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By William Paxton Hewitt

Mineral deposits of western Utah and eastern and central Nevada have produced in excess of $8,500,000,000 since 1871. Through 1965, Bingham Canyon had produced over $4,600,000,000 and seven other camps over $100,000,000 each, principally from base metals. In addition, they yield iron and uranium ores; contain the world's largest beryllium reserves; and have produced the United States' most important gold discovery in 25 years. The area is famous for its silver production and its bonanza-type precious metal deposits, but such production has become unimportant. The area's greatest producers of metallic wealth are base-metal deposits in limestones and porphyry-type copper ores. In contrast to silver's decline, gold production has been rising-the result of by-product operations at Bingham Canyon. The area also contains gold deposits in which the gold is so finely disseminated it is not recoverable by panning. The area's gold ores frequently are associated with realgar, cinnabar, and carbon. The ore deposits generally are attributed to Tertiary intrusives,* but, at Mountain City, they may be related to Paleozoic volcanism. Mountain City has yielded rich chalcocite from quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite bodies in siliceous sediments. Regional stratigraphy and structure are difficult to interpret, 69 per cent of the area being obscured by alluvium or volcanics. In general, central Nevada consists of chert, shale, silty sandstones, lavas, and pyroclastics; eastern Nevada and western Utah of many alternations of limestone, shale, and sandstone. Central Nevada has been structurally active since late Devonian. Although granitic stocks may have intruded eastern Nevada and western Utah prior to the Cretaceous, these areas remained quite stable until affected by the Laramide Revolution. Precambrian exposures, occupying 3 per cent of the area, have not been important hosts. However, the question is raised as to whether Precambrian carbonates, properly situated with respect to invading mineralizers, might yet prove to be important. This paper describes 16 precious metal camps, 6 limestone replacement districts, 2 silver-base metal vein deposits, and 9 miscellaneous types and discusses briefly the 11 * Some ores, as at Ely, are associated with intrusives of. Cretaceous age. major camps that are described in detail in this Volume.

Jan 1, 1968

By H. S. Munroe

To those familiar with ore-dressing practice, it is hardly necessary to dwell upon the importance of the jig. Within its proper sphere no substitute has been found that does the work as well or as cheaply. Its capacity is large, it requires but little attention, and the losses are small. In one form or another, it is the principal machine used in the concentration of low-grade ores, and for the separation of one metallic mineral from another; and it is almost the only machine used for the purification of coal. The present paper is a study of the action of the jig in the light of results obtained in the Lake Superior copper mills, ad at the St. Joseph Lead Co.'s dressing-works, in Missouri; and a description of experiments undertaken with the view of reproducing and isolating the conditions of jigging, in order to develop the laws which underlie the process. There are two recognized systems of jigging, the English and the Continental or German. The English system is a development of the hand-jigging formerly employed in Cornwall and other metalliferous districts of England, and introduced by English miners to this country. In this method the crushed ore, coarse and fine together, is first jigged oh a

Jan 1, 1889

By Albert Sauveur

Jan 1, 1924

By Albert Sauveur

Jan 1, 1924

By M. M. Singh, J. W. Brown

Three rocks of highly varied physical properties are selected for the first reported experimental study concerning microseismic activity of rock under tension to determine the effects of static fatigue, loading rate, repeated loading and rock anistropy compared to compression and bending loads. The microseismic method of detecting rock under deformation may be a great potential tool in surveillance and location in situ of dangerously stressed strata, as well as predicting rock failures. Noises emitted under load or the rate of energy (energy of noise pulses generated per unit time) are computed for varying conditions. The tests are conducted at constant load on a dead weight loading machine to eliminate all possible extraneous noises — an indispensable precaution — at various load levels. Experimental results are reported including the relation of total energy emitted to tensile strength of rock and the possibility of simulating a phenomenological model for microseismic activity. Plots of some of the experiments are included. INTRODUCTION Rock failure, whether on a large scale faulting in the earth's crust and rock bursts in mines, or on small scale ruptures of laboratory test specimens, generates transient vibrations in the rock mass. Mechanisms of intermittent deformation, such as twinning and cracking through and between mineral grains, also produce similar vibrations, but of very small amplitude. Such vibrations from both deformation and failure are referred to as microseismic activity, rock noise, or occasionally seismo-acoustical activity. An individual rock noise is sometimes

Jan 1, 1967

By W. B. Mather

GEOLOGICAL studies have revealed the occurrence of hundreds of pegmatite dikes in north- east Brazil, Fig. 1, in the three states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, and Ceara. Heretofore data have not been available on the possible production of lithium minerals from these areas, and in March, April, and May 1953 the author undertook a reconnaissance survey covering a cross-section of the pegmatites. Sixty-one pegmatites were examined. The pegmatites of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraiba are located in an arid region (Seratao), and except in the most southerly portion there is a mini- mum of vegetation and overburden. The region is easily prospected and relatively accessible by jeep or truck. The pegmatites examined in Ceara are in an area of lush vegetation along the flanks of the Jaqueribe River valley. It is therefore more difficult to prospect, and the dirt roads, as a means of access, leave much to be desired. For all practical purposes rail transportation, except in Ceara, is not available. The rocks of the area1-4 are composed of Pre-Cambrian schist, gneiss, quartzite, and marbles. They have been intruded by granites, monzonites, and diorites and cut by quartz veins and pegmatites.

Jan 9, 1954

By Jesse O. Betterton

IN the last analysis, two basic factors influence the use of metals and alloys; namely, cost and adaptability to the use under consideration. These are so interrelated that to study the properties of metals or alloys without considering the prices and price trends is quite illogical. Lead has been a cheap metal, selling in 1932 for the extremely low price of 2.56 cents per pound. The cheapness of lead in the past was not due to a particularly abundant supply of the element in the earth's crust but rather to the ease with which it was won from its ores and to the chemical stability of the metal, preventing its dissipation. Today, however, our modern economy has caught up with the distribution of lead in the earth's crust and the price is largely dictated by the supply of concentrates readily available for smelting, and which can be placed quickly upon the market. The demand for lead, particularly in times of stress, has brought the price up to the level of 19 cents in the United States, where the price is controlled by Government decree, and the price has been even higher in the world markets. The higher price for lead has changed the uses for this metal to a marked degree, driving it out of the fields where it is not essential. Lead articles of great antiquity have been found in Egyptian ruins, proving the stability of the element and indicating the basic simplicity of its metallurgy. It is probable that lead was the first

Jan 1, 1953

By David B. Dill, Edgar R. Lea

The zinc deposits of the Balmat-Edwards Division of the St. Joseph Lead Company in northern New York State provide some 10 per cent of the domestic zinc produced annually within the United States. These complex ore deposits are contained within marbles of the Precambrian Grenville series, in a repetitive sequence of dolomites and silicated units. The Balmat ore bodies are localized at various intervals throughout some 1800 feet of the stratigraphic column on the northwest side of a band of gneiss that has continuity to the Edwards area, some 10 miles to the northeast. The Edwards ore bodies are located to the southeast of this gneiss. The marble formations are thought to have included repetitive intervals of marine sedimentation that provided mineralized source "beds" and were subsequently folded, flooded, and injected with melts at great depth and were sheared, recrystallized, and reconstituted. Detailed structural and stratigraphic studies throughout the northwestern Adirondacks, in the Balmat-Edwards district, and at each mine in particular indicate the close dependence of the ore deposits on the enveloping structure whether it be local, district-wide, or regional in scope. Primary folding has developed a northeast regional trend with northwest dips. Secondary folding has been developed by an almost horizontal northeast-southwest-oriented shear couple in the plane of the regional trend. The secondary folding has produced crossfolds that intersect the regional northeast trend and plunge north to northwest at various angles. The ore bodies are found within certain stratigraphic horizons where repeated alternation of competent and incompetent beds encouraged unusually complex folding. Analysis of individual mine structures indicates that the location of each deposit is controlled by structural crossing of primary and secondary folding. The ore bodies, which are tabular, lenticular, or pod-like in form, have features that suggest parallelism to true bedding or modified flow banding, developed by northeast-southwest shearing stresses related to the development of the crossfolds. The ore deposits in general follow both structural and recrystallization trends within the wall rocks. Mobilization of the pre-metamorphic ore minerals is believed to have involved a combination of plastic flow under stress and solution of the sphalerite, minor galena, and pyrite. The ore fluids are thought to have been guided by secondary shearing and microbrecciation into structurally prepared areas where reprecipitation took place. The presumed premetamorphic mineralization now exhibits epigenetic high-temperature features related to late-stage metamorphism.

Jan 1, 1968

By L. C. Armstrong

Twice in the past two years and in two widely separated localities-one near Williamsville, Mo., and the other in the Allard Lake district of Quebec- the Contract Drilling Division of the Longyear Company has experienced perplexing difficulties in drilling granitoid igneous rocks. The rocks in both places are characterized by appreciable amounts of feldspar intimately intergrown with quartz particles of microscopic dimensions. The disappointingly slow rate of advance and the exceptionally high bortz loss, obtaining during the life of these two projects, are ascribed largely to the resistance to abrasion of these two minerals when arranged in this intergrown pattern. Whether all intergrowth-bearing igneous rocks would offer extraordinary resistance to bit progress cannot be stated with assurance on the strength of these experiences alone. More data on diamond drilling this sort of material in a number of localities are needed before any generalizations can be made safely.

Jan 1, 1949

By Leo Wolrnan

IN the relations that exist between capital and labor in this country, there is a bright as well as a dark side. After many years of distressing conditions of labor and a plentiful supply of propaganda, it is doubtful that the doctrine of the class struggle, however defined and stated, has been embraced by any influential and numerous elements of our population. Extreme and uncivilized methods of conflict, whether they be the labor spy as used by the employer or the sit-down strike by organized, labor, have come to be abandoned as the result of the pressure of sober and distinterested public opinion. Unwise terms of our law of trade unions and the unbridled zeal of its administrators show some slight signs of being revised in the light of 'experience and the protests of the law's own beneficiaries. At the point where labor policy touches economic conditions, the two powerful factions in the American labor movement appear to look with a less friendly eye on the bewildering succession of economic experiments and to have a deep nostalgia for a simpler and more prosperous economy.

Jan 1, 1938

By Ira B. Joralemon

INDIVIDUALS and small companies have discovered and brought into production the mining districts of the United States. Hardly an exception comes to mind, save for the disseminated copper properties and the great iron mines. In spite of this fine record that has made possible the industrial greatness of the country, mining by small companies and by individuals has become a vanishing phenomenon. In Nevada, the lair of rugged individualism, there are fewer operating mines and fewer miners than at any time since the 1860's. The situation in other states is nearly as desperate.

Jan 8, 1950

By A. P. Cohen, D. W. Fuerstenau

Methods of accounting for the feed size in analyzing the size distribution shift during comminution have been discussed in a number of papers.1,2,3 Based on experiments which charles2 performed with single Pyrex specimens, Schuhmann4 pointed out that the size modulus of an assembly of particles should be determined by the energy expended per unit volume (or mass), independent of the size of particle being comminuted. In this same paper, Schuhmann derived the Charles energy-size reduction relationship by considering that complex comminution operations can be considered to be the summation of many individual comminution events, each of which must be governed by Were 6wi is the mass of a particle receiving the impact, 6Ei is the energy delivered to the particle, ki is the size modulus of the product resulting from the impact, a is the distribution modulus of the assembly of particles, and A is a constant. Recent experiments on the compression loading of Pyrex spheres ranging in size from 1/8 to l-in. diam have shown that the size modulus of the fragments is determined by the strain energy at fracture per unit mass, independent of sphere diameter.' The objective of the present investigation has been to determine experimentally whether the size distribution of the product from such a complex comminution process as rod milling is determined only by the energy expended per unit mass independent of feed size. Samples of each Tyler sieve fraction ranging from 4x6 to 48x65 mesh were prepared from crushed Brazilian quartz crystals. One kilogram of each fraction was ground at 60 pct solids in an 8x9 1/4-in. mill containing 17.5 kg of rods (26 rods, 5/8-in.; 10 rods, 3/4-in.; and 5 rods, 7/8-in. diam). In each test, the mill was run at 77 rpm for 15 min. Size distributions were determined by a wet-dry sieving technique. Table I presents the size distribution of the products obtained by grinding each of the size fractions. Because the size distributions are so nearly alike, they are plotted in Fig. 1 by shifting each size distribution for the different feed sizes one screen fraction to the right. Thus, the lowest point in each size distribution represents 400 mesh and each of the other sieve sizes must be shifted accordingly. A single regression line was calculated by combining the data for the six tests, excluding the coarsest feed and the two finest feed fractions. 6 This regression line, which is given by (Y \0.88 where y is the cumulative percentage of material

Jan 1, 1962

By J. M. Oblak, W. A. Owczarski

A cellular appearing recrystallization product formed by annealing a cold-worked nickel-base super-alloy at 1800°F has been studied by electron nzicroscopy. Prior to deformation, an equilibrium micro-structure of fcc matrix y and cuboidal ,,', Ni (Al, Ti), precipitates of CuzAu structure had been established by an age at 1825°F. The strain-free recrystallization cells consist of very large rodular y' particles in a y matrix. They precipitate is oriented and coherent both before and after recrystallization. The results showed that y' coarsening accompanies recrystallization at 1800°F. However, it does so as a secondary effect and does not necessarily take place at lower temperatures. The structural similarity of this reaction to cellular precipitation in other systems indicates that lattice strain may also play a significant role during some cellular precipitation reactions. THERE have been numerous microstructural investigations of recrystallization in single-phase materials but two-phase systems have received much less attention. The second phase can either remain inert or be altered along with the matrix during recrystallization. If the second phase is an oxidelm3 or a relatively inert pre~ipitate,~, recrystallization is retarded when the interparticle spacing is less than 1 p. Prior to the onset of recrystallization, these materials show a well-polygonized substructure with the subgrain size limited by the interparticle spacing. Since recrystallization by the motion of preexisting grain boundaries6 is not observed, retardation has been related to particle pinning of the subboundaries. This pinning prevents coalescence' or growth8 of subgrains to a critical size (formation of a high-angle boundary) necessary to initiate recrystallization. In a material such as a nickel-base superalloy both y matrix and y' precipitate are altered by the recrystallization reaction. Haessner et al.' studied the recrystallization of a cold-rolled Ni-Cr-A1 alloy by electron microscopy. The material was initially cold-rolled in the supersaturated condition. upon annealing at 750°C, immediate precipitation of 7'occurred. Presence of this 7' greatly retarded the onset of recrystallization which eventually took place by the development of randomly oriented, strain-free grains. The original •/ was dissolved at the recrystallization interface and reprecipitated as oriented, coherent par-tiles in the new grain. Recrystallization caused a refinement of .)' particle size. Recently ~hillips'' investigated recrystallization of Ni-12.7 at. pct Al. Reduction by cold rolling presumably elongated the p' precipitate into lamellae that remained coherent with the matrix. After recrystallization at 600" to 750°C, there was no unusual change in y' particle size al- though there was a tendency toward clustering along the prior rolling direction at 750°C. Above 750°C, the recrystallized grains were generally free of precipitate. Studies in the somewhat analogous Cu-3.23 wt pct CO" and Cu-2 wt pct'2 systems demonstrated that the coherent cobalt-rich fcc precipitate in these alloys obstructed softening, initiation, and completion of recrystallization. The precipitates were deformed into lam~llae during rolling and those of diameter less than 250A remained coherent. Recrystallization took place by the growth of new grains into the recovered or poly-gonized material. In the first study," both matrix and precipitate reoriented in the same manner upon passage of the recrystallization interface. There was no change in particle size or morphology. Tanner and ~ervi,~ on the other hand, observed that motion of the recrystallization fronts was strongly hindered by the pinning action of coherent precipitates in the deformed material. Particles in contact with a pinned boundary coarsened and coalesced leaving a denuded zone in the unrecrystallized region. When the number of pinning points was sufficiently reduced by coalescence, the boundary swept past these particles and through the denuded zone. The authors1' considered this as a variation of discontinuous precipitation with both chemical driving force and deformation strain energy contributing to recrystallization. Preliminary observations by the present authors had revealed that recrystallization in Udimet 700, a nickel-base superalloy, occurred in an entirely different manner. Optical metallography showed that the recrystallized product formed as cellular colonies containing coarse y' particles elongated in the direction of cell growth. In this investigation the structural features of this reaction were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE As-received I$-in. rounds of Udimet 700* were (wtpct) 18.4 15.2 4.95 4.42 3.43 0.06 0.031 0.14 Bal. solution-annealed for 4 hr at 2150" and then fast air-cooled. An initial y-~' structure was established by a 4-hr age at 1825°F followed by a fast air,cool. Essentially the equilibrium volume fraction of ?' at 1825°F is precipitated within 4 hr. Microstructural examination showed no measurable increase in the amount of precipitate after longer aging times. Deformation consisted of swaging to 52 pct RA with 6 pct reduction per pass at room temperature. To reduce the precipitation potential to a negligible amount, recrystallization anneals were conducted at 1800"~ (982"~). Microstructures were investigated by optical and transmission electron microscopy. To prepare foils for electron microscopy, the material was first sliced into 30-mil slabs parallel to the swaging direction. Discs were dimpled and electrolytically cut from

Jan 1, 1969

By B. W. Frazier

Jan 1, 1882

By Alan M. Bateman

Before World War II we proudly considered that we were the nation of all the world most richly endowed in mineral resources. We knew it was no accident that those countries abundantly supplied with mineral resources became the great manufacturing nations, and the politically and militarily strong ones; and that our own great industrial cities sprang up where coal and iron met. We all reallized, especially we of the mining profession, that the energy of fuels and the solidity of metals spelled industrial growth and in turn industrial might and that other nations came to regard mineral self-sufficiency as one of the chief goalsof economic nationalism.

Jan 1, 1949

By Harrison Everett Ashley

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) Slimes are usually defined as all material passing a certain-sized sieve, which is invariably the finest sieve employed by each metallurgist in his tests; 100-mesh and 200-mesh have been taken as the limits by different writers in recent volumes of the Transactions ; 150-mesh is common practice. The reader of the first two volumes of Richards 1 is impressed by the inflexibility with which all grinding-arrangements are praised or condemned according as they make little or much slime. Until recently, one of the principal aims of the mill-man was to keep down the slimes. He was obliged to have separate apparatus for sand- and slime-treatment. The latter was sometimes puzzling and erratic. Often it was found most .economical to omit treatment of the slimes entirely, or to store them in immense basins or heaps, waiting for possible future improvements in methods of treatment. Recently, improved processes of agitation and filtration have made possible the successful extraction of values from many slimes. The tendency, when the metal is exceedingly finely disseminated, is to cut out all sand-treatment and to slime everything. These processes have been almost entirely mechanical in their conception, and it is the object of the present paper to show that certain chemical considerations may greatly hinder or assist their successful operation. It has long been a source of dissatisfaction to chemists that their analyses fail to be of much help to the clay-worker; that it is a matter of common occurrence for clays of closely identical ultimate chemical constitution to show the widest possible divergence in physical properties. * Published by permission of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey. Ore Dressing (1903).

Aug 1, 1910

In uranium metallurgy, the main purpose is to obtain a product containing 80-85% U308 (yellowcake) from ores whose average grade is a mere 0.21% U30& Essentially, the task of extraction and concentration involves dissolving the ore's U308 values, followed by purification and concentration of the uranium-rich solution (using such operations as filtration, clarification, and ion-exchange), and then selectively precipitating and isolating U308. Leaching is First Step In yellowcake production mills, the first chemical change occurs by leaching the ore with either sulfuric acid-as done by Anaconda and Kerr-McGee-or with an alkaline solution of, say, sodium carbonate, as done by United Nuclear-Homestake Partners. The choice of either acid or alkaline leaching is not an arbitrary one: it depends on the chemical and physical characteristics of a particular ore. That is, on the presence of clays, organic compounds (usually of carbonaceous origin), and soluble impurities, as well as on the ore's wetness and grindability.

Jan 8, 1974

By Robert J. White

Strong's equation for calculating bottom-hole pressure reduction due to gas cutting of drilling mud is corrected, resulting in a simpler equation which is easier to use. Use of the equation is illustrated by examples. It is shown that reduction of weight of a 10 lb/gal mud by 50 per cent at the surface due to gas cutting produces only n 3 per cent decrease in hydrostatic head at the bottom of a 5,000-ft well. It is also shown that at the surface 5 volumes of air per volume of mud are required to reduce the apparent mud weight from 8.5 to 6.5 lh/gal in a 3,000-ft well. Illustrative graphs are included to show the effect of various degrees of gas cutting on apparent mud weight at depths of 2,000, .5,000 and 10,000 ft and to show variation of apparent mud weight, with depth for a 100 lb/cu ft (13.37 lb/gal) mud gas cut to 90 lb/cu ft (12.03 lb/gal) at the surface. INTRODUCTION In 1938, Strong' published the following equation for calculating reduction in bottom-hole pressure due to gas cutting of drilling mud h = 1/D [p + pn/100 In p + p(1-n/100)/p(1- n-100)] where: h = depth in feet P = pressure in atmospheres at depth h due to mud column only D = hydrostatic pressure in atmospheres of a col-umn of uncut mud 1 ft high p = back pressure at well-head (in atmospheres) n/100 = fraction by volume of gas in mud at well-head at back pres-sure p This equation was recently found to contain an error due to an incor-rect expression for variation of vol-ume fraction of gas with pressure. Values calculated by the original equation are close to the correct values for small percentages of gas for which it was derived but become increasingly erroneous as the gas content increases and are completely unusable at the very high gas con-tents employed in aerated mud. DERIVATION The nomenclature used is the same as in Strong's paper. The pres-sure dP exerted by a lamina of thickness dh at a depth h ft is ex-pressed by Eq. 1 where x = volume fraction of gas at depth h dP = D (l - x)dh . . . (1) When we express x in terms of the wellhead per cent gas n, the well-head pressure p and the pressure P at depth h, the result is Eq. 2. x = (np/p+p)/(100-n) + (np/P + p) When this is substituted in Eq. 1 and rearranged to separate the var-iables the result is dh = 1/D [dp + np/100-n dp/(P + p]. Integration between appropriate lim-its results in or if the wellhead is open so that p = 1 atm and we rearrange Eq. 4, the result is loss in head = hD — P = n/100-n In (P + 1) ...(5) Eq. 5 can be solved easily by successive approximation using hD as a first approximation for P on the right-hand side and calculating a first value for loss in head. This can then be used to get a new value of P using the left-hand side of the equation. Values converge very rap-idly even for quite large values of per cent by volume gas n. EXAMPLES The effect on bottom-hole pressure of 50 per cent gas cutting of the mud in a 5,000-ft well using 10 Ib/ gal mud will be calculated, we have: h = 5,000 ft 10 X 7.48 144 X 14.7 = 0.0353 atm/ft hD = 176.5 atm n = 50 Substituting these values in Eq. 5 and using hD as a first approxima-tion of P on the right, we have, approximate loss in head = 50/50 In (176.5 + 1) = 2.30 log 177.5 = 5.17 atm. We calculate a new value of P as follows:

Jan 1, 1958

By B. R. Coil

One executive writing on capital equipment re- placement stated: "We keep extremely close watch over repair costs and when we reach the point of uneconomical operation, we replace the machine." This, of course, is most elementary, but a very basic premise. However, it seems advisable to set forth several equally obvious principles, so that all discussion will start from the same point. The subject is intended to deal with the point of uneconomical operation due to high operating costs in general and high repair costs in particular. This is not concerned with a similar problem of high costs because of an insufficient number of machines, be they trucks, shovels, or dozers.

Oct 1, 1955

By Sidney A. Swensrud

MUCH discussion has occurred as to the use or uses which might be made after the war of either or both .of the large diameter (24 inch and 20 inch) War Emergency pipe lines built by y the United States Government during the war, to move crude petroleum and refined products such as gasoline and light distillate fuels. Indeed, the disposition and future use of these lines constitutes, in the minds of many people, one of the most important problems of postwar readjustment in the Oil Industry. The two lines, running from points in Texas to the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area, were constructed only because of the inability during the war to continue normal ocean tanker movements from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast. Physically they could continue after the war to move crude or refined products, and it appears that lines of such large diameter as these, if operated at or near capacity, could move these liquids at costs per barrel which might be considered in the same general cost range as for tanker movements.1 If, therefore, we were to look forward at the end of the war to a shortage of tankers, it is probable that the continued use of these pipe lines for petroleum movements to the East Coast would be worth considering, as against building new tankers to take over the movement, provided there were no other economic or national defense reasons for restoring tanker fleets and no other better use for the pipe lines. Because of the extensive tanker construction program which has been and still is in progress, and because of our Navy's marked success in combating the submarine problem, it appears to be quite possible, however, that instead of a shortage of tankers at the end of the war, we may have a surplus instead. If this should turn out to be the case, then there would seem to be considerable doubt that these lines would continue to be used for moving petroleum or products to the East Coast at the expense of tying up tankers. It would hardly seem probable that the owner of any such tankers would ship via one of the large lines at the expense of tying up one of its own tankers, unless the pipe line tariff rate charged was lower than the out-of-pocket cost of operating a tanker as against the out-of-pocket cost of keeping it tied up. And considering that a substantial part of the cost of operating a tanker goes on even when it is tied up, it is very difficult to figure out how any pipeline tariff could be established that would be low enough to compete with individually owned tankers that otherwise would be idle. Certainly a pipe line tariff rate high enough to cover direct costs plus even a low rate of depreciation and return on the investment would be far above the out-of-pocket tanker operating costs. In view of these considerations, it has seemed desirable to examine with some care some of the various alternatives that have been suggested as to other possible uses to which these lines might be put. One of these is for transportation of natural gas to the New York-New Jersey Philadelphia area. This Eastern area, located at the destination of these lines, contains the heaviest concentration of population in the United States, and is not now served with natural gas. At the other end of the lines lie the greatest discovered natural gas reserves in the United States, if not in the world, and many

Jan 1, 1944