Search Documents

By Howard S. Bryant

The state of Kansas in 1931 continued to hold fourth place on the list of oil-producing states, despite the fact that low prices for crude oil curtailed drilling to just one-half the amount done in 1930, which itself was the lowest in the preceding 10 years. The estimated crude oil production for 1931, according to sources available to the writer, will approximate 37,037,000 bbl., the lowest since 1925. Thus Kansas produced one-eighth less oil this year than it did last year when it produced 42,729,085 barrels. This year's development was characterized by a very small amount of wildcat drilling; however, large new areas were semiproven for oil production, and several thousands of acres were added to the actually proved areas in western Kansas, so that the state now has larger proven areas of oil reserves than at any time in its history since the heyday of the famous El Dorado pool. The general prospects for oil production in the near future are indeed promising for central western Kansas, where drilling costs are moderate and depths are relatively shallow compared to the remaining unexplored parts of the northern Mid-Continent area. Probably the greatest singular achievement in the state for 1931 was the development of its natural gas reserves. This development took place principally in two spots, McPherson County in central Kansas, and Stevens and Morton counties in southwestern Kansas, and it is a matter of record that more than one and one-half billion cubic feet of open-flow capacity per day were added to reserves, nearly twice the amount developed in 1930, previously the largest amount in the history of gas development in Kansas. Gas pipe lines already built and now building are in position to deliver natural gas by one system to Chicago, Ill., by another to Indianapolis, Ind., from whence lines already lead practically to the Atlantic seaboard, and to other cities large and small located west, northwest, north and northeast of Kansas. Table 2 shows all well completions for 1931 in a form to compare with the results of previous years.

Jan 1, 1932

Anticipating the increasing importance of establishing working conditions on a scientific basis, the Department of Labor created the Working Conditions Service. This service is distinct from that performed by the Mediation and Conciliation branch, which deals with working conditions and industrial relations as controversial issues between employers and employees. The work of the Service is conducted through three coordinated divisions; Division of Industrial Hygiene and Medicine, Division of Labor Administration, and Division of Safety Engineering. The Division of Industrial Hygiene and Medicine will develop standards of sanitation and medical practice in industries. The personnel of this Division is detailed from the United States Public Health Service. The Division of Labor Administration will advise employers as to employment systems and labor management policies, and assist in putting into operation standard policies.

Jan 2, 1919

By D. Mizer, J. B. Clark

In a recent investigation of the entire magnesium-yttrium phase diagram, Gibson and Carlsonl report the maximum solid solubility of yttrium in magnesium as 8.0 wt pct Y at 1050°F (565°C). However, independent studies of the precipitation in magnesium-yttrium alloys, 2 conducted prior to the publication of the above phase diagram, indicated a greater solid solubility of yttrium in magnesium. Accordingly, the magnesium-rich region of the diagram was re-investigated to determine more accurately the liqui-dus, solidus, and solvus of the magnesium solid solution in this system. Metallography and thermal analysis were chosen as the best corroboratory methods for accurately determining this region of the diagram. A magnesium-yttrium master alloy was prepared from yttrium of 99.9 pct purity and singly sublimed magnesium of 99.9 pct purity. Subsequently, the twelve magnesium-yttrium alloys shown in Fig. 1 were prepared using standard alloying procedures for magnesium. Metallographic samples of the alloys were heat treated under an SO, atmosphere in an electric furnace capable of control within ±3oF of the desired temperature. Alloy samples for the metallographic determination of the solvus, and for the precipitation studies were solution treated at 1000° F for 16 hr. Subsequent aging times for the solvus determination varied from a minimum of 6 hr for the higher temperatures up to 816 hr for lower temperatures. Periods of 30 min at temperature were used to generate liquation for the metallographic placement of the solidus and eutectic horizontal. The liquidus and the eutectic horizontal were determined by thermal analysis. Simple time-temper- ature heating and cooling curves were obtained from 10-g alloy samples heated and cooled in a well-insulated electric furnace. An Iron-Constantan thermocouple was placed in direct contact with the sample. The thermocouple did not contaminate the alloy sample since metallographic examination showed that the alloy melt did not wet or attack the thermocouple. The heating and cooling rates were approximately 5 to 8OF per min. The standard metallographic procedures for magnesium were used in polishing and etching the magnesium-yttrium alloys studied. Glycol etchant* was etchant was used to reveal precipitate in the solvus determination. The redetermined magnesium-rich region of the magnesium-yttrium diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The

Jan 1, 1962

By D. P. Seraphim

Single crystals of bee Li-Mg solid solution were grown and their internal friction was measured as a function of temperature, A peak of the Zener type was found in the damping spectrum. The activation energy for the relaxation process is 21.5 ± 1 kcal per mole and the frequency factor is 1015.7 ± 0.7 sec-1. ZENER internal-friction peaks which are observed for a wide range of solid solutions are attributed to stress-induced changes in local order.' In the present work a Zener internal-friction peak, the first reported for a solid solution of an alkali metal, is

Jan 1, 1961

By Freeman Bishop

The Nation's capital has one over- riding minerals-metals question: How long will prices and wages continue to move upward at the inexorable pace of the last year? Is the wage pattern to settle this year around 10%? The big industrial unions are coming into line, some of them later this year. Steel is standing in the wings for next year. Copper, steel, nickel and most other industrial metals have taken big hikes in their stride. Aluminum, which is making inroads into areas of industrial use formerly sacred to copper and some other metals, seems to be fighting to hold down its prices to attract customers from the higher-priced metals.

Jan 1, 1970

By Walter Nummela

This acronym may be readily deciphered, and it represents the programming theme for the SME Sessions at the Centennial Meeting of AIME in New York in 1971. The Concentration Committee thus charged out to grab, to induce, and to accept volunteered papers within that framework. The program for the Concentration sessions is in and hopefully all deadlines will be met as specified in the instructions to authors. Without spelling out what is to be seen and heard in New York, how well did the Committee satisfy the theme described in the title? Perhaps it was by virtue of the international makeup of the Committee (Member Dan Pickett is with the Mines Branch in Ottawa) that an international slate of authors was assured. Four countries are to be represented-Bolivia, Canada, Italy, and the United States.

Jan 1, 1970

The Institute is custodian of funds for support of numerous gold medals and prizes and has representatives on boards awarding still others. Details regarding the Institute Awards are given be- low. The Institute is represented on the boards of the John Fritz Medal, the Hoover Medal and the Washington Award, in connection with the three national societies of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering; and, also, in the case of the Washington Award, with the Western Society of Engineers. The Institute is represented with these four societies on the committee in charge of the Alfred Noble Prize.

Jan 1, 1934

By Edwin T. Wood

THE term blending as used herein refers to the mixing of ores assaying more than 0.20 pct U3O8 with low grade material assaying less than 0.20 pct U3O8. Such blending when properly understood and controlled will produce more total dollars of profit from many mining ventures. The question whether or not to blend is particularly vexing when an orebody is surrounded by an envelope of low grade material or separate tonnages of low grade exist which could be extracted coincident with the higher grade ores. Should any, all or part of this low grade be mined? If so, in what proportion and what is the limiting assay of the low grade material?

Jan 7, 1958

By J. Mark Gronseth

The instantaneous shut in pressure often times is not a well defined feature of pressure-time records from in situ stress determinations by hydraulic fracturing. As the applications of in situ stress data become more sophisticated, the grea5er the need for an unambiguous method with which to identify the instantaneous shut in pressure becomes. Controlled experiments suggest that the instantaneous shut in pressure should be equated with the pressure at the inflection point of the pressure-time record following shut in. A method for determining this value is presented. Often times the minimum instantaneous shut in pressure determined after several pressurization cycles is the best estimate of the stress acting perpendicular to the fracture plane.

Jan 1, 1982

By John D. Erickson

The concepts of long-range, open pit planning presented here are not new. The new idea is how the factors that control the location of the final pit limits can be considered altogether as one large, simultaneous equation. The X, or unknown quantity that is being solved for, is a long-range pit design that fulfills the desired objectives. The objectives of a final pit plan are determination of the extent and location of ore reserves, the allowable stripping necessary to uncover the ore, the final pit surface intercept, final pit topography and the contained metal values in both ore and waste.

Jan 4, 1968

By George W. Becker, Blair R. Benner, Ronald J. Roman

A computer model for the leaching of oxide copper heaps is developed and verified in laboratory tests. The model can be used to scale-up laboratory test data and to simulate the results of various operating philosophies on heap leaching. The model is applicable to leaching processes where the rate of leaching is controlled by a deficiency of reactant or diffusion of a reactant through the leached rock. Several examples are presented showing the sensitivity of the recovery vs. time curve to the variables in leaching.

Jan 1, 1975

By Frederik P. Agterberg

This paper deals with frequency distributions in the field of mineral resource evaluation when a grid is superimposed on the study area and metallogenetically significant attributes are coded with respect to the cells of the grid. It is shown that the parameters of a negative binomial distribution for frequency of mineral deposits per cell can be derived from the parameters of a gamma distribution for the coded attributes. It is also shown that an exponential model for spatial correlation of cell values and Matheron's discrete Gaussian model for indirect transfer functions may provide a suitable methodology for relating cell value distribution to cell size.

Jan 1, 1977

By William L. Payne, Edward E. Ives

A unique feature of Potash Co. of America's A new potash property near Saskatoon, Sask., is the use of semi-dome-shaped buildings for product storage. Four domed structures, timber-framed and corrugated-sheet covered, are being built; each designed to handle 20,000 cu yd. The relatively small capacity units, PCA believes, give flexibility not only in storing different grades and sizes of product, but also in permitting greater ease in shipping products as market demands change. The domed buildings are 150-ft diam, comprised of a 16-ft-high concrete wall base, topped with a metal sheet-covered octagonal timber frame. The dome of each unit is designed to fit very closely the angle of repose of the contained material, which results in the maximum usable volume. The entire roof is flood coated with a bitumin to provide a complete weather seal.

Jan 9, 1959

By T. Chen

One of the limitations of the 3-dimensional Lerchs-Grossmann pit optimisation algorithm has been the difficulty in calculating an optimum pit with variable wall slopes. The difficulties have been related to establishing various wall slopes without changing the sizes of the blocks used in the normal computation, but still retaining an optimum solution.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. G. Chapman

The writer has carried on experimental work for several years with respect to the simultaneous dissolution of gold by cyanide and the adsorption of the dissolved gold on activated charcoal in ore pulps, followed by the recovery of the charcoal by flotation. The results of this experimental work have been sufficiently encouraging to suggest a new process based on the principle of simultaneous dissolution and adsorption of gold, applicable to certain ores and tailings that cannot be treated to advantage by countercurrent decantation or filtration. Applications for patents have been filed and The Dorr Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to license the use of the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a process, state its possible advantages and immediate field, and give some results obtained on a laboratory scale. Early Experimental Work In the early stages of the experimental work attempts were made to precipitate soluble gold from cyanide solutions with zinc and aluminum in ore pulps followed by flotation of the precipitated gold, but since the results were not promising enough to continue with these precipitants attention was directed to carbon. The first experiments with carbon comprised the addition of cyanide and alkali to the ore pulp, the addition of carbon at or near the end of the dissolving period, and the recovery of the carbon by flotation. With this method of procedure the assumption was made that carbon functioned as a precipitant of gold from cyanide solutions and as such should be added as are other precipitants, including zinc and aluminum; namely, at the end of the dissolution period. The assumption was then made that carbon functioned as an adsorbent, and that if such assumption proved to be correct, it could be added with success to the ore pulp at the time of adding the cyanide. The first experiment along this line was successful in that the feasibility of the dissolution of gold by cyanide and the simultaneous extraction of the dissolved gold by carbon in ore pulps was demonstrated, at least with respect to such treatment on a laboratory scale.

Jan 1, 1939

By T. G. Chapman

The writer has carried on experimental work for several years with respect to the simultaneous dissolution of gold by cyanide and the adsorption of the dissolved gold on activated charcoal in ore pulps, followed by the recovery of the charcoal by flotation. The results of this experimental work have been sufficiently encouraging to suggest a new process based on the principle of simultaneous dissolution and adsorption of gold, applicable to certain ores and tailings that cannot be treated to advantage by countercurrent decantation or filtration. Applications for patents have been filed and The Dorr Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to license the use of the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a process, state its possible advantages and immediate field, and give some results obtained on a laboratory scale. Early Experimental Work In the early stages of the experimental work attempts were made to precipitate soluble gold from cyanide solutions with zinc and aluminum in ore pulps followed by flotation of the precipitated gold, but since the results were not promising enough to continue with these precipitants attention was directed to carbon. The first experiments with carbon comprised the addition of cyanide and alkali to the ore pulp, the addition of carbon at or near the end of the dissolving period, and the recovery of the carbon by flotation. With this method of procedure the assumption was made that carbon functioned as a precipitant of gold from cyanide solutions and as such should be added as are other precipitants, including zinc and aluminum; namely, at the end of the dissolution period. The assumption was then made that carbon functioned as an adsorbent, and that if such assumption proved to be correct, it could be added with success to the ore pulp at the time of adding the cyanide. The first experiment along this line was successful in that the feasibility of the dissolution of gold by cyanide and the simultaneous extraction of the dissolved gold by carbon in ore pulps was demonstrated, at least with respect to such treatment on a laboratory scale.

Jan 1, 1939

By John V. Beall

AMONG electrical manufacturers, interest in the outlook for copper supplies has not diminished despite signs of a healthier market following price decontrol. Reason: Electrical utility industry output is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6 pct for the next 15 years. A more graphic description of the growth ahead is given in the Eighth Quarterly Report of the Director of Defense Mobilization as follows: "Power generating capability, which amounted to 63 million kw at the time of Korea, now stands at more than 81 million. The established goal for installed capability at the end of 1955 is 116 million kw. Orders already on the books of power equipment manufacturers, if fulfilled on schedule, will bring installed capability to over 123 million kw by the end of 1956-and more orders for equipment are yet to come." These statistics portend an impressive requirement for copper, not only for power plants and distribution lines themselves but for the multitude of industry and domestic end-uses.

Jan 4, 1953

By Allan Gibb

The ores of copper are usually associated with minerals containing arsenic, antimony and bismuth. Whatever the means adopted for extracting the copper, these metals are usually found, to a greater or less extent, in the product. There is, however, usually some elimination in the various metallurgical operations to which the ores are subjected, and some attempt is made here to determine the degree to which this elimination is effected.

Jan 1, 1903

By Richard C. Timberlake

The disposal of phosphatic clays has presented a problem to the phosphate industry since the mining of phosphate rock first began in Polk County. As the flotation process was introduced in the late 1920's the problem of clay disposal was increased significantly since clay is present in proportionally greater quantities in reserves yielding flotation concentrates. Because of their physical character and the tremendous surface area per unit volume, these clays have the characteristic of retaining large volumes of water as they are slurried during processing. The disposal of clay and the recovery of a portion of the water require settling areas with a capacity ranging up to 2 cu ft for each cubic foot of phosphate matrix mined. According to a recent study by the Bureau of Mines, the average cost for disposal of these wastes is 24.5[c] per ton of product. This is a major cost of phosphate rock production.

Jan 12, 1969

By C. E. Shoenfelt

The discovery of oil in the Powder Wash stricture in northwestern Colorado late in the fall of 1936 is the most important development in Colorado since oil was first discovered in the Moffat dome in the same county in 1923. The Powder Wash structure gives promise of developing into an oil and gas field of major proportions and is of particular interest because the oil was found in Tertiary rocks of Eocene age, which heretofore had been productive in the Rocky Mountain region of gas only, and very few of the many structures of this kind have been tested because it was believed that oil production probably would be confined to rocks of Cretaceous age only, and these were, in most instances, at excessive drilling depths. Powder Wash is one of a series of small domes in the belt of folds and faults on the south side of the large but shallow depression known as

Jan 1, 1937