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By Karl J. C. Harries

"8.1. INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this chapter is not to provide precedents or examples of provisions, but rather to offer some comments that may be worth considering in the negotiation or review of an agreement. These comments are not intended to be exhaustive. It must also be noted that, although the chapter is written in the context of a common law joint venture, the concepts and concerns for the most part apply equally to a corporation that is owned by only a few shareholders for the purpose of participating in the project held by the corporation.The corporation has the advantage of having much of its organization established by local corporate law, but the particular wishes of the shareholders will appear in a shareholders’ agreement. The principal differences will be surprisingly small, save for the acquisition provisions that appear in a farm-in agreement1 and the substantial portion of the joint venture agreement devoted to creating and organizing the joint venture entity. Where the joint venture agreement refers to venturers and committees, the shareholders’ agreement will refer to shareholders and the board of directors, but both will have to deal with such basic matters as decision-making, default, dispute resolution, first refusals, funding, and carrying out work on the project. For convenience, this chapter usually refers to “venturers”, which may be taken to include shareholders.Negotiations give rise to many varying circumstances and concerns, and the main asset of the negotiator is an open and flexible mind. A desired result can often be accomplished indirectly in circumstances where the other side has adopted an inflexible position on a suggested approach. As precedents and standard forms tend to focus a negotiator’s thinking, they can be counterproductive. It is after the deal has been agreed to that a precedent can be of great assistance to the draftsman.The concepts are arranged in alphabetical order for convenience, not to suggest their sequence or position in an agreement or their relative importance. An agreement should adopt a progression of subjects in what the parties consider a logical sequence to read and work with. However, experience has indicated that it is best to set out in a single article the substance of the deal (i.e. the terms relating to the farm-in and what the acquiring party has to do to acquire his interest), preferably near the beginning of an agreement. The acquisition of the interest is, after all, the first order of business. The joint venture provisions will then follow in a reasonable sequence. It is also worthwhile to devote a single article to any special provisions that may apply during the earn-in period. For example, it may be provided that, although all work is to be done by the acquiring party as operator (with the duty of care, liability, and reporting requirements as set out in the joint venture sections of the agreement), but during the acquisition period, the acquiring party, acting as operator, may be at liberty to do such work as he wishes, without the need for any committee or other approvals, and committee meetings may be suspended.2An agreement is divided into paragraphs and articles to make it easier for the parties to read and understand, and to assist a party in finding “that provision” when the need arises. A comprehensive table of contents will also assist the parties who must work under an agreement. An added benefit of a table of contents is that in preparing it, the draftsman sees the overall structure of the agreement and will often catch and correct flaws."

Jan 1, 2003

By Keith L. Harris

Real2 gross national product (GNP) grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.3% in the fourth quarter and at 2.5% for all of 1986, according to the most recent Department of Commerce estimates table 1). The 1986 GNP growth was the lowest since the recession in 1982, and was slightly below the estimate published in the last issue of Minerals and Materials. Barriers to greater economic growth in 1986 included the Federal budget deficit, the trade deficit, reduced energy-sector investment because of low oil prices, and uncertainty over changes in the Federal tax code.3 Major sectors of the economy responsible for the fourth-quarter growth included real Government purchases of goods and services, up $19.9 billion from the third-quarter level; real net exports, up $12.2 billion; real residential investment, up $3.0 billion; and nonresidential fixed investment, up $1.5 billion. The increase in Government purchases of goods and services was attributed to the S25.1 billion rise in net purchases of farm products by the Commodity Credit Corp-oration. Real personal consumption expenditures and inventory investment declined, however. Personal consumption expenditures declined primarily because of reduced motor vehicle purchases. Despite only modest growth during the fourth quarter, the economy improved significantly because of the narrowing of the trade deficit and growing employment (table 2) while maintaining low unemployment and inflation rates. Business sounded an optimistic note, with planned increases in current-dollar capital spending of 0.9% for 1987 compared with a 1.7% decrease in 1986. While it is primarily the nonmanufacturing industries that expect to increase investment from 1986 levels, some manufacturing industries are increasing investment by significant percentages as well, notably the steelmaking and nonferrous metals industries (table 3).

Jan 1, 1987

By H. B. Hill

Virtually from the date of its discovery in December 1928 the Oklahoma City oil and gas field, Oklahoma County, Okla., has attracted national and international attention. The history of the field has been associated closely with rules and regulations pertaining to production control and proration practices. Early development was rapid, and Oklahoma City soon attained the distinction of being the first major field in which the producing wells were over a mile in depth. Before the structural features of the reservoir had been disclosed every outpost well was considered a "wildcat", so complex appeared the underground geology. The wells not only were deep and the reservoir pressures high, but the production from the early wells was a high A.P.I. gravity oil, accompanied by large volumes of gas. Several "blow-outs" and fired occurred during the early development, and the close proximity of these now unusual events to a large city gave the field much publicity, both local and national. Later, when its production threatened to demoralize the market for oil and its products, the Oklahoma. City field again attracted wide publicity. The then little understood geology of the underground reservoir and the diversity of ownership of the land overlying the producing structure made orderly development and production difficult to enforce. Proration was enforced with difficulty, and the rate of production from the field continued to increase until, on August 4, 1931, martial law was declared in all prorated fields of the State, and most of the wells in the Oklahoma City field wore shut in. On October 9, 1931, permission was granted to reopen and produce the wells in the Oklahoma City field. The order permitting production of the wells provided that during the period beginning October 10 and extending to October 20, 1931, all wells in the field that had not produced more oil than specified under the earlier proration orders and that had been shut in for the required 65-day period were permitted to produce 5 percent of their last potential during that 10-day period.

Jan 1, 1936

By A. E. Petersen

To reduce U.S. dependence on imports of titanium, the U.S. Bureau of Mines has investigated the recovery of titanium from perovskite (CaTi03). Domestic perovskite deposits represent a significant, but untapped, titanium resource. An acid sulfation method was developed that will extract about 97 pct of the titanium and the columbium and 70 to 90 pct of the rare-earth byproducts from perovskite concentrates. A flow-sheet for recovering titanium as pigment-grade titanium dioxide (Ti02) is discussed. Test work performed in developing each unit operation is described. The first three unit operations have been demonstrated using laboratory-scale continuous methods of operation: acid sulfation of perovskite concentrates, leaching sulfation residue to dissolve metal values, and precipitation of titanium oxysulfate monohydrate (TiOS04?HP) from the resulting leach flltrate. Batch testing of other unit operations was performed: TiOS04?H20 redissolution and iron reduction, precipitation of Ti02 by hydrolysis, and regenerating recoverable acid with rare-earth byproduct recovery. Cost evaluation results are provided, indicating that processing perovskite concentrates by acid sulfation may be an economically viable means of producing Ti02.

Jan 1, 2010

By F. Calizaya

A booster fan is an underground fan installed in series with a main surface fan and used to boost the air pressure of the ventilation air passing through it. To accomplish this objective, the fan is installed in a permanent stopping and equipped with airlock doors, a monitoring system, and interlocking devices between main and booster fan controls. The stopping and doors are used to prevent flow recirculation, and the monitors to ensure safe operation of the fan. A booster fan, properly sized and sited, can be used to create safe work conditions and allow the extraction of minerals from areas that would otherwise be uneconomic to mine. In deep and large mines with heavy emissions of air contaminants, the required quantities of air can only be supplied by using high pressure fans. These fans will inevitably induce significant losses of fresh airflow through the stoppings and doors. For well defined ventilation circuits, booster fans can be used to decrease the main fan pressures and reduce the leakage flows. However, this will require a good understanding of the correct ventilation practice, from planning to operation and maintenance of booster fans. The objective of this study is to investigate the conditions under which booster fans can be used safely and efficiently in underground coal mines. Specifically, the study is directed at (1) collecting reliable information on airway resistances and flow requirements from two large U.S coal mines, (2) collecting fan performance data from one or more existing coal mine where booster fans are used regularly, (3) monitoring the performance of booster fans in a laboratory model and an experimental mine, (4) developing a booster fan selection method to assist the ventilation engineer at the planning stage, and (5) training six M.S. or Ph.D. graduate students in advanced mine ventilation.

Jan 1, 2010

By H. B. Hill

Virtually from the date of its discovery in December 1928 the Oklahoma City oil and gas field, Oklahoma County, Okla., has attracted national and international attention. The history of the field has been associated closely with rules and regulations pertaining to production control and proration practices. Early development was rapid, and Oklahoma City soon attained the distinction of being the first major field in which the producing wells were over a mile in depth. Before the structural features of the reservoir had been disclosed every outpost well was considered a "wildcat", so complex appeared the underground geology, The wells not only were deep and the reservoir pressures high, but the production from the early wells was a high A.P.I. gravity oil, accompanied by large volumes of gas. Several "blow-outs" and fired occurred during the early development, and the close proximity of these now unusual events to a large city gave the field much publicity, both local and national. Later, when its production threatened to demoralize the market for oil and its products, the Oklahoma City field again attracted wide publicity. The then little understood geology of the underground reservoir and the diversity of ownership of the land overlying the producing structure made orderly development and production difficult to enforce. Proration was enforced with difficulty., and the, rate of production from the field continued to increase until, on August 4, 1931, martial law was declared in all prorated fields of the State, and most of the wells in the Oklahoma City field wore shut n. On October 9, 1931, permission was granted t o reopen and prod e the wells in the Oklahoma City field. The order permitting production of the wells provided that during the period beginning October 10 and extending to October 20, 1931, all wells in the field that hid not produced more oil than specified under the earlier proration orders and that had been shut in for the required 55-day period were permitted to produce 5 percent of their last potential during that 10-day period. On November 7, 1931, the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma issued an order which divided the Oklahoma City field into the Wilcox, Arbuckle, and Lower Simpson zones for proration purposes. Wells producing from the Wilcox zone were allowed to produce 4 1/2 percent of their potential5/ from November 1, 1931, to January 1, 1932; Arbuckle limestone wells were allowed to produce 250 barrels of oil daily; and Simpson sandstone wells which had a potential of over 2,000 barrels per day or which made 3 percent or more water were allowed to produce 200 barrels of oil per day.

Jan 1, 1937

By Sam S. Taylor

"INTRODUCTION This report deals with a comparatively simple application of some of the engineering principles involved in the evaluation, installation, and operation of air- or gas-injection projects and well-clean-out and repair methods to increase the producing rates of oil wells in partly depleted pools during the war. The methods suggested for developing gas-injection projects take into consideration that in general no new wells will be drilled because of wartime restrictions of equipment and manpower and that only existing wells and second-hand machinery will be used. Because air will be employed as the injection medium in secondary-recovery operations where natural gas is scarce and expensive, the disadvantages and hazards accompanying, its use are discussed. Engineering techniques recognized as best modern practice are discussed in relation to the effect of simple air-injection development of properties on postwar operations and Probable ultimate recovery of oil. The report is an introduction to where, when, why, and how an air-injection project should be installed and operated; it is not intended to be an engineering manual for technical guidance in the selection, development, and operation of simulative methods of oil recovery.The report is intended mainly for these thousands of operators in the Appalachian region owning a few wells prodding small quantities or oil daily. Many such operators are anxious to increase their production rates by simulative means and to rehabilitate their wells so that they will produce more oil to help win the war but, in general, are unfamiliar with secondary-recovery operations and cannot afford to hire technical assistance."

Sep 1, 1944

By J. A. Baicker

A prototype borehole probe for ore grade determinations by means of in-situ neutron activation analysis was designed, built, and tested in a two-phase program. Phase I dealt with the design and fabrication of a borehole logging system for operation in 7.6 cm (3 in.) diameter or larger boreholes. It consisted of a 5.06 cm (2 in.) diameter borehole probe containing an intrinsic germanium detector, a canister-type solid cryogen cooling system, cooled FET preamplifier, linear amplifier, high voltage supply, analog-to-digital converter, microprocessor-based multichannel analyzer, buffer memory, bi-directional cable link, power supplies, and a Californium-252 neutron source. A surface support vehicle was designed and outfitted. A minicomputer system was constructed and software developed and tested. In Phase II the system was field tested at several mine sites. The system was calibrated, tested, improved, and demonstrated in a variety of applications. Tests were performed at sites pertinent to uranium, iron, coal, copper, silver and gold. Technical feasibility was demonstrated for all these applications except gold; the gold results were inconclusive. In-situ neutron activation analysis using high resolution gamma ray spectrometry was found to be a potentially viable logging method for are grade analysis under certain conditions.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. W. Adams

This report surveys the efforts of six contractors to the U.S. Bureau of Mines with regard to their electromagnetic noise measurement programs. What has been done, what is planned, and evaluations and recommendations are given for each contractor. The main observation is that to date there is not sufficient knowledge of electromagnetic interference in mine environments to design a reliable communication system. This knowledge should be available by the end of June 1972 if certain planned programs are completed successfully. A major effort of this report is to establish parameters to be measured, units to be used, and workable formats for data presentation. This is given in Appendix A. Some details concerning equipment, procedures, locations, and sample data are included in Appendix B.

Jan 1, 1971

By Owens S. Roberts

The drive selected for any piece of machinery must adequately satisfy the application requirements both during the starting interval and at running conditions, All loading possibilities of the drive must be known and allowances made for any adverse limiting conditions such as extreme cold, or perhaps an intermittent excessive loading situation etc. In general, the drive must be selected to provide the required operating characteristics with maximum reliability and at minimum cost. Simplicity of overall design is always an advantage and care must be exercised to insure that systems incorporating unnecessary complicated parts are not indiscriminantly provided. Important non-technical considerations such as equipment avail-ability (on an overseas project) as well as standardization details also play a role in the drive selection process. Additionally, an assessment of the potential capabilities of the personnel that will have to maintain the equipment can have some influence on the final choice. Several types of prime movers are available but this article will restrict itself to the use of induction motors operating from an available alternating current power source. Many drive arrangements are possible, the most common being the direct coupled single motor arrangement. It is sometimes desirable to use more than one motor per machine, but these designs are usually more

Jan 1, 1971

By D. Harrington

When the word "gas"' is mentioned in connection with mining almost invariably it is inferred that the explosive gas, methane, is in mind and that the reference is to coal mining. Although methane is likely to occur in any coal mine the metal mines of the world contain by far a greater variety of gases than do the coal mines. Often the gases in metal mines are as dangerous as the gases likely to be found in coal mines, and sometimes are even more deadly. A coal mine is more likely to contain methane than a metal mine. In rare instances it may contain high percentages of nitrogen or carbon dioxide or it may be deficient in oxygen where the air is confined in a blind end or in a sealed region. Much more rarely relatively small percentages of ethane or other hydrocarbons with an odor of ether, gasoline, or kerosene, or minute percentages of hydrogen sulphide are found in a coal mine. During a coal-mine fire or explosion carbon monoxide content is likely to be high (4 per cent or more), and if the coal contains much sulphur the high fumes may contain some sulphur dioxide.

Jan 1, 1931

Geophysical Abstracts 1 - 86 wore issued in mimeographed form by the Bureau of Mines; Abstracts 87 - 111 were published in bulletins of the Geological Survey; Abstracts 112 - 119 were issued in mimeographed form by the Bureau of Mines as Information it ion Circulars 7256, 7257, 7267, 7273, 7285, 7292, 7303, and 7310. 1. GRAVITATIONAL METHODS 7786. Barton, D. C.3/ Case Histories and Quantitative Calculations in Gravimotric Prospecting. Am. Inst. Min. and Meat. Eng., New York, Tech. Pub. 1760, 1944, 49 pp.

Jan 1, 1945

By James M. Link

Underground coal mining is the most hazardous industrial occupation in the United States.. Haulage accidents in underground coal mines contribute substantially to the occupational hazards of this type of work. In an effort to improve mine safety, a completely hydraulic transport system has been designed to move coal from the mine face to the preparation plant. The capital investment for the hydraulic haulage system is great, and the size of the mine developed for this study is large. Mine production for the conventional haulage mine is 1. 1 million tons of clean coal per year, while the hydraulic haulage mine will produce over 1.6 million tons of clean coal per year. Safety statistics for a number of mines of this size are shown.

Jan 1, 1975

By Grant R. Brown

The report provides guidance for determining those environmental impacts associated with the surface mining of steeply pitching coal seams. In addition to the environmental impacts, four additional issues are addressed, namely (1) Time and motion studies of those coal mining systems employed in mining seams which pitch in excess of 250, (2) Assessment of those mining techniques, (3) Development of rationale for the mining methods employed, (4) Identification of the reclamation practices and determine whether these practices were in compliance with appropriate Federal and State regulations. Five surface mines located in three geologically distinct basins of the United States were analyzed during the period of August through November 1979. The three basins include the Hanna Basin of Wyoming, the North Park Basin of Colorado and the Southern Anthracite Field of Pennsylvania.

Jan 1, 1980

By Robert H. Peters

Groundfall accidents have been the leading cause of fatalities in the underground coal mining industry for many years. Statistics from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicate that approximately half of the victims of these fatal accidents were in an area where no devices had been installed to support the mine roof. This report was prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Mines to provide guidance to operators of underground mines concerning the use of techniques that may help to keep miners from going under unsupported mine roof. The report is divided into two major sections. The first section reviews the findings from several areas of empirical research pertaining to strategies for convincing employees to avoid unsafe acts and/or adopt self-protective behaviors. The strategies are (1) incentives and feedback, (2) disciplinary actions, (3) training (primarily fear communications and behavioral modeling), and (4) nondirective techniques. This literature review has a broad focus and should be helpful in making decisions about how to encourage a wide variety of types of self-protective behaviors. The second major section of the report presents an analysis of each strategy's potential for keeping miners away from unsupported roof.

Jan 1, 1991

By George A. Morrison

This paper describing the methods of mining and crushing limestone at the West Winfield, Pa., limestone mine of the West Penn Cement Co., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining practices, methods, and coats in the various nonmetallic mining districts. HISTORY The limestone deposits of western Pennsylvania have been exploited for many years and have been quarried extensively at West Winfield in Winfield. Township, which lies in the southeastern corner of Butler County.

Jan 1, 1931

By George S. Rice

The prevention of coal-mine explosions has been one of the chief purposes of the Bureau of Mines. In facti the first Federal appropriation relating to mining methods, in 1908, authorized the investigation of the causes of mine explosions and the possible methods of preventing them. When that investigation started the mining industry had not determined the real causes of a succession of terrible coal-mine explosions in various countries, culminating in the great disasters at CoulTièl'es, France, and Monongah, W. Va. Coal dust as an agent of widespread explosions had been under suspicion, and watering to allay the dust was recommended by some mining engineers but the watering of coal-mine dust was adopted in comparatively few mines of the United States and Great Britain, and had not been introduced widely in any country except Germany. Rock dusting, another method of preventing explosions of coal dust, was early tested with success by the Bureau of Mines in its fist gallery at Pittsburgh and, beginnig in 1911, at the experimental mine, Bruceton, Pa. Several of the fist publications i of the bureau suggested that rock dust be used in gaseous or dusty bituminous mines, and in 1915 Technical Paper 842 strongly recommended it. Since that time additional tests in the experimental mine have fully confied this :ft judgment.

Jan 1, 1924

By M. C. Mound

A recent development using XRD techniques, a unique fixed detector, specifically permitting full mineralogical information simultaneously for the first time, specially designed sample preparation and presentation system and Rietveld codes provide a continuous real- time analysis on the true contained mineral polymorphic composition of powder streams such as ore materials, cement, ground clinker or any other mineral stream conducive to XRD analysis. There are several COSMA systems currently operating in the US, Canada, Italy and Australia, proving service and reliability of this concept. The mineralogical information generated continuously in real time is used for automated efficiency, product quality and reduces costs. Quantitative Phase Analysis information is transmitted to the plant DCS via Modbus over RS422 or ethernet. Some limited information is stored in the on-board computers for optional future use at the operator?s option.

Jan 1, 2010

By E. C. Keeley

THE property of Buffalo Ankerite Gold Mines, Limited, is in Delora township, Porcupine area, Ontario. The southwestern part of the property is ground formerly owned by Marbuan Gold Mines, Limited, which was acquired by Buffalo Ankerite in January, 1936. Until 1938, the Ankerite (or North) mine and the Marbuan (or South) mine continued as separate operations, each developed through a surface shaft and winze to the 1050 level and each having its own mill. This meant high hoisting costs, which, in 1936 and 1937, amounted to 36 cents per ton. In 1938, the underground workings of the two mines were connected on the 1050 level, and ore from both mines was hoisted at the main, or No. 2, shaft of the North mine, location of which is shown in Figure l. This shaft was discontinued at a depth of 1150 feet because, owing to the soft nature of the talc (serpentine) rock in which it was sunk, it had to be concreted throughout, and also because of its great distance--1,100 feet and 1,400 feet, respectively-from the North and South orebodies.

Jan 1, 1945

By M. Olper, M. Maccagni

"The crude zinc oxides (CZO) produced in any thennal process dealing with EAF dust also contain lead, cadmium, and a considerable amount of halides (chlorides and fluorides). The high halide contents make these crude zinc oxides less and less attractive, both technically and economically, and a further refining procedure is nece'ssary to meet the zinc and zinc oxide market requirements.Hydrometallurgical techniques commercially used to dehalogenate the crude zinc oxides are not effective enough to upgrade the crude zinc oxides to the required specification for their direct use in the traditional sulphuric electrolysis by primary zinc producers.The EZINEX® PROCESS has solved the problem of the halides contained in the crude zinc oxides. This process is the only proven technology electrowinning zinc from a chloridebased electrolyte in a conventional cell house. This paper discusses the process economics taking the data from feasibility studies of different size commercial plants."

Jan 1, 2000