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By J. R. Iwinski

Escanaba, Michigan, is located on the South¬ern shore of the Upper Peninsula on a sheltered area of Lake Michigan called Little Bay de Noquet. The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company has operated a rail-to-ship ore transfer facility at this location for well over 100-years. It is the only terminal of its type on Take Michigan and thus can offer a longer navigation season to lower lake markets than other upper lake ports. It all started in 1864 when the Peninsula Railroad of Michigan, now a part of the C&NW, completed a 100 km rail line from Little Bay de Noquet to the Jackson Mines at Negnauee, Michigan. During that first year of operation approximately 31 000t of ore were loaded onto ships at Escanaba from what was then called the Merchants Dock. By 1871 demand had already exceeded capacity and it was necessary to build a larger dock, which in turn was replaced with a still larger pocket dock in 1903. There are no plans or records available to indicate how the ore was handled from rail to ship prior to the construction of the pocket dock.

Jan 1, 1981

By Kenneth G. Skinner, Hewitt Wilson, Thomas L. Hurst

Although chromite deposits occur in California , Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming , Pennsylvania, Maryland , New Mexico , North Carolina, Alaska, and the Phillippine Islands , less than 1 percent of the ore used in the United States is obtained from these deposits . Most of the ore in peacetime has been supplied by imports from South Africa, New Caledonia, Turkey, and Cuba . The mineral chromite , the most important chromium ore , is an isometric spinel with an ideal composition of FeO Cr2O3 , but commercial chromite has the variable composition (Fe , Mg) Oʻ (Cr , Al , Fe) 203. Chromite has a black color , a specific gravity of 4.4 , and a hardness of 5.5 . In thin section the color is reddish -brown to black . Chromite occurs in dunite and pyroxenitic ultrabasic rocks , which are composed of iron- magnesium silicate minerals such as olivine , saxonite , serpentine , and enstatite . These are also the gangue minerals . Com mercial ore occurs at random in the country rock in kidney- or lens - shaped deposits , which have no apparent relationship to each other . Stringers , veins , and bands often cut the country rock without regard either to fracture or to other deposits . Some beach sands , such as those in southern Oregon, contain chromite .

Mar 1, 1943

By Alexandre de Freitas Gomes de Mendonça, Leonardo José Silva de Oliveira, Rodrigo Seara Martins, Rodrigo Madrona Dias

No lingotamento contínuo, o pó fluxante é responsável pela formação de uma escória líquida no molde que formará um filme de escória entre a placa de cobre e a pele solidificada. As principais funções do filme são lubrificar e moderar o fluxo térmico no molde. Em particular, para aços com tendência ao agarramento, objetiva-se uma escória que potencialize uma extração térmica mais intensa em relação às escórias aplicadas em aços com tendência à depressão. O índice de basicidade do pó fluxante é o parâmetro que afeta diretamente a resistência térmica do filme de escória e, por consequência, a espessura da pele solidificada na saída do molde. Com o trabalho investigativo das melhores práticas, reduziu-se o índice de basicidade em 16,8% dos pós fluxantes aplicados em aços ultra baixo carbono obtendo um aumento de até 10,1% no fluxo de calor no molde. Além do aumento na espessura da pele solidificada, esse resultado também influenciou na estabilidade do nível de aço do molde e na qualidade superficial de placa.

Oct 1, 2019

By G Bickert

Australia is currently developing and engineering a range of specialised processing options for rare earth (RE) (Lynas, 2011, Alkane, 2005), zirconia (Alkane, 2005), lithium (Galaxy Resources, 2008) and other special minerals and metals required in high-tech applications. The processing of lithium, zirconium and RE minerals is based on complex leaching processes which require extensive liquor clarification, solid liquid separation and solids washing. The filtration properties for those leach liquors, residues and precipitates are not well understood and differ drastically according to the process route applied. Thus, filtration test work is essential for equipment selection, sizing and design. Similar types of slurries are filtered in laterite nickel, TiO2 and other chemical oriented processes, while more experience is available here as those processes are applied widely for a number of decades. The increasing need for dry stacking of tailings requires advanced tailings filtration with properties differing drastically depending on tailings properties. More traditional mineral processes such as flotation commonly apply filtration. All of these and other cases require proper filtration test work particularly evaluation of vacuum versus pressure filtration and the need for cake pressing and/or air blowing for filter presses. Bench scale test work and/or pilot plant operation is common to determine filtration rates, achievable cake moisture and wash efficiencies and sometimes filtrate clarity. While those values are important, there is much more valid information to be obtained by filtration test work.This paper discusses the intricacy of filter selection and sizing based on driving forces (vacuum and pressure air, compression by mechanical means and slurry) and parameters (cake thickness, forces and times) and different processes utilised in common filtration equipment. It will discuss the in’s and out’s of filtration test work design, planning, and in particular data gathering, processing, reporting, evaluation and filter sizing from recent examples of bench and pilot scale filtration test work for above applications together with methods for predicting filtration performance for example where test work is lacking. One focus will be the realistic extrapolation of test work results towards different parameters utilised in full scale equipment and plants. The conclusion of the paper will contain checklist for filtration test work.

Aug 8, 2011

By J F. H Thompson

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. Mineral exploration and mining are challenging businesses. Remote and at times harsh conditions have always made it difficult for exploration, but modern explorers also have to deal with cover, numerous technologies, an explosion of data and critical early community engagement. Mining deals with the reality of moving and breaking thousands of tonnes of rock each day to extract what can be a very minor component of economic value, and, furthermore, society expects that this will be done in a clean and sustainable manner. The exploration and mining challenges appear disparate, but they are intimately related.Although not widely appreciated, both exploration and mining have a long tradition of innovation. Over the last 50 years, major step changes in exploration have resulted from radical advances in our understanding of ore forming processes, new geophysical, geochemical and remote sensing technologies, and new ways to integrate and interrogate data. Over a more extended period, close to 100 years, mining has developed bulk surface and underground methods, selective extraction through flotation and leaching and global positioning system–geographic information system control systems that collectively facilitate mining at a massive scale. And yet, in spite of these successes and the boom that we have enjoyed in the last ten years, the industry is under pressure and the need for innovation and change is paramount.The major drivers for innovation are the need for increased quality in discoveries and mines and the need to interact effectively with communities and jurisdictions such that the benefits of quality mines are recognised and enjoyed widely.We are still making new discoveries around the Pacific Rim and elsewhere, but many argue that the quality – grade and accessibility – of these discoveries is decreasing. The net result is that explorers are delivering resources and reserves for development at lower grades and with higher capital and operating costs than current operations. For mining, the increasing age of many existing operations contributes to increasing costs, which, when combined with decreasing cut-offs and lower grades, also results in declining quality. The combined picture does not look good.Just as the pressure to improve performance and margins in the face of declining inputs increases, we are simultaneously faced with increasing societal demands for improved environmental performance and sustainable practices. This is most apparent at the local, community level, where opposition ultimately leads to delays or even cancellation of new projects. Quality is again the issue – quality of the initial and ongoing engagement and quality of the proposed mine in terms of environmental and economic performance.CITATION:Thompson, J F H, 2015. Exploration and mining – the need for innovation , in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 45–48 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By K. Nona C. Liddell

There is a significant amount of early work that has been largely forgotten that deals with the validity of the pseudo-steady approximation for liquid-solid reactions. Much of this was originally published in the chemical engineering literature but is highly relevant to hydrometallurgical processes. The purpose of this paper is to summarize some criteria that were been developed by various authors for determining the error associated with use of shrinking core models for liquid-solid systems.

Jan 1, 2002

It is well known that the ability to influence project value reduces significantly as planning progresses and decisions regarding project parameters are made. However, at the prefeasibility stage in particular, where one of the main aims should be to evaluate a wide range of options in order to select the best for more detailed further study, there is often a reluctance to spend the time and money needed to do this rigorously. This paper demonstrates, by a number of case study examples, how significant increases in value may be obtained by fully evaluating the combinations of alternatives for various project design parameters, including (though not limited to) mining methods, haulage methods, mining rates, processing methods and rates, sequencing of mining, and cut-off grades, with changes and upgrades over time where applicable. The additional value unlocked is typically orders of magnitude greater than the additional cost of the more comprehensive study. The dangers of misuse of simplistic sensitivity analyses and failure to identify how strategies might change in response to changes in external factors are also illustrated, and the importance of selecting the best `grade descriptor' is discussed.

Jan 1, 2007

By L. E. Djingheuzian

Introduction Cylindrical grinding mills have been used for a long time, but during many years of testing no methods were established that gave consistent results. The work by both scientific investigators and operators led very often to contradictory conclusions, and each millman was very much 'on his own' when trying to find the limits for working of his ball-mills. Fred C. Bond, in the introduction to his paper on Wear and Size Distribution of Grinding Balls, freely states that the mathematical immaturity of the grinding process "is the cause of many inefficient designs and installations as well as of much poorly oriented experimental work", and evidently he sees the solution of all our grinding problems in the discovery of the fundamental laws "which can change the empirical art into a mathematically exact science". While the writer is in complete agreement with Mr. Bond that grinding is governed by fundamental laws which can be expressed by mathematical formulae, there are so many variables in grinding, all interwoven with each other and mutually influencing each other, that the coalescing and merging of all these variables into a harmonious mathematical whole appears to be a homeric job. However, a light appeared on the horizon when it was proposed that power be used as an index of the grinding operation. It is pertinent to quote Gow, Guggenheim, Campbell, and Coghill from their paper on Ball Milling, in which they say: "Much of the past literature devoted to the subject has been concerned with the Kick-Rittinger dispute over evaluating grinding, or with dissertations on ball paths and the closely allied impact versus attrition hypotheses or with the exclusive consideration of certain specific variables, such as mill speed or circulating load, irrespectve of the other factors in operation. Such subjects may be dismissed with but little discussion in what may be called, by comparison a new philosophy in the stud of ball milling. Briefly this 'new philosophy' consists ' of using power as an index of the mill operation, and investigating grinding from the standpoint of set and induced variables with emphasis on the latter". But it is safe to assume that it was the work by E.W. Davis, H. E. T. Haultain, F. C. Dyer, A: M. Gaudin, J. Gross, S. R. Zimmerley, and others, that cleared the path for the authors of Ball Milling and induced them and A. W. Fahrenwald to look farther afield and thus to establish a far-reaching relationship between the power and capacity and the diameter of the ball-mills.

Jan 1, 1949

By Leonard F. Heising

At the Groveland-mine iron ore is mined by open-pit methods and concentrated by means of spirals and flotation. A brief history of the mine and its early development is given. The ore deposit is described, with emphasis on those physical characteristics that affect the choice of mining and milling methods. Development and mining, which include breaking ground, loading, transportation, engineering, and operating control; are explained, and the milling method is described Mining and milling costs are given in percent of total cost.

Jan 1, 1963

By Engineering Staff

In 1958, the Iron Ore Company of Canada decided to proceed with the Carol Project. The ore deposits in the area are part of the highly metamorphosed southern zone of the Labrador Trough. They lie along the shore of W a bush lake, in the western part of Newfoundland-Labrador, 190 miles north of Sept-Iles. The project is designed to mine, by open-pit methods, 17,200,000 long tons of crude ore, grading 37 per cent iron, per year. This ore will be beneficiated to produce 7,000,000 long tons of concentrate, grading 66 per cent iron, of which 5,500,000 long tons will be pelletized. Production is scheduled to commence this summer. Initially, ore will be taken from 45-foot benches in the Smallwood mine, using jet-piercing production drills and large-scale blasting with "slurry" explosives. Four 13-yard electric shovels will muck the broken ore into 100-ton trailer trucks. The trailers will be hauled to two 2,000-ton loading pockets, which feed the ore into 100-ton railcars. Four ore trains, each comprised

Jan 1, 1962

By S. E. Phillipson, S. Romberger

The Late Miocene San Cristobal Ag-Zn-Pb deposit represents syngenetic and epigenetic mineralization with low- and high-sulfidation characteristics. The geology of the deposit is characterized by barren dacitic ring fracture domes, mineralized resurgent rhyodacite domes, strongly altered and mineralized tuffaceous lacustrine sedimentary rocks and an extensive crystal-lithic tuff debris apron. The orebody is hosted by intracauldron sedimentary rocks and breccias. Fluid inclusion data suggest that silver, lead and zinc were transported as chloride complexes and precipitated by cooling in veins from <5% (by weight) NaCl eq. fluids at 170° to 215°C. Silver spatially and perhaps temporally associated with resurgent rhyodacite was transported as a chloride complex and precipitated by increased H2S activity or increased fluid pH.

Jan 1, 2002

By Joel B. Dellaria, Justin R. Lewis

"No. 9 Walton is a new high-rise condominium building located in the Gold Coast area of Chicago. The adjacent building, Walton on the Park, featured 4 levels of below grade parking and utilized a secant pile wall with integral drilled shafts to support the exterior columns. The earth retention system (ERS) for No. 9 Walton also employed a secant pile wall in combination with drilled shafts. The excavation into the soft Chicago clays varied in depth from 9.75 m to 12.5 m (32 feet to 41 feet) below grade. The temporary excavation support used internal braces from the new secant piles to the existing foundation system of Walton on the Park to provide earth retention. Engineering teams for both projects worked together to design the bracing scheme and connections to ensure that the new excavation and internal bracing would not overstress any elements of the existing structure. Further complicating the project, immediately to the west of the project was a historic church founded on shallow spread footings which required underpinning to minimize movements.The project involved three different building owners, small values for acceptable wall movement, an extensive monitoring program and the challenges of merging two earth retention systems. The subsurface conditions at the site, the adjacent structures, the excavation, and the performance are described. A summary of the design methods and the expected movements of the ERS are discussed, and the performance monitoring system is described. Overall, the ERS performed better than expected with less than 1 inch of measured lateral wall movement during and after the excavation was completed. Measured performance of the ERS is compared to the predicted performance and to the performance requirements for the project.INTRODUCTIONNo. 9 Walton is a new high-rise condominium building in Chicago located in the Gold Coast. The building has 3 levels of below grade parking and 36 levels of living space above grade. Developers originally slated the project to be Phase 2 of the Walton on the Park development built in the mid 2000’s, using portions of the existing foundation system for development of the new structure. However, the housing market crash in 2007 prompted cancellation of Phase 2 of the Walton on the Park development. The property sat undeveloped until 2015 when design and construction for No. 9 Walton began under a new development and design team. The project team completed foundation excavation and below grade structures in 2016 with the first units of the building turned over to new homeowners in 2017.The structural design for No. 9 Walton consisted of reinforced concrete columns and slabs, supported laterally by a heavily reinforced concrete central core. Drilled shafts to rock supported the interior columns and core with the exterior columns and foundations integrally included in the earth retention system. The structure had a below-grade footprint of approximately 1,490 m2 (16,000 ft2). The general excavation extended 9.75 m to 12.5 m (32 feet to 41 feet) below street level with the deepest portions at the central building core mat foundation."

Jan 1, 2017

By Henry F. Herley

The New Orient mine, owned and operated by the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co., has caused a great deal of comment and interest because of its unusual features and huge daily production. It is in Franklin County, Illinois, adjacent to the town of West Frankfort. The seam being mined is the Illinois No. 6 which in this locality is 9 to 12 ft. thick and lies approximately 500 ft. below the surface. Without fear of contradiction, it can be said that this is one of the largest coal mines in the world from a daily production standpoint. During 1928, New Orient produced 2,400,000 tons, which amounts to over 10,000 tons each day the mine operated that year. The mine is built for a capacity of 12,000 tons but has actually hoisted over 15,000 tons in one 8-hr, shift. This enormous production can perhaps be better visualized if it is realized that each day&apos;s operation depletes over two acres of coal. The general features of this mine have already been fully covered in a paper by George B. Harrington,&apos; President of the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co. In a paper of the nature of Mr. Harrington&apos;s, it was unnecessary to stress any particular phase of mining conditions, consequently the ventilation problems were touched upon but lightly. In this paper an attempt has been made to describe some of the problems which have been encountered in providing adequate ventilation for the mine. Ventilating Conditions The acreage allotted to New Orient mine has a length, north and south, of approximately 6 miles, and a width, east and west, of 2 to 4 miles. A number of important considerations caused the hoist shaft, air shaft and surface plant to be located near the southeast corner of the property, instead of near the center, as is usual. During the initial phase of the mine development, the mine was ventilated through these shafts, although there was a full realization that at some future date other shafts would be required.

Jan 1, 1930

By E. F. Young

An integrated steel company is an industrial complex ranging from raw materials mining, through pyrometallurgical smelting and refining, and hot shaping, to product finishing and coating. Within this complex is a great variety of operations which use vast quantities of water, and a variety of water uses which can result in pollution of many different types. The industry has recognized most of its problems for some time, and has spent a great deal of money and effort in reducing and eliminating pollution. A recent survey by AISI showed that the industry has spent, within the last 15 years, two hundred forty millions of dollars on water pollution control, and has authorized spending eighty-seven millions more on this type of non¬productive facilities. While much still remains to be done, I think the record to date is one we can be proud of. In this presentation, we will attempt to outline a number of the water pollution problems encountered in an integrated steel company and to show what types of corrective action have been and are being taken, using Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation as an example.

Jan 1, 1968

By McKee D. J

Much research is aimed at providing a revolutionary advance in technology that has the potential to render current mining and beneficiation problems obsolete. Such revolutionary advancements have been significant but few in number. Recent history shows that most improvement has been derived from a series of incremental improvements to the many processes that make up mining and beneficiation systems. Management approaches are changing to encourage this &apos;continuous improvement&apos; and to support its implementation through the formal management of quality. This paper reviews some of the industry&apos;s priority R&D project areas and demonstrates that very significant opportunities are available to broaden the focus for improvement from individual processes to include the interaction between mining and mineral beneficiation systems.

Jan 1, 1994

By Adam H. Zimmerman

Introduction Noranda, like similar businesses, is suffering the pain of previously unheard of currency relationships, a cost structure built in better days, and conditions of gross oversupply possible in almost any commodity. Indeed, it does seem like the worst of all possible worlds is out there before us. To understand a Canadian natural resource company, you must know how the country is organized. So far as natural resources are concerned, Canada is not Canada. Canada is 10 provinces and each own the resources situated therein. Thus, the conditions of extraction, exploitation, and operation are all set by the province, while the conditions of trade and currency are set by the Federal government. This means that what may be the rule in Newfoundland may not be the rule in Manitoba or British Columbia. The second thing is that the Canadian currency has been a satellite of the US dollar for a long time. This means that we hold the unenviable and unjustified position of being the country with the second strongest currency in the world. What this has meant to us is what it has meant to an American operator. Since 1980, a pound of copper fetches 214% more for a Chilean than it does for us and a pound of zinc 115% more for a Belgian. From an American point of view, Canada is favored because its dollar is valued at 25% to 30% less than the U.S. However, because of industrial indiscretions in years past, Canada has a locked in labor cost disadvantage that is very hard to cope with. Canada has a unique situation with its labor unions. Many of the unions are, or have been, internationals and therefore gained undue strength in early days. Canada has a third political party of socialist persuasion. It is entirely funded by dues from laor union members. Thus, we have a politicized workforce. And finally, we have a public service that has the right to strike. This had made the public service unions by far the strongest now in Canada. What this means to the mining industry is that there is somebody out there blazing the trail. The unrelenting power of these public service unions probably creates a climate more conducive to excessive wage settlements in industry than would otherwise be the case. Study, Work, and Pray So what do we do when times get tough? In simple terms, we study a lot, we work harder, and we pray a great deal. We study a lot in terms of learning hitherto unknown strengths and weaknesses of our products, processes, and operations. We work hard in the sense that we do everything possible to improve our productivity. And we pray a lot because, so far, anything else we have done has not been enough. Some years ago, Noranda recognized that its principal base and precious metal operations were diminishing. To provide for the future, we should branch out into other resource type operations. These might be countercyclical and also perhaps a little more permanent. For this reason, Noranda entered the potash, aluminum, and forest products businesses. This, of course, was a &apos;brilliant&apos; strategy that was much applauded in its early days. We built an excellent potash mine, the smallest inte-

Jan 6, 1985

By H. J. lgner

Hydraulic fills are widely used in the tabular, steeply dipping stopes of the South African gold and platinum mines as an integrated process within a daily cycle of drill and blast. There is therefore only a small time window in which to fill the geotextile bags used as primary fill containment, without the risk of loosing production. Consequently, mines tend to increase the flow rate to the stopes, although this compromises adequate drainage, consolidation and strength development during filling. Recent underground measurements inside the geotextile bag have revealed that at high rates of rise and at 25 degrees dip, the backfill can remobilise within a limited area inside the geotextile bag during filling. This sudden downward surge of backfill exerts, for only a few seconds, additional loading on the geotextile, its supporting mesh and the props. This unstable behaviour poses a serious threat as it can push props out of place, thereby damaging the geotextile bag and causing a mud slide in the stope. To reduce the risk of accidents, the phenomenon of sudden slumping was further investigated for various filling conditions in the laboratory. The results confirmed that the maximum pressures associated with the sudden slumping can be more than five times those experienced during steady-state consolidation. Based on this new insight, the current best practice for hydraulic backfilling was critically reviewed. A practical approach to implementing meaningful standards is presented to ensure safe operations in relation to the consistency of the backfill quality and the appropriate matching of geotextile characteristics with backfill properties.

May 1, 2007

By H. C. Boydell

Those connected with mining, prospecting, or mining geology in northern Ontario are familiar with the fact that it is a comparatively unusual thing to have assayed a sample for which the assay report shows no gold. Values of 20 cents to 80 cents per ton, or even higher, are extremely common. Whilst contamination by fluxes, faulty manipulation, or a desire, on the part of the assayer, to sugar-coat the pill for the client, may account for 20 to 40 cent values at times, it is un1ikely that they would a1ways do so. Exonerating the assayer from being necessarily at fault, what can be the cause of such a widespread distribution of gold (and silver) in minute quantities- of a dissemination .that, in the writer&apos;s experience, and so far as he is? aware, is not met with on a simi1ar scale in other parts of the world? Explanations that suggest themselves are, that the dissemination is due: 1. To a very widespread auriferous minera1ization, post-dating (epigenetic) the formation of the rocks in which it occurs. 2. To a general syngenetic distribution of gold in the volcanic rocks of Keewatin age that form so large a part of the sections of northern Ontario that have been prospected.

Jan 1, 1928

By A M. Lechner, V Glenn, M Edraki, D R. Mulligan, C Unger

With more than 50 000 recorded abandoned mines in Australia, effective management strategies are needed to prioritise and manage health, safety, environmental and socio-economic risks and opportunities. This paper reviews international leading practices for abandoned mine management and identifies key issues that need to be addressed in the Australian context. As well as the academic literature, this review draws on a 2008 global legacy site survey and forum in 2008, a Churchill Fellowship study of abandoned mines and the recently released æStrategic Framework for Management of Abandoned Mines in the Minerals IndustryÆ (MCMPR/MCA, 2010).A conceptual model was developed to identify the relationship between key issues affecting the management of abandoned mines in Australia. The conceptual model is then used in the development of a maturity chart which draws on risk management principles to provide leading practice guidance for abandoned mine managers, jurisdictions and stakeholders. The maturity chart approach for risk management has been successfully used elsewhere to evaluate safety, environmental and socio-economic maturity.CITATION:Unger, C, Lechner, A M, Glenn, V, Edraki, M and Mulligan, D R, 2012. Mapping and prioritising rehabilitation of abandoned mines in Australia, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2012 , pp 259-266 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 10, 2012

By R. A. Cattell

The peacetime activities of the Bureau&apos;s petroleum and natural-gas program have been reoriented to serve the needs of a national-defense program. When the United Nations sent troops to Korea after the North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel in the latter part of June 1950, the Bureau&apos;s coordinated national program on petroleum and natural gas, with each major project forming an essential member of its framework, was carefully reviewed by those in charge of the work. As a matter of fact, the era of normalcy in which the petroleum and natural-gas research of the Bureau of Mines prospered during the fiscal year 19502/ was no sedative to the need for alertness on a national-defense front. The program, although conducted along peacetime lines in general, was scanned critically and repeatedly during that period to see where - if the need should arise -the emphasis could be shifted from peace to defense or war. Judging from the experience of two wars, it would not be long before the Bureau would be asked to use its trained technical personnel in applying techniques already learned in peacetime research to the requirements of munition and fuel needs of national defense. Near the end of January 1951, petroleum and natural-gas engineers of the Bureau of Mines began a comprehensive study of reservoir conditions in the Canyon Reef fields of Scurry, Borden, and Kent Counties, Tex. This work was preceded by published analyses of crude oils from Scurry County as early as April 1950. Well-informed persons in industry have estimated that these fields hold reserves that will yield 3 to 6 billion barrels of stock-tank oil. Although generally accepted good operating practices have been followed, engineering tests have shown that the natural energy, except in some favorable parts of the reservoir, will not be adequate for obtaining a high percentage of recovery. Correct information regarding the extent and availability of this vast reservoir of hydrocarbons is therefore of great concern to the Petroleum Administration for Defense in carrying out its responsibilities under the Defense Production Act.

Jan 1, 1952