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By E. A. Swedenborg

The unit agreement for the Wertz Dome field, Wyoming, was approved by the Acting Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior on November 4, 1937, effective on December 1, 1937. The stated objectives of the agreement are to conserve and put to beneficial use all oil and gas produced; to make possible a uniform withdrawal of oil and gas in order to maintain equalized reservoir pressures; to provide for an orderly determination of the structural features of the productive horizons; and to permit the injection of gas for pressure maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to show by a discussion of the problems involved and the engineering practices employed by the unit operator, how well the objectives of the unit agreement have been accomplished in the development and production of oil and gas from the field. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT The Wertz Dome oil and gas field is located 88 miles southwest of Casper and 38 miles north and westerly from Rawlins, Wyoming. It is served by a state secondary oiled road connecting with U. S. Highway No. 220 at Lamont, a distance of 3 miles from the field. It has been a producing field for 27 years, first as an important producer of gas and more recently of oil. The Producers and Refiners Corp. completed Well No. 1, NE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 26 N., R. 89 W., the first productive well in the field, in September. 1921, in the Muddy sandstone of Upper Cretaceous age, at a depth of 3435 feet for an initial production of 42,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. In 1922 pipe lines were laid to Casper, Wyoming, for supplying fuel to the Standard of Indiana refinery, 'the adjoining town of Mills. and the Producers and Refiners Corp. pump station No. 6 in Mills; and to Parco (now Sinclair), Wyoming, for supplying that refinery with fuel. The gasoline content of the gas was extracted in an absorption plant located near the town of Mills. No compressors were used as the line pressure was sufficiently high to flow the gas through the absorbers. As high as 30,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day were treated in the plant extracting 6000 gallons of gasoline. In September 1937, the pipe line was discontinued and the plant was dismantled at which time 61,000,000,000 cu. ft. of gas had been produced from the seven Muddy, Cloverly, and Sundance gas wells drilled in the field. Of this volume of gas 800,000,000 cu. ft. were produced from the Frontier formation, 34,200,000,000 cu. ft. from the Muddy sandstone, 24,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Cloverly, locally called Dakota, and 2,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Sundance formation. The pipe line was discontinued because of the near depletion of the gas reserves in Wertz and nearby fields, and hecause of the local field requirements demanding the retention of the remaining gas reserves. In December 1936, the Sinclair Wyoming Oil Co. completed Well No. 10, SE1/4NW1/4 sec. 7. T. 26 N., R. 89 W., at a depth of 5886 feet. as the first Tensleep sand producer with an intial of 1700 barrels of oil per day. The well was originally drilled only 14 feet into the sand and in August 1939 was deepened to a depth of 6161 feet, 289 feet in the sand, and the daily produe tion increased to 8350 barrels of oil. In February 1948 Well No. 22, SE1/4 SE1/4 sec. 1. T. 26 N., R. 90 W., was deepened from the Tensleep to the Basal Amsden sand and completed at a depth of 6635 feet for an intial of 600 barrels of oil per day in the Basal Amsden. In April 1948, Well No. 2. SW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N., R. 90 W.. was deepened from the Tensleep to the Madison limestone and was completed at a depth of 7193 feet for an intial of 1145 barrels of oil per day in the Madison. Well No. 26, SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N.. R. 90 W., was deepened from the Ten-sleep to the Cambrian and in October 1948 it was completed in the Cambrian for an intial of 277 barrels of oil per day. GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVE ACREAGE The surface is Steele shale of Upper Cretaceous age, covered in part by gravel beds. The topography of the field is that of a rolling hill with a steep draw or gulch along the northern edge of the field. The Steele shale lies conformably on the lower formations as

Jan 1, 1949

By E. A. Swedenborg

The unit agreement for the Wertz Dome field, Wyoming, was approved by the Acting Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior on November 4, 1937, effective on December 1, 1937. The stated objectives of the agreement are to conserve and put to beneficial use all oil and gas produced; to make possible a uniform withdrawal of oil and gas in order to maintain equalized reservoir pressures; to provide for an orderly determination of the structural features of the productive horizons; and to permit the injection of gas for pressure maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to show by a discussion of the problems involved and the engineering practices employed by the unit operator, how well the objectives of the unit agreement have been accomplished in the development and production of oil and gas from the field. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT The Wertz Dome oil and gas field is located 88 miles southwest of Casper and 38 miles north and westerly from Rawlins, Wyoming. It is served by a state secondary oiled road connecting with U. S. Highway No. 220 at Lamont, a distance of 3 miles from the field. It has been a producing field for 27 years, first as an important producer of gas and more recently of oil. The Producers and Refiners Corp. completed Well No. 1, NE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 26 N., R. 89 W., the first productive well in the field, in September. 1921, in the Muddy sandstone of Upper Cretaceous age, at a depth of 3435 feet for an initial production of 42,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day. In 1922 pipe lines were laid to Casper, Wyoming, for supplying fuel to the Standard of Indiana refinery, 'the adjoining town of Mills. and the Producers and Refiners Corp. pump station No. 6 in Mills; and to Parco (now Sinclair), Wyoming, for supplying that refinery with fuel. The gasoline content of the gas was extracted in an absorption plant located near the town of Mills. No compressors were used as the line pressure was sufficiently high to flow the gas through the absorbers. As high as 30,000,000 cu. ft. of gas per day were treated in the plant extracting 6000 gallons of gasoline. In September 1937, the pipe line was discontinued and the plant was dismantled at which time 61,000,000,000 cu. ft. of gas had been produced from the seven Muddy, Cloverly, and Sundance gas wells drilled in the field. Of this volume of gas 800,000,000 cu. ft. were produced from the Frontier formation, 34,200,000,000 cu. ft. from the Muddy sandstone, 24,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Cloverly, locally called Dakota, and 2,000,000,000 cu. ft. from the Sundance formation. The pipe line was discontinued because of the near depletion of the gas reserves in Wertz and nearby fields, and hecause of the local field requirements demanding the retention of the remaining gas reserves. In December 1936, the Sinclair Wyoming Oil Co. completed Well No. 10, SE1/4NW1/4 sec. 7. T. 26 N., R. 89 W., at a depth of 5886 feet. as the first Tensleep sand producer with an intial of 1700 barrels of oil per day. The well was originally drilled only 14 feet into the sand and in August 1939 was deepened to a depth of 6161 feet, 289 feet in the sand, and the daily produe tion increased to 8350 barrels of oil. In February 1948 Well No. 22, SE1/4 SE1/4 sec. 1. T. 26 N., R. 90 W., was deepened from the Tensleep to the Basal Amsden sand and completed at a depth of 6635 feet for an intial of 600 barrels of oil per day in the Basal Amsden. In April 1948, Well No. 2. SW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N., R. 90 W.. was deepened from the Tensleep to the Madison limestone and was completed at a depth of 7193 feet for an intial of 1145 barrels of oil per day in the Madison. Well No. 26, SE1/4SE1/4 sec. 1, T. 26 N.. R. 90 W., was deepened from the Ten-sleep to the Cambrian and in October 1948 it was completed in the Cambrian for an intial of 277 barrels of oil per day. GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVE ACREAGE The surface is Steele shale of Upper Cretaceous age, covered in part by gravel beds. The topography of the field is that of a rolling hill with a steep draw or gulch along the northern edge of the field. The Steele shale lies conformably on the lower formations as

Jan 1, 1949

By P. S. Bagga, P. T. Luckie

Liberation (the process of destroying the interlock between unwanted materials, such as mineral matter and pyrite, and coal) is one of the most important precursors to the benefication of raw coal in order to produce high grade marketable coals at economical recovery levels. Liberation is achieved usually by comminuting the raw coal. However, because of the significant interaction between the production of fine particles to achieve liberation and the cost of separating fine particles, the coal industry needs a method projecting the change in washability with size reduction. Such a projection can be combined with size reduction and separation simulators in order to examine completely beneficiation circuitry to produce coals of stringent specification. This paper presents the development of an appropriate liberation model for coal and its solution by Monte Carlo simulation to predict the expected washability of the raw coal as a function of comminution. It includes model validation with a known binary mixture as well as with a known teritary mixture.

Jan 1, 1983

By A. H. Larson, L. G. Twidwell

DURING the roasting of zinc sulfide concentrates and by-product recovery from flue dusts, the zinc sul-fate phase may occur in various stages of the processes. In addition to zinc sulfide, other sulfide phases are usually present such as CdS, PbS, CuzS, and FeS. Consequently, the effect of these sulfides on the thermal decomposition of ZnS04 was investigated. Merck high-purity, anhydrous zinc sulfate was used as the starting material. The sulfate was heated under an argon atmosphere, at a rate of 10°C per min. With the first slight indication of decomposition as determined by gas analysis, the sample was removed from the furnace and allowed to cool. X-ray patterns showed no other phase present. It is estimated that less than 0.05 pct of the ZnS04 decomposed. The metal sulfides were also heated under an argon atmosphere to drive off any adsorbed water. The materials were then sized (-200 to +270 mesh), mixed in predetermined mole ratios, and pressed into pellets. The experimental measurement of the reaction rate consisted of purifying the argon carrier gas, continuous flushing of the heated reacting mixture with argon, and collection and analysis of the SOn product gas. The reaction system was heated to 600°C and al-

Jan 1, 1967

Organization Place Date 1919 American Society of Mechanical Engineers... New York, N. Y. Dec. 2-5 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.... Savannah, Ga. Dec. 3-6 Geological Society of America..: Boston, Mass. Dec. 29-31 American Society of Heating and Ventilating 1920 Engineers New York, N. Y. Jan. Mining and Metallurgical Society of America.. New York, N. Y. Jan. 13 American Institute of Min. and Met. Engineers New York, N. Y. Feb. 16-19 American Ceramic Society Philadelphia, Pa. Feb. 23-26 American Electrochemical Society Boston, Mass. Apr. 8-10* *On Apr. 9, a joint meeting will he held with the A. I. E. E.

Jan 12, 1919

By C. W. Spencer, J. T. Smith

GRAIN-BOUNDARY surfaces are penetrated by a liquid phase when the liquid-solid interfacial tension is less than one-half the tension of the grain-boundary surfaces. Grain growth may occur in the presence of this liquid phase. burke1 reports that grain growth of this nature has been observed in two-phase ceramic systems. He suggests that the presence of a grain-boundary liquid may accelerate or decelerate the

Jan 1, 1963

By K. S. Seljesater

SINCE the development of dispersion-hardenable lead-antimony alloys1 in the laboratories of the Western Electric Co., Inc., studies have been made of the effect of various third constituents on these alloys.2 This paper covers a study of the effect of small amounts of arsenic. This element is important since it occurs as an impurity in many commercial antimonial leads and the results obtained are particularly interesting as indicating a class of addition agents which exert a stabilizing effect on dispersion-hardened alloys. EXPERIMENTAL In order to-study the effect ,of increasing amounts of arsenic, a series of alloys were made up containing 1 per cent. antimony, and arsenic varying from 0. to 0.10 per cent., the balance Doe Run lead (99.997 per FIG. 1..-CHANGE OF MICRO-BRINELL HARDNESS WITH TIME OF 1 PER CENT. LEAD-ANTIMONY ALLOY. cent. lead). The alloys were cast into bars 1 ½ in. wide by ¾ in. thick and cold-rolled to about 1/8 in. thickness. Three samples of each composition were annealed 1 hr. at 225° C. and quenched in water. One set was aged at room temperature, one at 50° C., and the third at 100° C., the

Jan 1, 1929

By Oliver Bowles

GLASS razor blades, glass chairs, and marble window panes attest that creative genius was still active in 1935. Many less striking, though doubtless more important, developments are to be recorded for the nonmetallic mineral industries, and not the least of them is the establishment of an Industrial Minerals Division in the A.I.M.E. under the able leadership of Samuel H. Dolbear, Chairman. Thus the nonmetallics are rightly granted equal dignity with metals and fuels in the category of mineral industries. The brief review of progress that follows merely touches the fringe of important developments in this broad field.

Jan 1, 1936

By James T. Wood

Stratigraphy, structure and closure of the Paloma field are discussed, with some details regarding the present state of development. The Paloma anticline, a large dome modified by faults, is the largest single closed dome in the southern San Joaquin valley without surface outcrop or topographic expression. It owes its discovery to geophysics. Of nine wells drilled to the Stevens sand, seven are productive. The ultimate productive area may approximate 3000 acres when the limits of the field are determined. Introduction The Paloma field derives its name from the Paloma school, ½ mile north of what is now the center of the field. The field is 17 miles southwest of Bakers-field, in the south central part of the San Joaquin Valley (Fig. I). The present developed area and its expected extensions are in townships 31 and 32S., R.26E. It is the most southerly of several fields that produce from the Stevens sand zone. The first well to produce condensate was a joint test drilled by the Western Gulf Oil Co. and The Texas Co. near the center of sec. 3, T.32S., R.26E., well No. 54-3. This well was completed on Aug. 31, 1939, at a depth of 10,178 ft. The initial production was 2280 bbl. a day of condensate and 14,750,000 cu. ft. of gas (½-hr. gauge) through a ?-in. bean. Prior to the drilling of this well, the Ohio Oil Co. discovered and developed a small gas field, which embraces a part of three townships about their common corner but lies chiefly in secs. 31 and 32, T.31S., R.26E. The first well was completed on July I, 1934, at a plugged depth of 5239 ft. after having been drilled to 7957 ft, production was found in a 59-ft. zone IIO ft. below the Fourth Mya bed, within the Sari Joaquin clays. Until recently this field was known as the Buena Vista gas field. It is now carried by the Division of Oil and Gas as the Paloma gas field. Production within the Paloma gas field is derived from six wells, producing from several different zones in the interval from 4177 to 5548 feet. Geology Stratigraphy The sediments penetrated by wells in the Paloma held range in age from Recent to Upper Miocene. The entire section, which exceeds 10,000 ft. in thickness, conforms generally to the standard section of the south central San Joaquin Valley. The producing zone, sometimes called the Paloma sand, is the approximate equivalent of the Stevens sand zone of the Ten Section, Canal, Coles Levee and other fields. The stratigraphic section is shown in Table I. Paloma Producing Zone* (Stevens Sand Zone, Upper Miocene) .-The Paloma producing zone (Fig. 2), frequently referred to as the Paloma sand, is encountered at depths ranging from 9950 to 10,300 ft. In general, it is a massive, firm to hard, not too well sorted, fine to medium fine sand. It is interbedded with thin, hard, calcareous sand shells of similar texture and cherty

Jan 1, 1942

By James T. Wood

Stratigraphy, structure and closure of the Paloma field are discussed, with some details regarding the present state of development. The Paloma anticline, a large dome modified by faults, is the largest single closed dome in the southern San Joaquin valley without surface outcrop or topographic expression. It owes its discovery to geophysics. Of nine wells drilled to the Stevens sand, seven are productive. The ultimate productive area may approximate 3000 acres when the limits of the field are determined. Introduction The Paloma field derives its name from the Paloma school, ½ mile north of what is now the center of the field. The field is 17 miles southwest of Bakers-field, in the south central part of the San Joaquin Valley (Fig. I). The present developed area and its expected extensions are in townships 31 and 32S., R.26E. It is the most southerly of several fields that produce from the Stevens sand zone. The first well to produce condensate was a joint test drilled by the Western Gulf Oil Co. and The Texas Co. near the center of sec. 3, T.32S., R.26E., well No. 54-3. This well was completed on Aug. 31, 1939, at a depth of 10,178 ft. The initial production was 2280 bbl. a day of condensate and 14,750,000 cu. ft. of gas (½-hr. gauge) through a ?-in. bean. Prior to the drilling of this well, the Ohio Oil Co. discovered and developed a small gas field, which embraces a part of three townships about their common corner but lies chiefly in secs. 31 and 32, T.31S., R.26E. The first well was completed on July I, 1934, at a plugged depth of 5239 ft. after having been drilled to 7957 ft, production was found in a 59-ft. zone IIO ft. below the Fourth Mya bed, within the Sari Joaquin clays. Until recently this field was known as the Buena Vista gas field. It is now carried by the Division of Oil and Gas as the Paloma gas field. Production within the Paloma gas field is derived from six wells, producing from several different zones in the interval from 4177 to 5548 feet. Geology Stratigraphy The sediments penetrated by wells in the Paloma held range in age from Recent to Upper Miocene. The entire section, which exceeds 10,000 ft. in thickness, conforms generally to the standard section of the south central San Joaquin Valley. The producing zone, sometimes called the Paloma sand, is the approximate equivalent of the Stevens sand zone of the Ten Section, Canal, Coles Levee and other fields. The stratigraphic section is shown in Table I. Paloma Producing Zone* (Stevens Sand Zone, Upper Miocene) .-The Paloma producing zone (Fig. 2), frequently referred to as the Paloma sand, is encountered at depths ranging from 9950 to 10,300 ft. In general, it is a massive, firm to hard, not too well sorted, fine to medium fine sand. It is interbedded with thin, hard, calcareous sand shells of similar texture and cherty

Jan 1, 1942

Minute of the Board of Directors, Jan. 26, 1917 In the name of all the members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, this Board extends to. Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, an honored Vice-President of the Institute, on the occasion of his present temporary return to his native land, the cordial welcome of his colleagues, and their congratulations upon the noble work splendidly done by the Commission for Relief in Belgium of which he is the head. It is understood that a leading purpose of Mr. Hoover's visit to America at this time is the collection of additional funds, to be administered by his Commission in the care of the destitute children of Belgium. To this enterprise endorsed by both the belligerent parties, as well as inspired by the purest and tenderest sentiments of humanity, contributions are solicited from engineers, especially through an organization known as the "Belgian Kiddies Limited," which this Board, heartily approving its object and method, recommends to the consideration of the members of the Institute. On motion duly seconded it was unanimously VOTED.-That this minute be spread upon the record of the Board, and published in the Bulletin, and that a copy thereof be transmitted to Mr. Hoover, and to the San Francisco Section of the Institute.

Jan 3, 1917

By G. Reinberg, C. D. Clarke

Most underground mining operations are dependent on pumping installations to keep the mine unwatered. The reliability of such installations is obviously of paramount importance. The volume of water to be handled is often considerable, and the total head is relatively high. In these cases, both capital cost and operating expense of the pumping installations will become significant factors in overall mining costs. To insure reliability and to keep efficiencies, and hence operating costs, within acceptable limits it goes without saying that mechanical maintenance of a mine pumping installation must receive scrupulous attention at all times. Large mine pumping installations today almost invariably use multistage centrifugal pumps, since positive-displacement units would not be economically competitive except under very unusual conditions of small volume combined with extremely high heads. Centrifugal pump maintenance, under ideal circumstances, would be confined to parts subject to normal running water, i.e., bearing surfaces, stuffing box packing, and shaft sleeves. Under adverse conditions, however, metal may be lost from the wetted surfaces of a pump by erosive or corrosive action of the pumped fluid, and maintenance costs can easily attain enormous proportions.

Aug 1, 1956

Jan 1, 1960

By Roy A. Anderson, Roger H. McConnel

The Metaline district from 1906 through 1965 has produced nearly 16 million tons of ore yielding 400,808 tons of zinc and 178,062 tons of lead. The sediments, ranging from Precambrian into the Devonian, are schist, phyllite, conglomerate, greenstone, quartzite, limestone, dolomite, and carbonaceous slates. Quartz monzonite and granodiorite of the Cretaceous(?) Kaniksu batholith are exposed over a large area beginning a few miles south of the district. There is minor Tertiary conglomerate and basalt. Abundant glacial deposits obscure much of the bedrock. Northeasterly trending folds, having steep to overturned northwesterly limbs, and thrust faults, striking northeasterly and dipping southeasterly, characterize the deformation of the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks. Recent drilling indicates that the Slate Creek fault, too, is also a southeasterly dipping thrust fault. This new evidence suggests that the Valley Block, like the other major structural blocks, may in part be a thrust plate rather than a graben, and that thus the district may have greater structural unity with the surrounding region than has heretofore been apparent. The Cambrian Metaline Formation of limestone and dolomite contains essentially all the lead-zinc mineralization. Most of the ore mined to date has come from a carbonaceous and irregularly siliceous breccia of sedimentary and diagenetic origin, locally called the "Josephine Horizon," that makes up the top few to 200 feet of the formation. The Josephine Unit is a breccia of gray limestone, coarse light gray dolomite, very thin-bedded, dark gray siliceous dolomite, and "zebra rock" believed to be of algal origin, embedded in a matrix of black dolomite or black jasperoid or some mixture of these two. The jaspcroid fragments and irregular blobs embedded in the black dolomite matrix and the jasperoid laminae in the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite suggest that jasperoid was formed at the same time as the breccia matrix and as the laminated dolomite. So too, the marked tendency of sphalerite and galena to be disseminated mainly in the dark breccia matrix and their tendency to be most abundant in the jasperoid laminae of the very thin-bedded dark gray dolomite, even where the mineralized and laminated dolomite is fragmented and engulfed in black dolomite breccia matrix, suggests that in these ha bits the sulfides also were deposited contemporaneously with the sediments. Yet very commonly, veins and vague veinlets and patches of white quartz, usually carrying rather coarse sphalerite and sometimes galena crosscut all rock types. These contradictory relationships throughout the Josephine Unit suggest that both the black jasperoid and the sulfides were original constituents of the Josephine Unit but that, locally, they later were remobilized and deposited as white quartz and coarser grained sulfides. Possibly, at least in part, this "metamorphism" is one of the effects produced during or shortly after the intrusion of the Kaniksu batholith.

Jan 1, 1968

Jan 1, 1967

Discussion of the paper of Frederick Laist, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 79, July, 1913, pp. 1147 to 1162. J. C. DICK, Salt Lake City, Utah :-I would like to ask Mr. Laist why a 10 per cent. salt solution was used. MR. LAIST :-The reason for using salt in the solution is to get .the sulphur. The solution of dilute sulphuric acid has no solvent action on the sulphur even after roasting, and the addition of the salt is made primarily to dissolve the sulphur chlorides. MR. DICK:-I would like to ask also if you made any experiments as to grinding fine your calcines, rather than leaving the coarse material. MR. LAIST :-We have not made any experiments along those lines except in the laboratory, but the objections which we have to grinding are that the difficulties of roasting are very much greater when roasting finely ground material than when roasting coarse material, and the difficulties of leaching are somewhat increased; the percolating system is simpler and easier to manipulate, particularly when acid solutions are used, so that we prefer from our experience not to grind. STUART CROASDALE,* Denver, Colo. (communication to -the Secretary +) :-In order to meet the conditions involved in his ore-treatment problem, Mr. Laist has developed a very interesting and apparently successful metallurgical hybrid which he calls the oxychloridizing roast. The lower floors of the MacDougall furnaces are made to accomplish what used to be done on the " cooling floor" in the old days of salt roasting and " hypo " or brine leaching of silver ores.

Jan 11, 1913

Jan 1, 1966

Map

Jan 1, 1939

By Lester A. Blackner

Discussion of the paper of LESTER A. BLACKNER, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 102, June, 1915, pp. 1249 to 1290. SIDNEY J. JENNINGS, New York, N. Y.-In the historical part of the development of the caving system discussed by Mr. Blackner, I notice the absence of one man's name, Charles Henroten. Mr. Henroten used the caving system in South Africa in the. Kimberly mines, and realized from his work there that ground would cave when properly prepared. I think it is due him that his name should be mentioned in connection with an exposition of this system in America.

Jan 12, 1915