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Show He Western 2 May 9, 1952 Mineral Survey, Salt Lake City, Utah Oil Hunters Face Big Odds Five Westerns Awarded Citations for Heroism DENVER, Colo. Westerners received five of the eight Medals of Honor awarded this year by the Joseph A, Holmes Safety Association for individual deeds of heroism in saving life in mines and plants, of the mineral industries, J. J. Forbes, Director of the Bureau of Mines and President of the Association, announced today. The winners, each of whom the deep, swift current. At conrisked his life to save others, siderable risk to himself, Pejko were selected from approximate- made the rescue without removly 550 recommendations received ing his clothes or shoes. William W. Fillip and Rayduring the past year from operW. Bun ton, employees of national burn ating companies, and individuals. The the Texas City Refining Co., association, established in 1916 Texas City, Tex., displayed exto commemorate and further the ceptional courage in entering an work of the late Joseph Austin atmosphere of natural gdsoline Holmes, first director of the fumes to rescue a fellow worker Bureau of Mines, approved the who had been knocked to the awards at its recent annual ground between two railroad meeting in Washington, D. C. cars and rendered unconscious Certificates of honor also were when a plug valve on one of awarded to 38 mines, plants and the cars blew out. companies of the Rocky Mountain area for exceptional safety records. They included 13 coal mines and companies, 16 metal operations, 7 petroleum operations, 1 cement plant and quarry, mine and reand 1 finery. Among the Medal of Honor Nevada A new mill winners, Dangel Lancaster, a to RENO, fluorspar, a critical process man employed by the production of in mineral CliClimax Molybdenum Co., will be built aluminum metal, max; Colo., carried to safety a Nevada. in Kaiser Corp. fellow worker who was knocked by The announcement, company Lancasunconscious by a blast. last week said the new ter received severe lacerations, made will be erected on a site a plant perforated ear drums, and which is acces-sib- e selected to be fractured wrist from the blast, to rail and highway transbut he removed Ills partner, portation. severe who was suffering from Some of the fluorspar will shock,, in time to save his life. come from the recently-acquired J. J. Sullivan, an Irish immi- Baxter mine, near Gabbs, the grant, who was then a miner announcement said. But the mill empoyed by the Wah Wah Min- will be of sufficient capacity to ing Company, near Milford, handle additional ore purchased Utah, carried five men from a from other Nevada deposits. drift to the shaft station after Another important consideraby tion they had been overcome latin selection of the mill site, fumes from explosives. He will be announcement the er tied them to a crosshead and establishing a dosesaid, for market sent them to the surface. His ore from smaller in the deposits quick action and considerable state and promoting the openrisk saved their lives. He also ing of mines heretofore unecowas overcome and collapsed nomical to operate. upon reaching the surface. Flotation Process George Pejko Jr., laborer at Mill equipment will indude the Anaconda Copper Mining grinding and flotation equipCo., Great Falls, Mont., jumped ment to process the ore into into the Missouri River above add grade fluorspar concenthe Black Eagle dam near Great trates. Falls and rescued a small boy The Kaiser auminum operafrom a loating log that was be- tion at present requires approxing swept toward the dam by imately 31,000 tons annually of acid grade fluorspar concentrates to produce essential for its primary plants at Spokane and Tacoma, Wash., and at New Orleans, La., the announcement said. One of the synthetic cryolte, is mined commercially in its natural state J. H. East, Jr., Regional Di- only in Greenland. The company announcement rector of the Bureau of Mines, the Baxter mine had been of said award a the announced today operating off and on for the pas $288,980 contract to the oCnstruction Company of 20 years and expansion of its iPttsburgh, Pa., for the con- production would be sought by struction and instalation of a developing some 10 daims ownnew pilot plant retort and two ed by the mine about 19 miles storage and distribu- north of Gabbs. Baxter mine tion systems at Rifle, Colo. shafts, now at the level, be will deepened. As signed by the contracting officer, Boyd Guhtrie, Chief of. asso-cation- s, inch u this are repeated many times as oilmen explore the Wllliston Basin- - with dynamite. The explosion sends shock waves into the earth. Reflected from formations far nnder ground, the returning shock waves help oilmen get a better description of structures favorable to the accumulation of oil. Scenes non-metall- Fluorspar Mill Planned For Nevada ic hi-hang- up Here's what the dynamite does. Exploding in the hole at the left, it sends shock waves down through various layers. As the waves strike each layer, some bounce back to receiving instruments called jugs buried in shallow holes at the surface (right). The time it takes for waves to return tells the depth of the formations. The character of the returning waves iiidiratcthe type of formations that reflect them. Oil Prilling Continued from Page 1 derlying strata, lying on each other like saucers in a stack, come to the surface in outcroppings. The scientists measured the slope of rock layers, chipped off samples for later study in the laboratories, and gathered other data to add to the picture. These men were followed by the seismic crewis the earthquake makers who blast secrets from the earth with dynamite. Traveling in a caravan of trucks, they moved across the area to be searched along a line that had been surveyed by still other crews. On one truck the seismologists had a miniature drilling rig that bored holes about 150 feet deep at regular intervals along the line. Another truck carried small recording instruments that the field men call jugs, which were planted about two feet deep at regular intervals along the line. Then the oil hunters ran cables from the jugs to recording instruments. Finally, from another truck carrying dynamite, they took a charge, lowered it into the hole and exploded it. Then they moved farther down the line and repeated the process. But why use dynamite in seeking oil? The reason is simple. Each blast starts a miniature earthquake whose shock waves go deep into the earth, strike rock formations, and bounce back to the jugs. The pidk up the reflected jugs waves and transmit them to the recording instruments (seismographs) from which they emerge as wiggly lines on photographic paper. The time it takes for the waves to go down and back tells how deep the formations are and what they are shaped like. The nature of the return-wave- s helps depict the formations that reflect them. So each shot of dynamite adds more de tail to the portrait of the bas- ins underground formations and helps show the places where oil may be found. When the seismologists finish surveying an area, they replace fences opened to let the caravan through, smooth the land, and fill the shot holes with cement and earth. This completes the agreement they had made with the landowner who gave them permission to make the search. The seismic crews work fast, covering miles of ground every day in all kinds of weather. They use bulldozers in removing obstacles or clearing away snow. They live in heated trailers equipped with bunks, lights, showers, and plumbing. They have a kitchen meals. hot If providing g6od can on live the necessary, they range for weeks, completely cut off from the outside world. And they have done it in this area, especially during periods of truck-mounte- d heavy snow. n The seismic study of the Basin was far from the end of the search. Seismologists sent records of their shots to a central exploration laboratory. There, other oil hunters analyzed them, compared them with reports from other seismic crews, reports from the surface geologists and. other sources Gradually, by sifting, culling and Wil-listo- dues, they nar- rowed the search to the most promising localities. Now the oil men were ready to make the big decision. They knew it might cost as much as $500,000 to drill one well They knew the odds were at least ten to one against finding oil, in spite of their scientific research. Even so, they decided to drill. But first, they had to acquire rights to use the land. The next article in this series will tell about the oil men who leased tiie land, and how they reached agreements with the I Contract For Oil Shell Units Granted by-produc- ts by-produc-ts, Blaw-Kno- x oil-sha- le 400-fo- ot the Bureaus stration Branch, the Oil-Shal- e Demon- three-par- t contract provides for (1) pilot plant No. 2, costing $107,920, (2) a $79,470 raw shale storage and distribution system to serve all pilot-plaretorting facilities, and (3) a $101,590 raw shale storage and distribution system for a demonstration-scale retort now unconstruction der by the same firm. reliminary work of dismantling old equipment and altering the pilot plant building to make room for the new retort will begin at once, Guthrie said. He estimated that the new pilot plant would be ready for operation about 6 months hence if no major delays are encountered in obtaining materials and gas-combusti- on nt ment Primary Aluminum aluminum Primary produc-tion during March was 77,069 short tons, according to the Bureau of Mines, U. S. Department of the Interior. Month-en- d stocks remained low, since shipments were about equal to production. Primary ingot and pig aluminum prices were quoted at 19 and 18 cents per pound, respectively, during the month. Monazite Project CASCADE, Ida. The War- ren Dredging Company of Cascade, has been granted a rapid tax amortization certificate for in development! of monazite sands deposits, the defense production administration has announced. $35,400 National Mine Safety Meet Slated The next National First Aid and Mine Rescue Contest has been tentativey set for week of September 21, 1953, it was announced' today by J. J. Forbes, Director of the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior. The site of the contest will be announced later, Director Forbes said, following a recent meeting of the chairmen of the various committees for the con- test. Held under the auspices of the Bureau and the Joseph A. Holmes Safely Association, the contest is part of the Bureaus program of encouraging mine safety. Tentative plans for the contest also were discussed at n the annual meeting of the held April 22, in the Interior Building, Washington, D. C. By virtue of being director of the Bureau, Mr. Forbes is president of the association. The director said the arrangements committee is now in the process of deciding where the next contest will be held. Not only must the community have hotel space for upwards of 800 participants during the week that we have selected; it also must have adequate facilities for staging the contest, he said. While most of the cities that would otherwise sui our requireasso-ciaio- ments have a lighted football stadium or other athletic plant large enough to handle 50 to 60 first aid teams operating simultaneously, not all have an armory or other, suitable indoor area to serve us in case of rain. The contest was held at the -- Columbus, Ohio, fairgrounds over a three-daperiod. There will be no national contest in y 1952. Net Profit Reported By Polaris Polaris Mining Company, operating in the Coeur dAlene, Ida., area, made a net profit of $718,348 for 1951 after deducting $446,358 for state and federal income taxes, according to the firms annual report released this week. This is slightly higher than the net of $703,504 in 1950, when taxes totaled $348,-518. Gross income for the year was with the bulk of this amount $2,027,259 coming' from ore sales by Sunshine Mining Company from its operations in tiie Rotbart and Omega areas of its property. Polaris, has a interest in the inRotbart area and a one-ha-lf terest in the Omega. The Polaris firm continued to mill Silver Summit ore at its concentrator located at the portal of the Silver Summit mine and milling charges brought in $134,132. An additional $42,863 was derived from interest, rent als and sundry income. Production for the year was 53,959 tons from the Omega area and 74,047 from the Rotbart area. Development work during the year added substantially to the reserves in both areas, the report reveals. At the year end Omega reserves were estimated at 234,000 tons, as compared with 235,000 tons at the end of 1950, and Rotbart reserves we e 339,000 tons as against 272,000. Discovery of a new ore shoot on the 3400 level of the Omega area was among the interesting developments of 1951, President L. J. Randall says in his report to stockholders. $2,204,255, one-thir- d |