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By Joseph Jensen

CURTAILMENT of oil production in California began in 1922 and 1923 when certain of the major companies completely shut down some pumping properties. Efforts of this kind were generally carried on without coordination by individual companies until 1923. From May to August of 1923, oil production in the Los Angeles Basin was curtailed because of lack of pipe-line outlets. This work was handled by a small committee of executives and engineers of some of the pipeline companies without any established. Method such as obtains at present. Not all of the major companies participated in ibis curtailment and the effort was not well organized. The problem then was principally to move the oil. The crisis passed in September of 1923 from then on the major companies each on it own initiative, shut in additional production. At Domiuguez, in 1921, Shell, Union and Associated agreed to limit drilling to a 100-ft. zone for one Near. In the summer of 1925, operators at Ingde-wood agreed to limit developments to a 1300-ft. zone during the 1925 drilling campaign. In the summer of 1927, the Ventura operators cut back their production one-third and deft it thus for 90 day. Drilling in this field has always been at a slow and conservative rate.

Jan 1, 1932

By David B. Reger

The year 1935 was mostly quiet in West Virginia, and devoted to routine drilling in old pools and extensions. A notable exception to this general rule, however, was the further development and proving of a field of gas discovered in 1930 in the deep Oriskany sand (L. Dev.) in Kanawha County, as later discussed. No new pools of oil were found and little or no attempt was made to search for them. No new pools of gas were recorded but various extensions of old pools were made. There were no new pipe line extensions of consequence, either for oil or gas. Operating technology was much the same as in recent years, there having been some further advances in repressuring oil wells and in the use of acid for treating small wells in calcareous formations, and some change in the technique of shooting gas wells. Financially, there has been a full market for all crude oil produced and a fair market for gas. There have been occasional transfers of producing oil or gas properties, mainly between established companies. Most of the attempts made to finance mergers and new developments have failed largely because of difficulties encountered under the Federal securities act. This situation has prevented the normal turnover of properties by small operators who frequently desire to sell partly developed interests and then step out into new ventures. New Development In 1935 the State issued 569 permits for drilling and records the same number of completions. One trade journal records 533 completions and another 483. A running record kept by the writer accounts for 713 completions, with 156 oil wells, 417 gas wells and 140 dry holes (Table 3). Some of these completions may be old wells drilled to deeper sands. Some, apparently, have been drilled without legal permit. Extensions of Producing Areas Ritchie County has again led all others in new drilling, with 137 completions as compared to 74 in Calhoun and 61 in Cabell. This Ritchie County drilling was done mainly to extend or further develop old pools

Jan 1, 1936

By David B. Reger

The year 1935 was mostly quiet in West Virginia, and devoted to routine drilling in old pools and extensions. A notable exception to this general rule, however, was the further development and proving of a field of gas discovered in 1930 in the deep Oriskany sand (L. Dev.) in Kanawha County, as later discussed. No new pools of oil were found and little or no attempt was made to search for them. No new pools of gas were recorded but various extensions of old pools were made. There were no new pipe line extensions of consequence, either for oil or gas. Operating technology was much the same as in recent years, there having been some further advances in repressuring oil wells and in the use of acid for treating small wells in calcareous formations, and some change in the technique of shooting gas wells. Financially, there has been a full market for all crude oil produced and a fair market for gas. There have been occasional transfers of producing oil or gas properties, mainly between established companies. Most of the attempts made to finance mergers and new developments have failed largely because of difficulties encountered under the Federal securities act. This situation has prevented the normal turnover of properties by small operators who frequently desire to sell partly developed interests and then step out into new ventures. New Development In 1935 the State issued 569 permits for drilling and records the same number of completions. One trade journal records 533 completions and another 483. A running record kept by the writer accounts for 713 completions, with 156 oil wells, 417 gas wells and 140 dry holes (Table 3). Some of these completions may be old wells drilled to deeper sands. Some, apparently, have been drilled without legal permit. Extensions of Producing Areas Ritchie County has again led all others in new drilling, with 137 completions as compared to 74 in Calhoun and 61 in Cabell. This Ritchie County drilling was done mainly to extend or further develop old pools

Jan 1, 1936

By E. B. REESER

EFFICIENCY is the foundation on which the prosperity of this Nation must be built. Your organization and the members thereof are constantly thinking of Gays and means whereby greater efficiency may be developed. It is often said that this Nation has become great because of its almost up limited supply of raw materials at low production 'costs. This was undoubtedly true in the earlier years but today we face an entirely different situation. We have learned that nature has been very generous in supplying all parts of the world with ample resources of various kinds to meet the demands. This applies to practically all commodities but for the purposes of this discussion, we will limit our remarks to petroleum.

Jan 1, 1931

By E. G. Banks

THIS paper is presented in the belief that metallurgists and chemists will be interested in the practice of grinding in tube-mills in connection with stamps, especially since the records of working here given extend over a lengthy period of time (since May, 1905). The ore from the Waihi mine-more especially that produced in the upper levels-contains a large proportion of hard, chalcedonic quartz, and the gold exists in an exceedingly fine state, conditions which necessitate very fine crushing in order to ob¬tain a high extraction of the precious metal. Before the introduction of tube-mills at the 90-stamp Waihi mill, it was found necessary to stamp through 40-mesh (1,600 holes per sq. in.) woven wire-screens, having a fairly high discharge. The pulp then graded

Jan 1, 1907

By David B. Reger

The year 1936 in West Virginia was characterized by increased activity in natural gas. The number of actual completions was only slightly increased but many more wells were drilling than at the end of 1935 and there was almost feverish activity in taking new leases. This pronounced revival is partly due to the fact that the extremely cold winter of 1935-1936 showed that additional supplies of gas would be desirable and partly to the hope of finding new pools in the deeper sands. No new pools have actually been found, but the Oriskany sand (L. Dev.) development of Kanawha County, which was already assured by the end of 1935, was greatly extended into wider and richer territory. The Middle Devonian shale (Childres sand), reached incidentally by Oriskany exploration as well as by direct design, has been productive of gas in much wider areas of Boone, Lincoln, Putnam and Kanawha Counties than heretofore known. Routine drilling to the upper sands in dehed territory, also, was greatly increased, although not yet much reflected in completions. Thc supply of marketable gas, however, has been substantially enlarged. In preparation for further exploration there has been an extensive leasing campaign throughout the entire territory where gas seems at all probable, or ever possible. Exact figures are lacking, but new leases have certainly been taken on more than 1,000,000 arres. One operator estimates that 500,000 acres have been leased in the Appalachian geosyncline alone between Parkersburg and Charleston. Exploration, both for shallow and deep-sand gas, on some of these new leases is now under way. There was little activity in oil. No special search for new pools was made and none was found, but the usual routine drilling in old pools occurred. One major gas pipe-line enterprise was undertaken and completed. Operating technology was much the same as usual. In certain localities repressuring for oil has become a matter of routine, and in others the use of acid in treating small wells in calcareous beds has been continued. Financially, the year has been eventless. Some attempts to buy and

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

INSTITUTE members attending the Annual Meeting in New York who want to see one of the mining engineers' newest aids, photoelastic stress analysis, are due for an interesting afternoon on Thursday, Feb. 15, when open house: will be held at the Columbia University mining laboratory. Information as to the direction and distribution off stresses in mine structures, which has been developed by Professor Bucky, associate professor at the Columbia School of Mines, and David Sinclair, research assistant, is useful in the design of pillars and in the placing of openings relative to working places such as gangways and haulage levels.: This work has been sponsored during the last ten years by the Engineering Foundation.. It is fully reported in T. P. No. 1140.

Jan 1, 1940

By V. W. Aubel

AMONG the iron-bearing ores of the world, the titaniferous iron sands of New Zealand are probably the least known to American engineers. This is not surprising in view of the fact that. American ironmasters look with disfavor on any, even domestic ores, containing over 1 per cent. titanium. The possibilities of smelting titanium-bearing ores in the blast furnace are still undetermined, but the problem of their efficient reduction is becoming more important each year. There seems to be little inclination on the part of American furnace operators to tackle this problem, and they will no doubt continue to utilize the non-titanium ores at their command, leaving research and experiment to those countries not so fortunately endowed. New Zealand has, however, been intensely interested in her deposits of titanium,bearing iron sand, and during the last 50 years considerable English and New Zealand capital has been expended on this problem. The extent of the New Zealand iron-sand deposits is almost beyond measure. From Patea north to Manuka Heads, along almost the entire west coast of the, north island, these deposits exist. Wherever there is beach sand along this 300 mi. of coast line, the sand is iron bearing. It varies considerably in grade; but wherever the contour of the coast affords small bays and inlets, large dunes are found that are remarkably uniform in quality. Several of these large deposits, especially those at New Plymouth and Patea, are noted for their high iron content. The dune at New Plymouth runs between 55. and 60 per cent. of metallic iron; the panning action of the prevailing westerly winds and northwesterly currents has no doubt resulted in this concentration. Whatever the origin of this material may be, there is no doubt that deposition is going on continuously. At New Plymouth, a small artificial harbor, protected from the drifting sand by a large breakwall, has been dredged. Here sailing vessels have for years been loaded with iron sand for ballast by means of a crane and grab bucket operated from the wall of the breakwater. Thousands of tons of sand have been removed from this spot

Jan 9, 1919

By AIME AIME

MORTIMER ELWYN COOLEY, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Michigan, has been elected president of the American Engineering Council of the Federated American Engineering Societies. This was announced at a meeting of the Executive Board of the Council held at the Cosmos Club in Washington on Sept. 30. Dean Cooley assumes office at once. The new head of organized engineering is a past president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and has a long record of distinguished service in education, under the government and in private capacities. He was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., March 28, 1855, and was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1878. With his classmate, Dr. Ira N. Hollis, he was ordered to the U.S.S. "Quinnebaug," then fitting out at the Norfolk Navy Yard preparatory to a cruise in the Mediterranean.

Jan 1, 1921

By A. B. Kinzel

ALTHOUGH calcium carbide and other compounds of calcium, as well as a number of calcium alloys, are well known and are the basis of important industries in the of United States, calcium metal has been thought of as something of a rarity and has received comparatively little attention from industrial metallurgists. The metal may he made in a number of ways, but the electrolytic deposition of calcium from a molten calcium chloride bath was the first process to be used for its commercial production and is still the standard procedure. Calcium metal has elicited little interest among nonferrous metal producers, as the demand has been relatively small and its production restricted to only a few plants, exclusively in France and Germany.

Jan 1, 1941

By Sherwin F. Kelly

PLAIN mining engineers usually avoid any gathering of geo¬physicists because of the incomprehensibility of their discussion to the uninitiated. This being so, gradients, gravity and gammas will be deferred to the end of this review, the first part of which will be devoted to what has been done in applying geophysics to the solution of real field problems. From the West, J. J. Jakosky reports that International Geophysics has had its activities fairly well 'divided between mining (both placer and lode), oil structural work, and clans-site and reservoir investigations. In oil exploration, electrical methods are used for depths down to 2500 ft., beyond which they utilize seismic methods. They find in their placer work that the many 'magnetic anomalies encountered in the bedrock of the Southwest render the electrical techniques more satisfactory, and with them they are obtaining thickness and tonnage of gravels, depth to and contour of the underlying bedrock as well as important structural features therein, and water-table elevations.

Jan 1, 1934

By E. D. Cockrell, E. P. Hayes

The figures herein presented show that during the year 1938 drilling in the Texas Gulf Coast continued at a slightly lower rate than during 1937. In 1938 there were 21 new oil fields added to the Texas Gulf Coast; also numerous extensions and new sands in old fields. This report for 1938 cannot be compared with the report for 1937 in Volume 127 of the Transactions, because the area covered by this report is less than that covered last year. The cross-hatched area on Fig. 1 shows the limits of this report. Of the new fields, Cordele, in Jackson County, Eureka Heights and Fairbanks, in Harris County, Francitas, in Jackson County, LaRosa, in Refugio County, and League City, in Galveston County, have the greatest promise of prolific production. The 1938 production for the Gulf Coast area was 92,530,467 bbl. as compared to 94,019,355 bbl. for the same area in 1937. This shows a decrease of 1,488,888 bbl. during 1938, regardless of the increase due to the 21 new oil fields. This decrease was caused mainly by the Saturday and Sunday shutdowns (68 days during 1938) and by cut in allowables. The 68 shut-down days amount to approximately 18.6 per cent of the 365 days possible for production. The decrease in the 1938 production amounted to approximately 1.58 per cent. Therefore there was actually a potential increase in the year's production. During the past year, 1637 wells were completed as oil wells, 68 as gas wells and approximately 461 dry holes, as compared to 1672 oil wells, 83 gas wells and 448 dry holes in 1937 on the Texas Gulf Coast. Total wells drilled were 2166 in 1938 and 2203 in 1937. Condensate. sands in old fields and new fields are continuing to increase in importance from the standpoint of retrograde condensation and pressure maintenance. The following fields had major extensions during the year 1938 from the standpoint of increased areas of old sands and new deeper sands:

Jan 1, 1939

By E. D. Cockrell, E. P. Hayes

The figures herein presented show that during the year 1938 drilling in the Texas Gulf Coast continued at a slightly lower rate than during 1937. In 1938 there were 21 new oil fields added to the Texas Gulf Coast; also numerous extensions and new sands in old fields. This report for 1938 cannot be compared with the report for 1937 in Volume 127 of the Transactions, because the area covered by this report is less than that covered last year. The cross-hatched area on Fig. 1 shows the limits of this report. Of the new fields, Cordele, in Jackson County, Eureka Heights and Fairbanks, in Harris County, Francitas, in Jackson County, LaRosa, in Refugio County, and League City, in Galveston County, have the greatest promise of prolific production. The 1938 production for the Gulf Coast area was 92,530,467 bbl. as compared to 94,019,355 bbl. for the same area in 1937. This shows a decrease of 1,488,888 bbl. during 1938, regardless of the increase due to the 21 new oil fields. This decrease was caused mainly by the Saturday and Sunday shutdowns (68 days during 1938) and by cut in allowables. The 68 shut-down days amount to approximately 18.6 per cent of the 365 days possible for production. The decrease in the 1938 production amounted to approximately 1.58 per cent. Therefore there was actually a potential increase in the year's production. During the past year, 1637 wells were completed as oil wells, 68 as gas wells and approximately 461 dry holes, as compared to 1672 oil wells, 83 gas wells and 448 dry holes in 1937 on the Texas Gulf Coast. Total wells drilled were 2166 in 1938 and 2203 in 1937. Condensate. sands in old fields and new fields are continuing to increase in importance from the standpoint of retrograde condensation and pressure maintenance. The following fields had major extensions during the year 1938 from the standpoint of increased areas of old sands and new deeper sands:

Jan 1, 1939

By Harry L. McNeill

The Selective Media Process was developed by the author in a laboratory provided by The Steams-Roger Manufacturing Co. It is the outcome of an investigation into the possibilities of coarse beneficiation by sink and float without using the conventional heavy media. Commercial work to date has been limited to the treatment of minus 3/8-in. iron ore at the Hill Trumbull washing plant of the Cleveland Clifis Iron Co., at Calumet, Minnesota. Two cut away prints of the machine are shown (Figs. I and 2). A rotary conical impeller is mounted within a stationary cone (Fig. 2). This impeller is adjustable vertically by a 12-ton screw jack. The speed of the impeller can be varied from 14 to 32 r.p.m. by the Reeves variable-speed motor pulley mounted on the 7½-hp. motor drive. Attached to the bottom of the stationary cone is the automatic control valve for sink product, actuated by a ¼-hp. gear motor. The sink product is dewatered in a conventional drag driven by a 7½-hp. motor and discharged onto an inclined conveyor containing from 6 to 10 per cent moisture. Two plants are operated at the Hill Trumbull property. All the ore is first treated in a typical washing plant (Fig. 3). when treating "wash ore" a finished concentrate can be produced by the log washers and Akins classifiers, as the separation involves only fine silica (minus 48-mesh) and free iron. However, when "jig ore" is led to the washing plant the coarse

Jan 1, 1947

By Harry L. McNeill

The Selective Media Process was developed by the author in a laboratory provided by The Steams-Roger Manufacturing Co. It is the outcome of an investigation into the possibilities of coarse beneficiation by sink and float without using the conventional heavy media. Commercial work to date has been limited to the treatment of minus 3/8-in. iron ore at the Hill Trumbull washing plant of the Cleveland Clifis Iron Co., at Calumet, Minnesota. Two cut away prints of the machine are shown (Figs. I and 2). A rotary conical impeller is mounted within a stationary cone (Fig. 2). This impeller is adjustable vertically by a 12-ton screw jack. The speed of the impeller can be varied from 14 to 32 r.p.m. by the Reeves variable-speed motor pulley mounted on the 7½-hp. motor drive. Attached to the bottom of the stationary cone is the automatic control valve for sink product, actuated by a ¼-hp. gear motor. The sink product is dewatered in a conventional drag driven by a 7½-hp. motor and discharged onto an inclined conveyor containing from 6 to 10 per cent moisture. Two plants are operated at the Hill Trumbull property. All the ore is first treated in a typical washing plant (Fig. 3). when treating "wash ore" a finished concentrate can be produced by the log washers and Akins classifiers, as the separation involves only fine silica (minus 48-mesh) and free iron. However, when "jig ore" is led to the washing plant the coarse

Jan 1, 1947

President Howe: It is, of course, not easy to discuss off-hand the paper which Mr. Becker has presented with so much lucidity. I will only make one remark, which is outside of the line of his argument, and concerns merely a passing allusion in his paper. Mr. Becker speaks of the fact that glass breaks with a flat or conchoidal fracture, and that steel shows a rough or " cupped " surface of frac-

Jan 1, 1895

By O. E., Kiessling

THE better control of production was made the topic for a special program of the annual meeting of the Institute last February. In the discussion at that meeting it was brought out that in many branches of the mineral industry (as in other industries), there was faulty industrial coordination. Those who were best informed by reason of their intimate connection with coal, copper, oil, iron, lead and zinc, and almost all other of the essential minerals pointed to a condition of chronic over-capacity, to the dissipating use of irreplaceable minerals, to an unstabilized price structure, and to over-stimulatecl production and the destruction of some mineral resources over and above what is thought to be the needs of prudent cur- rent consumption. The discussion went far enough to point out the existence of various problems, and the question then raised was "what can be done by way of self-coordination of industry?" by "production control from within?" or in other words, "how can the mineral industry protect its resources against waste and at the same time protect both the producer and consumer against loss from prices that are too low or too high?"

Jan 1, 1928

By AIME AIME

NATURE was in a smiling mood on December 18, 1883. On that day, Chester Alan Fulton, the sixty-first President of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, was born, and she endowed him with every good quality within her reach - looks, physique, intelligence, and character. Brought up in the valley of the Hudson River, with the mighty Palisades which make it the "Rhine of America," he has lived up to his early promise - as a man, as an engineer and as a friend.

Jan 1, 1943

By E. A. G. Colls

IN all branches of the chemical industry, corrosion plays a very costly part unless it is suitably com-batted, and as a result it is probably correct that chemical and design engineers are more corrosion conscious in the field of chemical industry than in others. Most metals occur in nature in combination with other elements. The refined or reduced state to which man converts them for his use, by removing the combining elements, leaves them in an unstable condition. Therefore in most of the media to which the metals are exposed they are constantly combining with the constituents of their environment, or in other words they are continually being corroded. Similarly, nonmetallic materials are corroded by undergoing chemical change. The rate at which corrosion takes place varies widely from metal to metal and medium to medium. In practically all cases the corrosion of metals in solutions (electrolytes) is electrolytic in nature and the rate of corrosion is dependent on many factors such as temperature, pressure, internal stresses, galvanic action, metal-ion concentration, and so on. In the chemical industry substances must be handled which are particularly corrosive to materials of construction. At the chemical plants of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd. (otherwise known as Cominco), situated at Trail, B. C., Canada, the following are some of the materials that have to be handled: Gases. Sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, hydrogen fluoride, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and oxides of nitrogen. Liquids. Solutions of ammonium sulphate, ammonium sulphite, ammonium nitrate, caustic soda and potash, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluo-silicic acid, hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, aqua ammonia, and formic acid. Solids. Gypsum (containing phosphoric acid), ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate, phosphate rock, caustic soda, potash, and phosphate fertilizers.

Jan 1, 1951

By E. A. G. Colls

IN all branches of the chemical industry, corrosion plays a very costly part unless it is suitably com-batted, and as a result it is probably correct that chemical and design engineers are more corrosion conscious in the field of chemical industry than in others. Most metals occur in nature in combination with other elements. The refined or reduced state to which man converts them for his use, by removing the combining elements, leaves them in an unstable condition. Therefore in most of the media to which the metals are exposed they are constantly combining with the constituents of their environment, or in other words they are continually being corroded. Similarly, nonmetallic materials are corroded by undergoing chemical change. The rate at which corrosion takes place varies widely from metal to metal and medium to medium. In practically all cases the corrosion of metals in solutions (electrolytes) is electrolytic in nature and the rate of corrosion is dependent on many factors such as temperature, pressure, internal stresses, galvanic action, metal-ion concentration, and so on. In the chemical industry substances must be handled which are particularly corrosive to materials of construction. At the chemical plants of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd. (otherwise known as Cominco), situated at Trail, B. C., Canada, the following are some of the materials that have to be handled: Gases. Sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, hydrogen fluoride, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and oxides of nitrogen. Liquids. Solutions of ammonium sulphate, ammonium sulphite, ammonium nitrate, caustic soda and potash, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluo-silicic acid, hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, aqua ammonia, and formic acid. Solids. Gypsum (containing phosphoric acid), ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate, phosphate rock, caustic soda, potash, and phosphate fertilizers.

Jan 1, 1951