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By John Nelson

AN OUTLINE survey of the economic outlook for the United States export trade in petroleum products resolves itself broadly into two general divisions; first, a consideration of our present position in this trade, and second, a discussion of the visible factors which promise to affect appreciable changes in the immediate future in that trade. The UNITED STATES PETROLEUM EXPORTS OF MAJOR PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 1925, 1926 and 1927 Gasoline, Naphtha, and Other Light Products 1925 1926 1927* Quantity (gal.) 1,286,787,796 1,784,154,802 1,851,494,190 Value $197,491,588 $263,199,938 $214,721,652 'Illuminating Oil, Kerosene 1925 1926 1927* Quantity (gal.) 885;136,041 924,680,979 827,162,280 Value $84,699,724 $100,352,877 $80,358,082 Gas and Fuel Oil 1925 1926 I 1927 Quantity (gal.) 1,365,358,988 1,449,688,394 1,815,130,464 Value.... ? $49,040,024 $45,354,108. .. $50,343,031 Lubricating. Oil 1925... ....1926 .. 1927 Quantity .(gal.) 402,572,584 388,767,055 403,369,512 Value $90,596,671 $86,414,621 $88,926,815

Jan 1, 1928

By AIME AIME

THE following compilation of State bureaus and officials that deal with mineral resources is compiled in part from a new "Check List of State Agencies and Officials Concerned with the Management of Natural Re- sources," compiled for the National Resources Committee, Washington, D. C., by Clifford J. Hynning. Alabama-Geological Survey of Alabama, University. Walter B. Jones, State Geologist. Chief Mine Inspector: W. B. Hill- house, 614 Lincoln Life Bldg., Birmingham.

Jan 1, 1939

By Ernest Stütz

The problem of increasing blast-furnace efficiency through diminution of flue-dust production while operating with burdens consisting largely of fine ores has of recent years attracted the attention of metallurgists, whether directly or indirectly interested in the economies of iron smelting, and the various methods evolved from theory or practice have been submitted to wide discussion. After the very thorough and, at that time, exhaustive view of the whole subject, which was afforded to the industry by the meeting of this Institute in February, 1912, the subject was again taken up at the meeting of the Verein deutscher Eisenh?ttenleute at D?sseldorf in December, 1912. While American and German conditions are not entirely identical, it may be of interest to give here the words of the gentleman summing up the discussion at the Diisseldorf meeting: " The chief advantage offered by the use of briquettes lies in the fact that disturbances in the furnace, caused mostly by the presence of fine ores in the burden, are avoided, and that blast pressure can be considerably reduced. The resulting economies cannot be overrated, as, with lower blast consumption per ton of product, the installation will be able to take care of increased production. In consequence of lower pressure and speed of blast, heat is more efficiently utilized, flue gas temperature is lowered, and coke particles are less liable to be carried along with the flue dust, of which considerably less is produced. Finally, by increased regularity of operation and higher temperature in the lower parts of the furnace, the quality of the product is improved. The question of briquetting iron ores has grown to be one of the most important in the iron industry, and it is not any more a question of what is the cost of briquetting a ton of ore, but what, in using ore briquettes, is the cost of production of a ton of iron." Dr. A. Weiskopf, of Hannover, admirably condenses in these words

Jan 1, 1914

By D. W. Jessup

ONLY during the past few years, have the old-fashioned methods for treating ores and byproducts progressed to any marked degree. The advent of multiple-hearth roasting, blast roasting, the baghouse, and the Cottrell plant indicate this change. It is the ability to roast and smelt sulfide ores and concentrates that gave this later advance. Further investigations that will solve the problem of efficient handling of flotation concentrates and their attendant ills are of the utmost importance. With future developments, the metallurgist will be able to smelt more economically and to treat still more refractory ores, making the early methods appear small by comparison. GROWTH OF SMELTING Well within the memory of pioneer smeltermen, the ore was charged directly into the blast furnace as it came from the mine;, only the richer, ores were smelted, the lower grade and sulfide ores were undesirable. Matte was, at first, thrown away and only two products) were desired-slag and lead bullion. Scores of the early smelting companies failed because of improper reduction of ores, high costs, short- furnace campaigns, inability to treat sulfide ores, and ores containing-zinc. With the failure of weaker companies, consolidation eliminated many others, until today the field is dominated by a comparatively few organizations, each strong financially. Formerly, a few thousand dollars would erect a small plant, whereas the modern smelter costs over a million dollars. Ore and products to which formerly no attention was paid are now treated with comparative ease and at a good profit. Mechanical improvements have modernized smelting, furnace tonnages show an increase, and metal recoveries have made enormous strides. Even though costs have decreased, they have not dropped in proportion to the improvements, because of the higher wages, greater costs of fluxes and coke, more undesirable ores smelted, etc.

Jan 8, 1925

By S. E. Bretherton

Mr. AllaW Gibb, of Mount Perry, Queensland, Australia, in an interesting and instructive paper,* describes fully the great difficulties metallurgists encounter in seeking to produce marketable copper by smelting refractory ores containing arsenic, antimony and bismuth. After reading this description, I prepared a paper for the Institute, which was, however, through a misunderstanding on my part, published in the San Francisco Mining and S'cie~ztiJic Press of April 4, 1903, after its acceptance by the Council, and without credit to the Institute. Consequently, it cannot be reprinted for the Transactions of the Institute; and I can only here summarize its contents and conclusions, referring the reader to the article above named for further particulars. In that article I omitted the col~sideration of bismuth, which we do not encounter in our smelting at Val Verde, and added lead and zinc, which Mr. Gibb had not discussed; and I undertook to shorn, by the record of a year's practice of the Val Verde Copper Co., Arizona, that copper-ores containing arsenic, antimony, lead and zinc may be successfully smelted, without preliminary roasting, in an ordinary blast-furnace with hotblast, making a normal slag, such as one would aim to make under ordinary conditions with cold-blast, so as to produce a marketable matte, containing not less than 45 per cent. of copper, free from arsenic and antimony, and below the limit in lead and zinc penalized by the refineries.

Jan 1, 1904

By James C. Fulton

Since publication of the First Edition of "Basic Open Hearth Steelmaking," in 1944, this book has been a major reference on the subject of steelmaking. The Second Edition of 1951 was so fundamental that it has retained its general usefulness to the present date. However, recently some of the material has been updated in connection with the writing of a companion book, "Electric Furnace Steelmaking." The sponsor of these two books, the Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking Committee, has felt that the new material should be made equally available to purchasers of either book. Accordingly the subject matter of Chapters 14, 15, and 16 of this new edition is duplicated by corresponding chapters in "Electric Furnace Steelmaking." It was also recognized that the use of oxygen in the open hearth and in the new basic oxygen processes represents a major development that should not be omitted from any basic reference. Thus the major new feature of this Third Edition is the supplement on "Oxygen in Steelmaking." The cooperation of the Iron and Steel Division's Acid Converter and Basic Oxygen Steel Committee (now merged to form the National Open Hearth and Basic Oxygen Steel Committee) is specifically recognized. In addition to the authors of chapters listed elsewhere, it should be noted that Arthur B. Wilder was the Committee Chairman. Although the changes in the Third Edition are important, the Committee cannot overlook the classic character of the Second Edition. This edition was edited by W. O. Philbrook and M. B. Bever in collaboration with H. B. Emerick and B. M. Larsen. It is anticipated that the Third Edition will maintain the value of the book until the current rapid changes in all basic steelmaking processes stabilize themselves sufficiently to justify a complete revision of the entire text in Part I. The experienced service of Wesley Burr in incorporating the new material in the index is also recognized.

Jan 1, 1964

By Donald W. Scott

GENERALLY speaking, there is nothing very difficult about taking good micrographs of photogenic thin sections or grains with a petrographic micro-scopecamera setup. However, sometimes it is desired to show some detail that cannot be illustrated satisfactorily by the usual micrographs taken with parallel polarized light, with crossed nicols, or even with two micrographs. A simple procedure giving good results has been used at Battelle Memorial Institute for subjects falling into this classification, and it is believed to be of interest, especially to research people who must sell a point to executives through the medium of well-illustrated reports. The following problem illustrates a typical application: It is desired to photograph a thin section of an iron ore to illustrate the character and association of the iron oxides and the individual quartz crystals. A magnification of 75 dia. is acceptable. A micrograph of the field in question (Fig. I[a]) was taken with parallel polarized light. Due precaution was taken to provide critical illumination, correct exposure, a sharp focus, a good darkroom technique, and other essential conditions. It illustrates correctly the iron oxides, but it fails to show the individual quartz crystals. A micrograph of the identical field (Fig. I[b]) was taken under the same precise conditions, but with crossed nicols. It gives a better idea of the character of the individual quartz crystals but is likely to be misinterpreted unless accompanied by a lengthy descriptive note. This micrograph suggests that the centrally located, large black area is composed entirely of iron oxides. That this is an incorrect interpretation is evident by reexamining the micrograph of Fig. I[a]. The correct interpretation is that the dark area contains quartz crystals oriented with their optical directions parallel to, or nearly parallel to, the vibration directions of the polarizer and analyzer of the microscope. Thus, the executive, or anyone who had not done the work personally, would get no more than a fair interpretation, even if two micrographs were included; and in the interests of both brevity and clarity, one micrograph usually is more desirable. Exactly how many quartz crystals occur in this region cannot be told from the two micrographs, and a printing of the two negatives in register would likewise not show the detail desired. Thus, it is evident that some subjects cannot be satisfactorily illustrated by the usual procedures. In photographing Fig. is the light was subdued and, during the entire exposure of 75 sec., the analyzer nicol was rotated uniformly in its mounting from a crossed position to 45° uncrossed position to introduce the desired amount of contrast in the various individual quartz crystals. The true reproduction of the character and association of the iron oxides, and the additional structure and detail in the quartz areas, is apparent. It might be

Jan 1, 1946

By Robert E. Delavault, Harry V. Warren

Circumstances determine whether it is better to make analyses in the field or in a permanent laboratory. The rubeanic acid test described in this article has been designed primarily for field use: it is simple and virtually foolproof, and it requires a minimum of field kit.* It is sensitive, easily detecting 4 ppm of readily extractable copper in a soil. This is by no means a quantitative test, but it is accurate enough to provide a valuable indicator of copper anomalous areas for both prospectors and field geologists. The easiest method for detecting metal deposits that do not produce visible float or stains is to make a simple chemical test for the metal in overlying soil, or in the silt of a stream that may have picked up metal farther upstream.

Jan 11, 1958

By P. Barnes

The complete and uccurate filtration of water (if the word accurste map be thus Used) for the feeding of boilers, and for many similar industrial purposes, although somewhat practiced both at home and abroad, has heal by no means common. Even if the exact line cannot be defined at which filtration begins to be called for, ad will be found profitable, it is certain that in a large number of cases it may be employed with real advantage in the economy of fuel, and also in the greater durability of the boiler or other form of apparatus in

Jan 1, 1882

By L. L. McDaniel

During the past few years a nuinber of improvements in smelting and power equipment have been made at the Douglas smelter of the Phelps Dodge Corporation at Douglas, Ariz. In the summer of 1935 work was started on the first unit of a new reverberatory waste-heat boiler plant which ultimately was to furnish steam for a modern high-pressure power pIant. A second reverberatory waste-heat boiler unit

Jan 1, 1944

By J. M. Ohm, Carl M. Bunker

Two special tools for recovering gamma-ray probes and logging cable from drillholes have been designed by Ohm and Bunker and constructed by Ohm. Though intended specifically for U. S. Geological Survey equipment, they may be used with other equipment of the same general type. Fishing Tool for Probes: A fishing tool of the overshot type (Fig. 1) was designed to retrieve logging probes (sondes) that become disconnected from the logging cable and are trapped in the drillhole. When the tool slides over the top of the gamma-ray probe, studs on the bottom engage the shoulder near the top of the probe (Fig. 2), which is then pulled to surface.

Jan 10, 1959

By James E. Lawver

Efficiency of industrial research and development depends on the ability of engineers and scientists to collect and present data to top management for decisions. In many cases, the data presented are so deceptive that management makes costly wrong decisions. Since management personnel often are selected on the basis of higher administrative quality than technical ability, it is the responsibility of the industrial scientist or research engineer to make certain that the data presented tell a completely ac- curate story of each industrial problem. It is rare that misleading data are deliberately presented, but when this is done, it is? of course, dishonest. The rise of deceptive data usually stems from the lack of knowledge of experimental design and statistical methods of analysis. Most of the better chemical engineering schools have recognized the need for courses in industrial experimentation and many of them offer complete courses at both graduate and un- dergrarluate levels. By contrast, many of the mining and metallurgical schools have not recognized the importance of industrial experimentation courses and some of them, in fact, do not allow credit toward a mining or metallurgical engineering degree for statistical courses even when taken as an elective. The sole purpose of this paper is to make a plea for mining and metallurgical schools to present required industrial. statistical courses for their graduates. It is true that fine industrial research has been accomplished in the past without the assistance of any statistical techniques. Industrial problems have also been solved without the use of digital or analog computers, electron microscopes or other modern conveniences. The fact remains, however, that the correct use of these modern tools tends to reduce the cost of research and to eliminate costly errors. A working knowledge of experimental design and statistical data analysis must simply be viewed as a valuable tool whose proper use will greatly reduce the cost of experimentation and minimize the cost of false conclusions. These statistical methods, however, simply cannot replace fundamental knowledge or, for that matter, "good horse sense". Nevertheless. an experimenter armed with fundamental knowledge and good horse sense but completely ignorant of elementary statistical techniques, may easily present his data in such a deceptive form to cause management to make incorrect decisions.

Jan 6, 1962

By E. B. Mayo

David LeCount Evans (Consulting Petroleum and Mining Geologist, Wichita, Kans.)-—Not only E. B. Mayo but also W. C. Lacy, who apparently urged the preparation of this analysis, is to be commended. Regional thinking of this type is needed to assure future success in the never-ending search for new mineralized and petroliferous districts. As is usually the case, here is a regional study that will be read by the mining geologist alone. It is ironic that several of the trends established in this study have suggested themselves in northern mid-continent, detailed, and regional studies. These, where established, have offered new keys to petroleum exploration and have provided a possible basis for unraveling a number of broad generalities. The oil geologists, active in Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma, would find much food for thought in Mr. Mayo's projections. To be more specific: 1) The parallelism between E. B. Mayo's Texas Lineament and the Amarillo Uplift, the Wichita Complex and the Arbuckle Complex of the Texas Panhandle and Southern Oklahoma is viewed with interest and appears especially significant when compared with the similar northwest trend of the Central Kansas Uplift, a major trend of production. 2) Considering the various northeast zones of Fig. 2, and with particular reference to Mayo's C-C, the Jemez Zone is on direct line with one of several northeast-southwest controls which the present writer has been using with some success in Kansas subsurface correlations. Considering zones of shearing, with no apparent vertical displacement, but suggesting strike-slip movement, because of the staggered effect on other features which cross such trends, Mayo's philosophy presents regional possibilities for lines of weakness, considered to this time of only local significance. 3) And, finally, in an area as distant from the Southwest as central Kansas, the north-south trends of the Fiarport-Ruggles anticline, the Voshel-Hol-low Nikkel-Burrton structures, the Dayton to Stut-gart trend, the north, slightly east trend of the Ne-maha structural complex, and others all seem to approach the north-south alignments, a through f, of Mayo's Fig. 3. Mayo's employment of structural intersections to pinpoint crustal weakness, to localize igneous activity and its accompanying mineralization is not, perhaps, a new concept, but it is a 1958 model, produced by tools improved from the ever-increasing accumulation of geological observations. The use of intersecting trends in petroleum geology is not a new idea, since much production in earlier days was encountered via the straight line projections of established trends to centers of intersection. A tragedy in this age of specialization is that iron curtains have been raised between groups, all seeking raw materials, all acolytes at the altar of structural geology, but all smugly content in and protected by the ivory towers of petroleum geology, engineering geology, mining geology, and geophysics. Mayo presents basic ideas which can stimulate mid-continent structural thinking and, in the case of cen- tral Kansas. he provides a key to replace the broad and overworked simple monoclinal, sinkhole-dotted, Karst topography credo, which is not finding its share of new oil in a state where the declining discovery ratio is disconcerting. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists would do well to add E. B. Mayo to its list of Distinguished Lecturers. Evans B. Mayo (author's reply)—In reply to David LeCount Evans' comments, it is pleasing to learn that some of the elements discussed in my paper may interest petroleum geologists as well as mining geologists. This should not be surprising, however, because the lineaments make up the framework of the continent, and the oil-bearing sediments must reflect to varying degrees adjustments of basement blocks along their boundaries. A further possibility that petroleum geologists must have considered is that the slow escape of heat from buried lineaments and their intersections has aided the separation of oil from the sediments and started the migration into traps. Regarding the specific points listed by Evans, the following are suggested: 1) The branch of Texas Lineament marked 1' (Fig. 3) is thought to extend eastward through the Capitan Mts., New Mexico, through the long Tertiary dikes east of Roswell, and beyond via the Matador and Electra ranges of the Red River Uplift, Texas. Its further continuation might be the eastern flank of the Ouachita Fold Belt. The Amarillo-Wichita-Arbuckle zone of uplifts appears to continue east-southeastward the Spanish Peaks belt (3-5, Fig. 3). The northwest-trending Central Kansas Uplift would not belong to the above set, except insofar as the Central Kansas Uplift is traversed by west-northwest folds, possible continuations of the Uinta belt (5-5, Fig. 3). 2) The possible continuations into Kansas of the Jemez zone are new to me and are most welcome suggestions. 3) Most of the nearly north-south Kansan structures mentioned by Evans are unfamiliar to me, but the Nemaha Uplift itself appears to be part of a very pronounced structure traceable from the Cerralvo Fault Zone, south of the Rio Grande, through the Bend Arch, Texas, and the Nemaha Uplift, into the Pre-Cambrian of Minnesota (?). This nearly meridional zone is crossed and broken by the Rio Grande Embayment and by the Red River-Wichita Syntaxis. Petroleum geologists realize the economic importance of these features. Perhaps it is inevitable that some papers of general interest be buried in the journals of specialized groups. Moreover, papers dealing with regional, or lineament, tectonics and its applications to exploration for economic mineral deposits are as yet few in the American literature. The opportunity to advance this field is open to all those who are not ultra-conservative and who have a lively curiosity, plenty of patience, and not too many business restrictions. In conclusion, much appreciation is extended to D. L. Evans for his comments.

Jan 1, 1960

By Nicholas Chlumecky

To date information is somewhat limited concerning the strength and bearing capacity of floor strata, which is of great importance where proper roof control is desired. If the bearing strength of strata is not known, the support may be excessively strong in relation to the support capacity of the floor, with the result that strong props sink into the floor strata, giving them dubious value as a roof support. The method described is used to determine how tests are made on dry rock to determine the required support area for the base of props or other structures which may rest on rock strata in mines. Relationships were established for the bearing capacity of rocks which were subjected to loads by means of bearing areas of various sizes ranging from 0.09 sq cm (.014 sq in.) to 700 sq cm (108.5 sq in.). This permits the evaluation of the bearing capacity of rocks by testing small areas for the de- termination of the capacity of larger areas.

Jan 3, 1968

By Clifford J. Lewis, James L. Drobnick

Vexed with competition from relatively high grade foreign orebodies, perplexed by marginal, low grade domestic orebodies, and ironically faced with the fact that practically every metal needed in our economy is available domestically in ample quantity in the ground, our mining industry awaits the advancements in beneficiation technology that will bridge the gap between the ground and the market place for our presently unexploited mineral reserves. Among the vast number of research and development projects underway in the metals mining industry, there are a few chemical techniques in metals winning that, with further development or wider application, could have a profound effect on the industry. These techniques include the Imperial Smelting and Refining Process for complex lead-zinc ores, chlorination and fused salt procedures, the liquid ion exchange process, and the field of non-aqueous leaching. IMPERIAL SMELTING PROCESS The Imperial Smelting and Refining Process is of interest because it offers a possible economic route for the processing of complex zinc-lead-copper ores. The process represents the outcome of the combined efforts of metallurgists and engineers of Imperial Smelting Corporation. Ltd., the United Kingdom Subsidiary of the Consolidated Zinc Corporation, Ltd., and is the subject of patents throughout the world. This process is essentially the employment of the blast furnace for the production of zinc. Zinc has always resisted blast furnace technology, primarily because of the difficulty of condensing zinc vapor from dilute gases. The Imperial Smelting Process employs a blast furnace working at ordinary pressures and in a system which is able to con- dense a blast furnace gas of a very low zinc content.

Jan 11, 1963

By W. F. Stowasser

Robert E. Hagen (Oliver Iron Mining Div., U. S. Steel Corp.)—Mr. Stowasser and his associates are to be congratulated on their achievements in developing the design of a pilot agglomerating plant, based on information obtained from experiments made in a laboratory sinter pot, and subsequently constructing and successfully operating this plant. In his Transactions article, May 1955 (vol. 201) Mr. Stowasser stated that the output of his heat treating strand was about 2 Lt per sq ft of grate area per day and that the fuel consumption was 0.7 to 0.8 million Btu per Lt of product. If it is assumed that the burning zone extends from the back of the ignition furnace to the beginning of the recuperation windbox, only about 1/3 of the grate area over the windboxes is utilized for burning pellets, and the actual rate at which partially dried pellets are burned is about 6 Lt per sq ft of grate area per day. It may be interesting to compare the above operating data with that obtained at the Extaca plant, where taconite concentrate is treated on a conventional sin- tering machine using limestone or hydrated lime additives with no recuperation of heat. The entire windbox area is used for burning, and a production rate of 2.5 Lt per sq ft of windbox area per day has been attained at a fuel consumption of 1.8 to 2.0 million Btu per Lt of product, the latter being considerably in excess of that reported by Mr. Stowasser, partly because a circulating load of returns amounting to 28 to 30 pct of the machine feed is used and because no attempt is made to recuperate heat from the waste gases. With the high capital and labor costs prevailing today, it seems that future development of the downdraft grate pelletizing process should be directed toward taking advantage of the high burning rate of predried pellets and increasing capacity, perhaps at the expense of fuel economy, by decreasing the proportion of grate area utilized by ancillary functions. For example, eliminating the cooling zone and using this area for burning would increase the proportion of grate area available for burning from 33 to 50 pct of the total windbox area, and a proportionate increase in capacity would result.

Jan 1, 1956

By R. P. Corbett

Since the beginning of operations at the Kelley mine in 1952, Anaconda has emplaced more than 150,000 cu yd of concrete underground. Concreting practices have changed over the years but the net result is still the same- lower costs along the line and more versatility.

Jan 7, 1961

Seattle offered sunny, dry weather to about 2500 mining men who assembled September 10 to 14 for the 1961 American Mining Congress. The impact of snappy sessions on national mineral policy, state of the industry and foreign competition (to name only a few) was somewhat overshadowed by enthusiasm of conventioners for salmon fishing. This lordly fish, which mysteriously runs to its hatching place to spawn and die at this time of year, was not cooperating with the anglers in Puget Sound. However, this did not prevent consuming ample amounts of the deliciously prepared Quinault salmon at the "Potlatch" celebration.

Jan 10, 1961

By W. E. C. Eustis

1st. THE fine iron ore is mixed with a sufficient proportion of fine coking coal, and is coked in any of the ordinary methods for making coke. The effect of this is to convert the iron oxide into sponge in such a shape that the usual trouble of oxidation is avoided. 2d. The resulting mixture of coke and sponge is melted down in an ordinary cupola, the coke furnishing more than sufficient fuel for that purpose. I may briefly point out here that in the first place the iron is sponged, and this sponge, as is well known, contain-, no phosphorus or silicon when the reduction takes place at a low temperature; and in the second place this sponge is melted down in a cupola in which there is no zone of reduction for phosphorus or silicon, and that con¬sequently the resulting iron should be free from both of these impu¬rities. 3d. The liquid sponge, now carburized, is run into an open-hearth furnace, where the requisite degree of hardness or softness is obtained by adding some of the fine ore, and the usual dose of ferronmanganose. I have merely given above the rough outlines of the process, but it is my intention, as early as possible, to bring the process more fully before the Institute.

Jan 1, 1881

By David A. Rice

This note describes a simple, rapid technique for measuring the apparent volume and density of individual bits of porous materials such as iron ore pellets or pieces of coke. The method consists of determining the weight recorded on a balance when a particle is depressed below the surface of mercury, and calculating the apparent volume from the known density of mercury. The apparent density is calculated after weighing the particle in air. The method is particularly well suited for applications where a great number of determinations are to be made. An additional benefit is the minimal handling of the mercury. In any event, the usual recommended safety precautions should be adhered to.

Jan 1, 1982