill superintendents is providing for the safe and economic disposal of wastes (or tailings) that remain after a mineral has been extracted from an ore. The cost of disposal of these tailings exerts a considerable influence on the minimum grade of ore extracted from the mine. It varies to a great extent with each project and is dependent on many diverse factors, such as the local topographical, meteorological and seismological conditions together with the applicable water pollution laws of the area. The process used to extract a mineral from an ore determines the physical characteristics of the tailings and, thus, is one of the more important factors to be considered in the planning of disposal facilities. Today's trends in ore-processing operations complicate the problems of waste disposal: recently developed extraction methods result in the production of finer tailings, the use of lower grade ores produces greater volumes of wastes, and the enhanced land values in the vicinity of industrial plants preclude the former practice of spreading wastes laterally and force the expansion of waste deposits upwards to greater heights. The frequent occurrence of stability problems in waste deposits indicates that many mining organizations may not be employing current soil mechanics concepts and practices. One of the most spectacular, and often most disastrous, types of tailings dike failure is that resulting from liquefaction of the fine particles combined with a breach of the main retaining dike. TAILINGS DISPOSAL Since the many variations in site conditions, ore bodies and extraction processes dictate the general disposal procedures and mill superintendents incorporate special facilities to provide the most economical disposal method consistent with accepted safety standards, it is only natural that there are almost as many different disposal techniques as there are disposal areas. Methods used in the construction of retaining dikes include: (1) transporting granular material from an adjacent borrow pit and (2) mechanically segregating the total effluent and allowing the coarse fraction to form a retaining dike by hydraulic deposition. The location of a plant and the surrounding topography exert the greatest influence on the layout of tailings disposal facilities. Most of the above-ground waste deposits can be classified as side-hill, (Fig. 1,) cross-valley, (Fig. 2,) or stockpile deposits. Side-hill disposal areas are probably the most common type of layout because of the natural advantage of gravity flow, without the disadvantage of river diversion usually needed for tailings ponds formed behind cross-valley dikes. Stockpiles, which are placed on relatively level ground, require four retaining dikes and the effluent generally has to be pumped up into the disposal area. Changing production techniques or developments adjacent to disposal areas have produced variations or partial combinations of these three categories. In a series of articles, Lenhart describes many of the problems encountered in the disposal of tailings and certain innovations used to overcome them. He discusses weaknesses in design and layout and shows that disposal techniques are often learned the

Jan 1, 1970

By R. C. FLEMING

G OLD MINING is enjoying a real revival in the West, and a considerable portion of the production is coming from small properties. The large mining companies of the world get most of the publicity, but in the last year the small gold property has often proved a more attractive field for the mining engineer looking for something to do. Old mines have been re- opened, prospects have been more closely examined, and many properties that were out of the running with the high commodity and labor costs of two or three years ago, have recently been making money for their operators. An interesting phase of this activity is the operation of so-called one-man mines. The west is dotted with these small properties, without the resources or reserves to warrant large-scale operation, but which return a living and often something over to one or two men who under- stand mining and simple methods of treatment.

Jan 1, 1932

By James H. Boettcher

INTRODUCTION A complex interaction of worldwide economic and political forces is increasingly requiring 3 primary participants for the successful development of large natural resource projects in developing countries. They are the host government of the developing country (the "host government"), one or a consortium of international natural resource companies, (the "Resource Company") and one, or more likely, a syndicate of international lenders. The host government typically controls the rights to its country's natural resources and establishes the economic ground rules for their development. However, because of worldwide inflation and the depletion of easily accessible, high-grade resources, the nominal and real capital development and operating costs of projects have been spiraling. Moreover, the depletion of high-grade and mineralogically uncomplicated resources also raises the technical and operating risks associated with resource recovery. Thus, despite increasing political self-consciousness and economic nationalism in developing countries, international resource companies are still often necessary project sponsors since they can provide, among other things, the required technical and management expertise and equity capital. The presence of these factors, and often the addition of worldwide market access in a project, is often critical in determining whether or not the project will be considered creditworthy by international commercial lenders. The international commercial lender is often the critical third party in project development, due in a large part to the ever escalating-costs of project developments relative to the financial resources of many companies and even a growing number of countries. In addition, lenders have other reasons for taking more than a passive interest in all aspects of a project's development. These reasons include the following: 1. Projects are often financially structured such that the primary security for a loan, once completion and performance standards are met, is the cashflow of the project rather than recourse to its sponsors. 2. Lenders, in addition to the "project risk" just described, are frequently asked to assume various elements of "political" risk which nay put them in a sensitive economic position between the host government and international resource firms (This is discussed later). 3. International banks today have large loan portfolios of developing country debt with final maturities ranging from one to fifteen years. The various current projects undertaken are the building blocks of most developing country economies that will hopefully contribute to the long run economic development of a country as well as generate the foreign exchange necessary to repay foreign loans in the future. In this regard it is useful for lenders to realize whether a given project "makes sense" in terms of a country's natural resource endowments and competitive advantages over other countries. The type of framework discussed in this article would help lenders to better make such assessments. In order to facilitate the continued international flow of capital and technology to developing countries and of readily available supplies of raw materials from them, it is important for each of these three parties to increase its awareness of the goals and objectives of the other parties as well as the bargaining process that results in the legal, financial, credit and fiscal structures by which a joint venture project ultimately proceeds. Each of the parties faces increasingly complicated accept/reject decisions when they are faced with difficult choices among. a wide range of alternative structural combinations each of which has different implications for risk and reward to them. Therefore, by increasing the mutual, 3-way awareness of the decision processes of the other parties, it should be possible to: • provide better information and results in the formation of more rational expectations by all parties going into negotiations, • facilitate the project formulation process by allowing parties to focus more clearly on the areas of common interest and conflict, • result more frequently in final structures and agreements that better reflect the economic and political realities associated with a project and thus • result in more creative, innovative agreements that should reduce the need for changes to them and thus promote the kind of long run political stability conducive to attracting capital and further investment.

Jan 1, 1982

By H. B. Charmbury, D. R. Mitchell

Everyone in the coal industry from top management to the preparation engineer is vitally interterested in recovering as much salable coal as possible from the run-of-mine product. Coal losses from a preparation plant occur in the solid refuse material being discharged from the plant and in the bleed-off slurry from the water circuit. The refuse is generally hauled from the plant in solid form by trucks, conveyors, or aerial trams to the refuse or culm banks or it may be crushed and transported by hydraulic methods to refuse ponds or dams. The loss of coal in refuse material and the extent of this problem has been covered in another paver.' The loss of salable coal in the plant bleed-off slurry is one of the water circuit problems in coal preparation plants. Slurries originate at various places in the processing circuits and are usually disposed of by transportation to waste ponds known as slurry ponds. Even though the combustible material discharged as slurry and refuse from the plant is labeled a loss, the loss must only be considered temporary. There is a tendency at the present time to examine refuse and slurry losses and to reprocess these materials to recover valuable coal. Slurries from eight bituminous coal preparation plants in central and western Pennsylvania have been sampled and examined to determine the amount of recoverable coal in each. Examinations of the samples were made to determine the tons per hour of solids and the gallons per minute of water in the slurry; the size, ash, and sulfur analyses of the solids; and the sink-float characteristics of the larger solids. The extreme fines (—325 mesh material) from one of the samples has been examined further to determine the micron size fractions as well as the ash and sulfur content of the micron sizes. Collection of the Samples: Field trips were made to each of the plants where samples were obtained and discussions held with the preparation engineer prior to sampling. The flowsheet of the plant operation was studied and a time-period selected to obtain a representative sample. At least 20 1-gal samples of total plant bleed-off suspensions were collected at each plant in increments over designated periods belived to be typical of the plant flow Three of the samples were obtained from plants in the Pittsburgh area. Each plant supplied information on the capacity, operating time, type of cleaning equipment used, water and material balances, and auxiliary equipment. From the time required to collect given amounts of slurry and from the amount of solids in the slurry, total solids discharges from the plant were calculated and compared with the plant flow. Ash and sulfur analyses of the total solids were also checked, at some plants, with company figures. In all cases where checks could be made there was reasonable agreement between company figures and those reported here. Analysis of the Slurries: Representative fractions of properly agitated samples were examined in the laboratory to determine the specific gravities of the slurries. The solids and water were separated by filtration to check the weight of each so that the percent of solids in the pulp could be determined. From the resulting data, presented in Table I, it may be seen that the percent solids in the slurries ranges from 2.8 to 39.0 and the amount of solids from 2.61 to 45.61 tph. Size Analysis of Solids: Representative fractions of the slurries were permitted to settle and the clear water was removed by siphoning. The solids were then wet-screened at 28, 35, 48, 65, 100, 150, 200 and 325 mesh. Results of the size analyses are presented in Table 11. These results indicate the extreme variation of sizes and in most cases the degree of fineness of the solids. The amount of —325 mesh ranges from 22.5 to 84.5 pct and the amount of+200 mesh from 8.3 to 69.1 pct.

Jan 1, 1961

By C. R. Claus, G. A. Standish

Since March. 1945, the Magnolia Petroleum CO. has drilled 39 wells in Southwest Coastal Louisiana. All wells were drilled within a comparatively small radius, but the area provides a large variety of problems. The deepest well drilled was 13,518 ft, and the total depth averaged 10,977 ft. Throughout this period drilling mud control and types of mud handled were: (I) phosphate, (2) red lime (late conversion), (3) red lime starch (early conversion), (4) red lime starch oil emulsion, (5) precision controlled low alkalinity-low lime content. and (6) gel muds for completion purposes. Improvement has been obtained in effecting some or all of the following: (I) more rapid penetration, (2) reduction in drilling hazards, (3) better evaluation of cores and logs, and (4) better completions. The geological sequence of zones penetrated range from recent sediments at the grass roots through the Frio section. Anticipation of high-pressure zones and incompetent formations entails precision control of drilling mud weights, and the unconsolidated nature of the various zones requires constant attention to the filtrate, viscosity, and gel strength values. In the Chalkley field, particularly, this combination of problems exists, where the formation pressures and overburden weight density values are in very close proximity. Design of casing and drilling mud programs must be modified to fit each well. INTRODUCTION Field and research work on drilling fluids has made constant progress, enabling operators to prospect progressively deeper horizons. Numerous papers have been written on the theoretical aspects of drilling fluid devel- opment, but in the field engineers have found it difficult to evaluate the role of specific mud constitutents when dealing in terms of thousand barrel mud systems. For that reason field data is somewhat lagging in technical report writing. However, applications of new techniques in the field have usually paralleled, and in numerous instances preceded, research work. The information obtained by Magnolia Petroleum Co. in the course of drilling 39 wells within a comparatively small area in Southwest Coastal Louisiana provides an excellent opportunity of reviewing a specific example of drilling mud evolution. A large variety of problems has been coped with, the most important result being that every well was successfully drilled to its projected total depth. The discussion begins with the advent of deep drilling in this area in March, 1945, and is concluded with a resume of recent drilling operations in the Chalkley field. The primary purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution in types of drilling fluids as it occurred and its application in the solution of various drilling problems. All of this information and experience resulted in the successful drilling of the three wells in the Chalkley field, where a combination of the most sound techniques was necessary in carrying drilling operations to the projected total depths. Other operators along with service company engineers have contributed considerably through the interchange of ideas and information to this paper, but the data and conclusions which are contained are based on first-hand observation of Magnolia Petroleum Company's drilling operations. The 39 wells drilled by Magnolia Petroleum Co. average in depth 10,977 ft per well, while the maximum depth penetrated was 13,518 ft. The cost of drilling fluids have varied from $8,700 to $165,000, with the over-all drilling costs ranging from $74,000 to $543,000 per well. This wide variance illustrates the unpredictable nature of each well and the effects on over-all cost when high density muds are required to control

Jan 1, 1955

By J. W. Mills

In 1956 the discovery of nickel on Jumbo Mountain, Snohomish County, Washington, focused attention on this part of the Cascade Range, far more renowned for its timber than for its mineral resources. Hand specimens assaying as high as 13 pct Ni encouraged Discovery Mines Inc. of Mount Vernon, Wash., to stake 12 claims in Township 31 North, Range 9 East of the Willamette Meridian. The property was leased to Climax Molybdenum Co. in January 1957. Trenching, sampling, and geologic studies were carried out during the late summer of 1957 when most of the snow had disappeared. Although the deposits are only about four miles south of the logging town of Darrington and about two miles. as the crow flies, southeast of the end of a good gravel road from that town, all camp supplies and equipment were air-dropped, owing to the extremely rugged nature of the terrain. GEOLOGY The rocks of Jumbo Mountain comprise a series of folded Tertiary sediments forming a belt one half to three quarters of a mile wide, trending northwest about parallel to the strike of the beds. This belt is sandwiched between two extensive in-trusives—gabbro on the northeast and quartz dio-rite on the southwest—and has been intruded by dikes of fresh and serpentinized dunite. Shear zones follow many of the dunite-sedimentary rock contacts, and in these the nickel mineralization is concentrated. A few transverse faults offset the sediments and ultrabasics. Sedimentary Rocks: Two kinds of quartzite make up the greater part of the sedimentary section. One is dark purplish gray, very fine-grained, and thin-bedded; the other is light gray to white, medium-grained, and well-bedded. Locally the light-colored quart lites contain grit and conglomerate horizons, rich in pebbles of white chert and very fine-grained quartzite. Intercalations of dark argillites near the summit of the mountain give many of the cliffs a striking banded appearance. Dark gray to black, aphanitic, thin-bedded argillites occur throughout the entire sedimentary belt. Beds vary from a few inches to a few tens of feet thick and some, near the summit, contain numerous fossile (willow?) leaves. Only the thicker beds were mapped. The sediments are quite fresh on the northeastern side of the belt and become more metamorphosed (hornfelsed) toward the southwestern side. Brown biotite is present in the metasediments in increasing amounts as the quartz diorite is approached. Near the intrusion, porphyroblasts of plagioclase, up to 1 in. across, testify to the soaking of sedimentary rocks by solutions emanating from the quartz diorite. Most of the sediments mapped lie along the southwestern limb of an anticline, the axis of which follows the crest of the mountain and plunges at a low angle to the northwest.

Jan 1, 1961

By R. A. Sharma, F. D. Richardson

Manganese oxide acitivities and sulfide capacities have been measured at 1650°C in mixtures of MnO + A1203 and MnO + SiO2 - Al2O3. Sulfide capacities have also been measured at 165O0C for melts of MnO + SiO2, MgO + SiO2, MgO + SiO2 + Al2O3, MgO + MnO + SiO2, and SiO2 + Al2O3 and for crystalline CaO. The activity coefficients of the sulfides of manganese and magnesium have been derived where possible. It looks as though the activity coefficients of sulfides are greatest at compositions where the free energies of formation of the silicate mixtures have their maximum negative values. The amphoteric nature of alumina is reflected in the results for the binaries and ternaries in which it is present with silica. The limiting solubility of CaS in CaO at 1650°C is 6.3 x 10-4 mole fraction. THE activities of manganese oxide have been measured in a variety of silicate and aluminate melts by use of the equilibrium (MnO)slag = [Mn]pt .½O2 [l] and the experimental techniques described previously.' Sulfide capacities (CS = wt pct S (PO2/PS2)½) have also been determined in a series of melts, by use of an established method2 which exploits the equilibrium (O°) + ½S2 = (S") . ½O2 [2] If CS and the activity of a metal oxide are known in a melt, the activity coefficient of the metal sulfide can be calculated by use of the equilibrium constant K, for the pure phase reaction MO i ½S2 = MS + ½O2 [3] The activity coefficient of the sulfide is then given by the equation

Jan 1, 1965

By William N. Poundstone

What attracts young engineering graduates into the coal industry? What do these young men expect of a career in coal mining? These questions are often asked and debated by mining men throughout the country. In order to present a comprehensive answer to them, an opinion survey was conducted at West Virginia University's School of Mines among the junior and senior classes and part of the sophomore class. The tabulation of the answers showed that the present-day mining engineering student is an older, more mature individual as compared with former years and as compared with other present-day college students. The average age of the country's record-breaking 150,000 college graduates is 24 years. Among this year's mining graduates at West Virginia University, 78% are of this age or older. Over half (54%) of those polled in the survey are married. This is com- pared to 30% as a national figure. Of those married, 38% have one child and over 6% have two children. The entire senior group covered by this survey has averaged almost three years in the armed forces. An article entitled "The Class of '49" in the June issue of Fortune magazine states that this year's class is the oldest, most mature class in history. Our survey indicates that the mining engineering students at West Virginia University are well above the average in this respect.

Jan 1, 1949

By R. S. Dean

JUST as the mineralogical name bauxite has come to include several minerals not known at the time the name was first applied, so the concept of bauxite as the one source of alumina must be enlarged during the war period to include the production of alumina from other, low-grade sources. Speaking in a narrow mineral logical sense, there is no such thing as bauxite, and similarly there is now no one source of alumina, and no one process for its extraction.

Jan 1, 1943

By M. Albertson

UNITED STATES petroleum pro-dU6tion during 1937 materially exceeded? that of any previous year. Firm control of the production rate was maintained under State and Federal laws and aided by the' Interstate Compact. During the first ten months," crude oil prices were stable, except for a slight increase early in the year. Toward the end of the year, uncertainty of price structure be-came evident and a sharp reduction in allowable production was under way. Exploration for new pools and development of .pools already discovered continued active throughout the year. Production control agencies in Texas, and to a less extent in New Mexico and Louisiana, appear to have had increasing difficulty in holding crude oil output to allowable limits. The situation elsewhere is less well known but probably the same condition exists in other important producing States whether control is by State commissions or by unofficial bodies.

Jan 1, 1938

By Walter Miller

NOW, after a year's continued impact of war, the task of the petroleum-refining industry stands out clearly and looms up in larger aspect. This time it is not, as it was so largely in the first World War, simply a matter of increased quantity- more and more of the same petroleum products that had substantially been standard for years. In this era the emphasis is largely on newer and improved materials which had been produced, if at all, in comparatively insignificant quantities, and for which manufacturing equipment was not available on a large scale. At the beginning of 1942 four great product needs (besides a number of lesser one-) confronted the industry: 100-octane aviation gasoline, toluene for T.N.T. production, high-quality lubricating oils for aviation and Army equipment service, and petroleum chemicals for synthetic rubber manufacture.

Jan 1, 1943

By Samuel H. Dolbear

NOT WITHSTANDING the extremely low ebb of business activity, the nonmetallic industries have fared somewhat better than some other branches of mining. The average price level in nonmetallics, although far from satisfactory, has resisted any cataclysmic fall such as has been suffered by copper and other metals. Stocks, also, though too abundant, represent no corresponding overhang of the market, which should result, in some branches, in a more rapid recovery. Research work has continued in some industries with interesting developments.

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

OVER-ALL operations of the oil industry, as measured by production of crude oil and consumption of products, are almost exactly of the same magnitude as a year ago. Does this mean that the great oil industry has been undisturbed by the war? Has this industry, so vital to the prosecution of the war and to the maintenance of our way of life, been unaffected in its operations? No indeed - changes within the industry are great. It has been called upon to revamp its trans¬portation methods so as to move about one fourth of the total amount of crude and refined products by railroad tank car instead of by ocean-going tankers. Its fundamental internal economy, based on maximum gasoline yield from a barrel of crude, has been relegated to memories of the past. Rationing of oil products, which has been forced upon us in face of an abundant supply, is not only disagreeable medicine but is in itself completely disruptive to the marketing end of the-business.-

Jan 1, 1942

By JOHN R. SUMAN

I WOULD like to spend a few minutes describing to you the present condition which exists in the oil industry and then point out some aspects of this deplorable situation in which I think petroleum engineers can be helpful. As you know, the oil business at this time is in a very critical condition, .due to the tremendous potential production in excess of current demand. This is a world-wide condition as well as a national problem, as it is estimated that the surplus production available for the market in foreign countries is of about the same proportion as that existing in the United States. Due to the inability within the United States to hold production within the bounds of demand prices have been slumping for the last four years and at this time have reached the point where the sales value of the average barrel of crude oil in the United States, is far below the cost, of production. In addition to the large amount of potential production available for the market in excess of demand we have in storage in the United States about six hundred fifty millions of barrels 'of oil. Unless something can be done to limit the amount of oil coming onto the market to a point well below the demand, which point will permit the reduction of stocks, it looks as though the 'oil business is facing demoralization.

Jan 1, 1931

By T. Price, H. A. Holl, A. P. Greenough, A

UdIN, Shaler, and ulff' first used wires for the determination of the surface energy of a solid metal. A gage length was marked by tying knots in the wires, which were then suspended in a cylinder of the same metal, heated in an inert atmosphere for the appropriate time, cooled to room temperature, and finally removed from the furnace so that the lengths of the wires could be measured. With iron wires, difficulties associated with deformation during the phase changeszp3 made it necessary to measure the gage lengths at the tem-

Jan 1, 1964