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By George G. Thomas

IN April 1949, Newfoundland became the tenth province of Canada. It had been a Dominion of the British Commonwealth, though actual Dominion status had been suspended for some fifteen years. During that fifteen-year period the Government had been by commission. Throughout the regime of the Commission Government, a limited program of investigation of the mineral resources of the country was in progress. It was during this period that the investigation of the iron resources of Labrador by the predecessors of the Iron Ore Company of Canada began. Since Confederation there has been a marked change in the attitude of mining capital to the new province and a notable acceleration in the tempo of prospecting and exploration. There is no private Newfoundland capital available for mineral exploration. In the past, as now, capital must be attracted to the province. Prior to Confederation, Canadian capital had to cross the barriers of customs and immigration. American capital hazily regarded Newfoundland as part of Canada, with one notable exception, the American Smelting and Refining Company at Buchans. Buchans The most significant mining development in Newfoundland today is the property of the Buchans Mining Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the American Smelting and Refining Co., located at the town of Buchans. Their milling operation produces lead, zinc, and copper concentrates by selective flotation, and also produces a small amount of gravity concentrate. Presently the mill treats, about 320,000 tons of ore per year. Production started in 1928 at 500 tons per day and has been raised over the years to the present figure of 1200 tons per day. Conventional prospecting methods uncovered the original deposit. It was first examined as a possible source of sulphur from pyrite. Geophysical prospecting and diamond drilling resulted in discovery of enough additional ore to warrant a large scale operation. Mining is by open cut methods. In addition conventional underground cut and fill stoping and square set stoping methods are employed. Between 850 and 900 men are employed at Buchans. Concentrates are shipped by rail to Botwood and leave the country through the port. Buchans Mining is currently investigating a Crown concession covering an area of approximately 6250 square miles, adjacent to the area of present operations. Aerial photographs have been made of the area, and geologic parties, supplied by plane, are in the field during the summer months. The concession lies south of the Falconbridge concession. The geology of the Buchans area can be divided into three groups. The first category is the oldest and called the Buchans Series. It consists of volcanic lavas, breecias and tuffs and underlies most of the Red Indian Lake Basin. The second is a group of igneous rocks such as granite and quartz porphyry intrusive in the volcanics. It makes for rough country north and west of Buchans. The third group consists of sills and dykes penetrating the lavas near

Jan 1, 1952

A general discussion on the subject of Crushing and Grinding was held on August 24, 1927, during the meeting of the Institute at Salt, Lake City. G. H. Clevenger, Chairman of the Milling Methods Committee of the Institute, made the following introductory remarks "Several years ago, a number of us felt that the time was ripe for a fundamental investigation of crushing and grinding. At the outset, it appeared that the first thing we needed was a yardstick whereby grinding efficiency could be measured. "The U. S. Bureau of Mines has been most generous in cooperating with the Milling Methods Committee in getting this work well undrr way. John Gross, who served the committee for a year as secretary, was placed in charge of the investigation and has been ably assisted by S. R. Zimmerley. "Messrs. Gross and Zimmerley will now present the Progrcss Report covering their work to date." Progress Report J. Gross, Salt Lake City, Utah.—-This has not been a simple problem, and when I tell you that me can give you a verbal report of what we have done during three years in five or ten minutes you will realize that we have necessarily done a great deal of work that dors riot appear in the final results. We have been in a virtually new field. Therefore, we have had to feel our way at each step so as to be fairly sure we were correet. The first thing that was realized in this problem ass that unless we had some method of measuring what happened when we crushed an ore, we might as well quit and not go further. we realized that if we tried to measure the results of crushing or grinding by the ordiuary sizing test we would not get anywhere. We could sieve down to say 200 mesh fairly accurately; we could even go one sieve size further with a little less accuracy, and then we were absolutely lost, unless we went into microscopic measurement. Even this latter method would not have been satisfactory. The question was: what were we going to measure? If we were going to measure size, we might measure one particular dimension of a particle and be off 200 per cent. or more. If we tried to measure surfaee, we would have something tangible; the surface of a particle, no matter how irregular, is something definite, far more definite than any linear dimension would be. Moreover, if we could measure surface, we would immediately have a method of checking the Rittinger law as to whether it was or was not correct. So the first thing that we sought. was a method whereby we could measure surface on crushed particles or, we will sag., on particles; it would not make any difference whether crushed or not. It then became a question of what kind of particles we were going to use in obtaining a method for surface measurement. We realizcd that it would be rather a corn-

Jan 1, 1928

By J. H. Kittel

THE properties of the metal molybdenum have been the subject of recent investigations1,2 = which have included studies of the changes that occur in the metal when it is annealed after having been cold worked. Most of the data which have been reported have pertained to only one aspect of annealing, that is, the conditions under which recrys-tallization has been observecl. The process of recovery which may precede recrystallization docs not appear to have been investigated, and it is the purpose of this note to report observations on the recovery process in cold-worked molybdenum as determined by changes ill the thermoelectric power which occur as the metal is annealed. The measurements were made on commercially pure molybdenum wires which, after annealing at 1035°C in dried hydrogen for 1 hr, were swaged to give a series of reductions up to a maximum of 84.5 pct. The variously cold-worked wires were then annea1c.d in dried hydrogen for periods of 16 hr at progrc:ssively highel. temperatures from 200" to 1000 c with a final annealing treatment of 70 hr at. 1100°C. After each annealing treatment the ther.ma1 emf's were determined against a length of original unwo~,ked material that had received the initial hydrogen anrit,aling treatment. The difference in temperature between the hot and cold junctions was maintained at about 75'C. and. the thermal emf's were measured with a potentiometer that could be read. to 0.01 microvolt. Fig. 1 shows the thermoelectric power. (dE/dT) in microvolts per C between annclalcd and cold-worked molybdenum as a function of the degree of cold work. The effect of annealing is shown in Fig. 2. The general shape of the curves in both figures is similar to results which have been obtained for copper." It was observed that after annealing at temperatures as low as 200°C recovery was well under way. The rapid changes irt thermoelectric power observed near 900 C are probably associated with recrystallization, since such a relation has been observed with copper. Beyond 900°C the thermal emf's changed in polarity. indicating that from this point or1 the specimens were more highly annealed than the standard. Annealing treatments could not be given at temperatures higher than 1100°C due to limitations of the furnace, and it is evident that, since equilibrium values of thermoelectric powers were far from having been attained, temperatures considerably higher are required to fully anneal molybdenum. References Robert M. Parke: Molybdenum, A New High-Temperature Material. Metal Progress (1951) 60, pp. 81-96. * R. A. Long, K. C. Dike, and H. R. Bear: Some Properties of High-Purity Sintered Wrought Molybdenum Metal at Temperatures up to 2400 °F. NACA TN 2319 (March 1951): G. W. Brindley: A Thern-io-Electric Study of the Cold-Rolling and Heat-Treatment of Copper, Report of a Conference on the Strength of Solids. Physical Society, London (1948) pp. 95-106.

Jan 1, 1953

By Nicholas J. Grant, H. C. Chang

EMPHASIS on the importance of grain boundary sliding as a mode of deformation at elevated temperatures has been presented elsewhere.' The extent to which boundary sliding occurs under certain creep conditions has been determined for high purity aluminum2,3 and aluminum alloys.' In general, boundary deformation extends quite far into the adjoining grains, resulting in a rather wide band of deformation along the grain boundaries. This has led some investigators to doubt that grain boundary sliding consists of shearing along the boundary surface; it has been contended instead that boundary sliding is a result of concentrated slip in the neighborhood of the deformed grain boundaries."' The purpose of this note is to present evidence that grain boundary sliding takes place by a bulk shear process. gh purity polycrystalline aluminum, wherever and whenever there is grain boundary sliding, boundary migration and concentrated deformation along both sides of the deformed boundary are associated with it. Therefore, it has been rather difficult to obtain unambiguous evidence of boundary sliding. On the other hand, it would be expected in certain alloys of aluminum, when tested under particular conditions. that the severity of the interfering effects of boundary migration and concentrated deformation along the deformed boundary might be reduced. Current research in this laboratory' shows that a 20 pct Zn-A1 solid solution alloy fractures in an intercrystalline manner during creep at 500°F with a small total elongation of not more than about 14 pct, and that it does so with extremely limited grain boundary migration. Accordingly, this alloy was chosen for the present study. The experimental procedure was similar to that used in previous work and has been presented elsewhere.' Two parallel flat surfaces were milled from a round specimen. The gage portion of the specimen was 1 in. x .09 in. x .17 in. The specimens, which were annealed at 1030°F for 24 hr, showed two to four grains across the width of the test bar. The specimens were subjected to creep at 500°F at stresses of 2000 to 5000 psi. The rupture times were from 10 sec to 3 hr. Appreciable boundary sliding occurred in all the tests. A typical example of boundary sliding is shown in Fig. 1. (The tension axis is vertical in the micrographs.) Sliding has taken place along the boundary between grains A and B unaccompanied by important boundary migration. The sharpness of the offset at the triple point can be clearly seen in grain C. As a result of sliding along the boundary between grains A and B, a new boundary surface between grains A and C was created. The offset at the triple point is about 0.07 mm. This boundary sliding is accompanied by the formation of rather sharp kinking bands and, of course, slip on several slip systems in grain C. This type of deformation has been referred to as fold formation' in previous work with high purity aluminum.

Jan 1, 1957

During the past 60 or 90 days, the metropolitan newspapers have published much concerning unemployment throughout the nation and the efforts of the Army and various other bureaus for finding work for the returning soldiers. The United States Employment Service has 2000 bureaus throughout the country, which Nathan A. Smyth, Assistant Federal Director, states have placed more than 2,400,000 persons in employment. The Engineering Societies Employment Bureau, which, since December, 1918, has been endeavoring to put all returning engineers in touch with employers who need efficient men, has produced results that are very gratifying to the Secretaries of the four Founder Societies under whose direct management the Bureau operates. During this period, 1615 men have registered at the Bureau's office in the Engineering Societies Building; not all of these, however, are unemployed. Many are ex-army and navy men, who in passing through New York on their way home, look over the field in the hope of making a change for their own benefit before returning to their former positions. During this period, 427 positions vacant have been filed, 2300 of which positions have been filled from the men registered. The letters mailed by this Bureau amount to about 1000 a month and the number of personal calls at the office, 1600. The lowest number of positions filled has been in mining, but the lowest number of registrations is also from mining men. While in February idleness throughout the nation was increasing at the rate of 35,000 a week, under date of Mar. 7, Arthur Woods, a special assistant to Secretary of War Baker, states that there is a material improvement in the unemployment situation and that the problem is no longer a serious one. It is recognized that' the improvement wrought in each individual by his military training and experience has so increased his value that it is 'not only unfair, to ask these men to accept their old jobs at the old wages, but it is probably very unlikely that they will be willing to do so. This plain statement of improvement may not carry conviction to everyone but a concrete example will show its validity. Take the example of a young man under 21, bright and intelligent, with only a high-school education who was employed, before being drafted, on purely manual labor. He shows up well under military training and is made a corporal; he makes good and is appointed a sergeant; and finally becomes top sergeant, which requires him in many ways to handle the entire company of 250 men. The result is; even if he has not been tried by the fire of battle, he comes out of the army with a feeling of self-confidence and capacity that was entirely lacking when he went in and he has had actual experience in handling a larger body of men than the average mine foreman at twice his age, and he has had twice the average amount of detail work to take care of.

Jan 4, 1919

By William T. Schneider, Taylor Cole

Drilling in West Texas during 1941 was more active than in any year since 1937, a total of 2325 wells having been drilled. Pre-Permian exploration was the greatest in the history of the area; 106 wells tested pre-Permian formations during the year. Wildcatting reached the peak since 1937, with 135 wildcats, of which 20 per cent were producers. The wells were drilled to a greater average depth than in any previous year. Slim-hole drilling was the common practice, using drilling equipment that is largely portable. Because of deeper drilling, more attention was paid to mud fluids, especially the use of materials to reduce water filtration. There has been slight improvement in the protection of the pay horizons while drilling by the use of reverse circulation, and drilling-in with oil as well as low water-filtration muds. The practice of setting and cementing the oil strings through the producing formation and perforating opposite the pay zones has increased in the fields producing from sands. It is doubtful whether this practice is of unusual value in dolomitic limestone fields. There have been few if any technological improvements in obtaining necessary information on the pay sections penetrated, by coring, core analyses, better sampling, and more detailed drilling time. However, more operators are beginning to realize the necessity of good samples. For a proper study of the reservoirs in West Texas, it is essential that better samples be obtained, that more core analyses be run, and that better methods of obtaining drilling time be initiated. It should be noted that increased drilling speeds and slim-hole drilling have tended to reduce coring and core recovery and have not aided in obtaining good subsurface samples. In fact, fast drilling speeds and slim-hole drilling have reduced the cost of drilling operations, but with the sacrifice of much needed subsurface information. Larger quantities of slower-reacting acid are being used per well. There has been improvement in shooting, in that a greater number of quarts per foot have been used and an attempt has been made to concentrate the shots opposite the pay zone. The use of mud logging to determine the characteristics of the pay section increased considerably over the year 1940. There has been a slight increase in obtaining reservoir information in the new fields, such as bottom-hole sampling, bottom-hole pressures, and records of gas, oil, and water withdrawals. However, there is great need for more data on these subjects, particularly accurate information regarding gas and water volumes. There are three repressuring projects and a fourth is nearly ready for operation in the Kermit field. There is one repressur-ing project in the Payton field and one in the North Ward field. So far, the gas-injection projects have not shown very impressive results. As yet, there are no water-flooding projects or water-disposal projects in West Texas. Not including gathering lines within the fields, 222 miles of feeder pipe lines were

Jan 1, 1942

By C. Williams, D. V. Carter

During 1943 five oil fields and two gas-condensate fields were discovered in the East and East Central Texas district. The New Hope field, discovered by Tide Water-Seaboard in Franklin County, is the most important oil discovery since the Hawkins field in 1940. At the close of the year two oil sands were producing and two additional oil sands were being tested. The gas-condensate fields of Appleby in Nacog-doches County and the Stewards Mill field in Freestone County had only one producing well each. The Carthage field was extended 3 miles north and 4 miles west. Another well that was testing at the year end indicated a probable eastward extension of several miles. The Quitman field, in Wood County, was the most active from the standpoint of drilling operations. Approximately 48 wells were complcted during the year. The second and third most active fields were Hawkins field, Wood County, and Kildare field, Cass County, respectively. Wartime restrictions of material, together with manpower shortage and Federal spacing regulations, reduced the number of oil and gas-well completions from 265 in I942 to 171 in 1943. This represents a drop of 35 percent, or approximately 1/3, enough to replace the 531 producing wells abandoned in the district during the year. No changes were made in the price of crude oil in the district in 1943. The district produced 177,652,940 bbl. of condensate and oil during 1943. This represents an increase of approximately 11 per cent compared with the previous year. The East Texas field, which is the largest and most important field in the district, had an annual production of 128,568,647 bbl. of oil, which is approximately 6.5 per cent more than the previous year, and represents 72 per cent of the district's production of condensate and oil for the year. The district had an estimated basic daily allowable of approximately 509,000 bbl. of oil on Dec. 31, 1943. The entire district produced approximately 30 pcr cent of the state's production for the year 1943. The Hawkins field, Wood County, was operated 271 days during the year and with an average daily production of approximately 52,488 bbl. for the year. This field, which is the second largest in the district, produced 14,224,164 bbl, of oil during the year. Changes in annual production in certain fields in the district can be attributed to their ability to produce at higher rates, the demand, and transportation facilities in the war effort. The East Texas field showed an over-all decrease in reservoir pressure of 8.30 lb. during the year. Indications were that through the first quarter of 1944 the return of salt water to the reservoir was having a beneficial effect. It is hoped that, as more and more water is returned to the reser-

Jan 1, 1944

By R. G. Patterson

The usual procedure in determining the magnetic susceptibilities of rocks and formations has been to take samples in the field and measure their volume susceptibilities in the laboratory, using one of numerous methods available. In none of these methods is the measuring instrument suited for field use. Usually the sample is pulverized; sometimes it is machined to a desired sue and shape, and in one method1 a cast of the sample is made and the susceptibility of the rock compared with that of a material of known susceptibility of the same size and shape, made from the cast of the original sample. Some writers assert that the difference in susceptibility of a rock sample in powdered and solid forms is negligible, and while doubtless this is true in many cases there are others in which the difference becomes appreciable. Further, the susceptibility of a small specimen may differ from that of the rock from which it is taken, owing to the stresses produced by the hammering or other forces used to obtain the sample and shape it for testing. Wilson2 found that an individual specimen of granite had about the same susceptibility in the solid as in the powdered form, but that pieces from different parts of the rock varied as much as 750 per cent because of unequal distribution of magnetite. The most accurate value of susceptibility would, obviously, be obtained from averag- ing a number of tests on the undisturbed rock instead of from one or two samples. No such procedures have been published, to the writer's knowledge. It is the purpose of this paper to describe a method by which susceptibilities of rocks may be determined in place by means of a portable instrument. Method The principle involved in this new method is that there is a change in inductance of a coil due to the presence in its magnetic field of a paramagnetic or dia-magnetic medium. In this case, however, the windings of the coil do not enclose any part of the rock under test. Instead, the coil is circular, being small in cross section as compared to its radius, and consists of several hundred turns of fine wire. It is placed flat on the rock of which the susceptibility is to be measured. Thus only part of the magnetic field from the coil penetrates the rock under test. The relation between the change in field strength or inductance of the coil and the susceptibility of the medium will be developed later. To measure the change in the inductance of the coil due to the presence of a magnetic material an alternating-current inductance bridge was chosen. Description of Apparatus Of many alternating-current bridge methods applicable,3 the one shown in Fig. 1 (Owen's bridge') was adopted for its simplicity and sensitivity. In Fig. I, the test coil is indicated by PlL1. It is connected to the bridge by about

Jan 1, 1946

By Taylor Cole, William T. Schneider

Drilling in West Texas during 1941 was more active than in any year since 1937, a total of 2325 wells having been drilled. Pre-Permian exploration was the greatest in the history of the area; 106 wells tested pre-Permian formations during the year. Wildcatting reached the peak since 1937, with 135 wildcats, of which 20 per cent were producers. The wells were drilled to a greater average depth than in any previous year. Slim-hole drilling was the common practice, using drilling equipment that is largely portable. Because of deeper drilling, more attention was paid to mud fluids, especially the use of materials to reduce water filtration. There has been slight improvement in the protection of the pay horizons while drilling by the use of reverse circulation, and drilling-in with oil as well as low water-filtration muds. The practice of setting and cementing the oil strings through the producing formation and perforating opposite the pay zones has increased in the fields producing from sands. It is doubtful whether this practice is of unusual value in dolomitic limestone fields. There have been few if any technological improvements in obtaining necessary information on the pay sections penetrated, by coring, core analyses, better sampling, and more detailed drilling time. However, more operators are beginning to realize the necessity of good samples. For a proper study of the reservoirs in West Texas, it is essential that better samples be obtained, that more core analyses be run, and that better methods of obtaining drilling time be initiated. It should be noted that increased drilling speeds and slim-hole drilling have tended to reduce coring and core recovery and have not aided in obtaining good subsurface samples. In fact, fast drilling speeds and slim-hole drilling have reduced the cost of drilling operations, but with the sacrifice of much needed subsurface information. Larger quantities of slower-reacting acid are being used per well. There has been improvement in shooting, in that a greater number of quarts per foot have been used and an attempt has been made to concentrate the shots opposite the pay zone. The use of mud logging to determine the characteristics of the pay section increased considerably over the year 1940. There has been a slight increase in obtaining reservoir information in the new fields, such as bottom-hole sampling, bottom-hole pressures, and records of gas, oil, and water withdrawals. However, there is great need for more data on these subjects, particularly accurate information regarding gas and water volumes. There are three repressuring projects and a fourth is nearly ready for operation in the Kermit field. There is one repressur-ing project in the Payton field and one in the North Ward field. So far, the gas-injection projects have not shown very impressive results. As yet, there are no water-flooding projects or water-disposal projects in West Texas. Not including gathering lines within the fields, 222 miles of feeder pipe lines were

Jan 1, 1942

By Norman Weiss

Most papers on xanthate have dealt with principles rather than practice. On the assumption that many millmen are interested in knowing where and in what manner the xanthates are being used in mills other than their own, this paper will summarize the results of a recent survey of North American plants. A brief background story and a description of the xanthates will be followed with the results of that survey; then a few observations will be made on storage, feeding, and ore testing. The first xanthate was made in 1822 by Zeise of the University of Copenhagen. With commendable scientific detachment (or perhaps a bad cold) Zeise ignored a more pervading quality of the substance and named it for its color, after the Greek word "xanthos," meaning yellow. During the first 80 years of its recorded existence xanthate found use only in small quantity as an insecticide; after the turn of the century there was some further demand for it in the vulcanization of rubber. It was not until 1922, by coincidence the centennial of Zeise's discovery, that C. H. Keller of San Francisco, seeking sul-phidizing agents, recalled xanthate in connection with his experience years earlier when he had seen this material used in Europe to combat grape phylloxera. His successful tests with the new flotation reagent culminated in the basic xanthate patent (U. S. 1,554,216) in 1925. In the minds of many metallurgists the introduction of xanthate as a flotation reagent is identified with the beginnings of alkaline circuits, the first use of chemical collectors, and the beginning of selective flotation. Actually, these preceded xanthate by a number of years. The alkaline circuit in lead-zinc flotation was introduced by Lyster as early as 1912. In 1922 Sheridan and Griswold made their momentous discovery (Timber Butte) that alkali cyanides and zinc sulphate effectively inhibited the flotation of pyrite and sphalerite in pulps made alkaline with sodium carbonate or bicarbonate. The use of lime to retard pyrite in copper flotation began within two years after Ralston directed attention to its possibilities in 1917. These were the beginnings of modern selective flotation, which was practiced successfully on copper-iron ores at Nacozari in 1922, and at Inspiration, Cananea, and others only shortly afterward. In the lead-zinc mills, selective flotation was of even greater economic importance at that time. The Sunnyside plant of U. S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co. used the process earlier than 1920, and Consolidated, Timber Butte, and others soon followed. As a chemical collector xanthate was relatively a latecomer, for the Corliss patent of 1917 covered the first of these, alpha-naphthylamine, and the Perkins patent of 1919 the second, thiocarbanilid. Both of these were in extensive use before Keller's xanthate made its commercial debut in 1923. There is general agreement, nonetheless, that the introduction of xanthate was

Jan 1, 1949

By Alfred Brooks

THE only oil produced in Alaska in 1923 was obtained from a dozen small wells, one of which was drilled during the year on the single patented tract of petroleum land in Alaska, in the Katalla field. These wells are owned by the Chilkat Oil Co., which finds a ready local market for its product in the form of gasoline produced in its own refinery. The search for oil has been continued, but except in the Cold Bay field there has been no drilling in new fields during the year. Drilling was in progress during 1923 at Pearl Dome, 18 miles from the coast. Here the Associated Oil Co. sank two wells, about 500 and 950 ft. deep, but suspended drilling in June. The Standard Oil Co., drilling on the same structure, reached a depth of 300 ft. by August and is reported to have reached about 700 ft. by November. The company began the, installation of a second drill in August. George C. Martin, who hastily examined the Chignik region, south of the Cold Bay field, reports that what is known of the geology near Chignik is not favorable to the presence of petroleum. Kirtley Mather, who made a geologic survey of the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, reports that some of the structures and the formations are favorable to the presence of oil. A small seepage has long been known in the region near the mouth of Douglas River, which flows into Cook Inlet. Sidney Paige last summer made an examination .of the oil seepages which have long been known near Cape Simpson, 50 miles southeast of Point Barrow, the northernmost point of Alaska. He reports that there are two very large seepages emanating from small ridges about a mile apart and several miles from the coast. These are marked by flowing petroleum, and cover many acres. There is a very large accumulation of petroleum residue at these seepages. The surface exposures consist of clay shales with hard thin partings of calcareous shale which lie nearly horizontal, and are probably, of Jurassic age. Mr. Paige and his two sub-parties explored a large area inland from the Arctic coast between Cape Beaufort on the south and Point Barrow and Cape Simpson on the north. He himself ascended the Meade River for 150 miles. These surveys indicate a wide distribution of what is believed to be the formation from which the Cape Simpson seepages emerge, which is probably of Jurassic age. These rocks near the north Arctic coast are little disturbed, but are increasingly folded to the south, toward the mountains. No other seepages have been found, but what is known of the geology is not unfavorable to an oil field. This entire region lies in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, and it was examined by the Geological Survey at the request and expense of the Department of the Navy.

Jan 3, 1924

By R. G. Paterson

THE usual procedure in determining the magnetic susceptibilities of rocks and formations has been to take samples in the field and measure their volume susceptibilities in the laboratory, using one of numerous methods available. In none of these methods is the measuring instrument suited for field use. Usually the sample is pulverized; sometimes it is machined to a desired size and shape, and in one method' a cast of the sample is made and the susceptibility of the rock compared with that of a material of known susceptibility of the same size and shape, made from the cast of the original sample. Some writers assert that the difference in susceptibility of a rock sample in powdered and solid forms is negligible, and while doubtless this is true in many cases there are others in which the difference becomes appreciable. Further, the susceptibility of a small specimen may differ from that of the rock from which it is taken, owing to the stresses produced by the hammering or other forces used to obtain the sample and shape it for testing. Wilson2 found that an individual specimen of granite had about the same susceptibility in the solid as in the powdered form, but that pieces from different parts of the rock varied as much as 750 per cent because of unequal distribution of magnetite. The most accurate value of susceptibility would, obviously, be obtained from averaging a number of tests on the undisturbed rock instead of from one or two samples. No such procedures have been published, to the writer's knowledge. It is the purpose of this paper to describe a method by which susceptibilities of rocks may be determined in place by means of a portable instrument. METHOD The principle involved in this new method is that there is a change in inductance of a coil due to the presence in its magnetic field of a paramagnetic or diamagnetic medium. In this case, however, the windings of the coil do not enclose any part of the rock under test. Instead, the coil is circular, being small in cross section as compared to its radius, and consists of several hundred turns of fine wire. It is placed flat on the rock of which the susceptibility is to be measured. Thus only part of the magnetic field from the coil penetrates the rock under test. The relation between the change in field strength or inductance of the coil and the susceptibility of the medium will be developed later. To measure the change in the inductance of the coil due to the presence of a magnetic material an alternating-current inductance bridge was chosen. DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS Of many alternating-current bridge methods applicable,3 the one shown in Fig. I (Owen's bridge') was adopted for its simplicity and sensitivity. In Fig. I, the test coil is indicated by P1L1. It is connected to the bridge by about

Jan 1, 1941

By D. V. Carter, C. Williams

During 1943 five oil fields and two gas-condensate fields were discovered in the East and East Central Texas district. The New Hope field, discovered by Tide Water-Seaboard in Franklin County, is the most important oil discovery since the Hawkins field in 1940. At the close of the year two oil sands were producing and two additional oil sands were being tested. The gas-condensate fields of Appleby in Nacog-doches County and the Stewards Mill field in Freestone County had only one producing well each. The Carthage field was extended 3 miles north and 4 miles west. Another well that was testing at the year end indicated a probable eastward extension of several miles. The Quitman field, in Wood County, was the most active from the standpoint of drilling operations. Approximately 48 wells were complcted during the year. The second and third most active fields were Hawkins field, Wood County, and Kildare field, Cass County, respectively. Wartime restrictions of material, together with manpower shortage and Federal spacing regulations, reduced the number of oil and gas-well completions from 265 in I942 to 171 in 1943. This represents a drop of 35 percent, or approximately 1/3, enough to replace the 531 producing wells abandoned in the district during the year. No changes were made in the price of crude oil in the district in 1943. The district produced 177,652,940 bbl. of condensate and oil during 1943. This represents an increase of approximately 11 per cent compared with the previous year. The East Texas field, which is the largest and most important field in the district, had an annual production of 128,568,647 bbl. of oil, which is approximately 6.5 per cent more than the previous year, and represents 72 per cent of the district's production of condensate and oil for the year. The district had an estimated basic daily allowable of approximately 509,000 bbl. of oil on Dec. 31, 1943. The entire district produced approximately 30 pcr cent of the state's production for the year 1943. The Hawkins field, Wood County, was operated 271 days during the year and with an average daily production of approximately 52,488 bbl. for the year. This field, which is the second largest in the district, produced 14,224,164 bbl, of oil during the year. Changes in annual production in certain fields in the district can be attributed to their ability to produce at higher rates, the demand, and transportation facilities in the war effort. The East Texas field showed an over-all decrease in reservoir pressure of 8.30 lb. during the year. Indications were that through the first quarter of 1944 the return of salt water to the reservoir was having a beneficial effect. It is hoped that, as more and more water is returned to the reser-

Jan 1, 1944

By R. G. Patterson

The usual procedure in determining the magnetic susceptibilities of rocks and formations has been to take samples in the field and measure their volume susceptibilities in the laboratory, using one of numerous methods available. In none of these methods is the measuring instrument suited for field use. Usually the sample is pulverized; sometimes it is machined to a desired sue and shape, and in one method1 a cast of the sample is made and the susceptibility of the rock compared with that of a material of known susceptibility of the same size and shape, made from the cast of the original sample. Some writers assert that the difference in susceptibility of a rock sample in powdered and solid forms is negligible, and while doubtless this is true in many cases there are others in which the difference becomes appreciable. Further, the susceptibility of a small specimen may differ from that of the rock from which it is taken, owing to the stresses produced by the hammering or other forces used to obtain the sample and shape it for testing. Wilson2 found that an individual specimen of granite had about the same susceptibility in the solid as in the powdered form, but that pieces from different parts of the rock varied as much as 750 per cent because of unequal distribution of magnetite. The most accurate value of susceptibility would, obviously, be obtained from averag- ing a number of tests on the undisturbed rock instead of from one or two samples. No such procedures have been published, to the writer's knowledge. It is the purpose of this paper to describe a method by which susceptibilities of rocks may be determined in place by means of a portable instrument. Method The principle involved in this new method is that there is a change in inductance of a coil due to the presence in its magnetic field of a paramagnetic or dia-magnetic medium. In this case, however, the windings of the coil do not enclose any part of the rock under test. Instead, the coil is circular, being small in cross section as compared to its radius, and consists of several hundred turns of fine wire. It is placed flat on the rock of which the susceptibility is to be measured. Thus only part of the magnetic field from the coil penetrates the rock under test. The relation between the change in field strength or inductance of the coil and the susceptibility of the medium will be developed later. To measure the change in the inductance of the coil due to the presence of a magnetic material an alternating-current inductance bridge was chosen. Description of Apparatus Of many alternating-current bridge methods applicable,3 the one shown in Fig. 1 (Owen's bridge') was adopted for its simplicity and sensitivity. In Fig. I, the test coil is indicated by PlL1. It is connected to the bridge by about

Jan 1, 1946

By Norman Weiss

MOST papers on xanthate have dealt with principles rather than practice. On the assumption that many millmen are interested in knowing where and in what manner the xanthates are being used in mills other than their own, this paper will summarize the results of a recent survey of North American plants. A brief background story and a description of the xanthates will be followed with the results of that survey; then a few observations will be made on storage, feeding, and ore testing. The first xanthate was made in 1822 by Zeise of the University of Copenhagen. With commendable scientific detachment (or perhaps a bad cold) Zeise ignored a more pervading quality of the substance and named it for its color, after the Greek word "xanthos," meaning yellow. During the first 80 years of its recorded existence xanthate found use only in.small quantity as an insecticide; after the turn of the century there was some further demand for it in the vulcanization of rubber. It was not until 1922, by coincidence the centennial of Zeise's discovery, that C. H. Keller of San Francisco, seeking sulphidizing agents, recalled xanthate in connection with his experience years earlier when he had seen this material used in Europe to combat grape phylloxera. His successful tests with the new flotation reagent culminated in the basic xanthate patent (U. S. 1,554,216) in 1925. In the minds of many metallurgists the introduction of xanthate as a flotation reagent is identified with the beginnings of alkaline circuits, the first use of chemical collectors, and the beginning of selective flotation. Actually, these preceded xanthatc by a number of years. The alkaline circuit in lead-zinc flotation was introduced by Lyster as early as 1912. In 1922 Sheridann and Griswold made their momentous discovery (Timber Butte) that alkali cyanides and zinc sulphate effectively inhibited the flotation of pyrite and sphalerite in pulps made alkaline with sodium carbonate or bicarbonate. The use of lime to retard pyrite in copper flotation began within two years after Ralston directed attention to its possibilities in 1917. These were the beginnings of modern selective flotation, which was practiced successfully on copper-iron ores at Nacozari in 1922, and at Inspiration, Cananea, and others only shortly afterward. In the lead-zinc mills, selective flotation was of even greater economic importance at that time. The Sunnyside plant of U. S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co. used the process earlier than 1920, and Consolidated, Timber Butte, and others soon followed. As a chemical collector xanthate was relatively a latecomer, for the Corliss patent of 1917 covered the first of these, alpha-naphthylamine, and the Perkins patent of 1918 the second, thiocarbanilid. Both of these were in extensive use before Keller's xanthate made its commercial debut in 1923. There is general agreement, nonetheless, that the introduction of xanthate was

Jan 1, 1947

By W. L. Fink, L. A. Willey

During the war there was introduced a new higher strength aircraft alloy designated 75S.1,2,3 The properties of this alloy assure extensive applications in both military and commercial aircraft. It is therefore important to understand its limitations as well as advantages. The properties of 75.5 alloy in the heat-treated tempers, like those of many other aluminum alloys, are affected by the rate of quenching. In general, low quenching rates tend to cause low strengths and to adversely affect the resistance to corrosion. Commercial quenching procedures are usually sufficiently rapid to permit the development of maximum properties. However, in the center of heavy sections, such as large rolled and extruded shapes, the quenching rates may not be rapid enough to develop maximum strength or resistance to corrosion. The investigations of 75s alloy described herein reveal the most critical range of temperature and the effects of quenching sheet and extrusions at different rates through that temperature range, on the tensile properties and resistance to corrosion. Procedure Preparation of Specimens Sheet specimens (3 in. by 9 in.) were prepared from a commercial lot of 75s "as rolled" sheet (0.064 in. thick). The composition4 was as follows: Weight Percentage Cu Mn Mg Zn Cr A1 with Normal Impurities 1.64 0.16 2.58 5.66 0.27 Remainder The specimens employed for the determination of the time-temperature relations during quenching of sheet were prepared by the following procedure: the hot junction of a 28-ga. iron-constantan thermoelement (asbestos insulated) was brazed to a thin strip of aluminum which was in turn brazed into the end of a 3/16-in. id by %-in. od by 30 in. long aluminum protection tube. Before brazing, the tube was flattened to 0.064-in. thickness over the junction and adjacent lead wires for a distance of I 1/2 in. The flattened end of the tube was fitted into a slot cut from one edge to the center of the 3-in. by 9-in. by 0.064-in. sheet and brazed into place. The brazed joint was dressed to the thickness of the sheet and the entire specimen buffed to approximately the brightness of "as rolled" material. Because of the brazing operations required, these specimens were prepared using 3S alloy. For the investigation of quenching rates in heavy sections, there were used 75s extrusions which had compositions similar to that of the sheet. The specimens consisted of 14 in. lengths of 3i-in., 2-in., 3-in, and 4-in. diam cylindrical rods and a roughly rectangular extruded section which was approximately 4 in. by 7 1/2 in. Thcrmocouple~ were peened into the bottoms Of .1/8-in. diam wells drilled into one end and parallel to the axis to a depth of

Jan 1, 1949

By E. Brunner, G. L. Hassler, T. J. Deahl

The capillary effects in reservoir rock are discussed in terms of the pressures they cause in sandstones and dolomites. Data for the two-phase case (oil-gas or water-gas) and for the three-phase case (oil, water and gas in rock) are used to demonstrate that in one sense the wetting preference of a rock depends on its saturation. The nature of capillary hysteresis is described for partially stable conditions, and the concept is enlarged. Reproducibly measurable pressures include the "capillary pressure," which is the pressure difference between any two phases that are each interconnected; the "threshold pressure," necessary to force a nonwetting phase through partially saturated rock; the "displacement pressure," which is that special case of the threshold pressure in which both phases fully saturate separate portions of the rock. Displacement pressure is equal to the minimum value of the "capillary pressure." The theory of flow including capillary forces is developed at the producing surface of a well to reveal the presence there of a pressure discontinuity in the gas (or other nonwetting) phase that can be controlled to the end that more oil may be poduced from an oil field. Experiments with packed sand-flow tubes having artificial producing surfaces support the theory. Introduction The basic surface quantities acting in an oil field are two: namely, surface tensions and contact angles. These are the quantities, variously expressed, and particularized as spreading forces, adhesion tensions, heats of wetting, etc., which are measured in the laboratory by techniques mostly confined to flat or circularly cylindrical surfaces. Such measurements have not had the extensive engineering application they seem to deserve because in most practical cases they are unavoidably compounded with the complex and unapproached subject of the internal shape of the interstices of rock. In this paper it is intended that the pressure differences developed in rock by capillarity be examined, defined, and given some engineering use in terms of some new measurements that have been made. Such pressure differences—namely, the capillary pressure, the displacement pressure and the threshold pressure—seem to provide a proper contact between the basic molecular quantities and the oil field. While certain modifications of usage will be undertaken, the present effort rests upon the background of work by the U. S. Geological Survey,l by Versluys, and especially by W. 0. Smith, 3,4,5 which has been reviewed recently in papers by Leverett.=s7 The most important concept of pressure difference is the capillary pressure, a function of saturation that expresses the pressure difference between the interconnected phases in a rock. It is often measured when water and air are the fluids present, but it can be measured with other fluids. A number of curves of capillary pressure have recently been measured by a method which it is intended shall be published in a later paper. Since heretofore capillary-pressure measurements upon rock have not been

Jan 1, 1944

By G. L. Hassler, E. Brunner, T. J. Deahl

The capillary effects in reservoir rock are discussed in terms of the pressures they cause in sandstones and dolomites. Data for the two-phase case (oil-gas or water-gas) and for the three-phase case (oil, water and gas in rock) are used to demonstrate that in one sense the wetting preference of a rock depends on its saturation. The nature of capillary hysteresis is described for partially stable conditions, and the concept is enlarged. Reproducibly measurable pressures include the "capillary pressure," which is the pressure difference between any two phases that are each interconnected; the "threshold pressure," necessary to force a nonwetting phase through partially saturated rock; the "displacement pressure," which is that special case of the threshold pressure in which both phases fully saturate separate portions of the rock. Displacement pressure is equal to the minimum value of the "capillary pressure." The theory of flow including capillary forces is developed at the producing surface of a well to reveal the presence there of a pressure discontinuity in the gas (or other nonwetting) phase that can be controlled to the end that more oil may be poduced from an oil field. Experiments with packed sand-flow tubes having artificial producing surfaces support the theory. Introduction The basic surface quantities acting in an oil field are two: namely, surface tensions and contact angles. These are the quantities, variously expressed, and particularized as spreading forces, adhesion tensions, heats of wetting, etc., which are measured in the laboratory by techniques mostly confined to flat or circularly cylindrical surfaces. Such measurements have not had the extensive engineering application they seem to deserve because in most practical cases they are unavoidably compounded with the complex and unapproached subject of the internal shape of the interstices of rock. In this paper it is intended that the pressure differences developed in rock by capillarity be examined, defined, and given some engineering use in terms of some new measurements that have been made. Such pressure differences—namely, the capillary pressure, the displacement pressure and the threshold pressure—seem to provide a proper contact between the basic molecular quantities and the oil field. While certain modifications of usage will be undertaken, the present effort rests upon the background of work by the U. S. Geological Survey,l by Versluys, and especially by W. 0. Smith, 3,4,5 which has been reviewed recently in papers by Leverett.=s7 The most important concept of pressure difference is the capillary pressure, a function of saturation that expresses the pressure difference between the interconnected phases in a rock. It is often measured when water and air are the fluids present, but it can be measured with other fluids. A number of curves of capillary pressure have recently been measured by a method which it is intended shall be published in a later paper. Since heretofore capillary-pressure measurements upon rock have not been

Jan 1, 1944

By Peter A. Allen

INTRODUCTION Lac Minerals Ltd., a significant North American producer of gold and other metals for over three decades, recently completed the financing for its third discovery in an eight year period. From 1975 to 1982, three important gold deposits in Quebec and Ontario: namely Bousquet, Doyon and Hemlo, were located and tested by company geologists. When current development plans are complete, Lac will have injected $400 million into these deposits. A discussion of these projects and their financing reveals some extraordinary challenges faced by top mining management. Responses to these challenges developed by Lac management may interest executives planning to proceed with new North American gold or base metal mines. MINE DE BOUSQUET In 1976, we explored a property containing a large low grade surface gold deposit. The geologial setting was exciting and we tested recent rethinking about the volcanigenic genesis of gold and base metal occurrences. These ideas helped pus to persist in drilling a nearby conductor and 600,000 ton, 0.22 ounce/ton orebody was outlined. With gold at $Cdn.150 per ounce the feasibility was approved and work started February 1978. Availability of a company custom mill 35 miles away reduced our immediate capital needs to $8.5 million. First of all, understanding the geological significance of results at Bousquet was critical. Mine and surface exploration geologists at Lac are continually and closely working together to better understand the nature of gold deposits in the Shield. This management emphasis on both pure and mine geology meant that a much larger ore reserve could confidently be predicted. (A proposal to quickly develop and ship the ore to a nearby company mine was discarded.) Instead of designing just for the initial plan of 500 tons per day we therefore included headframe, shaft and hoisting capacity for 1,700 tons and provided a compartment for future shaft deepening. These prebuilt additions were welcomed within two years. The type of collaboration whereby surface and mine geologists make study and field projects of each other's problems sets the foundation for this predictive ability. At Lac, the traditional responsibility for and supervision of the mine geologist by the mine manager is modified by this collaboration. This adds interest and scope to the geologist's work and lets him think beyond production requirements. Besides such management considerations, dedicated, professional geologists with integrity and lots of practical experience are needed to plan successful developments like Bousquet. Second, projecting future bullion revenue was critical and our experience selling production for future delivery gave us a way to ensure that loan repayment at term would not be jeopardized by falling metal prices. Output from a single mine is often reduced or curtailed for numerous reasons, so "selling forward" is done best and with least risk by companies like Lac with more than one or two producing locations for that metal. At first, a forward marketing program was considered unwise, speculative and unorthodox by analysts and other producers. Declining markets in the early 1980s prolonged gold project capital recoveries however, and critics were better able to appreciate the usefulness of such a tool. The notion that gold miners shouldn't sell forward is rooted in the belief that long-run gold prices will rise as modern social theory implementation in democracies inevitably erodes currency values. Selling against this trend goes against this industry belief or "ethic" and is at odds with the company shareholder who expects the gold price to rise not fall. Nonetheless, an efficient tool is available to the gold producer (not to most other metal producers) to quickly disengage from adverse price trends or to lock in spot prices instantaneously for two years or more of profits. Gold had recently retreated from U.S.$200 to $104 and now had reversed to $150. Lac had been forced to close several of its producers during the late 1960s because central bank-controlled

Jan 1, 1985

By Donald L. Johnson

REVIEWS on the applications of optical ellipsometry to the study of polycrystalline metal surfaces and oxidation-corrosion processes have been presented by Kruger and Hayfield, and white.' In view of the ability of this method to measure differences in film thicknesses to below 10A, ellipsometry was used to study nitrogen chromium surface reactions during the early stages of growth. Chromium specimens in the form of a vapor-deposited film on glass substrate were exposed to purified nitrogen for selected time increments at 700°F. This temperature was selected because it gave the best combination of exposure time and thickness change. Ellipsometer readings were taken immediately after exposure to determine polarizer and analyzer angles using monochromatic light at 5000A.2 After each set of readings was obtained, the specimens were exposed for an additional increment of time in nitrogen and a new set of readings taken. Film thickness was computed from LUCy's3 equation for nonabsorbing thin films. In Lucy's derivation, two equations for computing thickness were obtained. Peterson and Bashara4 have discussed the validity for using one of these equations when an independent value of the refractive index is used. The film was assumed to be Cr2N (Ref. 5) and was determined to be optically isotropic. Optical isotropy was determined by rotating the films about the surface normal and noting that the azimuth and phase difference did not change. Since Cr2N is reported to be hexagonal, it is assumed that optical isotropy results from randomly oriented grains of very small size. The thickness was computed using refractive indexes varying from 1.6 to 2.0. The maximum variation in computed thickness over this range for a given exposure was 20 pct. The data reported are based on a refractive index of 1.8. Reference readings on the metal surface were taken just prior to nitrogen exposure. No attempt was made to deoxidize or denitride the metal surface after vapor deposition, although specimens were observed to gain approximately 2A per day in air at room temperature. Twelve experimental exposures were made on a single sample over a total accumulative time of 132 min. Additional experiments over longer time intervals were made to determine the effect of heat up and cool down during and after exposure. As a result of these experiments, the thickness computed for each exposure was increased by 4A. Time profiles based on the linear law are similar to the oxidation profiles for many metals.' The rate of accumulation of the nitride film is rapid at first and slows down as the film thickness increases. The parabolic law x2 =k1t +k2 [11 gives a straight line in Fig. 1; therefore, it is concluded that the kinetic behavior is parabolic. Sey-bolt and Haman5 reported similar results for CrlN on chromium at 1000°C although the order of the thickness was much greater (10-3 cm). Analysis of thickness data based on other values of refractive index shows that the curves are shifted vertically but retain the same shape. According to Mott,7 it is expected that for thin films k2 is zero in Eq. [I]. Since the plot in Fig. 1 is linear through the origin, k2 is zero and the parabolic nature of the film growth is further indicated. The parabolic rate constant, calculated from the slope in Fig. 1, is 4.4 x 10-16 sq cm per sec. The corresponding work (+) required to bring an electron from the metal into the oxide is estimated to be 1.5 ev.7 The author thanks professor N. M. Bashara and D. W. Peterson, Electrical Materials Laboratory, University of Nebraska, for making the ellipsometer available and providing technical assistance. The Electrical Materials Laboratory is supported by the office of Naval Research, NONR 3718 (01). This work was partially supported by the Engineering Experiment Station and the Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Nebraska.

Jan 1, 1967