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By R. F. Domagala, M. Hansen, D. J. McPherson

Iodide zirconium was combined with calculated amounts of nitrided zirconium sponge and arc melted to prepare alloys in the 0 to 6 wt pct N region. Annealing treatments were carried out at 21 temperature levels. Metallographic examination of the heat-treated specimens permitted construction of the binary phase diagram from 0 to 6 pct N. Features of the diagram include the peritectic formation of both a and ß solid solutions. The maximum solubility of nitrogen is 0.8 pct in 8 zirconium and 4.8 pct in a zirconium. An X-ray study of nitrided materials was made in the range 6 to 13 wt pct N region because serious nitrogen losses were experienced when attempts were made to arc melt these high nitrogen alloys. PHASE relationships in the Zr-N system have been determined. Due to the inability to retain nitrogen in nitrogen-rich alloys subjected to arc melting, definitive work was possible only in the range 0 to 6 wt pct (0 to 30 atomic pct) N. Sufficient complementary X-ray work was done to permit construction of the binary phase diagram up to 13.3 wt pct (50 atomic pct) N (ZrN). Small ingots were prepared by arc melting master alloys with enough zirconium to produce an alloy of the desired composition. Following pretreatment, alloys were annealed at temperature levels between 600" and 2020°C. Determination of the phase boundaries was then accomplished by metallographic evaluation of specimens quenched from the various temperatures. Incipient melting techniques were used to corroborate solidus curves, and X-ray diffraction was employed to study the nitrogen-rich region of the a + ZrN phase field. Materials Westinghouse Grade 1 iodide zirconium crystal bar served as the base material for this investigation. The as-received bars were lightly sandblasted, pickled in a 20 pct HN0-5 pct HF aqueous solution, rinsed in water and acetone, and dried. They were rolled to about 1/32 in. strip and acid-pickled, followed by water and then acetone rinses. The material was sheared to approximately 1/4 in. squares, cleaned with acetone, and stored for use. Pure zirconium nitride is not commercially available, according to correspondence with possible suppliers. A literature survey indicated that nitrogen may be introduced into zirconium metal by passing nitrogen or ammonia gas over zirconium at an elevated temperature. After considerable experimentation, a train was devised whereby high quality nitrogen was passed through a series of bubblers to remove the last traces of oxygen, through an H,SO, bubbler and a cold trap to remove moisture, and finally over zirconium within a resistance furnace. Hand-picked Bureau of Mines magnesium-reduced zirconium sponge proved more amenable to nitriding than the crystal bar. The nitrogen used was extra pure gas purchased from Linde Air Products Co. The first two bubblers through which the gas was passed contained a solution suggested by L. F. Fieser" as being ideal for removing the last traces of oxygen from nitrogen. The solution contains 20 g KOH, 2 g sodium-anthraquinone ,9-sulphonate, and 15 g NaHSO, dissolved in 100 ml water. It is blood-red and turns brown when contaminated with oxygen. A saturated lead acetate solution, next in the series of bubblers, removed any H2S which might have formed in the 0, removal stage. An H,SO, bubbler and cold trap removed moisture before the nitrogen was passed over the zirconium. The zirconium was contained in a stainless steel screen within a Vycor or quartz tube in a resistance furnace. Unreacted nitrogen passed out of the system through a mercury bubbler. A nitriding run was performed in the following manner: Zirconium was placed in the screen within the furnace tube. The unit was assembled, suitably clamped off, and evacuated to remove the air and moisture within the tube and that trapped by the zirconium sponge. The unit was flushed with nitrogen and evacuated twice. After nitrogen was allowed to pass over the zirconium for about 30 min, the furnace was turned on; several hours were required to reach temperature. The reaction was allowed to continue at temperature for about 4 hr and the screen was then withdrawn from the hot zone of the furnace by means of a Nichrome or Kanthal rod. The screen and its contents were allowed to cool at the end of the tube and were then removed. At 800°C no more than about 5 pct N could be introduced into the sponge zirconium. This material was designated M-1 (master alloy No. 1) and reserved for the preparation of alloys in the dilute nitrogen region. A second set of experiments was conducted at 1000°C; no more than 7.2 pct N could be introduced into the zirconium at this temperature. Enough material (M-2) of this nitrogen content was prepared to produce a second set of alloys to complement the first and to provide alloys in the 0 to 6 wt pct N range. It was hoped that a diffusion anneal plus a re-nitriding might yield a material of higher nitrogen content. The material containing about 7 pct N was therefore given a homogenization treatment at 1000°C for 6 hr under an argon atmosphere. It was

Jan 1, 1957

By H. I. Aaronson, H. A. Domian, G. M. Pound

Zener's two-parameter theory of the y a reaction in Fe-X alloys is extended to encornpass austenite-stabilizing as well as fewite-stabilizing elements, and is then cottzbitzed with statistical thermodynamic theories of Fe-C alloys to permit development of a ther-modynamic description of the proeutectoid fewite reaction in Fe-C-X alloys. Equilibrium tielines are calculated for tile a + y rep'on from experimental data and frort extrapolations of the y/y +a equilibrium surface. Sectzovs of the y/y + 0 surface are calculaled for the tzetastable sstuation LYL u-kich alloyrtg eleitzents do not partition betzseen azrstenite andfer-rite. The finding that the metastable y/a + y curves Lie close to their equilibriuwz counterparts when X = Si, .Vo, Co, Al, and Cu but well below them when X = A/ln or Ari pr-elides a thermodunamic explanation for the expcri1?7e?ztally obserted absence of partition during the proeutec toid ferrite reartlon in the fortner alloys and for the occurrence of partition at hzgher ternperatures in the latter alloys. Cotarison ofno- patitzoa free-energy changes and y/y i a curr,es in Fe-C-X alloys with the equilibrium 11al1es of these quantities in Fe-C alloys furnishes additional qualitative insight into the irqluence of allojling elements upon the kinetics of the proeutectoicl ferrite reaction. THE introduction of a substitutional alloying element, X, appreciably complicates calculation of the thermodynamics of the formation of proeutectoid ferrite from austenite. As noted in the preceding paper,' the positional entropy of the interstitial species is the principal component of the free energy of an interstitial solid solution with which theory has so far been able to deal. One would expect, however, that other components of the free energy of this type of solid solution may be significantly altered by the addition of a substitutional alloying element. Even if the assumptions are made, by analogy to the case of Fe-C alloys,' that changes in the positional entropy of carbon represent a significant part of the thermodynamic effects of an alloying element, and that the remaining effects can be taken into account by fitting the equations developed on this basis to experimental data on Fe-C-X phase diagrams or on the activities of carbon in alloyed austenite and ferrite, the experimental information available on either of these quantities is not yet sufficiently accurate or extensive, respectively, to make such an approach useful. An attempt made by Zener on the former basis to explain the effects of alloying elements on the thermodynamics of Fe-C alloys in terms of a temperature-independent "free-energy change" (actually enthalpy hane') required to transfer 1 mole of an alloying element from austenite to ferrite, in which the "free-energy change" was determined by fitting the theoretical relationships developed to Fe-C-X phase diagrams, thus proved inadequate in part because of deficiencies in the available ternary-phase-diagram data.= Other difficulties of a more fundamental nature, however, also indicated the desirability of a different approach to the problem.3y4y6 zener6 subsequently proposed that the free-energy change associated with y — a transformation in pure iron can be decomposed into magnetic and nonmagnetic components. Alloying elements were assumed to affect those components separately. One parameter was used to describe the quantitative effect exerted on each component. These parameters were evaluated from Ms (martensite-start) temperature data and from other experimental information usually either readily available or measurable with acceptable accuracy. Zener applied this treatment only to the calculation of Fe-X phase diagrams in which X is a ferrite-stabilizing element. In the present study, this treatment is extended to include austenite-stabilizing elements, and then combined with treatments previously considered for Fe-C alloys1 to permit calculation of the thermodynamic quantities of interest in the austenite - proeutectoid ferrite transformation in Fe-C-X alloys, where a number of representative, and commonly used alloying elements are chosen for X, including Si, Mn, Co, Mo, Al, Cr, and Cu. The results are used to explain important features of the partition of alloying elements between austenite and proeutectoid ferrite, as reported in a companion paper7 on the basis of electron-probe analysis, and to provide some additional understanding of the influence of alloying elements upon the kinetics of nucleation and growth of proeutectoid ferrite. Portions of this treatment6 have been clarified in the course of a review by Kaufman and Cohen.3 The consolidated summary of these developments with which this section is begun provides a basis for further clarification of the treatment, from which extension to include austenite- as well as ferrite-stabilizing elements is a natural consequence. The division of the free-energy change associated with the 7 - a transformation in pure iron, into two independent components is formally stated as:

Jan 1, 1967

By Asheim, Harald A.

Parameter estimates affect both the optimum field development decisions and the economic result. A general methodology for assessment of the effects of parameter uncertainty in offshore development decision situations is proposed, and used to analyze aspects of the initial development situation for the Statfjord field.

Jan 1, 1982

By Roy A. Anderson, Roger H. McConnel

The Metaline district from 1906 through 1965 has produced nearly 16 million tons of ore yielding 400,808 tons of zinc and 178,062 tons of lead. The sediments, ranging from Precambrian into the Devonian, are schist, phyllite, conglomerate, greenstone, quartzite, limestone, dolomite, and carbonaceous slates. Quartz monzonite and granodiorite of the Cretaceous(?) Kaniksu batholith are exposed over a large area beginning a few miles south of the district. There is minor Tertiary conglomerate and basalt. Abundant glacial deposits obscure much of the bedrock. Northeasterly trending folds, having steep to overturned northwesterly limbs, and thrust faults, striking northeasterly and dipping southeasterly, characterize the deformation of the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks. Recent drilling indicates that the Slate Creek fault, too, is also a southeasterly dipping thrust fault. This new evidence suggests that the Valley Block, like the other major structural blocks, may in part be a thrust plate rather than a graben, and that thus the district may have greater structural unity with the surrounding region than has heretofore been apparent. The Cambrian Metaline Formation of limestone and dolomite contains essentially all the lead-zinc mineralization. Most of the ore mined to date has come from a carbonaceous and irregularly siliceous breccia of sedimentary and diagenetic origin, locally called the "Josephine Horizon," that makes up the top few to 200 feet of the formation. The Josephine Unit is a breccia of gray limestone, coarse light gray dolomite, very thin-bedded, dark gray siliceous dolomite, and "zebra rock" believed to be of algal origin, embedded in a matrix of black dolomite or black jasperoid or some mixture of these two. The jaspcroid fragments and irregular blobs embedded in the black dolomite matrix and the jasperoid laminae in the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite suggest that jasperoid was formed at the same time as the breccia matrix and as the laminated dolomite. So too, the marked tendency of sphalerite and galena to be disseminated mainly in the dark breccia matrix and their tendency to be most abundant in the jasperoid laminae of the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite, even where the mineralized and laminated dolomite is fragmented and engulfed in black dolomite breccia matrix, suggests that in these ha bits the sulfides also were deposited contemporaneously with the sediments. Yet very commonly, veins and vague veinlets and patches of white quartz, usually carrying rather coarse sphalerite and sometimes galena crosscut all rock types. These contradictory relationships throughout the Josephine Unit suggest that both the black jasperoid and the sulfides were original constituents of the Josephine Unit but that, locally, they later were remobilized and deposited as white quartz and coarser grained sulfides. Possibly, at least in part, this "metamorphism" is one of the effects produced during or shortly after the intrusion of the Kaniksu batholith.

Jan 1, 1968

By Francis J. Dennis

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) MANY factors govern the value of dredging-ground, and much capital can be wasted by the mistaken policy of contracting for the purchase of property and the installation of machinery before a thorough, examination has been made. To the uninitiated investor the presence of gold is generally the criterion,, and very superficial evidence is necessary to satisfy him as to this point. He considers the comprehensive report of a competent engineer as a wasteful extravagance and cannot understand why the engineer requires so much time and money to ascertain the information on which to base his conclusions, when the promoter can furnish him such pleasing and satisfactory data with but little expenditure of time and money. The uninitiated investor will often optimistically risk capital for purchase and equipment, and not until the venture comes to grief does he learn that the conditions are wholly unsuited for dredging. In many instances, a short preliminary examination by a competent engineer would have disclosed these facts. The mere presence of gold is by no means sufficient; some of the other factors necessary to be ascertained in determining the value of placer-ground for dredging-purposes are : (1) character and distribution of gold, and how much can economically be recovered; (2) character of bedding underlying the gravel, its contour, and whether its gold can be recovered by ordinary dredging-operations; (3) area and depths of gravel, surface contour, over-burden, water-level, proportion of fine material and boulders, and the presence of any material which might interfere with the dredging-operations and the recovery of the gold; (4) water-supply, power available, labor, transportation, and supplies, and cost of these ; (5) climatic condi-tions; (6) title to property, cost and royalties, and legal obstacles to carrying on dredging-operations. A brief reconnaissance may be sufficient to determine that some of the essential conditions for successful dredging are

Apr 1, 1912

By R. W. Raymond

AT the Pittsburg meeting of the Institute, in March, 1910, the death of Mr. Metcalf was announced, and Col. H. P. Bope, of Pittsburg, delivered in memory of him a brief but eloquent address, which, though expressing the sorrow of Mr. Metcalf's friends, and, in general terms,. the debt of gratitude which his country and his profession owed to him, was not intended to be a complete survey of his life and work. With Colonel Bope's permission, and with the aid of some of the statements in his address, I substitute for it, in our Transactions, this more detailed, yet still inadequate memorial. As Colonel Bope justly remarked, the men who could do justice to this theme-such men, as Jones, Chalfant, Bennett, Oliver, and Park-passed away before Metcalf, leaving him almost the last of the generation of great steel-makers who made Pittsburg the Sheffield of America, and who discharged a double function, as the rear-guard of the old metallurgical practice and the van-guard of the new. I knew many of them; would that I were better qualified to celebrate their achievements. William Metcalf was born Sept. 3, 1838, at Pittsburg, Pa., where his father, Orlando Metcalf, was an eminent member of the bar. At the age, of sixteen, he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, N. Y., from which he was graduated in June, 1858. Returning to his native city, he became an assistant engineer in the Fort Pitt Foundry, of which. he was made Superintendent in 1859. This famous establishment produced the largest castings and heaviest machinery then known in the United States;-and Mr. Metcalf's intense, intelligent and incessant study of his business prepared him as a manufacturer for a patriotic service to his country more valuable than, as a soldier, he could have rendered in the field. The call came in 1862, when the government needed, above all things, a supply of field, naval and siege artillery. The

Apr 1, 1911

By Fred H. Brooks

INTRODUCTION The toughest job for any mining company, large or small, is to locate and identify a property which it feels has the potential for development and which can be tied up through location, lease or option under terms within their means. In the case of a small company, this precludes grass-roots exploration with its attendant high costs and the extended time required to develop a prospect to the point of being a project. The small mining company, therefore must limit its search to known properties which, for various reasons, have been shut down or were never thoroughly developed at the time of discovery. These types of prospects are located either through literature search, familiarity with many mining areas in general, or through contacts and submittals from a variety of sources. In order to develop a marketable presentation to any investor, the basic requirements are the same: - the property must demonstrate the potential to provide a satisfactory return on investment - the evaluation study must be thorough and professionally developed. In order to promote any mining property, it is first necessary to know what you have. INFORMATION DEVELOPMENT We normally begin with a detailed literature search of the district, assembling all available data on the basic geology, production records, and old reports of this or neighboring properties and any other information which can be found. This will aid in the general understanding of the basic geology and hopefully allow a fairly detailed knowledge of the specific occurrence. With this information one can begin to speculate on the reserve potential and develop some high and low figures for estimating purposes as to mining method, production rate, metallurgy and begin developing estimated capital and operating costs. Cashflow runs are developed for varying tonnages (high and low), estimated high and low grades of metal and at differing market prices for the product. FINANCE CONTACTS Brooks Minerals, from its inception, has been an operating company and we have been able to assemble a small but experienced operating staff. For this reason we try to put together projects and joint ventures where we can be the operator and maintain a certain degree of control. Whether due to familiarity with many colleagues in the mining industry or due to unfamiliarity with the banking houses and securities markets, the approach to raising finance has generally been to contact the established mining companies. This requires a familiarity with the corporate philosophies of these companies with respect to their development goals and financial capabilities. A common mistake is to shotgun the proposal to many companies of different sizes and goals in hopes that one might be interested. It is more beneficial, when possible, to tailor a proposal to each company, stressing the positive points where the specific proposal best meets their interests. One company may be more interested in a development program with fairly certain and conservative return potential. The property may well contain both possibilities but a lack of understanding of the individual company's method of operation could spoil the deal. In another instance, one company may look at a property as a moderate income producer over an extended life, yet a second may elect to high-grade the deposit over a shorter period in order to provide early cash flow or take advantage of a favorable market situation. MAKING THE DEAL There are as many types of deals as there

Jan 1, 1985

By Claudio Barsotti, Leonard C. Kitchener

INTRODUCTION The major mining operations of the Ontario Division of Inco Metals Company are located in the Sudbury Basin. Around the rim of this geo- logical formation and within thirty miles of the City of Sudbury are located eleven under- ground mines of the Company, two of which are on standby. In addition, there is one mine in Northwestern Ontario at Shebandowan, 1127 Km (700 miles) northwest of Sudbury. In 1980 ore production totalled 10.6 x 10 mt (11.7 million tons) from underground and open pit operations. Underground mining methods include blasthole, vertical retreat, sublevel caving, cut-and-fill and undercut-and-fill. Inco reduction operations in the Sudbury area include two concentrators, one smelter, one iron ore recovery plant, a copper refinery a nickel refinery and a high purity plate rolling mill. As well, an electrolytic nickel refinery is located on Lake Erie at Port Colborne, near Niagara Falls. In the Sudbury District, Inco employees total 14,278 of whom 6,490 are directly employed in the mining and milling operations. I T H DRILLING Background - The use of long blastholes in underground operations at Inco mines in the Sudbury district started more than 30 years ago at the Levack Mine. At that time, diamond drills were used to mine ore by open stoping and for pillar recovery. By the 1950's the concept had been extended to all mines. The heavy percussion drill was also developed by this time and led to the acceptance of the 11.43 cm (4% in.) piston diameter drifter for bar and arm and fan drill applications. The use however, of the nominal 5.08 cm (2 in.) diameter blastholes drilled radially from the level or sublevel causes overdrilling at the periphery. As well, the smaller holes are subject to hole deviation, are difficult to drill beyond 38.1 m (125 ft.) and require the need for several drilling horizons or sublevels. The need to improve blasthole stoping techniques and our experience with large diameter blastholes in open pit mining led to the trial of an I T H drill in 1962. The test was unsuccessful however, since button bits were not available at the time and the tungsten carbide cross bit experienced short life, gauge loss, and caused hole deviation and poor penetration rates. The successful application of the raise borer beginning in 1964 and the ability to drill 20.32 cm (8 in.) to 27.94 cm (11 in.) diameter pilot holes led to the development of smaller, more portable, rotary drills for blasthole mining. As a result, a mining method based on the use of 20 cm (7 718 in.) diameter, 60.1 m (200 ft.) long rotary blastholes was developed and tested successfully at our C.C.North Mine. Between 1972, when the method was first tested, and 1973 over 4572 m (15000 ft.) of large holes were drilled with rotary drills in the recovery of 175,960 mt (194000 tons) of primary stoping and pillar remnants. A new mining method was developed that made use of this large hole drilling equipment. Instead of longhole carbide drilling by bar-and-arm or fan drill set-ups at sublevels, the large diameter holes were drilled full stope height from the top sill, which substantially reduced development, drilling time and improved fragmentation. These drills however, were difficult to move and set-up, and had a high maintenance cost and low productivity. The capital outlay and extensive technical development required to improve these drills and reduce the high drilling costs however, was economically unattractive. New development in drills and button bits INTRODUCTION The major mining operations of the Ontario Division of Inco Metals Company are located in the Sudbury Basin. Around the rim of this geo- logical formation and within thirty miles of the City of Sudbury are located eleven under- ground mines of the Company, two of which are on standby. In addition, there is one mine in Northwestern Ontario at Shebandowan, 1127 Km (700 miles) northwest of Sudbury. In 1980 ore production totalled 10.6 x 10 mt (11.7 million tons) from underground and open pit operations. Underground mining methods include blasthole, vertical retreat, sublevel caving, cut-and-fill and undercut-and-fill. Inco reduction operations in the Sudbury area include two concentrators, one smelter, one iron ore recovery plant, a copper refinery a nickel refinery and a high purity plate rolling mill. As well, an electrolytic nickel refinery is located on Lake Erie at Port Colborne, near Niagara Falls. In the Sudbury District, Inco employees total 14,278 of whom 6,490 are directly employed in the mining and milling operations. I T H DRILLING Background - The use of long blastholes in underground operations at Inco mines in the Sudbury district started more than 30 years ago at the Levack Mine. At that time, diamond drills were used to mine ore by open stoping and for pillar recovery. By the 1950's the concept had been extended to all mines. The heavy percussion drill was also developed by this time and led to the acceptance of the 11.43 cm (4% in.) piston diameter drifter for bar and arm and fan drill applications. The use however, of the nominal 5.08 cm (2 in.) diameter blastholes drilled radially from the level or sublevel causes overdrilling at the periphery. As well, the smaller holes are subject to hole deviation, are difficult to drill beyond 38.1 m (125 ft.) and require the need for several drilling horizons or sublevels. The need to improve blasthole stoping techniques and our experience with large diameter blastholes in open pit mining led to the trial of an I T H drill in 1962. The test was unsuccessful however, since button bits were not available at the time and the tungsten carbide cross bit experienced short life, gauge loss, and caused hole deviation and poor penetration rates. The successful application of the raise borer beginning in 1964 and the ability to drill 20.32 cm (8 in.) to 27.94 cm (11 in.) diameter pilot holes led to the development of smaller, more portable, rotary drills for blasthole mining. As a result, a mining method based on the use of 20 cm (7 718 in.) diameter, 60.1 m (200 ft.) long rotary blastholes was developed and tested successfully at our C.C.North Mine. Between 1972, when the method was first tested, and 1973 over 4572 m (15000 ft.) of large holes were drilled with rotary drills in the recovery of 175,960 mt (194000 tons) of primary stoping and pillar remnants. A new mining method was developed that made use of this large hole drilling equipment. Instead of longhole carbide drilling by bar-and-arm or fan drill set-ups at sublevels, the large diameter holes were drilled full stope height from the top sill, which substantially reduced development, drilling time and improved fragmentation. These drills however, were difficult to move and set-up, and had a high maintenance cost and low productivity. The capital outlay and extensive technical development required to improve these drills and reduce the high drilling costs however, was economically unattractive. New development in drills and button bits

Jan 1, 1981

By Mark R. Lamb

THE various methods of treating pulp in air-agitation tanks offer problems for experiment and study which are fascinating as well as practical. The usual method heretofore has been to fill each tank in turn, agitate the mixture the required period and then discharge the treated pulp into a storage-tank, from which it. is drawn to the filter as required. A later method is to run the pulp from the tube-mill, classifier, thickener, or settler into the first of a set of tanks, and thence continuously or in series through the remaining tanks, finally drawing off the pulp to a continuous filter, or to a pulp-storage tank if the filter is of the intermittent type. It is this method which I propose to discuss here in a preliminary way, with the idea of going exhaustively into the examination of the results of a series of experiments in a later paper. It may be of interest to note that the design of a cyanide-plant has recently been completed in which the estimated cost of the agitation-tanks, storage-tanks, and pumps was 30 per cent higher for the charge-agitation arrangement than for the series plan. The first question in studying the series method is, "What is the actual period of treatment undergone by the pulp?? One first supposes that by chance some of the pulp may get through with little or no treatment, while other portions may stay in the tanks a needlessly long period. The former is not probable or even possible, and the latter is, practically, true to only a limited extent. The greater the number of tanks the greater is the percentage of chance that all the pulp will be treated equally. Without going into the mathematical analysis of the problem (which is of little value, since it is based on problematical premises), its important terms may be clearly grasped by thinking of, or " visualizing," the conditions when,

Jan 1, 1910

By Ralph Arnold

Since 1915, when Elk Basin field was brought in, eight oil fields have been developed in Montana and the production has arisen from 50,000 bbl. in 1916 to 8,000,000 bbl. in 1926. The production for 1927 was 5,121,600 bbl. and the total up to the end of 1927 was 27,138,239 barrels. The eight fields, with their year of discovery are: Elk Basin, Carbon County (1915); Devil's Basin, Petroleum County (1919); Cat Creek, Petroleum County (1920); Soap Creek, Big Horn County (1921); Kevin-Sunburst, Toole County (1922); Lake Basin, Stillwater County (1924); Pondera, Pondera and Teton counties (1927); and Bannatyne, Pondera and Teton counties (1927). About 170 wildcat wells have been drilled in the state of which 8 were successful and 162 gas wells or dry. Hence, only one out of 21, or 5 per cent. of the wildcats have been successful. The average depth of the wells has been 1600 ft. and the average cost $32,000 apiece. • Up to Jan. 1, 1927, a total of 1376 wells have been drilled in the producing oil and gas fields of the state, of which 904, or 66 per cent., were successful oil wells; 82, or 6 per cent. were gas; and 390, or 28 per cent, were dry. The percentage of dry wells is excessive as compared to the wells in other states, due to the uncertainties of limestone reservoir rocks. The total production of oil to Jan. 1, 1927, has been 22,016,639 bbl. and of gas 7,265,330,000 cu. ft. The average price at the well for the oil has been $1.47 per bbl. and for gas about 4 c. per 1000 cu. ft. The value at the point of consumption has been about 23 c. per 1000 cu. ft. The total revenue derived from crude oil has been $32,277,119, and from gas 8350,613, or a total income to the producer of $32,727,832. Each well drilled in the state has already (to Jan. 1, 1927) averaged a return of over $21,000. The total number of domestic (Montana) oil and gas companies organized, since the first in 1885, has been 844, of which 702 are still alive and 142 dead. Oil and gas companies registered for operation within the state to Jan. 1, 1927, but with outside charters, are 143, of which 66 are alive and 77 are dead. Outside the few distributing companies, which are included in these figures, the grand total of 997 companies which have

Jan 1, 1928

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1951

By Tomek Ulatowski

INTRODUCTION In 1974, Industrial Miners Mexico, S.A. (IMMSA), agent for the borrowers, was the largest privately-held mining, smelting, and refining company in Mexico (accounting for 32% of Mexico's nonferrous metal and coal production in 1974), the fourth largest company in terms of sales, and the second most profitable company in Mexico, excluding government wholly-owned and operated industries. The company was engaged in the mining, smelting and refining of coal, copper, fluorite, gold, lead, silver, zinc and related by-products for domestic consumption and export. A combination of favorable factors led IMMSA to propose an investment plan amounting to US$286 million for 1974 through 1978, of which US$150 million was to be financed. These factors included: Substantial profits in 1973 and 1974 Positive near-term outlook for metal prices Success of the reinvestment program in increasing productivity Substantial additions to proved reserves during 1973-1974 and Fiscal incentives provided by the Mexican government to stimulate investment in the mining industry. The primary purpose of the investment program was to construct a new electrolytic zinc refinery and to expand and modernize many of the company's existing mining and refining facilities. THE BORROWER Company History Compania Miners Mexico, S.A. was incorporated in the city of Monterrey in 1918 as a wholly-owned subsidery of ASARCO Inc. (formerly American Smelting and Refining Company, New York) for the purpose of mining and processing non-ferrous metals and related products. In compliance with the Government's Mexicanization program, ASARCO Inc. divested itself of 51% of its equity in Compania Miners Asarco, S.A. on June 30, 1965. Subsequently, ownership in the divested share was apportioned as follows: 15% ownership in Compania Miners Asarco, S.A. to a group of private investors, and 36% in trust for subsequent public sale. The company's name was changed to Asarco Mexicana, S.A. in 1965. Mexican ownership in Asarco Mexicans, S.A. was increased to 51% in 1967, following the purchase of the 36% share ownership held in trust, and then to 66% in 1974 when ASARCO Inc. divested itself of an additional 15% of its holdings in Asarco Mexicans, S.A. Following its 1974 divestiture of 15% of Asarco Mexicans, S.A., ASARCO Inc's ownership in Asarco Mexicana, S.A. was reduced to 34%. In 1974, the company changed its name for the second time to Industrial Miners Mexico, S.A. (IMMSA). Fiscal Agreement IMMSA entered into a fiscal agreement with the Mexican government in 1969. The agreement, which was renewed in 1974, provided for 100% of the production and export tax corresponding to the federal government with a minimum of 50% of the amount refunded to be reinvested in fixed assets. Further, the agreement permitted the company to

Jan 1, 1985

APRIL 10-Officially, spring comes to the Great Lakes on March 21 as it does elsewhere in the country but in the Superior district continued snow and freezing until late in March have caused citizens in Duluth to place their bets on April 15 for the first ore vessels if the ice breakup is left to Mother Nature. North and west of Duluth and near the eastern end of the Mesabilies the little town of Aurora, population 1100. As the little v-nosed snowplow, pride of the community, shuttled back and forth clearing Aurora's few sidewalks, the crowd in Bradich's Cafe were more interested in the impending high school state championship basketball tournament in Minneapolis than in the outcome of Erie Mining Company's petition for water rights for their proposed 10 million ton taconite concentrating plant. Such a plant would employ 4500 workmen, and at the prevailing ratio of 10 people for every mine worker in Minnesota, this would mean a 45,000 increase in population for Aurora and the vicinity in the next few years. Downstate fishermen are alarmed at the flurry of activity by the mining companies in pushing plans for large scale recovery of iron from taconite. Inconvenience to these gentlemen will be inconsequential when compared with the vast increase in payrolls for range communities. Oliver is pushing the construction of a fine ore agglomeration plant at Virginia which will give them valuable experience for projected taconite processing. Oglebay, Norton & Co. is ready to go at Beaver Bay, north of Duluth, as the right of way for a railroad from Babitt to Beaver Bay is secured as well as permission to dispose of tailing into Lake Superior at the site of the proposed concentrating plant. This company is also doing research in agglomeration at Ashland, Ky., in cooperation with other interests. The financing is yet to be worked out. Of the four possibilities for agglomerating taconite concentrate-sintering, pellitizing, nodulizing and briquetting-the prospects for pelletizing appear the most favorable., It seems likely that 60 cents per ton can be saved by this process over sintering because only 1 to 2 pct of coal is required as compared with 7 pct for sintering. One reason for the lower coal consumption is that the chemical transition of magnetite to hematite which transpires in the pelletizing process is exothermic.

Jan 5, 1950

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Jan 1, 1945

Jan 1, 1935

By R. D. Rubright, Owen J. Hart

In the Bingham district over a span of more than 90 years, 43,947,104 tons of "non-porphyry" copper, lead, zinc, gold, and silver ore have been mined from a folded and faulted alternating series of Pennsylvanian and Permian limestones and sandstones and from some Tertiary intrusives. This ore came from six major mine areas located east, south, and west of the Bingham stock, site of Kennecott's porphyry copper deposit. The sediments were affected by varying degrees and types of metamorphism within 2000 feet or more of the Bingham stock. The intrusives consisting of the mineralized Bingham and the unmineralized Last Chance stocks and numerous dikes and sills of granite and monzonite were intruded into the asymmetrical northwest-trending and plunging Bingham syncline. Extrusives, although present, contain no ore. The bulk of the non-porphyry ore in the district was found above the Midas thrust. The primary ores are found in three major types of deposits: concordant bedding fissures, crosscutting fissures, and replacement deposits. These deposits consist of both copper and lead-zinc ore bodies that contain various amounts of gold and silver. These are in places roughly zoned both laterally and vertically and have been mined for up to 10,000 feet outward from the center of the Bingham stock and up to 5000 feet vertically below the surface. Secondary ore was of minor importance and was found in and under the oxidized zone at shallow depths. Genetically the Bingham stock, the ores, and related phenomena have had a common source.

Jan 1, 1968

By Edward C. Stephens, Robert R. Coats

High-grade copper ore was discovered in 1932 in the long-dormant Mountain City (Cope) mining district, Elko County, Nevada. From 1932 to 1947, the one producing mine in the district, the Mountain City Copper Mine, produced 1,109,878 short dry tons of ore averaging 9.745 per cent copper, 0.274 ounces of silver, and 0.0057 ounces of gold per ton. The Mountain City Copper Mine is developed in eugeosynclinal rocks of Ordovician age, the Valmy Formation, which is part of the upper plate of the Roberts Mountains thrust. On the Valmy were deposited unconformably first, a elastic formation of Devonian or Mississippian age, the Grossman Formation, succeeded unconformably by a ·sequence of three conformable formations, the Banner, the Nelson, and the Mountain City. The Banner Formation probably is early Late Mississippian in age; the ages of the Nelson and Mountain City are not known precisely but are believed to be of Late Mississippian and Carboniferous(?) age, respectively. A thick formation of elastic rocks, limestone, and volcanics, the Reservation Hill Formation, has been thrust over the Mountain City. The age of the Reservation Hill is unknown but is presumed to be Pennsylvanian(?) and Permian(?). Several plutons of Cretaceous quartz monzonite intrude the Paleozoic formations; they and the intruded formations have been laid bare by erosion, and several sequences of volcanic rocks of Miocene and Pliocene age, and perhaps in part older, have been successively deposited on irregular erosion surfaces. The primary mineralization of the Mountain City Copper Mine is believed to postdate the deposition of the Nelson Formation and to predate the intrusion of the quartz monzonite. The primary ore bodies are lenticular in shape and are composed largely of quartz, pyrite, and chalcopyrite. The ore lenses, in general, strike northwestward and dip northward. They occur in the Valmy Formation within a definite stratigraphic sequence composed largely of shales with associated minor quartzite lenses. The ore is epigenetic. The principal ore body, the "200," was completely leached to the 200 level. Abruptly beneath the barren gossan was supergene copper sulfide ore, much of which assayed 50 per cent copper. The secondary copper minerals are sooty and massive chalcocite, bornite, and covellite. The supergene enrichment of the ore may have required a large part of Tertiary time.

Jan 1, 1968

By David B. Dill, Edgar R. Lea

The zinc deposits of the Balmat-Edwards Division of the St. Joseph Lead Company in northern New York State provide some 10 per cent of the domestic zinc produced annually within the United States. These complex ore deposits are contained within marbles of the Precambrian Grenville series, in a repetitive sequence of dolomites and silicated units. The Balmat ore bodies are localized at various intervals throughout some 1800 feet of the stratigraphic column on the northwest side of a band of gneiss that has continuity to the Edwards area, some 10 miles to the northeast. The Edwards ore bodies are located to the southeast of this gneiss. The marble formations are thought to have included repetitive intervals of marine sedimentation that provided mineralized source "beds" and were subsequently folded, flooded, and injected with melts at great depth and were sheared, recrystallized, and reconstituted. Detailed structural and stratigraphic studies throughout the northwestern Adirondacks, in the Balmat-Edwards district, and at each mine in particular indicate the close dependence of the ore deposits on the enveloping structure whether it be local, district-wide, or regional in scope. Primary folding has developed a northeast regional trend with northwest dips. Secondary folding has been developed by an almost horizontal northeast-southwest-oriented shear couple in the plane of the regional trend. The secondary folding has produced crossfolds that intersect the regional northeast trend and plunge north to northwest at various angles. The ore bodies are found within certain stratigraphic horizons where repeated alternation of competent and incompetent beds encouraged unusually complex folding. Analysis of individual mine structures indicates that the location of each deposit is controlled by structural crossing of primary and secondary folding. The ore bodies, which are tabular, lenticular, or pod-like in form, have features that suggest parallelism to true bedding or modified flow banding, developed by northeast-southwest shearing stresses related to the development of the crossfolds. The ore deposits in general follow both structural and recrystallization trends within the wall rocks. Mobilization of the pre-metamorphic ore minerals is believed to have involved a combination of plastic flow under stress and solution of the sphalerite, minor galena, and pyrite. The ore fluids are thought to have been guided by secondary shearing and microbrecciation into structurally prepared areas where reprecipitation took place. The presumed premetamorphic mineralization now exhibits epigenetic high-temperature features related to late-stage metamorphism.

Jan 1, 1968

By Heinrich Ries

I. INTRODUCTION. THE facts is presented in this paper, based chiefly on recon¬naissance made, during the summer of 1903, by myself and my assistant, Mr. R.. C. Brooks, cover practically all that portion of Texas lying east of the 99th meridian. The work was undertaken for the University of Texas Mineral Survey, and was to have been extended over the entire State, but the sudden termination of the survey prevented even the official publication of the results already obtained. Most of the mineral resources of Texas were fully treated by the First Geological Survey, but the clay-industry was tit that time little developed, so that only a few scattered notes concerning it are to be found in the Survey reports. The extensive exploitation of the clay-deposits, however, has emphasized their commercial importance, and has also made accessible many facts of exceptional interest concerning their geologic conditions. The erection of new plants for the utilization of clay-products is usually preceded by more or less prospecting, which, by reason of the scarcity of outcrops, and the geologic and topographic conditions of eastern and southeastern Texas, is often slow and difficult work. This is especially true in the Tertiary and Pleistocene areas, where the structural conditions much resemble those of the Atlantic coastal plain, the deposits being mostly lenticular in form, and surrounded by beds of sand. II. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE CLAY-DEPOSITS. The accompanying sketch-map, Fig. 1, shows the location of nearly all the deposits examined, their relation to the geology of the State, and the type of clay found in each. The geology is based on the published work of Hill, Cummins, Tail, Adams, Hayes and Kennedy, but the boundaries have unfortunately not been determined over the entire region covered by the map, and, in many areas, are only approximate. It will be seen that the clay-deposits range from Carboniferous to Pleistocene in age, the older deposits being found in the northwestern part of the area, while those of Cretaceous and Tertiary age lie to the east, southeast and south. The Pleistocene clays are found in part in a belt along the coast, and in part along many of the larger rivers, where they often underlie extensive terraces.

Sep 1, 1906