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By Morris Muskat

The detailed analogy between flow systems in porous media and the corresponding poten-tiometric model systems is developed under conditions where it may be desirable to take into account variable pay thickness, variable porosity, and permeability, and also the dependence of the fluid density on pressure. It is shown that in such models it is only necessary that the electrolyte thickness be made everywhere proportional to the millidarcy-feet of the formation. In contrast to the iso-vol type model, previously suggested as a basis for the analogy, the porosity does not enter directly in the construction of the model. It is introduced only in translating the electrical voltage gradient measurements into the equivalent fluid travel times. A discussion of this procedure is given. I NTRODUCTION It is now some 50 years since it was pointed out' that on the basis of Darcy's law Laplace's equation must govern the steady state flow of homogeneous fluids through porous media. It is 16 years since the obvious implication of this fact, namely, that such steady state homogeneous flow systems in porous media could be simulated by electrical analogies, was first applied2 to problems of practical interest with respect to oil production. In these initial studies major emphasis was placed on the use of electrolytic models, made of blotting paper, to give a direct and graphic history of the fluid particle motion in regular and infinite well networks. However, it was also noted there that the basic requirement of the model was that it give a potential distribution similar to the pressure distribution in the flow system, and that from the electrical measurement of the potential distribution the fluid particle motion could be graphically or numerically determined. This was demonstrated by application to the five-spot infinite network, for which a conducting metallic sheet was used to establish the equipotential contours. As anticipated, the fluid particle motion computed from these contours agreed well with that given directly by the blotting paper model. For irregular well distributions it was found more convenient to use electrolytic bath analogs rather than metallic sheets. Several investigations,3'4 as applied specifically to cycling well patterns, have been reported with these models, which have become known as "potentiometric models." However, the extremely laborious nature of both the electrical measurements by direct probing and the associated interprctive computations retarded the widespread use of these procedures. The electrical measurements can be accelerated by using a four-probe electrodc,5,6 which provides a means for simultaneously determining the streamline paths along which the fluid particles must move and the voltage gradients along these paths which are proportional to the fluid velocitics. With the increasing frequency of discovery of condensate pools, as drilling depths are becoming greater, the applicability of the potentiometric model to production problems, and especially to the study of well patterns for cycling, has been given a fresh impetus. Although the formal theory for determining the motion of fluid particles in porous

Jan 1, 1949

By Leendert de Witte

A review is given of the principles on which recently proposed methods of electric log interpretation in shaly sands are based and of the evidence brought up in support of the theoretical derivations. It is. pointed out that the qualitative techniques suggested to date have a tendency to be too pessimistic in the prediction of the presence of commercial hydrocarbon accumulations. In the quantitative treatment, a new concept is introduced, namely that of strongly reduced activity of the double layer counter ions which are present near the negatively charged rock surfaces. This lemmu when applied to the calculation of the equilibrium concentratiotls of interstitial waters yields a set of very simple relations. The resulting expressions for electrochemical potentials across rock samples appear in satisfactory agreement with laboratory experiments. The formulae obtained for the electrical conductivity of shaly formatioris are of the same form as those arrived at empirirally by previous workers. Combination of the expres.riorls for potentia1s and conductivities gives a direct proof of the Tixier relation which states that for shaly water sands the product of apparent formation water resistivity and apparent formation factor equals the resistivity of the sand 100 per cent .saturated with formalion water and which was verified by the work of Wyllie and Perkins and their co-workers. The relations for the resistivities and spontaneous porer11inI.s have been extended to the case of hydrocarbon hearing shaly formations, thus laying a formal basis for the quantitative interpretation of electric logs in shaly oil sands. INTRODUCTION The presence of disseminated clays in porous rocks saturated with electrolytic solutions has a strong influence on the transference of ions taking place under electrical or chemical potential gradients. Both the electrochemical emf's in evidence on the SP curves of electric logs and the electrical conductivity measured on resistivity logs arc directly dependent on the ionic transference in the interstitial waters of the formations traversed by boreholes. A large number of researches have been carried out on the nature and magnitude of the effects of clays on ionic transference. The most recent of these have been described in papers by McCardell and Winsauer,1 2 Wyllie and Southwick,3 poupon, Loy, and Tixier,4 and by Perkins et al.5 Most of these authors consider the effects of the clays as due to the fixed negative charges on the clay lattice. These charges cause the formation of diffuse surface layers with a high concentration of positive ions. The internal solution of the shaly reservoir rock has therefore a different ionic composition and concentration than the electrolyte with which it is in equilibrium (connate water produced from the formation or mud filtrate by which the formation is invaded). To calculate the equilibrium concentration of the internal solution, use is made of the Donnan6 relation, which states that the mean ionic activities of the internal solution and of the external electrolyte must be equal. From this and the

Jan 1, 1956

By W. C. Ellis

Growth directions of tin, zinc, and cadmiun whisker crystals grown spontaneously fi-om the solid are summarized. In tin the edge and diagonal directions of the unit cell are jound with the exception oj- the [110] diagonal. In cadmiurn and zinc the usual dip-ections are a or a + c. The c direction has not been ohserwed. The gvouth directions from the solid are for the most part the same as those found for vapor-grozun crystals and are the ohserz:ed glide directions in plastic j-lou. Whisker crystals of these elements grown from the solid are not twinned. Specular lateral reflections are associated with planes of snall crystallographic indices. WHISKER crystals of tin, zinc, or cadmium grow spontaneously at room temperature in periods from months to years from thin electroplates and other prepared films of the respective metals.''2 It has been established that these crystals are single, but the question of twinning, such as occurs in whisker crystals of silicon,3'4 has not been resolved. Studies of morphology have been restricted to determinations of growth directions.5-' Whisker crystals are both straight and kinked. A few studies have been made on kinked whiskers including measurements of kink anglesa and determinations of growth directions,' but unfortunately not both on the same crystals. The kink angles, for the most part, for each species are grouped closely about a few unique values, but these values are not always those between observed growth directions in a single crystal. To supplement existing data, the growth directions, identification of lateral features, and presence or absence of twinning were determined with a Weissenberg goniometer by a method described elsewhereg on eight whisker crystals of tin, five of zinc, and five of cadmium. One kinked cadmium whisker was examined in detail. The specimens were needlelike, a few microns in cross section, and of the order of a millimeter in length. They were removed from electroplated substrates on laboratory specimens and commercial equipment after several years of growth as described in Table I. Since the specimens were less than 10 p in cross section they were ideally strong with no attendant risk of plastic deformation or damage in handling. Only deformation twinning has been reported for these elements. Therefore, twinning probably should not be expected in whisker crystals of these metals, particularly a twin plane containing the growth direction. A twin plane oriented in this direction was the one sought in this study. No examination was made for twinning at the boundary between kink segments except for one cadmium crystal. Well-defined reflections occur as a whisker crystal of tin, zinc, or cadmium is rotated about its growth direction when illuminated by a beam of light Although these reflections had been noted in earlier investigations, no study of them was made, probably because the earlier studies had disclosed also that

Jan 1, 1967

By R. A. Walker, R. G. Bradburn, B. C. Flintoff

The events which led to computer control of the grinding circuit at Brenda Mines are described, beginning with mill operating philosophy. High production rates are encouraged so that, despite severe upstream disturbances, a manual control method to meet this philosophy had developed. Unfortunately, due to the time interval between manual control adjustments, losses in production resulted. An analog control method was devised and, although superior to manual control in some situations, was found to suffer from several practical limitations. The data logging capabilities of a control computer seemed warranted. Circuit testwork combined with an analysis of operating data showed that (1) metallurgical personnel at times could increase production rates by as much as 10% over that achieved by grinding operators; (2) the chosen data base required an increase of 2% or more to be statistically significant; and (3) for a 2% increase there would be a significant rate of return of investment in computer installation. Consequently one grinding circuit was fully instrumented, and a rented computer was installed by Brenda personnel. Prior to installation, Brenda metallurgical and instrumentation personnel were trained in the use of the computer. An experimental program was devised with short and long-term objectives. The short-term objective was to develop a practical control strategy which would yield immediate production improvement. This goal has been successfully met as described in this paper. Statistically significant increases in excess of 2% have been established. Work is being completed for the permanent installation of computer control on all four grinding circuits at the present time. Long-term objectives are (1) off-line analysis of the circuit using mathematical models of process units; (2) on-line experiments to study alternative control tactics; and (3) possible expansion of computer facilities to the crushing plant.

Jan 1, 1978

By D. R. Miller

Internal friction and elastic modulus variations in electrorefined titanium, iodide refined titanium, and alloys of the latter material with oxygen, nitrogen, aluminum, and zirconium were investigated. No oxygen peak was detected with electrorefined titanium but, provided precautions were taken to prevent increases in background damping, an oxygen peak at about 410°C could be resolved with each of the other materials. An additional partially resolved peak was observed at 500°C in a Ti-N alloy. An anomaly in the variation of rigidity modulus with temperature was observed. Possible mechanisms for the formation of any oxygen peak have been discussed. PRATT, Bratina, and Chalmersl investigated the internal friction of commercial purity titanium and alloys of this material containing 1.5, 3.5, and 4.5 at. pct O. With commercial titanium the internal friction curve consisted of two components, a background which increased steadily with temperature and a peak at about 600" C which was due to grain boundary relaxation. In the Ti-O alloys, however, an additional internal friction peak was observed at 430" to 450°C and, since this peak increased in height as the oxygen content was increased, it was thought to be associated with the presence of oxygen. The diffusion of oxygen in titanium at temperatures between 300" and 500° C is believed to have marked effects in its tensile properties2'3 and the present internal friction measurements were undertaken to obtain further information on this diffusion, using material of higher purity than that of Pratt et d. and an apparatus of very much greater sensitivity. In the course of the investigation a number of important limitations on the work of Pratt et al. were revealed and results have been obtained which emphasize the need for ensuring that in this type of experiment, internal friction is independent of strain amplitude and that the values obtained are reproducible. 1) MATERIALS AND APPARATUS The basis material from which the majority of the specimens was prepared was iodide-refined titanium, the major impurities in which were oxygen and nitrogen—the metallic impurities being present at concentrations less than 0.001 at. pct. The hardness of this material after arc melting, forging, and swaging to rods 1/4 in. diameter was Dph = 110. Specimens 10 in. long and 0.020 in. (0.51 mm) diameter were prepared from these rods by further swaging and wire drawing and were finally annealed in vacuo (5 x 10-6 mmHg) for 24 hr at 800°C. The oxygen alloys were prepared from iodide-

Jan 1, 1962

By R. T. Mishler

Silver-gold. mine, in northern Mexico, with arrow veins in rhyolite. One fourth area developed has been ore. Deposits average 20 in. wide and 73 oz. silver per ton; diluted in mining to 40 oz. per ton. Developed by drifts and raises at 100-ft. intervals. Samples cut every 5 ft. Ore and waste sampled separately to make combined stoping width 3 or 3 1/2 ft. Ore reserves figured to sloping width; high assays not modified. Tonnage and assay of ore extracted higher than estimates. Ore stoped principally by cut and fill method. Cars from each stope counted and sampled. Cars check tonnage to concen¬trator within 1 per cent.; silver assay 9 per cent. high. Tonnage and assay from scopes corrected to agree with feed to concentrator. Profit or loss for each slope estimated monthly. THE Lucky-Tiger mine is a silver-gold property, situated at El Tigre, in the northeastern part of Sonora, Mexico, at, an elevation of 6000 ft. in the Sierra Madre Mountains. It is 30 miles by wagon road from the Esqueda station on the Nacozari railroad. Since its discovery in 1903, the mine has produced forty million ounces of silver. The ore has averaged 40 oz. silver and 0.25 oz. gold per ton. Copper, lead and zinc have been of minor importance, having averaged 0.4 per cent., 1.1 per cent., and 1.5 per cent., respectively. The richness of the ore,, combined with its occurrence in narrow veins, required the use of the more expensive methods of mining.

Jan 2, 1925

By Thomas J. Menner

Jan 1, 1983

By John Devine

DURING the past few years the Bureau of Mines has been studying hydrogen-sulfide corrosion in the petroleum and natural-gas industries. Early work was confined to investigating the various practical, or operat-ing, factors that control the corrosion reaction when ordinary mild steel is being attacked. In that work it was shown that, if the optimum operating conditions1 are obtainable, . gas containing hydrogen sulfide can be handled at ordinary temperatures without serious corrosion resulting. However, frequently "sour" gas must be handled under other than optimum operating conditions, and combating corrosion then becomes a problem to be considered more during the construction of a system than during its subsequent operation. That is, where economi-cally practicable in such cases the designer will seek to substitute for mild steel other steels or ferrous metals more resistant to corrosion by hydro-gen sulfide. The comparative resistance of various commercial steels and alloy steels to corrosion by hydrogen sulfide at elevated temperatures has been reported systematically by previous investigators,2 but similar information for corrosion at ordinary temperatures is available only from scattered sources, representing different methods of testing. As the value of comparative corrosion tests depends largely upon the use of a

Jan 1, 1934

Olof Venstrom (communication to the Secretary*):—In order to do justice to a property, once the largest producer of copper in the world, which is now being reopened, with a fair promise of again becoming important, I beg to add a few words in connection with Mr. Souder's remarks on the El Cobre copper-mines. The El Cobre copper-mines were worked by the old English

Jan 1, 1905

By Randolph C. Specht

A two year study was made of the waste disposal of the pebble rock phosphate industry. Solid slimes are impounded in large settling areas and the process water is re-used. Clear effluent was not found to be toxic to fish or animal life in field tests or in controlled experiments. Survey: The pebble rock phosphate mining and washing operations in Florida (fig. 1) are along the river basins of the Alafia to the west and the Peace to the east. The elevation of the area varies between 40 and 170 ft above sea level. Effluents from the operations find their way into one of the two river systems (fig. 2), the Peace River which flows into Charlotte Harbor and the Alafia into Tampa Bay, both along the Gulf of Mexico. There are no major industries along these rivers below the phosphate operations. On the Peace River, the town of Arcadia, approximately 50 miles below the phosphate operations, obtains its water from the river. No other communities along the rivers use them as a source of water supply. Small communities, farms, and ranches are located along the rivers and both rivers drain vast swamp areas. Complaints had been received at the office of the Chief Sanitary Engineer, of the Florida State Board of Health,' that both rivers were turbid at various times and that fishing in the Alafia River was "not as good as it used to be." Tests made by another agency on the dissolved oxygen content of the Alafia River revealed that the oxygen content, at times, was comparatively low.= However, it was not shown that the phosphate wastes had any effect upon the oxygen content of the stream. The river waters are normally brown in color due to drainage from vast swamp areas and are very shallow, from 2 to 6 ft in depth. Turbid waters have been noted in streams coming from the present phosphate operations and also from streams along which there are no operations at the present time. It was learned from "old timers" that, when many more companies than at present were operating along both the Alafia and Peace Rivers forty or fifty years ago, no attention was paid to prohibiting the disposal of slimes along the river basins. During dry periods now in some of the river swamps where drainage ditches have been dug, it is indicated clearly that phosphate slimes were disposed of directly into the river swamps for many years past. Places have been observed where there were alternating strata of phosphate mud, leaf mold, and quartz sand. The former practice of indiscriminate disposal of wastes accounts for some turbidity, particularly after heavy rains and washouts and during clearing of land and digging of drainage ditches. During a six months' period in which a large tract of land was being cleared and drainage ditches dug, a small stream (Six Mile Creek), which previously had been clear, showed a turbidity of 600 ppm and remained turbid until the clearing was completed; after which the stream again flowed clear. An interview with the operator of the municipal water plant, which is about 50 miles below the phosphate operations on the Peace River and which used this river as a source of supply, revealed that there had been no taste in the water for the past ten years, other than that occasionally encountered from increased growth of algae. The operations of each of the cooperating com-

Jan 1, 1951

By Randolph C. Specht

A two year study was made of the waste disposal of the pebble rock phosphate industry. Solid slimes are impounded in large settling areas and the process water is re-used. Clear effluent was not found to be toxic to fish or animal life in field tests or in controlled experiments. Survey: The pebble rock phosphate mining and washing operations in Florida (fig. 1) are along the river basins of the Alafia to the west and the Peace to the east. The elevation of the area varies between 40 and 170 ft above sea level. Effluents from the operations find their way into one of the two river systems (fig. 2), the Peace River which flows into Charlotte Harbor and the Alafia into Tampa Bay, both along the Gulf of Mexico. There are no major industries along these rivers below the phosphate operations. On the Peace River, the town of Arcadia, approximately 50 miles below the phosphate operations, obtains its water from the river. No other communities along the rivers use them as a source of water supply. Small communities, farms, and ranches are located along the rivers and both rivers drain vast swamp areas. Complaints had been received at the office of the Chief Sanitary Engineer, of the Florida State Board of Health,' that both rivers were turbid at various times and that fishing in the Alafia River was "not as good as it used to be." Tests made by another agency on the dissolved oxygen content of the Alafia River revealed that the oxygen content, at times, was comparatively low.= However, it was not shown that the phosphate wastes had any effect upon the oxygen content of the stream. The river waters are normally brown in color due to drainage from vast swamp areas and are very shallow, from 2 to 6 ft in depth. Turbid waters have been noted in streams coming from the present phosphate operations and also from streams along which there are no operations at the present time. It was learned from "old timers" that, when many more companies than at present were operating along both the Alafia and Peace Rivers forty or fifty years ago, no attention was paid to prohibiting the disposal of slimes along the river basins. During dry periods now in some of the river swamps where drainage ditches have been dug, it is indicated clearly that phosphate slimes were disposed of directly into the river swamps for many years past. Places have been observed where there were alternating strata of phosphate mud, leaf mold, and quartz sand. The former practice of indiscriminate disposal of wastes accounts for some turbidity, particularly after heavy rains and washouts and during clearing of land and digging of drainage ditches. During a six months' period in which a large tract of land was being cleared and drainage ditches dug, a small stream (Six Mile Creek), which previously had been clear, showed a turbidity of 600 ppm and remained turbid until the clearing was completed; after which the stream again flowed clear. An interview with the operator of the municipal water plant, which is about 50 miles below the phosphate operations on the Peace River and which used this river as a source of supply, revealed that there had been no taste in the water for the past ten years, other than that occasionally encountered from increased growth of algae. The operations of each of the cooperating com-

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1916

By G. A. Moore

A brief review is given of methods designed to produce metallic iron of high purity, and typical results are listed. A recent method, utilized at the National Bureau of Standards, consists of the extraction of ferric chloride by ether, reduction of this ferric chloride to ferrous chloride, further purification of this chloride, and the subsequent electrolytic deposition of metallic iron. iron produced by this procedure apparently is softer than, and otherwise different in properties from, any iron previously prepared and contains appreciably smaller amounts of impurities. THE history of attempts to produce "pure" iron reaches to antiquity and it may be presumed that each ancient armorer who succeeded in making a better steel concluded, correctly, that he had done a better job of removing the "base metals," and incorrectly, that he now at last had a "pure" metal. Early metallurgical papers mentioned use of "pure iron" in making alloys—this "pure" iron in most cases being inferior to some commercial stocks of the present time. Improvement has been continuous, and usually at a sufficient rate to convince each succeeding group of workers that they, at last, were using the really pure metal (until the analysts also improved their techniques to again discover the impurities). These adventures were reviewed in some detail by Cleaves and Thompson.' Although the ores of a metal may be abundant, difficulties in extracting it may make the pure metal very rare. When impurities are restricted to a total of a few parts per million, nearly all pure metals become rarities. Lead, copper, gold, mercury, silver, zinc, aluminum, bismuth, and the six platinum metals are claimed to be available with total impurities ranging from 2 to 50 ppm. The present small and scattered world supply of so-called "pure" iron holds an unimpressive place in another group of 16 metals having approximately 100 ppm of foreign material. Of about 20 less rare metals, only the platinum metals are more costly to prepare. While the production of such rare varieties of iron may appear insignificant in the presence of thousand-ton operations with 95 to 99 pct metal, it must be emphasized that all researches on commercially interesting irons and steels are in fact studies of the modifications of the properties of iron by additional materials. Until the properties of high purity iron are directly measured, all ferrous research must operate without known base values. Traces of impurities may affect the properties of a metal in many ways. Infinitesimal traces of solutes, by disturbing the electronic configuration, greatly change the electrical properties of transistors and semiconductors2-3 and slightly larger traces might alter these quantities in iron. Soluble impurities which disturb the perfection of lattice arrangement not only may alter the magnetic constants and electric properties, but by their close association with dislocation phenomena probably control the very existence of the "yield point"; determine the value of yield stress; and perhaps control the selection of slip and cleavage planes. It has been speculated that impurities might even cause the allotropic transformation in iron, but in any case their rearrangement must contribute to the unreliability of heat capacity and other thermodynamic measurements. Impurities which do not remain in solution may cause even greater effects on the properties. Microscopically visible amounts of phases other than ferrite can be found in all high purity irons which have come to my attention. It can be calculated that from 50 to as little as 2 ppm of an insoluble material might be sufficient to completely film all grain boundaries in irons having grain sizes from ASTM Nos. 10 to 1. Should this occur, such films, even though invisible, may be very important in fracture problems, especially at extremes of temperature:' Studies of grain growth and diffusion normally imply consideration of a single-phase system, hence, in the presence of insoluble impurities they can be expected to give ambiguous data." High purity iron is also in demand for use as chemical and spectro-chemical standards; for work in classifying the lines of the iron spectrum; for biological work in nutrition; and for work in nuclear physics. where the presence of some sensitive

Jan 1, 1954

A. A. CENTER*—This paper reminds me of the beginning of the work of the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia. Early work for this Company, as some of you may know, was done at the Bully Hill Plant in California. After working there for some time Herbert Gepp, now Sir Herbert, came to the Anaconda Co. plants in Montana where I met him. He spent some months there, in fact almost a year if I remember rightly. That was when we were breaking in the new electrolytic zinc plant at Great Falls, Montana. From there he went back to Australia and started in on the plant there. I believe they had an original plant of about 20 tons per day of cathode zinc. We heard from them for some time, until they were able to go along on their own, and they have done very well ever since as you have heard. Their practice, (the flow sheet, the leaching practice), has been quite different as reported in the paper and apparently they are still following that practice to some extent. While the earliest work on selective flotation was done down in Australia, the big companies there, strange to say, were far behind the American companies in taking it up; and it is only in comparatively recent years they have gone to the alkaline circuit and dropped out thereby more of their iron and lead. The zinc plant now is up to a capacity of 100,000 tons a year and I believe that may be notched up to about 105,000. T. H. WELDON*—I would like to ask

Jan 1, 1950

By S. W. Ross

A. A. CENTER*—This paper reminds me of the beginning of the work of the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia. Early work for this Company, as some of you may know, was done at the Bully Hill Plant in California. After working there for some time Herbert Gepp, now Sir Herbert, came to the Anaconda Co. plants in Montana where I met him. He spent some months there, in fact almost a year if I remember rightly. That was when we were breaking in the new electrolytic zinc plant at Great Falls, Montana. From there he went back to Australia and started in on the plant there. I believe they had an original plant of about 20 tons per day of cathode zinc. We heard from them for some time, until they were able to go along on their own, and they have done very well ever since as you have heard. Their practice, (the flow sheet, the leaching practice), has been quite different as reported in the paper and apparently they are still following that practice to some extent. While the earliest work on selective flotation was done down in Australia, the big companies there, strange to say, were far behind the American companies in taking it up; and it is only in comparatively recent years they have gone to the alkaline circuit and dropped out thereby more of their iron and lead. The zinc plant now is up to a capacity of 100,000 tons a year and I believe that may be notched up to about 105,000. T. H. WELDON*—I would like to ask

Jan 1, 1950

By Craig E. Saporito

INTRODUCTION Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has been very active recently with two major discoveries and its restructuring activities. This paper describes Freeport-McMoRan's businesses, the two major mineral discoveries, and exciting opportunities within the oil and gas operations. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Freeport-McMoRan is the largest and one of the lowest cost fully integrated U.S. phosphate fertilizer producers. It is the second largest domestic Frasch sulphur producer. Freeport- McMoRan will become the largest domestic producer of Frasch sulphur when its Main Pass Block 299 sulphur deposit reaches full production in 1993. Furthermore, it is the largest transporter of sulphur produced by others. Its oil and gas activities rank among the largest U.S. independents in terms of production and proved reserves. The copper/gold operations in Indonesia are among the world's lowest cost. When expansion operations reach full capacity levels in 1992, the Indonesian copper/gold complex will be the fifth largest copper operation in the world. Operations are divided into three business segments that include: 1. Agricultural minerals, incorporating sulphur, phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer activities; 2. Energy, including oil and gas activities; and 3. Metals, incorporating copper, gold and silver operations in Indonesia. In early 1989, Freeport-McMoRan announced the discovery of two world-class ore bodies; a sulphur deposit off the coast of Louisiana on Main Pass Block 299, and a copper/gold deposit -- the Grasberg in Indonesia -- approximately two miles away from the existing Ertsberg East operations. As a result of these major discoveries, Freeport- McMoRan decided to carry out a restructuring program. Its purpose was to sell $1.2 to $1.5 billion of non-strategic assets. Debt levels and associated interest expenses will be significantly reduced, and general and administrative expenses will be reduced, which will place Freeport- McMoRan in an excellent position to fund the development of the Main Pass Block 299 sulphur discovery, the Grasberg discovery, and oil and gas discoveries. This restructuring program also will allow Freeport-McMoRan to achieve the greatest future value for shareholders by focusing on its principal businesses (Figure 1). Strategic Restructuring • Sell $1.2 - $1.5 Billion Of Non-Strategic Assets • Significantly Reduce Debt • Significantly Reduce G&A • Fund Development Of Main Pass & Grasberg • Stronger Company; Positioned For Future Growth • Focus Is On Principal Businesses: - Sulphur/Phosphate Fertilizers - Indonesian Copper/Gold - Oil And Natural Gas Figure 1 - Strategic Restructuring AGRICULTURAL MINERALS Main Pass Block 299 Discovery The Main Pass Block 299 discovery has a proven reserve of 67 million long tons of recoverable sulphur. This is the largest known Frasch sulphur deposit in North America. The discovery increased Freeport-McMoRan's sulphur reserves more than five-fold, and is synergistic with the company's phosphate fertilizer assets. The

Jan 1, 1990

By C. M. Young

THIS is an attempt to bring together some of the knowledge of the .coal-forming conditions obtaining during the Pennsylvanian period in the Western Interior Coal Province, to sketch briefly the present extent and character of the coals produced, and to show the beginning of cor-relation of beds over wide areas. Coals of later age than the Pennsyl-vanian are not included and, for reasons that will appear later, little attempt is made to cover the districts of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and northern Texas is omitted entirely. GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS The conditions that made possible the formation of large coal beds in the United States were most favorable in the Pennsylvanian period, formerly known as the Upper Carboniferous. The geological conditions can be determined from the records, but not the reasons for them. Preceding the Pennsylvanian was the Mississippian, formerly known as the lower Carboniferous and still later as the sub-Carboniferous. Dur-ing this time, large bodies of limestone were deposited and at the close f the Mississippian they were warped upward and for along period were eroded. Then there began a period of subsidence, more or less inter-rupted at times, during which the Pennsylvanian strata were deposited (see table on page 2). " These consist of sandstones, limestones and shales, with occasional coal beds: At the beginning of the Pennsylvanian there was subsidence, which allowed the sea to extend over the eroded Mississippian surface to the north and east, extending over eastern and central Texas, a large part of Oklahoma, with a projection into Arkansas, over Kansas and part of Nebraska, all the northern and western part of Missouri, a large part of Iowa except a strip in the north, most of Illinois, practically all of Ken-tucky, northern Tennessee, most of Indiana, all of the eastern part of Ohio, practically all of West Virginia, western Maryland, the west end of Virginia, and a large part of Pennsylvania. The Ozarks were already

Jan 1, 1935

By C. D. Dolman

SINCE the outbreak of the war we have discovered in the United States minerals of which there was no general knowledge, and which compared very favorably with anything that could be found in any foreign country. One of these was magnesite, or the carbonate of magnesium as it occurs in nature. This mineral crystallizes in the rhombohedral form, has a specific gravity of 3.00, molecular weight of 84 4, molecular volume of 28.1, and a hardness of 3.5 to 4.5.1 Had it not been for the development of the California deposits of this mineral and the discovery of immense new deposits in Stevens County, Wash., the production of steel during the war would have been more seriously handicapped than it was. Now, that the war is over, we face the possibility of competition' with the cheap Austro-Hungarian magnesite; and while that may not he so cheap as it was before the war, adequate protection should be given the producers in this country to insure the full development of our own resources. The consumption of magnesite in the United States in 1913, the year preceding the war, was 172,591 tons of calcined and 22,872 tons of crude magnesite. Less than 3 per cent. of this amount was produced at home. At the present time, practically all of the magnesite used in the United States is produced at home. Expensive plants have been constructed, extensive exploration work done, and production pushed to the utmost to supply the necessary requirements of the war. Thus a considerable industry has been built up within our borders. Some magnesite has been imported from Canada and Mexico, but the Canadian ore was of an inferior grade and could not be used satisfactorily. During the year 1918, production decreased in both the United States and Canada; the production in the United States was 225,000 tons in 1918 as against 315,000 in 1917, and in Canada 39,365 tons in 1918 as against 58,090 in 1917.

Jan 8, 1919

By AIME AIME

W. R. CHEDSEY first saw the light of day in Boulder, Colo., in 1887, and will celebrate his birthday on Feb. 11. Mining early attracted him, so he went to the Colorado School of Mines, from which he received his E.M. in 1908, and an honorary doctor's degree thirty years later. The next three years he spent at the University of Idaho, doing special work in mechanical and electrical engineering and serving as associate professor of mining engineering. Leaving Idaho in 1911 he went to Central America as chief engineer and general superintendent of the Central American Development Co. The next year he jumped several thousand miles to the north to become chief engineer and assistant general manager of the Alaska Exploration Co. But teaching was Chedsey's choice so he returned to his alma mater, serving on the faculty at Golden from 1913 to 1916. Then to Penn State where he was professor of mining for 21 years, until going to Rolla to become director of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1937.

Jan 1, 1940