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Show April 28, 1969 While most mining schools are dwindling, the University of Utah is growing and gaining stature, says Dr. George R. Hill, dean of the College of Mines and Mineral Indus- There are only 20 schools in the United States with the same degree offerings as our college, yet there are tremendous opportunities for graduates in these key fields. Dr. Hill says this years enrollment has climbed to 456 graduate and undergraduate students, about double that of 1961. At the baccalaureate level, he says, we have an average of four job offers per graduate. This increases up to 10 tries. for Ph.D.s. Most of the graduates accept jobs in the Intermountain region. The college ranks among the top mineral science institutions in the nation, annually awarding nearly 4 per cent of the degrees in the geological, mining and metallurgical engineering fields. And we expect this growth to continue, the dean says, because the demand for minerals is increasing while the quality of ore bodies ores is decreasing. Since lower-grad- e are being mined, there is a greater need for trained manpower and technological research. In addition to supplying highly trained geologists, engineers and other scientists, the college performs a wide variety of public services for the state. These range from earthquake research along Utahs Wasatch Fault to the development of new techniques for improving metals recovery at mines and refineries . . . from detective work in tracing sources of air pollution to high mountain weather and avalanche studies . . . from collecting data for mineralogic surveys to finding new uses for Utah coal reserves. Much of the success of the colprogram can leges forward-lookin- g be attributed to the leadership of one of the nations most Dr. Hill respected fuels engineers. The Utah-bor- n chemist and fuels researcher centers his work around the technological development of from petroleum and its coal and oil shale. - by-produ- In-sit- u cts Process Dr. Hill developed a new . Page 5 OIL & MINING JOURNAL in-si- tu process for extracting high quality crude oil from shale which is now being tested in several major pilot wells in Colorado by two large commercial oil companies. The process involves the pumping of heated natural gas containing methane through an insulated input well. It is circulated under pressure through the underground oil shale formation, thereby converting the shale by thermal cracking into a high-gravcrude oil. Dr. Hill believes an or process as opposed to underground mining will be the only way Utah, Colorado and Wyoming can economically develop their vast oil shale reserves. Dr. Hill says although Federal research funds seem to have concentrated in other engineering and scientific disciplines, the U college prospers by playing a vital role in the mineral and economic development of a rich natural resource state. ity - in-si- tu in-pla- ce - Building The College of Mines and Mineral Industries will reach a milestone in its development next month as construction begins on an eight-storS3 million Mineral Science Building on the campus Mineral Square at First South and 15 th East streets. We are now entering a new era in the colleges growth, says Dean Hill. With these new facilities the University will be in a much better position to help the mining industry solve its major problems, which in turn means economic development for the state. The new building will enable the college to bring its mineral science s research and basic engineering Eight-stor- y y, - presently pro-gram- scattered - throughout the campus into one compact location. Dean Hill says about 70 per cent of the colleges faculty and all graduate programs will be centered in the new building when it is completed in 18 months. Headquartered - in the structure will be the colleges four main departments: Geological and Geophysical Sciences under Dr. Eugene Callaghan; Mineral Engineering under Dr. Ferron A. Olson; Meteorology under Professor Don R. Dick- son; and Mining and Geological Engineering under Professor John Willson. The Utah Geological and Mineral ogi cal Survey, a research-oriente- d state agency which comes under the supervision of the dean of the college, will remain in its present building on First South Street. Survey Director Dr. William P. Hewitt also serves on the college faculty as professor of geology. Dr. Kenneth L. Cook, director of the Universitys seismograph sta- - weath- The new $3 million Mining and Mineral Science Building features a bubble-dome- d er observation tower. The brick and concrete structure will contain 59,000 square feet of usable space, with a special earthquake laboratory in the basement. Dr. George R. Hill examines a gigantic cubic press which geologic conThe device earth. the within ditions deep can produce pressures up to 100,000 pounds per square inch and temperatures up to 1,000 degrees centigrade. re-creat-es tions, says two floating concrete piers will be poured 10 feet underground in the basement of the new Mineral Science building to anchor delicate measuring devices. One will hold a new tidal gravity meter, so sensitive it can measure the gravity pull of the moon as it passes overhead. The other pier will be used for repair, maintenance and calibration of seismographs which record earthquakes. The University maintains a network of 25 seismograph stations throughout Utah. Weather Station The new Mineral Science Building will also feature a complete weather observation station, with measuring instruments on the roof and a fully equipped weather observation lab on the top floor. Professor Dickson says a cloud physics laboratory will allow students to artificially produce indoor clouds 35-fo- ot for study. The Universitys Isotope Geology Laboratory which is pioneering the relatively new field of quantitative geology will also be located on the lower floor of the new structure. Dr. Mead LeRoy Jensen, lab director, says new facilities are - Dr. Mead L. Jensen works on a mass spectrometer in the Isotope Geology Laboratory. U facilities in this rapidly growing field of research are capable of analyzing more isotopes than any other academic lab in the world. planned which will enable the Uni(up to versity to carbon-dat- e 50.000 years back) organic samples for archaeologists. Equipment is also planned for radioactive-datin- g the age of rocks in hundreds of mil- lions of years. According to Dr. Jensen, the Universitys Laboratory of Isotope Geology temporarily located in a barracks on the upper campus is now equipped to analyze a greater number of stable and radiogenetic isotopes than any other campus laboratory in the world. Isotope geology, he says, enables scientists' to more accurately explore for and locate ore deposits in the earth and trace the origin of these deposits. The new building will contain 59.000 square feet of usable space. It will be built of reinforced con- crete separated by brick panels. The architect is William F. Thomas of Salt Lake City, who also designed the Universitys Biology Building completed in 1968. The old Mines Building where the college is now headquartered will be remodeled for classroom use to meet the continually expanding enrollment in the College of Mines and Mineral Industries. Meteorology students Douglas Cone of Bountiful, Utah, left, and Paul Sabol prepare weather map overlays for time lapse photography, of Erie, Pa., . |