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By R. G. Fleck, W. R. Webb

Iron ore mining in the Adirondack region of northern New York dates back to the Revolutionary War. It is recorded that Benedict Arnold in his campaigns in the Lake Champlain area during the American Revolution utilized the local ores to produce armament and cannon balls. Through the efforts of early pioneers, the iron mining industry in northern New York gained impetus so that in the 1880's mines in the area accounted for nearly one fourth of the iron ore produced in the United States. Both magnetite and red hematite ores were mined during this period. With the discovery of the Lake Superior ores, the iron ore industry in New York started to decline and remained relatively unimportant until 1938. Modern day methods of mining and beneficiating sufficiently high tonnages of low-grade ores to justify the large expenditures for plant and equipment prompted a resurgence in northern New York mining. During the past several years, the production of iron ore from the Adirondack magnetites has greatly increased, and production which amounted to .6%, of the United States total during the 1918-1928 period (Mining and Metallurgy, November 1943) has been increased to 2.85% of the total in 1948. Today, Republic Steel is mining in the Port Henry-Mineville and Lyon Mountain areas; the

Jan 4, 1950

By V. Koump, T. F. Perzak, R. G. Olsson

Jan 1, 1965

By Paul W. Zimmer, Carl E. Dutton

Iron ore in the Menominee district is mined from two iron-formations of middle Precambrian age. The older formation is present in the northeastern part; is composed mainly of hematite, magnetite, quartz, and minor silicates; and contains about 34 per cent iron. The rock has been so coarsened by meta- morphism that concentration of magnetite and hematite is feasib!e, and pellets containing more than 60 per cent iron are being produced. The older formation is also present in the southeastern part where it has 1:een only slightly metamorphosed. Ore containing more than 50 per cent iron was formerly mined from local residual concentrations of iron oxides from which silica had been sufficiently leached, or replaced by iron oxide, or affected by combinations of these processes. The younger iron-formation occurs in the western part of the district and, if unaltered, is interlayered siderite and chert. The ore in this area also contains more than 50 per cent iron and formed as local residual concentrations but in two stages. The siderite was converted to iron oxides (hematite and "limonite"), and silica was contemporaneously or subsequently removed by leaching, or replacement, or combinations of these processes.

Jan 1, 1968

R. F. MCELVENNY.- Over 20 years ago I went back East on a little tour of copper companies to see how copper was handled and fabricated, and I met a Mr. Bassett who took me through the Waterbury branche of the American Brass Co. I have not seen this gentleman for 20 years, but I have a letter from him that I would like to read to you. 'The American Brass Co. Waterbury, Conn. May 19, 1930. To the-Salt Lake City Conference on Reverberatory Smelting Practice: Through the courtesy of Mr. Scott Turner, Director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Mr. G. L. Oldright has been temporarily released from his regular duties to act as your secretary. We have asked him and Mr. McElvenny to make the necessary preliminary arrangements and to present to you at the opening session the greetings of the officers and' directors of the Institute. I am very glad that it has been possible for you to come together under the auspices of the Institute and that the acceptance of our invitation has been so very unanimous. Such an acceptance of the invitation to this meeting indicates your interest in getting together for an exchange of technical data and ideas. We anticipate that this meeting will be of real service to the smelting industry through your open discussion and exchange of ideas, and we sincerely hope that you will form an organization which will arrange for future meetings of a similar nature. While it probably may not be desirable to. distribute the minutes of this conference except to the members who take part in it, we hope that later the Institute publications may be enriched by such matter as you think it desirable to have published; and also, that some of you may be able to offer technical papers for the Institute publications. I hope that you will find a permanent organization desirable and trust that it will be possible for you to form such an organization so that conferences may be regularly called. We hope that you can make use of the Institute organization and that we can be of real service to your industry. With best wishes for your success in this undertaking, I am Most cordially yours, W. H. Bassett, President.

Jan 1, 1930

[AARONSON, E.: Discussion on Recent Developments in Fractionation as Applied to Tube Still Distillation, G26, 418 Abbe. See Microscope. Abbe apertometer, 95, 16 ABBOTT, W. L.: A.S.M.E. president, M26,113 biography, M26,113 ABORN, R. H.: Discussions: on Effects of Columbium in Chromium-nickel Steels 113, 159 on Pure Iron and Allotropic Transformations 84, 342 on Prevention of Intergranular Corrosion, 100,329 ABORN, R. H. AND BAIN, E. C.: Discussion on Widmanstätten Structure in Ironcarbon Alloys 105, 252]

Jan 1, 1936

By A. E. Anderson, H. J. Hilll

Laboratory data for 155 field muds and 77 .shales have been used to develop correlations to estimate the net streaming potential component of the SP. Analysis of these data and comparison with field tests show that streaming potential corrections must be made to obtain an accurate estimate of the electrochemical potential for use in the determinntion of formation water resi-iiviy. The self-potential curve is related to formation water resistivity, and considerable effort within the oil industry has been directed toward clarifying this relationship. The Schlumbergers and Leonardon1,2 recognized that two types of potentials, electrochemical and electro-kinetic, resulted in the net potential variation in the borehole. Most of the later papers have dealt with the electrochemical component and its controlling parameters. The investigations of Wyllie,2" Salisch' and Moore5 provide the most extensive sources of data on streaming potentials across mud cakes. These authors observed streaming potentials of sufficient magnitude to be of critical importance in SP interpretation, if it is assumed that streaming potentials develop only opposite permeable beds. Streaming potentials across shales have been reported by Schenck and by Gondouin, et al.7 Since SP magnitude is the difference in potential opposite shale and sand beds, these authors suggested that the net streaming potential component may be negligible. The present investigation was initiated to evaluate empirically some of the parameters controlling the magnitude of the net borehole streaming potential and to determine whether useful relations between mud properties and net streaming potential could be established. Field muds were used in this investigation. These muds were characterized by the amount and type of chemical treatment utilized for five days before Sampling. Filter loss, mud resistivity, mud density and filtrate resistivity were determined for each mud with conventional methods and apparatus. Mud filtrate pH was estimated with Hydrion pH paper for the appropriate range. Streaming PotentIals Across MuD Cakes Commercial calomel-saturated KC1 electrodes are subject to potential changes attributed to contamination of the very small fiber-tip bridge by particles of clay from the drilling mud.3 To minimize this difficulty, a large diameter bridge (Fig. 1) was constructed with saturated KC1-agar gel and a filter disc of microporous porcelain. Experiments showed that streaming potentials across this bridge are less than 0.2 mv at pressure dif-

Eight members of the Board, the Secretary of the Institute, and eleven guests were present. Vice-president Henry S. Drinker presided. The President was authorized to appoint delegates to a meeting, on May 16, of the League to Enforce Peace. The Joint Conference Committee reported that the American Institute of Metals had accepted the invitation to form the Institute of Metals Division of this Institute. The Committee on Publications of the Institute of Metals was added to the Committee on Publications of the A. I. M. E. Exchange of one volume of Transactions of the A. I. M. E. at reduced price to members of the British Institute of Metals was authorized, in return for the reduced price given to our Institute of Metals Division on the annual proceedings of the British Institute.

Jan 6, 1918

By W. A. Tiller, J. D. Harrison

HOT pressing of powder particles has gained importance recently, since it affords a method in which high densities are rapidly attained. In a recent study on hot pressing of alumina powders, Mangsen, Lam-bertson, and Best1 have shown within the limits of their experiment, the validity the rate equation for densification in hot pressing, originally proposed by Murray, Livey, and Williams.2 i.e., where D = fraction of theoretical density, t = time, P = pressure and 77 is the viscosity, all in appropriate units. This equation was derived from earlier work of Shuttleworth and Mackenzie3 which is based on the closing of spherical pores under the action of surface tension. The integrated form of this equation yields a straight-line relation between log (1 - D) and t. Such conditions were found by Felten4 to be true only after extended periods of pressing. In an endeavor to quantitatively evaluate the exactitude of this equation in the initial sintering stage, i.e., prior to sealing of the pores, spherical anti-

Jan 1, 1962

By R. J. Colony

DEPOSITS of iron are widely scattered in the folded Cretaceous rocks and the associated igneous intrusives of Puerto Rico. Most of them are too small for commercial development, but a few have aroused some scientific and economic interest, among them the large body of residua] limonite at the west end of the island near Mayaguez1-6 (Fig. 1) and the mixed hematite and magnetite deposit on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Cayey, about four miles north of Arroyo.7-9 Neither of these orebodies has been developed, nor have investigations of the widely distributed deposits of magnetite, which include all the remaining occurrences of iron deserving of economic consideration, proceeded beyond the exploratory stage. With the possible exception of the mixed deposit near Arroyo, the magnetite is directly associated with andesitic and dioritic intrusives, which invade the Cretaceous rock section, and the bulk of it, occurring in calcareous sediments, is clearly of contact-replacement origin. The small deposit on Rio Portugues, north of Ponce, is found in a limestone band near its contact with an andesite dike.10,11 Two deposits of unde-

Jan 1, 1935

By C. E. Melbye

A serious problem confronted the city of Gunnison early in 1958 in that, for a few months during each spring runoff, the water supply derived from the Gunnison River became polluted to an unsafe point. The city management had the choice of building a new filter plant to replace the old unworkable one or drilling wells to develop a ground water supply. The cost of a new filter plant was estimated at $180,000 compared to $50,000 for 6 wells, pumps, and additional water lines, hence their decision to attempt the development of sufficient ground water. Six wells at 300 gpm per well were estimated as necessary to handle the peak usage of 1800 gpm, compared to only 600 gpm winter usage. Although the water table is only about 7 feet below the surface, existing private wells drilled at random locations were producing much less than 300 gpm. The problem was to find sufficient quantities from about 6 wells. Since the presence of an ancient bedrock channel was suspected, which would be expected to localize greater quantities of water, the city of Gunnison authorized a resistivity survey to investigate bedrock topography below unconsolidated gravels. Survey results were highly satisfactory and led to the preparation of a fairly detailed bedrock contour map, Fig. 1. This map was used in selection of all well sites. The city of Gunnison is situated in a flat, broad, Quaternary gravel-filled valley (terrain dips south at 20 feet per mile) at the junction of the Gunnison River and Tomichi Creek. The valley, about 2-4 miles wide, is bordered by hills of Tertiary volcanics to the northwest, Cretaceous and Jurassic sediments to the north and northeast, and pre-Cambrian granite and gneiss to the south. One previous deep test well at the west end of the city hit pre-Cambrian granite at 496 feet, which, allowing for 40 feet of surface gravels, makes the older sedimentary section 456 feet thick. This section is probably all Jurassic Morrison formation, consisting of the Saltwash sandstone overlain by the much thicker section of Brushy Basin shales and mudstones. According to the driller's logs, each well was bottomed in what is believed to be Brushy Basin shale. FIELD PROCEDURE A standard Gish-Rooney type of resistivity apparatus was employed, which used 45-volt dry batteries as a direct-current power source. Applied voltages could be selected from 45 volts to a 270-volt maximum. Copper-coated steel stakes were employed as current electrodes and porous porcelain pots as potential electrodes to avoid possible polarization effects with direct current. The expanding Wenner electrode configuration was utilized for this investigation and measurements were made at 20 40, 60, 80, and 100-foot spacings,

Jan 1, 1961

By W. J. Verner, J. R. Lucas

Billions of tons of bulk solid materials are processed through our industrial plants each year, and the tonnage is steadily rising. It has been estimated that for every dollar spent in industry as a whole, approxinlately 30 cents is consumed in the handling of bulk solid materials. It is in this category that tremendous savings are possible through the use of improved techniques. Since World War 11, the mining, steel, chemical, and grain industries, among others have made use of increased materials-handling automation in order to gain some of these savings. However, in a chain of automatic operations, every link must be completely reliable, for if there is a single failure, the whole system immediately becomes ineffective. Only too often the weak link in the chain proves to be the flow of bulk solids from bins. To contribute to the fundamental knowledge in this area, a research study has been continuing at The Ohio State University. The principal objective of the investigation has been to study the internal stresses existing in confined bulk solids. LITERATURE SURVEY Literature studies have revealed that many outstanding people have made contributions to the field of bulk solids. For instance, C. F. Jenkin,1 suggested: a. The pressure on a bin wall is not directly proportional to the depth beneath the surface of material in the bin. b. The vertical pressure distribution on the base of a bin is not actually uniform but is a variable. c. Arches form in bins as a result of very small deformations of the material in the bin. This deformation causes a series of gaps to appear, and consequently causes the disappearance of diagonal forces that cannot act across these gaps. The removal of the diagonal forces causes horizontal forces to be introduced which seem to be the chief cause of arching. 11. A. Janssen,4 in 1895 in connection with his experiments on bins, derived a differential equation to describe both the lateral and vertical pressure in bins with vertical sides. This represents a significant contribution to bulk solid theory, and thus its solution is reproduced as follows: L = KV = RW/U' [l-e -U'KY/R] I where L is the lateral pressure of the bulk solid in psf., V is the vertical pressure of the bulk solid in psf., K is the ratio of the lateral pressure to the vertical pressure at any point, R is the hydraulic radius of the bin in feet, W is the density of the bulk solid in lbs. per cubic feet, U' is the coefficient of friction between the stored material and the bin wall, and Y is the head of material above the point in question in feet. In 1903, Jamieson,6 in an elaborate series of experiments on full sized bins measured vertical and lateral pressures by hydraulic diaphragms. He determined many values for mediums of corn, wheat, peas, and flaxseed. In 1951, Caughey, Tooles, and scheer3 measured both lateral and vertical pressure in deep bins by using strain guages on steel bands. Values were calculated for cement, gravel, sand, soy beans, shelled corn

Jan 1, 1961

By M. R. Pickus, I. W. Pickus

ORDINARILY age-hardening is thought of as being associated with a limited solubility of one metal in another. Much less has been written about the type of age-hardening that attends the formation of superstructures. Solid solutions generally have a disordered or random arrangement of atoms; that is to say, in a unit cell, such as that of the face-centered cubic lattice, there is no distinction between atomic sites. Atoms of a given metal may occupy cube corners or face centers. Under certain conditions, however, some alloys develop what is known as an ordered structure. In this case, cube corners would be occupied by only one type of atom and face centers by another type, Associated with this ordering process are many interesting changes in physical and electrical properties. Moreover, in many instances the alloys become susceptible to age-hardening. From the evidence now to be described, it appears that age-hardening in 14-carat gold alloys is due to the formation of both a super-structure and a precipitate. Alloys of the metals gold, silver and copper were known in antiquity. The available knowledge regarding their constitution has been ably summarized and extended by Sterner-Rainer,1 Janecke,2 Carter,3 Wise,4 and Coleman.5 Despite the long familiarity with these alloys and the numerous investigations of their properties that have been made, there is still much that remains unexplained. It has been known for a long time that the hardness of these alloys is closely related to the rate of cooling, Similar changes have been observed in the binary gold-copper system,6 one alloy of which corresponding to the formula Cu3Au, has been the subject of a careful and competent report by the English investigators, Sykes and Evans.7 They have established the fact that the shift of atoms from the ordered to the disordered condition takes place in some critical temperature range. At temperatures above the critical range the structure is random, and at temperatures below it the structure is ordered. No difference between these two structures is revealed by the microscope. Both have a face-centered cubic lattice and complete solubility, so that there is no evidence to suggest that the changes in properties are associated with a phase change, The more slowly the alloy is cooled, the higher is the degree to which the ordering process proceeds and the more marked is the increase in hardness. As experimental data were accumulated on 14-carat gold alloys, several contradictions arose. Certain observations tended to confirm the existence of a superstructure, while other observations seemed to be inconsistent with such a transformation. PRESENT INVESTIGATION As a focal point about which to develop this subject, it is expedient to consider first

Jan 1, 1943

By S. M. M. Safvi, A. Jowett

Small-scale continuous flotation tests are described in which the influence of 1) pulp density and 2) feed rate on the rate of flotation are investigated. The results provide further evidence of first-order kinetics for flotation and indicate that tests at different feed rates provide a particularly simple method of determining rate constants. Flotation kinetics are discussed in general terms. Over a period of many years numerous research workers have studied the rate of recovery of valuable materials from flotation pulps with a view to deter-mining the mechanism of the froth flotation process. Froth flo ation is fundamentally a collision process involviug at some stage collision and then mutual attachment between air bubbles and mineral particles. It is possible to draw analogies therefore between the flotation process involving mainly macroscopic particles and the ordinary processes of chemical reaction kinetics involving collisions between atoms, molecules and ions. By adopting this analogy we may postulate a general equation representing the kinetics of the flotation process: -dC/dt =K.CC ,Aa (1) The rate constant, K, will be a complex function involving reagent concentrations, particle and bubble sizes, induction times and no doubt flotation cell design. However, these are factors which can be kept constant in any series of experiments, permitting investigation of the exponents a and c, which determine the order of the reaction occurring in flotation. The various research investigations carried out so far have all aimed at evaluating a and c and in the majority of cases only since the concentration of air has usually been kept constant in a series of tests, so that a relationship of the following type has been investigated: -dC/dt = K1 Cc (2) The techniques of both batch testing and continuous testing have been used to investigate this relationship. The technique of continuous testing, in which steady-state conditions are established, permits direct investigation of the above equation. In the case of batch testing, C is decreasing continuously

Jan 1, 1961

By Samuel M. Shallcross

The principal function of the Bell limestone mine, of the American Lime & Stone Co., at Bellefonte, Pa., is to supply raw material to the company's modern rotary kiln plant at Bellefonte. Because mining costs are naturally higher than many open quarries with more favorably lying strata, it cannot compete, except to a limited extent, in the markets for road material and fluxing stone. In the broad sense, mining does have an advantage over the average open quarry when the end products are designed for and controlled by process and final inspection for the exacting demands of the industrial and chemical markets. Approximately 80 per cent of the output of the Bell mine is sold in the industrial and chemical markets. And as higher standards are set each year for construction and agricultural work, the remainder of the mine output goes to these two classes. Mining produces more fines than open quarries, and these fines are difficult to market; on the other hand, owing to absence of contaminating clay and impure rock, a greater percentage of the output of a mine is marketable. Because of the great production of fines, rotary kilns for lime burning are necessary when the stone must be mined. In 1921 the American Lime & Stone Co. operated 19 quarries and 72 lime shaft kilns spread over an area of 40 miles between Bellefonte and Altoona, Pa. At that time the lime-production capacity of the 72 kilns amounted to approximately 700 tons per day. After 15 years the company operates three rotary kilns and six shaft kilns, with a combined output of approximately 500 tons of lime per day, concentrated in its single Bellefonte plant (Fig. 1). Its only stone-producing plants are now the limestone mine at Bellefonte and a construction-stone open quarry at Union Furnace, near Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Since the middle of 1922, the management of the American Lime R. Stone Co. has been under the direction and ownership of the Warner Company, of Philadelphia. To the Warner Company's experience, gained through successful operation of lime plants in eastern Pennsylvania for many years, and the successful solution of material-handling problems

Jan 1, 1937

By R. N. Zitter

PRESENT work was done in connection with a program for obtaining a low energy gap semiconductor suitable for photodetection. The inter-metallic compound InSb, which is now being in-

Jan 1, 1959

By C. C. Miller, A. R. Belyea, C. H. Herty, E. B. Burkart

The removal of sulfur from steel has been studied by many investigators, but the quantitative relationships between the factors involved have not been determined. This is undoubtedly due to the number of variables encountered in practice, an attempt to study any one reaction or relation being affected by other reactions the relative importance of which cannot be estimated. The factors that affect the extent of removal of sulfur in the basic open-hearth process are generally considered to be: 1. Basicity of the slag: (a) Iron oxides in the slag; (b) carbon in the metal or carbide in the slag; (c) temperature. These factors affect the reactions: FeS + CaO = CaS + FeO FeS + CaO + C = CaS + CO + Fe. 2. Amount of sulfur in the gas. 3. Amount of manganese in the metal. The factors which affect the rate of removal of sulfur include, in addition to these: 4. Fluidity of the slag: (a) Normal changes in fluidity with temperature; (b) changes in fluidity because of the addition of special reagents such as fluorspar. 5. Agitation of the bath. Within the past two years, two papers have been presented dealing with the influence of sulfur in the gas on slag and metal. Nead' has shown that if a gas high in sulfur be used for heating, the metal and slag will absorb sulfur. Whitely2 concluded from his experiments that if a

Jan 1, 1925

By J. L. Gillson

Joseph H. Birman (Chairman, Dept. of Geolcgy, Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif.) Many thanks to J. L. Gillson for so comprehensive a survey of the titanium sand deposits of the world. Over the past two years, the writer studied rather carefully some of the Cretaceous ilmenite deposits in New Mexico and Colorado, including the Sanostee deposit shown in Gillson' s map, Fig. 6. The deposits were geologically mapped and sampled, surveyed by magnetometer, and the Sanostee deposit was drilled. Moat of the genetic interpretations made by Gillson concerning the recent sedimentary ilmenites can be clearly read in the Cre-taceous deposits in New Mexico. The deposits are in marine regressive members of the Mesaverde group. The deposits trend within a few degrees of N 55° W and persistence of this trend through both distance and time (the deposits are in different members of the Mesaverde group) implies that the deposits are offshore bar accumulations. Heavy mineral content ranges from about 10 pct to more than 50 pet. Thicknesses are from 4 ft to as much as 20 ft, widths range from 150 to 600 ft, and lengths range from a few thousand feet to a few miles. All are locally or completely overlain by carbonaceous shale and thin coal. The deposits are strongly altered, and from X-ray diffraction the principal titanium alteration product appears to be anatase. Drilling of the Sanostee deposit shows that the alteration is not related to the present erosion surface but took place at the site of deposition and before burial by the overlying sediments. Iron oxide derived from the alteration cements the grains and is the chief coloring agent in the immediately overlying shales. In the Sanostee deposit, there is virtually no feldspar, the gangue mineral being almost exclusively quartz. Sorting is excellent, but the quartz grains are subangular to angular. Petrographic examination reveals that the angularity is not due to overgrowths. Therefore, short distance transport is implied. The mineralogical composition suggests a low relief granitic terrane as the source area. Feldspar may have been decomposed by weathering at the source, but an alternative preferred by the writer is that each of the deposits represents a long-term concentration site (for example a large sand bar) which was continually being deprived of light minerals by wave action and selective transport. Feldspar may have been mechanically reduced in size more quickly than the quartz, and thus its rate of removal may have exceeded that of quartz. Concentration of heavy minerals would thus occur until the marine regression removed the zone of maximum wave energy from the site. Chemical alteration would then become the most important process until burial by encroaching swamp deposits.

Jan 1, 1961

By Robert Stefanko

With passage of the Clean Streams Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its impact on the coal industry, considerable research has been conducted to explore various approaches to the problem, including deep-well disposal. Available drillhole data from gas and oil wells were used to develop cross -sectional maps for various portions of the state and potential disposal zones were evaluated. Bethlehem Mines Corp., faced with a severe water problem at its Marianna operation in Washington County, cooperated with the Dept. of Mining at The Pennsylvania State University in establishing a 1500-ft well into the Salt Sands for the purpose of determining the feasibility of mine water disposal. The thickness, porosity, and permeability of the formation at the well site proved to be below what had been anticipated from drillhole data. Further, subsequent hydraulic fracturing did not improve the flow characteristics of the well; pumping pressures remained in the range of 1800-2000 psig for disposing of water at the rate of 150 gpm. The legal problems of disposal at the site were very formidable. When the Salt Sands proved to be less than satisfactory, permission could not be obtained to dispose in other promising formations. The paper details many of the problems associated with the experimental well and makes an assessment of the potential for deep-well disposal of mine water. The concept of disposing of liquid industrial wastes by deep-well injection is not a new one. Brines associated with crude oil long have been disposed of in this manner, with the additional benefit of aiding secondary oil recovery. More recently, with the expansion of nuclear energy, the lethal, highly radioactive wastes which are by-products of the fission process have created severe disposal problems. During the past ten years, a variety of industries have resorted to subsurface disposal, some of the details of which are given e1sewhere.l,2 The list reveals wide variations in injection rate, pumping pressure, cost, and waste disposition. Included are successful installations in Western Pennsylvania. Enactment of more restrictive clean-water legislation in Pennsylvania recently had a great impact on the coal industry. Among its provisions was the reclassifica-tion of most mine water as industrial waste whose dis-posal is prohibited in any stream of the Commonwealth. This had the effect of accelerating research in a variety of areas, although treatment methods still retained primary interest. When a feasibility study of deep-well disposal was proposed to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Mines and Mineral Industries, the Coal Research Board (CRB) approved it. This paper summarizes the efforts on this project. Acid mine water is a chemically complex liquid. having no definite quantitative relationship among its constituents. However, it is the iron disulfide (FeS2) associated with practically all coal seams that produces the objectionable products present in acid mine water when combined with air and water. The principal contaminants are sulfuric acid (H2SO,) and ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)2. Ferric hydroxide is a rust-colored gelatinous precipitate that coats stream bottoms and destroys aquatic life. However, other ions and bacteria are present in acid mine water in varying amounts.

Jan 1, 1971

By Hubert E. Risser

Although, for about a half-century the percentage of coal production provided through strip mining has steadily increased, recent trends indicate that a peak in percentage (not tonnage) is being approached, principally because of the decline in economic adrantage enjoyed by strip mining compared to underground mining. Factors contributing to the decline are the decrease in the margin of advantage in manpower requirements held by strip mining; an increase in depth and volume of overhurden, requiring larger equipment and capital investment; increasing lack of reserve land blocks large enough to support extensive strip mining operations; more stringent legislation for reclamation of stripped land, with increasingly higher costs of such reclamation; and the increasing costs of land surface rights for strip mining. Already there has been a peak and suhsequent decline in relative importance of strip mining insome major Eastern coal-producing states; trends indicate that a peaking for the whole Eastern region is on the way. Although, in the West the pressures are less severe, they will, nevertheless, reduce to an increasing degree the advantage that strip mining has possessed. For about half a century, strip mining has been providing an ever-increasing share of total coal output in the United States, and in the past 30 years this share has grown from less than 8% to 33.7%, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 also shows that strip mining is gaining faster in the West than in the East. From 1961 to 1967, output from strip mines grew 63.6 million toqs, or 52.2%. Certainly there is nothing in such performance to indicate any peaking in the level of strip coal-mine production. But the fact is that, if not in actual tonnage, strip mining appears to be reaching its peak in relative importance, at least east of the Mississippi River. And the area east of the Mississippi provides 90.0% of the strip and 94.9% of the total coal production of the nation. The relative economic advantage which spurred strip mining's growth for a third of a century has been diminishing markedly in recent years. Fig. 2 shows evidence of this decline. From 1947 until 1961, strip tonnage output remained fairly stable, at the end of the period showing only a 12.5% decline. Meanwhile, underground coal production fell 44.5%. As the result of the greater decline in underground coal, strip coal in 1961 furnished 30.3% of the total coal produced, compared to only 22.1% in 1947. In the succeeding six years, however, underground coal output increased by 76.5 million tons, while strip output increased only 63.6 million. Further evidence of the strengthening of underground coal's relative position — or if you will, the weakening of strip coal's position — can be found in the major coal stripping states: Illinois, West Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and West Virginia, which in 1966 provided 80% of the nation's strip coal. Fig. 3 shows what has been happening in three states lying in the Appalachian field and in the total output of these three states. In the figure, the column height represents the output of coal mined by all methods. The number at the base of each column is the percentage mined by stripping. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, the percentage of strip mining increased between 1956 and 1961, but by 1966 had declined from the 1961 level. In West Virginia, a decline occurred during the first five years but was followed by a rise. In January 1968, Coal Age published an article listing the locations and capacities of new large mines in the planning and construction stages that would be operating by 1968-1971. The plans for West Virginia and Pennsylvania indicated all the new mines would be underground. Except to the extent they might replace existing under-

Jan 1, 1970

By William B. Hughes

The rubber-sleeve core barrel was developed to improve core recovery from unconsolidated sands, where it is most difficult to obtain cores with conventional barrels. The use of a rubber-sleeve core retainer, together with other departures from clsual design, has required a considerable amount of testing to prove its op-erability. Tests run in shallow experimental holes and in drilling wells in the U. S. and Vemzuela have, to a large extent, proved the operation of the barrel. Internal mechanism troubles, such as sandbinding of the sleeve, have been largely overcome. Cores have been recovered from completely unconsolidated sands where conventional coring has almost been abandoned because of poor recovery. In addition to retaining the core until brought to the surface, the barrel gives a "packaged-ar-cut" core, which is coilverzient for handling and transportatiorz. In the initial work, drag blade cutters, roller cutters, and tungsten carbide insert cutters were usrd for cutting unconsolidated sands. Further bit head development is presently being conducted using diamond heads in unconsolidated sands where shaler, hard sands, and limestones are encountered in adjacent formations. Thir work should render the barrel capable of cratting and recovering most types of formations, possibly including broken and frac- tured fornlations. This development is being carried on in cooperation with a diamond bit manufacturer. INTRODUCTIO N For many years the oil industry has needed greater recovery of cores from unconsolidated formations. Conventional equipment has been used to core unconsolidated sands with little success. Specifically, a core barrel was needed which would recover unconsolidated sands in a condition that would give useful reservoir information. DEVELOPMENT OF 'THE RUBBER-SLEEVE CORE BARREL Basic Requirements of Unconsolidated Sand Corino The basic need was defined as a core barrel that would obtain a continuous unconsolidated core with sand grains in place as deposited in the formation. A preliminary survey of coring equipment and search of the literature pointed out the weaknesses of conventional core barrels. Laboratory tests using unconsolidated sand in a metal tube simulated actual sand movement into the core barrel during conventional coring. In conventional barrels the core sometimes crumbles and bridges, or fails under compressive column action, becomes oversize, and wedges against the walls of the inner barrel. The core barrel requirements established by the surveys and preliminary tests are as follows. 1. The core should be held to- gether as it is cut so it cannot crumble and bridge against the walls of the coring tool, care being taken not to permit damage from fluid circulation. 2. The core should be continuously supported as it is cut so it will not have to support itself in compression. 3. The core should be packaged in the barrel to retain an undisturbed condition during the trip out of the well. The packaging should be such that the core can be removed from the barrel and shipped to the core analysis laboratory without physical disturbance or alteration of fluid content by exposure to the atmosphere. Operation of the Rubber-Sleeve Core Barrel The rubber-sleeve core barrel (Fig. 1) meets the basic requirements for the recovery of unconsolidated sands.