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By J. G. Donaldson

Nickel containing less than 0.01 percent of total metallic impurities was produced at the Rolla Metallurgy Research Center of the Bureau of Mines by electrodeposition from purified electrolytes. The first report on this research4 described purification of electrolytes by selective precipitation and by liquid-liquid extraction. This second report describes a procedure: or electrodepositing high-purity nickel from electrolytes purified by passing a nickel ammine solution through a column of an ion exchange resin. The nickel electroplated directly from the ammine solution without further treatment; a titanium cathode and two platinum anodes were used. The nickel deposit was dense, smooth, and adherent, and contained less than 0.001 percent each of cobalt, copper, and iron, and spectrographically detectable traces of aluminum, magnesium, and silicon. Nonmetallic impurities in the nickel metal were carbon and sulfur, each present in concentrations of less than 0.01 percent. The results of several experiments planned to purify solid nickel salts by zone refining are also reported. These salts, after purification, were intended for use in preparing electrolytes for deposition of high-purity nickel. Results were not encouraging so that the more promising ion exchange procedure was emphasized chiefly.

Jan 1, 1962

By Roy T. Sorensen

As part of its mission to maintain an adequate supply of minerals to meet national needs and maximize mineral production from domestic sources, the Bureau of Mines is investigating the recovery of alumina by hydrochloric acid leaching of kaolinitic clay. Most iron impurities are leached from the clay along with the alumina and must be removed before or during crystallization to aluminum chloride hexahydrate. The thermal decomposition step then provides an alumina product of acceptable iron analysis. Miniplant studies of a Bureau-developed solvent extraction technique, using a tertiary amine in kerosene diluent, have demonstrated that the iron content in aluminum chloride leach liquors can be reduced to levels of less than 0.007 wt-pct (7 ppm), expressed as Fe203. Entrained and dissolved organic matter in the purified pregnant leach liquor from the solvent extraction circuit can be reduced to less than 2 ppm by using a fabric-packed coalescer and subsequent activated carbon treatment. Investigators discovered that a steady buildup of zinc accumulated in the solvent phase within the extraction circuit, proportional to the amount of leach liquor treated. The solvent phase zinc analysis increased by 0.01 wt-pct ZnO for each 1,000 gal of pregnant leach liquor purified.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. R. K. Wu

This Bureau of Mines report presents a statistical study of the repeat abilities of coal-plasticity parameters obtained in the tests with the Gieseler plastometer and the Audibert-Arnu and Hoffmann dilatometers. Repeatability is expressed in terms of one or two standard deviations for the differences between duplicates. The statistical method employed here is summarized. Results are tabulated for the temperature and nontemperature parameters of the three tests.

Jan 1, 1970

By Stephen Gerard Sawyer

This report presents a Fortran IV computer program for the structural analysis of space-frame protective canopies used in underground mines to protect equipment operators from falls of roof, face, or rib. This program entitled CANOPY permits rapid calculation of the elastic strength of a canopy for a variety of static loading conditions. Stresses in, and displacements of each structural member are computed and printed out. Additionally, identification of all members that have commenced yielding, weight of the canopy, total loads on the canopy, and maximum loads that the canopy can sustain elastically are output. Program description, input instructions, program listing, and two example problems are included.

Jan 1, 1972

By George A. Morrison

This paper describing the methods of mining and crushing limestone at the West Winfield, Pa., limestone mine of the West Penn Cement Co., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining practices, methods, and coats in the various nonmetallic mining districts. HISTORY The limestone deposits of western Pennsylvania have been exploited for many years and have been quarried extensively at West Winfield in Winfield. Township, which lies in the southeastern corner of Butler County.

Jan 1, 1931

This is the second of a series of reports on properties of commercial motor fuels made pursuant to a cooperative agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee and the Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior. The first report gave data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36.3/ These gasoline surveys report results of inspections, in oil-company laboratories, of samples of gasoline obtained by representatives of oil companies from service-station pumps in marketing areas throughout the country. In the present survey are presented inspection data on 239 samples of regular-price gasoline, 166 samples of premium-price gasoline, and 157 samples of third-grade gasoline, a total of 562 samples collected during the summer of 1936.

Jan 1, 1937

By Arthur L. Murray

"Oil-shale camps are peculiarly favored, in that before they are establishes it can be ascertained with a degree of certainty, that the life of the project is not limited. Unlike camps at metal mines, where the metal content of a given area is frequently an unknown quantity until after years of development, oil-shale camps should, from the outset, be planned and. built as permanent types of camps. Where this procedure is followed camps will be established which better serve the needs of the industry and the cost of their general care and upkeep will be less.Selection of camp or townsite.The site of the camp or town' whether on company property or not, should be selected with care. It should be separate if possible from the location of the plants of the company so as to be free from noise and fumes and so as to provide a change of environment for employees in going from their work to their homes.The principal features governing the site to be selected are as follows:Drainage. The general contour of the surrounding country should be such that drainage is away from the site. The camp or town should, if practical, be situated on higher ground than that in its immediate vicinity.Soil. The nature of the soil on which the camp or town is located may bear a decided relation to health. A porous, well underdrained top soil of at least four feet in depth insures dryness and facilities the placing of foundations and the laying of water mains and sewer pipes. Such a soil also is an advantage in growing trees, shrubs and grass plots, which are a decided adjunct to making the community attractive.Enviroment. The contiguous territory should afford no unwholesome sur¬roundings such as swamps Or accumulations of stagnant water.General Considerations. The water supply to be provided and the method of disposal of wastes influence to a certain extent the location of the camp or town-site. The means of supplying water, whether by gravity or by pupping, and the disposal of sewage, whether by outfall, system, sewage disposal system through septic tanks, broad irrigation or filter beds, or cesspools will govern the location of the site topographically in relation to source of water and point of disposal of sewage.* This article was prepared as part of the paper ""Use and Supply of Water for the Oil-Shale Industry"" by J. J. Jakowsky, to be published by the Department of Metallurgical Research, University of Utah, in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Mines."

Jul 1, 1921

By Richard C. Rice

Laboratory and field data for wire ropes typical of constructions used in underground mine hoisting were obtained, screened, encoded and analyzed statistically. The statistical analysis of data for hoist ropes retired from service showed that rope remaining strength (or, conversely, strength loss) can be predicted with good accuracy if several nondestructive measures of rope damage are assessed. Found to be most important was the outer-wire corrosion rating, the electromagnetic (EM) nondestructive-inspection technique used for predicting strength loss, and the rope diameter reduction. Signs of rope deterioration such as broken wires or damage were also important indicators of strength loss. Based on the results of this investigation, a number of recommendations are presented that promise to yield better rope inspection and retirement criteria which will in turn lead to improved safety and efficiency in underground mine-hoist systems.

Jan 1, 1983

This is the second of a series of reports on properties of commercial motor fuels made pursuant to a cooperative agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee and the Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior. The first report gave data oil motor gasolines sold during the minter of 1935-36.3/ These gasoline surveys report results of inspections, in oil-company laboratories, of samples of gasoline obtained by representatives of oil companies from service-station pumps in marketing areas throughout the country. In the present survey are presented inspection data on 239 samples of regular- price gasoline, 166 samples of premium-price gasoline, and 157 samples of third-grade gasoline, a total of 562 samples collected during the summer of 1936.

Jan 1, 1937

By John C. Machisak

THIS CHAPTER of the Minerals Yearbook (volume III) contains overall injury experience and employment data at bituminous-coal, lignite, and anthracite mines, coking plants, metal and nonmetal mines, metallurgical plants, and stone quarries in the United States for the calendar year 1956. Volume I of the Yearbook includes injury experiences and related employment data in the metal, nonmetal, and quarrying industries, and in the milling operations connected with the mining of those commodities. Volume II contains the injury and related employment experience of the coal mining, coking, and oil and gas industries. Reporting is voluntary on the surveys conducted by the Bureau of Mines to collect injury and employment data in the mineral industries, except in the coal-mining industry, where operators are required by Federal law to furnish the information requested.

Jan 1, 1958

By Shail J. Butani

In 1986 the Bureau of Mines conducted a probability sample survey, Mining Industry Population Survey, to measure such employee characteristics as occupation; principal equipment operated; work location at the mine; present job, present company, and total mining experience; job-related training during the last 2 years; age; sex; race; and education. The population estimates are necessary to properly analyze the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) injury (includes illness and fatality data) statistics; that is, to compare and contrast injury rates for various subpopulations in order to identify those groups that are exhibiting higher than average injury rates. This report uses the survey's results to characterize the U.S. sand and gravel mining workforce from March through September 1986. Similar reports have been prepared for the metallic, stone, and nonmetallic mining industries, as well as for the entire metal and nonmetal mining (includes metallic, stone, sand and gravel, and nonmetallic industries) sector and the coal mining sector.

Jan 1, 1988

By M. John Brodie

This report reviews the regulatory environment as it pertains to waste rock management and disposal from mining operations, excluding coal and placer gold operations, in the \irate of Alaska. It is based on the EPA's staff position on an effective program to regulate mining waste as presented in the May, 1990 Strawman II document. The unique conditions which occur in pans of the state, including a fragile environment, high seismicity and permafrost, are identified. The special waste management practices which are necessitated by these conditions are delineated. The report provides a detailed outline of the current technologies that are suitable for designing, constructing, operating and closing a waste rock facility to meet environmental protection objectives. Cost implications to the mining industry of potential regulatory actions, such as the degree of groundwater protection, are examined.

Jan 1, 1992

By Scott Turner

I have been asked to speak briefly about recent progress in the mining industry of the United States, and to touch on the general advancement of en- gineering science as applied to mining. By recent, I shall mean within the past 20 or 30 years. Such a period includes a great many of the changes which are of particular interest to the present generation of engineers, and the undergraduates of today will hardly turn back farther than the beginning of the present century in their study of develop- ment of methods and processes. Also, my own professional life spans this period, and I have seen or have been aware of most of these developments as they were taking place. In my review of developments, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, I shall deal separately with improvements in metal mining, coal mining, mechanical and electrical machinery for mines, metallurgy, petroleum engineering, and safety practices. Under each of these headings I have set down what appear to me to be the outstanding changes brought about during the past 2 or 3 decades. Other points will occur to other engineers; I do not represent that the following re- view is complete; it is only intended to be suggestive. In general, improvements in mining and metallurgical practices have come gradually, the charges being effected little by little, simultaneously in widely scattered places, and through the experience and inventive genius of many men. These changes have has small beginnings, and are generally the cumulative result of many steady and unsensational progressions, which still continue. What we today might be inclined to consider the culmination of a series of betterments in mining is, of course, but an instantaneous phase of developments which will continue in the future at even a more rapid pace than they have in the past. We are looking at but a flesh of a moving picture, with an endless reel to come after we finally leave the theatre. Behind all the changes in the mineral industry, the driving force has been the increasing demand of an expanding population for more metals and minerals with which to advance civilization. More people, with an increasing per capita consumption, together with the exhaustion of the richer but smaller, and more

Oct 1, 1930

By Robert F. Stewart

The oxidation of structural materials at high temperatures in gas-cooled systems can be greatly retarded by the addition of small amounts of hydrogen to the inert coolant. In experimental equipment for gasifying coal with heat transferred by helium, the oxidation of graphite and metals (molybdenum, tungsten, and certain stainless steels) by trace impurities in the coolant helium was virtually eliminated by adding 0.1 to 1.0 percent hydrogen. The reaction of hydrogen with praphite does not preclude its use to retard oxidation; at 2,400° F. only 0.2 pound of graphite per square foot per year is lost for each percent of hydrogen in the helium. The addition of hydrogen appeared to prevent the mass transfer of carbon often associated with oxidation of graphite, without causing noticeable embrittlement of stainless steels and molybdenum or other damaging effects. This method has been tested in precision gas-recycle systems and applied successfully for more than a year in a pilot-scale unit operating at 250 pounds per square inch gage and 2,400° F. It is now used routinely and can be applied to many gas-cooled systems operating at high temperatures.

Jan 1, 1962

By N. S. Dalal, B. Jafari, F. H. Y. Green, V. Vallyathan

"INTRODUCTIONThe mechanistic details of the biological events leading to coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP) are not yet fully understood, despite several decades of extensive epidemiologic1.2 and laboratory studies.2-6 Epidemiologic studies1.2 have shown, for example, that the incidence and severity of CWP differ markedly in the different regions and mines at comparable exposures, but laboratory investigations2-6 have demonstrated only partial correlation of the epidemiologic data with the differences in the mineral composition and the rank of coal mined. In particular, while epidemiologic data indicate1.2 direct correlation of the· prevalence and severity of CWP with the rank (i.e., % carbon content) of coal, this correlation has not been established by laboratory4'6 and animal exposure3 studies. In order to explain these results, in 1980 Artemov and Reznik' suggested that perhaps they arise from the fundamental differences in the surface properties of the coal. dusts inhaled by the coal miners and those used in the laboratory studies: while the miners inhale freshly fractured coal particles, henceforth called the 'fresh' coal dust, the laboratory studies generally utilize 'aged' coal dusts (i.e., dusts that have been stored for many days or even longer). Reznik and Artemov' used electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy to show that the mechanical crushing of some Soviet Union coals generated organic free radicals and that the concentration and the decay times (hence the reactivity) of these radicals were higher for the coals of higher ranks. Since some of the radicals decayed within a few minutes in air, the authors surmised that while these radical species could lead to certain specific pathogenic reactions at the sites of mining operations, this might not be the case in the laboratory studies, due to the conventional use of 'stored' dusts which would be expected to contain significantly smaller free radical concentrations. This is consistent with the recent findings that, standardized, aged coal dusts exhibit minimal cytotoxicity. 8While the above mentioned work of Artemov and Reznik7 did suggest a possible new clue to the pathogenesis of CWP (i.e., the role of the coal based free radical species), no direct biological/cytotoxicity data were provided to show that 'fresh' coal dusts were, indeed, more pathogenic than the 'stale' ones. Because of the rather significant implications of the Artcmov-Reznik hypothesis to the understanding of 1hc biochemical mechanism and, hence, the strategies for the eventual containment of CWP, we have initiated a comparative study of the free radical formation and cytotoxicity properties of freshly crushed coal ·particles. As done by Artemov and Reznik, 7 we have used the ESR technique as the direct method of measuring the concentration and decay kinetics of the coal based free radicals. Our preliminary ESR studies on two Pennsylvania coals, a bituminous (carbon content 72 % ) and an anthracite (95 % carbon) coal, have confirmed the Artemov-Reznik finding that the crushing-induced free radical sites are higher on the coals with higher carbon content (i.e., higher rank).9-11 In the present work we describe our more recent results of a parallel study of the time dependence of the decrease in the free radical content of a freshly made anthracite dust (as measured via ESR) and that of the dust's cytotoxicity potential as measured by the extent of hemolysis of (sheep) erythrocytes. We have also investigated the effects of free radical scavengers on the cytotoxicity potential of the dust and deduce that indeed the free radicals could play a significant role in the initial events in the mechanism of the cytotoxic effects due to the inhalation of coal dust inhalation."

Jan 1, 1990

By Wesley T. Holmes

This report describes the first phase of an investigation aimed at obtaining a wider knowledge of the problems involved in smelting titaniferous magnetites. Liquidus temperature measurements were made on selected slag compositions in the titania-alumina-silica-calcia-magnesia system. Both the melting-holding-quenching method and the hot-stage microscope method were used in the tests. Liquidus temperatures of slags studied ranged from 1,217° to 1,667° C. The lowest liquidus temperature of the slags occurred when the difference between CaO plus MgO and Si02 was less than 12 weight-percent. Liquidus temperatures were also lowered when Si02 was substituted for Ti02 plus Al2O3 when CaO and MgO levels were held constant. Improved methods for the measurement of liquidus temperatures on very small samples are described.

Jan 1, 1968

By W. D. Kaiser

Recent legislation and expected future legislation is aimed at reducing the dust levels developed in underground coal mines. Several techniques for reducing dust levels are being evaluated. One of these is the modification of cutting parameters such as feed rates, cutting speeds, and pick configurations in order to reduce the amount of dust generated. In order to evaluate the feasibility of modifying cutting parameters to reduce dust, the Bureau of Mines commissioned Battelle to construct a small scale mining machine which could be used for evaluating the effects of those changes in cutting parameters. Specific features of this machine were that it should be highly instrumented to measure various cutting parameters, should have a wide range of feed and speed controls, and it should be possible to vary the pick configurations and geometries on the machine. In addition, it was desired that this machine should have cutting capabilities which greatly exceed present coal mining practice and also that the unit should be small enough and portable enough that it could be taken into and out of operating coal mines with a minimum of interference with the normal coal mine operations. The first step in constructing a machine to meet these requirements was to determine the cutting forces and approximate sizes of components which would be required to cut at the speeds and feeds specified by the Bureau of Mines. Initial calculations using; published data on cutting forces indicated that cutting forces in the neighborhood of 5,000 lbs and power levels of approximately 30 horsepower would be adequate for the application. However, further data developed during the course of the project indicated that when low efficiency picks are used, cutting forces and powers can be two to three times as high as these initially estimated values. After several design iterations, a design was chosen in which the cutting head was driven by four hydraulic motors which were part of a hydrostatic transmission which, in turn,

Jan 1, 1973

By N. E. Hanna

The current Bureau of Mines active list of permissible explosives includes 124 brands. Thirteen are gelatinous and the rest are the more commonly used granular ammonium nitrate type. The list of permissible blasting devices comprises five Cardox models.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. Chin

The domination of Bangladesh's mineral industry by natural gas was in for some possibly significant changes. A modest flow of crude oil was struck in a gas development well in the northeastern corner of the country. This was the first commercial flow of crude oil in Bangladesh. All crude oil was being imported, which cost a significant proportion of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. The development of an oilfield producing only a few thousand barrels per day would be a welcome help to the economy. Additional exploration at a 1985 coal discovery in the northwest indicated a considerable reserve of good-quality coal at a depth suitable for mining. If the coal is mined, it would be a boon to the local economy because natural gas was not available in the area.

Jan 1, 1988

By N. E. Hanna

The current Bureau of Mines active list of permissible explosives includes 124 brands. Thirteen are gelatinous and the rest are the more commonly used granular ammonium nitrate type. The list of permissible blasting devices comprises five Cardox models.

Jan 1, 1965