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By Eugene Coste

Although some of the observers who first paid especial attention to the occurrences of oil and gas in the strata (such as Hunt in 1859, Andrews in 1861; Winchell in 1865, Mendelejeff in 1876, Höfer in 1876, Minshall in 1881, and I. C. White in 1883) seem to have been impressed with the fact that oil and gas deposits were connected with the disturbances in the rocks caused by their upheavalll yet, with the exception of Mendelejeff, and possibly Andrews, these observers do not appear to have understood what is really the one essential factor in the occurrence of oil and gas in the strata: viz., the faulting, uplifting, fracturing, fis-suring, and jointing always accompanying even slight rock disturbances, and in certain districts (petroliferous provinces)2 allowing solfataric hydrocarbon emanations to force their way up from the interior and to reach and impregnate the porous portions of sediments subjected to the disturbances. Instead of this simple explanation to account -for the observed connection between petroleum deposits and rock disturbances, most of the observers mentioned above, and many others who have foliowed them on the same lines since, have entirely reversed the problem. To them, instead of the dissemination of gases from fissures into the sediments, it presented the accumulation and concentration, according to anticlinal or other geologic structures, of oil and gas originally present throughout the whole mass of the strata where they were produced by the decomposition or distillation of organic remains. Whether this important problem involves accumulation from sources within the strata themselves, or infiltration and dissemination from outside sources, may be easily determined if all preconceived ideas are put aside and the established facts only are considered. Physical Facts Sedimentary strata are composed of alternate beds of shales, sandstones, and limestones, most of which are sufficiently close-grained to

Jan 1, 1915

By Edward D. Peters

IT frequently occurs in the establishment of reduction works, in an entirely new and untried mining district, that the metallurgist in charge finds considerable difficulty in determining the process best adapted to the ores which he receives for treatment. At the first glance it would seem easy enough to decide what style of furnace is best adapted for beneficiating any one class of minerals. If the ore possessed a quartzose gangue and was comparatively free from base metals, while salt could be obtained at a reasonable price, one would naturally resort to a chloridizing roasting, and pan or barrel amalgamation for the extraction of its silver contents. If galena or carbonate of lead was the prevailing mineral, and charcoal could be obtained at moderate figures, the blast-furnace would beneficiate the ores most advantageously. But if, as is usually the case in Colorado, the ores consisted of an intimate mixture of galena, zinc-blende, copper-pyrites, and noble silver minerals, associated with an overwhelming mass of siliceous heavy spar, or limestone gangue, the common reverberatory furnace can be used to the greatest advantage; and, although the product is only a copper matte, I do not hesitate to affirm that it can be treated, and the silver, gold, and copper produced at nearly the same price for which silver and lead can be separated. In Germany, blast-furnaces are frequently used for this same purpose, both for argentiferous and non-argentiferous copper ores ; but any one who will take the trouble to examine the statistics of smelting at Fahlun, the Oberharz, and other Continental works of this description, will see that the expenses are far too great, and the production much too small to think of employing this method in our mining districts, where only the softest and most miserable kind of charcoal is obtainable. I propose in this paper to give an accurate account of the expenses incurred at the Mount Lincoln Smelting Works in treating the same kind of ore, and producing the same end-product in both blast and reverberatory furnaces. I have taken for comparison a favorable campaign of the blast-furnace, and a good average month's running of the reverberatory. In the blast-furnace estimate I have included the calcining and concentration of the matte produced during that campaign, as I always, when possible, concentrated the regulus made

Jan 1, 1874

By Rossiter W. Raymond

Being a portion of the President's Address at New Haven, February 23d, 1875. As I have attempted briefly to show you, gentlemen, the present position of the mining and metallurgical industries of this country offers in several respects most important indications of radical change. This is an epoch for more than one branch of these industries. We are commencing again to export copper; we have shifted the main production of lead from the Mississippi Valley to the far West, besides developing a new production of that metal in Missouri; we have seen the price of quicksilver go up, and the price of iron go down to such an extent as to affect profoundly, on the one hand, the great business of extracting silver by amalgamation, through the Washoe process in this country and the patio process in Mexico, and, on the other hand, the various manufactures employing iron as a raw material ; above all, the manufacture of steel. But the epoch which has occurred in the relative value of gold and silver, in consequence of causes which I shall attempt to explain, and among which the extraordinary increase in the silver product of Nevada is not the least ; this epoch is, perhaps, the most striking feature in the review of our situation. Since my official duties in connection with the mining industry of the Pacific slope and the Great Interior Basin have led me to pay particular attention to this subject, I have thought it not inappropriate to lay before you a somewhat extended account of its history. It is a topic of peculiar interest, because of the general use of these two metals as standards of value in the exchange of commodities. Neither of them is suitable to be, for the political economist, a real standard of value. That standard is rather to be sought in some more universal product of labor, such as wheat-the relation

Jan 1, 1875

By Clyde Ross

The Thunder Mountain mining district is in eastern Valley County, Idaho. It is of undefined extent but nearly all of the development is confined to the ridge between Monumental and Marble creeks in unsurveyed T. 19 N., R. 11 E. (Fig. 1.) The district is still remembered among the mining men of Idaho because of the ill-advised rush there in 1902, but available evidence indicates that optimism regard-ing the future development of the gold deposits of the district is warranted. The former disappointment arose from the fact that many who took part in the early rush hoped for bonanza deposits, whereas the district is characterized by large masses of low tenor. In 1926 the writer,, assisted by C. Y. Behre, 3r., incidental to other work in the region, devoted four days to the detailed examination of the then access-ible workings in the district. Tha major workings in the Sunnyside, Venable, Standard and H-Y mines, most of which were still in good shape, were examined., Surface exposures at the Dewey were studied, but the main workings there have long been caved. The time available did not permit more than a cursory examination of the surface at a distance from the mines. Sufficient data have been gathered, how-ever, from published and unpublished accounts, production records and mine maps so that the major features of this deposit, by far the most productive in the dis-trict, can be summarized. The kindness of Messrs. Dan McRae and R: A. Davis in making available information regarding the mines of the district, a rd of these men and others in recounting early history and their observations in now inaccessible workings, have aided materially in preparing the present paper. A brief summary of the salient characteristics of the district has already been published.1/ Cir-cumstances have contributed to delay in the publication of the full official report, which will contain mine maps and ?such other detailed data as could be ontained. In view of the present interest in gold deposits it seems desirable to present here a summary of results of the study.

Jan 1, 1933

By T. Sterry Hunt

AT the meeting of the Institute in Easton, October, 1873, I made a communication on the Ore Knob copper mine, in Ashe County, North Carolina (Transactions, vol. ii, p. 123), in which I called attention to the chemical decomposition alike of the pyritous lode and the inclosing gneiss rock to a depth of 60 feet, by which the feldspar of the latter had been converted into clay, and the whole rock very much softened. Such a decomposition is well known to be almost universal in the crystalline rocks of the Appalachians south of the Potomac ; and if it is only seen in rare and exceptional cases farther to the northward, this, as I have elsewhere pointed out, is due to the fact that the decomposition began and ended in the ages anterior to the drift period, and that the decayed portions which still remained were at that time removed from the surface, except in some localities which were protected from the eroding agency. I have lately had an opportunity of studying a remarkable instance of this kind in an examination made last month for the corporators of the Hoosac Tunnel.* The locality is at the western base of Hoosac Mountain, the western slope of which rises rapidly 1300 feet above the town of North Adams, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, itself 700 feet above the sea level. Through this mountain, as is well known, a tunnel for the Troy and Boston Railroad has lately been opened, a distance of 25,081 feet from east to west. The rock of the mountain consists of mica schist and micaceous gneiss, including in its western half a great mass of harder feldspathic and quartzose strata in part a granitoid gneiss, the strata for the most part dipping to the eastward with variable angles, but with occasional western dips, apparently due to inversion. The crystalline strata of the mountain crest and sides are in many places exposed, and present rounded surfaces, often deeply grooved and striated, but with no appearance of decay. At the western base of the mountain, however, the gneissic rock is in a state of complete decomposition, which was well displayed in opening the tunnel, which, for a distance of several hundred feet, was driven through highly inclined strata so much decomposed that they were excavated with pick and shovel, and without the aid of blast- * See, for a detailed account of this examination, Dr. Hunt's report, published by the General Court of Massachusetts in House Document No. 9, 1875.

Jan 1, 1875

By Wilbur Nelson

ALL of our accounts of the discovery of copper ore at Ducktown, Tenn., state that the discovery was made in August, 1843, yet it would appear that samples of copper from this district were found by the Spanish explorer, DeSoto, when he wandered into Southern Tennessee, in 1539, in his four years of exploration through the Southern States. The following quotation is taken from his diary: "Towards the north there was a province named Chisca; and that there was a melting of copper, and of another metall of the same colour, save that it was finer, and of a farre more perfect colour, and farre better to the sight, and that they used it not so much, because it was softer. And the selfe same thing was told the governor in Cutifa-Chiqui, where we saw some little hatchets of copper, which were said to have a mixture of gold. But in that part of the country it was not well peopled; and they said there were mountains, which the horses could not passe; and for that cause, the governor would not goe from Cutifa-Chiqui directly quicker." DeSoto sent two of his company to try to find these mines, but after five days' wandering through the mountains they returned, stating that their guides had become lost. Although the Ducktown area may have been known to the ancient Indians, it was not until August, 1843, when a Mr. Lemmons, who was panning for gold on Potato Creek, in the Ducktown basin, found some reddish-brown decomposed rock, which he supposed to be gold, that the copper deposits were actually discovered. His disgust on finding that this yellow metal. was not gold was so great that he did not. try to develop his find. In March, 1847, B. C. Dugger erected an iron forge at this same place, but was unable to work the iron as it contained so much copper that on cooling it would break to pieces. The finding of copper in the iron ore by Mr. Dugger led to further explorations; and in April, of the same year, A. J. Weaver, who was passing through that country, told the people that the black rocks they had dug out were rich copper ore. Mr. Weaver began the first mining in this district.

Jan 10, 1924

By Foster Bain

THOUGHTFUL people have raised questions as to how long nature's bank could continue to accept our drafts. These questions came to the fore so persistently, and there were so many evidences -such as the failure of natural gas in Indiana, the increasing scarcity of lumber in the Lake Superior region, the progressive sterility of Southern farm lands, the choking of the Sacramento River by tailing-point-ing to possible danger from overdraft or to misuse of resources and opportunity, that President Roosevelt called a conference which assembled at the White House on May 13, 1908, to consider these and related questions. This, the first great Conservation Congress, had a wide and beneficial influence on the thought of the world. It profoundly influenced the course of succeed-ing events and, while even yet there are sharp dis-agreements as, to the wisdom of much that has been done in the name of conservation, I believe that thoughtful men, and engineers especially, agree that the time had come when sharp attention was properly called to the waste that accompanied development of our resources. RESOURCES LARGE BUT NOT INEXHAUSTIBLE In 1908 there was a surprisingly large number of men, who should have known better, prepared to argue that our resources are "inexhaustible." No competent mining engineer, of course, believes that, as regards minerals at least. They may be, and, in most cases, fortunately are, large; as to many of them our knowledge is too general to permit measuring the reserves; but we know now, and I think the public appreciates, that there is a limit to our supply of gas, oil, coal, iron, and metals. Indeed, with the inten-sive study made necessary to meet the demands of the war, and the more careful accounting required by the newer systems of taxation, depletion has become a common word, and that mines are wasting assets has become a platitude.

Jan 8, 1922

By W. S. Ayres

[Secretary's Note.—At the Spokane meeting of the Institute, in discussion of President Brunton's address on "Modern Progress in Mining and Metallurgy in the Western United States," and at the request of members present, Mr. Ayres gave an oral account of his new separator, which is here published as an independent paper, partly because of its inherent importance and partly because it describes an improvement which did not originate in the Western United States, and therefore does not fall, strictly speaking, under the title of President Urunton's address.—R. W. R.] A brief history of the growth of the anthracite-coal preparation will give a better view-point from which to judge the present problem of separating slate from coal. At the beginning of the commercial value of anthracite, 70 years ago, only the pure portions, or " splits," of the veins were mined and shipped to market, and without any preparation or screening other than the selection, while loading, of the glassy lumps, and the rejection of the fine material and the slate that had strayed accidentally into the coal. The next step was the crushing or breaking of the coal (hence the name "breaker" as applied to the preparation-building), and the sizing of it by means of bars or revolving screens. This stage of its development marked the advent of the " breaker-boy " as a slate-picker, with his ever-increasing capriciousness. As the richer veins or a splits " became exhausted and the market demanded a still greater output, the less-pure " splits " and the thinner veins were utilized to produce the coal. Carrying as they do a far greater percentage of impurities, particularly when removing the pillars, it became necessary to build new and better equipped preparation-plants. Finally, we are now at the highest stage of complicatioii yet known to the art of coal-preparation. We are dealing with varying specific gravities, frictional difference, hardness, structure, and form in the pieces of coal and slate coming from many different veins, and

Jan 1, 1910

C. H. MATHEWSON, New Haven, Conn. (written discussion *).-In a recent discussion of Dr. Jeffries' paper on tungsten,1 J. C. W. Humfrey,2 after taking exception to certain of the author's ideas relative to the cohesion of A and C metal, expresses the opinion that future research is likely to develop a method of preparing tungsten possessing "mechanical properties in line with those of other metals." The present paper by Dr. Jeffries begins with a determination of comparative properties of tungsten, copper, and iron, in which much dissimilarity is apparent, and ends with a coherent explanation as to why much of this dissimilarity is natural and inevitable, thereby supplying theoretical means for visualizing the changing properties of metals in general, once certain fundamental facts are known. The author's reasoning is primarily from the standpoint of the amorphous theory and his principal achievement is the development of an idea f differential cohesion according to conditions of temperature, etc., between A and C metal (which was first plainly suggested by Rosehain and Ewen, in their papers on Intercrystalline Cohesion of Metals) along with associated ideas, so as to give us a really useful working theory. I have come rather reluctantly to believe in the amorphous theory, or some theory admitting a modification of the ordinary crystalline phase so as to permit differential properties within the conglomerate, mainly because in no other way does it seem possible to account for observed changes of properties with temperature, etc. The very best illustration f the competency f the amorphous theory in this respect is seen in this and other recent papers by the author. All fractures through normal or healthy metal that have been preceded by deformation are supposed, by Dr. Jeffries, to take place either through the amorphous phase or at certain boundaries between amorphous and crystalline material; his reference to fractures, both members of which are similar in appearance and do not reveal a preexisting coarse-grained structure because of a coating of amorphous metal, indicates his preference for the former interpretation.

Jan 5, 1919

By John Vanderwilt

THE value of molybdenum as a ferroalloy has been known for many years. For a long time, however, the metal was used only on a small scale in the iron industries, because the known source of supply appeared inadequate and the cost to the consumer was not stabilized. The world's production of molybdenum prior to 1914 was only a few thousand pounds per year and even during the war period annual production was only about 800,000 lb. Production during 1929 and 1930, however, was over 4,000,000 lb. per year and that of 1931 promises to be of the same order of magnitude. This remarkable increase in production is due primarily to the development of a large molybdenite deposit at Climax, Lake County, Colo., which has accounted for 80 per cent of the world's production of molybdenum during the past two years. Based on conservative esti-mates, the deposit at Climax has the capacity to maintain its 1929 and 1930 rate of production for 100 years or more. The production of molybdenum ores has been established on a new basis-in recent years as compared with the period during and before the world war. During the earlier period, production came from small deposits and the cost to the consumer fluctuated. At present, production comes from a few large deposits and the price is not only lower but also fairly constant. In recent years the price of molybdenum has consistently dropped as consumption increased. The present price is $0.95 per pound of molybdenum in ferromolybdenum and $0.80 for molybdenum in calcium molybdate. Before and during most of the war, Australia, Norway, and a few other foreign countries were the chief producers, while at present the United States is producing over 90 per cent of the world's production. With molybdenum available at a moderate cost, the steel industry has been adopting more and more the use of molybdenum as an alloy addition. A relatively small demand for molybdenum exists in the chemical and electrical industries, but the recent large increase in con-sumption has in large part been by the iron and steel industries, which

Jan 1, 1932

. F. W. SPERR, JR.,* Pittsburgh, Pa.--Mr. Malcolmson states that the Carbocoal process produces ammonium sulfate in excess of that normally recovered in the ordinary byproduct coke process. Table 3 indicates that 20,000 to 25,000 lb. of sulfate of ammonia are obtained in carbonizing 1000 tons of Clinchfield coal. This is a high-grade coal and yields from 26 to 28 lb. of ammonium sulfate per ton in a modern byproduct coke oven. On the next page, 21 lb. is stated as the yield of ammonium sulfate per short ton of raw coal; this is less than the average production from any well operated byproduct coke-oven plant treating coal of the character usually coked, in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The statement as to the comparative yields of light oil is somewhat misleading in view of the results obtained during the past year or two by the more modern byproduct coke plants. The plants put in operation by the H. Koppers Co., during the past two years, are producing about 3.5 gal. of light oil per short ton of coal, and several of these plants are producing more than 4 gal. per ton. The yield of pure toluene runs from 0.45 gal. to 0.55 gal. per ton. .The quality of the light oil .obtained from the Carbocoal process is of much greater importance than would be inferred by one not closely familiar with the subject. The presence of paraffins in the benzol and toluol fractions seriously detracts from their commercial value; the benzol and toluol fractions derived fro in the Carbocoal process contain about 50 per cent, of paraffins. It should be thoroughly understood what these paraffins are. They are simply hydrocarbons that go to make up ordinary petroleum, and if a successful method for the removal of paraffins from benzol and toluol has been developed, this can at once be applied to several well known processes by which benzol and toluol can be made directly from petroleum, which have as yet been total failures on account of the contamination of these products by paraffins.

Jan 11, 1918

By Oswald J. Heinrich

IN this paper I shall attempt a description of the successful extraction of coal from this property after it had been on fire for probably fifty years, or more, and after attempts, made at various times, which had still left considerable coal behind. The Richmond coal-field has a well-founded bad reputation, arising from the circumstance that many of its collieries have had to be abandoned, from time to time, if not entirely, on account of fires, caused by spontaneous combustion, to which the character of the coal in this field renders them peculiarly liable. While I fully assent to the opinion that this trouble lies in the nature of the coal, which is highly bituminous, and the seams of which are, moreover, divided by slaty bands, through which, as also in the coal, iron pyrites is more or less disseminated, often in microscopically small particles, I must, nevertheless, declare that many lamentable disasters, causing great loss of life and property, could have been avoided if a suitable system of mining had been pursued in all the collieries. If this could not have been done from the be-. ginning of mining in this section of country (the history of which can be traced back to over one hundred years), at least experience enough existed upon this subject thirty and forty years ago to dictate the avoidance of the dangers to a considerable extent. I t is therefore necessary here to refer first, in a few remarks, to the character of the coal deposits, particularly in this immediate neighborhood, the Midlothian being one of the oldest and most extensive mines, and some of its coal being much subjected to spontaneous combustion. I must also refer to the history of former managements to explain more clearly the results which were arrived at. The Midlothian coal-mine property, situated upon the eastern outcrop of the basin, about four miles south from James River, exhibits

By Hugh Douglas

ANTIMONY Antimony (Sb) has been used since the early Egyptian dynasties. Prior to World War I, total demand amounted to only 6000 to 7000 tons per year (tpy). Wartime uses and rapid rise of industrialization in the Northern Hemisphere nations have pushed world antimony use to the 78,000-tpy level. An overwhelming supply of low-cost antimonial resources in the Sino-Russian bloc countries has and will continue to have a major impact on availability and price to users outside the bloc. Table 14.4.1 shows trends in world production, United States production and consumption, and prices. Demand Antimony is used principally as an alloy in lead-based metals and other alloys. Pure metallic antimony usage is small and is confined to such areas as laboratory and electronic applications. Lead-antimony alloys are used in automobile storage batteries, chemical pumps, and pipes, tank linings, roofing material, and cable sheaths. The metal increases the hardness of lead, and, for such uses as foundry printing type, reduces shrinkage for casting and lowers the melting point. Antimonial oxides are used for ceramic purposes, white paint pigments, glass forming, textile finishing, fire retardants in military clothing, matches, and solder. Wartime applications include use as hardener for bullets, an element for tracer bullets, and ingredient for producing dense white smoke for visual markers. A small but rapidly growing use for antimony is for metallic compounds in semiconductors and thermoelectric devices. In the United States demand for antimony is about evenly divided between metallic end-use markets and nonmetallic markets. In metallic end uses, antimonial lead accounts for 27% of total metallic and nonmetallic use; in nonmetallic areas major uses are flame retardants (15%) which is the fastest growing market, plastics (13 % ), and ceramics and glass (11%). While antimony has advantages in most of its applications, there are uses in which other materials can be substituted, including: mercury, titanium, lead, zinc, chromium, tin, and zirconium in paints and pigments; tin in sheathings; calcium in battery plates; and bismuth in type metal. Supply Antimony is produced from both antimony ores and as a byproduct of smelting other ores. The principal ore mineral is stibnite (Sb2S3), along with its oxidized antimonial minerals and derivatives which occur in small discontinuous replacement veins or fissure vein implacements. Stibnite occurs in quartz-gold veins and copper-lead-zinc

Jan 1, 1976

By M. C. Leverett

THE dynamic behavior of a multiple fluid system is completely describable in terms of driving forces and resistances to flow. The latter are proportional to the vis-cosity of the fluid under consideration and inversely proportional to a property of the system termed the " effective permeability" to that fluid, a property therefore defined by this relation. Since three phases are usually present in oil reservoirs, it is essential to know the effective permeabilities to the several fluid phases, and the relationship between the composition of the fluid in the pore space and that of the flowing stream, in order to handle satisfactorily certain problems of oil production. In this regard, there are many unknown factors and parameters, and many that can be evaluated only indi-rectly. However, it is expected that work along lines similar to this present under-taking will help materially in solving these problems. Previous workers in this field have inves-tigated the two-phase systems, water-gas,1 water-oil2 in unconsolidated sands, and water-gas3 in consolidated sands. The ex-tension of the study of the flow of hetero-geneous fluid systems from two to three phases involved only slight changes in technique. The apparatus used in the present work, except for slight changes to be described, was that used by Leverett in his water-oil experiments.2 Correlation and interpretation of data were made by methods analogous to those used in two-phase work. The relative permeability to a phase-the effective permeability divided by the permeability of the system to a homogeneous fluid-was employed through-out in correlating the rate of flow of that phase with the composition of the pore space. Quantitative measurements of two inde-pendent physical properties of the system were required to determine the composition of the pore space. As in the two-phase work, the fraction of water was determined electrically. The gas fraction was deter-mined by measuring changes in volume accompanying measured pressure changes. Suitable account was taken of the solubility of the gas in the liquid phases, and of the vapor pressure of the water phase. Since this work was exploratory in nature, no attempt was made to obtain highly accu-rate numerical results. Reasonable precision and reproducibility were sought.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. W. Holm, A. K. Csaszar

A series of laboratory experiments was conducted in which oil was displaced from a porous medium by water-driven slugs of alcohols or similar solvents. The solvents used were soluble to some degree in both oil and water and covered the range of solubilities from complete solubility in oil to complete solubility in water. Displacement experiments were conducted on 2-and 3%-in. in diameter consolidated cores and 1-and 2-in. in diameter unconsolidated sand packs. The cores and sand packs ranged in length from 1 to 30 ft, and they were saturated with brine and crude or refined oils. The solvents used included ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), tertiary butyl alcohol (TBAI, secondary butyl alcohol (SBA), n-amyl alcohol (NAA), methyl ethyl ketone, acetone and others. It was found that all of the oil present in a porous medium could be miscibly displaced by injecting a slug of mutual solvent and driving it with water. The oil-recovery efficiency was dependent upon (1) the relative solubilities of the solvent in oil and water, and (2) the distance traversed by the flood. For complete oil recovery from cores, a smaller amount of a preferentially oil-soluble solvent was required, compared to the amount of preferentially water-soluble solvent needed. The size of the solvent slug required varied inversely with the linear flooding-path length raised to the 0.65 power. Water-driven dual solvent combinations (an oil-soluble solvent slug followed by a water-soluble solvent slug) were found to effect complete oil recovery with less total solvent than any single solvent used. In these dual-solvent displacement experiments, the slug size required varied inversely with length raised to the 0.55 power. Based upon the experimental results, a theory was developed to describe the displacement of oil and water by mutual solvents, and equations are presented to predict the production history in a linear system. These equations take into account the properties of the solvents and the porous medium. INTRODUCTION Oil-recovery processes which utilize displacing fluids that are miscible with the reservoir fluids have been studied extensively in recent years. Because of the poor contact efficiency and high pressure requirements of the LPG-gas displacement process there has been considerable interest in the alcohol-water process, and a number of studies have been made on the recovery of oil through the use of solvents which are mutually soluble in oil and water. An investigation by Sievert, Dew and Conleyl indicated that the use of mutual solvents would be limited because the presence of water in a porous medium would cause a phase break in the leading edge of the displacing solvent. Their study also showed that, in consolidated cores containing. only oil, the displacement of oil by a water-driven mutual-solvent slug of tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) was affected by the viscosity ratios of the fluids involved. Gatlin and slobod3 concluded that an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) slug acts as a miscible piston, completely displacing both oil and water until the alcohol content of the mixing zone falls below the concentration necessary to maintain miscibility. Their study was conducted on uniform unconsolidated sand packs. They concluded further that IPA could be used effectively to recover oil from a watered-out sand. In a paper by Taber, Gamath and Reed4 relating an investigation on sandstone cores, it was stated that the displacement of oil by mutual solvents, particularly IPA, was not a miscible displacement and that no improvement in efficiency could be expected with increase in flooding-path length. However, their analytical analysis of the displacement mechanism using TBA is, in fact, one which indicates that the displacement is controlled by miscible mixing. They suggested that the lack of improvement in efficiency with flooding - path

By Will H. Coghill

FLOTATION has been so closely allied with the sulfide minerals and their early and associated oily reagents that the term "oil flotation" has erroneously been applied to the entire flotation process. Today, the term "chemical flotation" might be used to advantage. Flotation literature has dealt primarily with the removal of sulfides. from non-sulfide gangues, and the separation of one sulfide from another.. Now, the application of the process to the separation of nonsulfide minerals is coming to the fore; and from the standpoint of the number of commercial minerals involved, the flotation of nonsulfides offers the larger field. Here, soap or soap-forming substances, such as the fatty acids and their derivatives, are used; hence there may well be a subdivision of the chemical flotation process called "soap flotation." Early experimenters learned that it was easy to form a froth or foam that would carry a part or all of the ore charge over the lip of the flotation machine; but this could not be regarded as flotation because of the lack of selectivity. Doubtless soap was one of the first reagents tried, and doubtless it was rejected on account of its gangue-carrying properties. Now this same gangue-carrying ability makes soap an acceptable reagent, for we are dealing with that, which among sulfides, is considered "gangue." As in the flotation of sulfides, so in the flotation of nonsulfides, the selective flocculation of the mineral and the dispersion of the gangue are the first objectives. In fact, these two phenomena epitomize flotation. They depend upon the unlike surface properties of the respective minerals; and, as long as the components of an ore have unlike surface properties, a separation is possible, at least in theory. Often in nonsulfide flotation it makes little difference which mineral floats and which is depressed; generally only a separation is sought.

Jan 1, 1932

THE compiler, or author, of the Probierbücblein is not known, and the date of its first printing is uncertain. It was obviously not written by an assayer who wished to give a coherent description of his craft for the instruction of others; this was left for Biringuccio first to do. It is easy to believe that originally the Probierbücblein was a random collection from various sources of information useful to an assayer, probably gathered by one of the profession for his own use. It must remain a matter of speculation whether this was shown to a printer, who recognized the opportunity to turn an honest penny and made an inept attempt to give the manuscript the appearance of a coherent account by writing a preface and arranging the various items in somewhat logical sequence, or whether the assayer him- self started this job and was prevented from finishing it. That some sections of the book, especially near the be ginning, present an almost continuous story, while others are chaotic in their arrangement; that several paragraphs are printed more than once in different places; that there are paragraph headings, for which the text was never written, or lost, followed by irrelevant information-all this seems evidence of a job unfinished and points to a publisher's offering for the public's quick money. The demand must have been brisk, for metal working was a profitable profession, and the jeweler who was working with metals but did not care to become completely trained in assay methods would jump at the chance of acquiring easy knowledge. Even the great Agricola has whole sections obviously plagiarized from the Probierbücblein. Neither Biringuccio nor Ercker shows any direct influence, though they and all subsequent metallurgists will in some degree be affected by

Jan 1, 1949

By Will Coghill

FLOTATION has been so closely allied with the sulfide minerals and their early and associated oily reagents that the term "oil flotation" has erroneously been applied to the entire flotation process. Today, the term "chemical flotation" might be used to advantage. Flotation literature has dealt primarily with the removal of sulfides from non-sulfide gangues, and the separation of one sulfide from another. Now, the application of the process to the separation of nonsulfide minerals is coming to the fore; and from the standpoint of the number of commercial minerals involved, the flotation of nonsulfides offers the larger field. Here, soap or soap-forming substances, such as the fatty acids and their derivatives, are used; hence there may well be a subdivision of the chemical flotation process called "soap flotation." Early experimenters learned that it was easy to form a froth or foam that would carry a part or all of the ore charge over the lip of the flotation machine; but this could not be regarded as flotation because of the lack of selectivity. Doubtless soap was one of the first reagents tried, and doubtless it was rejected on account of its gangue-carrying properties. Now this same gangue-carrying ability makes soap an acceptable reagent, for we are dealing with that, which among sulfides, is considered "gan-gue." As in the flotation of sulfides, so in the flotation of nonsulfides, the selective flocculation of the mineral and the dispersion of the gangue are the first objectives. In fact, these two phenomena epitomize flotation. They depend upon the unlike surface properties of the respective miner-als; and as long as the components of an ore have unlike surface proper-ties, a separation is possible, at least in theory. Often in nonsulfide flotation it makes little difference which mineral floats and which is depressed; generally only a separation is sought.

Jan 1, 1932

By E. De Goyler

Volcanic origin was among the first of the theories advanced to account for the occurrence of the salt domes of the Gulf coastal plain, northern Louisiana, and eastern Texas, and it is still being re-stated in various forms by the most recent contributors to our knowledge of the geology of such deposits. Argument has been largely by analogy and attention has repeatedly been called to the Mexican oil fields, particularly those of the Tampico-Tuxpam region, because of the occurrence of oil in close proximity to volcanic plugs in those fields, an occurrence supposed to have some resemblance to the common occurrence of oil in the salt domes of the United States. The author, having spent several months of the past year in a general study of salt domes and in a detailed study of certain domes in the United States, and having been acquainted for some time with the exploration of similar domes in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, Mexico, and with the general geology of the Tampico-Tuxpam region, Mexico, has reviewed the various theories of volcanic origin for salt domes which have been advanced to the present time. The purpose of this paper is to present such review and to discuss the supposed Mexican analogy. Review of Volcanic Theory R. Thomassyl who had visited the Five Islands of Louisiana between 1857 and 1859, in 1860 described them with some care, noting their distinct character, alignment, and similarity, and ascribing to them a volcanic origin. He regarded them as being akin to the mud lumps in the delta of the Mississippi and was impressed by their symmetry and by the ponds or lakes which occur on several of the islands and which he regarded

Jan 1, 1920

By G. H. Alvey, A. W. Foster

The measure of value of an oil property is approximated by the length of time it takes to "pay out;" viz., the time required for it to return the original investment. This time varies in different fields. In the Appalachian and Mid-Continent fields, a good investment pays out in about four years; in California, it requires a slightly longer time; and in the Gulf field about two years. The two principal methods for establishing these values are based on acreage, as in California, and on production, as in the Appalachian field. The method of establishing values based on production1 was worked out in the Appalachian fields and approximates the value remarkably well in some fields; but it is a rule of thumb and should be used intelligently. Briefly, the method is as follows: An arbitrary number of dollars (called the barrel-day price) multiplied by the number of barrels of settled daily production of the property gives the value. In its crudest application, the barrel-day price is determined by the "$10 to $0.01" rule, which means that the barrel-day price is one thousand times the prevailing price of oil. For instance, with oil at $3.50 per bbl. the barrel-day price would be $3500 per bbl. This rule, however, is not strictly applied, for the barrel price is varied according to whether or not the wells "hold up." But when a barrel price for a district has been fixed it is quite general to raise or lower the price with the fluctuation in the price of oil; here the"$10 to $0.0l"ruleisused extensively. However, the prospective purchaser takes into account tangible equipment upon the property, the extent to which the drilling program has been carried out, whether or not the wells are "shot" or natural, depth of wells, spacing of wells, paraffin trouble, etc. The basis of this method is settled production. As soon as production is considered settled, a flat barrel-day price is generally applied to all properties, no matter what their age. If it were possible to show that this flat rate was erroneous and that the value of the property depended on the point on the decline curve at which the wells happened to be (in other words, their age), and also on the operating costs, the future price

Jan 1, 1921