The ,Montana School of Mines
VOL. IV, NO.6
Published by the Associated Students.of the Montana School. of Mines •
JANUARY
16, 1958
Mining. Sy:m.posium.Scheduled For May The Department of Mining Engineering of the Montana School of Mines, actively assisted by the Mining Association of Montana, the Anaconda Co., the Montana Society of Engineers and the MSM Alumni, will sponsor a symposium concerned with the hydraulic.emplacement of mine stope fill. It will be held on the campus of the School Of Mines on May 9 and 10, 1958The. group will include visitors from regions extending from Sudbury, Ontario, to Pennsylvarna. The object of the symposium will be to allow some mine operators to present papers outlining' their solutions to specific problems in the use of hydraulically emplaced fill' and to allow other operators to explore for solutions to their own problems through a free interchange of ideas during the discussion period following each paper on each session. The subject matter for the series of papers will 'be selected to allow as complete a coverage of the most recent devolpments in the field as time will allow.
,Petroleum E·n gin ee rI. n9 --- h a.t I s It?. W·
by Douglas H. Harnish, Jr. The petroleum industry is not yet 100 years old but in that time it has grown to tremendous proportions affecting our welfare, economy, national defense, and even our way of life. What is the petroleum industry and what are we talking about when we say "He is an oil CADWELL SPEAKS AT CONVOCATION man?" This "oil man" may be occupied in one 01) more of the hun· cases the mineral particles are so dreds of phases existing in the pefinely, disseminated that or~inar_y troleum industry. He may be an U I concentration methods are ineffi- oil geologist, a driller. a pipe-line gauger, a refiner. a lube oil salescient and the mill operator must man, or a gasoline station attendEdward' Cadwell, field engineer bit content with a low percent r e- ant. He may be a petroleum profor the American Cyanamid Comduction engineer and that is the pany and a graduate of the Montana covery. f li h d field or phase of the industry that The slides shown were 0 po IS e each student enrolled in petroleum School of Mines, spoke to the stu- sections of mill samples,. taken engineering here at Montana School dent body on January 7. His talk, through a microscope. The photo- of Mines is preparing for. Briefly, "Metallurgical and Mining Prob- graphs were in color and, in most the petroleum production engineer lems of South American Mining, 1 learns that petroleum and natural cases, the mineral co ors were r e- gas occur in certain rock strucCompanies," was illustrated with in produced exact 1y. tures within the earth's crust in teresting color slides of various minMr. Cadwell, who received a mas- many parts of the world. Although era I particles. ' 11 . 1 . popularly supposed to be underter's degree in meta urgrca engi- ground pools or lakes of oil, in Mr. Cadwell stated that many neering in 193 7, ca IIe d ,th e, M on t ana reality, the fluid fills the voids in South American companies suffer School of Mines "one of the best" a layer of porous rock, known as an from a lack of planning in their and stated that our graduates "have oil reservoir. Because oil and gas' mining and milling operations. Be. bl " are formed only in certain geologic a reputation that is very envra e. structures,. the petroleum engineer cau se 0 f th e d ec li111111g . pnices .of In the South American fie ld h e h as makes use of geophysical and geocopper and other non-ferrous meta Is, encOlc1ntereda number of engineers logic methods to determine favorefficient recovery and high-grade who have been trained in Butte and able areas for drilling. concentrates become of great im- said that they have "contributed a In the early days of the industry, Portance. In many cases, low-grade good deal towards the good neigh- not too much engineering was utilconcentrates and poor recovery are ltd ized, Today, it is a specialized field due to locked mineral particles or bor policy." He a so commen e on divided into phases such as well Coated particles. A microscope is the engineering situation, and said drilling, production, transportation, often necessary to determine these there is "a lack oJ skilled people" and storage of, oil and gas. 'conditions and 'Mr.' Cadwell has in South America at the present Once a wide, favorable area for studied thousands of samples in this time. drilling a well has been outlined, manner. The talk was sponsored by the the petroleum engineer helps decide The speaker, who is one of the Anderson-Carlisle Society and Ted the actual well location. He may world's for e m 0 s t microscopists, Burch vice president of the metal- .then be called upon to solve the stressed the importance of micro- lurgical section; in~roduced, the mechanical problems of rotary drillScopic examination and mineral speaker. Mr. Cadwell s son, Dave, ing equipment, drilling tools, and ?ressing'tests to, guide future min- is currently enr6lled as a freshman derrick;. the 'control of drilling muds lUg and milling operations. In some at M.S.M. for conditioning the hole, holding down the gas pressure, and lubricating and cooling the bit. After completing well tests such as drill steam tests, bottom hole pressure tests, radioactive and electric logging, he supervises the design -and running of casirig followed by development of the oil field which involves the number and spacing of wells and rate of production. He plans .and designs oil and gas pipe lines, treating installations and .necessary tanks for storage. He must, select the suitable producing meth-ods for the most economic production, such ".as plunger or" gas-lift pumps, prime -mover requirements and rates of production. He recommends methods of 'well repair and supervises this work. He supervises well measurements, the running and cementing of casing, casing perfora-: ·tions, squeeze cementing, acidizing, hydraulic fracturing and. other technical applications in the production of oil. He makes studies of 'the reservoir, its extent, content and physical characteristics. He learns the application of furidamental and involved theory of reservoir mechil11ics and fluid-rock properties proceeding to the principles of secondary recovery and pressure maintenance. He must know how to treat emulsions, dispose of salt water and Part of the crowd at the M.S.M. annual Christmas dance. Music was inhibit corrosion of equipment. The decorations and, refreshThe average young engineering Provided by the Fran Reich Orchestra. Illents were a. project of the Coed Club. The dance was held on De- s,tudent in petroleum will learn the fundamentals of .the foregping deCelllber 15 and was well attended.
scription and upon graduation may . d b e emp Ioye d by a major pro ucing company which enters him into a training program to give him the practical application of what he has learned in theory, Eventually he will migrate to his own field of specialization or that phase which appeals to him. In time he will, if he shows the proper qualifications, gravitate into management or supervision on a higher and higher plane. His salary is as high as most of the engineering field and his' chances of early advancement are unlimited. He may be employed in the U.S. or he may go "foreign." In any event he is a part of a glamorous and aggressive industry-the "fascinating oil business."
N oted AI m nus d . dresses Stu ents Ad
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There will be sessions covering such aspects as the use and application of hydraulic fill. in which the modification to mining methods that result from the use of this technique will be described, as well as a discussion of the use of hydraulic fill for fighting mine fires and as a stabilizl. f ing actor providing regional support to ground adjacent to active mines. The problems associated with conditioning sand and tailings, for the most efficient transportation; placement and drainage of the fill after it is in place will, be discussed, as .well as the results of the most recent research into the design aspects of sand fill systems: '. ' It is hoped that by conducting this symposium, the Montana School of Mines will more completely fulfill its purpose of providing educational facilities to personnel of the Mining Industry of Montana and the Northwest.·
School of Mines Accredited
. The Engineering Council for Prof essiona . 1 D eve Iopment has extended the accreditation of the Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology departmerits until the fall of 1958. The . 1 dressi . mmera ressing course III the Metallurgy department has been accredited until 1960. A committee from the E. C. P. D. . investigates the school facilities in the spring, six months prior to the Council's fall meeting. The report of the committee is evaluated by the Council, and a decision is made as to whether or not the various departments of the school are to be accredited. These accreditations are published in various college evaluation catalogues, and are the basis of many decisions concerning .the graduates of the accredited schools.
NOTICE Any senior interested in graduate study in engineering in Venezuela should' see Dr. Brown. Student should speak Spanish. Stipend is $5,000 for one year.
HOCKEY Mines vs·. Copperleafs AT CIVIC CENTER January
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