Abstract Pinedale field, located in Sublette County, Wyoming, is one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States. The discovery and commercialization of this field covers a period of nearly 60 years. During this time, many different companies and people were involved in bringing Pinedale to the point of commercial production. The field produces from the Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation on the Pinedale anticline. The Lance Formation is a series of stacked sandstones interbedded with siltstone, mudstone, and shale. The sandstones typically average about 7% porosity with permeabilities in the single-digit micro-Darcy range. In much of the Pinedale field, the Lance reservoir section is over 5500 ft (1700 m) thick, and it is typically overpressured throughout the section. The commercialization of the field was made possible through the convergence of a better understanding of the geology of the reservoir rocks and the nature of the field’s structure as revealed through the use of modern three-dimensional (3-D) geophysical data. This understanding permitted the development and utilization of modern drilling and completion practices that were developed during the drilling of the adjacent Jonah field and that continue to evolve today.

Abstract Nickel laterites are thick weathering profiles derived by leaching of ultramafic rocks by meteoric water. Olivine or derived serpentine provides the nickel. Profiles with economically significant deposits derive their Ni from 40-m (15−100 m, 10 th −90 th percentile range) thicknesses of protolith grading 0.16 to 0.3 percent Ni and 5.5 to 10.5 percent Fe. The profiles may be preserved in situ or transported to form a sedimentary unit that may be buried, lithified, and metamorphosed. From bottom upward, in situ nickel laterites may be comprised of silicate saprolite, a nontronite clay zone, high Co and Mn limonite or ferruginous saprolite, low Co and Mn limonite, and allocthonous cover. Any of these units may be absent due to erosion or nondeposition and, importantly, one or all may be siliceous, usually due to quartz precipitation in the saprolite zone. Nickel is leached downward from the limonite zone, added to the saprolite and nontronite zones, and left residually enriched in limonite. Strong supergene enrichment requires downward leaching into saprolite and fractured rock above a deep water table. Zones of strong passive jointing and pre- or synweathering fracture zones all may lead to an order of magnitude increase in the rate of advance of the weathering front. The rate of advance of the weathering front in tropical rain forest covered highlands is about 50m/m.y., regardless of whether the bed rock is ultramafic, dioritic, or felsic. Weathering fronts advance at progressively slower rates in terranes with less relief. Nickel laterite deposits accumulate on terraces or plateau landforms in karstlike basins or under semiarid peneplains. The topographic controls of in situ nickel laterite deposits can be understood in terms of structural controls and three long-term climatic and topographic scenarios. The scenarios include: (1) permanently wet rain- forest setting in tectonically active terrane with moderate relief, (2) a formerly wet peneplain that has evolved toward aridity, and (3) a formerly arid peneplain setting that has evolved into a permanently wet environment.

Abstract Coal mining is a highly mechanized, capital-intensive industry which is widespread throughout the world. The major coal-producing nations, in order of production, are China, the United States, India, South Africa, Australia, and the Russian Federation. Proven recoverable coal reserves of coal, including lignite, in order of abundance, include the United States, the Russian Federation, China, Australia, India, Germany, and South Africa. In the United States, the State of Wyoming is the largest producer of coal. Australia is the largest exporter of steam and coking coal. Coal mining is accomplished by both surface and underground methods, with the former being the most prevalent (Lindbergh and Provorse, 1977; Kennedy, 1990; and Hartman, 1992). New technology is playing a major role in the steady increase of the productivity of coal miners throughout the world. Larger and more efficient equipment has reduced the labor-intensive nature of mining operations worldwide, particularly in the more developed nations (Orlemann, 1995).