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By J. B. Mawdsley

A LITILE north of the geographic centre of the Province of Saskatchewan, 150 miles north of the city of Prince Albert, is a narrow green-stone and sedimentary belt of pronounced structural characteristics. This belt, generally known as the Sulphide Lake belt, is about two and a half miles wide. During the past three years prospecting has uncovered numerous gold-bearing showings occurring chiefly along the centre of the belt for a distance of at least nine miles. The number of these showings, the nature of some of them, and their relationship to strong structural features, make it altogether likely that intensive work will eventually locate ore-bodies that will be of economic importance. The discovery of gold in the fall of 1938 on the south shore of Mackay lake, about five miles northwest of the Sulphide Lake gold-bearing belt, indicates that there are neighbouring zones of interest. This paper, an attempt to outline the present status of the interesting mineralized belt, is based largely on the information gained on a five-day tour of this district, made in August, 1939, on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources of the Province of Saskatchewan. The Sulphide Lake belt is named after a small lake centrally located in it. This lake and others are just north and within short portage distances of some of the long bays along the north shore of Lac La-Ronge, an irregular, island-studded lake, about twenty miles in diameter, in relatively rocky Precambrian country, just north of the Palaeozoic contact. The fur-trading post and settlement of Lac La-Ronge is on the west shore of this lake and a road, now under construction, will shortly link this community with the city of Prince Albert. In the past, the most direct route was an indifferent canoe route, in part following Montreal lake and river; more recently, the aeroplane has made this section easily accessible.

Jan 1, 1940

By Will H. Coghill

Recent work on beneficiation of the .Alabama red iron ores and ferruginous sandstones has brought out interesting new facts on particle-size reduction that axe a valuable supplement to what is already known.4/ The work was done by the Southern Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the University of Alabama, University, Ala., on two samples from the Birmingham district. One was an oolitic red iron ore containing about 35 percent iron; the other was a ferruginous sandstone containing about 25 percent iron, particularly attractive because of its low phosphorus content. In both samples rounded quartz (sand) grains were embedded in an oolitie, "onion skin" matrix of hematite. The hematite carries varying amounts of clay,-which limits the grade of concentrate that can be made. The clayey hematite is soft, so that the rock crumbles readily under pressure. The sand grains shell out like corn,, and without much exaggeration the mill used for differential grinding might be called a "sheller,"

Jan 1, 1940

By R. A. Cattell

A technologic group such as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Division of the Bureau f Mines, which conducts research on many of the complicated and frequently interrelated problems f extracting crude oil and natural gas from the ground, transporting them to market or to daces for subsequent treatment, and manufacturing products, should report progress from time to time. Engineers and others who apply the results obtained by this division are closely associated with its personnel, because many of the problems are attached cooperatively with groups in industry. Some of this cooperation is formal, as exemplified by work now in progress under cooperative agreements with the States of Oklahoma, Kansas, and others, but much of it is informal, prompted by the desire to be mutually helpful in the public interest. Furthermore, the published reports of the Bureau on subjects pertaining to petroleum and natural-gas technology come to the direct attention of a relatively large number of persons, whose interest in results and appreciation of the value of this type of work have caused them to be kept currently informed regarding available data.

Jan 1, 1940

By Charles B. Carpenter

For many years, studies of ground movement and subsidence accompanying subsurface mining operations have been part of the research program of the Bureau of Mines. Periodic observations by engineers of the Mining Division of the Bureau of man-built structures beneath which mining operations are conducted offer indisputable evidence of subsidence in the form of creeks in masonry structures and fractures and depressions in tie surface of the earth. As the removal of subsurface rock and earth material by mining, especially by the room-and-pillar method, is equivalent to withdrawing some of the foundation of a building, subsidence of the formations above, the mining levels in certain air-as is easily understood as a gravitational adjustment of the overlying earth formations.

Jan 1, 1940

By George W. Bain

SOME problems concomitant with commercial exploitation of marble are presented as examples of interesting, useful and profitable fields for application of scientific knowledge. The marble industry is only one such field and is selected because its varying new aspects are familiar to the author. However, what is true for marble is equally so in principle for many industrial minerals. The problems of any stone industry are to maintain markets, create new outlets for stone already in demand, and develop varied uses for varieties that are not so popular. Here the geologist has a different role from most of his colleagues in metal mining. The producing branch may ask about the expectable variation in thickness or size of a deposit as development proceeds. The stock department may call for the available amount of a given type of stone before accepting a large order. The sales force requires data on the use for stone from certain parts of deposits in order to divert grades to the most suitable use. The service department wants defects rectified and the cause determined to avoid recurrence. The mills want data on durability and cutting quality of abrasives. The geologist occupies no special department; he is on general call, as may be illustrated by a few types of problems that may be classified as: (1) dominantly geological in character, (2) dominantly chemical in character, (3) dominantly physical in character. GEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS The geological problems deal almost exclusively with the size of blocks. Size across the deposit is limited by thickness of individual beds, and along the strike by the space between crosscutting joints. Frequently the vertical depth of a block is reduced by exfoliation shells arising from spontaneous expansion. All these factors require consideration in developing a deposit to fill an order. Thickening of Marble Beds The limestone beds that became the marble deposits of the northern Appalachians and of the Yule locality in Colorado were seldom homo-

Jan 1, 1940

By Wilbert J. Huff

The work of the Explosives Division, Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1939, is described in the following pages. This paper is the fourth of a series of annual reports covering the activities of the division since July 1, 1936. The studies outlined in this and preceding reports of the series have been conducted under the direction of the author and the respective unit leaders to whom specific credit is indicated.

Jan 1, 1940

By R. A. Cattell

A technologic group such as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Division of the Bureau of Mines, which conducts research on many of the complicated and frequently interrelated problems of extracting crude oil and natural gas from the ground, transporting them to market or to places for subsequent treatment, and manufacturing products, should report progress from time to time. Engineers and others who apply the results obtained by this division are closely associated with its personnel, because may of the problems are attached cooperatively with groups in industry. Some of this cooperation is formal, as exemplified by work now in progress under cooperative agreements with the States of Oklahoma, Kansas, and others, but much of it is informal, prompted by the desire to be mutually helpful in the public interest. Furthermore, the published reports of the Bureau on subjects pertaining to petroleum and natural-gas technology come to the direct attention of a relatively large number of persons, whose interest in results and appreciation of the value of this type of work have caused them to be kept currently informed regarding available data.

Jan 1, 1940

By John T. Norton

In recent years, the damping capacity of metals has come to be recognized as an important index of certain types of structural change. In a number of instances, this property has proved to be particularly sensitive, but insufficient work has been done to permit a general interpretation. There is considerable question at the present time as to just what factors are responsible for the internal dissipation of energy when a metal is carried through a cycle of stress, and these factors must be ascertained if the value of the damping method as a metallurgical tool is to be determined. Since internal stresses are among the chief causes of dissipation of internal energy, or damping capacity, it was thought that a study of the changes in damping during the recovery and recrystalliza-tion of a cold-worked metal might throw some light upon the subject, particularly if the damping changes were correlated with other properties that are better understood. Probably more work has been done on the recrystallization phenomena of alpha brass than on any other metal, so this was chosen as the material for the present investigation. Damping measurements on brass have been made by Förster and Köster.1 They showed that the annealing of a brass that had been cold-drawn to 50 per cent reduction produced a rapid fall in the damping, a flat minimum occurring at approximately the temperature of recrystallization. The damping remained at a low value until grain growth was well under way and then it increased rapidly with increasing grain size. Köster and Rosenthal2 continued the work in greater detail. They pointed out that the damping decrease does not correspond to the hardness drop but occurs at a lower temperature, suggesting that the relief or redistribution of internal stresses has a large effect while the actual recrystallization effect is small. They also show the increase in damping at the higher annealing temperatures. Their curves are reproduced in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. S. Rhea

SALT-WATER disposal in the East Texas field by means of injection into the Woodbine sand is a relatively new procedure. The purpose of this paper is to present what has been accomplished to date in this field, with-out detailed discussion of other means of disposal, such as surface impound-ing for evaporation or release into surface streams. Subsurface disposal of salt water is still in an experimental stage in the East Texas field, and, though water can be injected into the Woodbine sand, the economic problem is not as yet solved. As past experience has been that fields producing from the Woodbine formation produce large quantities of salt water, it was assumed early in development of East Texas that it would be necessary to dispose of a tremendous quantity of salt water in the later periods of production. There has been a gradual increase in the amount of salt water pro-duced in the field, until at present it is about 200,000 bbl. per day from approximately 4400 wells. It is only natural to expect an increase in the number of wells producing water, as well as the amount of water produced in the future, and it has been estimated that if present practices con-tinue the production of salt water may ultimately be as much as 700,-000 bbl. per day. The Woodbine sand is found in the East Texas field at an average depth of 3650 ft. The oil-bearing portion of the sand lies between the depths of 3050 ft. below sea level, on the east edge of the field, and 3320 ft. below sea level on the west, which depth was the estimated original average oil-water contact. The Woodbine sand under the field has the form of a broad tilted wedge pinching out on the eastern side of the field and dipping gently into the East Texas Basin toward the west. The Woodbine sand in the East Texas field has an average porosity of approximately 25 per cent and is highly permeable, the average being about 1300 millidarcys.

Jan 1, 1940

By G. E. Steudel

The study of the possibility of effecting a lower cost in the manufacture of pig iron reveals the importance of the ever present question of slag chemistry and volume. Factors that determine slag chemistry and volume are the impurities in the ore available, the ash-sulphur content of the coke, and a flux material necessary to promote removal of sulphur. Of these, the ores present by far the major source of impurities and what may prove to be the lowest practical slag volume with desired chemistry in one locality may be considered low or high in some other center of iron manufacture. The Chicago district is not only blessed with ores of high quality, but with excellent coke and flux materials as well. It is the intent of this paper to discuss slag problems at the South Works only, where burdens consist of Mesabi ores, Michigan stone, and coke ranging from 7 to 9 per cent ash and containing an average of 0.57 per cent sulphur. Early in the development of modern blast-furnace practice, the consideration of slags was secondary to the many adjustments of mechanical difficulties, such as furnace lines, stock distribution, stove design for obtaining higher blast temperatures, improved chemical segregation and size of raw materials. Furnace operators, after making these improvements, turned their attention to the study of other refinements in practice, of which slag chemistry appeared to be the most important. It is only within the last two decades that operators have become familiar with the various aspects of slag compositions. The industry, while rather slow in its recognition, is indebted to such investigators as Rankin,1 Wright,1 Feild,2 Royster,2 McCaffery,3 Kinney,4 Holbrook,5 and Joseph,5 whose researches concerning the elimination of sulphur within the blast furnace and the effect of slag composition upon melting point, viscosity, and desulphurizing power have established criteria for the selection of slags of the requisite quality. Large slag volumes result in higher coke consumption and cost of disposal. Any attempt to lower slag quantity must be accomplished

Jan 1, 1940

By William W. Adams

Accidents to men employed in the quarrying and related industries of the United States were more numerous, absolutely and relatively, in 1937 than in 1936. Fortunately, the entire increase was in the category of nonfatal injuries, as accidents causing death declined in number and in proportion to the number of man-hours worked. Employment increased. More men were employed, more man-days and man-hours were worked, and the average employee had more hours of work than in 1936. Reports covering all commercial operations showed that 84,094 men were employed an increase of 5.1 percent over 1936. The number of man-hours of work performed by the industry was, 158 millions, an increase of 7.6 percent. Seventy-seven men were killed by accidents, a, reduction of 14 from the year before, and 6,348 men were injured and disabled for more than the remainder of the day on which the accident occurred, 11 percent more than in 1936. The fatality rate of 0.49 per million man-hours of exposure in 1937 compared favorably with the rate of 0.62 for the previous year, whereas the non-fatal-injury rate of 40.10 was 3.2 percent higher than the rate of 38.87 for 1936.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. H. Jr. Herty

ALMOST every metallurgist who has given the Howe Memorial Lecture has had a personal contact with the distinguished gentleman to whose honor this hour is devoted. Unfortunately for me, such personal contacts were not possible. However, in the preparation of a thesis on the open-hearth process, one of my earliest tasks was to make a survey of the literature, and it was from Professor Howe's Metallurgy of Iron and Steel that I drew a number of references to previous work which formed the foundation for my reading. In his volume there is such a complete exposition of the then current thought on the subject of slags and on their role in the elimination of phosphorus from steel that I feel no hesitation in discussing in this Howe Lecture the subject of "Slag Control." In the present era of close specification, the drive for uniformity of product, and the close inspection of the product and of the cost sheet, the utmost efforts must be made to control the steelmaking variables to the best advantage of the steel producer. One of the major variables is the slag in the furnace and its effect upon the composition and quality of the metal. What advantages are to be gained from slag control? In the broad sense the advantages must be tremendous, because the very foundations of good steel melting are based on "shaping up" the slag to a point where, with proper temperature, the heat is ready for the final additions. Every melter works toward these ends through his experience with innumerable heats of steel. The elimination of undesirable constituents such as phosphorus and sulphur is entirely a matter of slag composition and physical nature, a point well known for over half a century. The role played by the slag in assisting in proper heat transfer from roof and flame to the steel has been equally well known. In more recent years there has come the problem of oxygen control in the more accurate gaug-ing of additions for making high-grade rimmed steel for the new strip mills, and in the deoxidizing additions for grain-size control and cleanli-ness of forging steels, both carbon and alloy. In this problem the oxidiz-ing characteristics of the slag are of prime importance.

Jan 1, 1940

By G. S. Scott

In the course of the Bureau of Mines investigation relative to the causes, behavior, and control of anthracite-mine fires, attention was directed toward the correlation between the temperature of oxidation and the gaseous oxidation products in the range of temperatures between 100° and 350°C4/. These tests, made on a high-grade anthracite to determine the amount of oxygen consumed and the mounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane evolved when air was passed through samples of the anthracite at various elevated temperatures, showed that the gases evolved and their relative proportions vary with temperature, constitute a means for determining the probable temperature of the anthracite, and thus permit detection of incipient heating beers dangerous fire hazard exists. As the relationships mentioned are affected somewhat by the amount of previous oxidation of the coal, it was deemed desirable to know to what extent they might vary owing to this cause. It was also considered desirable to have a means for estimating the extent of oxidation from the gas analysis, as this would permit a more accurate estimate of probable temperature. Finally, it seemed desirable to know how much the composition of coal might vary over an extended period of oxidation, since this was previously suggested5/ as a possible means for estimating the probable maximum oxidation temperature to which a sample of coal had been subjected.

Jan 1, 1940

By Charles Austin

IT has long been known that plain high-carbon steels may be susceptible to graphiti-zation below the A, critical, but no data have been available to indicate what factors cause and tend to inhibit graphite formation. Two recent publications1,2 have shown that the factors controlling graphitization below the A, are different from those operating above the A, inversion where commercial graphitization of malleable iron begins. Furthermore, for plain high-carbon steels graphitization below the critical point does not appear to be related to ordinary chemi-cal analyses. Many years ago it was recorded' that the rate of graphitization at subeutectoid tem-perature is not a maximum just below the A, critical, but at some lower temperature, which Austin and Norris have shown to be about 670°C. Indeed, work done in our laboratory has demonstrated that it is im-possible to spheroidize certain steels in the temperature range of 650° to 710°C. with-out the formation of considerable amounts of graphite. However, if the temperature is maintained just below the A, (720°°C,) these same steels may be completely sphe-roidized at constant temperature. In previous studies1,2,4 on 1 per cent plain carbon steels graphitization was en-countered during prolonged tempering. The limited number of steels studied did not provide sufficient data to permit adequate study of the factors controlling this graphi-tization. Accordingly, a limited statistical investigation was undertaken, utilizing 18 steels of similar chemical analyses, fur-nished by four steel companies, who also supplied information regarding the history of manufacture.

Jan 1, 1940

By J. J. Forbes

The original organic act establishing the Federal Bureau of Mines in 1910 and the amended act of 1913 indicated that promotion of the health and safety of mine workers was to be ore of the chief functions4/ of the Bureau. Many of the field and laboratory studies pursued by the Bureau are designed to improve conditions under dish minors must work. As the Bureau has no legal authority to enforce safety rules, it must rely upon cooperation of employer, employees, State mining or other departments, and labor organizations for success in promulgating its finding and making recommendations. The staff of the Safety Division, which is essentially a service organization of the Bureau, is composed of 28 safety instructors, 29 engineers, 18 clersk, and 7 others engaged in promotion of an educational program in an effort to improve conditions in the mining industry. The work is directed from 14 safety stations in the United States and 1 in Alaska. The work of the personnel, of the mine safety car that operates in. the anthracite region of Pennsylvania was supervised and directed by the district engineer in charge of the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Safety Station.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. L. Wyman

The resultant embrittlement caused by the exposure of oxygen-bearing copper when hot and exposed to reducing gases has been the subject of many studies.' Little attention, however, has been given to the possible embrittling effects due to atmospheres or conditions that under some circumstances might be the source of a reducing gas. At rather infrequent intervals there occur reports of copper becoming embrittled during normal annealing cycles in commercial steam-atmos-phered furnaces such as customarily are used for this operation. As might be expected, several other factors exist—such as oil, dirt on the wire, or in the furnace, or metallic surface contacts—that might produce reducing gases and be the source of the trouble. However, in consideration of the statement made by Ruder,2 it would seem that under some conditions steam itself might prove to be the source of trouble. A consideration of the amount of the dissociation of water vapor up to temperatures of the melting point of copper shows that3 the amount of hydrogen that could come from this source is far too minute to account for any embrittlement. What such information does not tell is what will happen at the surface of copper when subjected to steam at elevated temperatures, for entirely different conditions may persist, which would account for Ruder's observation. Furthermore, there are no data as to what might happen at the surfaces of other materials present, the resultant of which might affect the condition of the copper present. For this reason, it was decided to make a series of experiments comparable to those previously conducted by the writer,' which would clarify the effect of the steam on copper, and in copper in the presence of steel. Material The material used in these experiments was tough-pitch copper wire of rectangular cross section, about % in. thick, picked at random from the regular factory production of material used for windings, etc., in the electrical industry. Chemical analysis of this material gave the follow-

Jan 1, 1940

By M. G. Cheney

THE production record of the Sinclair-Moren pool, in southeast Young County, Texas, demonstrates that under efficient operating methods a single well may obtain normal oil recovery from an area of 100 acres or more. This record is the more surprising in view of relatively adverse reservoir conditions such as lack of water drive, moderate initial reservoir pressures and a consolidated sandstone reservoir with original permeability greatly reduced by processes of lithification. This case history is considered worthy of special study in view of the ever present problem of proper spacing of wells. Cupidity, abetted by the unrestrained law of capture, has in too many instances guided development and production methods without regard for sound economic and engineering principles. Largely as a result of ill advised spacing of wells, many oil fields have brought financial losses instead of deserved profit to those using capital, time and energy in this important business of adequately meeting the petroleum requirements of what is known as our modern civilization. In March 1923, the Sinclair Oil and Gas Co. obtained initial daily production of about 12,000,000 cu. ft. of gas and 1100 bbl. of oil in its first well near the center of a 372-acre lease on the L. P. Moren land, James Rose survey, Abstract 245. This exploratory test was drilled as a geological prospect of average promise, on a plunging anticline with possibly 10 ft. of closure as mapped on the outcropping limestone of upper Canyon (Pennsylvanian) age. In subsurface, the top of the producing res-ervoir is 16 ft. lower in this well than in the highest wells but probably 25 ft. above lowest closing contour. Wells No. 2 and 3 were drilled about 1/4 mile west and southwest near a normal fault with some 30 ft. of downthrow to the southwest. The producing sand was reached at a depth of 2512 ft. and drilled to 2529 ft. in the first well. This sandstone reservoir is of Millsap Lake (middle Strawn, upper Cherokee) age. It was absent in the second and third wells, which were abandoned at the depths of 3725 or more. In April 1925, a fourth well was drilled 600 ft. east and 24 ft. lower for top of sand than No. I. Production of about 100 bbl. daily was reported from 2521 to 2562 after an 80-quart shot. This well was drilled to 4560 ft., plugged back to 2575 and shot again; but was abandoned soon thereafter because of small production.

Jan 1, 1940

By Kenneth Eilerts

The development and operation of "combination wells"5/ have created new and unusual problems, many of which can he solved only if information is available concerning the properties of the fluids produced. Data as to the characteristics of the fluids at the relatively high pressures that exist in the reservoirs are especially important, and there is growing economic concern to know what part, if any, of the liquid recovered at the surface was liquid in the reservoir, As an extension of this problem, it is important to know, whether liquid will be formed in the reservoir as a result of isothermal retrograde condensation when the reservoir pressure is reduced. The pressure range of such condensation, if it occurs, is significant in the design of gas-recycling plants for maintaining reservoir pressures. In connection with the operation of such plants, it is particularly important to know how pressure and temperature will affect the yield of the liquid phase and the composition of the gas to be returned to the reservoir. It has not been possible to predict the behavior of these fluids that have high ratios off gas to liquid by comparing them with the behavior of low gas-liquid ratio fluids at identical pressures and temperatures. Such comparison fails because the proportions in which a component will be distributed between the phases of a system at any given temperature and pressure depend increasingly on the composition of the mixture as the critical temperature and. pressure of the system are approached. Because many combination wells are producing from reservoirs that have temperatures near the critical point, experimental date on the properties of the Fluids under reservoir conditions are particularly important at this time, To meet the immediate requirements of the industry for such experimental information, an equilibrium cell has been constructed at the Petroleum Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines, Bartlesville, Okla. When adequate experimental date have been accumulated, it may be possible to make dependable estimates of the phase relations for high gas-liquid ratio fluids at the pressures anti temperatures characteristic of "combination-well? reservoirs.

Jan 1, 1940

The Howe Memorial Lecture, in memory of Henry Marion Howe, Past President of the Institute, was authorized in April, 1923, as an annual address to be delivered by invitation under the auspices of the Institute by an individual of recognized and outstanding attainment in the science and practice of iron and steel metallurgy or metallography, chosen by the Board of Directors upon recommendation of the Iron and Steel Division. The following were the Howe lectures and lecturers for the years indicated: 1924 What is Steel? By Albert Sauveur. 1925 Austenite and Austenitic Steels. By John A. Mathews. 1926 Twenty-five Years of Metallography. By William Campbell.

Jan 1, 1940

By R. Buehl, John Wulff, H. Hollomon

Although the main features of the transformations occurring in 18-8 have been published already, certain conclusions merit questioning and discussion. The questions may be summarized as follows : 1. If ferrite is formed by cold-working austenite, what happens to the carbon with which the ferrite and austenitc are both presumably supersaturated? 2. What is the nature of the alpha-ferrite formed at grain boundarices by chromium-carbide precipitation at these boundaries?

Jan 1, 1940