The Economic Aspect of Geology

by C. K. Leith

The Use of All Available Information

Effective scientific exploration requires the use of all available information applying to the specific area. This might seem to be too obvious to require mention, yet observance of the methods of explorers seems to call for warning against the rather common tendency to go into a field unprepared with a thorough knowledge of preceding work. It is easy to forget or overlook some investigation made many years previously; or to assume that such work is out of date, and of no special consequence in the application of new thought and method which is the basis of the faith and confidence of each new geologic explorer. A study of the reports on an old camp shows how often the younger generations have ignored the results of the older. Many of the same elementary truths are rediscovered by successive generations, after large efforts which could have been saved by means of proper care and investigation of the previous literature and mapping.

In outlying parts of the world, the existing information bearing on exploration may be at a minimum. In many of the older mining camps and throughout most civilized countries, however, careful investigation will usually disclose a considerable range of useful information bearing on the territory to be explored. In the United States the natural course to be pursued is to hunt carefully through the reports of the U. S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, various state surveys, universities, and private organizations (so far as these reports are available), and through the technical journals and the reports of technical societies, for something bearing on the district to be explored. Even if no specific report or map is to be found, it is usually possible to locate general maps or accounts which are likely to be of use.

Coöperation in Exploration

Competition in exploration often develops an atmosphere of suspicion and furtiveness which is highly unfavorable to coöperative efforts. Individuals and companies may handicap themselves greatly by a desire to play a lone hand, and by failure to take advantage of an exchange of information. This action may be based, particularly on the part of strong mining companies, on the assumption that they know all that is necessary about the problem, and that an outsider has nothing to contribute. Financial and other conditions may require this attitude; but in large part it is a result of temperament, as clearly indicated by the difference in methods followed by different groups and in different mining districts. From the scientific point of view this attitude can hardly be justified, in view of the extremely narrow limits of human knowledge as compared with the scientific field to be explored. The sum total of knowledge from all sources is only a small fraction of that necessary for the most effective results. The mutual exchange of information and discussion is usually justified on the basis of self-interest alone, to say nothing of the larger interest to the mineral district, to the country, or to science.

National and state survey organizations exercise considerable effort to secure records of drilling. In some cases they have the legal power to command this information, particularly in relation to appraisals for taxation and "blue sky" laws. In a larger number of cases drill records are secured through voluntary coöperation with explorers. A considerable number of records are nevertheless not filed with public agencies and some of these are permanently lost. Even where the records are turned in to a public organization, they are in most cases not directly available to explorers.

Public registration of all drilling records is a highly desirable procedure in the interests of the development of the mineral industry as a whole. A vast amount of unnecessary duplication can thus be avoided. The record of a drill hole, even though barren, may be of vast significance in the interpretation of future developments and should be recorded as carefully as an abstract of land title. The property right of the explorer in such information can be and usually is protected by withholding the record from public inspection until sufficient time has elapsed to give him full opportunity to use the information to his own best advantage.

The opportunities for coöperation with specialists of public organizations are almost unlimited. These organizations are likely to have an accumulation of data and experience extending through long periods and over large areas, which the private explorer ordinarily cannot hope to duplicate. With proper restrictions this information may be available for public use. A good illustration of current coöperative effort of this kind is in the deep exploration for oil in the Trenton limestone of Illinois. Outcrops and other specific indications are not sufficient to localize this drilling; but the information along broad geologic and structural lines which has been collected previously by the Illinois Survey is sufficient so that, with a comparatively small amount of shallow drilling, the locus of the more favorable structural conditions may be determined. In this case the Survey is directing the initial exploration, which is financed by private capital.