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By Joseph Pogue

THE, prices of crude petroleum and its derivatives have shown an upward trend from 1915 to 1920, and a downward trend from 1920 to 1923, see Table 1. Over the former period, oil prices were dominated by the rapidly increasing demands and inflation incident to the war and its aftermath, while over the latter period oil prices were influenced at the outset by deflation and then by the conditions of overproduction that have characterized the past three years. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the broader features of the more recent price movements in the petroleum industry and to relate these features to basic economic conditions in the industry. INDEX NUMBERS OF OIL PRICES The analysis and comparison of price movements may be facilitated by converting actual prices into relative prices, or index numbers, with 1913 taken as a base of 100. In this way, the various price groups are expressed as percentages of the 1913 prices and may thus be readily compared with one another or with the average prices of other commodities similarly expressed. Table 1 gives the index numbers representing the average prices of crude petroleum, gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, lubricating oils, and all commodities. The last named is the index of all commodities as published by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and .is widely accepted .as the official measure of the general price level. The index numbers of oil prices were calculated by the writer from weekly quotations published in trade journals.

Jan 3, 1924

By Edward W. Parker, Marius R. Campbell

According to the estimates prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey, the area underlain by workable coal-beds in the United States is 496,776 sq. miles. Of this total area, 480 sq. miles contain the entire anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania. The bituminous coal-fields are estimated to be contained in areas, aggregating 250,051 sq. miles. The grade of coal between bituminous and lignite, and which is designated by the Geological Survey as " sub-bituminous," is estimated to be contained within areas aggregating 97,636 sq. miles, while the areas containing lignite aggregate 148,609 sq. miles. The coal-fields are divided, for the sake of convenience in classification, into six main provinces, as follows: 1. The Eastern. Province, containing the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania and the bituminous coal-fields of the Appalachian region—namely, those of western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Ala bama, and small outlying areas in North Carolina. 2. The Interior Province, containing the bituminous coal-producing regions of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. 3. The Gulf Province, containing the lignite-areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. 4. The Northern or Great Plains Province, containing the lignite and sub-bituminous areas of North and South Dakota, eastern Montana, and northeastern Wyoming. 5. The Rocky Mountain Province, containing the bituminous and sub-bituminous areas of western Montana and western Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. 6. The Pacific Coast Province, containing the areas of Washington, Oregon, and California.

Jan 1, 1910

By Hugh H. Waesche

AN adequate supply of crystalline quartz of piezoelectric grade and size continues to be of fundamental importance to the U. S. Army Signal Corps. Current electronic development programs of the Armed Forces depend upon the use of quartz crystals in all applications where accurate frequency control is necessary. In peacetime this' may not seem too significant, but in planning for possible national defense emergencies, an adequate supply of piezoelectric grade raw quartz is just as important as an adequate supply of some of the more publicized strategic minerals. Prior to World War II, the Signal Corps accepted the use of quartz crystals for frequency-control purposes in essentially all electronic communication, navigation, and radar equipment operating in the audio and radio frequency spectra up to and including the ultra-high-frequency channels. Over 4,000; 000 lb of radio-grade quartz was required between January 1942 and V.J Day. Use of such a large quantity of crystal units was necessary in order to establish and maintain, with a minimum of effort, clear and definite frequency channels of greater stability than could be obtained by any other means. This policy was justified on the basis that quartz was without a peer as a frequency-controlling element. Military and civilian uses of quartz in the field, as well as laboratory studies, have confirmed this premise and no means of highly stable frequency control, superior to quartz, has been discovered. It appears certain that the demand for use of quartz for frequency control purposes will continue at a high level.

Jan 1, 1948

Writing the Technical Report, third edition, by J. Raleigh Nelson. McGraw-Hill Book Co. $4.50, 356 pp., 1952.-The aim of the book is to inspire a greater interest in report writing. Basis for the increased interest is a development of a keener understanding of the writer's own mental processes and the practical procedures involved in writing a report. The book is concerned with basic principles and procedures, rather than incidentals. It emphasizes the importance of correct attitudes and suggests a method of approach and organization. In the first part of the book, design and composition are considered. Next, the text gives directions for setting up both the long and short term report. The third part of, the book gives a systematic procecure for critical examination of the report. The fourth section presents a 16 week course in report writing. The Rocks of the Sekondi Series of the Gold Coast, by A T. Crow. Gold Coast Geological Survey. 7s. 6d, 73 pp., 1952.-The book describes the results of careful and detailed mapping of the Sekondi Series. The Sekondi-Takoradi area is undergoing intensive development, including extensions to Takoradi Harbor and to the railways. Details are given on the nature, extent, and structure of the Series and many faults which cut into them. The book is aimed at those with a practical interest in the area. It is illustrated with geological maps and drawings of horizontal sections. In the back, the terrain of the series is illustrated in a group of plates.

Jan 1, 1952

By C. E. Shoenfelt

The deepening of the General Crude Oil Company's No. 1 Meyers, NE. NE. SE. of sec. 22, 24S., 36E., in the Cooper area of Lea County, in April, 1934, resulted in the discovery of an oil field of major importance. The discovery well is an old well drilled by Cranfill $ Reynolds and completed in July, 1929, in limestone at 3438 ft. for an initial production of 90,000,000 cu. ft. (estimated) of 'gas. Deepening operations were started early in April, 1934, and cores were taken from the old total depth of 3438 to 3508 ft. A Haliburton test taken through the drill stem at 3439 to 3460 ft. showed 50,000,000 cu. ft. of gas with an increase of 5,000,000 cu. ft. between 3461 and 3474 ft. When completed the well tested 12,000,000 cu. ft. of gas and 5000 bbl. of oil at 3474-3508 feet. The new oil field—the result of this discovery—is between the Eunice and the Jal fields, closer to the productive area of Jal than to that of Eunice but far enough away from both to be considered a separate area. Eventually, all of these pools may be joined together by productive oil wells to form a single unit of large size. They lie in a general northwest-southeast alignment and the intervening areas have not been condemned by dry holes. In the drilling campaign that followed this discovery, 24 wells were drilled, of which 23 were oil wells with combined initial productions of

Jan 1, 1935

By W. T. Burns

Attempts were made in 1908, at the Great Falls Works, to produce ingots direct from the Butte precipitate by smelting the material in a reverberatory refining furnace. The ingots produced in this manner averaged 99.4 per cent. of copper and 0.40 per cent. of arsenic and antimony. The copper content being considered too low, it was decided to cast the copper into anodes and to treat the anodes in the electrolytic plant. No. 1 Furnace, in which the precipitate was treated, was a regular cathode refining furnace previously employed in making wire bar, cake, and ingot from electrolytic cathodes. The hearth of the furnace was 24 by 12 ft., having a capacity of 100,000 lb. of cathodes. The furnace was coal fired, and the copper was dipped by means of trolley ladles. The average composition of the furnace charges was as follows: Per Cent. Peer Cent. Copper. Precipitate,..........7.5.3 40 to 80 Purification cathodes,.....1.9 92 Refinery slag (oxide slag),.. 10.1 50 to 60 Electrolytic cathodes,... 2.1 99.9 Precipitate anode scrap,.... 3.1 99.0 Scrap copper,.........7.5 99.2 100.0 The slag from this furnace amounted to 46 per cent. of the total amount charged and was of the following average composition: Per Cent. Cu..............16.86 SiO2.............34.7 FeO.............18.8 A12O3.............13.0 CaO.............9.4 MgO.............2.7 S............... 0.47 As..............0.11 Sb...............0.006 Ag, oz per ton.....0.18

Jan 1, 1914

By H. C. Lay

No one who knows the conditions of altitude, difficulty of access, shortness of working-season, etc., under which the work of the U. S. Geological Survey in the Rocky Mountains is carried on, can fail to be impressed with the magnitude and accuracy of the results obtained. Yet, in the necessarily brief time given to any one district, maily minor features must remain unregistered. The purpose of this paper is merely to place on record observations, made during nearly eighteen years, of local phenomena in themselves unimportant, which, however, if collated with similar memoranda from neighboring regions, may lead to something of value. The Telluride quadrangle in southwest Colorado is a tract of fifteen geographical minutes on a side, the NW. corner of which is in Long. 108º W., Lat. 38º N. Topographically it is essentially a lofty horseshoe, some of the peaks of which rise more than 14,000 ft. above tide, the interior (with an average altitude of 9000 ft.) being the eastern edge of the rolling Colorado-Utah plateau, and, in its turn, deeply cut by the canons of the San Miguel river and its tributaries. The range-summits are mainly igneous rocks, partly intrusive (such as massive " stocks" and laccolites, left bare by superior erosion), but mostly bedded volcanics of an average vertical thickness of 3500 ft., which change with changing height from andesite to rhyolite. The lowest series of these volcanic rocks, known as the San Juan formation, lies conformably upon the sedimentary San Miguel conglomerate, which dips gently east., and is attributed provisionally to the

Jan 1, 1902

By J. George Gregr

INTRODUCTION This part contains field case studies of typical mishaps, accidents, equipment damage or post installation failures resulting from mistakes in design, manufacturing and construction, as well as improper storage, handling and installation procedures of the equipment covered in Part 1. GENERAL Certain mistakes are repeated and common rules violated on almost all industrial equipment installations, with the inevitable consequences of additional cost, construction delays and aggravation of all parties involved. The most common failures are in the following areas: Cleanliness of all components during installation and later in operation. Adherance to manufacturer' s recommendations and tolerances for equipment installation. Comprehensive, properly identified installation and maintenance records. Handling of the components. Adequate tooling and auxiliary equipment in working order. An inoperable hydraulic power unit for torque wrench or for jacking of the mill, or faulty crane can be a very costly proposition. A special area in comminution circuits are wear components. Apart from the mill liners, the wear components such as, feed chutes, rock boxes, mill trunnion liners, discharge sumps, etc. are designed to the best theoretical configuration, based on experiences in similar installations. However, each process is different to a various degree, mainly because of various types of ores and grinding requirements. Consequently the first generation of wear components is very seldom the ideal one. Based on operational experience, the shape and material of wear components should be modified, until the optimum, most economical design is achieved. SHIPPING AND STORAGE Considerable damage to the equipment can be done by careless packing, shipping or storage.

Jan 1, 1982

THE following employment items are made available to AIME on a non-profit basis by the Engineering Societies Personnel Service, Inc., operating in cooperation with the Four Founder Societies. Local offices of the Personnel Service are at 8 W. 40th St., New York 18; 100 Farnswarth Ave., Detroit; 57 Past St., San-Francisco; 84 E. Randalph St., Chicago 1. Applicants should address all mail to the proper key numbers in care of the New York Office and include 6c in stamps far forwarding and returning application. The applicant agrees, if placed in a position by means of the Service, to pay the placement fee listed by the Service. AIME members may secure a weekly bulletin of positions available far $3.50 a quarter, $12 a year. MEN AVAILABLE Graduate Mining Engineer, 38; married, two children, Dutch nationality. Experience bauxite open-pit dragline, stripping and mining, nickel silicateous ore exploration, tin lode mining and dredging, ore dressing research, administrative. work, all in responsible positions. Read, write and/or speak seven languages. Desires responsible position. Presently located Netherlands. M-655. Mining Geologist, 35, married, 3 children, Canadian citizen. Eight years' experience Canadian gold mines as geologist, chief engineer, shift boss, 3 years in western U. S. as surveyor, junior geologist, etc. Desires position of responsibility. Prefer western United States. M-656-478-E-3-San Francisco. Mining Engineer, 30 years' experience open-pit and underground coal and iron mines. Held positions engineer to manager. Desire position of responsibility in foreign field. M-659.

Jan 1, 1952

By Clarence Linville

IN an article published in the Iron. Trade Review 1 I gave a convenient arrangement for the installation of wet and dry bulb thermometers for use in making moisture determinations in the air being blown into a blast furnace, and also gave a chart for use in obtaining moisture values from the thermometer readings. The data from which this chart was prepared were obtained from the tables in use by the U. S. Weather Bureau.2 The work of Carrier 3 has shown that these tables are somewhat in error. He has recalculated the values for moisture as referred to, wet and dry bulb thermometer readings, and he has prepared a psychrometric chart from the values thus obtained. This work has priced the subject of psychrometry upon a correct scientific basis. I think it is proper that we should recognize the importance of his work and give him credit for one of the most interesting and valuable researches that have been published in recent years. Blast-furnace men are not ready to use, as he suggests 4 a value expressed in grains of water accompanying a pound of dry air. However convenient this may be for heating and ventilating work and other engineering problems, there are several reasons for preferring the use of a value expressed in grains of water in a. cubic foot of mixed air and water vapor, in connection with combustion phenomena and the effects of moisture on blast-furnace operation. Previous papers presented to the Institute have used such values and we have

Jan 10, 1913

By Daniel L. Noble

Riparian communities are those related to, or near a natural watercourse (or sometimes of a lake, impoundment, or tidewater). Generally, riparian communities contrast sharply with the dominant vegetation type in an area, for example, the willow-birch-aspen- dominated watercourse in the Black Hills with its associated beaver- muskrat-trout habitat as compared to the dominant monotype ponderosa pine forest on either side of the drainage. Riparian ecosystems are valuable for the aesthetics, namely, varied landscape; photography and art; human awareness; diversity of plant and animal life, some of which may be unique to that habitat; cover, food, and water for associated wildlife and domestic animals; for recreation; for domestic water supply; and as natural outdoor laboratories. One major negative impact on riparian communities is hazardous chemicals from effluents from agricultural, industrial, and mining- metallurgical processes. One such chemical is cyanide, long used in the processing of gold and silver, and discharged previously directly into some of our natural ecosystems. With present environmental awareness, industry and government are attempting to minimize or eliminate this contamination. Homestake Mining Company began processing gold ore in the Lead- Deadwood area of South Dakota in 1878 and has remained in production at variable activity levels to the present time. The amount of cyanide (and heavy metals) entering the ecosystem during this time can only be crudely estimated, in part because of the variability in activity and the lack of understanding and concern about environmental pollution until the 1960's. Whitewood Creek, a tributary of the Belle Fourche River which flows into the Cheyenne River and

Jan 1, 1983

By William P. Lohden

INTRODUCTION It is recognized that, for a variety of reasons, some companies in the mineral industry today are by no means cash-rich and, in fact, are reporting a growing proportion of long-term debt in their capital structures. A review of recent balance sheets of small, medium-size, and some larger companies, indicates that a fair number still have substantial positions in cash equivalents such as U.S. government issues and other short-term money market instruments. In part, this paper concerns itself with companies which have sufficient cash and equivalents and/or cash generation to internally finance mining projects or expansions but which, for some reason, choose to borrow funds. Misconceptions which appear to frequently underlie so-called "leveraging" decisions are explored in this paper. Also considered are those circumstances under which any company, including one that is cash-rich, should consider borrowing for a project in an amount beyond what would otherwise be necessary based upon its internal financing ability. I do not 'attempt to cover the raising of equity capital in public markets in this paper. OVERALL RETURN ON TOTAL POOL OF INVESTABLE CASH SHOULD INFLUENCE FINANCING DECISIONS If you approach an individual with an investment which can be financed from his savings, or by borrowing at a rate higher than he is earning on his savings, he will quickly tell you that to pay interest at a rate higher than he is earning would reduce his overall income. Assuming he is not currently considering any additional investment

Jan 1, 1977

It was a pleasure listening to this paper. Gary Works' problems were a lot more extensive than the trunnion bearing problems encountered at the Weirton Steel Division. In our two-vessel shop bearing failures are critical in that with a bearing failure on an operating vessel and the second vessel under rebuild, we are down until the vessel rebuild is completed or the bearing is repaired. The first bearing problem at Weirton occurred after we had been operating three years. The failure occurred during the 8th heat following "bum-in" of the vessel. Immediate steps were taken to change the damaged float bearing without an extensive search for the reason the bearing failed. Once the campaign was run out the bearings were inspected and found to be damaged. Field checks revealed that the bearing pedestals were not properly located and as a result the freedom of the float bearing was restricted. The trunnion pin end to end dimension had decreased due to distortion and deflection in the trunnion ring. These dimensions were within tolerances. The damage to our bearing was similar to that in the exhibits from U.S. Steel-Gary Works. Steps taken to correct what was found in the field checks were as follows: 1. The pedestals were relocated to center the bearings. 2. 4" diameter pins were installed to locate the housing in the pedestals. 3. The bearing pedestals were opened up to allow the bearing housing to move slightly in the pedestal. 4. Lubrication fittings for greasing between the bearing housing and the pedestal were installed.

Jan 1, 1972

By David R. Poirier

THE activity of carbon in Fe-C-Cr liquid solutions has been measured by Richardson and Dennis,1 Fuwa and chipman,2 and Goto et aL3 Fuwa and Chipman2 have presented their data along with data of Richardson and Dennis1 and utilized an interaction parameter. However, the interaction parameter is only valid for dilute solutions of carbon, because, as indicated, the same interaction parameter does not apply to more concentrated solutions of carbon (i.e., the effect of chromium on the saturation of graphite in liquid iron). Ohtani4 has attempted to account for the effect of carbon concentration on the interaction parameter; however even his analysis does not apply to the saturation data. Also, the effect of temperature on interaction parameters must be taken into account. Therefore, in any process where the concentration of carbon and/or the temperature changes (such as solidification), the use of an interaction parameter is not adequate to know the activity of carbon. The purpose of this communication is to make use of the existing data on the effect of chromium on the activity of carbon in liquid iron solutions in such a way that the activity can be described as a function of both composition and temperature. The method is an extension of Rist and chipman's5 analysis for the binary Fe-C solutions. As in Rist and Chipman's analysis, the activity coefficient is assumed to obey the relation: log y1 = at(l -X1)2 + It [1]

Jan 1, 1969

Discussion of the paper of CHESTER W. WASHBURNE, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 9S, February, 1915, pp. 469 to 471. ROSWELL H. JOHNSON, Pittsburgh, Pa.-I hope that this contribution of Mr. Washburne's is only the first of a series dealing more in detail with the very important problems involved. Pores are of two kinds: Those which are entirely inclosed, so that they do not belong to a system of communicating pores tapped by the bore hole or shot hole; second, those which do so communicate. Porosity, of course, includes both. But since pores of the first class are valueless to us, we should confine our attention to the latter, for which I propose the term "effective porosity." This should be measured by the Wisconsin method, based on the quantity of fluid that can be introduced by the aid of vacuum. Another factor which requires attention in this connection is the dependence of the extractability upon the rate of loss of pressure, as affected by the number of holes, and the rapidity of their completion, the existence of uncontrolled wells, the use by other operators of vacuum pumps upon the casing head, the exhaustion of a gas field in the same reservoir prior to the discovery of the oil, etc. The extractability depends upon the pressure available for the exclusion of the oil from the reservoir into the hole. The action of gravity in bringing oil into the hole is relatively small where the pores are very small, as is so frequently the case.

Jan 5, 1915

By B. E. Eakin, A. L. Lee

Atmospheric pressure viscosity values For light hydrocarbons were calculated by a simple mixing rule based on the Sutherland constants for pure components. This method was further extended so that the atmospheric pressure viscosity of a mixture may be calculated based on the molecular weight information only. INTRODUCTION A proven method for estimating the gas-phase viscosity of a mixture is the one by Herning and zipperer.l This mixing rule has the following form: One method for calculating the pure component viscosity i is the Sutherland equation,2 which has the following form: The Sutherland constants B and S are determined from experimental data. A set of Sutherland constants for light hydrocarbons based on the data of several investigators3-5 is presented in Table 1. APPLICATION The Herning-Zipperer equation and the Sutherland equation were used to obtain an equation for calculating the gas-phase viscosity of light hydrocarbons. This equation has the form, Eq. 3 was used successfully in the study of methane-n-butane mixtures.6 Further analysis indicated that the Sutherland constants are a function of molecular weight.7 The gas-phase viscosity may be calculated based on molecular weight information only. The following equation was developed: The atmospheric pressure viscosity of ethane, propane, n-butaneand four methane-propane mixtures calculated on the basis of Eq. 6 are compared with the data of other investigators in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. A plot of atmospheric pressure viscosity vs molecular weight based on Eq. 6 is presented in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1965

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Experienced mining. engineer, Columbia School of Mines graduate, practical experience in drifting, shaft sinking and development work, also in mining, operating and equipping iron, copper, and zinc properties. Married, age 32, available at once. Open for position as superintendent or assistant. No. 462. Member, age 33, married, desires position as mining engineer or engineering executive.- Twelve years experience as mining engineer, geologist, and chief engineer of iron and copper properties. Experience in United States, Mexico and South America. Fluent Spanish. Technical graduate. Minimum salary $3000. No. 466. Member, technical, general superintendent and mill superintendent: Well experienced in latest methods of ore reduction, especially on copper and complex ores. Draft exempt. Not less than $250 per month considered. No. 469. Consulting mining geologist, member of Geological Society of America and A. I. M. E., Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Lawrence College, desires temporary position during summer in mine surveying, mining methods, expert mine valuation or any exploration work or mine development. Applicant has had nearly three years' experience in gold mining in Mexico and many years professional mine examination work in all regions of Western U. S. Terms reasonable. No. 470. Member, mining engineer, age 46, desires engagement as manager of mining properties, coal or metal mines. Education and 25 years experience in all branches of mining. Have been successful with labor in the management of large properties. No. 471.

Jan 8, 1918

By W. B. Agocs

IN August 1954 a low altitude test geophysical survey was made in the Green Pond area of Morris County, New Jersey, with a Gulf Research and Development Co. Model II total magnetic field variation magnetometer mounted in a Sikorsky S-55 helicopter. The test was made in this area to compare the results of a high precision, very low altitude magnetometer survey with an existing ground magnetic survey in this area having known magnetite concentrations, so that the method could be used in areas of difficult access for the detailing of airborne magnetometer anomalies of interest in place of ground surveys. The load capacity of the Sikorsky S-55 permitted installation of a recording scintillation counter so that a radioactivity survey would be made simultaneously with the magnetometer survey. The area surveyed is located at approximately 41°00'N and 74o28'W, just south and east of the town of Green Pond, N. J. The outstanding topographic feature of the region is Copperas Mountain, a well defined ridge, maximum elevation 1222 ft, which runs the entire length of the survey. The lowest point in the survey, 810 ft, is in the extreme eastern corner. Topography of the area is shown in Fig. 1. The three major rock units outcropping in the area are all metamorphic: the Pochuck gneiss, which has been divided into two metamorphic facies; the Byram gneiss; and the Green Pond conglomerate. The relative ages of the Pochuck and Byram formations, both pre-Cambrian, are in doubt, but it is believed that the Pochuck is the older of the two.' The Green Pond conglomerate is Silurian.' Distribution of the outcrops and mine locations is shown in Fig. 1. Two facies of the Pochuck gneiss can be distinguished locally—the Copperas Mountain and Kitchell members. The Copperas Mountain member is a hornblende gneiss, and all the mines and prospects in the area are in this unit. The Kitchell is a quartz-plagioclase feldspar gneiss. The Byram gneiss is a relatively nonresistant valley formation which is high in the potash feldspar. The Green Pond conglomerate is a well indurated quartzite-conglomerate which forms the Copperas Mountain and the Green Pond Mountain's ridge to the north. It overlies the gneisses with a strong angular discordance that may be a fault. The geologic structure of the Green Pond area is relatively uncomplicated. The foliation planes of the gneisses dip steeply to the southeast, and the Green Pond conglomerate dips steeply to the northwest. Additional faulting in the area is indicated at the contact between the Kitchell member of the Pochuck and the Byram along the base of the topographic spur extending to the southeast from Copperas Mountain. The magnetite mines of Pardee, Winter, Davenport, Green Pond, Copperas, and the Bancroft shaft are described by Bayleyl and Stampe2.' The ore is in the Copperas Mountain member of the Pochuck gneiss. The magnetite veins are 10 to 50 ft wide and up to 300 ft long, dipping to the southeast at angles ranging from 40" to 75". The locations of these mines are shown in Fig. 1. Dip Needle Survey: The dip needle survey shown in Fig. 2 was taken from a U. S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations." The figure numbers below the local, individual map area outlines refer to the figures in the aforementioned reports which were not contoured. The area of the dip needle survey was confined almost exclusively to the outcrops of the Pochuck gneiss. The separation between survey profiles was 100 ft and the distance between stations on the profiles was 25 ft in highly anomalous zones to 100 ft in magnetically flat areas. A total of 16 1/2 miles of traverse was surveyed over an area of approximately 1/2 sq mile with 2050 stations. The magnitude of the magnetic anomalies is difficult to determine due to the lack of information concerning the type of dip needle used and the procedure followed in making the dip needle survey. This latter would include the method of "zeroing" the dip needle and the procedure of reading at the stations, whether on the swing or statically. Calibrations made of the Gurley dip needle, Lake Superior type, show a static sensitivity of 385 gamma per degree in the range from —25" to +35o, corresponding to a variation in the total field of —9600 gamma to +13500 gamma in a total field of 57000 gamma, inclination 72". The sensitivity increases to 16 gamma per degree from a deflection of 60" to 76", and from 76" to 172" the sensitivity decreases continuously to a low of 260 gamma per degree. From the above it may be seen that it is difficult to assign an arbitrary sensitivity for the dip needle used on this survey. However, an estimated value of 100 gamma per degree may be assigned. On this basis, the majority of the magnetic anomalies, whose deviation is +20°, would be 2000 gamma. Locally, west and northwest of the Pardee mine the magnetic anomaly is +50°, or 5000 gamma; in the Green Pond mine area deviations of +75" are observed that would correspond to anomalies of 7500 gamma. The areal extent and width of the dip needle magnetic anomalies is comparable to profile and station spacing. Hence it is concluded that part of the detail may be due to control, and the probable cause of the magnetic anomalies is at or near surface exposures of magnetite concentrations in the form of veinlets and disseminations whose locations correspond to the local magnetic anomalies. On the basis of the magnetics, none of the magnetite concentra-

Jan 1, 1956

By E. T. Turkdogan

The activity of sulfur was determined as a function of composition of ferrous sulfide by equilibrating with hydrogen sulfide-hydrogen gas mixtures at 670° , 800°, and 900". The present results supplement the available data over the composition range from 36.6 to 39.5 pct S. The X-ray lattice spacing measurements made are in accord with the available data and indicate that the limiting composition FeSl.008 may be taken for the iron-iron sulfide equilibrium. The growth rate of ferrous sulfide on iron was measured by reacting iron strips or blocks in hydrogen sulfide-hydrogen gas mixtures. Owing to the slow approach to equilibrium between the gas phase and the surface of the sulfide layer, The sulfidation experiments were carried out for several days. It is shown that the growth rate ullimately proceeds in accordance wilh the parabolic rate law. From the parabolic rate constants and the thermodynamic data on iron sulfide the self-difiusivity and chemical diffusivity of iron in ferrous bisulfide are evalualed. The self-diffusivity of iron thus derived zs found to increase with increasing sulfur content. THE ferrous sulfide known as "pyrrhotite" is a non-stoichiometric phase having a wide composition range from about 50 to about 58 or 60 at. pct, depending on the sulfur activity. RosenQvistl studied the thermodynamics of this phase over wide ranges of temperature and composition. Hauffe and Rahmel' and Meussner and ~irchenall~ studied the parabolic rate of sulfidation of iron in sulfur vapor. By using markers, these investigators showed that the iron cations were the predominant diffusing species in iron sulfide. This is confirmed decisively by the self-diffusivity measurements of condit4 who showed that the self-diffusivity of sulfur in ferrous sulfide is several orders of magnitude lower than the self-diffusivity of iron. Although much has been learned from these studies about the Fe-S system, further research on this subject was considered desirable for better understanding of the physical chemistry of iron sulfide. This work was confined to the study of the kinetics of sulfidation of iron in hydrogen sulfide-hydrogen gas mixtures. The results of this study are given in two consecutive parts. Part I, the present paper, is on the parabolic rate of sulfidation of iron and the diffusivity of iron in ferrous sulfide. The second paper, Part 11, is on the kinetics of the surface reaction between hydrogen sulfide and ferrous sulfide. EXPERIMENTAL Three types of experiments were carried out: i) equilibration of ferrous sulfide with gas of known E. T. TURKDOGAN, member AIME, is Manager,Chemical Metallurgy Division, Edgar C. Bain Laboratory for Fundamental Research, U. S. Steel Corp., Research Center, Monroeville, Pa. Manuscript submitted March 6. 1968. ISD sulfur potential; ii) X-ray studies of ferrous sulfide; and iii) measurements of the parabolic rate of sulfidation of iron. Equilibrium Studies. About 1 g of iron powder or foil. contained in a small recrystallized alumina crucible ind suspended from a calibrated silica spring, was reacted with a hydrogen sulfide-hydrogen mixture of known ratio until no further change in weight was observed. %hen the gas composition was changed and the new state of equilibrium was established after several hours of reaction time. The composition of the sulfide was obtained from the initial weight of the sample and the weight after equilibration. X-Ray Studies. The lattice parameters of some of the equilibrated samples were determined using the General Electric XRD-5 diffractometer with a cobalt tube (no filter) set at 40 kv apd 10 ma; the CoK, radiation was taken as 1.79020A. Observed 220 and 311 diffraction peaks of silicon served as an internal comparison standard to correct for possible misalignment of the goniometer. The lattice parameters of the sulfide phase were calculated from the corrected Bragg angles of the 110 and 102 peaks. Rate Studies. In the initial experiments attempts were made to measure the parabolic rate of sulfidation by measuring the gain in weight of a thin iron strip, -0.05 cm thick, suspended from a silica spring in the reacting atmosphere. The preliminary experiments showed that this technique was not reliable for the measurement of the parabolic growth rate of the iron sulfide layer. In the subsequent experiments the data on growth rate were obtained by measuring, on a microscope stage, change in the thickness of the sample after reaction for a specified time in a hydrogen sulfide-hydrogen mixture of known sulfur activity. For each reaction time a new sample was used. Precision-machined iron blocks, 0.5 by 2 by 5 cu cm, were de-greased and annealed in hydrogen for several hours prior to the sulfidation rate measurements. The experiments were carried out at 670°, 800°, and 900°C in gas mixtures having the ratios, and 1.0 for periods of times from a few hours up to 8 days. Apparatus and Materials. A vertical globar tube furnace with a 3-in.-long uniform temperature zone was used. The glass tube fittings were fused on the zircon reaction tube, 1.5 in. diam. The temperature was measured with a Pt-10 pct Rh/Pt thermocouple placed in the hot zone of the furnace inside the reaction tube (an alumina thermocouple sheath was used). A separate thermocouple was used for the temperature controller which maintained the furnace temperature constant within about 2°C. Anhydrous liquid hydrogen sulfide and oxygen-free dry hydrogen from gas tanks were used in preparing the gas mixtures by the constant head capillary flow-meters. In all cases volume flow rate was 1000 cu cm per min at stp, corresponding to a linear velocity of about 6 cm per sec at 800°C; under these conditions

Jan 1, 1969

By D. T. Van Zandt

IN the late 1920's rotary drills began to replace the churn drills in the petroleum industry, but until the middle 1940's the churn drill was the only widely accepted means of drilling large-diameter blastholes for quarry operations. The Calcite plant of the Michigan Limestone Div., U. S. Steel Corp., was one of the first to experiment with rotary drills for quarry blasthole drilling, and the first to employ compressed air on a fully rotary rig to cool the bit and raise the cuttings to the collar of the blasthole. The Calcite plant operates a limestone quarry near Rogers City, Mich., in the northern part of the lower Michigan peninsula. The formation quarried, a portion of the middle Devonian series, is the Dundee limestone, which is uniform, seldom massive, and characterized by definite bedding planes. The dip is southeast, 40 ft to the mile. Quarry faces vary from 20 to 116 ft in height. Vertical blastholes are used entirely, from three to five rows of holes being drilled parallel to the working face, spaced 18 ft apart with 18-ft burden and drilled 6 to 8 ft below shovel grade. Quarry operations coincide with the navigation season on the Great Lakes, as the bulk of the stone is transported by lake carrier. The normal operating season runs from April to December, the remaining time being devoted to stripping operations and plant and equipment maintenance. In the followirig discussion drilling rates mentioned refer to overall drilling time and include all operations such as moving from hole to hole, penetration and extraction of tools, and routine maintenance. Time consumed by such factors as power delays and major machine repair is not included in drilling time unless otherwise stated. Figures cover only operations at this one plant in the formation mentioned. Needless to say, a very different set of figures could be obtained in a different formation. However, the comparison of footage obtained with churn drills and rotary rigs in this particular formation has been used as an indication of what might be the expected performance of rotary rigs in other formations. Prior to 1950 the bulk of the blasthole drilling at the Calcite plant was done by electrically powered churn drills. Both crawler and wheel-mounted rigs were used. These machines, which mounted a 22-ft drill stem of 4½ in. diam and a spudding type of bit 2 to 4 ft long, drilled a hole of 5 ?-in. diam. Average drilling rate of these rigs in the Rogers City formation was 8 % ft per hr. In 1946 one of the first rotary blasthole drills offered to the quarry industry was put into use on an experimental basis. This machine, known as the Sullivan Model 56 blasthole drill, Fig. 1, was on 16-in. crawler pads and electrically powered at 440 v. The drill bit, a Hughes Tri-Cone roller bit of 5?-in. diam, Type OSC, was threaded into the end of the 4-in. square hollow drill rod or stem. These drill rods were 20 ft long with female threads on one end and male on the other to allow for addition of the desired number of rods for drilling holes of various depth. Rods were handled by a single drum hoist geared to the main drive motor and racked by a 30-ft derrick or mast when not in use. The cable from the hoist drum fed through a crown block on the top of the derrick back to the water swivel mounted in the top end of the drill stem in use. This cable remained attached during drilling operations and was used to hoist the tool string from the hole. Down pressure was applied to the tool string by means of a pair of 4-in. diam hydraulic cylinders acting on the drill chuck holding the drill rod. The first chuck consisted of flat jaws which gripped the flat sides of the stem. These jaws were controlled by set screws forcing them into contact with the drill stem. As these set screws had to be loosened and tightened by hand with each stroke of the hydraulic feed cylinders, there was great delay. For this reason the semi-automatic chuck was developed which automatically gripped the stem on the downward stroke but released for retraction of the hydraulic feed cylinders. Rotation was imparted to the tool string by a rotary table acting on the chuck and geared to the main drive motor through a separate gear train and clutch. A positive displacement water pump, mounted on the drill, fed water through a system of pipes and hose into the water swivel mounted on the top of the drill rod and through the rod and bit, washing the drill cuttings to the collar of the hole. Where water was scarce, provision was made to settle out the cuttings coming from the collar of the hole and re-use the water. Where water was abundant the stream coming from the hole was wasted. Drilling rate with this machine was about 20 ft per hr and bit life 1600 ft of hole. While this rate was more than twice that obtained with the churn drills employed, the problem of water supply and drill cuttings disposal rendered the machine impractical from an operating standpoint. Consequently it was used only in that part of the operation for which water was easily supplied, when the character of the formation made it least difficult to wash cuttings away from the collar of the hole. In October 1949 it was suggested that drill cuttings be removed by compressed air, long used for this purpose on pneumatic drills, and collected at the collar by suction. Thereafter, the water pump on the Sullivan 56 was replaced by a 500-cfm air compressor and a trial run made. Air pressure at

Jan 1, 1955