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By T. G. Madgwick, W. Calder

Production of petroleum increased again during 1929, thus maintaining the steady growth inaugurated by the bringing in of Royalite No. 4 in Turner Valley, Alberta, towards the end of 1924, prior to which a decline over a number of years had been experienced. The growth has been confined to the Province of Alberta, the older production in New Brunswick and Ontario showing declines, although in the latter case considerable activity in the search for new gas structures was maintained and during the last six months two wells were brought in, one at Howard in the Trenton at a depth of 1250 ft., giving 5,500,000 cu. ft., and the other at Tilbury in the Guelph or Salina at 750 ft. giving 9,000,000 cubic feet. As has been the case during the past five years, interest in the search for structure and in the following up and development of areas already recognized has centered in Alberta and adjacent portions of Saskatchewan. This was due in the first instance to the striking of wet gas in the Palaeozoic limestone (Madison) of Turner Valley, some 30 miles south of Calgary, in Royalite No. 4 in October, 1924. The bringing in of other wells of similar importance late in 1928 and in the spring of 1929 which extended the productive area 3 miles southwards led to greatly enhanced drilling activity throughout the structure and adjacent areas and in other parts of Alberta. As a result good strikes of heavy crude oil have been recorded during the year at Ribstone, Oyen, Skiff and Coutts, in each case at moderate depths and in sufficient quanitity to justify prolonged testing. The prospects of a satisfactory production of this grade of oil are very encouraging. Actual oil production in the west is still confined to the Province of Alberta and for all grades of oil totaled 997,359 bbl., which compared with previous years shows a gratifying increase. To this increase the naphtha obtained from the wet gas of Turner Valley has proved the principal contributant, heavy crude also showing an improvement, while the light crude, the product of the Cretaceo-Jurassic sands overlying the Paleozoic of Turner Valley, remains unchanged. This is largely owing to operators casing off these sands in their endeavor to reach the limestone, but, there is evidence that in future more attention will be paid to

Jan 1, 1930

Birmingham - A City With a Future COURTING new industries is the time honored duty of the chambers of commerce; but Birmingham, until recently, has done its courting without the benefit of troubadors. This is all changed now for the iron and steel industry is singing an enticing song about steel priorities for new industries from Birmingham's own mills. Along with the increasing industrialization of Birmingham there has been a marked influx of industry into the Southeast and neighboring areas in the south central states which augurs well for business in Birmingham. This important stronghold of the foundry industry (consuming 95 pct of Birmingham's merchant pig iron in 1950) has been the source of important announcements about additions to steel ingot capacity. The virtual abolition of basing point pricing gives the Birmingham iron and steel industry an advantage in the South's new markets. This means more business for Birmingham, but the problem of raw materials supplies is posed.

Jan 12, 1950

GERMANIUM, once the metals industries' unwanted step-child, has suddenly blossomed into importance. As late as 1951 textbooks failed to mention it and the metal was considered no more than a nuisance that interfered with the electrolysis of zinc. Eagle-Pitcher is the only producer of Germanium, used in power rectifiers and the new transistors. Its basic quality is that its ability to carry current can be changed, and a current flowing through it can be controlled. Germanium is sold by Eagle-Pitcher for about $340 a lb, not bad for a metal that only a few years ago was totally ignored. Eagle-Pitcher gets germanium, cadmium and gallium by roasting the zinc concentrate to convert the sulphides to oxides, then adding coal and salt to the crude zinc oxide and sintering at a high temperature. The oxides of germanium, cadmium and gallium are converted to chlorides. Cadmium and germanium chlorides volatilize, and are gathered for additional processing. The important step is the distillation of germanium tetrachloride.

Jan 1, 1952

Upon nomination of the President, _the following Committee on Membership was appointed: Karl Eilers, Chairman, Arthur. S. Dwight, Lewis W. Francis, Louis D. Huntoon, Arthur L. Walker. The following resolution was then unanimously passed: WHEREAS, the integrity and life of this nation is dependent upon its ability to successfully defend itself against foreign aggression and attack, and WHEREAS, it is necessary that the nation he properly prepared to the end that our untrained patriotic volunteers he not uselessly slaughtered and our country disgraced and defeated, be it therefore RESOLVED: That the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers believe that compulsory universal military training should be at once instituted and that adequate, complete and immediate preparedness, should he provided. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That, we believe that thorough and complete preparedness in the army, the navy and the industries of the country is vital; anything less is unsatisfactory and inefficient and may result in disaster to the nation.

Jan 5, 1917

By Arthur Knapp

THE economics of fuel oil must be considered in two aspects; viz., fuel oil as one of a number of competitive fuels and fuel oil as a refined product of petroleum. "Fuel Oil" is usually defined as that product of petroleum which is used in furnaces for the generation of heat by simple combustion. It is true that any product of petroleum used in an internal combustion engine is essentially a fuel oil, but such oils are not included in the class known as "Fuel Oil." FUEL OIL AS ONE OF SEVERAL FUELS For a number of years, the petroleum industry has believed that the petroleum reserves were very limited and that petroleum products would begin to become scarce within a few years. The industry has believed FIG. 1.-DAILY AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF FUELS BY PUBLIC UTILITY POWER PLANTS. that there would be a gradual but continual rise in prices as a result of this impending scarcity.

Jan 1, 1928

By Valentin R. Garfias

The production of petroleum in the Mexican fields during 1931 followed the downward trend of the past nine years, with a decline of close to 6,600,000 bbl., or about 17 per cent from the 1930 total. The output was close to 32,964,000 bbl., the Tampico-Tuxpam fields showing the largest actual and proportional decline, while the production of the fields in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec remained practically unchanged. Wildcatting along the international border was carried on more actively than in previous years, the only successful completion being the Alberca No. 1 well located about eight miles from the international boundary, across from Roma, Tex. This well, completed at a depth of 2015 ft. and plugged back to 1550, is rated at about 6,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day from a horizon between 1330 to 1540 ft., and is now connected to the gas line from the Jennings gas field, Texas, supplying the city of Monterrey. Favorable oil indications have been encountered in other exploratory wells along the border and drilling will probably continue as these lands are largely held under government concessions which require continuous development work in order to retain title. Development in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has progressed in a systematic manner, the number of successful completions during the year being considerably larger than in the South or Northern fields. The oil pipe line from the south fields to Mexico City has been completed and its operation and that of the Azcapotzalco refinery is expected to begin early in 1932. The construction of this line will Tevolutionize the transportation of petroleum and its products from the fields to the high plateau and seriously affect the revenues of the government-owned railroads. General conditions in the oil industry were reflected in Mexican operations. Low prices and the imminent threat of an American oil tariff discouraged development work necessary to maintain or increase production, and the curtailment of activities resulted in considerable reductions in personnel by all companies. Early in 1932 the Mexican Government announced its intention to create a surface tax or yearly rental on oil lands equivalent to about 31/4 U. S. cents per acre. Such additional burden on this already harassed industry will not only create little or no

Jan 1, 1932

THERE have always been in this world men of such keen intelligence that with their discourse they have been capable of infinite and various inventions that are as beneficial as they are simultaneously harmful to the human body. Wherefore, from day to day, we see unfolded before our eyes some of these that greatly astound our minds, and we remain so stupefied that when-we think of them we are not able to control our faculties for some time, both from considering by what necessity or purpose these men were goaded, as well as from contemplating the profound subtlety of their discoveries, which, in truth, are such that they are awarded the greatest commendation by noble minds. By following their counsels and with their aid, there have been* some astute and lever captains who have had certain pots or balls of earthenware carried by their infantry, expressly filled with compositions of powder or other unctuous liquors disposed to ignite easily. When they meet the enemy in battle and come up close to them, they try to strike vigorously with these in the first assault in an effort to throw them into disorder and to make them give way by breaking them up and drawing them out of formation. The smoke is harmful, but the fire very much more so. These are made in this way. Take the number of vessels that you have to make-it does not matter whether they are raw or baked as long as they are well freed from the moisture of the clay-and fill them a little more than half full with coarse gunpowder which has mixed in it pounded Grecian pitch and at least a third of crushed sulphur. Then pour in a covering a dito thick of strained pig fat mixed with powder. This keeps it from falling out when it is thrown and keeps the fire slower until it reaches the enemy. When this has been made, open up the pig fat a little at one side when you wish to throw it and put in a little fuse or a little good powder and apply fire, holding it in your hand until you see that the fire has taken hold well. Then throw it, choosing your time. A liquid composition is also made in a kettle in which are put pork fat, petroleum oil, oil of sulphur, live sulphur, [163] doubly refined saltpeter,

Jan 1, 1942

By Richard Schellinger, Ronald H. Carlson, Robert D. Norris

INTRODUCTION A very important key to the success of an in-situ leach venture is proper choice of well field chemistry, in which type and concentration of oxidant plays a significant role. For proper design of well field and plant, an engineer must be able to estimate uranium production levels and their change with time. The rate controlling step in the uranium leach process is generally acknowledged to be the oxidation step (Goddard and Brosnahan, 1980; McKnight and Anthony, 1979; Mays, 1979). Uranium head grade is very dependent upon concentration of oxidant injected into the ore zone. If oxidant levels are too low, uranium production requirements will not be met; if levels ate too high, excess oxidant will be wasted in side reactions with gangue material and leach economics will suffer. To date, no reliable laboratory technique exists for generating data easily translatable to field conditions. Empirical correlations based upon lengthy field testing have been the major tools avail- able to the design engineer to date. During the past five years, FMC has developed lab- oratory techniques for studying uranium leach chemistry under conditions simulating as closely as possible the field situation. Both agitated batch and consolidated core leach procedures have been developed. Results of FMC agitated batch studies are described in detail in a companion paper (Carlson, et. al., 1980). This paper will focus on the technique developed for leaching consolidated undisturbed core under simulated down-hole conditions. Through use of a follow-up computer model (Winkley, 1980), generated data can be translated to expected field response, thus providing the design engineer with valuable information in a relatively short period of time. CHEMISTRY In addition to uranium (+4), other oxidant-consuming species present in uranium ore are iron sulfides and carbonaceous material. Iron sulfides are usually present in concentrations far exceeding those of the other two materials and, therefore, represent the major oxidant-consuming species present in uranium sandstone ore. Previous studies (Carlson, et. al., 1980) have shown that iron sulfides exist in both Texas and Wyoming ores as a mixture of pyrite and marcasite (FeSz); furthermore, uranium mineralization (existing as uraninite) was shown to exist as a fine granular material coating or imbedded in iron sulfide crystals and sand grains (i.e. quartz and feldspars). The leach chemistry of a uranium ore body can be described by the following equations using hydrogen peroxide (Hz021 as oxidant:

Jan 1, 1980

By F. C. Holden, R. D. Buchheit

In the course of studies made on the Ti-Cu alloy system,' particles identified visually as TiH were encountered unexpectedly in a specimen of high-purity Ti-0.8Cu alloy. The particles did not appear immediately after preparation, but following-storage in a dessicator for several days. Since the alloy had been vacuum annealed to a low hydrogen concentration (19 ppm by vacuum-fusion analysis), the appearance of the TiH particles was suspected as a surface contamination effect. A specimen of a Ti-0.8Cu alloy had been annealed 2 hr at 790°C and water quenched, to produce the single-phase equiaxed a structure. The metallo-graphic sample was ground through 600X paper, rough-polished on a high-speed wheel with a mixture of alumina and chromic acid, awLhish-polished on a slow-speed wheel. Disturbed metal layers were removed from the final surface by alternately etching with a 1 1/2 HF-3 1/2 HNO3-95 H2O solution and polishing on the slow-speed wheel with fine alumina. The final surface was swab-etched with a 1 1/2 HF-3 1/2 HNO3-95 H2O solution, rinsed in tap water, and dried in a stream of filtered air. The micro-structure, shown in Fig. 1, was composed of equiaxed a grains without any trace of second phase. After storage in a dessicator for 3 days, the appearance of small particles in the structure became evident (see Fig. 2). After 7 days of storage, the particles were more distinct, and in some grains, began to appear as elongated particles. The specimen then was etched a second time (without repolishing) to produce the structure shown in Fig. 4. On the basis of micro- structural observation, the line markings were identified as TiH; attempts to obtain diffraction patterns from the surface for positive identification were not successful. That the structure is a surface effect was demonstrated by grinding with 240X paper to remove the surface layer. The surface then was ground, polished, and etched using the procedures described previously. The same observations were made: the freshly prepared surface was devoid of any second phase, whereas the particles again appeared after several days storage. The same effect has been observed in other a-stabilized titanium alloys, including a high-purity Ti-0.20 alloy containing only 16 ppm H by analysis. The effect has not yet been observed in unalloyed titanium, nor does its appearance appear to be consistent with any particular alloy system. From these observations, it is concluded that certain a-titanium alloys are susceptible to the formation of titanium hydride at the surface of metallo-graphic specimens. The hydrogen probably is diffused into the surface from a residual film of etchant decomposition products. Estimates of the hydrogen

Jan 1, 1961

By AIME AIME

LEROY SALSICH has had 37 consecutive years of operating and executive experience in the Lake Superior iron region during 35 of which he has been a member of the A.I.M.E. His recent election as an institute Director to represent the iron and copper country therefore brings to the Board a man long known throughout the area that he represents and well acquainted with the history of the Institute. Mr. Salsich is a native of the area in which his professional life has been spent, having been horn at Hartland. Wis., and graduating from the state university's college of engineering in 1901. A call had come to the college from the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines, at Duluth.

Jan 1, 1938

By Robert E. Tally

THE membership of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is composed largely of technicians, operating engineers, and executives in the mining, metallurgical and petroleum industries. The Institute also has its student, junior and associate membership and its Woman's Auxiliary. Primarily, it is a technical society, devoting itself largely to the encouragement of progress within the industries it represents, and to the discussion and dissemination of facts regarding this progress to its membership. The wisdom of this policy is reflected by the prestige and position which the society has gained, not only .among its members but throughout the entire mining world.

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

A new Index of the Transactions, Volumes I. to XXXV., is now being prepared, and will probably be ready for distribution during the coming summer. The Index will be about the size of the average volume of the Transactions, and will be bound in cloth and in half morocco. The price of the cloth-bound copy is $5, expressage prepaid. Half morocco binding will cost $1 extra. It is very desirable that all who wish to purchase this Index will notify the Secretary's office promptly, sending a check, money-order or draft, made payable to the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

May 1, 1907

By Oberlin Smith

The object of this paper is not so much reformatory, as historical and prophetic. History tells us that, for several months past, aluminum has, in one of its largest American manufactories, been freely nicknamed " Al" by everybody connected therewith, simply because its Christian name is too long for frequent speaking and writing. In another prominent factory, for the same reason, it is spoken of by its chemical symbol merely, pronouncing it " aye ell." These facts will, perhaps, explain the use of the final word in my title, which might otherwise seem undignified in a paper of this kind.

Jan 1, 1890

By AIME AIME

THE steel industry has always been noted for producing men of forceful and versatile personality, many of whom combine the practicality that results from wide experience with an excellent theoretical background that comes from a college training plus years of wide and constant study of metallurgical literature. One of the best known examples of this type is Earle C. Smith, present Chairman of the Iron and Steel Division. After graduating from Ohio State and from Columbia, where he studied under Campbell, Earle started his career at that grand old prewar training school for steel men the Illinois Steel Co., where in the days of the twelve-hour shift he worked on the open-hearth floor. Following World War I, when he was in charge of government inspection at the Central Steel Co., Massillon, Earle held successively jobs of increasing responsibility with Central Alloy Steel, and when this company was taken over by Republic in 1930 he was made assistant district manager and a few years later was appointed chief metallurgist of the whole corporation.

Jan 1, 1942

By AIME AIME

WHEN a local man has attained high position in business and civic affairs at home, his fellow citizens feel elated if his attainments are given recognition in the form of election to office in an organization of national scope. Eugene Ainsworth White, a new Director of the Institute, is one of the must prominent citizens of Tacoma, where for the past thirteen years he has managed the Tacoma Smelter of the American Smelting and Refining Co. A list of the civic duties he has carried with distinction would be a long one; for recent years it would show that he has been chairman of the Community Chest, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. and a member of the Pierce County Taxation Bureau.

Jan 1, 1945

By AIME AIME

PAST President R. C. Allen, then State Geologist of Michigan, gave George Corless his first job-tracing ?magnetic? with the dip compass in northern Wisconsin. His second job was also with a man now Past President of the Institute-"Chief" Buehler, for whom he worked at Joplin three years. Then came seven years as geologist and later as assistant manager of the Chanute Spelter Co., a subsidiary of The American Metal Co., Ltd. His entrance into the oil business was not planned. During a lull in the zinc industry in July, 1926, he stopped at Houston, after a trip to the Rio Grande Valley, and was so impressed with the city that he decided to migrate. His first job there was with the Texas Company, whose impressive building across from the Post Office caught his eye after he had mailed a letter saying that he was settling in Houston and would not be home until Christmas. Some months later, A.I.M.E. Past President Philip N. Moore learned that he was in. Houston and wrote an unsolicited recommendation that resulted in his present employment with the Humble Oil & Refining Co. Today he is superintendent of the Gulf Coast Division of its production department. The Division extends from Jackson County, Texas, to New Orleans, and includes such pools as Sugarland, Conroe, Toni Ball, Thompsons, Anahuac, and Friendswood. -

Jan 1, 1938

By J. E. Drury, W. M. Byers, E. J. Lynch

Measurements made with starch ~~~~s indicate that the Presence of starch serves to depress the streaming potential of a clay mud system. Measurements with pure starch slurries show that the addition of NaCl or CaO reduces the streaming potential significantly. The addition of NaOH, however, causes only a minor reduction in potential even when there are large changes in mud resistivity. INTRODUCTION In their excellent study of the streaming potential, Hill and Anderson' proposed that the presence of conductive solids within the filter medium will reduce the generated potential. This theory was demonstrated with measurements on shaly sandstone cores having various "b" factors; the cores with the higher negative b factors showed markedly lower potentials. (The factor b was originally defined by Hill and Milburn2 in an expression relating the resistivity of a shaly sandstone to the resistivity of the interstitial water: log F, = log F,, + b (log 100R,)'. 'he factor b, therefore, is a measure of the contribution of the conductive solids to the total conductivity of the sample. It has been found experimentally to be directly related to the amount of chemically exchangeable ion per unit pore volume.) In the logical extension of this hypothesis to the streaming potential created by filtration through mud cakes, they suggested that the presence of nonconductive starch in a drilling mud would have the opposite effect; i.e., it would cause the streaming POtential to be increased. The high streaming potentials that they observed with lime muds were attributed to this cause. A cross-plot of some of their results which are relevant to this discussion is given in Fig. 1. The lime-mud curves and untreated-mud curve are taken from curves given in their paper. The gyp-mud line was estimated from their statement that the measured streaming potential for gyp muds in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 ohm-m was approximately 18 mv/1,000 psi. These gyp-mud potentials were the lowest that they reported for any of the bentonitic-clay muds, and were the only ones which were less than the untreated-mud potentials. This very low streaming potential of gyp muds has also been observed in field studies.' By way of comparison, a U. of Texas publication4 gives the approxi-ate compositions for lime and gyp muds shown in Table 1. These materials are added to a bentonitic-clay mud base. It can be seen that both of these muds contain significant amounts of calcium salts and that the gyp mud has the higher concentration of starch. It would appear from this and from the data shown in Fig. 1 that starch may well be the cause of a streaming-potential reduction, rather than a potential increase. EXPERIMENTAL A series of streaming-potential experiments has been performed using a cell of a design similar to that reported by Wyllie.5 Calomel electrodes were used in both the mud slurry and the filtrate. Pressure in the cell was generated with high-pressure nitrogen. The primary objective of the investigation was to determine the effect of starch on the potential. Five different slurries were made which ranged in composition from untreated ben-tonitic mud (Baroid Aquagel) to a pure starch suspension (Baroid Im-permex). The intermediate slurries were prepared by mixing together a 9-lb/bbl clay mud with a 12-lb/bbl starch suspension in the ratios 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1. When starch was used alone, it was necessary to use an 18-Ib/bbl mixture, since leaner mixtures would not form a suitable filter cake. The clay mud used in the experiments was aged for three months before use. In addition to this series of measurements on the starch-clay mud mixtures, other experiments were performed to determine the effect on the potential of the absolute starch and Aquagel concentration, and the effect of adding various chemicals. RESULTS The effect of starch on the streaming potential is shown clcarly in Fig 2. Increasing percentages of starch resulted in n continually decreasing

By S. W. MILLE

GEORGE F. COMSTOCK,* Niagara Falls, N. Y. (written discussion?).¬I have recently had the pleasure of reading Mr. Miller's interesting paper, and would like to call attention to a reference to this subject which apparently has escaped his notice. It is an abstract of a German research on the subject of nitrogen in steel, and appeared in the Iron Age of Feb. 17, 1916, page 432. Photomicrographs of needles such as Mr. Miller found in his welds are given, and their identity is discussed. The conclusion reached is that the needles are slip lines due to the brittleness of the ferrite crystals caused by their absorption of nitrogen. The deformation necessary to develop the slips is supposed to be accomplished either in cutting or polishing the microsections or by cooling strains after welding. It seems very reasonable to expect that nitrogen would he absorbed by steel in either electric or oxy-acetylene welding, and the reference I have mentioned gives instances of many unusual structures resulting from the presence of considerable nitrogen with carbon in steel. But the nitrogen is .rapidly given off from steel by ordinary annealing in air, hydrogen or vacuum, and this would explain the disappearance of Mr. Miller's needles after annealing. I think the conclusion that the needles are cementite might well be revised in view of this German work on nitrogen.

Jan 5, 1918

The American Mining Congress, of which the President is Carl Scholz, and the Secretary is J. F. Callbreath, and of which many of the officers and directors are prominent in Institute affairs, has extended to the members of the Institute a cordial invitation to attend the nineteenth Annual Session of the Congress, to be held at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Nov. 13 to 16, 1916, and to take part in its deliberations. The morning sessions will be, general meetings at which the attendance of all members of the Convention is hoped for, and which will he devoted to a discussion of subjects related to the three several heads, "safety," "efficiency" and "conservation." The afternoon meetings will be divided into several sections, each devoted to the discussion of subjects of interest to its special branch of the industry. It is planned to have 811 papers printed and distributed, allowing the author a limited time in which to present the salient features of his address and giving up the greater part of the time to a discussion of the subject presented by members on the floor. By this plan it is hoped to have a free expression of opinion and to provide ample time for reaching conclusions to be embodied in resolutions representing the best thought of the mining industry.

Jan 10, 1916

By A. N. Mitinsky

Discussion of the paper of A. N. MITINSKY, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 104, August, 1915, pp. 1697 to 1705. ALBERT SAUVEUR, Cambridge, Mass.-The author expresses the belief that steel will not fail under fatigue when subjected to ultimate stresses unless the stresses exceed the elastic limit or the limit of proportionality. I think this statement is contrary to the evidence. It is conceivable, however, that a stress ever so small does produce a permanent set, although so slight that we cannot detect it with the instruments at our disposal. Nevertheless the repetition of this small stress a great many times will finally break the piece and the nearer, we approach what we call the elastic limit, the quicker will the piece break under fatigue. J. W. RICHARDS, So. Bethlehem, Pa.-I would like to ask Professor Sauveur whether there is a similar indefiniteness about the limit of .proportionality as there is about the elastic limit. ALBERT SAUVEUR.-Yes; I believe it also depends upon the delicacy of our instruments. J. W. RICHARDS.-If that is so then we are as badly off by adopting the limit of proportionality as a criterion as we are by adopting the elastic limit.

Jan 5, 1916