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By W. A. Hutchins

Water laws important to the mining industry are those which govern or affect the right to use water, to dispose of water after using it in mining or milling, and to discharge waste material into watercourses. They include statutes and court decisions having general applicability, as well as others that pertain specifically to mining. THE INDUSTRY'S CONTRIBUTION TO WESTERN WATER LAW Despite sharp differences of opinion, the water law the Spaniards brought to the Southwest appears to have included some form of appropriation of water. The Mormons, who settled in Utah in the mid-nineteenth century, also developed a system of appro-priative water titles. But by far the most profound impact on western water law was made by the gold-seekers who flocked to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California after the discovery of gold in 1848. Much of the gold was extracted from the ground by hydraulic or placer mining, and so the miners' rights to the use of water became fundamentally important. Since there was no organized government in the foothills and no laws other than those made by the miners, they helped themselves to the land, the gold, and the water needed to work their claims.1 They established and enforced regulations governing the acquirement and holding of mining claims and their rights to the water they needed.' In 1879 Justice Field, former Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, spoke for the U. S. Supreme Court in saying that the miners were "emphatically the law-makers, as respects mining, upon the public lands in the State."" Rules of the California mining camps were based on two essential principles: 1) priority in discovering claims and appropriating water by diverting it from streams and putting it to use, and 2) diligence in working claims and applying water in mining. The customs so developed, which were copied in mining areas of other states and territories, were enacted into law in one western jurisdiction after another. They form the basis of what is called the arid-region doctrine of prior appropriation of water, which received the attention of Congress in legislation recognizing and protecting appropriations of water for mining, agriculture, and other purposes on the public domain.' In several western states a great number of water cases decided in the early years involved relative rights to the use of water for mining purposes or for milling connected with mining." The miner's inch, the customary unit for measuring water in the mining camps, is still used in various western communities, although its relation to the cubic foot per second varies from one area to another. Undoubtedly, the miners of a century ago made the major contribution to the appropriation doctrine as it is now recognized and applied throughout the West. What inspired the California gold-seekers to develop these principles? Thoughtful writers have pointed out that their regulations and customs were strikingly characteristic of much earlier mining enterprises in the Old World.D It is said that the right of free mining and free use of flowing water therefor —so similar to the California conditions and practices—-was a part of the customs of Germanic miners in the Middle Ages, that it spread from middle Europe to other countries and colonies, and that the doctrine of prior appropriation was widespread in the important mining regions of the world. Certainly the Forty-niners came to California from many countries. It does not tax the imagination to consider that they may have brought with them some knowledge of the old Germanic customs and applied this knowledge in their new environment. RIGHTS TO USE OF WATER IN GENERAL In the West, rights to the use of water of watercourses fall into two categories—appropriative and riparian. The doctrine of prior appropriation is recognized in each of the 17 western states. The riparian doctrine is recognized concurrently with the appropriation doctrine in some of these states but has been abrogated in the others. The riparian doctrine prevails generally throughout the East, although there is now considerable interest in developing something else. Generally speaking, the appropriation doctrine has been highly developed in the West, whereas the principles of riparian doctrine have been comprehensively established in only a few states throughout the country. The subject of water rights is a big one. Space permits no more than a brief discussion of aspects that bear upon the title of this article. RIGHTS OF PRIOR APPROPRIATION Fundamental to the doctrine of prior appropriation is the principle first in time, first in right. Although in some states there are statutory exceptions. the original and still generally prevailing rule is that the first one who initiates a right to divert and use water of a stream, and who completes his undertaking with reasonable diligence, acquires thereby the first right of appropriation of the specific quantity of water involved. Each succeeding right in point of time is junior to all earlier rights but senior to all later ones. The practical effect of this priority system is that when the water supply is not enough for all, the earliest rights must be fully satisfied before any water may be taken by those later in time. Acquirement of Appropriative Rights: Each of the 17 western states has a statute under which water may be appropriated pursuant to a prescribed procedure. Generally, the first step to be taken by the intending appropriator is to file application in the office of the State Engineer for a permit to make the appropriation. In most but not a11 states, valid ap-

Jan 1, 1961

By M. D. Hassialis, Arthur F. Taggart

WARK1 observed some years ago that collector-coating reactions with xanthates and with fatty acids clearly follow paths parallel to those prescribed by the familiar mass-action law for reactions in dilute solutions. He proposed, therefore, the logical hypothesis that they are governed by the solubility=product principle. However, he went astray in the application of his proposal to collector coating by overlooking the fact that coating involves a heterogeneous reaction. A mistaken concept of the meaning of the word adsorption also entered. Wark thought that the concentration of metallic ion that must be used in setting up the solubility-product equation for the coating reaction was that which could be obtained by solution of the mineral. Since this is very low for sulphide ores, and since the amount of the collector ion necessary for coating produces an extremely low concentration, the resulting ion-concentration product, under conditions when coating occurs, is much lower than that which would indicate a saturated solution of the collector-coating compound. Hence he was forced to the position that the solubility product governing the coating is much smaller than the standard solubility product. To justify this position it was necessary to postulate a coating mechanism that did not obey the ordinary laws of chemical reaction. This Wark did by adopting the concept that adsorption is a property of matter, rather than merely a more or less ephemeral local concentration thereof. Thus he says (p. 142 of ref. I): "Adsorption is not a purely physical property of the solid surface, for the specific nature of the adsorbed molecule or ion is important." The result was that he destroyed the great potential utility of his postulate by tying it to this erroneous concept in the words (pp. 142, 143): "It will be obvious that the adsorption solubility product is less than the normal solubility product." The writers have found quantitatively in the case of galena and potassium ethyl xanthate, and semiquantitatively in the case of covellite and the same collector, that the coating reaction does follow the mass-action law to the extent that coating occurs when the ordinary solubility product of the coating compound is exceeded, and that coating does not take place under the reverse conditions. In the course of the investigation leading to the establishment of this fact it was necessary to work with xanthate concentrations so low (down to 0.0004 mg. per liter), that very long conditioning times, and bubble-contact times of as much as 16 hr. were necessary sometimes to follow the reactions. The results have led to some illuminating conclusions as to necessary collector concentrations in normal flotation operations, and the action of the frothing agent in connection therewith. The experimental work comprised. accurate determination of the standard solubility product of lead ethyl xanthate, development of a much less laborious

Jan 1, 1946

By J. F. K. Brown

ANTHRACITE in 1943, in common with the coal industry as a whole, passed through a year of wage negotiations that seemed endless. In the early months discussion of the United Mine Workers' demands was taken up and carried on continuously until May, finally reaching an impasse when the Union refused to continue at work, while submitting their demands to the War Labor Board. Thus a strike threatened, averted by the Federal Government taking over the industry, effective May 1, by order of the President. An office of the Bureau of Mines was established in Wilkes-Barre under the direction of J. J. Forbes, Mineral Production Security Division, as regional manager, who conducted operations until September, 1943, when the collieries were turned back to the operators. But the miners did not agree with the War Labor Board's award rendered in the fall, resulting in a recurrence of the previously threatened strike. again averted by Government control. In addition to the major upsets, a number of individual suspensions occurred at various mines. In spite of these drawbacks, to which might be added the difficulty of obtaining equipment and the scarcity of man power, the industry by November was only little less than a million tons short of the previous year. and in all probability, finally produced but little less than in 1942. This little less. however, was greatly missed in the market.

Jan 1, 1944

By William S. Springer

A NEW preparation plant has been put in operation to treat coal from the recently opened Concord mine, located about 15 miles west of Birmingham, Ala., by the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., a U. S. Steel subsidiary. The mine produces metallurgical grade coking coal from the American seam for use as coke in the company's blast furnaces at the Fairfield and Enseley works. The capacity of the operation is 1000 tons of run-of-mine per hr, approximately half of which is delivered to the by-product coke plant at Fairfield after beneficiation to metallurgical grade. The remaining portion of the mine run is rock and refuse removed during preparation. No boiler coal or other fuels are produced by this mine.

Jan 12, 1950

By Wallace W. Wilson

The Cook Ranch Field produces from a very permeable lens of Cook Sand of lower Permian or upper Pennsylvanian age, occurring at an average depth of 1.300 ft. The field was discovered in 1926, and has been operated with low pressure gas injection since July, 1927, one of the first such projects in Texas. Cumulative recovery to Dec. 31. 1950, was 14,701,131 bbl of crude oil, an average of 1,013 bbl per acre-ft of oil rection. and 72.5 per cent of the oil originally in place. Analysis of the reservoir performance indicates that grav-ity drainage has been an important factor in the producing mechanism. The high permeability and uniformity of the reservoir were extremely Favorable tor this type of operation. INTRODUCTION The Cook Ranch Field is the largest of a number of relatively small, shallow producing areas near .Albany, in Shackelford County, Texas. This field is one of the first to be operated by gas injection in Texas, and probably is the most successful low pressure gas injection project ever attempted. The field is owned entirely by Koeser and Pendleton, Inc., and Continental Oil Co., and has been operated by Roeser and Pendleton, Inc., since it was discovered. This study has been made possible through the cooperation of Roeser and Pendleton, Inc.. in making availahle a remarkably complete set of records covering all phases of their operations. The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of the history of the operations through Dec. 31, 1950, and to analyze some of the factors which appear to be responsible for the success of the project. Information concerning the physical plant and the early gas injection history has been presented in an earlier paper.' RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICS production in the Cook Ranch Field is from a large lens of Cook Sand. of lower Permian or upper Pennsylvanian age, occurring at an average depth of 1.300 ft. The average dip of the sand body, as shown in Fig. 1. is only about 50 ft per mile to the northwest. The reservoir has an area of 930 acres and contains 15,512 acre-ft of Sand, consisting of about 14.512 acre-ft of produc-tive oil zone. and an estimated 1.000 acre-ft of primary gas-cap. The iso-pachous map (Fig. 2) was prepared from drillers' logs. Recent coring in the field has proven these logs to be quite accurate. The productive limits of the field are defined by shale on all sides but the southwest where a small zone of edgewater was encountered. This water does not appear to have encroached into the reservoir, and water production has been small. A smaller producing area to the south of the Cook Ranch Field also produces from the Cook Sand. but is separated from the reservoir under consideration by a band of shale. The sand consists of well sorted, coarse grained. rounded and subangu-lar quartz fragments. very poorly cemented. The analysis of 46 chip-core samples from two recently completed test wells indicates a range of porosity values between 12.5 and 28.2 per cent. wit11 an arithmetic average of 24.0 per cent. Air permeability values range between 50 and 2,300 md, with an arithmetic average of 1.200 md. The reservoir where cored is a Solid sand body. with no discernible major shale breaks or impermeable streaks. Vertical permeability appears to be of the same magnitude as the horizontal permeability. A core of the Cook Sand was cut ill the smaller field to the south, using lubricating oil as drilling fluid. The connate water content of the sand in this core was found to average about ten per cent, and the porosity and permeability were comparable with the values reported above. No analysis was made of subsurface or recombined hydrocarbon samples,

Jan 1, 1952

By C. E. Birchenall, R. H. Condit, M. J. Brabers

In the oxidation of pure iron above 700°C the overall rate is determined mainly by the rapid growth of wiistite, through which iron ions can diffuse rapidly.' Nickel added to the iron progressively decreases the stable range of composition of wustite.' When enough nickel is added to eliminate wiistite as a stable phase, the spinel is the fast growing phase. This investigation was undertaken to test the hypothesis that nickel substituting for iron in magnetite might decrease the rate of spinel growth by reducing the iron mobility. Nickel ferrite boules grown by the flame fusion process were purchased from the Linde Co. Chemical analysis gave an atomic ratio of iron to nickel of 2.88 and showed no other cations. They were cut into discs and ground to give flat, parallel faces. The experimental procedure employed was like that of Eisen and Birchenall in which the distribution of radioactivity diffused in from a vapor deposited surface layer was determined by counting the residual activity through a series of ground faces. The diffusivities were calculated in a manner consistent with the requirements discussed by Condit and BirchenallP The details will be given in connection with a more extensive spinel diffusion study now in progress. The results of the measurements are shown in the figure in comparison with earlier data on magnetite1 and zinc ferrite. The uncertainties arising from scatter in the activity vs distance relationship and uncertainties in the temperatures are shown by flags. Despite the scatter it is clear that substitution of a considerable part of the iron in magnetite by nickel, in this case about one third decreases the iron mobility substantially. sachs' determination of the distribution of iron and nickel in scales on iron-nickel alloys appears to show that nickel is less mobile than iron in the spinel layer. It is evident, therefore, that nickel plays several roles in reducing the oxidation rate of iron-nickel alloys. 1) It reduces progressively the stability range of wiistite. ' 2) It reduces progressively the stability range of the iron-nickel spinel phase in terms of the variation in cation to anion ratio.' 3) As shown in this investigation, it reduces the cation mobility in the spinel phase which is the faster growing phase in the absence of wiistite. The fe was obtained from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (ARDC) under contract number AF 18(600)-967.

Jan 1, 1961

By J. W. Downey, M. V. Nevitt

The phase boundaries for the 950" isothermal sections in the ternary systems Zr-Co-0 and `Zr-Ni-0 have been determined for the composition range from 50 to 100 at. pct Zr. The two systems show very similar phase relations, having no extensive solid solution phase fields. Each contains a ternary phase. These phases are apparently isostructural, but their structure has not been determined. Some aspects of the phase relations are discussed in terms of the alloying behavior of transition metals. THE work described in this paper is the outgrowth of a recent study of the occurrence of phases having the Ti2Ni-type structure (structure-type E9,) in certain ternary systems involving Ti, Zr, or Hf with another transition metal and O.", In the Zr-CO-0 and Zr-Ni-0 systems no Ti2Ni-type phases were found to occur. However, there are several interesting aspects of the phase relations in the two systems which have significance from the point of view of the alloying behavior of transition metals. The results of this investigation may also have some importance in studies of the oxidation of Zr-Co and Zr-Ni alloys. In both the Zr-Co-0 and Zr-Ni-0 systems only the 950" isothermal sections were investigated and, as a further restriction, the study was limited to the composition range from 50 to 100 at. pct Zr. A tentative Zr-Co binary diagram has been published by Larsen, Williams, and Pehin. In the composition range pertinent to the present work they report a eutectic at 980°C and 75.9 at. pct Zr, the products of which are the terminal solid solution based on /3 Zr and the compound Zr2Co, and a eutectic at 1080" and 64.8 at. pct Zr whose products are Zr,Co and ZrCo. The solid solution based on /3 Zr is shown to decompose eutectoidally at 826°C into a Zr and Zr2Co. The limits of solubility of Co in a and /3 Zr have not been established. The structure of Zr2Co is not identified in the publication just cited. Dwight has reported that ZrCo has the CsC1-type strcture. The Zr-rich portion of the Zr-Ni diagram has been determined by Hayes, Roberson, and Paasche." The phase relations are very similar to those of the ZrCo system. A eutectic reaction whose products are /3 Zr containing 2.9 at. pct Ni and Zr,Ni occurs at 961°c, and a eutectic between Zr,Ni and ZrNi is found at 985". The solid solution based on /3 Zr decomposes eutectoidally at 808°C. The solubility of Ni in a Zr is not known accurately but is believed to be very small. Smith, Kirkpatrick, Bailey, and Williams7 have found that Zr2Ni has a tetragonal structure of the A1,Cu-type and that ZrNi is orthorhombic. Domagala and McPherson8 have published a constitution diagram for the system Zr-ZrO,. At 950" their diagram indicates that the solid solution of 0 in 0 Zr is stable from 0 to 0.5 at. pct while the phase field of 0 in a Zr extends from 6 to 29 at. pct. These solubility limits were adopted in the present study and no binary Zr-0 alloys were made. No previous data on the phase diagrams of the ternary systems are known to exist. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The experimental details involved in the preparation of alloys in this laboratory by arc melting have been described in several previous papers"3 and they will not be repeated here. Information concerning the purity of the metals used is given in Table I. Oxygen was added in the form of reagent grade ZrO,. All of the cast specimens in both alloy systems were annealed in air-atmosphere tube furnaces at 950 3' for 72 hr and water quenched. The specimens were protected from oxidation by wrapping them in Mo foil and sealing them in quartz tubes that had been evacuated at room temperature to a pressure of 1 x 10B mm of Hg. The phase boundaries were determined by metallography, and identification of the phases was accomplished primarily by X-ray diffraction methods which employed a powder camera having a diameter of 114.6 mm. The diffraction techniques which are in use in this laboratory have been previously described.' An etchant that proved satisfactory for most of the alloys consisted of 5 pct by vol of AgNO

Jan 1, 1962

By D. L. Garthwaite, F. M. Stewart, F. K. Krebill

Pressure has been maintained in the Elk Basin Ten-deep reservoir since the initiation of inert gas injection in Sept., 1949. Oil is being produced under conditions favorable for gravity drainage, including high angle of dip, appreciable structural closure, and fairly good per~neability. Results being obtained are high per cent recovery of oil-in-place, sustained field productivity, reduced operating problems, and recovery of plant products. The high recovery has been calculated by alpplication of the gravity drainage theory described in an earlier AIME paper.' It is also confirmed from field performance by comparing nil recovery to date with gas cap spuce voided. GENERAL INFORMATION The Elk Basin field lies in Park County, Wyo., and Carbon County, Mont., approximately 50 miles east of Yellowstone Park. Located at the northern end of the Big Horn Basin. the field is situated on an elongated asymmetrical anticline (Fig. 1). The pressure maintenance project covered by this paper involves the Embar-Tensleep reservoir in this multi-pay field. Discovered in Nov., 1942, it has a proved productive area of over 6,300 acres. It consists of the 210-ft thick Tensleep sandstone of Pennsylvanian Age overlain by 40 ft of Embar dolomite of Permian Age. The two formations apparently are in communication with each other and are produced as a common source of supply. As 98 per cent of the reserves are contained in the Tensleep sandFtone, in this paper the Embar-Tensleep reservoir will he called simply the Tensleep. The reservoir is found at an average depth of 4,900 it, is approximately 7 miles long and 2 miles wide, and has a maximum oil productive closure of 2,330 ft. The strata dip an average of 21" on the west flank and 45" on the east. There are presently 132 Tensleep wells in the field drilled on 40-acre spacing; of these, 17 are shut in because of high gas-oil ratio (GOR) and eight are gas injection wells. Rock characteristics and related information for the pay section follow: Porosity, avg 10.7 per cent Permeability (air) from cores, avg 118 mds Permeability from PI'S 91 mds Connate water, avg 8 per cent Initial pressure (-400 ft) 2,234 psia Pressure April 1954 (-400 ft) 1.327 psia At high structural positions much of the better sandstone has connate water content of only 2 to 5 per cent as indicated by the coring of wells with oil in nearby Tensleep fields. In special imbibition tests, samples readily imbibed oil but repelled water. In tests on crushed samples, the sand grains rapidly settled in oil and carbon tetrachloride but formed a stable unsinking floc in water. This information indicates that the Tensleep sand is preferentially oil wet. The oil produced averages 29' API gravity and has a high sulfur content. Extensive sampling and testing have established the fact that characteristics of reservoir oil in this field vary greatly with structure, see Fig. 2. Additional detail on the variation of oil characteristics with structure at Elk Basin may be found in Reference 2. At original reservoir pressure the oil was undersatu-rated with gas, the bubble point being 1,250 psi at the crest but only 500 psi at the lowest elevation sampled. As noted on Fig. 2, other fluid properties—reservoir volume factor. solution ratio, gravity, viscosity, and hydrogen sulfide content—likewise vary greatly. These variations complicate mathematical analysis, for it is necessary to average these characteristics in order to enter them into reservoir engineering expressions. To further complicate analysis, sand-face pressure also varies greatly because of the increase in fluid head down structure. As an approximation, average properties under initial conditions may be read from Fig. 2 at the -450-ft elevation.

Jan 1, 1956

By J. E. Lawver, B. J. Clingan, R. E. Snow

Response surface methodology is a well-known and powerful technique for determining optimum conditions in flotation systems. One disadvantage is the onerous task of the numerical calculations and curve plotting. This paper describes a system in which the investigator simply selects the range of several flotation variables after which the design of the experiment, data analysis, generation of response surface equations, and response surface plots are automatically carried out using a digital computer and a computer-driven curve plotter. Several typical response surfaces of important variables in phosphate flotation are presented as examples.

Jan 1, 1980

By D. H. Davis

There are two general types of oil flotation processes, froth and bulk-oil. In froth flotation, the coal concentrates are removed in the form of a froth or foam composed of air, liquid, and solids. Mechanical or pneumatic agitation of a coal slurry with suitable frothing agent causes a selective action of the bubbles to the coal particles which are carried to the upper portion of the pulp in the flotation cell; the refuse is wetted by the water and does not rise with the froth, but goes out as tailings. The other type of flotation process, bulk-oil, consists of thoroughly mixing the slurry or pulp with 30 to 50 pct of its weight of oil. The coal agglomerates with the oil and drops to the bottom of the cell while the refuse is wetted by the water and is carried away in suspension. The concentrate granules may be screened and drained to 12 to 15 pct moisture. The minus 200 or 300-mesh is very effectively treated by this process. The Trent process is a bulk-oil type which has been used for coal cleaning on a commercial basis, but its use has been discontinued in this country. Froth flotation of bituminous coal should be subdivided into two distinct fields: (I) separation of a dry coal product such as recovered from an aspiration system; (2) separation of a minus 48-mesh slurry such as produced from a thickener in a wet cleaning plant. The capacities, performance, and general operating characteristics are very different in these two fields. The recirculated slurry in a washery becomes oxidized and is much harder to treat than a dry dust. It is difficult to clean a slurry containing an appreciable percentage of plus 48-mesh without also floating some high-ash clays minus 200-niesh in size. On the other hand, while working with an aspirated dust, good results have been obtained in floating coal as coarse as 3/16-in. Because of the relatively low capacity of flotation machines as compared with conventional fine-coal cleaners .and because of the greater quantity of reagents required to float coarse coal, there is usually no point in considering flotation on bituminous coal for anything coarser than approximately 48-mesh. In some coal-cleaning plants, good separations are being made down to 80 or even 100-mesh by a less expensive system of coal cleaning than flotation. The Pittsburgh Coal Co. carried out extensive tests on laboratory batch machines and on small units of both pneumatic and mechanical agitation types from 1930 to 1935 and have operated six, eight, and then twelve mill-size mechanical subaeration cells from 1932 to 1944 This paper will deal with some of the operating phases and results of coal-flotation practices as derived from this experience, and more specifically with the flotation practice at the Champion No. I preparation plant. The experience gained from the research and initial experimental work contributed greatly to the successful operation of the mill-sized flotation units at Champion.

Jan 1, 1949

By E. W. Henderson

Development work in the state of Utah in 1935 consisted of additional work done on wildcat tests started in previous years and on a number of new wildcat tests started during the year. No effort was made to extend areas or to discover deeper productive horizons in proven fields. Principal areas of development were in Daggett County, northeastern Utah; Grand and Emery counties, east-central Utah; and in Washington County, southwestern Utah. Daggett County Clay Basin.—The Mountain Fuel Supply Co. deepened Murphy No. 2, sec. 21, T.3N., R.24E., from 6030 to 6790 ft. for a test of the Sundance formation. Two sandstone members at 6520 to 6644 ft. and 6737 to 6790 ft. contained water. The hole was plugged back to 5860 ft. and left as a future gas supply for the Salt Lake City-Ogden pipe line. The failure of the Sundance formation to produce in this test, in view of the recent Sundance discoveries in Colorado arid Wyoming, was disappointing Emery County Last Chance.—-Thc wildcat test of the Rainsey Petroleum Corporn-tion, Well No. 1-X, sec. 18, T.26S., R.7E., completed plugging back from total depth of 3168 ft. to 2771 ft. and was shut in as a gas well. A gas sand at 2724 to 2771 ft. produced approximately 21 million cubic fert. A deep test of the structure will be started upon approval of a wit plan of development. Grand County Cisco.—-The wildcat test of the Utah Southern Oil Co., sec. 33, T.22S., R.22E., of which the total depth was 1720 ft. on Dec. 31, 1935, is the most interesting operation ill the state. Location of the test was deter-

Jan 1, 1936

By E. W. Henderson

Development work in the state of Utah in 1935 consisted of additional work done on wildcat tests started in previous years and on a number of new wildcat tests started during the year. No effort was made to extend areas or to discover deeper productive horizons in proven fields. Principal areas of development were in Daggett County, northeastern Utah; Grand and Emery counties, east-central Utah; and in Washington County, southwestern Utah. Daggett County Clay Basin.—The Mountain Fuel Supply Co. deepened Murphy No. 2, sec. 21, T.3N., R.24E., from 6030 to 6790 ft. for a test of the Sundance formation. Two sandstone members at 6520 to 6644 ft. and 6737 to 6790 ft. contained water. The hole was plugged back to 5860 ft. and left as a future gas supply for the Salt Lake City-Ogden pipe line. The failure of the Sundance formation to produce in this test, in view of the recent Sundance discoveries in Colorado arid Wyoming, was disappointing Emery County Last Chance.—-Thc wildcat test of the Rainsey Petroleum Corporn-tion, Well No. 1-X, sec. 18, T.26S., R.7E., completed plugging back from total depth of 3168 ft. to 2771 ft. and was shut in as a gas well. A gas sand at 2724 to 2771 ft. produced approximately 21 million cubic fert. A deep test of the structure will be started upon approval of a wit plan of development. Grand County Cisco.—-The wildcat test of the Utah Southern Oil Co., sec. 33, T.22S., R.22E., of which the total depth was 1720 ft. on Dec. 31, 1935, is the most interesting operation ill the state. Location of the test was deter-

Jan 1, 1936

By F. B. Sherman, Keros Cartwright

Sanitary land filling has become one of the most widely used methods of disposing of solid refuse. A principal concern of regulatory agencies and the public itself is that landfill operations do not degrade the physical environment, including water resources, and the ground-water reservoir in particular. Knowledge of ground-water and engineering geology can guide landfill operations into suitable terranes or develop measures to compensate for natural limitations at a particular site. Experience and research in Illinois suggest four activities relating to landfill disposal that warrant attention by geologists and engineers: (1) regional delineation of favorable and unfavorable hydrogeologic conditions to facilitate planning and preliminary screening of potential landfill sites; (2) site evaluations, with considerations of geologic materials, topography, water levels, flow systems, and local occurrence and use of water resources; (3) research on aspects of the hydrogeologic environment that control effects of, or are modified by, landfills; and (4) formulation of practices in the siting, construction, and operation of landfills that prevent, mitigate, or isolate deleterious effects. The first two activities are basically in the domain of earth science, requiring the application of fundamental concepts of geology and hydrology and conventional site-exploration methods. The third activity, research, requires contributions from geology as well as other disciplines, including soil physics, sanitary engineering, and chemistry. The fourth calls for policy decisions by regulatory agencies and elected officials, using the contributions of scientists and engineers. Throughout history, man has disposed of unwanted materials by dumping. As urbanization has increased, haphazard dumping practices have given way to disposal under more controlled conditions because of increasing congestion of population and production of waste and greater concern for public health and environmental amenities. Many states and communities have already outlawed open dumping and open burning of refuse. The only practical methods of disposal of large volumes of refuse, therefore, are contained, high-temperature incineration, or burial in a sanitary landfill. In Illinois, regulation of solid waste disposal has been delegated to the Environmental Protection Agency. Each session of the legislature since 1965 has passed increasingly strict laws regulating waste diposal. As a result, the work of evaluating sanitary landfill sites has increased significantly for both the Department of Public Health, now the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois State Geological Survey, which advises the Agency on matters of ground-water geology and pollution. In fact, our ground-water staff spends as much time on studies relating to waste disposal, primarily sanitary landfills, as on ground-water resource studies. Many other geological agencies are experiencing similar demands for increased assistance in solving waste-disposal problems. This paper summarizes some of the salient features of the sanitary landfill concept, describes activities of the Illinois Geological Survey in ground-water and engineering geology relating to landfills, and suggests policies that need consideration. A sanitary landfill is located and operated in such a way that vermin and pests, nuisances, and degradation of air and water are kept at acceptable levels. Some of the physical requirements of a sanitary landfill are all-weather roads for year-round access, fences to retain blowing paper, a daily cover of at least six inches of suitable earth material, and a final cover of at least 2 ft of earth material. Dumping into or adjacent to standing water generally is not allowed. Two common operating techniques are used. In the first, trenches are dug, the refuse is placed in them, and the earth removed from the trenches is used to cover the waste. In the second method, area fill, refuse is placed in low ground and covered with earth from adjacent high areas. The hydrology of the site is a prime consideration in locating sanitary landfills. Putrescible refuse, if saturated above field capacity, produces a leachate that usually has a high concentration of dissolved solids.2 As the leachate also acts as an agent for transporting bacterial pollutants, it constitutes a potential pollution hazard. To reduce the production of leachates, the topography of the landfill area should be such that surface water will not flow into or through the fill. Operations that will result in refuse disposal below or near the highest known water-table elevation may be required to take corrective or preventive measures to protect the ground water. In practice, under humid conditions such as prevail in Illinois, locations where disposal can take place above the water table are relatively few because surficial materials are commonly fine-grained, which permits slow gravity drainage and results in high degrees of saturation (100% moisture content) near the surface. At some sites, although disposal has taken place above the water table, ground-water mounds have developed, resulting in permanent saturation of the refuse. Permeability barriers usually are required to protect the ground-water reservoir from degradation by leachates. The convention in Illinois is to have a minimum of

Jan 1, 1972

By C. M. Shigley

Tan record of the largest magnesium plant in the country utilizing sea water as a primary raw material stands as another victory in the struggle for large-scale production of pure chemical elements from the oceans. Bromine was the first element to be economically and commercially recovered when, in 1933, a six million pound per year unit was built on the Atlantic Coast near Wilmington, North Carolina, by the Ethyl-Dow Chemical Co.1 The bromine was reacted with ethylene to produce ethylene dibromide, a necessary associate of tetraethyl lead in ethyl antiknock fluid. Within eight years that plant was doubled and redoubled, and another large unit was put into operation at Freeport, Texas, taking bromine from the Gulf of Mexico. In 1940, in fortunate anticipation of the impending demand for magnesium and the limitations of the production from natural brines, the Dow Chemical Co. turned again to the sea, and designed and erected a plant at Freeport to produce 18,000,000 lb. of magnesium per year from sea water.2 In March 1941, two months after the new plant had been put into successful operation, construction of an 18,000,000-lb. Government-financed addition was started. Late in 1941, as a part of the $400,000,000 defense program intended to produce 600,000,000 t0 700,000,000 lb. of magnesium per year, Dow was asked to build and operate for the Government a 72,000000-lb. plant near its original plant at Freeport. Within a few days after the Japanese made their attack at Pearl Harbor, preparation of a site was started at Velasco, Texas, for the construction of the Texas plant of the Dow Magnesium Corporation-the largest known magnesium plant utilizing sea water as its raw material. Less than six months after the first piling was driven, urgently needed magnesium was in steady production. Five months later, the plant had exceeded its rated capacity. It remained above rated production until the general magnesium curtailment was applied to Government-owned plants in September 1944. Credit for the construction and operation record of the Dow magnesium plant must be divided among the efforts of a very determined group of men, an extremely favorable location, and a simple process. It is with the two latter aspects of the plant that this article will deal. The site for the new enterprise was chosen near Velasco, Texas, on property bordering the Brazos River at a point approximately 6 miles inland from the original magnesium plant and y miles inland from the Freeport Harbor on the Gulf of Mexico. This location was far enough away from the operating units to reduce both interference from construction and the vulnerability of closely bunched manufacturing operations to the then feared air attack. Yet the distance inland was not too great for the economical construction of a barge canal from the harbor to serve both the transportation of raw

Jan 1, 1945

By J. C. Reed, P. J. Shenon

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

By P. J. Shenon, J. C. Reed

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

By P. J. Shenon, J. C. Reed

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

By Everett H. Graff, Ray H. Misener

THE Sol de Oro mine is in the province of Nazca, 487 km. southeast of Lima, and 60 km. inland from the coast at an elevation of 1200 m. above sea level. From Lima the mine may be reached in 8 hr. by automobile; 472 km. from Lima to Nazca over the paved Pan-American Highway and 15 km. from Nazca to the mine over a good graveled road. The trip from Lima can also be made in 2 hr. via the Faucett Air Lines which make two stops weekly at Nazca. The [Compania] Aurifera Nazca, owning and operating the Sol de Oro mine, was organized in Lima in 1930 by a group of prominent Peruvian mining men, including Ing. Carlos Alvarez Calderon, Dr. Alfredo Alvarez Calderón, Ing. Hector Boza, Ing. Jorge Félix Remy, Ing. Eulogio Femandini, Sr. Fernando Wiese, and Sr. Julio East. The nine claims in the Sol de Oro group owned by the company comprise an area of 52 square kilometers. Development of the property was not started until 1932 and only then under adverse conditions, owing to lack of transportation facilities. Mining machinery and other supplies could be taken as far as Ica by boat and railroad, but to transport them over the 180 km. of hot, sandy desert from Ica to the mine was a problem. There was no road in those days and only a few of the most venturesome truck drivers cared to contract the hauling. Another problem the company had to face was that of securing adequate labor. The Sol de Oro is in an agricultural region, and was forced to look to the near-by cotton plantations for men. Experienced men were imported from the "sierras," but they did not stay. The men are accustomed to high altitudes and cold climate and cannot easily acclimate themselves to the hot and arid coastal region. As a consequence the company has been forced to hire the inexperienced local laborers and train them for mining. The company has established three separate camps at the Sol de Oro property. Each is approximately one kilometer from the other and connected by auto road. The upper mine camp consists of living quarters for 300 workmen and their families, a general mine office, carpenter shop and timber-framing shed, compressor house, drill-sharpening and drill-repair shop, first-aid station, time office, school and store. At the central or "empleados" camp there is a 200-ton cyanide plant, general offices, warehouse, powerhouse, shops, laboratory, hospital, school, guest house, an 18-room hotel for the single staffmen, and 12 completely modern five-room cottages for the married staff employees. At the lower camp are living quarters for 200 workmen and their families, two general stores, a school and a small theater. Below this camp, along the river, are the company wells and pumping plant supplying water for mine, mill, and camp uses.

Jan 1, 1945

By C. C. Harris

The characteristics of some common size distribution equations are critically discussed. A generalized form of several well-known size distribution equations is obtained from a differential equation describing statistical distributions. The equation contains three parameters and can describe the major features of size distributions in the fine and the coarse size regions. A graphical method for its implementation is provided. The application of this and other equations to sets of data are compared both for the quality of fit and from a comminution kinetics viewpoint. If a narrow size range of a brittle material is broken sufficiently to obliterate the feed sizes, but not so severely that excessive secondary breakage occurs, a plot of cumulative fraction by weight undersize (Y) vs. sieve size (X) on a log log grid (sometimes called the Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann plot)1-3 gives a straight line of slope ~ 1 over much of its range. On closer inspection, deviations in the extreme coarse range covering perhaps 10 to 30% of the total sample may be apparent (frequently, a change in slope from ~ 1 to a value different from unity) together with over-all slight irregular departures from a smooth line. One model of breakage postulates that the same fracture pattern persists throughout all size ranges.4 The fracture pattern is characterized by the slope of the line on a log log grid. Accordingly, a distribution of sizes broken in the manner specified earlier is expected to produce a size distribution having the same slope as that of a broken narrow size range. Additionally, the slight irregularities mentioned above should even out in the summation process, giving a smooth straight line of slope ~1 on a log log plot. This idealized state of affairs does not, however, describe the distribution of a multi-event process such as that for a tumbling mill product. On the average, these curves (plotted again log log) tend to have a slope in the fine region different from and usually less than unity,5 while the coarse size region curves with increasing slope for cases of mild reduction, and with decreasing slope when moderate or severe size reduction has occurred. In addition, there are usually slight irregular deviations from a smooth curve. Most curves display two distinct regions — fine and coarse — and a few curves show one or more intermediate regions. Feed size studies6,7 show an effect which theory is required to explain. For the same material, mill loading and other operating conditions, and the same time of grinding, plotting the dimensionless ratios Y vs. X/(feed size) does not reduce the size distribution data to the same curve. Y vs. X does not correlate the coarse region, but it can provide a crude correlation of the fine region which improves as size diminishes and as grinding time increases. The size distribution in the coarse region is somewhat more dependent on the feed size than is the distribution in the fine region wherein the degree of dependence diminishes as time proceeds; the distribution of sizes in the fine region are determined largely by the nature of the material and the comminution conditions. A comprehensive model of comminution must recognize that several different patterns or modes of breakage can occur in a mill; 5,8,9 that there can be some selection in that some size ranges are broken more than others; and that, while some particles may be the product of a single fracture event, or may even remain unbroken, others result from multiple rebreak-age. Thus, breakage in a tumbling mill is more complex than the Schuhmann4 model admits in that several different types of comminution micro-events* occur rather than just one type, and these events, though different in size scale, are of the same overall pattern as that which is visualized by the model. The concept of an average comminution micro-event has, therefore, a mathematical rather than a physical connotation, at least for tumbling milling. Equations with which to describe particle size distributions have been sought for over half a century.10-13 No equation presently in general use was first derived from an analysis of the statistical mechanics of breakage; whatever theoretical basis the existing

Jan 1, 1969