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By Alfred H. Bell, George V. Cohee

Illinois produced 146,788,000 bbl. of oil in 1940, or nearly 11.0 per cent of the total for the United States, and ranked fourth among the oil-producing states. Its production was only slightly less than that of Oklahoma, which produced 11.5 per cent of the national total. Illinois' production in 1940 represents an increase of 55 per cent over the previous year, when it amounted to 94,912,000 barrels. The development of the Devonian limestone in the Salem and Centralia fields is largely responsible for the increase in production during 1940 Production from the Devonian limestone in these two fields was estimated to be 36,698,000 bbl., or 25 per cent of the state's total production (Table I). The increase in production during June, when the state's daily average production attained a peak of 518,200 bbl. for the week ending June 29, was due to the Devonian production at Centralia (Fig. I). The initial production of the best Devonian wells in the Centralia field was as high as 12,000 bbl. in 24 hr. Daily average production in IIIinois for 1940 was 400,000 bbl. of oil, but actually daily production fluctuated widely during the year. At the beginning of 1940 daily production was approximately 330,000 bbl. During the first hali of the year it in-creased irregularly to the peak in June mentioned above and as the prolific Devonian producing areas were drilled up, the state's daily production declined rapidly during July and continued to decline, although more slowly, until the end of the year, when the daily production was approximately 325,000 bbl. The daily average production per well in the new fields at the end of the year was approximately 40 bbl. (Fig. I). Oil from the Devonian was also produced in the Bartelso field, Clinton County, the Sandoval field, Marion County, and the Irvington field, Washington County, bringing the estimated total production from the Devonian limestone to about 26 per cent of the state's total production, The remainder was obtained largely from the Mississippian system. About 2 per cent of the total was from Pennsylvanian and Ordovician strata. The decline in the Devonian limestone production has been so rapid that the 1941 output from this system will probably be only a small fraction of that of 1940 unless large new reserves are discovered. The "Trenton" (Ordovician) limestone has been tested in two wells in the Centralia field and both were small oil producers at a depth of about 4000 it. The "Trenton" also was found productive in the Salem field at a depth of 4500 ft. (Table 5). The initial production of the discovery well, which was completed shortly after the end of the year, was 130 bbl. on pump. Other wells drilled early in 1941 had initial productions averaging 172 barrels. The outlook for 1941 is for a continuation of drilling activity in Illinois, but at a declining rate (Fig. I, upper curve). The most active area at the end of 1940 was in the deep basin area in Wabash, Edwards, White, and Hamilton Counties.

Jan 1, 1941

By Hon. Tasker Oddie

DURING the closing days of the last Congress a resolution was passed, creating the Senate Com-mission of Gold and Silver Inquiry. The resolu-tion charges the Commission with the responsibility to investigate and report to the Congress on Jan. 1, 1924, upon the following subjects: 1. The causes of the continuing decrease in the production of gold and silver. 2. The causes of the depressed condition of the gold and silver industry in the United States. 3. The production, reduction, refining, transportation, mar-keting, sale, and uses of gold and silver in the United States and elsewhere. 4. The effect of the decreased production of gold and silver upon commerce, industry, exchange, and prices. The personnel of the Commission is as follows: Senators Pittman, Sterling, Goodling, Walsh and Oddie. At a meeting on May 8, H. N. Lawrie, a mining engi-neer and economist, was appointed as Assistant to the Commission. The present situation with respect to the gold and silver mining industries is well illustrated by the follow-ing data: The total world production of gold (in dollars) for 1915 was $468,724,918, and for 1921, $329,915,101; as shown by the reports of the U. S. Mint; and for the year 1922, $306,793,000, which is based oh a prelimi-nary estimate; this indicates a decrease of 34.5 per cent. between 1915 and 1922. The total world production of silver (in fine ounces) for 1915 was 178,850,000 oz.; for 1921, 175,268,234 oz., a decrease of 2 per cent.

Jan 6, 1923

By W. N. Logan

THE petroleum industry of Indiana made somewhat notable progress during the year 1923, considering the number of handicaps it encountered. The price of labor and materials continued to have an upward slant while the price of crude oil took a decidedly downward course. In spite of these adverse conditions, the quantity production will closely approximate that of 1922, when it passed the million-barrel mark. The progress of the industry in Indiana should be considered fairly satisfactory as long as the present production is maintained. In other words, if the loss of production from the waning old wells can be offset by the production from the new for a period of 10 or 15 years longer, the industry may have cause for congratulation. SUB-TRENTON INVESTIGATIONS In recent years a number of tests of strata lying below the Trenton limestone have been made in Indiana. Several of these tests were completed in 1923. Indications of oil were reported by drillers from several horizons below the Trenton. The most satisfactory of these came from the St. Peter sandstone lying immediately below the Trenton limestone, but no production has yet been obtained from any of the Sub-Trenton horizons. Glen Valley Wells.-Two wells in Marion County were drilled into the St. Peter sandstone, 1 mi. north of Glen Valley and 9 mi. south of Indianapolis. About 30 ft. of sand saturated with a dense asphaltic oil was found in the upper part of the St. Peter sandstone in one of the wells, which contained about 10 per cent. of the light oils, or more easily volatile constituents, and about 90 per cent. of a dark, dense, asphaltic residue. The oil resembled the residue of an asphaltic petroleum from which the more volatile oils had disappeared.

Jan 3, 1924

By Robert B. Schlosser

Anaconda's Jackpile uranium mine is a multi- million-ton open pit sandstone deposit, producing some 3000 tpd for the company mill. With minor exceptions, the orebody is in equilibrium, and the backbone of ore-grade control is the radiometric assay, which fortunately is dependable. Preparatory Sample Drilling: Before it is stripped, the orebody is diamond-drilled on 200-ft centers N-S and 100-ft centers E-W. Drill core is logged, split, and assayed radiometrically, and several samples are assayed chemically to check the equilibrium status. This information establishes the pit outline and the first rough estimate of ore. After stripping, diamond drill data is supplemented by rotary drillholes on 50-ft centers. Dry chip samples, collected every 2 ft, are prepared and assayed radiometrically at the mine. Details of the orebody are then available for study, and the basic mining plan is drawn up.

Jan 10, 1958

By Craig R. Barrett, Alan J. Ardell, Oleg D. Sherby

It is shown that the apparent activation energy for creep of pure poly crystalline metals increases with increasing temperature in the temperature range 0.5 to 1.0 of the absolute melting temperature. This increase is probably associated with the influence 0-f the elastic modulus on the creep rate. By accounting for the variation of Young&apos;s nodulus with temperature, the true activation energies for creep of pure cadmium and aluminuvl are shown to be equal to the activation energies for self-diffusion in these metals, within experimental error, at all temperatures above 0.5T,. New creep parameters are proposed for cmrelation of steady-state creep rate and time-to-rupture data. These are respectively, where u is the creep stress, E is Young&apos;s rrodulus, i,is the steady-state creep mte, t, is the time -to-rupture, and D is the self-diffusion coefficient [equal to Do exp (-QSd/RT)] . It has been established experimentally1 and theoreticallyZm4 that high-temperature creep of poly-crystalline pure metals is a thermally activated process and may be represented by the general expression where <, is the steady-state creep rate, A is a constant dependent on the internal structure of the material, f is some function of the applied stress (0) and test temperature (T), and D is the self-diffusion coefficient. If D is separated into its temperature-dependent and independent portions, then it is possible to rewrite Eq. [I] as where Qsd is the activation energy for self-diffusion. Assuming a simple Arrhenius-type relationship between creep rate and temperature at a given constant stress, the apparent activation energy for creep, Q,, is given by the expression It is obvious that if is not a function of temperature It has been shown that the steady-state creep rate for pure polycrystalline metals1 can be represented by where S is a constant, L is the grain diameter, E is the isotropic polycrystalline (unrelaxed) elastic modulus, and n is a constant equal to approximately 5 over a wide range of stress. The apparent activation energy for creep calculated from this expression at constant grain size and stress is given by

Jan 1, 1964

By William H. Spice

For the year 1943, exploratory drilling in South Central Texas continued on the sharp decline that started during 1942. Of the 3 counties comprising this district, as now revised to include the same area as is covered by District No. I, Oil and Gas Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, I5 counties are producing oil or gas. Only 29 exploratory wells were drilled during 1943, as compared with 51 exploratory wells in 1942, or a decrease of over 40 per cent. One new oil field and one new gas field were discovered during the year and a new horizon was discovered in an existing oil field. This cornpares with two new oil fields and an extension to an existing gas field in 1942. The one new oil field, South Washburn, in southeastern La Salle County, was discovered by Quintana Petroleum Corporation&apos;s No. I-D South Texas indicate in April 1943, flowing 4 bbl. per day, 48" A.P.I. gravity oil with an estimated 4 million cubic feet of gas from Wilcox sand at 6030 ft. This well i&apos;s the result of an extensive seismograph survey of the area. It is about 434 miles southwest of the same company&apos;s Green Branch field and by the end of the year one dry hole had been drilled to the southwest of this discovery. The one new gas field, which was not named, was located in eastern McMullen County by Edwin M. Jones&apos; No. 102 Ezzell, in November 1943, for an estimated 8 million cubic feet of gas from shallow Jackson sand at 1222 ft. NO addi- tional wells have been drilled in this area, which may also be considered as an extension to the South Calliham field. The one new producing horizon was discovered in the South Campana field in southeastern McMullen County, by Argo Oil Corporation&apos;s No. 2-G Edrington, in January 1943, flowing 55 bbl. per day, 21&apos; A.P.I. gravity oil with 40 per cent water from Government wells sand at 2609 feet. None of these discoveries were of major importance and subsequent development in these new areas has proved to be disappointing. Produc&apos;tion for the district during 1943 totaled approximately 6,985,000 bbl. from about 3430 producing wells. This is an increase in production of about 5 per cent over 1942, but a decrease in producing wells of about 10 per cent under the number of wells producing in 1942 for the same district. Average production per well was 5.4 bbl. during 1943 as against 4.8 bbl. during 1942. Approximately 5,320,000 hhl. of this total production, or 76 per cent, was produced by the four Edwards lime fields, Luling, Branyon, Salt Flat, and Darst Creek, which are from 22 to 14 years old. The remaining production came from the 43 other active oil fields in the district. Drilling in the proven fields maintained approximately the same level as for 1942, with a total of 36 wells drilled. Of these operations, 21 were oil wells, one was a gas well and 14 were dry holes. This is a slightly better proportion of producers than for 1942. Washburn field had the greatest number of new producing wells drilled during the year, with a total of 10.

Jan 1, 1944

By William H. Spice

For the year 1943, exploratory drilling in South Central Texas continued on the sharp decline that started during 1942. Of the 3 counties comprising this district, as now revised to include the same area as is covered by District No. I, Oil and Gas Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, I5 counties are producing oil or gas. Only 29 exploratory wells were drilled during 1943, as compared with 51 exploratory wells in 1942, or a decrease of over 40 per cent. One new oil field and one new gas field were discovered during the year and a new horizon was discovered in an existing oil field. This cornpares with two new oil fields and an extension to an existing gas field in 1942. The one new oil field, South Washburn, in southeastern La Salle County, was discovered by Quintana Petroleum Corporation&apos;s No. I-D South Texas indicate in April 1943, flowing 4 bbl. per day, 48" A.P.I. gravity oil with an estimated 4 million cubic feet of gas from Wilcox sand at 6030 ft. This well i&apos;s the result of an extensive seismograph survey of the area. It is about 434 miles southwest of the same company&apos;s Green Branch field and by the end of the year one dry hole had been drilled to the southwest of this discovery. The one new gas field, which was not named, was located in eastern McMullen County by Edwin M. Jones&apos; No. 102 Ezzell, in November 1943, for an estimated 8 million cubic feet of gas from shallow Jackson sand at 1222 ft. NO addi- tional wells have been drilled in this area, which may also be considered as an extension to the South Calliham field. The one new producing horizon was discovered in the South Campana field in southeastern McMullen County, by Argo Oil Corporation&apos;s No. 2-G Edrington, in January 1943, flowing 55 bbl. per day, 21&apos; A.P.I. gravity oil with 40 per cent water from Government wells sand at 2609 feet. None of these discoveries were of major importance and subsequent development in these new areas has proved to be disappointing. Produc&apos;tion for the district during 1943 totaled approximately 6,985,000 bbl. from about 3430 producing wells. This is an increase in production of about 5 per cent over 1942, but a decrease in producing wells of about 10 per cent under the number of wells producing in 1942 for the same district. Average production per well was 5.4 bbl. during 1943 as against 4.8 bbl. during 1942. Approximately 5,320,000 hhl. of this total production, or 76 per cent, was produced by the four Edwards lime fields, Luling, Branyon, Salt Flat, and Darst Creek, which are from 22 to 14 years old. The remaining production came from the 43 other active oil fields in the district. Drilling in the proven fields maintained approximately the same level as for 1942, with a total of 36 wells drilled. Of these operations, 21 were oil wells, one was a gas well and 14 were dry holes. This is a slightly better proportion of producers than for 1942. Washburn field had the greatest number of new producing wells drilled during the year, with a total of 10.

Jan 1, 1944

By G. F. Fix

Oil and gas activity reached a higher peak in Indiana during 1940 than for any like period during the past decade. Major activity, as during 1939, was in the southwestern part of the state, the Indiana portion of the Eastern Interior Coal Basin, where most of the increase was due to field drilling in previously proven areas. The amount of wildcat drilling was about the same as for 1939. No new fields of any apparent consequence were discovered during the year, with the possible exception of the College pool, in southwest Posey County. Only one well had been completed in this area at the end of the year. About 10 ft. of saturated Aux Vases sandstone was drilled in this well and the initial production was I00 bbl. of oil a day. Other discoveries during the year 1940 include: St. Thomas, in southwestern Knox County, where four McClosky wells, ranging from I00 to 300 bbl. a day initially, were com-pleted; Buff kin, in central Posey County, with 11 oil wells and 5 gas wells completed; and new developments in two old areas —Randolph County (part of the old Trenton field) and Gentryville, northwestern Spencer County, where some oil was found many years ago. The St. Thomas field proved disappoint-ing, with very spotty production from the McClosky horizon of the St. Genevieve limestone at a depth of about 1875 ft. The discovery well flowed 362 bbl. a day ini-tially. At the end of the year the field was pretty well outlined by dry holes and some inside locations were dry. The Buffkin pool also proved spotty, with production from shallow Pennsylvanian sands and from the Basal Pennsylvanian Mansfield sandstone, the latter at a depth of approximately I175 ft., with small production from the Cypress sandstone of Chester age. Oil wells in this pool are small, ranging from 25 to 75 bbl. a day. The Randolph County area, on the east side of the Trenton gas field, showed some promise for a commercial gas field, with four completed gas wells having cumulative initial flows of about 1,200,ooo cu. ft. a day. The area appar-ently was not depleted during the Trenton boom at the turn of the century, since casing pressures are about as high as the virgin pressure in the old field. Elsewhere the pressure has dropped as low as 5 pounds. The Griffin field received most of the drilling during 1940, with 163 completed oil wells. This field now covers about 3200 acres on the Indiana side of the Wabash River and is not as yet completely delimited. It produced the major part of Indiana&apos;s oil during the year—a total of 3,594,000 bbl. At the end of 1940, there were 253 producing wells in Griffin. New Harmony had five completions for a total of 24. The Rockport field, in Spencer County, continued to be actively developed and had a total of 45 gas wells and 9 oil wells at the end of the year. Oil in commercial quantities had not been found in the field previous to 1940. Total gas production for the year was 394,470,000 cubic feet. In all, 521 wells were drilled in the state during 1940, as compared to 377 for 1939. Of this number 248 were oil wells, 77 were gas wells and 196 were dry. Divided into

Jan 1, 1941

By G. F. Fix

Oil and gas activity reached a higher peak in Indiana during 1940 than for any like period during the past decade. Major activity, as during 1939, was in the southwestern part of the state, the Indiana portion of the Eastern Interior Coal Basin, where most of the increase was due to field drilling in previously proven areas. The amount of wildcat drilling was about the same as for 1939. No new fields of any apparent consequence were discovered during the year, with the possible exception of the College pool, in southwest Posey County. Only one well had been completed in this area at the end of the year. About 10 ft. of saturated Aux Vases sandstone was drilled in this well and the initial production was I00 bbl. of oil a day. Other discoveries during the year 1940 include: St. Thomas, in southwestern Knox County, where four McClosky wells, ranging from I00 to 300 bbl. a day initially, were com-pleted; Buff kin, in central Posey County, with 11 oil wells and 5 gas wells completed; and new developments in two old areas —Randolph County (part of the old Trenton field) and Gentryville, northwestern Spencer County, where some oil was found many years ago. The St. Thomas field proved disappoint-ing, with very spotty production from the McClosky horizon of the St. Genevieve limestone at a depth of about 1875 ft. The discovery well flowed 362 bbl. a day ini-tially. At the end of the year the field was pretty well outlined by dry holes and some inside locations were dry. The Buffkin pool also proved spotty, with production from shallow Pennsylvanian sands and from the Basal Pennsylvanian Mansfield sandstone, the latter at a depth of approximately I175 ft., with small production from the Cypress sandstone of Chester age. Oil wells in this pool are small, ranging from 25 to 75 bbl. a day. The Randolph County area, on the east side of the Trenton gas field, showed some promise for a commercial gas field, with four completed gas wells having cumulative initial flows of about 1,200,ooo cu. ft. a day. The area appar-ently was not depleted during the Trenton boom at the turn of the century, since casing pressures are about as high as the virgin pressure in the old field. Elsewhere the pressure has dropped as low as 5 pounds. The Griffin field received most of the drilling during 1940, with 163 completed oil wells. This field now covers about 3200 acres on the Indiana side of the Wabash River and is not as yet completely delimited. It produced the major part of Indiana&apos;s oil during the year—a total of 3,594,000 bbl. At the end of 1940, there were 253 producing wells in Griffin. New Harmony had five completions for a total of 24. The Rockport field, in Spencer County, continued to be actively developed and had a total of 45 gas wells and 9 oil wells at the end of the year. Oil in commercial quantities had not been found in the field previous to 1940. Total gas production for the year was 394,470,000 cubic feet. In all, 521 wells were drilled in the state during 1940, as compared to 377 for 1939. Of this number 248 were oil wells, 77 were gas wells and 196 were dry. Divided into

Jan 1, 1941

By Meredith Johnson

THE year 1924 saw little change in the production of oil and gas it either Pennsylvania or New York. In the early months of the year the price of Pennsylvania crude oil, $4.00 to $4.50 a barrel, was sufficiently high to cause operators to lay plans for rather extensive drilling opera-tions. But when, in August, the price dropped to $2.85 a barrel, there was no inducement for new work and drilling was curtailed. In spite of the curtailment, however, the combined production of the two states for the year showed a slight increase over 1923, the production being 8;859,000 bbl. in 1923, and 8,901,000 bbl.1 in 1924. The increased production was due entirely to. the continued development of flooding operations in the Bradford field, all other oilfields showing a decline for the year. TABLE 1. Production of Crude Oil in Pennsylvania and New York for the Last Ten Years a Production, Barrels Production, Barrels Year Year Pennsylvania I New York Pennsylvania I New York 1915 7,838,000 888,000 1920- 7,438,000 906,000 1916 7,593,000 874,000 1921 7,418,000 988,000 1917 7,733,000 880,000 1922 7,425,000 1;000,000 1918 7,408,000 809,000 1923 7,609,000 1,250,000 1919 8,137,000 851,000 1924 7,535,0006 1;366,0006 a U. S. Geological Survey figures. b Estimated. Much of the drilling in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania was done in search of gas. Natural gas in Pennsylvania is fast being recognized at its true worth and the increased prices allowed &apos;the gas companies for their product induced quite a bit of new work. The relative importance of natural gas compared with manufactured gas is shown in Table 2.2

Jan 3, 1925

By Alec M. Crowell, Harry P. McClintock

Production of oil and gas condensate from the 45 oil and gas fields of South Arkansas increased for the eighth consecutive year, the production for 1943 being 27,605,647 bbl. Six new pools were discovered during 1943, bringing the state&apos;s crude oil and condensate reserve to 475 million barrels, a net increase of 70 million barrels for the year. The gross increase in proven reserve was 98 million barrels, from which, of course, is subtracted production of approximately 28 million barrels to reach the net figure of 70 million barrels. There were 35 more wildcats in 1943 than in 1942, and 29 more wells were drilled in fields of the state. Sixteen companies operated exploratory crews during the year for a total of 677 crew weeks, divided as follows: 563 weeks seismograph, 111 weeks gravity and 3 weeks core drill. There was a decided increase in gravity work and a decrease in seismic work. The year started with 15 seismic crews and ended with 5 seismograph and z gravimeter crews. Geologically, it is interesting that the number of wells bottomed in Gulf, Comanche, and Jurassic strata were near equal for the year 1943. During 1942 Jurassic was much higher than the other two. However, Jurassic still led in wildcats for the year 1943. Abandoment of wells in the stripper areas of the state reached about the same figure for the year 1943 as for the year 1942; that is, 145 wells were permanently abandoned. However, 243 wells were drilled in 1943, as against 184 for the previous year. The completions for the year were divided into 103 dry holes, 137 oil and condensate wells and 3 dry gas wells. Among new developments perhaps the most significant was the pressure-main-tenance project for the Midway field of Lafayette County, which is utilizing fresh water as the maintenance medium. This is the first fresh-water pressure-maintenance operation during primary production of an oil field in the United States. The operator of the project, Barnsdall Oil Co., estimates that the ultimate recovery of oil from this field will be increased from 32.5 to 65 million barrels. The Midway pool is of the dissolved-gas type, but a similar project is getting underway for the Magnolia field, Columbia County, a pool of the gas-cap and water-drive type. Dual completion of wells, on concurrent production from two productive zones through a single well bore, became common practice in South Arkansas during the year. As the year ended, some 50 wells had been dually completed and it was estimated that the first 37 of these wells represented a saving of more than 2 1/4 million dollars and a saving in steel of 7000 tons. The majority of the wells dually completed were those reaching depths in the neighborhood of 9000 ft. below the surface and initially productive there. Selective completion at lesser depths in the same well bore proved mechanically feasible and economically sound. The year was marked by the successful completion and placing into operation of three large natural-gas desulphurization

Jan 1, 1944

By Harry P. McClintock, Alec M. Crowell

Production of oil and gas condensate from the 45 oil and gas fields of South Arkansas increased for the eighth consecutive year, the production for 1943 being 27,605,647 bbl. Six new pools were discovered during 1943, bringing the state&apos;s crude oil and condensate reserve to 475 million barrels, a net increase of 70 million barrels for the year. The gross increase in proven reserve was 98 million barrels, from which, of course, is subtracted production of approximately 28 million barrels to reach the net figure of 70 million barrels. There were 35 more wildcats in 1943 than in 1942, and 29 more wells were drilled in fields of the state. Sixteen companies operated exploratory crews during the year for a total of 677 crew weeks, divided as follows: 563 weeks seismograph, 111 weeks gravity and 3 weeks core drill. There was a decided increase in gravity work and a decrease in seismic work. The year started with 15 seismic crews and ended with 5 seismograph and z gravimeter crews. Geologically, it is interesting that the number of wells bottomed in Gulf, Comanche, and Jurassic strata were near equal for the year 1943. During 1942 Jurassic was much higher than the other two. However, Jurassic still led in wildcats for the year 1943. Abandoment of wells in the stripper areas of the state reached about the same figure for the year 1943 as for the year 1942; that is, 145 wells were permanently abandoned. However, 243 wells were drilled in 1943, as against 184 for the previous year. The completions for the year were divided into 103 dry holes, 137 oil and condensate wells and 3 dry gas wells. Among new developments perhaps the most significant was the pressure-main-tenance project for the Midway field of Lafayette County, which is utilizing fresh water as the maintenance medium. This is the first fresh-water pressure-maintenance operation during primary production of an oil field in the United States. The operator of the project, Barnsdall Oil Co., estimates that the ultimate recovery of oil from this field will be increased from 32.5 to 65 million barrels. The Midway pool is of the dissolved-gas type, but a similar project is getting underway for the Magnolia field, Columbia County, a pool of the gas-cap and water-drive type. Dual completion of wells, on concurrent production from two productive zones through a single well bore, became common practice in South Arkansas during the year. As the year ended, some 50 wells had been dually completed and it was estimated that the first 37 of these wells represented a saving of more than 2 1/4 million dollars and a saving in steel of 7000 tons. The majority of the wells dually completed were those reaching depths in the neighborhood of 9000 ft. below the surface and initially productive there. Selective completion at lesser depths in the same well bore proved mechanically feasible and economically sound. The year was marked by the successful completion and placing into operation of three large natural-gas desulphurization

Jan 1, 1944

By Thomas Brownfield

Development and production activity in Oklahoma during the year 1940 was of routine nature. Production, according to the Corporation Commission&apos;s figures, averaged 409,100 bbl. daily as compared with 421,000 bbl. for the year 1939. Discoveries were of minor importance except for the Cumberland pool in Marshall and Bryan Counties, in the southern part of the state. Maintenance of a relatively stable producing rate is attributable to the drilling of new wells and the recompletion of many old wells in the previously established producing areas. During the year 1785 new wells were drilled, a decline of approximately 10 per cent as compared with the previous year. Of the wells drilled, 962 were oil wells with a combined initial production of 241,000 bbl. daily, 172 were gas wells having aggregate capacities of 1205 million cu. ft., and 651 were dry holes. Wildcat activity increased 20 per cent over 1939 and 227 such wells were completed during the year; that isl 43 oil wells, 16 gas wells, and 168 dry holes. In addition to the new work completed, 603 wells were recorded as having been drilled deeper or plugged back to test new horizons; included were 334 producing wells with total initial production of 65,000 bbl. daily, 37 gas wells with initial aggregating 305 million cu. ft., and 232 abandonments. Footage drilled amounted to 4,730,000 ft., an average of 2650 ft. per well as com-pared with an average depth of 2600 ft. recorded the previous year. The principal new pools discovered as a result of the exploratory drilling were Cumberland; East Cromwell, in Okfuskee County, and Prague, in Lincoln County. At the end of the year Cumberland had 13 completed wells, which averaged 700 bbl. initial through tubing from the Simpson Bromide formation (Ordovician) at 4750 ft. East Cromwell had 10 wells with average initial of 435 bbl. in the Cromwell sand (Pennsylvanian) at 3460 ft. Prague had II wells with an initial average of 220 bbl. from the Senora sand (Pennsylvanian) at 3260 ft. There were notable extensions to the Dill pool, Okfuskee County, and to the Hewitt pool, Carter County. At the end of the year, 19 producing wells had been drilled in the former, with initials averaging 1000 bbl., and 63 wells averaging 150 bbl. daily in the latter. There were no notable changes in the policy of State conservation authorities with respect to proration. The Bureau of Mines recommendations for the year averaged 413,000 bbl. daily; the State author-ities fixed allowables at an average of 406,000 bbl. daily, while, as noted above, production averaged 409,100 barrels. The most important development in the older areas occurred in the following pools: Billings.—Seven oil wells with an average initial production of 2500 bbl. and two dry holes were completed during the year. Production from the Simpson horizon averaged 6025 bbl. daily as compared with 5950 the previous year. Production from this field has been almost steady since reaching its peak early in 1937. The major portion of the pool is efficiently operated as

Jan 1, 1941

By Thomas Brownfield

Development and production activity in Oklahoma during the year 1940 was of routine nature. Production, according to the Corporation Commission&apos;s figures, averaged 409,100 bbl. daily as compared with 421,000 bbl. for the year 1939. Discoveries were of minor importance except for the Cumberland pool in Marshall and Bryan Counties, in the southern part of the state. Maintenance of a relatively stable producing rate is attributable to the drilling of new wells and the recompletion of many old wells in the previously established producing areas. During the year 1785 new wells were drilled, a decline of approximately 10 per cent as compared with the previous year. Of the wells drilled, 962 were oil wells with a combined initial production of 241,000 bbl. daily, 172 were gas wells having aggregate capacities of 1205 million cu. ft., and 651 were dry holes. Wildcat activity increased 20 per cent over 1939 and 227 such wells were completed during the year; that isl 43 oil wells, 16 gas wells, and 168 dry holes. In addition to the new work completed, 603 wells were recorded as having been drilled deeper or plugged back to test new horizons; included were 334 producing wells with total initial production of 65,000 bbl. daily, 37 gas wells with initial aggregating 305 million cu. ft., and 232 abandonments. Footage drilled amounted to 4,730,000 ft., an average of 2650 ft. per well as com-pared with an average depth of 2600 ft. recorded the previous year. The principal new pools discovered as a result of the exploratory drilling were Cumberland; East Cromwell, in Okfuskee County, and Prague, in Lincoln County. At the end of the year Cumberland had 13 completed wells, which averaged 700 bbl. initial through tubing from the Simpson Bromide formation (Ordovician) at 4750 ft. East Cromwell had 10 wells with average initial of 435 bbl. in the Cromwell sand (Pennsylvanian) at 3460 ft. Prague had II wells with an initial average of 220 bbl. from the Senora sand (Pennsylvanian) at 3260 ft. There were notable extensions to the Dill pool, Okfuskee County, and to the Hewitt pool, Carter County. At the end of the year, 19 producing wells had been drilled in the former, with initials averaging 1000 bbl., and 63 wells averaging 150 bbl. daily in the latter. There were no notable changes in the policy of State conservation authorities with respect to proration. The Bureau of Mines recommendations for the year averaged 413,000 bbl. daily; the State author-ities fixed allowables at an average of 406,000 bbl. daily, while, as noted above, production averaged 409,100 barrels. The most important development in the older areas occurred in the following pools: Billings.—Seven oil wells with an average initial production of 2500 bbl. and two dry holes were completed during the year. Production from the Simpson horizon averaged 6025 bbl. daily as compared with 5950 the previous year. Production from this field has been almost steady since reaching its peak early in 1937. The major portion of the pool is efficiently operated as

Jan 1, 1941

By R. W. Heckel, H. W. Paxton

The growth of grain boundary films and Widmanstiitten plates of proeutectoid cementite in hypereutectoid steels ulas considered quantitatively in three plain carbon steels and one "pure" iron-carbon alloy. Growth was found to take place at a slower rate than would be predicted on the basis of a model invoking rate control by long range diffusion of carbon. The films in the pure alloy grew faster than those in the plain carbon steels. A possible explanation is suggested. In 1904, Nernsst&apos; and Brunner2 postulated that ionic crystals growing in supersaturated aqueous solutions grew at rates determined by diffusion through the solution to the growing crystal interface. The gradient down which the diffusion took place was assumed to be fixed by the supersaturated bulk solution concentration, the concentration dt the crystal surface and some arbitrary distance. The flux of material to the crystal was described as Flux where D is the diffusion coefficient, A the crystal surface area, Ci the bulk solution concentration, Co the saturated solution concentration, and 6 the thickness of the diffusion zone. It is obvious that the expression is an adaptation of F+ick&apos;s3 first law of diffusion (steady state). This was the initial formulation of what will be defined here as "diffusion controlled growth," i.e., growth limited by the long range diffusion of a component either to or from the advancing interface assuming both phases at the interface to be in equilibrium. This idea of equilibrium interface concentration implies an infinite reaction rate at the interface. Volmer, Zener,&apos; and 11schner6 have derived expressions for the diffusion controlled growth of spherical precipitates in metallic systems. These analyses agree that the growth in a given direction should be parabolic with time. Brown and Hawkes7 observed that graphite, formed both from the decomposition of cementite and from the decomposition of eutectoid austenite in cast irons, grew according to a parabolic relationship and, therefore, concluded that the laws of diffusion controlled growth, as defined above, were obeyed. They, among others, failed to consider, however, that parabolic growth is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for diffusion controlled growth. Mehl and Dube"&apos; have pointed out that equilibrium may not be realized because the concentration at the interface cannot change instantaneously from that of the bulk to the saturation value. Furthermore, they propose that an equilibrium solute concentration in the parent phase adjacent to the precipitate would remove the thermodynamic activity gradient across the interface and, thus, stop the growth process. Frisch" has also emphasized the importance of interface concentrations that vary throughout the growth of a new phase. The variation in activity across an interface, as discussed by Onol&apos; and Cahn and Hilliard,12 is of fundamental importance to this question. Ham13 considered the data of Turnbull14 on the growth of barium sulfate in aqueous solutions. He concluded that the data could be analyzed in terms of a radiation-type boundary condition. Flux across interface = K (c, - C,) [21 where C, is the concentration in the solution at the interface, Co the saturated solution concentration, and K the proportionality constant. The edgewise growth of Widmanstlitten plates, frequently referred to as the rate of lengthening, was first considered by Zener.&apos;&apos; Basing a mathematical analysis on steady-state (constant velocity) growth he concluded that where G is the growth rate, D the solute diffusivity, Ci the concentration in the bulk, Co the equilibrium interface concentration, C, the concentration in the precipitate, a a constant, Y the radius of curvature of the edge of the plate, and rC the critical radius, i.e., the radius which would increase the activity of solute at the interface at equilibrium under the influence of capillarity to that of the bulk. Zener1&apos;

Jan 1, 1961

By James B. Austin

Growth of the Society When the Institute was born in May, 1871, it was given the name American Institute of Mining Engineers. Yet from its conception a few months earlier, its genetic code clearly carried the message that metallurgy was equal in importance to mining. Thus, the "call" for the initial meeting, which was sent out in April of that year by three mining engineers, Eckley B. Coxe, R. P. Rothwell and Martin Coryell, gave this first objective of the proposed organization as: "the more economic production of the useful minerals and metals." And this call concluded: "Anyone who may have devoted himself to a particular subject connected with either mining or metallurgy, and who may be possessed of new facts in reference to it, would greatly aid in furthering the objects of the proposed association by preparing a paper giving the results of his experience." In response to this call, a group of 22 men assembled in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for a 3-day meeting beginning May 16, 1871. On the first day, a set of 20 "Rules" was adopted, of which Number 8 read, in part: "The words mining engineers in these rules comprehend engineers connected with mining and metallurgy." On the second day, 18 officers were elected, of whom nine were not present. Moreover, as if to emphasize that the words about metallurgists were to be taken seriously, one of those elected in absentia was the president, David Thomas, a Welshman who had founded the Thomas Iron Co. and who built the first anthracite-fired, hot-blast furnace in this country. The second meeting of the Institute, held in Bethlehem, Pa., in August, had a more metallurgical flavor, and the third meeting, in November, was held in what was then one of the great steel-making centers of the country - Troy, N. Y. This was the home of the Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Co., which held the American rights to Bessemer7s machinery patents. And it was here that the great American steel master, Alexander L. Holley, carried out a series of experiments that led to improvements in the design and method of operation of the Bessemer vessels. It was at this meeting that Holley and Henry Marion Howe, then a "student" at the Albany and Rensselaer plant, were admitted to membership. Four years later, Holley was elected president of the Institute. Clearly, metallurgy

Jan 1, 1971

By M. W. Hayward

THE object of this paper is to record and tabulate the data and field observations obtained by the writers and their associates during 10 years of intensive study of lead-zinc deposits in the Cretaceous limestone areas in Northern Mexico, particularly in mines owned by the Cia. Minera de Peñoles, S. A. At the El Paso meeting of the Institute in October, 1930, J. G. Barry made the suggestion that a committee be appointed to correlate the ideas and theories which have been put forth by the numerous engineers and geologists who, during recent years, have made a study of the ore deposits in the area under consideration. The first step in a work of this nature would be to record all of the observed facts, and these facts would have to be accepted by those who attempted to formulate a theory of ore deposition. It is with this idea in mind that the writers have described as accurately as possible the actual, observed facts pertaining to the occurrence of the lead-zinc ores in dolomites or dolomitic horizons. By most writers the term "dolomite," is loosely used to designate magnesium-bearing limestones, regardless of the percentage of MgO present. Since no, true dolomites exist in the areas to be described, we shall also loosely use the terms dolomite or dolomitic limestone to designate those beds having a magnesia content of 5 per cent MgO or more. For a number of years the writers have been impressed with the fact that in areas where dolomite beds occur a large percentage of the lead ore is found in these beds, in spite of the fact that such beds may be overlain or underlain by pure limestone, which one would assume to be just as favorable for replacement as the dolomite, if not more &apos;so on account of its being more soluble in acid solutions than the dolomite. It is true that in some limestone areas, such as the Erupcion-Ahumada districts, Chihuahua, and Providencia, Zacatecas, where no dolomite beds have been found, large tonnages of lead ores have been mined. We venture to predict, however, that had there been dolomitic beds in these areas, the

Jan 1, 1931

By V. Leroy, A. G. Guy

Serious disagreements are often found between experimentally determined intrinsic diffusion coefficients and those calculated employing the usual form of the vacancy theory. In the new theory it is proposed that the total intrinsic flux, Ji, of component i, is the sum of a part, f, due to the usual random exclzanges of component i with the vacancies, and a second part, Ji, due to exchanges with the uacancies composing the net vacancy flux. The present treatment, while less powerful than that of Manning, has the advantage of easy uisualization and of facilitating the application of the vacancy-flux effect to complex systems. IT is becoming increasingly evident that there are serious deficiencies in the version of the vacancy theory of diffusion that has been widely used for the past 20 years. One type of evidence is the frequent lack of agreement between intrinsic diffusion coefficients and tracer diffusion coefficients, even taking account of the thermodynamic factor. A second kind of evidence is the observation of a Kirkendall shift larger than theoretically possible, that is, larger than can be accounted for without assigning a negative value to one of the two intrinsic diffusion coefficient.&apos;- The thermodynamic factor could conceivably make both coefficients negative, but not just one. It is clear that a cause of these anomalies, apart from any inadequacy of the usual vacancy theory, might lie in an oversimplified treatment of the data. Adequate experimental techniques, including the use of moderate pressure during the diffusion anneal, are now available to insure that porosity, lateral expansion, and so forth, can be kept negligibly small in most cases. The effect of differences in atomic volume can be of major importance, and it is essential that one of the available methods4 be used to account for this factor. In the present treatment this is accomplished by the consistent use of moles per cubic centimeter as the unit of concentration. Of the various possible inadequacies of the vacancy theory, attention will be given here only to effects of the net vacancy flux. annin&apos; has previously considered this question, beginning with an analysis of atomic jumping of tracer atoms. When he added the effect of a concentration gradient, new terms arose that could be associated with the flow of vacancies. The present treatment uses quite a different approach. The usual vacancy flux, J,, is introduced explicitly, and a simple analysis predicts major changes in the intrinsic diffusion coefficients from this cause. The usual assumptions are made that only a vacancy mechanism is operative, that the formation of voids can be neglected, and that changes in the partial molal volumes, vl and v2, are negligible. The significant diffusion coefficients for the present topic are Dl and D,, the intrinsic coefficients, which enter in the equations, where the flux Ji, moles per sq cm per sec, is that crossing the Kirkendall interface. The concentration, ci, is in units of moles per cu cm, and the concentration gradient, aci/ax, is evaluated at the Kirkendall interface. It will be recalled&apos; that the calculation of Dl and D2 involves the measurement of areas on the diffusion curve with respect to the positions of the Kirkendall and Matano interfaces. In the case of the anomalies mentioned earlier, the Kirkendall shift is too large to be accounted for by the diiferetzce in fluxes (J2 -J1), given by Eqs. [I] and [2]. The logical inference is that the flux of the solvent atoms, J1, is actually in the same direction as the flux of the solute atoms, Jz. In terms of Eq. [I] this requires that Dl have a negative value. However, it would be somewhat misleading to state that the solvent atoms are diffusing up their own concentration gradient. The explanation that will be advanced here pictures competing processes producing the net flux of solvent atoms: 1) diffusion of the solvent atoms down their own gradient by random exchanges with vacancies; and 2) diffusion of solvent atoms in the opposite direction by exchanges with the net vacancy flux. ACTION OF THE NET VACANCY FLUX Theories of vacancy diffusion can be formulated with varying degrees of refinement, and the present theory has purposely been kept as simple as appeared adequate to explain the phenomenon in question. In particular the following aspects have been neglected: 1) the gradient of vacancy concentration in comparison to the gradient of the atomic species; 2) departure of vacancy concentration from the local equilibrium value; 3) variation of the jump frequency, LO, with the specific surroundings of the atom-vacancy pair being considered; 4) correlation effects. These and other refinements can be considered once the essential mechanism has been established. The essential idea of the present analysis is to calculate the total intrinsic flux, Ji, of component i as the sum, JlJ?±j{ [3] where J; is attributable to the usual random atomic jumping, and J{ is a contribution arising from the net vacancy flux, J,. The latter quantity, of course,

Jan 1, 1967

By John Guillermo Bartram

The oil industry continued relatively quiet in Wyoming in 1935, although production increased about 8 per cent over the previous year; 55 oil wells were completed in 1935, compared to 34 in 1934, and at the end of the year 44 wells were drilling, 33 in proven fields and 11 in wildcat locations. The total drilling a year ago was only 30. In the year 1935 Wyoming produced a total of 13,451,000 bbl. of oil, a gain of 912,000 bbl. over the 1934 figure of 12,539,000 bbl. Approxi-mately two-thirds of the increase, or 630,000 bbl., was from black oil fields and one-third, or 285,000 bbl., from light oil pools. Salt Creek, with production of 6,357,000 bbl., is still many times the largest field in Wyoming but in 1935 it made less than 50 per cent of the state&apos;s total, after producing more than all other fields in the state for 24 years; however, its decline was only 3.8 per cent from the previous year. Oregon Basin, a black oil field, held second place again with production of 1,163,-000 bbl., a good increase over 1934. Grass Creek, with increases in both its light and black oil, jumped into third place; and Lance Creek, with its new Sundance light oil production, was in fourth place in the amount of production. Frannie, which was in third place in 1934, dropped far back on the list because of lack of market. Byron and Garland, two other black oil fields in the Big Horn Basin, increased considerably. Big Muddy, a prominent light-oil field, was down with a natural decline; and Elk Basin, also light oil, produced less because of market conditions. During 1934 only three gas wells were drilled in Wyoming and 29 dry holes, 13 in proven fields and 16 at wildcat locations. Of the latter, 5 were on wildcat structures of considerable interest. Of the 55 wells completed during the year, 53 were in proven fields and of these 17 were small ones in the shallow Osage field and 10 were light-oil wells good for 1500 to 3000 bbl. each in the Lance Creek field. Discoveries Two of the oil wells were discoveries at Medicine Bow and Sheep Creek. Medicine Bow is a very large anticline with more than 3500 ft. of closure and is located in Carbon County in the south-central part of the state. In 1923 it showed some oil in the Upper Cretaceous Frontier

Jan 1, 1936

By John Guillermo Bartram

The oil industry continued relatively quiet in Wyoming in 1935, although production increased about 8 per cent over the previous year; 55 oil wells were completed in 1935, compared to 34 in 1934, and at the end of the year 44 wells were drilling, 33 in proven fields and 11 in wildcat locations. The total drilling a year ago was only 30. In the year 1935 Wyoming produced a total of 13,451,000 bbl. of oil, a gain of 912,000 bbl. over the 1934 figure of 12,539,000 bbl. Approxi-mately two-thirds of the increase, or 630,000 bbl., was from black oil fields and one-third, or 285,000 bbl., from light oil pools. Salt Creek, with production of 6,357,000 bbl., is still many times the largest field in Wyoming but in 1935 it made less than 50 per cent of the state&apos;s total, after producing more than all other fields in the state for 24 years; however, its decline was only 3.8 per cent from the previous year. Oregon Basin, a black oil field, held second place again with production of 1,163,-000 bbl., a good increase over 1934. Grass Creek, with increases in both its light and black oil, jumped into third place; and Lance Creek, with its new Sundance light oil production, was in fourth place in the amount of production. Frannie, which was in third place in 1934, dropped far back on the list because of lack of market. Byron and Garland, two other black oil fields in the Big Horn Basin, increased considerably. Big Muddy, a prominent light-oil field, was down with a natural decline; and Elk Basin, also light oil, produced less because of market conditions. During 1934 only three gas wells were drilled in Wyoming and 29 dry holes, 13 in proven fields and 16 at wildcat locations. Of the latter, 5 were on wildcat structures of considerable interest. Of the 55 wells completed during the year, 53 were in proven fields and of these 17 were small ones in the shallow Osage field and 10 were light-oil wells good for 1500 to 3000 bbl. each in the Lance Creek field. Discoveries Two of the oil wells were discoveries at Medicine Bow and Sheep Creek. Medicine Bow is a very large anticline with more than 3500 ft. of closure and is located in Carbon County in the south-central part of the state. In 1923 it showed some oil in the Upper Cretaceous Frontier

Jan 1, 1936