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By Alvin Kaufman

To aid industry and Government in planning water developments the Bureau of Mines in 1963 canvassed mineral producers to determine water use in 1962. Water use by the mineral industry comprises only 2 percent of the water withdrawn by industry as a whole. The major water-using mineral industries are natural gas processing, phosphate rock, sand and gravel, and iron ore. Analysis indicated the following conclusions: 1. Total water use and new water intake is dependent on the quantity of material processed and the process water requirements of the particular industry or commodity. 2. Recirculation is dependent on the processing requirements of a particular commodity, the manner in which the water is used, cooling and condensing requirements in certain large industries, the quality of new water intake, and the need to treat new and discharged water. 3. Consumed water is dependent on the quantity of water recirculated, the temperature and humidity in the area, and the proportion of water used for cooling and condensing. 4. A threefold increase in water use by the mineral industry by 1985 is forecast

Jan 1, 1966

By Kenneth C. Ko

An engineering investigation was carried out on the technical and economic feasibility of implementing flexible liner/backpacking support systems In an advancing tailgate longwall mine. The system for a model mine consists of a circular tube constructed of liner plates and flyash backpacking. Flyash is pneumatically stowed into the tailgate. Small amounts of cement may be mixed to improve the support capability of the fill In difficult local ground conditions. Water is added inside the nozzle immediately prior to spraying. Results of theoretical analyses and a field test show that the designed system is technically feasible, can be cost-competitive, provides more stable ground conditions, and can Increase productivity and coal recovery, when compared with existing retreat longwall systems. In certain mine layouts, the new system can reduce the direct mining costs by a significant amount. The system would be particularly applicable to deeper coal beds with bad ground conditions.

Jan 1, 1980

This report has been prepared in response to a request by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Fairbanks Alaska District Office that the Bureau of Mines quantitatively assess the potential supply of minerals from undiscovered deposits in the White Mountains National Recreation Area (WMNRA) and the western part of the North Steese National Conservation Area (SNCA) in Alaska. The assessment will be used to assist in future land-use decision-making. Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for the WMNRA and the SNCA were approved by the BLM in 1986. These plans imposed significant restrictions on new mineral development in the two areas. The level of public concern regarding these actions, especially on the part of the mining industry, has spurred BLM to seek additional information about the potential supply of minerals from the two areas with assistance from the Bureau of Mines. The assessment focuses on an area within the WMNRA and the SNCA which has been administratively closed to mineral entry. The study area encompassed approximately 1.24 million acres and included all of the WMNRA and the western portion of the North SNCA (fig. ES-1). Three quantitative estimates of the potential supply of minerals from the study area were developed: 1) For all lands in the study area, assuming that they are open to mineral entry-the baseline analysis; 2) For those lands which have been closed to mineral entry; and 3) For eleven prospective mineral activity areas, assuming that all are open to mineral entry.

Jan 1, 1989

To be able to continuously monitor the noise to which underground workers are exposed as a better way to help prevent hearing damage. The Approach: The Bureau of Mines has developed a Time-Resolved Audio Dosimeter which can be worn by miners to record noise level every 30 seconds and store It in a miniature solid state memory. Figure 1 is a photo of the dosimeter. [ ] How It Works: Acoustical noise is picked up by a micro-phone and fed to a sound level meter which produces a d-c voltage proportional to the A-weighted sound pressure level. (As specified by federal regulations, the A-weighted sound pres-sure level approximates the response of the ear by discounting the higher and lower frequency components of the noise.) This d-c voltage controls an oscillator which, together with related circuitry, produces a pulse train having a frequency that's proportional to the noise level.

Jan 1, 1975

By N. M. Safaya

Moderate to acute deficiency of plant available phosphorus is very common in western coal mine spoils and topsoils. Although some of the spoils are known to contain seemingly adequate amounts of total phosphorus, the plant available phosphorus is so low that it constitutes a serious plant growth limiting factor in the mined lands. For the revegetation of these spoils, the use of species, varieties and ecotypes exhibiting greater efficiency for P uptake and utilization, or conversely, lesser susceptibility to P deficiency would be highly desirable. To identify such plants, quick and adequate methods of screening germplasm should he available. In the present growth chamber study several plant species were screened using continuous flow culture and spoil culture systems to provide information on their relative susceptibility. In flow cultures, P was maintained at 0.25, 2.5, and 25 moles; while in spoil cultures it was applied at 0, 25, and 75µg/g to a P-deficient spoil. Phosphorus deficiency symptoms appeared in alfalfa cultivars, birdsfoot trefoil, emerald crownvetch and yellow sweetclover within 7-10 days upon transfer of their seedlings to U.25 or 2.5 µM P solutions. Burning bush and Russian thistle, found abundantly as pioneering species on mine spoils, showed no deficiency symptoms; their shoot dry matter yield in the 0.25µM P treatment was 24% and 36%, respectively of their maximum yield obtained with 25 µM P. However, the percent increase in the dry matter yield of legumes with 0.25 µM P ranged from 7-13% over their maximum yield. With the increase in solution P concentration, the root dry weight ratio in the legumes increased from an average of 0.22 to 0.43, while in the weeds from 0.14 to 0.30. The low susceptibility of Russian thistle to P deficiency was also demonstrated in the spoil culture experiment. Legumes showed greater response to P-fertilization on the spoil than did the two weeds. With increasing concentrations of P in the solution, the root weight ratio of all the species decreased. At 25 µM P, weeds invested only 14% of their total dry matter yield in the root fraction, where as legumes and grasses invested as much as 24% and 33% respectively. Weedy species averaged higher P concentrations than the legumes and grasses. The mean P concentrations of alfalfa cultivars were the lowest among legumes. In general, P concentrations increased with the increase in P supply. In the flow culture system, P supply increased the Ca levels of legumes. The mean Mn concentrations were highest in the weedy species. The increases in P supply decreased Zn levels in all of the species. File effects of P fertilization on the tissue concentrations of Mn and Zn in spoil culture were similar to that of flow culture system. From this preliminary study, it may be concluded that the continuous flow culture system is efficient in rapid screening of a large number of species under controlled conditions for their efficiency in adapting to mineral stresses.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. J. Forbes

Investigations by the Bureau of Mines and by mining-research departments of European countries have established definitely the value of rock-dusting to prevent or limit the propagation of coal-mine explosions. Its effectiveness in this connection has been demonstrated not only by research but by actual coal-mine explosions in which hundreds of lives have been saved because of its presence. In a general way this paper gives pertinent facts concerning rock-dusting practices in the United States. Information has been obtained from many reliable sources, and various coal-mining companies have furnished data on cost and other details.

Jan 1, 1939

By R. J. Gunderman

A conventional trailing cable connection box on a continuous mining machine was modified by the addition of two innovative devices. These are a pressure vent to preclude buildup of high pressure due to an explosion in-side the enclosure, and a grommet-type cable entry to simplify and speedup cable entering procedures. The innovative devices were evaluated for eight and one-half months in a working section of an underground coal mine. Laboratory tests before and after the in-mine exposure show no measurable change in the devices. Following the favorable in-mine evaluation, technical performance criteria were defined to serve as the basis of approval for the use of the innovative devices. Additional tests to measure comparable gripping of the cable by asbestos rope, substitution rope materials and by the urethane grommet-type entry were included in this effort. Also, literature for the last 80 years was searched. Comments are provided as to how the innovative devices comply with 30 CFR Part 18.

Jan 1, 1982

By Leonard Obert

The ultimate object of this investigation is to develop a method for determining the pressure, in- situ, on rock mine pillars, arches, end other mire structures. The preliminary investigations of Bureau of Mines engineers, as well as those of other investigations4/ have shown that, the velocity of sound depends on the pressure if it is dependent to such an extent that a measurement of the velocity might be used as a means of determining the pressure, a sonic method of measuring the pressure on rock mine columns is possible. Briefly the method would require, first, laboratory determination of the variation of the velocity of sound with pressure in samples of rocks taken from mine pillars to establish a. velocity-pressure relationship for the type of rock and, next, measurements of the velocity of sound in the mine pillars from which the laboratory samples were taken. The pressure on the pillars could be determined by correlating the velocity in the pillar with the velocity-pressure relationship established in the laboratory. Obviously the success of the method depends on the extent to which the velocity of sound varies with pressure in rock.

Jan 1, 1939

By Nicholas G. Theofilos

The only mining activity in Belize during 1976 involved the production of construction aggregates, which were used domestically. A comprehensive ordinance regulating mineral prospecting and mining was proposed during the year. Under the ordinance, which would supersede all grants and titles, ownership and control of all minerals except petroleum would be vested in the Government. Exxon Corp. entered into an agreement with three oil companies to achieve a majority interest in nine oil prospecting leases covering 1 million acres, mostly offshore Belize. The agreement was with Weatherford International Inc. which had 30% interest in the leases, Ajax Petroleum Co. with 40% interest, and Canadian Superior Oil Ltd, with 24% interest. A new entity, Esso Ventures Inc., was established to be responsible for conducting extensive geophysical operations and drilling an exploratory well offshore Belize.

Jan 1, 1980

By J. J. Forbes

Investigations by the Bureau of Mines and by mining-research departments of European countries have established definitely the value of rock-dusting to prevent or limit the propagation of coal-mine explosions. Its effectiveness in this connection has been demonstrated not only by research but by actual coal-mine explosions in which hundreds of lives have been saved because of its presence. In a general way this paper gives pertinent facts concerning rock dusting practices in the United States. Information has been obtained from many reliable sources, and various coal-mining companies have furnished data on cost and other details.

Jan 1, 1939

By Leonard Obert

The ultimate object of this investigation is to develop a method for determining the pressure, in situ, on rock mine pillars, arches, and other mire structures. The preliminary investigations of Bureau of Mines engineers, as well as those of other investigators,4/ have shown that the velocity of sound depends on the pressure if it is dependent to such an extent that a measurement of the velocity might be used as a means of determining the pressure, a sonic method of measuring the pressure on rock mine columns is possible. Briefly the method would require, first, laboratory determination of the variation of the velocity of sound with pressure in samples of rocks taken from mine pillars to establish a. velocity-pressure relationship for the type of rock and, next, measurements of the velocity of sound in the mine pillars from which the laboratory samples were taken. The pressure on the pillars could be determined by correlating the velocity in the pillar with the velocity-pressure relationship established in the laboratory. Obviously the success of the method depends on the extent to which the velocity of sound varies with pressure in rock.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. A. Schellhardt

In recent years development of instruments and equipment for determining subsurface pressures and temperatures in. gas and oil wells has made it feasible to obtain information that eras not available in the past on many gas-production problems. The material presented in this report illustrates particularly the value of subsurface-temperature data in the study of subsurface leakage from gas wells. An abnormal decline in the shut-in pressure of the Lone Star Gasoline Co. A. Jones No. 1 gas well in the southern part of the Buffalo (Tex.) field was observed during an interval when a negligible volume of gas bras being withdrawn from the reservoir. Wellhead-pressure readings indicated that the shut-in pressure of the well declined from 2,295 pounds per square inch gage on February 3, 1937, to 1,445 on February 12, 1935. Tests conducted by engineers of the Lone Star Gas Co. suggested that the subnormal pressure gaged on February 12, 1938, probably was not caused by a head of liquid in the well.

Jan 1, 1940

To improve communications between mine workings and surface locations during emergency situations and for administrative purposes. The Approach: Development of a device for interconnecting phone systems which permits two-way communication between a public telephone and a mine pagerphone by authorized personnel. How It Works: The system, developed by personnel at the Bureau's Pittsburgh (Pa.) Mining and Safety Research Center, makes connections between the public phone line and mine pagerphone line. As shown in Fig. 1., incoming calls are sensed by the ring detector (4) and the system "answers" the call electronically. To reach the pagerphone system, the caller inserts an audible tone of fixed frequency through the microphone of his telephone. This tone is produced by a miniature, pocket-carried tone generator and is detected by a tone recognition circuit (5). When this hap-pens, relay, switching, and logic circuitry (6) closes the connections between the two phone systems. Simultaneously, a page activator (9) places a DC paging voltage on the mine phone line.

Jan 1, 1974

By S. H. Ash

For several years considerable activity has been devoted to economic and social factors affecting California metal-mining operations as they relate to accidents and their cost. The reason for this intense interest is that accidents cost this industry annually over $1100,000 in industrial insurance premiums for mines insured by insurance carriers only; during 1924-32, inclusive, they amounted to $3,616,9115. There are several reasons for this high cost, the most important of w rich are the consistently .high frequency and severity rates of injuries occurring in the industry. Coordination of effort, appreciation of a mutual problem, and widespread education are essential if accidents and their cost are to be reduced.

Jan 1, 1935

By J. T. McLendon

As part of its research project in developing improved refractory materials for metallurgical applications, the Federal Bureau of Mines obtained hot modulus of rupture data at 1,500°,1,550°, and 1,600° C on samples of 13 refractory periclase materials produced from seawater, lake brines, and natural magnesite. The periclase samples also were characterized to establish chemical and mineralogical composition and microstructure. The results indicated that a high MgO content does not necessarily assure good hot strength and that an optimum and varying CaO-Si02 ratio exists for each individual periclase sample.

Jan 1, 1979

By John C. Machisak

This publication, for the calendar year 1959, contains statistical data on injuries and employment pertinent to metal mines, ore-dressing plants, and primary nonferrous smelters, refineries, and reduction plants. The Bureau of Mines is authorized to request data on injuries and employment in the metal-mining industry, and the information, voluntarily submitted by the operators, contributes immeasurably to the promotion of safety in the metal-mining industry. Every effort has been made to make the annual canvass as complete as possible. The data presented are classified according to the hind of ore mined and includes information on copper, iron, lead-zinc, gold-silver lode, placer, uranium- vanadium, and miscellaneous metals. A breakdown of miscellaneous metals by commodity is shown in tables 17 and 18.

Jan 1, 1963

By John C. Machisak

This publication, for the calendar year 1959, contains statistical data on injuries and employment pertinent to metal mines, ore-dressing plants, and primary nonferrous smelters, refineries, and reduction plants. The Bureau of ,Mines is authorized to request data on injuries and employment in the metal-mining industry, and the information, voluntarily submitted by the operators, contributes immeasurably to the promotion of safety in the metal- mining industry. Every effort has been made to make the annual canvass as complete as possible. The data presented are classified according to the hind of ore mined and includes information on copper, iron, lead-zinc, gold-silver lode, placer, uranium- vanadium, and miscellaneous metals. A breakdown of miscellaneous metals by commodity is shown in tables 17 and 18.

Jan 1, 1963

The strippable reserves of bituminous coal and lignite in the United States were calculated in accordance with the prevailing conditions of seam thickness and depth of overburden in each of the several coal-producing areas of the Nation. Within defined limits of seam thickness and depth of overburden, it is estimated that there was a remaining strippable resource of 118 billion tons of raw bituminous coal and lignite as of January 1, 1968. Because of topography, natural and manmade features, and other limitations, only 45 billion tons of the resource are strippable reserves. Of this, 32 billion tons is considered low-sulfur (less than 1 percent), 4 billion tons is medium-sulfur (1 to 2 percent), and 9 billion tons is high-sulfur (over 2 percent) coal. Owing to a cleaning loss affecting that portion of strip coal that is mechanically cleaned, the 45 billion tons of strippable reserves are reduced to 39.6 billion tons of marketable coal. A brief discussion is given for each coal-producing State, summarizing past and present production, historical background, and outlook. Appendix A contains reserve data by State, county, seam, and sulfur content. Appendix B contains the general information and requirements necessary to comply with the current strip mining laws covering 20 States.

Jan 1, 1971

By Lawrence K. Barker

Crude shale oil produced by underground retorting of Green River Formation oil shale was hydrogasified over a cobalt-molybdate-on-alumina catalyst at operating temperatures ranging from 800° to 1,300° F, pressures of 500, 1,000, and 1,500 psig, and a liquid hourly space velocity of 1.02 volumes of oil per volume of catalyst per hour (Vo/Vc/hr). At a temperature of 1,300° F and pressure of 1,500 psig, 94 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas containing 72 volume-percent methane. With two reactors in series at a temperature of 1,170° F in reactor 1 and 1,260° F in reactor 2 and a pressure of 1,500 psig, 97 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas with a methane content of 75 volume-percent. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was hydrogasified at operating temperatures ranging from 500° to 1,400° F at a pressure of 500 psig over a cobalt-molybdate-on-alumina catalyst. Similar experiments were made with an empty tubular reactor. The data indicate that gasification reactions in the presence of a cobalt-molybdate catalyst change from predominantly a catalytic (carbonium ion) reaction to predominantly a thermal (free radical) reaction at temperatures greater than 1,100° F. The data also indicate that a reaction temperature of 1,350° F is necessary at the space velocities used in this investigation to make a synthetic natural gas (methane content of 90 volume-percent) from in situ crude shale oil.

Jan 1, 1975

By C. R. Sponsler, O. C. Blade

"INTRODUCTION This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States is a continuation of a series of reports made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Coordinating Research (CFR) Committee of the Coordinating Research Coouncil (CRC) 4/ and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. The first of these reports presented data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935-36. 5/ Further reports were issued describing motor gasolines sold during the succeeding summers and winters to and including the summer of 1941. 5/ reports were made on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1941-42 and during the summer of 1942. However, starting with the winter of 1942-43, the semiannual reports were resumed. 5/The present report presents analytical data for samples, representing the products of approximately 100 companies. Most of the samples represented in this report were obtained during December 1)55 and January 194o. As in previous surveys, the companies covered by the survey include both large and small suppliers. Conforming to former reports, the data cover three groups of samples - regular-price, premium-price, and third-grade gasolines.As the number of analyses submitted for samples of third-grade gasoline are not considered adequate to represent this type of motor fuel, data for the analyses have not been averaged, but the individual items are tabulated. The number of samples, items, and brands comprising each group is as follows:Regular-price, 1,958 samples, 317 items, and 96 brands; premium-price, 1, samples, 292 items, and 85 brands; third-grade, 58 samples, 22 items, and 14 brands. The meanings of these terms as used in the surveys are as follows;"

Jul 1, 1946