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By Jr. Gabler

World resources of platinum-group metals appear ample for the foreseeable future; however, political and economic events in the last two decades have caused concern over the availability and reliability of an uninterrupted supply. Because of this concern, the U.S. Congress requested that the U.S. Bureau of Mines initiate a study of the flow of platinum-group metals in the economy that would delineate and quantify the production areas in which metal values are lost. As a result, the Bureau has developed a computerized commodity flow model for strategic and critical materials. Major attributes of this flow model are as follows: (1) it is generic and applicable to most commodities and (2) it can be updated as supply, demand, and/or production data change. The original model developed for cobalt, with slight modifications, was used to track the flow of platinum-group metals. This report follows the flow of platinum-group metals through their metallurgical, catalytic, and chemical applications and highlights areas in which significant losses occur because of downgrading, export, or disposal. The study indicates that materials containing about 63,426 kg of platinum-group metals were lost or could not be traced in 1989, representing about 63 pct of U.S. domestic consumption.

Jan 1, 1991

By L. E. Cardwell

This publication contains routine analyses and related source data for 390 natural gas samples from 22 States and five foreign countries. Of this total, 385 samples were collected during calendar year 1969. The remaining five analyses are of samples collected during previous years, but releases granting permission to publish the results were not received until 1969. All samples were collected as part of a continuous survey of the free world for occurrences of helium in natural gas. This survey has been conducted in the United States by the Bureau of Mines since 1917. In late 1965, the survey was expanded to include foreign gasfields. The analyses published herein were made by mass spectrometer and a special helium analysis apparatus which are described in Bureau of Mines Bulletins 4863 and 576.4 Eleven previous publications have presented the results of 8,660 gas analyses made by the Bureau of Mines Helium Activity prior to 1969. The first three, Bulletins 486,6 576,6 and 617,7 contain analyses and related source

Jan 1, 1970

By Wallace W. Key

The California pesticide industry in 1962 consumed about 30,000 tons of clay, talc, limestone, diatomite, sulfur, and other minerals as fillers (carriers and diluents) in pesticide formulation. This was 10 percent of the U.S. filler requirement for pesticides. About two- thirds of the California total was supplied by a few local mineral producers; the remainder came mainly from Florida, Georgia, and Wyoming. The objectives of this report are to provide data on quantities, sources, specifications, and market conditions for minerals used as fillers by California pesticide formulators. The study disclosed that specifications for mineral fillers have become more rigid and formulators have become more numerous in recent years. During 1962 over 1,200 firms registered 16,000 pesticide products with the Bureau of Chemistry in California. Factors which will tend to diminish future need for mineral fillers include the trend toward greater use of organic sprays rather than dusts and further development of biological controls, such as the development of sterile insect strains.

Jan 1, 1965

By Michael Rieber

This study is an extension of our previous work in the area of coal transportation Its subject is the comparative costing of competing transport erodes. A wide range of costs and aspects of costs are dealt with in terms of engineering - economic analyses of the cost of the components which make up the facility and operating system descriptions of each coal transport mode. The cost comparisons, though analyzed, are not meant to be statements of policy but, rather, an input to decision making. The technical material presented in the succeeding volumes, alone with the earlier work cited above, forms the basis for the analyses. This material may also broaden the general understanding of coal transportation issues and problems. The project is divided into two main sections: (1) lone distance coal transport and (2) gathering and distribution systems. Within each section economic and technological comparisons are made of the available modes. These are used as the basis for comparisons among the modes. Inter-modal compatibility is studied with respect to both mixed trunk line shipment anti with respect to feeder to trunk line and trunk line to distribution systems. The engineering and technological data form the bases for the costing and economic analyses.

Jan 1, 1977

By Oliver C. Ralston, Dorsey A. Lyon

Volatilization in retorts has been, until recently, the only commercial process of producing spelter, hence the zinc mine operators have had to meet the terms of the zinc smelters in regard to the following requirements: (1) Minimum percentage of zinc the ore must contain; (2) the chemical combination of the zinc in the ore; (3) the proportion present of those elements that interfere with the suceessful recovery of the zinc when the ore is retorted. In consequence of these requirements, only a comparatively small proportion of the zinc ores mined can be shipped directly to the smelters.

Jan 1, 1919

By R. J. Kuczynski

The U.S. Bureau of Mines Reno Research Center investigated, developed, and patented a high-temperature cyanide leaching process for recovering platinum-group metals (PGM) from automobile catalysts. A batch pilot plant was constructed at the center and operated to demonstrate this technology to industry. Approximately 1,600 kg of used pellet, monolith, and metal support catalysts containing 1,700 g (54 tr oz) of PGM was processed. Forty-five-kilogram batches of used catalysts were leached with sodium cyanide solution at 160°C for 1 h in a countercurrent processing sequence. This selectively dissolved the PGM. Average extractions from the used pellet catalyst were 96 pet Pt, 95 pct Pd, and 73 pct Rh. Average extractions from the used monolith catalyst were 84 pct Pt, 81 pct Pd, and 66 pet Rh. Heating the pregnant leach solutions to 275°C for 4 h destroyed the PGM-cyanide complexes, causing over 99.7 pct of the PGM to precipitate from solution. The PGM precipitate was predominantly a metallic powder concentrate, typically analyzing greater than 50 pct PGM. Heating destroyed the cyanide to less than 0.2 mg/L free and total cyanide. Both the pellet and monolith residues were evaluated for disposal using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Jan 1, 2010

By D. A. Reynolds

THIS REPORT gives results of an investigation of the carbonizing properties of two Tennessee coals, one from the Jellico bed in Campbell County and the other from the Sewanee bed in Marion County. Jellico coal and blends with 20 and 30 percent Pocahontas No. 3 coal were carbonized at 800° and 900° C. by the BM-AGA method. Sewanee coal was carbonized by the same method at 800°, 900°, and 1,000° C.; blends with coals of similar and different ranks were carbonized at 800° and 900° C. The coals were subjected to various physical and chemical tests, including complete chemical analyses, low-temperature assays, and agglutinating, free-swelling, friability, plasticity, and expansion tests. The Tennessee coal field is a part of the Appalachian field, which extends from northern Pennsylvania to central Alabama. The Jelico bed, one of the most important in the State, is part of the Jellico formation, which is above the Lee formation of the Lower Pottsville. Sewanee coal bed belongs to the Sewanee conglomerate and is stratigraphically lower than the Jellico bed.

Jan 1, 1953

By E. T. Bowers

Pneumatic conveying of coal underground is not widely used in the United States, although it is becoming increasingly popular in Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and South Africa. The question of safety has been raised repeatedly: Will the system be prone to dust or gas explosions, and, if so, can it withstand such occurrences safely? The work reported here was done under a Bureau of Mines contract and deals with the safety aspects of pneumatic transport of underground coal, as well as the hazards inherent in more conventional haulage systems. Included are three designs for different applications of pneumatic haulage: off-loading a continuous-mining machine on a room- and-pillar section, vertical hoisting through a 1,200-ft shaft, and off-loading a tunnel-boring machine driving a 2,000-ft tunnel.

Jan 1, 1985

By H. A. Watson

This circular, which is a revision and combination of two previous publications,3 4/ presents information on the different types of equipment that may be used to analyze mine atmospheres, with particular reference to the application and limitations of each type. Such information is frequently requested by mining companies, State mining departments, and other agencies concerned with safety in mining who wish advice regarding methods of analysis of mine atmospheres and the equipment necessary for establishing laboratories for that purpose. Since the Haldane-type apparatus is particularly applicable to the accurate determination of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and combustible gases such as methane in mine atmospheres, that apparatus and the method of operation are described in detail. The circular presents results of a critical study of the accuracy attainable with the Haldane-type apparatus in the determination of methane in concentrations of the order of 0.25 percent, by volume. Analytical procedures involved in the other methods discussed are presented in publications referenced in this circular. Information is given also on the various accessory equipment needed in a laboratory for the analysis of mine atmospheres, and suggestions on laboratory design are included. INTRODUCTION 'The analysis of mine atmospheres plays an important part in promoting safety and maintaining safe conditions in mining operations, particularly in coal mining, where the flammable gas methane presents a continuous hazard in Nome mines and may be encountered unexpectedly in others.5/ Methane has been encountered also, often unexpectedly and with disastrous results, in noncoal mines and in tunnels under

Jan 1, 1956

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

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 L. F. Willmott

The Bureau of Mines at Morgantown, W. Va., has been investigating, on a pilot plant scale, various methods of gasifying bituminous coal with oxygen and superheated steam to produce synthesis gas, as part of the broader program of finding new uses for coal. Differences in the pressure gasification methods used have depended on differences in the manner in which the pulverized coal is fed to the gasifier. One of the methods of feeding the coal that was investigated was the continuous, integrated coal-water slurry system. Goal and water were first mixed to produce a slurry; then the slurry was pumped through a heated coil. to evaporate the water fraction; the resulting steam was superheated, and some of it was separated so as to adjust the ratio of the residual steam to the coal fraction and make the resulting mixture suitable for partial combustion with oxygen in a pressure gasifier. Both before and during this reported3 developmental work it was necessary to make an extensive literature search into the technology of aqueous slurries in order to establish design criteria for the pilot plant and to correlate results of various phases of the work with that of other investigators, The pilot work coincided with the commercial development of a long-distance pipeline for the transportation of coal as a coal-water slurry, and this fact tended to broaden the scope of the pilot plant work and the extent of the literature search. This bibliography is the compilation of the material that was collected.

Jan 1, 1963

By Robert J. Brennan, Edward R. Navrocky, John W. Buch

In an effort to establish a highly productive mechanized mining system for anthracite beds pitching between 10 ° and 20 ° , for which conventional mobile equipment is not adaptable , the Bureau carried out an experiment in longwall mining using an Anderton- type drum cutter loader and friction - type yielding steel roof supports . The roof- support system proved to be inadequate for breaking the overhanging roof at the break line supports , with the result that the roof broke over the solid coal . The accompanying subsidence destroyed the continuity of the roof in the work area , and the project was discontinued .

Jan 1, 1964

By Guenter F. Lehmann

This report summarizes the results of the development and testing of a prototype monorail suspended bridge conveyor (MBC) system as a method of continuous haulage In underground mining applications. Included are the results of full scale, surface and underground testing of the complete MBC system. Conclusions drawn from these results, together with recommended modifications, supports the viability of the MBC system.

Jan 1, 1988

By H. A. Dierks, H. B. Link

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a practical feeder apparatus to introduce comparatively large pieces of coal and similar material into a pipeline under pressure in connection with the vertical hydraulic transportation of solids , termed " hydraulic hoisting . " This method of hoisting the precrushed run - of - mine product of an underground mine has been given unusually wide attention abroad and could be of considerable significance to the U.S. mining industry in its search for operating improvements and cost reduction . A lock-hopper assembly was developed after a series of sinking velocity tests were made by dropping anthracite in a column of water . The system functioned reliably as an automatically operated feeder apparatus .

Jan 1, 1964

By James S. Grichar

Interest in mergers in the nonfuel mineral industry developed when 5 were listed among the 50 highest valued mergers in the United States in 1981. This report presents a Bureau of Mines study of trends in merger activity from 1960 to 1979 and explores motives for mergers in the nonfuel mining and mineral industry. The objective was to determine precedent for or a trend toward the 1981 acceleration in merger activity and to examine certain financial motives for non fuel mineral mergers. Data indicate that the relative value of non fuel mineral mergers has grown since 1972 although the number of mergers has remained proportionate to historical trends for all mergers. Since 1974, the assets acquired in "large," nonfuel mineral firm mergers, those of $10 million or more, have comprised at least 93 pct of assets acquired. More nonfuel mineral firm mergers involved mineral companies as the acquiring firm than vice versa but mining and minerals firms acquired were of higher value than nonmining firms. A major motivation for mergers involving large mineral firms was the acquisition of assets at less than replacement costs. Univariate statistical testing, a methodology chosen for its applicability to the data, confirms this hypothesis while rejecting other financial motives. The remainder of the work is devoted to a discussion of suggested areas for future study.

Jan 1, 1984

By Michael T. Nigbor

This Bureau of Mines publication identifies the significant environmental issues associated with the potential development of strategic and critical minerals in the Stillwater Complex, MT. The Stillwater Complex contains deposits of Cr, platinum-group metals (PGM), and Ni. Issues that must be addressed prior to minerals development include the effects mining, milling, and smelting will have on the land, water, and air, and methods of minimizing the environmental impacts.

Jan 1, 1985

By Arthur Crowfoot

This paper describing t o concentrating practice of the Phelps Dodge Corporation, Morenci Branch, at Morenci, Ariz., is one of a series of articles on concentrating methods and posts being prepared by the Bureau of Mines. The Morenci concentrator, locally known as No. 6 concentrator, treats 5,000 dry tons of ore per 24-hour day by primary tabling followed by two stages of flotation treatment, at 48-mesh size and 65-mush size respectively.

Jan 1, 1931

By James S. Wroth

The Act of Congress approved June 25, 1926 (Public Act 424, 69th Congress), authorized joint investigations by the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Bureau of Mines to determine "the location, extent, and mode of occurrence of potash deposits in the United States." The particular deposits selected for exploration were the extensive rock-salt formations underlying large areas in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, from which potash salts had been identified in the cuttings and sludges from oil wells drilled with cable tools. The evidence of these sludge samples was qualitative only and beyond definitely proving the presence of potash salts in the salt beds, gave little clue to the possible size, richness, or extent of the potash occurrences.

Jan 1, 1929

By Pamela J. Watson

This report presents a Bureau of Mines literature survey that provides a data base useful for current and future studies in the area of chemically enhanced drilling and cutting. Publications describing laboratory testing and field studies of drilling and cutting with chemical additives are reviewed. Significant results are summarized and tabulated by rock or material type and also by chemical additive, with extensive references. Selected studies related to fluid-enhanced processing or material testing are summarized in the appendixes.

Jan 1, 1985