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By Arthur Knapp

The law of supply and demand is, in general terms, that law which governs the price of any commodity in an unrestricted competitive market. There are several variables which, for the purpose of this discussion, will be defined only as they apply to the petroleum industry: Production: The volume of petroleum that is moved from leases. Stocks: The volume of petroleum that is in the hands of the tank farm and pipeline companies. Inventory: The value of the stocks at the market. Consumption: The indicated delivery of oil to others than those who hold stocks. Demand: The potential absorbing power of the consuming market. Demand is the expression of the needs of the consumer and may depend on the economic value of the oil to the consumer. In times of low prices, the demand is the same as the consumption but during periods of high prices or deficiency in supply, the demand may be greater than consumption. A general expression of the law is as follows: production or consumption Some relation between stocks and or controls price or demand inventory The Law as Applied to Crude-oil Market The above general expression of the law shows that there are six relations between variables that must be investigated in any attempt to establish the exact status of price control at any time. Production vs. Consumption If stocks of crude oil were very low, so that the flow of oil to the market was directly from the producer to the consumer and not, in a large measure, through stocks, some relation between production and consumption would be proportional to price changes. We have no criterion whereby we can tell, at present, what volume of stocks and production

Jan 1, 1924

By Walter S. Weeks

THE process of cooling air by allowing it to expand and do work in an engine is well known, but the theory of obtaining cold air by free expansion without the aid of an engine operating with cutoff has been little discussed. Case 1 If compressed air is allowed to expand to the atmospheric pressure through an orifice in an sir line that is supplied by a running compressor, no cooling results except the negligible one due to the Joule-Thompson effect, which will not be considered in this discussion. The effect of moisture will also be neglected. Symbols P1 Absolute pressure in pipe line, lb. per sq. ft. P3 Atmospheric pressure, lb. per sq. ft. V1 Volume occupied by 1 lb. air in pipe. V3 Volume occupied by 1 lb. air at P3. Cv Specific heat of air at constant volume, B.t.u. per lb. per deg. F. Cp Specific heat at constant pressure, B.t.u. per lb. per deg. F. T1 Absolute temperature of air in pipe, deg. F. T3 Absolute temperature of air outside after expansion and mixing and coming to rest. J Mechanical equivalent of heat (778 ft. lb.) R Gas constant for air, ft-lb. per deg. F. = 53.3. Formulas Consider 1 lb. of air moving out of a pipe. The air behind it does work on it to the extent of P1V1 ft-lb. This work is really done by the thrust of the piston of the compressor and does not come from any energy that exists in the air in the pipe. The pound of air contains

Jan 1, 1937

By Frank Firmstone

IN 1871, two furnaces at the Glendon Iron Works, which had been blown out on account of the "coal strike," were altered from the open-top plan with side flues for collecting the gas, to closed tops with cup and cone. In one furnace the suppression of the side flues permitted a considerable alteration in the profile, but in the other (No. 5) no change in this respect was made; the side flues were simply bricked up and new ones cut through the sides close to the top. This furnace was in blast over four years, and we can, therefore, form a pretty good idea of the effect of the alterations on the furnace process. The principal dimensions are; Height 72'; greatest diameter, 18'; diameter at tuyeres, 8'; diameter of top, 10'; diameter at stock line (point at which the top of the materials is kept), 11'; cubic contents, 11,900 cubic feet. The table below shows the average results for periods of twenty-six weeks each. 1st, of the open-topped furnace; 2d, of the furnace with the first charger used, which was an ordinary cup and cone (diameter of cone 5' 2") 3d, with the charger used ever since, a "double" cone 7' 5" diameter outside, having a central opening 3' in diameter. The diagram (Plate II) shows the daily variations, in the grade of the irons for the same periods.* * In calculating the average grade of each day's iron, each twelve hours was taken by itself whenever more than two kinds of iron were made in the 24 hours, and the diagram drawn accordingly. By counting, it will be found that there were more such days with the single cone than with the "double" cone, and more with this than with the open top. † Anthracite.

Jan 1, 1876

By David Segura

THE Huitzuco mercury deposits have been described by C. W. Vaupell,1 therefore the general information such as location, history, production, etc. will not be repeated here. The present owners acquired the property when the deep levels of the Cruz mine were flooded, and it was believed that a relatively large tonnage of low-grade ore and fills would be encountered in the flooded section, because f the early mining methods used in the Cruz mine. The mine was partly unwatered and about 187,000 tons of fills was pit-sampled in the San Cayetano stope. These fills average 2.4 kg. Hg per. ton. During the period of maximum production at Huitzuco, the ores were sorted in the mine and cobbed into 3-in. pieces, which were treated in Scott furnaces. Large pieces of raw ore are found in the sinter, and it is indicated that both recovery and, costs were not very satisfactory. Recent practice has been to treat the ores in closed retorts made of 10-in. pipes. Because f the presence of combined antimony in the mineral livingstonite (HgS.2Sb2S3) and considerable native sulphur, little or no metallic mercury is recovered in the condensers and a second retorting of the condenser muds is-necessary. This makes the treatment of the ores expensive and tends to low recoveries of mercury. The prin-cipal costs of retorting are, in their relative order: (1) fuel, (2) low recov-ery of mercury, (3) replacement of retort pipes, (4) labor.

Jan 1, 1938

By Kenzo Murao, Sei Nakao

HISTORY OF ASHIO SMELTER The Ashio copper mine, which formed the main part of Furukawa mining industry, is located inland of Kanto area, and is known as the oldest copper mine of Japan. The mining started even since 1610, and Mr. Furukawa began management in 1877. Afterwards, within a short period, the mine became to have the highest productivity in the Far East. The total quantity of mined copper reached approximately more than 800 thousand tons. The mother rock of the ore deposit in Ashio was rhyolite, and was formed of sissurefulling and irregular clod that was called Kajika deposit. The lode was nzrrow of 6 to 7cm. The mineral was formed mainly of chalcopyrite, including also pyrite, pyrrhotite, and arsenopyrite that were not favorable. After the founding of the copper mine, the Ashio smelter started the operation of Mabuki process as the beginning in 1611, and subsequently adopted the processes of the blast furnace, reverberatory furnace, and flash smelting furnace of the present use. As indicated above, the copper ore of Ashio mine included arsenic. For the purpose to remove it, the operation of the arsenic trioxide production using MacDougall's multiple hearth roaster was started in 1918, and it maintained the status of having the most qualified technique within the country. However, as the completeness in the disposition of anti-pollution and safety had been requested in those years, we studied and developed a unique equipment in 1970. It excludes the heavy metals especially arsenic and copper from the waste water of sulfuric acid process of Flash Smelter's exhaust gas.

Jan 1, 1976

By C. V. Millikan

Production engineering has continued its rapid progress during the past year. Many engineering efficiencies long practiced in other industries are being rapidly accepted by the oil industry, and every branch of development and production work is undergoing study that is reducing the time and hazard in the drilling of wells even for greater depths, is securing better service from equipment, and is obtaining greater ultimate recovery from the reservoirs. Deviation of Drill Holes Deviation of drill holes probably has attracted greater and wider study than any other subject. Until about one year ago it had been given little attention. Some California operators knew the common magnitude of deviation, but Mid-Continent operators hesitated to believe that holes could be drilled so crooked. The great emphasis and publicity given to the seriousness of the problem resulted in the design of many instruments to record the deviation by chart or photograph. Instruments which would give the direction as well as deviation were not generally favored because of the grave fears of the legal complications which might result if the bottom of a producing well should prove to be on a neighboring lease. With all the instruments available for determining deviation, the use of etching on a glass bottle by hydrofluoric acid is still the most common method employed. The beneficial result of this earnest effort to drill straighter holes is proved by a comparison of deviation of wells completed recently with those completed over a year ago. The time of this change is arbitrarily taken as Jan. 1, 1929, as at that time the operators were aware of the deviation which usually occurred, and most of them were making some effort to reduce it. Table I shows averages of wells completed by several companies. Data on a few wells outside the greater Seminole area are

Jan 1, 1930

By G. S. Hume

ACTIVE drilling operations for oil were carried on during the summer of 1923 in various parts of, western Canada, particularly in Alberta. During the early part of the summer, interest centered in southern Alberta, in the Coutts area, just north of the producing Kevin-Sunburst field of Montana; but on Nov. 14 a strike of oil by British Petroleums Ltd. at its well near Wainwright, 120 mi. east of Edmonton, diverted public attention to a new field. According to present estimates, this well has a possible production of from 60 to 100 bbl. a day; the oil is 15° Be. with an asphaltic base and is obtained from a sand at the depth of 2019-2036 ft. The oil stands at 1700 ft. in the casing and there is sufficient gas pressure to cause it to flow when the well is opened. The oil horizon is in a sandstone in rocks of Colorado age. It is known that there is a terrace structure of which the western edge extends in a northwesterly direction from the vicinity of Hardisty to Viking, where it probably swings more to the north. At Viking a small dome-like structure on this terrace gives rise to an important gas field. Wainwright lies directly northeast of Hardisty. The exact structure in the Wainwright field is unknown. At Fabyan, 6 mi. northwest of Wainwright, the Imperial Oil Co.1 last year brought 1n a large gas well estimated at 14,000,000 cu. ft.; the escaping gas sprayed a small amount of heavy black oil over the derrick. The gas was obtained at a depth of 2727 ft., deeper drilling encountering a water sand. The results of drilling in the Wainwright field are encouraging for future development.

Jan 3, 1924

By Porter W. Shimer

Ox completing the filtration of a solution of pig-iron in hydrochloric acid, and after apparently everything had been transferred to the paper, a minute residue was observed remaining in the angle of the beaker in which the solution had been made. This residue had a steel-gray color and metallic luster and was hard and gritty when touched with a glass rod. Placed under a microscope and magnified 400 diameters, the substance was found to be made up almost entirely of opaque cubical crystals with some fragments having the same color and luster as the cubes. The appearance was strikingly like that of a collection of crystals of iron pyrites. The amount of material obtained from ten to twenty grams of borings by solution in dilute hydrochloric acid, and careful decantation from graphite, was barely sufficient for a microscopic slide. A qualitative test of the minute amount of material obtained in this way, showed the presence of considerable titanium. After many fruitless trials by decantation and other methods, sufficient material for quantitative analysis was finally obtained in the following manner: Two hundred and fifty grams of the coarsest possible borings were dissolved in seven liters of hydrochloric acid of sp. gr. 1.03. A solution by the aid of heat took four to five hours. It was allowed to settle, and the clear solution poured off. Great care was taken that none of the material which had settled to the bottom was lost. The graphitic residue was then completely transferred upon fine bolting-cloth, previously Stretched and fastened over the top of a beaker. All graphitic lumps were broken up by the finger while

Jan 1, 1887

By Henry Howe

(New York Meeting, October, 1913.) The Equilibrium. Position of A 1.-Some of the most important data on this subject are collected in Table I. Definition of Ae 1-Just as we call A 1 of rising temperature Ac 1, and that of falling temperature Ar 1, so we may give the symbol Ae 1 to the equilibrium position of A 1. Preliminary Assumptions.-In deciding what weight to assign the various data, and indeed what data are to count, three assumptions should be made. These are: 1. The corollary from the phase rule, that the temperature of Ae 1 is constant and independent of the carbon content, though, of course, it may be changed by the presence of other elements. 2. That because neither in heating nor in cooling can the transformation begin before the temperature reaches Ae 1, though it may be delayed by lag till after the temperature has passed beyond Ae 1, therefore Ae 1 should be at or below the observed beginning of Ac 1 and at or above the observed beginning of Ar 1, and, a fortiori, it should be at or below the observed maximum of Ac 1, and at or above the observed maximum of Ar 1. It may be necessary to take these maxima into consideration in view of the experimental difficulty of detecting these beginnings.

Jan 6, 1913

By A. Tobey Yu

Despite its inherent low Btu content, western coal's low sulfur content may provide a near-ideal answer to satisfy US goals for clean air and energy self-sufficiency. Vast reserves, amenable to low-cost strip mining, serve as a powerful economic basis for its viability as a primary and dependable source of energy for the coming decades. A major consideration, the solution of which may not be obvious, is the transportation cost. These deposits are remote from the utilities of the heavily populated eastern regions of the US (Fig. 1). A coal mine in Montana is likely to be more than 1500 miles from its utility market, while an eastern coal mine may be situated only 200 miles away. Thus, the question raised is: how can the haulage cost of western coal be substantially reduced to an acceptable level?

Jan 7, 1975

By Tom W. Pfeifle, Paul E. Senseny

INTRODUCTION Engineered structures such as mines, shafts and tunnels, and storage caverns for hydrocarbons, chemical s and brine are being built in natural rock salt formations in increasing numbers. In addition, salt formations are being considered as potential hosts for mined, nuclear waste repositories. The popularity of these formations for engineering purposes stems from the many favorable commercial, physical, and thermal characteristics attributed to the material itself. Not only have the formations been stable and free of dissolution for hundreds of millions of years, but the salt is fairly easily mined and has very low permeability, low water content, and high thermal conductivity. Another characteristic of salt is its tendency to flow or creep when subjected to a shear stress. Although this behavior may be desirable in certain instances, it may be detrimental in other instances since the creep rate may be large enough to produce deformations that tend to reduce the volume of storage caverns or to restrict access to mining operations. In either case, the engineer is faced with the problem of accurately predicting the long-term structural deformations under various combinations of stress and temperature and is required to compare these deformations with long-term design criteria. In the laboratory, deformation-versus-time curves obtained at constant stress and temperature show that creep of salt is similar to creep of many other crystal line solids. Figure 1 shows a typical deformation-versus-time curve for salt. When a shear stress is first applied, the rate of deformation is high, but decreases monotonically. This initial behavior is called transient or primary creep. At some time, the deformation rate no longer decreases but continues at a constant rate. This behavior is called steady-state

Jan 1, 1982

By R. P. O’Shea

AS part of a program to investigate phase relationships in ternary systems containing semiconducting elements and compounds, an X-ray survey of alloys in the system Pb-Te-Bi was carried out which revealed that the pair PbTe-Bi probably formed a quasibinary system. This portion of the ternary was examined fully by thermal analysis, X-ray, and microscopic procedures. More than twenty-five alloys were made by melting together the proper combinations of the elements in quartz tubes at a temperature of 1000o C. The compositions which were high in PbTe content were prepared in evacuated, sealed, quartz tubes, allowed to freeze in vacuum, and then transferred to Crucibles for thermal analysis. The bismuth-rich alloys were made directly in the crucibles under a protective gas cover. The starting elements were obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. and had a purity greater than 99.99 pct. Cooling curves were made with about 50 g of alloy in graphite crucibles which were placed in a covered quartz container in which a protective atmosphere of helium or nitrogen was maintained. The thermocouple protection tube was made of mul-lite and served as a stirring rod when connected to a reciprocating stirring motor. Temperatures were

Jan 1, 1962

By Gerhard Derge

A series of studies of the corrosion of tin is under way in the Metals Research Laboratory at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. The complete program includes examination of the corrosion properties of high-purity tin and the changes produced in these properties by the addition of varying amounts of alloying elements. Other studies of this subject have been made recently under the sponsorship of the International Tin Research and Development Council, but these researches have been confined largely to the weakly acid environments commonly encountered in the canning industry.' There is little information available regarding the corrosion of tin under alkaline conditions, but such data would be of value, for a large amount of the metal is used under such conditions. The potential measurements to be described were made because they seemed to offer the most rapid method for obtaining a general view of the conditions to be encountered in such service. These experiments will also serve to establish a technique that will be of value in further studies. It must be emphasized that the results reported are those of controlled laboratory experiments and that the conclusions drawn cannot yet be applied to service conditions; rather, they point to the directions in which more exhaustive experimental work may be done to best advantage. Experimental Procedure The first work was devoted entirely to the problem of obtaining reproducible results from a series of potential measurements. Only the methods finally adopted as standard will be described here, except when the variations from these have furnished results of interest. The cell used is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The electrolyte is contained in the vessel A (an inverted bell jar), whose ground top is fitted to the transite-board lid B. The controlled atmosphere can be admitted

Jan 1, 1938

By V. R. Garrias, R. V. Whetsel

The present study is intended as a preliminary statistical survey of the world's production of petroleum substitutes. The information presented is admittedly deficient. It is believed, however, that the increasing importance of these substitutes, particularly with Europe at war, justifies its presentation at this time, if for no other Table i.—Petroleum Subsiitues From Natural Gas Prom Coal Methane Liquid gas Liquid gas _ Manufactured gas Natural gasoline Gasoline Methyl alcohol Benzol Lubricants Etc. reason than to encourage enlightened pertinent discussion. The world's production in 1939 of petroleum substitutes—of which approxi-mately 97 per cent are direct substitutes for motor fuels—is tentatively estimated at 108,ooo,ooo bbl., or equivalent to the combined output of crude oil in 1939 of Rumania, Mexico and Colombia. With few exceptions, these figures of production represent also actual figures of consumption. The United States, owing mainly to its output of natural gasoline, leads all countries in the production of these products, with about 53 per cent of the total. In European countries, particularly Germany, the imminence of war in 1939 forced an increase in production and im- provement of methods of manufacturing motor fuels, largely from coal, with the result that this country produced in that year over 20,000,000 bbl. of substitutes. Since the beginning of hostilities, substitutes have offered more and more the means of meeting the unfavorable balance between supply and demand in European tes and Their Source Malerial From Oil From Molasses. Wood Shales Potatoes, Molasses.etc. From wood Shale oil Ethyl alcohol Producer gas Gasoline Methyl alcohol Gas oil Lubricants Etc. countries; the increase in production of these products being at least in part offset by the systematic bombing of synthetic plants and oil storage. The source materials and the resulting substitutes are listed in Table I. The following are the approximate gross heat equivalents of some substitutes to barrels of gasoline:

Jan 1, 1941

By Kendall E. Born

PRoduction of crude oil in Tennessee during 1938 was slightly more than 41,000 bbl., an increase of about 5000 bbl. over 1937. The production by counties and by fields is shown in Table 1. The increased production has resulted from continued activity in the Upper Cumberland district, especially in Clay County. The "Mississippi lime" production in Scott and Morgan Counties continued to show a further decline with a 1938 production of 12,379 bbl. as against 14,644 bbl. during 1937. Small scattered production from some half dozen wells in Clay, Pickett, and Fentress Counties, on which there are no accurate figures, is estimated at 500 bbl. during the year. The only natural gas marketed off the lease in Tennessee during 1938 was in Morgan County, where a small amount was furnished for the town of Sunbright and immediate vicinity. The gas occurs with the oil in the Boone Camp field and small amounts were put on the line from the near-by Coon Hollow and Seabolt pools. Developments There were 88 wells spudded in during 1938, of which 10 were drilling or only temporarily shut down on Dec. 31, 1938. Eighty wells were completed during the year; 16 produced oil and 3 were gas wells of undetermined quantity. The total footage drilled on 1938 completions was 63,385 ft. Flush production during the year totaled 850 bbl. per day. The more important wildcats are listed in Table 2; the distribution of oil and gas tests drilled during the year, according to physiographic divisions, is given in Table 3. Cumberland Plateau There were no completions in the producing pools in Scott and Morgan Counties. The decline in production in these areas has been steady for the past several years. In an effort to revive production, present plans include a repressuring program in the Boone Camp field in Morgan County early in 1939. There was one completion in Morgan

Jan 1, 1939

By Walter Miller

The focus of attention during 1939 was on increasing the octane number of gasoline. The "octane race" resumed full swing. The averagc octane number of house-brand gasoline by the end of the year had easily reached two numbers higher, with several companies in the field actually purveying house-brand gasoline of 78-80 "research" octane number, equivalent roughly to from 74 to 77 A.S.T.M. octane rating, compared with the 70 A.S.T.M. ceiling of two or more years ago. Whether this trend toward much higher octanes is the result or the cause of the many t,echnical developments in the motor-fuel field of recent, years, progress has really been startling. In addition to the advance in catalytic cracking and catalytic re-forming, other important contributions to the technical ability to produce higher octane values include: installat>ions involving increased capacity in thermal re-forming, with improved economic status both as to yields and octane number, by coupling with catalytic polymerization; more widespread adoption of catalytic and thermal polymerization, and a surge toward extensive installations of newly developed alkylation processes for making iso-octane, neo-hexanr and other high antiknock products; and greater use of improved desul-phurization processes, and application of superfractionation methods for segregation of practically pure hydrocarbons with superior octanr qualities from gas and highly volatilc liquids. The approaching of practical limits in the use. of tetracthyl lead (t,hr well-known "law of diminishing returnsn coming into the picture at the higher octane levels being approached) has given impetus to development of the methods listed above. In particular, processes that improve the octane rating and also increase ethyl lcad sc.nsitivity have had considerable study durirlg the year. CatSlytic Re-foRming Although the interesting report on the Houdry catalytic cracking process presented at the annual meeting of the American Petroleum

Jan 1, 1940

By J. L. Thompson

Lime made in a coal-fired rotary kiln has two distinct parts: the interior of the pebble which constitutes about 90% to 95% of the mass, and the surface dust layer which is the remaining 5% to 10%. Uncalcined carbonate and impurities in the product may be present and will not contribute to the hydration reaction. Sulfur, in the form of calcium sulfate, inhibits the hydration reaction out of all proportion to its actual weigh- percent concentration (perhaps more than 100 times). If the stone contains dolomite, this will also inhibit the reaction as its rate of hydration may be nearly three orders of magnitude slower than that of calcium oxide. Early in the hydration reaction dolomite appears practically intert, but given sufficient time, it will hydrate. The heat of reaction is nearly the same as for calcium oxide, but the time necessary for complete hydration may be hours; whereas for calcium oxide it is only fractions of a second. The dust layer on the surface also inhibits hydration as it contains a collection of compounds which have low heats of hydration. This layer can tie up additional calcium and delay or prevent its reaction. In addition to these chemical processes, an important physical characteristic of the lime is its specific surface area. This is effected by the thermodynamics of calcination and the original stone grain chemistry. All of these factors are agglomerated in the gross slaking rate of lime.

Jan 1, 1980

By W. R. Hamilton

THE knowledge of the existence of petroleum in Southern California dates back to the days of the missions. The presence of asphaltum and semisolid bitumen was reported at Santa Barbara in 1792, but no serious attempt was made to develop oil until Professor Silliman's optimistic report in 1865 started California's first oil boom. Wells were drilled in many counties of the State, but the equipment was unsuitable and the drilling difficult and no production was obtained except in Ventura County. Even there the production was of little importance commercially, and not until the early '80s did it become sufficient to again attract attention. In 1888 the production for the State had reached a total of about 700,000 bbl. per year, practically all light oil produced in Ventura County, Pico Canyon, Los Angeles County and in the Puente Hills. The production of petroleum attained the dignity of an industry in 1895 when the Los Angeles City and Coalinga fields were discovered. The subsequent development has been remarkable, and in 20 years the production has increased from 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 bbl. per year. The refining industry has kept pace with the production of oil. The Pacific Coast Oil Co., the predecessor of the Standard Oil Co. of California, was the virtual pioneer refining company of the State, having built a refinery at Alameda about 1880. When purchased by the Standard, about 1902, it was dismantled and the refinery at Point Richmond was built. The Richmond refinery is now one of the largest in the world, having a capacity in excess of 60,000 bbl. per day. A small refinery was built by the Union Oil Co. at Santa Paula in the early days of the industry and later many asphalt refineries were in operation in Southern California. The Pacific Coast Oil Co. was then, as has been its successor, the Standard Oil Co. of California, the principal refiner and marketer of light products, the most valuable of which was kerosene.

Jan 6, 1916

By Edwin Ludlow

ONE of the most unusual features in connection with the strike of the union coal miners in the bituminous fields, now in its sixth week, is that the public interest seems to have completely died out. There is nothing on the front page and very little on any other page of the daily newspapers in connection with the strike. The United Mine Workers' officials must be rather disappointed to find that the only way in which they are being featured in the papers at present is in the reports of the trial for treason that is going on in Charlestown, West Va., against the local leaders of that organization for their responsibility in connection with the attack of the miners' army last summer against the non-union mines of Logan and Mingo Counties. Recent reports state that there are 13,000 cars of coal standing on the sidings at union mines for which no billing has yet been found. The output of the non-union mines has been gradually increasing but has never reached the maximum that they are capable of producing, owing to their inability to obtain enough orders to make it possible to run full operating time. The, present output is estimated at, 4,500,000 tons a week. It is possible, with a full car supply and full demand, to bring this output up to approximately 6,000,000 tons per week, and it is very doubtful whether, at this season of the year when probably there is less consumption of coal than, at any other season, the requirements of the country are greater than the 6,000,000 tons which the non-union mines are capable of producing. It would appear, therefore, that there is no immediate prospect of any settlement of the bituminous strike, and there is certainly no reason why the operators of the union mines should show any anxiety to begin operations as long as they have unbilled coal standing on their sidings.

Jan 6, 1922

By C. K. Leith

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) IN 1911, we published in the Transactions a brief account of the lateritic alterations of serpentine in eastern Cuba, producing the important iron-ore deposits of the Mayari and Moa districts.1 The special feature of that article was a quantitative treatment of the alterations, based on analyses, to show just what had happened in terms of chemical, mineralogical, and physical changes. Professor Kemp has published an interesting account of these ores, containing additional quantitative observations of his own, tending essentially to confirm the nature of the changes that bad been worked out.2 His discussion suggests to us the desirability of publishing certain additional quantitative data which were not included in our previous article. This seems especially desirable because quantitative measurements of lateritic alterations are rare, and this particular case may be regarded as typical of a fairly wide range of alterations of this kind. At the time of our examination of Mayari and Moa, deposits 29 complete analyses were supplied us by the chemists of the Spanish-American Iron Co., representing a graded series from the unaltered serpentine rock below to the ore at the surface. These analyses are given in the accompanying table. The mineralogical composition of the ores and rocks is comparatively simple and can be easily calculated from the analyses. In Fig. 1 the mineralogical changes from the serpentine rock below to the lateritic iron ore above, based on the analyses, are expressed in terms of weight, assuming alumina to have remained constant during the alteration. It is not easy by mere inspection of this table of analyses to determine what the progressive chemical changes have been in development of the ore. In order to bring this out clearly, the analyses have been graphically represented in Fig. 2 in such a fashion as to show the progressive additions and losses of substances during alteration.

Jan 7, 1915