Search Documents

By T. S. Lovering

An economic geologist is concerned primarily with finding deposits of economic value, estimating their tenor and quantity, their shape and position. Thus the primary problems can largely be lumped under three headings: position, character and quantity; and all three are phases of the broader problem of genesis. Distribution, tenor and quantity are of immediate practical importance and are studied constantly by all who exploit mineral deposits. Although the emphasis changes from year to year, the problems of genesis seem more remote and rarely get the serious consideration from the field man that the other three do. Our understanding of the problems of the genesis of mineral deposits has come largely as a by-product of more evidently utilitarian work in the past, and probably will continue to grow in the same manner lor many years to come. However, it might be economically fruitful for the producers to have many competent investigators spending their time chiefly on the problems of genesis of mineral deposits. Many years ago, when first engaged in work for the United States Geological Survey in Colorado, I expressed a conviction which was just then dawning on me by saying that economic geology was turning out to be 80 per cent structural geology, to which Mr. B. S. Butler replied, "Yes, and more than 80 per cent of structural geology is lithology." At the present time there seems to be a widespread feeling among economic geologists that the problems of position or distribution are largely problems of structure and rock types. Types of Research Ptesearch in any branch of geology can be conveniently divided into two types: field research and laboratory research. Ideas are usually dug up in the field, pruned or developed in the laboratory, and taken back to the field for proving. For either the first or last step the field data should he as complete as possible, and the structural geology of nearly all our mineral deposits still needs more detailed delineation. In general, this means mapping on larger seales. Ideally the structural map should give a factual picture of a11 visible effects of stress; there is still room for vast improvement in the technique of presentation. Information that is much

Jan 1, 1940

By A. L. Labbe

IT Is well known that the Cottrell process is more easily applied to certain kinds of smoke than to others. The successful Cottrell installations are those treating smokes that carry dust of a mechanical nature; also smoke carrying fume dust that contains an excess of sulfuric acid over that required to combine with the oxides in the dust. But up to the present time the process has not reached a satisfactory economical basis of operation, in the treatment of smoke' containing basic dust. It is not impossible to make a smoke containing basic dust suitable for the process by. humidifying or acidifying. A number of Cottrell plants use these two methods of conditioning smoke previous to Cottrell treatment, which are quite successful, but the use of either results in expensive operation and a substantial loss in metals.. For these reasons, I would say that the baghouse process has not been replaced by the Cottrell process in the treatment of smelter basic smoke. Basic smoke must be given a. preliminary conditioning treatment because the dust is not a conductor of electricity; the water or acid treatment imparts some conductivity to the dust.. The rate at which dust is recovered depends on the proportional amount of power transmitted to the, treater and on the rate at which the smoke passes through; therefore to maintain a maximum constant amount of power across the electrodes of the treater, the same degree of conductivity should prevail, at all times between the surface of the electrodes. For all practical purposes, in the application of this process to lead and copper-smelter smoke, we can consider that the conductivity of the gases is a .constant. The variations in temperature of the smoke have a much greater effect on the solids than on the gases; the only instance where the temperature of the gases plays an important part in the process is at plants using humidifying: The temperature does not affect the conductivity of mechanical dust because such dust has natural conductive properties. However, in the case of smoke carrying acid-fume dust, where the conductivity is imparted to the dust particles by coming into contact with the acid fumes, the temperature is of importance.

Jan 8, 1925

By T. S. Lovering

An economic geologist is concerned primarily with finding deposits of economic value, estimating their tenor and quantity, their shape and position. Thus the primary problems can largely be lumped under three headings: position, character and quantity; and all three are phases of the broader problem of genesis. Distribution, tenor and quantity are of immediate practical importance and are studied constantly by all who exploit mineral deposits. Although the emphasis changes from year to year, the problems of genesis seem more remote and rarely get the serious consideration from the field man that the other three do. Our understanding of the problems of the genesis of mineral deposits has come largely as a by-product of more evidently utilitarian work in the past, and probably will continue to grow in the same manner lor many years to come. However, it might be economically fruitful for the producers to have many competent investigators spending their time chiefly on the problems of genesis of mineral deposits. Many years ago, when first engaged in work for the United States Geological Survey in Colorado, I expressed a conviction which was just then dawning on me by saying that economic geology was turning out to be 80 per cent structural geology, to which Mr. B. S. Butler replied, "Yes, and more than 80 per cent of structural geology is lithology." At the present time there seems to be a widespread feeling among economic geologists that the problems of position or distribution are largely problems of structure and rock types. Types of Research Ptesearch in any branch of geology can be conveniently divided into two types: field research and laboratory research. Ideas are usually dug up in the field, pruned or developed in the laboratory, and taken back to the field for proving. For either the first or last step the field data should he as complete as possible, and the structural geology of nearly all our mineral deposits still needs more detailed delineation. In general, this means mapping on larger seales. Ideally the structural map should give a factual picture of a11 visible effects of stress; there is still room for vast improvement in the technique of presentation. Information that is much

Jan 1, 1940

By Bruce A. Kennedy

In recent months, public hearings held by the Senate Subcommittee on Minerals, Materials and Fuels on the Stillwater copper-nickel complex in Montana have been reviewed at great length in the press. Although the meetings were well managed by the Subcommittee and questioning was kept in line with the aim of the hearings-namely, how can re- sources be developed in a manner compatible with the preservation of the environment-it was alarming to read the apparently uninformed and questionable arguments presented by some witnesses who were attempting to prohibit mining in the area altogether. One spokesman even went so far as to urge that mining of the area be rejected be- cause, even if the mining operation did not pollute the areas, the effluent and waste produced by the people themselves could constitute a hazard to the environment and to themselves. This, of course, would be true to a point. However, if this or similar types of reasoning were used to reject mining of a large number of orebodies in the future, how is the United States going to meet its future mineral demands and what effect could this have on the economic strength of the country? Fall of the Roman Empire An interesting article in a recent issue of Time magazine came up with a new theory to explain the fall of the Roman Empire. Claire Patterson of CalTec, during a recent study of air pollution, investigated the historical worldwide distribution of lead. As lead was a by-product obtained from silver mining during historical times, he turned his attention to studying the production of silver during those eras. He discovered a very interesting fact-that, I unless the stock of metal is continually being replenished from the mines, accidental loss diminishes a country's stockpile of silver at a rapid rate, as much as 2 per cent per year. Patterson, a geochemist, theorized that with an accidental loss rate of 2 per cent per year, if the country's silver supply dried up, the entire existing stockpile could disappear in about a century.

Jan 1, 1971

By Stanley Arnot

THE Mother Lode district in California is probably better known as the land of Bret Harte and Mark Twain than as a gold-producing district, although in this respect it holds an important place. The history of . quartz mining on the Mother Lode dates back to the '50s, when, after the first fever of the gold rush, men began to look for something more permanent, if not more lucrative, than the placers. Since that time,: the discoveries, shutdowns, and reopenings of the many mines, together, with the varying fortunes of their numerous operators, constitute an: interesting chapter in California history, but one too long to include in a description of mining methods. The district is well situated, so far as physical conditions are concerned. The Mother Lode extends along the western slope of the Sierra . Nevada Mountains, about half way between the crest and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the country traversed consisting of low rolling hills-typical foot-hills. The elevation varies from 1000 to 1800 ft. and the climate is most desirable. There is an abundance of water, timber is easily obtained from the higher foot-hills a few miles east, and: cheap hydro-electric power is generated practically on the Lode. These natural conditions are conducive to low costs in mining and have been the deciding factor in allowing profitable exploitation of the comparatively low-grade orebodies. Transportation facilities are, not bad. Five branch railroads, from the main trunk lines in the valley, tap the district at intervals of from 10 to 30 miles, the roads connecting these are fairly good for trucking purposes. Labor is made up of several nationalities, the principal ones being American, Spanish, Jugo-Slav, Italian, and Mexican. There were few Mexicans on the Lode prior to 1919, but the shortage of labor, experienced generally by the mining camps of the country in the years following the war, made necessary the hiring of some. The percentage of Mexican labor rapidly increased in 1920 and for a year or so thereafter, but it has now diminished until at most of the mines only a few Mexicans are working. Of the different nationalities, Americans are the most efficient and Mexicans the least.

Jan 9, 1925

By Ralph Wilcox

THE diamond drilling of certain characters of unstable rock forma-tion, as, for example, the copper-bearing schists of the Miami district in Arizona, is rendered most difficult by what is known as " caving" of the sides of the drill holes. As this caving is very greatly increased by the action of flowing water, it occurred to me, after experiencing a great deal of difficulty with caving in diamond-drill holes which I was drilling for the Miami Copper Co., that if I could substitute air for water, much of the caving-with resultant difficulties, such as decreased speed of sinking and increased consumption. of diamonds-would be overcome. After some experimenting, I found that it was perfectly practicable to substitute air for the water; forcing the air down the hollow rotating rods in the same manner as is done with water, the air passing out around the bit, which is thus cooled, and ascending on the outside of the rods to the collar of the hole, carrying the borings in just as satisfactory a manner as had been done by the water, but without the accompanying destruction or caving of the sides of the drill holes such as had been so generally experienced with the water. When water was encountered in the drilling this water was forced up to the collar just as it would have been had water been used in the .drilling, but with the correspondingly decreased flow there was relatively less washing or caving of the sides of the drill holes. The only change necessary in the arrangement of the drill is that a cross instead of a tee is used at the collar of the hole. A tightly woven jute bag is attached to one arm of the cross, for collecting and filtering the sample; and when drilling in dry ground a jet of water is attached to the opposite arm of the cross, to collect the dust and wash down the sample into the bag. The rods rotate through a stuffing box attached to the upper opening of the cross. The distention of the jute bag by the issuing air indicates the operating conditions as sufficiently as did the flow of water when using water in the drill hole.

Jan 10, 1913

By D. F. Hewett

ALTHOUGH most persons will agree that an individual or a nation can profit from the experience of other individuals or nations, there is always room for debate over the degree of similarity of their past and present conditions and of their future problems. Noting the increasing interest that Americans are showing in our mineral problems, I have felt that we could profit from reviews of the experiences in mineral exploitation acquired by the industrial nations of Europe. Whether we can learn much from Europe's experience in exploiting such minerals as petroleum may be debatable, but certainly, with a record of metal production extending back nearly 3000 years, Europe should hold much of value for America. A trip to Europe in 1926 permitted me to visit 28 mining districts, of which about half are now or have been in times past outstanding sources of several metals. The districts range from England to Greece and from Spain to Poland. To summarize briefly my impressions of these mining districts, as well as such reactions to the thought and life of Europe as so short a visit permits, I shall only venture the opinion that Americans can review with great profit the ideas and actions of Europeans, with regard not only to the production of metals but to many expressions of life. I believe that America has made and is making new contributions to the art of living, as well as to the arts of mining and metallurgy, but in so far as Europe is and has been a laboratory of economic, social and political experiments, the results she has attained deserve the thoughtful attention of America. I have come to believe that many of the problems that harass Europe lie in our path not far ahead. I have therefore hoped that a review of metal production in Europe in the light of its geologic, economic and political background may serve to clear our vision with regard to our own metal production. One can not examine the literature of national metal production without being impressed that the countries of continental Europe, especially Germany and Austria, have shown greater interest and devoted more time to research into the record of metal production than Great

Jan 1, 1929

By H. I. Aaronson, C. Wells

THIS is a preliminary report on a detailed metal- lographic investigation of the bainite reaction in a plain carbon hypoeutectoid steel. In view of the current interest in the bainite reaction and of the controversies which still exist about even the basic phenomenology of this mode of transformation, it was considered desirable to present a summary of the more important results obtained to date prior to the completion of this investigation. The steel used contained 0.29 pct C, 0.76 pct Mn, 0.25 pct Si, 0.005 pct P, and 0.007 pct S. The alloy was homogenized for 48 hr at 1250°C. Individual specimens were then austenitized for 30 min at 1300°C and isothermally transformed for various times at temperatures above and within the bainite region, ranging from 775" through 500°C at intervals of 25°C. These specimens were carefully examined on a research metallograph; a few specimens of especial interest were also studied electron microscopically.' Bainite may be defined as the aggregate structure resulting from the precipitation of carbides from supersaturated ferrite which formed by nucleation and diffusion-limited growth. Two groups of experimental observations made during the present study provide support for this mechanism of the bainite reaction: 1—at 625°C, partial conversion of pro-eutectoid ferrite to bainite began after more than 99 pct of the austenite had decomposed and 2—the precipitation of bainitic carbides occurred only within the ferrite phase. The proeutectoid ferrite and the bainite reactions in the steel studied were found to be morphologically continuous. Following the classification scheme of Mehl and Dube,2 three principal morphologies of proeutectoid ferrite were identified in the temperature region (625" to 550°C) in which the two reactions blend—grain boundary allotriomorphs," * Grain boundary allotriomorphs are crystals which nucleate at and grow preferentially along matrix grain boundaries. Widmanstaetten side plates, and intragranular plates. Carbide precipitation converted these morphologies into their bainitic equivalents with increasing isothermal reaction time. Conversion took place more rapidly as the reaction temperature was reduced. The replacement of supersaturated ferrite by bainite, however, did not occur uniformly even within individual austenite grains and was noticeably incomplete at higher transformation temperatures, e.g., 625° to 575°C. The ferritic and bainitic forms of a given morphology thus were frequently found to coexist, often inextricably intermixed, in a given specimen. At 625" and 600°C, the conversion of ferrite to bainite was clearly seen to have occurred entirely by the nucleation of carbides at ferrite/ferrite boundaries, as shown in Fig. 1. The nature of the loci at which carbides formed at lower temperatures was often difficult to ascertain with a light microscope, although the alignment in rows of many of the carbides, illustrated in Fig. 2, suggested that nucleation had again occurred at grain boundaries or subboundaries within the ferrite. Application of the electron microscope confirmed this deduction for bainitic structures formed at these temperatures, as shown in Fig. 3. The dense black appearance of bainite formed at very low reaction temperatures in higher carbon steels3 indicates, however, that isolated lattice defects within ferrite crystals prob-

Jan 1, 1956

By Mark D. Tabak

Measurments of the transient photoconductivity in fillns of amorphous selenium with blocking- contacts haue been used in studying the transport properties. The results shozu that the transport of free carviers cannot be explained in terms of a model using bulk trapping. Measurments of the photocurrent-applied field characteristic as a unction of sample thickness do not pvoduce the scaling lau,s approps-iate lo a range-limited model. THE investigation described here was undertaken to explore the mechanisms of transport in amorphous selenium films. These films are used in xerography, where a photoconductor is charged electrostatically and then exposed to light to form a latent image. The sensitivity that one can expect when operating in this mode is directly related to the transport properties of the photoconductor material. The study of photoconductivity at high fields in insulating materials is often complicated by contact effects. Injection from the contacts can easily mask the fundamental transport processes that are being studied. A technique is described in this paper that allows a study of photoconductivity and transport processes in amorphous selenium films without the complicating effects introduced by contacts. Accordingly, the samples are prepared using insulating films between the sample and the metal electrodes, where the electrodes are capacitively coupled to the surfaces of the sample under study. A transient measurement is performed with pulsed light, and the photocurrent measured near the beginning of the pulse before the field is distorted by polarization at the blocking elec- trodes. A similar method has been described by Manyl using pulsed electric fields in studying the high field transport in insulating cadmium sulfide. EXPERIMENTAL It is possible to eliminate undesirable contact effects and maintain uniform high fields across the sample by using blocking electrodes and measuring the current-field characteristic under transient conditions. The sample configuration is shown schematically in Fig. 1. Each of the gold electrodes is separated from the amorphous selenium film by a layer of insulating plastic (Formvar) approximately 2000~ thick. The electrode on the front surface is semi-transparent to allow illumination of the sample. The whole configuration is mounted on a KEL-F substrate, which is a transparent insulating plastic having a thermal expansion coefficient that allows low-temperature measurements without cracking the selenium film. Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the measurement apparatus. Light was obtained from a 450-w Xenon arc lamp, the intensity of which was controlled by stainless-steel screen filters and monitored by a pho-tomultiplier which was calibrated periodically against a thermopile. A camera shutter operated at 1/200 sec provided the light pulse and a synchronized signal to the oscilloscope. The photocurrent transient is ob-served with a high-speed picoammeter (response time of 1 msec) the output of which is displayed on an oscilloscope. The applied voltage is constant throughout the transient measurement. The selenium films were prepared by evaporation of four 9's pure selenium shot supplied by Canadian Copper Refiners. Spectrographic analysis showed about 1 ppm of Te and Fe, 5 ppm of C1, and 0.05 ppm

Jan 1, 1968

By J. N. Munro

At the present stage of geothermal technology and the still limited applications of geothermal energy, most of us consider any use of "things geothermal" to be something out of the ordinary. If in such a situation there can be a use of geothermal energy which is even more unusual, then the utilization of geothermal energy-or more precisely, geothermal heat--for the manufacture of salt is just such a use. This is the essence of investigations in the Fiji Islands, where experiments in the evaporation of seawater to product, salt have been conducted using geothermal heat emanating from the ground in an area of hot springs. The hot springs are located on the coast at Savusavu in a depression about GO ft wide. There are ten individual springs, but most of these are small and insignificant. The temperature of the water from these springs reaches 100°C.

Jan 9, 1964

By M. J. Langley

Zinc ores were first discovered in Tennessee in 1856 at Jefferson City where a deposit became the Mossy Creek mine. From that time until 1913, small- scale attempts at prospecting and mining were made in various parts of the district. The actual systematic development of the zinc deposit dates from 1913 when the American Zinc Co. started operations at Mascot. Mining in the Mascot-Jefferson City area today is devoted exclusively to the zinc sulfide, sphalerite. Various grades of zinc mineralization have been found intermittently through a 600-ft vertical thickness. However, the commercial ore is confined to a total thickness of about 250 ft, from which it usually is mined irregularly from four or five separate levels known locally as "ore runs." In a few places vertical thicknesses up to 150 ft have been mined where commercial material extended from one run to another.

Jan 10, 1962

By Gerald Sherman

Asbestos ore is hard, well intersected by free fissuring but not completely enough to avoid heavy secondary blasting, and is a more valuable ore than usual for caving. These factors have resulted in deviations from standard caving practice in details but not in principles.

Jan 4, 1950

By J. David Lowell

On a low desert ridge six miles south of Cairo lie the remains of the world's earliest known mining town, Maadi of predynastic Egypt. Copper artifacts, including ingots and an ax head which was spoiled in casting, indicate that copper ore was smelted in Maadi, and radio- carbon dating has placed the activity at least as early as 3300 B.C. This is the oldest documented date for the use of smelted copper, the first industrial metal used by man. Copper was mined and smelted almost as early in Asia Minor and on the island of Cyprus, but the greatest development of the budding copper industry was in Egypt, where specific historical records show that about 10,000 tons of copper metal were produced in the period from 1850-1580 B.C. Contrast this production of 35 tons per year with the present world production of about 7 million tpy.

Jan 1, 1970

By Sidney Cornell

THE technical- advantages of adding oxygen to air and producer gas, or using it as a reactive agent, producing 400 B.t.u. gas instead of. the present 150 B.t.u., with higher flame temperatures and a reducing flame possible, with a smaller volume of gases passing through a furnace, will result in quicker melting, sharp working, and the production of a higher quality steel. Probably electric-furnace quality steel can be produced in an open-hearth furnace using oxygen. A modern, standard, 100-ton open-hearth furnace, with all equipment, costs from $350,000 to $500,000; there are about 1000 open-hearth furnaces in this country. When considering the use of oxygen in the open-hearth furnace, it is necessary to study: (1) The use of oxygen in the present furnaces, such that modification of existing furnaces and equipment cost the minimum, although the full advantages of oxygen are not thus obtainable. (2) The use of oxygen in a furnace designed for its use, producing quality and quantity steel at the lowest possible cost. This entails the junking of approximately one-half the value in existing equipment-writing off $250,000,000. The basis of such an estimate is the present cost of manufacturing open-hearth steel. Objection may be taken to some of the unit prices here given, but while some companies obtain their ores for much less, the prices quoted are -market price. They are used to show the maximum economy obtained by oxygen at that point.

Jan 11, 1924

By E. H. Rose

IN these days of the spectacular in research and technological accomplishment, it is easy and natural to overlook some of the applications to everyday life of recent developments of a more pedestrian kind, or to fail to realize that sometimes two or three of the latter may be combined to serve a novel purpose in fields other than those in which they grew. The present remarks are to point out three such developments which might be combined to apply to an everyday function of the A.I.M.E. as an organization. By its Constitution, the A.I.M.E. is organized "to promote the arts and sciences connected with . . . minerals and metals, and the welfare of those employed in these industries . . .; to hold meetings for social intercourse and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate . . . among its members the information thus obtained . . .; and to . . . maintain . . . a library." By these words of Article I the profession of mining and metallurgy is recognized to involve many arts and sciences, of which the art and science of exchanging information is a leading one. As to methods of preparing or securing papers, the Constitution is silent.

Jan 1, 1944

By Edward L. Fidler, Thomas E. Finch

Thin seam coal mining in the western US nominally equates to recovery of stray seams associated with thicker, major seams. The thin or stray seams encountered are generally recovered, but not in all cases. The alternative to extraction is, of course, spoiling. The majority of thin seams are encountered somewhere in the overburden above the major seam or in the parting between thick seams. Although some are true strays and appear anywhere in the geologic sequence, others might be classified as thin "rider" seams immediately above or below a thick seam and separated by some equally thin parting. For the purpose of this discussion, stray or thin seams are defined as those which are less than 1.2 m thick or represent less than 10% of the expected extractable coal. [Figure 1] is a graphic representation of typical thin, stray, or rider seams which actually appear in a western operation. Operationally, stray seams create irritating scheduling problems and require special handling techniques which do not always lead to efficient equipment utilization. Additionally, coal recovery from a thin seam is considerably less than the 95% usually recovered from thick seams. Higher recovery in thin seams leads to dilution problems, which depreciates Btu quality, and most western coals are not in a position to lose heating value. Thin western seams also undulate and pinch or swell more than thick seams, and this leads to more difficult recovery. Often they are associated with equally dark carbonaceous shales and visual selectivity is difficult at best during daylight hours. Resource Recovery Regulations Thin seam recovery in western mines is encouraged by both federal and state regulations and by the mining industry's concern for total resource recovery. [Table 1] lists the western coal states and their recovery regulations. The federal regulations are found in the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. They state, "General performance standards shall . . . require the operation as a minimum to … conduct the surface coal mining operations so as to maximize the utilization and conservation of the solid fuel resource being recovered." Economic stimulation for thin seam recovery appears to be marginal or at the least controversial. Scheduling and operational problems often outweigh the nebulous profits created by engineering analysis. The only alternative to extracting thin seams occurring above major production seams is to strip directly through them and lose the resource to the spoil pile. Although this is not palatable to environmental emotions or resource promoters, it is the most simple expedient to operations people.

Jan 1, 1981

By Ernest M. Spokes, Martin A. Thieme

A simulation model developed to analyze scraper-pusher utilization in open pit mining systems is described. The mining simulator discussed was developed as a tool to aid management in evaluating alternative open pit haulage schemes and to reduce the risk involved in the selection of equipment.

Jan 1, 1973

By Chas. A. R. Lambly

In the extreme northeast corner of the State of Washington, on the Canadian border, lies the Metaline mining district. This district is old in history, but young in production. Geology The Metaline district is a zinc-lead area of the replacement type in dolomite and limestone. The ore bodies of the Josephine horizon are in many ways similar to the ore bodies of the famous Tri-State zinc fields. The beds are faulted and folded and have varying low dips in varying directions, and underlie large areas of the district. History Production started in 1927 on a very limited basis. The property is now mining and milling 700 tons per day. The mine is opened by adit tunnels and a vertical shaft. As the ore horizons gained depth, it was necessary to sink inclines to follow the ore horizon (see Fig 1). From 1927 to date, approximately 600,000 ft of diamond drill was put down This work indicated that suficient tonnage existed to justify a redesigning of the whole operation, surface and underground. After four years of general study, the following program was planned: 1. A new mine entrance, which would be an incline, that could follow the ore body down at whatever pitch was necessary. The incline will be equipped with conveyors for the moving of ore and waste to the surface and with tractor-type locomotives for man and supply transportation. 2. The new incline also required a new type of mining which was developed and is now in use. It is called contour mining and will be described in a future paper. 3. The new incline exit would necessitate the moving of the mill and mine shops across the Pend Oreille River. This part of the program is now underway. The Incline The sinking of the incline was to start as soon as World War II ended and was as follows: The first leg of the incline was to be sunk from the surface 1600 ft on a 17" slope. The collar and first level at elevation 2180 ft, the second level at elevation 2000 ft, the third level at elevation 1875 ft, and the fourth level at elevation 1700 feet. From the 1700 ft elevation the incline was to flatten out to 12" for 400 ft to give the necessary depth for the ore pockets below the 1700 ft level and the necessary clearance for future sinking (see Fig 1 and 2). Due to lack of manpower in 1946, the program was changed and was as follows: A drift was driven from the old mine workings on the 1700 ft elevation in an easterly direction. At 1300 ft the drift was turned N 50" E and at this point a raise was driven 180 ft on a 50" slope. This raise intersected the Josephine horizon and commercial ore was encountered. At the 2000 ft mark, a main raise was driven, 245 ft on a 50" slope, and the 1875 ft elevation was cut. Exploration drifts were started on this level and production followed on a limited basis. The main drift at the 2500 ft point was turned N 35" E and ran parallel to and 10 ft east of and under the proposed incline line. At the proposed intersection of the drift and incline on the 1700 ft elevation, it was planned to raise the incline to intersect the 245 ft raise and to continue on to the surface, a distance of 1600 ft. When this proposed intersection point was reached, a heavy flow of water, approximately 800 gpm, was encountered and all work on the main drift face was stopped. This water flow flooded the main pump station in the old mine and the two lower levels with approximately 20,000,000 gal of water. The water was controlled and finally drained from the cave areas and lower levels after six months of pumping. After the heavy flow of water was encountered in the main heading, it was decided that the incline would have to be started from the surface, as originally planned, so that too much time would not be lost. The surface overburden had to be removed, a total of 6000 yards. A temporary dry house for 6 men was built. An 8 in. churn drill hole was intersected in the first raise driven from the 1700 foot elevation tunnel. Air and water lines were placed in this hole, and air and water were delivered to the collar of the incline from the mine working. The incline started down at 15 ft wide and 7 ft high through the Leadbetter slates. After sinking 4 sets, it was

Jan 1, 1950

By O. C. Wheeler

The activity in exploration and in the acquisition of prospective oil lands that reached such a high level in Colombia during 1936 gained momentum and reached unprecedented proportions during 1937. Both national and private lands were taken up. In the Magdalena Valley above Puerto Berrio, leases on large tracts of private lands are held by Richmond (Standard of California), Shell and Texas. Tropical also owns leases covering a block of acreage in this area near Honda. From Puerto Berrio to El Banco most of the acreage is of national ownership, and concessions covering parts of this area have been granted to Tropical, Socony Vacuum, Shell and others, while applications for additional concessions are pending. Latterly leases on private lands below the Lebrija River have been taken out by Shell and Richmond. In the drainage basins of the Meta and Guaviare Rivers of the Llanos region of eastern Colombia, several of the major companies have carried on geological exploration and it is understood that some private properties have been leased or optioned. Under Colombian law, subsoil rights are reserved to the nation on all lands that passed from Government ownership after Oct. 28, 1873. Private titles antedating that day carry both surface and subsurface rights. Conditions under which lands may be acquired, explored and

Jan 1, 1938

By E. De Golyer

The only known direct method of discovering oil deposits is by the drilling of test wells. Such exploration is always hazardous and generally very costly. The problem of the prospector, therefore, is one of selecting test sites that are favorably located and so to reduce the odds against his venture. Early in the history of the oil industry, it was realized that oil and gas deposits, other conditions being favor- able, were usually found in anticlinal types of structure. This very understandable and rational habit of occurrence furnished the first substantial clue to the prospector. Oil occurs in sedimentary rocks, and beds of such rocks are deposited originally in parallel planes. An anticline at the surface, therefore, could be accepted as an indication of an anticline in lower beds. Structural geology became the tool of the prospector, and by its use in the past two decades, the majority of the known important oil deposits of the world have been discovered. This is but an incomplete, and the simplest, statement of the problem. Nine-tenths and more of the important oil pools of the world belong to the great class of accumulations controlled by structural traps- anticlines, faulted structures, salt domes, etc.-but by

Jan 1, 1932