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Show qjlfililllll & locirt of tlio Canyonlands" ' 1 Number 37 ?' I ,v.;r - . ' 1 ll ! I . " i $ '1 h'i ' ; ; ' i ll ! lit ' fK ! !'U ; ' 4 1 :" -X. r I: .1 , r f r , - 1 ; ; : . . ift ' : - i r .. . 4 't- ' i ' l j, . .. a i r - -j I!1G RIG 1 13-f t. high drilling rig refuses to be dwarfed by huge Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. headframe. . T;ie rig will handle a drill stem nearly 14 inches in dircneter, pushing a drill bit which will cut a six 2nd SEioffl' Brill If Turns -at TGS A massive drill bit with diameter of six feet and weight of over 300.000 lbs., ihegan turning Monday night to mark the beginning begin-ning of the second and most significant phase of a project which will push a second shaft 2700 feet to the working levels of Texas Gulf Sulphur Co.'s Cane Creek Mine. The bit actually began turning at 3 a.m. Tuesday, and by 3 p.m. that same day, over seven feet had been drilled with some dowa. time, and work was moving ahead. Under general supervision supervis-ion of project engineer Joe II. Ilenson from the TGS Houston division, crews of 'Camay Drilling Co. of Los Angeles began actual drilling on the big hole after a weekend of work setting up the massive rig. Driving of the second shaft is one of two major construction projects currently cur-rently underway at the Moab area potash mine and mill complex. The other oth-er project is construction of a crystallizer in the mill portion of the complex by Steams-Roger Construction Construct-ion Co. When completed, that project will aid in recovery re-covery of "fines" now being be-ing lost in the milling process. Part Way Down When the huge rotary drill table began turning ' Monday, the bit was sitting sit-ting at tho bottom of a convcnionally driven shaft some 254 feet deep, which was pushed down by Centennial Cen-tennial Exploration Co., cf Eureka, Utah. The concrete con-crete lined upper portion of the shaft is a bit wider than the remainder of the hole, which will be drilled by Camay. Commenting on the project pro-ject Monday, Mr. Ilenson predicted that once underway, under-way, Camay crews would make somewhere around twenty feet per day in their pitch for potash hor-i:-on Tho entire project shou'd take from four and a half to five months, h-3 s':d. with a target completion com-pletion date set sometime in January. A li ice Rig Silt'ng on top of the hole is pmb-ibly Iho largest larg-est drill rig ever to operate oper-ate in this area, if not tn Utah.. It stand'-- 143 feet ih:r;'i and i- powered by t'lrco TOO hor;t power Wau-!:? Wau-!:? ha ciR'ns which, will t-rn the 13-3r; i-irh d''a- r.yter drill stern and half-million half-million po'-nd drill cellar arid b:t as-'-rihlv. Tho rkr, r't'Tttrd rrveral Ivndrod fori, f -cm the ong'na! 22-f''ot 22-f''ot di-'' mter ore-hoisting c'!nf!. i-c" : os to be dwarfed, dwarf-ed, even by tho 179-foot Ivg'i heaclfrrrne of the big-grr big-grr sitrft. . Mr. H":v"on said t '.-.? w'de-diarietcT hole will be drilled with fluid at the rate of 6 000 gallons per minute, assisled by com-pre:r4ed com-pre:r4ed air to boost cut- foot diameter hole some 2700 feet to the working levels of the Cane Creek potash mine-. The project will take from four and a half to five months to complete. - tings from the hole. The project will operate around ar-ound the clock, with three five-man crews from Camay Ca-may keeping work moving. Steel Lined Shaft When ' drilling is completed,' com-pleted,' steel casing wall be run "into the hole for its entire depth, and concrete' poured around it lo firm it up. Mr. Ilenson said the casing will weigh around 1- million pounds. ' During the drilling process, pro-cess, straight-hole surveys will be run about every 30 feet, and directional surveys sur-veys every 90 to 120 feet, Mr. Henson said, even though the collar assembly assem-bly and drill stem is equipped with guides on top and bottom to assure a straight hole. It is anticipated an-ticipated that the massive drill bits will have to De changed around every 125 hours of drilling, he said, depending on the hardness cf formations encountered. . Circulation No Problem Mr. Ilenson stated that the air-asdsted, fluid drilling dril-ling operation should encounter en-counter no circulation pro-b'ems, pro-b'ems, such as those that plague smaller all-fluid drilling projects. Fluids for the process are circulated circu-lated from and to huge steel tanks erected in the shadow of the giant TGS headframe. Camay Drilling Company's Com-pany's crow is - headed by p-o'ect manager Jack Sherrod, assisted by Ray Southard and Arvel Bart-lctt. Bart-lctt. Camay, a specialist in big-hole drilling, has dmo a number of wide-diameter wide-diameter projects, the most recent being in Bunker Hill, Missouri. Assisting Mr. Ilenson as d-illing supervisors fo-Texas fo-Texas Gulf Sulphur, will be Sam Jones and Larry Noctc. They have recently been involved in drilling p-ojects at the Mercury, Nevada atomic test site of the Atomic Energy Commission. The second shaft, when complete, will be used foe auxiliary hoisting of men and materials, and for additional ad-ditional ventillation, "but will- not be used for or:; hoisting. . NOW IN SCHOOL Moab City Police Officer Alan B. Gulling is attending attend-ing a state sponsored basic police science .. training program at ' Camp Williams. Wil-liams. The school will extend ex-tend through Oct. 6. Police Pol-ice Chief Ken Aikins said at alternating dates, he hoped to give all his staff an opportunity to take the training course to better qualify them for their duties du-ties in Moab. |