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By Sidney Swensrud

ABOUT a year ago, I attempted in a general way to trace the origin and development of some of the marketing problems of the petroleum industry, and to describe certain trends which it then seemed possible to foresee. To summarize briefly, it was pointed out that the consumption of gasoline, after increasing for more than a decade at an almost unbelievable rate, was slowing down, but that the two factors which determined the supply of gasoline-namely, the production of crude oil and the percentage of gasoline derived therefrom-were tending steadily to mount. It was suggested that, while the increase in gasoline outlets began with and probably was justified at the start by the rapidly increasing demand, long after all reasonable requirements as to number of outlets had been met the number continued to increase-if anything, at a still more rapid rate-because by that time the overproduction of crude had begun to exert an impelling urge upon the owners of that crude to seek assured outlets for it in the form of gasoline. As more and more companies became integrated all the way from crude oil to marketing, there took place an ever-increasing competition among them, not only for the existing outlets but for new ones. The wide margin between wholesale cost and retail price, which is characteristic of the early stages of most new industries, persisted in the oil industry longer. than in most industries, for various reasons. The existence of that wide margin provided in large measure the means of attracting new outlets, for as the gallonage per outlet declined with the increasing number of outlets, competing companies simply offered the dealers a larger part of the total margin. The very nature of competition suggests that such a process would continue until practically all of the available margin was thus given away, and such was clearly the, tendency. It was a system that in turn produced increasing marketing expense per gallon on account of the -diluted gallonage per outlet; this increased expense might seem to have provided a justification for continuing wide margins. Economics, like its parent, nature, however, progresses by mutations and so began to throw out new types of marketers, in the form cf tank-car service stations, cut-price jobbers, and the like-heretics or

Jan 1, 1932

By Andrew Torok, Thomas D. Thompson

Research efforts have not developed techniques for the complete desulfurization of coal that is needed to reduce air pollution caused by burning coal and to reduce the sulfur in metallurgical coke. Sulfur in coal occurs in three forms and of these, the pyritic sulfur occurs as discrete mineral particles and, at least theoretically, should be subject to physical rejection. Pyrite occurring in hard rock mining is concentrated by froth flotation; therefore, the possibility of removal of pyrite from coal by flotation does exist. With this possibility in mind, the flotation and adsorption characteristics of ore and coal-pyrite were compared while using potassium ethyl xanthate as the collector.

Jan 1, 1973

By AIME AIME

WHEN the War Production Board issued its order which will end the use of iron and steel in more than 400 familiar civilian articles, the list of those products formed a fascinating and homeric catalogue of the things we use. Articles for which iron and steel may not be used after a 90-day "tapering-off" period are as workaday as office machinery and as frivolous as cocktail shakers. Mostly they are smaller items-the smallest probably are phonograph needles but in the aggregate they will save tremendous quantities of the metal most needed to win the war. In total war there are no trifles. Interesting proof of this lies in the fact that by eliminating manufacture of blackhead squeezers we shall save 110,000 lb. of steel a year. Out of this steel we might have made four 155-mm. field pieces. We might have made a thousand 3-in. trench mortars, 4400 0.30-caliber machine guns, 55 16-in. shells, 110 200-lb. aerial bombs, or three 15-ton tanks with something left over to arm them.

Jan 1, 1942

By Richard M. Foose

WOULD you like to find a large new ore deposit next year? The answer is as obvious as the question is foolish. But perhaps the question does have some merit if we alter it slightly and ask: What are you doing about finding new ore? This one is more difficult to answer. Possibly you are doing nothing about finding new ore because you have proved reserves for many future years of production. Others may be investing some small percentage of time, effort, and money in mineral exploration, and reserves may be currently adequate, or inadequate, in terms of many future productive years. Still others may be engaged in large-scale mineral exploration programs involving large expenditures of time, personnel effort, and money. In whatever category you may be, a final question might well be asked. Is your current mineral exploration program, or lack of program, consistent with the long-range needs and objectives of your organization and of the mining industry as a whole, and is it designed to stimulate the growth of the industry in future years, or is it only a short-range program in response to some current situation?

Jan 3, 1958

By Alfred E. Hunt

The application of the color-method for the estimation of manganese in iron and steel, based upon the depth of the characteristic purple color of permanganic acid, was first made in this country, the writer thinks, by one of the members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Mr. Samuel Peters, in 1874, at the laboratory of the Bay State Iron Company, and was published by him in the Chemical News. The method is credited to him in the new edition of Crooke's Select Methods. The principle of oxidizing manganese with peroxide of lead, or other oxidizing agents, and determining the amount of manganese from the color of the purple permanganic

Jan 1, 1887

By William J. Potter, Roger N. Pyle

Introduction The primary ingredient for survival of mining companies during a recessionary period is to be innovative and resourceful in the structuring and financing of operations. Over the past decade, many mining companies have had to retrench and restructure their operations and to redeploy their assets just to survive. During the same period, traditional sources of financing for mining companies -- commercial banks, subsidized export credit loans and long term straight debt financing in the public markets -- became less available and more expensive. Meanwhile, new markets and new financing instruments provided new alternatives for mining companies. Those companies which exploited these alternatives greatly enhanced their capacity for survival and even for profitability. This article considers the strategies adopted by some companies to adapt to changes in this recessionary environment; the inadequacy of traditional sources of financing; certain of the new financing instruments, structures and markets which have become available; and how several mining companies have utilized these new instruments, structures and financial markets to improve their competitive positions. THE IMPACT OF RECESSION ON MINING COMPANIES AND TRADITIONAL FINANCING SOURCES In its 1983 year-end article "The New Economic Order" Mining Journal characterized many of the large private sector mining companies with operations in the industrialized countries as being "gripped between the jaws of high working costs and stagnating metal commodity prices." The article went on to characterize the Canadian mining industry in particular as being "in the difficult position of having to seek to sell the bulk of its output in a world market characterized by over-capacity, where production costs were determined by internal political and economic factors while prices were set by external competitive forces of supply and demand." Miners of a wide range of commodities in the industrialized countries have come to realize that their domestic mineral resources are in many cases no longer competitive with global sources of supply. To compete and survive they would have to rely on their technical and financial expertise in mineral exploration and development and in mining and processing. Strategies For Survival Global competition has compelled management in the extractive industries to improve their worldwide cost position. This is the only means whereby a mining company can differentiate its product and attain a substantial competitive advantage. During the past decade, for example, ASARCO Inc. and Inco Ltd. chopped their payrolls, postponed expansion plans and otherwise retrenched. ASARCO reduced its capital expenditures and cash requirements for operations in 1984 to a level almost equal to its internally generated cash. The company's finances were also strengthened by increasing total lines of credit from outside sources, by selling common stock, and by reducing annual pension funding through a change in actuarial assumptions. Other companies returned to their traditional organizational structure where they had a demonstrated competitive strength. Consolidated Gold Fields, for instance, resumed its operation as a mining finance house. Its capital investment programs are now devoted solely to resource development. In mid-1984, at a time of firming zinc prices, Union Miniere S.A. used the opportunity to integrate its smelting capacity and to direct investment to certain subsidiaries at the expense of less viable operations. Smaller corporations realized that it was not enough just to be the low-cost producer. For example, Drummond Coal Company in Alabama, which dominates its regional market due to its low-costs, has also developed a world-wide trading capability and has placed incremental tonnage from its own mines as well as brokered coal produced by others, thereby minimizing capital risk. In Canada, Campbell Resources has exploited difficult times by acquiring assets cheaply. In the process it improved its capacity to withstand cyclical economic swings by diversifying from solely a copper and gold producer to a company based upon asbestos, coal, copper, gold and natural gas.

Jan 1, 1985

New Mexico School of Mmes, and State Bureau of Mmes and Mineral Resources, Socorro, N. M E. H Wells, President and Director Available publications of the State Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources of the New Mexico School of Mines are: Bulletin 4, Fluorspar in New Mexico (1928), 60 cents; 5, Geologic

Jan 1, 1933

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Jan 1, 1913

By Louis Ware

A leading executive finds this a bad time to "cry" about taxes. Needed reforms must cede to emergency demands.

Jan 7, 1951

By R. H. Jacoby, V. J. Berry

When dry gas is injected into a reservoir containing a volatile crude oil, a significant amount of the reservoir liquid phase may become vaporized. The resultant rich gas phase, when subsequently produced, con-tributes to tank oil production. This contribution assumes greater importance, the more volatile the oil in-olved. Oil recovery may be sub-stantially greater than that predicted by conventional frontal-drive methods, which do not consider the vaporization equilibrium between the reservoir oil phase and the injected gas. A calculation method has been (developed to account for vaporiza-. tion of the reservoir liquid phase during gas-injectiorz operations, and for the tank oil production which results from this factor. Recovery performance calculations are presented for a reservoir containing a highly volatile oil. Tank oil recovery is calculated to be about twice that predicted by the use of the conven-rional frontal-drive equations. In contrastto usual pressure maintenance performance results, in which the gas-oil ratio rises at an increasing rate after gas breakthrough, the pre-dicated gas-oil ratio rises rapidly to about 12,000 scf/bhl and then rises much less rapidly. During gas inje-tion, most of the reservoir liquid phase contacted is evaporated by the dry injection gar. The gas-oil ratio during this period is dependent upon reservoir pressure. The higher the operating pressure, the lower the gas-oil ratio. The predicted behavior i., in accordance with laboratory PVT tests made to .simulate the vaporization behavior. In addition to recovery performance predictions, results of the calculation procedure include complete wellstrearn composition data of value in the design of gasoline plant facilities often used in con-rrction with gas-injection operations. INTRODUCTION In the cycling of gas-condensate reservoirs, dry gas is injected to maintain reservoir pressure during wet gas production and to thereby eliminate or reduce ultimate loss of liquids due to retrograde condensation within the reservoir. Gas injected into crude oil reservoirs has a dual function. It displaces oil to the producing wells and at the same time serves to partially or fully maintain reservoir pressure. Oil shrinkage which would occur upon pressure reduction is thereby minimized or eliminated. Accepted calculation methods are available'= for predicting recovery performance of either gas-condensate reservoirs or crude oil reservoirs which are being subjected to gas injection. In gas-condensate reservoirs, any retrograde liquid formed does not flow, and it is necessary to account only for the vaporization equilibrium between this liquid and the injected gas. Conversely, in normal crude oil reservoirs, both the oil and gas phases flow, but it has not been considered necessary to account for any vaporization of the reservoir liquid which might occur upon contact with the dry injection gas. Recently, high shrinkage reservoir fluids known as "volatile oils" have been found in increasing amounts. These oils are characterized by tank oil gravities above 4.5" API, solution gas-oil ratios above 1,000 scf/bbl, and reservoir volume factors above two. Special techniques have been devised for predicting depletion performance of reservoirs containing such oils.74.5.1; One of the characteristics of reservoirs producing volatile oils is that the reservoir gas phase carries a significant amount of oil which is recoverable as stock-tank liquid. This unusual vaporization be-havior implies that an appreciable amount of reservoir liquid would be vaporized upon contact of the oil with dry injection gas. In a gas-injection operation, tank oil recovery would he obtained not only through frontal displacement of the reservoir liquid by the injected gas, but also through production of the rich gas phase. This means that not only are improved methods needed to predict recovery of such oils from reservoirs undergoing gas injection, but it would also be expected that high oil recoveries might be obtained by such operations. When relatively dry gas is injected in to a volatile oil reservoir, phase equilibrium between the injected gas and the reservoir oil will tend to bc established. Initially the most volatile components, such as propane, the butanes and the pentanes, will account for most of the material transferred from the oil phase to the gas phase. As the partially stripped oil phase is contacted with additional dry injection gas, the heavier intermediate components, such as the hexanes, the heptanes and the octanes, will gradually transfer to the gas phase in increasing amounts. This is because the supply of lighter components in the oil phase dwindles due to the stripping action of the injected gas. This stripping action will usually continue to be effective down

By H. F. Beeghly

UNTIL recently the only criteria by which steels were judged were their cost and their mechanical, chemical, and physical properties. The user was concerned with such properties as corrosion resistance, tensile strength, response to thermal treatment, hardness, ductility, and, to a growing extent in recent years, with behavior at high temperature. As plans were made to build power reactors, a new set of properties became important—the nuclear characteristics, which had to be considered by the designer and engineer in building his plant. The nuclear engineer developed methods for the rare and new metals and produced them in high purity, often at great expense. The pure metals then provided the raw materials for tailor-made alloys. For more common structural metals, such as steel, the nuclear industry depended on commercially available materials. Generally, the quantities required were small and specifications were rigid. It is not surprising, therefore, that difficulty was frequently encountered in procuring structural mate-

Jan 1, 1957

By Rizzi Homestake Mining Co.

Geophysical methods of discovering new mineral deposits have long been routine with both the petroleum and mining industries. Experience has shown that most subsurface structures and mineral deposits can be located, provided that detectable differences in physical properties exist. The main properties exhibited by the more common rocks and formations are: density, magnetism, electricity, electrical conductivity, and radioactivity. This entails five major geophysical methods: gravitational, magnetic, seismic, electrical, and radiation. Applications of radioactivity measurements in geophysical exploration are concerned with location of concentrations of radioactive rocks and materials, such as uranium. The search for uranium ores and minerals has been carried on for more than 50 years, ever since the first atomic breakdown from uranium to radium was discovered. However, the comprehensive search now being made throughout the world for radioactive materials is a direct result of the first atomic explosion and the subsequent development of new and more sensitive portable equipment to detect radiation.

Mar 1, 1956

By AIME AIME

COUNCIL* PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. JAMES F. KEMP NEW YORK, N. Y (Term expires February, 1913.) VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE COUNCIL. S. B. CHRISTY BERKELEY, C; L.. R. V. NORRIS WILKES-BARRE, PA.. GARDNER F. WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, D. C.. (Term expires February, 1913.) KARL EILERS NEW YORK, N. Y.. WALDEMAR LINDGREN WASHINGTON; D. C.. BENJAMIN B. THAYER NEW YORK, N. Y. (Term expires February, 1914.)

Nov 1, 1912

By AIME AIME

COUNCIL* PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. JAMES F. KEMP NEW YORK, N. Y.. (Term expires February, 1913.) VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE COUNCIL. S. B. CHRISTY BERKELEY, CAL. R. V. NORRIS WILKES-BARRE, PA. GARDNER F. WIILLIAMS WASHINGTON, D. C. (Term expires February, 1913.) . KARL EILERS NEW YORK, N. Y. WALDEMAR LINDGREN WASHINGTON, D. C. BENJAMIN B. THAYER NEW YORK, N. Y. (Term expires February, 1914.)

Jul 1, 1912

By F. F. Craig

The authors have done a commendable job in combining a number of recognized waterflood performance prediction methods into one composite method. The availability of a FORTRAN program for this composite method should encourage its widespread industry use. Pan American has had a computer program developed along similar lines for a number of years,' and it has received more use than any other reservoir prediction method. In three important stages of a pattern waterflood, the authors fail to consider fully the effects of water-oil mobility ratio on performance. This is discussed in the following paragraphs and modifications of the prediction method are suggested. During the early stages of a waterflood in a partially depleted formation, the injected water and its preceding oil bank move out radially from the injection wells. As pointed out in the author's paper the method of Yuster and Calhoun2 or predicting the water injection rate during this period assumes that the mobilities of the water and oil are equal. In his book, Muskat3 resents a modification of the Yuster-Calhoun approach that considers fully the influence of water-oil mobility ratio. In Muskat's method, the prediction of the injection rate-injected volume-time relationship is expressed in readily programmed dimension-less unts. At and following fillup the five-spot pattern consists of a water-invaded pattern with the remainder of the pattern containing only oil and connate water. In the paper, Eq. 18 is used to calculate the water injection rate at fillup. This equation considers that the entire pattern is invaded by water. To properly consider both the incomplete areal sweep of water and the water-oil mobility ratio, Eq. 18 should read:

Jan 1, 1969

YEAR OF ELECTION 1944. SELWYN GWILLYM BLAYLOCK Trail, B.C., Canada 1922. FEDERICO GIOLITTI Torino, Italy 1917. HERBERT HOOVER New, York, N. Y. 1941. DANIEL COWAN JACKLING San Francisco, Cal if. 1939. HENRY KRUMB New York, N. Y. 1942. ESSINGTON LEWIS Melbourne, Vic., Australia 1921. C. McDERMID London, England 1942. PAUL DYER MERICA New York, N. Y. 1913. EZEQUIEL ORDONEZ Mexico City, Mexico 1938. A. M. PORTEVIN Paris, France. 1937. JOHN V. W. REYNDERS New York, N. Y. 1937. GEORGE S. RICE Washington, D. C. 1911. ROBERT H. RICHARDS Cambridge, Mass. 1934. T. A. RICKARD Victoria, B.C., Canada

Jan 1, 1944

By Charles C. Hawes

DETERMINATION OF SILICA OXIDE iron ores usually are found in intimate association with silica and phosphorus compounds. Their quantitative separation and purification sometimes present difficult problems to the chemist. Silicic acids may represent various degrees of dehydration. They are exeedingly weak, but combine with metallic oxides and form some of the most stable oxides in nature, the silicates. When iron ores are treated with hydrochloric acid, they yield practically all their iron. However, apart from rare exceptions, varying amounts of insoluble residues of silica, alumina, lime, magnesia and compounds of phosphorus, sulphur, titanium, chromium and others will be left. If the oxides of silicon, aluminum and titanium are present in small quantities, the insoluble residue is generally very small, but the presence of these oxides is more usual in larger quantities. Therefore, only a special treatment can break the bond between these elements. Ore Residues Acids remove the soluble constituent of the ore, leaving the insoluble residue, which chemically is rock or gangue and must be treated accordingly. Alkali carbonates are used frequently to break up the residue, but other fluxes have also been recommended, such as a number of lead and boron salts. The introduction 0f these salts, which offers certain advantages, requires, however, their removal before the other constituents can be analyzed, and this elimination is sometimes difficult. Usually in quantitative analysis silicates are dissociated by fusing them in a platinum crucible with sodium carbonate, thereby forming sodium silicate, Na2SiO3, sodium aluminate, Na2Al204, sodium titanate, Na2TiO3, and carbonates of other elements. All the carbonates are soluble in hydrochloric acid, but also some silicic acid is formed that must be rendered insoluble. To this end the solution is evaporated several times, as the first evaporation still leaves as much as 5 per cent of the silica soluble. Even after a number of evaporations, minute quantities of silica may be found with the iron and alumina present. Perchloric Acid as an Agent for Dehydrating Silicic Acid Perchloric acid, HC104, (60 per cent), has been used for years as a solvent, but few chemists have used it to dehydrate silica. It is derived from anhydrous perchloric C1207, which is most unstable and dangerous. Perchloric acid is a strong oxidizing agent, which boils at 203°C. It is more effective in rendering silica insoluble than any other known agent, and most rapid in action. After perchloric acid is added to a mixture containing silicic acid, the resultant solution is

Jan 1, 1945