The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-07-22
OIL SANDS MAY Be MINED
GAS IS ONLY OBSTACLE
PRESENT EXTRACTION DOES NOT
EXCEED FROM IS TO 40
PER CENT.

Albert II. Fay mining engineer o
Tulsa, Oklahoma, has the following
interesting article in the Oil and Ca
journal on the possibility of mining
oil sands:
The rapidly increasing consumption
OF petroleum products in the United
States is causing some alarm as tC
how the demand is to be met in tn,
face of geological data indicating thai
the best fields have been developed.
Many biologists are confident thai
the peak of production viii be passed
within few years possibly only three
to five years at the most. The peak OF
consumption will be reached at an in
definite date beyond this, and will be
determined by total production plus
the largest amount of oil that can be
imported from foreign sources, pro-
vided, however, a substitute for motor
gasoline is not found that can be pro-
duced at cost less than the cost OF
gasoline
The distilation OF oil from shale,
Ignite and low-grade coal offers pos
sibilities for relief but at IA much
higher unit cost than the present price
OF crude oil. possibly from So to $40
per barrel Better extraction methods
whereby "a larger percentage of oil
may be recovered also hold some
promise as in the use of the vacuum
method pumping by compressed air
and possibly the utilization of super
heated steam or water. as in the
Frasch process of extracting sulphur
in Louisiana. whereby tine heavier OIL
may be sufficiently warmed to render
il more mobile
Available data do not Indicate how
much oil remains in the ground when
pumping ceases The porosity of the
sands is not definitely known but may
from few tests. as a basis for est-
mates. be assured as about 171A per
cent as available for containing oil
Oil in Abandoned Fields.
There is undoubtedly in many of the
so-called exhausted oil fields, a large
quantity of saturated sands. on the
assumption of 17ia per cent pore
space (and in many cases much more)
there would be at least 1923 cubic
feet of pore space per acre-foot cap
able of being thoroughly saturated to
the extent of l.36S barrels of oil per
acre root Assuming the specific grav-
ity of the dry sand at 2.65. ! cubic
foot of oil rock would weigh approx
mately 1865 pounds plus the weight OF
the oil contained q Is gallons). say
about 10 pounds. making the saturat-
ed rock weigh 175 pounds per cubic
foot. or the equivalent of II cubic feet
per ton. Each ton of sand would con-
tain. on the basis of 17lb per porosity,
10 gallons of oil, requiring approx
mately2h tons of sand to produce one
barrel of oil, valued today at $3.50.
In gold mining about % per cent of
the contained value is extracted,
whereas in the oil field the extraction
does not exceed Is TO 40 per cent. The
cost of mining, metallurgical processes
for extraction. all overhead expenses,
and satisfactory dividends for the
are included i'm the re-
turns from the treatment OF low grade
ores. The price of so per barrel for
crude oil would be about the equiva-
lent of 81 gold ore from the miners
viewpoint. When the price of crude
oil passes this mark. there will be an
for the petroleum miner
Depth Not Impractical.
Practically none of the oil produced /
in the United States is from depths I
that are beyond the limits of prac-
teal mining operations In Rumania /
land-dug petroleum wells are said to /
be 600 to 500 feet deep and are crudely /
BY the employment of Lake Superior /
ron mining methods. more than 80 /
Der cent of the oil sand may be brought .
% the surface and the remainder .
would be sufficiently crushed TO allow
perhaps one half OF the oil to flow
,ut and collect in a stump. from which
I could be pumped to the surface.
once the oil sand is mined and brought
o the surface il would be given
pecial treatment similar to that Civ
m oil shales. especially if some of the
III is chemically combined with the
and
Many oil pools have been thoroughly
outlined by the campaign of drilling
hat has been conducted during recent
ears, and in general way the risk
# not finding oil would be eliminated
n other words, the oil-bearing sands y
re now developed to about the same
xtent as the large modern iron and
Upper mines are developed, by drill )
ne and sampling the drill cuttings be
ore mining actually begins.
Gas Only Obstacle.
The only real physical obstacle in
he way of mining petroleum sands is
he matter of gas. but by efficient ven
ilation, the use of permissible explo-
ives thorough inspection. strict rules ,
nd laws regarding operation it is pos ,
ible that underground methods could !
e applied successfully. h
AS the gas problem is a very serious {
no in r,,fr,fr,rr ov,or,4f,ra ,,,,t,r, 90 4I,s .