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By Mackenzie Burnett

An inducer-type pump, capable of injecting dry coal into a hydraulic transport pipeline has been developed and installed in a specially designed and fabricated slurry injector vehicle. The full scale prototype injector system can deliver up to 11 ton/min of coal into an 8-in pipeline t pressures up to 95 lb/in2. The Helical Inducer Injector operates on centrifugal principles with flow passing axially through helical pitched conical rotor. Water is delivered to the pump through an annular slot at the atmospheric pressure coal inlet. The spinning rotor maintains an air-core vortex of water which pressurizes the discharge housing. A screw feeds coal through the open inlet into this vortex. The inner radius of the vortex contracts as pressure is increased, giving a limiting maximum pressure which is proportional to the square of the rotor speed. Below this limit, flow rate, discharge pressure, und rotor speed re independent variables. The self-powered, 4 -in high slurry injector vehicle follows and receives ROM coal from a continuous miner, reduces the top size to 3-in, and delivers the sized coal to the injector feed screw for slurry formation and pumps it through a mobile hose attached to the vehicle's outby end.

Jan 1, 1983

By George S. Rice

The major purpose of this bulletin, as indicated in the preface by Dr. John W. Finch, Director of the Bureau of Mines, is to give a critical review of the coal-mining methods used in the principal producing countries of Europe, to describe the reasons underlying the adoption of these methods, and to contrast them with coal-mining methods employed in the United States. The report includes discussions of various subjects intimately related to coal mining, such as geology of the principal coal fields; production and resources of the several countries; mine safety and health research; Government mining regulations; mine inspection and rescue procedure; safety lamps; fixed lighting methods under-ground; testing electric motors, mining machines, and mining explosives for permissibility; and special mining hazards, such as explosions of gas and coal dust, mine fires, instantaneous gas outbursts, ground movement and surface subsidence, and bumps. Commercial, economic, and labor problems of European coal mining, including miners' output, wages, and social-insurance schemes, as well as cost of mining, prices of coal, etc., are briefly described. It will be noted that data on most subjects are not given for Russia, which has become an important coal-producing country, owing to the lack of reliable published information concerning Russian coal mining.

Jan 1, 1939

By W. L. Dare

This information circular is one of a series the Bureau of Mines plans to publish describing the methods and costs of mining uranium on the Colorado Plateau. The Big Buck mine is one of the larger underground uranium-vanadium ore mines on the plateau. The mine is about 39 miles southeast of Moab in the Big Indian mining district, San Juan County, Utah. The Big Buck claims were located late in 1947, when uranium mineralization was discovered in the Cutler formation at its outcrop along the escarpment that forms the west side of Big Indian Wash. Charles A. Steen made the first major discovery of uranium ore in the Chinle formation in the Big Indian mining district on July 6, 1952, when 14 feet of high-grade uranium ore was encountered in a diamond-drill hole drilled on his Mi Vida claim. The Big Buck ore body now being mined by Standard Uranium Corp. is a southeast extension of Steen's original discovery.

Jan 1, 1956

By J. B. Keast

Introduction The last two or three decades have been marked by striking developments in methods of mining and tunnelling. In view .of increased competition and various economic factors, intensive ' mining has been largely practised, and no effort seems to have been spared to increase outputs and lower the cost of production. In metalliferous mining, the compressed-air rock-drill has effected marked savings in this direction, while in coal mining, the coal-cutting machine has revolutionized mining methods and materially contributed to economical working. Yet, for many years, little or no advance was made in methods of handling the rock, or coal, once it had been successfully broken. Loading by hand is, undoubtedly, the most laborious occupation in the whole of mining operations, and it is also the greatest single item that enters into the cost of production. In view of this, the lag of improved handling methods behind the process of winning the rock or coal is rather surprising. The point, however, was appreciated by mining men, and the introduction of various forms of conveyors and loaders is the result. The belt conveyor, the chain conveyor, the shaker conveyor, and the mechanical shovel entered various parts of the field, but it was left to scraping to provide a method of both conveying and loading. From the pure loading point of view, the choice lies between mechanical shovels and scraper loaders. While it is realised that each of these machines has applications peculiar to itself, yet it should be realised that much work which has hitherto been done by mechanical shovels can be done equally effectively with scraper loaders and at a considerable saving both from the point of view of initial outlay and upkeep.

Jan 1, 1933

By McHenry Mosier

This paper describing mining practice at Morenci, Ariz., is one of a series of articles on mining method, and practice in the various mining districts in the United States. At present (1929) practically all the mineral production in the Morenci district is from the Humboldt mine of the Morenci Branch, Phelps Dodge Corporation. The mining method used is adapted to the type of ore body being exploited; it has been developed by adopting methods used elsewhere and making necessary changes to fit local conditions. Improvements in current practices are still being made.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. H. East, D. Harrington

"INTRODUCTION Shaft mines, coal and noncoal alike, have a common hoisting problem that remains largely unsolved - how to obtain a mechanical device that will suspend a cage or skip in a mine shaft if the hoisting rope should break or become detached from the cage or skip and that will function effectively under all conditions of service. Safety catches, or safety dogs, as they are commonly named, are installed on nearly all mine cages and many skips operating in American mines, but often, if the hoisting rope breaks, the cage or skip falls to the bottom of the shaft in spite of safety devices, causing much property damage and often fatalities.Available information relative to safety catches for mine cages and skips, desirable characteristics of safety catches and methods of testing safety catches to determine whether they are functioning correctly has been assembled in this publication for the convenience of those responsible for the safe operation of mine cages end skips and, more particularly, to focus attention on the need for a device that actually will stop and suspend a falling cage or skip under all conditions of use and do it without killing or maiming the occupants."

Feb 1, 1948

The realization that there is a limit to our supply of domestic mineral and fuel resources, which have been taken for granted until recently, has stimulated the need for conservation and optimum utilization of the Nation's minerals, metals, and fuels-resources critical to our national economy. The mission of the Bureau of Mines is to develop new technology, improve existing technology, and disseminate information related to mineral resources and industries. Fulfilling the mission is necessary to insure a continuing, adequate supply of minerals and alternative supplies of energy from reliable sources at the lowest possible cost to society and the environment. Established in 1910, the Bureau of Mines under the Department of the Interior is the Federal Government's primary research arm in the mineral field. Since the transfer of the fossil fuels portion of the energy research program to the newly organized Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) in fiscal year 1975, Bureau research has been concentrated on increasing mineral production, decreasing energy usage through more efficient processing, and decreasing material losses caused by corrosion. Concurrently, research is being addressed to improved coal-preparation techniques, especially to expanding utilization of low-grade coals and coals difficult to beneficiate, which are essential for reducing the need for petroleum and natural gas supplies and for redirecting our energy consumption. Fluctuations in the availability of foreign sources of minerals, metals, and fuels due to political and economic variability among nations have necessitated intensified investigation into coal mining, uranium-ore processing, and geothermal energy sources-three alternatives that can help to alleviate the dependence of the United States on foreign sources of energy.

Jan 1, 1975

By Frank B. Fulkerson

Barge traffic on the Nation's inland waterways over the past 15 years has been increasing at a rate much faster than intercity freight traffic by all modes, largely due to the growing consumption of mineral commodities, development of more powerful towboats and large and more specialized barges, improvements to loading and unloading facilities, and competition among bargelines for contract shipment of bulk commodities. The Bureau of Mines, in a study to determine barge traffic projections for inland waterways in the South-Central States to the year 1980, gathered data on origin-destination patterns by commodity, quantity moved, equipment used, and rates charged; the trend of each of these factors over time; and the extent of competition between water trans-port and other means of transportation. The Mississippi River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which together carryover half the Nation's barge traffic, are major carriers of coal, crude petroleum, steel, marine shells, sulfur, salt, cement, and alumina. Greater quantities of these products will be transported by barge; however, oil pipe-lines and unit trains for coal are expected to limit increased barge traffic of these two commodities. Increasing quantities of fertilizer materials will be transported upstream. Although congestion at certain locks is a current problem, the Mississippi River below St. Louis and other open-river stretches have the capacity to handle the increasing number of barges for the foreseeable future.

Jan 1, 1969

By Lawrence Addicks

T HIS has been a most momentous year in the annals of the Institute. We have been in the midst of a situation which, were it not for the convulsions of social unrest with which life is surrounded on every side, would have attracted the attention of the world at large. I do not refer to the desperate campaign for new members. That has gone on much as usual except that, this being leap year, the annual proposal to the M. & M. Society has been omitted. Nor do I refer to the desperate situation which we found in other directions, the spread of Bolshevism, the burning of the Engineers' Club, the fact that the selling of copper appears to have become one of the lost arts. No, I speak of the great question which has to be. settled once and for all, as to whether this great Institute should adopt simplified spelling. The whole trouble started in the ranks of the California Hysterical Society. It appears, while most of the San Francisco members can read and write, several of them cannot spell. It also appears that the Secretary, in editing the Transactions, has perhaps made just a little bit too much of a point of employing the correct Stoughton idiom. At any rate, the rebels filed an amendment to the constitution, and the stage was set for civil war, with perhaps more stress on war than on civil.

Jan 1, 1920

By S. F. Radtke

The properties and characteristics of lead and zinc have made these metals useful to man in many ways since the days of antiquity. Despite their long history of use, however, these metals have proved to be extremely resilient and responsive to modern needs. New alloys and compounds continue to be developed, adding to the growth of these metals. Consumption data is given for 1969 and compared with one and two decades ago. Trends in major markets also are cited and explained. Uses for lead and zinc which have come into prominence within the past few years are described and explained, with emphasis on the role played by the industry's cooperative research program. Current efforts in the research phase are discussed, with details given on major efforts for both metals, including new alloys, process developments, applications research, finishes, coating, paints and pigments, batteries and fundamental research. A forecast is given of promising new areas and a projection made on a longer term of new applications that may emerge from current research.

Jan 1, 1970

When the Organic Act of 1910 established the Bureau of Mines within the Department of the Interior, the Bureau's programs involved only health and safety research and, education, and fuels testing. As the Federal Government's primary agency for research in minerals, the Bureau has expanded its scientific and technological investigations to mining, processing mineral substances, eliminating occupational health and safety hazards in the mineral industries, economic development, and resource conservation. Today, Bureau activities cover a broad spectrum of programs for meeting the diverse (and sometimes conflicting) needs of mineral industries, government, and the public. In the 1960's, the Bureau initiated programs to resolve environmental problems associated with past mining and mineral processing. In the 1970's, the energy crisis raised the national consciousness concerning our limited supplies of domestic mineral and fuel resources. Dependence on foreign sources of raw materials critical to our national economy and competition from other countries for these world supplies stimulated the need to conserve and use with intelligence the Nation's minerals, metals, and fuels.1

Jan 1, 1977

By J. R. Thoenen

This circular is the second of a series presenting methods employed in solving the technical problems encountered in the production of sand and gravel. The first paper3 discussed the methods use in prospecting and exploration. This one teals with the problems involved in bringing a raw prospect to the production stage and considers the various methods of development and the Factors affecting that development. Later publications are planned to present and discuss methods of recovery and treatment. The recovery of sand and ravel from natural deposits and their preparation for market involve a progressive sequence of operating steps or processes. Each step or process presents its own peculiar problems which require different angles of mental approach, methods, and tools, but all are more or less dependent on the step or process which precedes or follows.

Jan 1, 1933

By H. Gerry Stephenson, Devin Castendyk

"One of the most important environmental issues associated with contemporary openpit mining is the closure of mine pit lakes, and the perpetual legacy these lakes can potentially generate. Ideally, successful pit lake closure includes the following:• The water quality within the pit lake, plus surface water and ground water discharging from the pit lake, meets premining or other acceptable water quality conditions of the receiving environment. • The termination of all active treatment processes.• The return of the pit lake to the government for long-term care and maintenance.• The release of the mining company from all future liabilities associated with the pit lake.• The return of the environmental bond to the mining company.• The reuse of the pit lake for some post-closure, beneficial purpose.The achievement of these goals is known as walk away pit lake closure.Peer-reviewed publications of successful walk away, pit lake closure provide mining companies with the ability to address public concerns regarding the safety of pit lakes which commonly occur during the permitting, operations, and closure phases of mining. To date, most published work on walk away, pit lake closure work has occurred in the coal mining sector in Germany and Australia (McCullough et al., 2009; Jones and McCullough, 2011; Kumar et al., 2013; Schultz et al., 2013). In North America, examples of walk away, pit lake closure are not widely discussed in the literature despite there being excellent examples from the coal mining sector in Alberta, Canada (e.g. Pleasure Island, Black Diamond, East Pit, Sphynx, Robb, Lovette, Siltstone and Sterling), and from the iron mining sector in Minnesota in the United States (e.g. Portsmouth Lake, see MNDNR, 2018). Although seldom included in discussions of pit lakes from the metal and coal mining sectors, the aggregate and fabricated-stone mining sectors also produce pit lakes, and there are numerous examples throughout North America where these pit lakes have been successfully closed and transformed into post-mining resources (Vandenberg, 2018; Crossman, 2019). The difficulty of finding these good examples in the literature makes it challenging for companies to respond to public and regulatory questions regarding pit lake closure and reuse. As such, there is a pressing need to document the motivations and approaches used in examples of successful, walk away, pit lake closure in North America so that the mining industry, at large, can learn from these examples and can better address public concerns."

Aug 1, 2019

By J. W. Allen

This report reviews the work performed on Task M of Bu-Mines Contract H0220073 to develop an engineering model of a surface and subsurface communications system for normal mine operations and for post disaster rescue operations. The system concept provides for one-way transmission of digital information between a number of identifiable subsurface terminals or subcenters and a single surface station. It also provides 2-way voice communications between the subcenters and the surface station. The basic communications link is electromagnetic signaling through-the-earth, but the system is also capable of using mine phone lines as an alternate link. Engineering models of three subcenters and one surface terminal (see Figure 1-1) have been fabricated in order to demonstrate the system's performance. The system concept, however, permits up to 20 subcenters to be incorporated if desired. Additional subcenters are also feasible for large mines if they can be deployed in the mine to operate on a noninterfering basis.

Jan 1, 1973

By John F. Wiss

A series of controlled experiments was conducted at four surface coal mines to study the effects of certain blast parameters upon the ground and air vibration. Preliminary scale-model blasts were conducted at a quarry to provide basic data. It was found that the amplitudes of the ground and air vibration were controlled by the maximum explosive weight per delay. Either cube root or square root scaling could be used for the seismic amplitudes, and cube root scaling could be used for the overpressure amplitudes. Both amplitudes were not significantly affected by the total charge weight per blast, the attitude of the boreholes, or the charge length or diameter. The overpressure amplitudes were affected by the charge depth, the use of cover over surface detonating cord, and the use of adequate stemming. The length of the delay intervals and the spacing of holes were important in determining the potential for reinforcement of the amplitudes in certain directions from the blasts. In downwind directions from the blast, the attenuation of the overpressure with distance decreases. Surface terrain did not significantly affect the overpressure amplitudes within the range investigated. The type of overburden affects the generation of both amplitudes and the propagation of the seismic amplitudes. Spectral analysis of the ground and air vibration is reported. A bibliography of pertinent literature is included as an appendix. A scaled distance of 300 ft/lb1/3 should produce a peak particle velocity of less than 1 ips and an overpressure of less than 128 dB linear peak. For square root scaling, a scaled distance of 75 ft/lbl/2 should limit the ground vibration to less than 1 ips.

Jan 1, 1978

By George K. Clement

Manual estimating method through use of equations, factors and curves for preparation of feasibility type estimates for capital and operating cost of mining and primary beneficiation in the United States and Canada of various types of minerals occurrences, except fossil fuels, using state-of-the-art technology. User should have basic estimating experience in the mining industry and/or related fields. Primary usage of this handbook will be for the preparation of preliminary estimate within a reasonable degree of accuracy with relative small amounts of hard input data. Output may be used to determine if a more finite type of estimate should be produced.

Jan 1, 1978

By P. L. Russell, M. E. Volin, F. L. C. Price, D. H. Mullen

Tin deposits in Catron County, New Mexico, were explored by the Bureau of Mines under authority of the Strategic Minerals Act of August 1939. The investigation covered both lode and placer deposits and was later extended to deposits in Sierra County. Six of the known deposits were examined by E. D. Gardner, supervising engineer of the Southwest Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines, and S. G. Lasky, a geologist of the Federal Geological Survey, in June and July 1939. It was recommended that the more promising occurrences be explored by test pitting, trenching, and sampling. Field work, under supervision of M. E. Volin, began in September and continued through December 1939. The area was mapped by Carl Fries, Jr., of the Federal Geological Survey, in 1939 and 1940. The La Cruz Development Co. acquired control of the Squaw Creek placer claims in 1942 and began active sampling and development preliminary to large-scale operations. The result of this work showed a considerably higher tin content than that found by the Bureau of Mines in 1939. Because of this report and reports from other parts of the district that large-scale operations for the production of tin from lode deposits were possible, it was recommended that the Bureau of Mines resample parts of Squaw Creek and conduct a mill test of lode material to determine whether a concentrate could be made that was high enough in tin and low enough in iron to be acceptable in American smelting practice. This work, under the supervision of Paul L. Russell, was begun in November 1942 and completed in January 1943, during which time the Sierra Metals Co. acquired control of a large area in Sawmill Canyon. At the suggestion of the Federal Geological Survey and the War Production Board, which had reason to believe that a great deal of commercial material existed on certain flatlands and gully slopes, the project was extended to include test pitting and sampling of those areas. This work was completed in February 1943.

May 1, 1947

By C. B. Manula

Bituminous coal mining in the United States is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth which began in the early 1960's. Future demands are conservatively predicted to rise to 700 million tons by 1980 and to anywhere between 1 to 3 billion tons by the turn of the century. This means a continuous expansion of coal production by a factor of at least two can be expected before the end of the century. Over the last few years, production from underground mining has decreased; yet it is about 50% of the total coal output. In the absence of any discovery of near surface coal deposits, and even after conceding that some deeper deposits can be surface mined with changes in technology it can be reasonably assumed that coal production from underground will continue to play an important part in solving the energy crisis.

Jan 1, 1975

By Sara J. Davenport

The human race has been exposed to copper for thousands of years, as copper and gold were the metals first used by man (1). if According to Ramazzini (2), "of all the metals that man's ingenuity has contrived to dig out of the bowels of the earth, iron and copper are the most useful, far more so than silver and gold." Workings of copper in the oldest known copper mine associated with the smelting of this metal have been traced back to 4300 B. C. Facts revealed by archeological research in India, Austria, Hungary, France, Italy, and Spain indicate that the use of copper probably began about 5000 B.C. (3), and that about 4000 B.C. a copper age came intermediate between the stone and bronze ages (4). Copper ores are rather widely distributed and are found in nearly every country. Many of the copper minas of Europe have been worked since before the Roman Empire. The must important mines in Europe occur in the district around Huelva, extending into Spain and Portugal. The German deposits are located mainly about Mansfeld (Rhenish Prussia); they have been worked continuously for 1,000 years. Some of the mines in Africa have been worked by the natives for centuries, and China has produced copper from shallow pits for thousands of years. India also has many ancient mines worked in the early centuries (2).

Jan 1, 1953

By Richard E. Thill

The Bureau of Mines' Oil Shale Data- Bank (OSDB) was created in 1976 to serve as a centralized source for the storage, retrieval, and dissemination of technical literature, patents, and information on research projects in oil shale. Thousands of bibliographic references, patents, and research projects relating to the mining of oil shale have been identified, abstracted, and indexed according to selected keyword topics. The resulting data bank listings are contained in three sections, each with a separate keyword breakdown for use in rapidly identifying references pertaining to a specific subject. All references cited in the OSDB were published prior to an established cut-off date of May 1, 1981, when a redirection of Bureau of Mines programs resulted in the loss of project funds and the subsequent phasing-out of data bank operations. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The oil shale data bank listings are the result of a team effort of the project staff. The contributions of Jimaleen Jansma for keypunching, information acquisition, and data entry, and John Brandenburg and Sandra Brake for keywording and information acquisition are gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is expressed to the staff members of the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, Washington D.C. for their cooperation in supplying data on recent research projects in oil shale for inclusion in the OSDB listings. Appreciation is extended also to the staff of the Gallegos Research Group for assisting with computer services to obtain the final printouts and transfer of files onto magnetic tape.

Jan 1, 1982