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Jan 1, 1924

Jan 1, 2005

By John Bevan

In a discussion of the personal dangers that may arise from mine gases, it is necessary to take into consideration the gases which may result from an underground fire, or a fire in or about the downcast shaft, and the methods of avoiding or minimizing the danger arising therefrom. In all cases of the combustion of carbonaceous material such as coals and timber, carbon dioxide and water vapor are formed. In cases where the air supply is limited, some carbon monoxide is produced, the quantity varying with the readiness with which the oxygen from the air can get into intimate contact with the consuming carbon; in addition to these products there may be produced large volumes of irritating fumes consisting of unconsumed vapors' distilled from the burning material. Apart from the physical distress that may be caused by the irritant action of the fumes, the chief danger to life underground arising from a fire in or about the downcast shaft or intake airways is due to the carbon monoxide which the smoke is almost certain to contain. The physiological effects of this gas have already been discussed in mining papers and ref¬erence should be made to this. The prevention of fires at the surface near to the mouth of the downcast shaft, or in the shaft itself, or at the bottom of the shaft, usually lies outside the duties of the fireboss. An outbreak of fire at such places would, however, immediately foul the air current passing into the mine, and, assuming the men were in the mine, create a situation demanding urgent attention of the fireboss. As a rule, each case of fire creates its own problems, but in all cases the guiding principle should be to restrict the poison-laden 'air to the smallest part of the mine that is practicable, by opening separation doors, or breaking down selected stoppings at the most accessible points near the seat of the fire, so that the gases and smoke may pass directly into the return and so to surface. In the case of a shaft fire it will have the effect of fouling both shafts and in the case of a fire in an intake airway, both roadways leading to the shafts. It requires the use of some judgment. Therefore, in circumstances as to whether men inside the mine should attempt to escape to the shafts or should remain in the mine, and attempt to protect themselves from the poisonous air by suitably short circuiting the air-current and retiring from the main air-ways. In order to make such restraint easier, it is very desirable that all mines should be equipped with telephone communication from all sections of the mine to the surface so that men in the mine may be informed of what is being done at the surface to secure their safety, or instructed as to what they themselves should do. In cases of fire in or about the shafts, the question of the reversal of the air-current will probably arise. Should this be decided on by the management at the surface, the fireboss in the mine may have to give some attention to the effects which this action will have on the circulation of the

Jan 1, 1922

Thomas J. LIEN RMCMI PRESIDENT 1997-1998 on behalf of the RMCMI Board of Directors and Officers of The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute cordially invites you and your family to attend the 94TH Regular Meeting and Convention to be held June 27 thru June 29, 1998 Snowmass Village, Colorado

Jan 1, 1997

Jan 1, 2006

By D. A. Stout

The Rouse Mine, belonging to the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, earlier known as the Santa Clara Mine, is located at Rouse, Huerfano County, Colorado. Operations at this property started about the year 1899, after the old Rouse mine had been drowned out by a large flow of water coming from the strata underlying the Cameron seam. The present new Rouse mine was opened by a slope on what is familiarly known as the Walsen seam in the Walsenburg district. This slope has an average grade of 12 per cent bearing approximately, south 45 degrees west, and having at the present time a total length of 6300 feet. This seam has an average thickness at that property of five and one-half feet; however, there are sections of the mine where the thickness is from seven to eight feet. The mine has been developed. since the time it was opened on what is known as the Room and Pillar system ; water level entries have been driven right and left off the slope, and in some cases the rooms are driven directly up the pitch; and in other cases entries have been driven with rooms turned on water level courses. The first flow of water of which we have ally record was encountered in 1901 in what was called the "Second West Entry." This flow, however, was small, and did not require the installation of any large pump unit. From 1901 up until 1909 the flow increased normally as the field was developed. In January, 1909, the first large inflow occurred, coming from a break in the seventh west entry, making a total flow at that time of about 500 gallons per minute. This necessitated putting in larger pumps, and the first pump to be installed of the centrifugal type was a 600 gallon Worthington. By the year 1911 the water had increased, due to additional development, until it was found necessary to install an additional 600 gallon Worthington centrifugal type pump. In December, 1912, a break occurred in the eighth west entry, between the fourth and sixth cross entries, making 2000 gallons per minute. This flow decreased after a period of three weeks some 500 gallons, but on account of the quantity of water then being handled at the mine, and in view of the fact that we needed some reserve pumping equipment to take care of these flows, and additional 600-gallon Worthington centrifugal type pump was installed in June, 1913. An the latter part of 1914 a 250 gallon Reese roturbo was installed to take care of the water, which was being made in the lower workings of the slope. We found after the installation of the centrifugal pumps that the water decreased to a certain degree in the uppermost workings. This led us to believe that the field was being drained, more or less, and the head reduced ; however, our ideas in regard to this were again upset in December, 1915, when we encountered a flow in room 6 off the first cross entry on the ninth east entry. This flow was not as large as previous flows had been, but made 200 gallons per minute.

Jan 1, 1921

Jan 1, 1992

[ ] Digital images of the highwall are taken from the spoils bench. Two images of the same highwall segment are are taken from two different locations. The resulting overlapping images are used to create a three-dimensional image of that section of highwall.

Jan 1, 2005

Jan 1, 1926

The meeting was called to order in the Albany hotel, with the President, John B. Marks, in the chair. At the request of the Secretary, the chairman brought before the Institute the question of a reorganization of the finances and system of conducting the Institute, explaining that, although the Institute is in good financial shape and the meetings are of great interest and are attended by a large and serious minded membership, the Institute is getting so large and of such value to the operators that it should be taken over by the operators, conducted by some man elected by and from the operators, and its financing put on a definite basis. At present, it was explained, the Secretary, not a coal operator nor interested in operating, arranges and conducts all meetings and finances the Institute from three sources: the very low dues, the advertisements published in the Proceedings, and by direct solicitation of contributions among the supply and machinery houses. Mr. James Dalrymple spoke vigorously on the need of having the Institute entirely free from any taint of commercialism. Upon motion by W. D. Brennan, seconded, a committee of four, one to represent each State, was voted. Appointment of this Committee was deferred temporarily. The reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was then called for, but upon statement of the Secretary, that the minutes were published in Volume 2 of the 1925 Proceedings, they were dispensed with. The Secretary-Treasurer's report was made informally inasmuch as the last report had not yet been audited. In brief, the Secretary reported on a cost of approximately $1,600.00 a year to publish and send out the Proceedings, an expense of approximately $1,800.00 to care for the Denver meeting, and an expense of approximately $1,200.00 to care for the summer meeting. The Secretary's salary of $25.00 a month has not been collected, but a certain portion of this has been used for stenographic expense. The Secretary asked for expression from the floor regarding the advisability of continuing the publication on the present elaborate plan. Mr. Gibson, Mr. Marks, Mr. Whiteside, Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Dick and others spoke positively on the value of the present form of the Proceedings, and urged that no changes be attempted in this. Upon motion of Holbrook Mahn, it was moved, seconded and carried that E. H. Weitzel and W. F. Murray be made life members of the Institute in recognition of their services in the organization of the Institute, placing them with Floyd W. Parsons as the original organizers of the Institute. Mr. Murray spoke briefly in acknowledgment of the courtesy. Mr. Weitzel's words are included in the discussion A letter was read from George B. Pryde relative to the present emblem of the Institute. Upon motion by Mr. C. W. Sinclair, seconded by Mr. Dalrymple, it was moved that the consideration of a new emblem be

Jan 1, 1926

Our next speaker this afternoon is a good friend of mine of some years. I must introduce him by way of a little story. Now Harris Sherman, many of you know because he was really in charge of everything to do with the mining industry in the State of Colorado for a good many years. Some of you may know that before he became part of Governor, Lamm's first cabinet as Director of Department of Natural Resources, he was an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund and that caused me considerable panic as I think it might have caused some of you. I have observed Hams from the time he stepped into that office until he retired from that office to go into private practice as the senior partner of Arnold & Porter's Denver office, one of the , nation's most prestigious law firms. Hams is a Colorado native. He's lived here all of his life. He's a graduate of Columbia Law School for his law degree and a graduate of Colorado College down at the Springs for his BA. He has served in state government, but I thought it might be appropriate, since he is no longer in state government, if we used Harris, today, to tell us from a former state official's perspective what the image is of the coal industry from the seat he held in Governor Lamm's cabinet for a good many years. He has been the recipient of a number of honors that I think you should know about including Phi Beta Kappa and

Jan 1, 1982

By Eugene McAuliffe

The subject of my few remarks addressed to the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, "Guessing or Knowing! Which," may perhaps suggest but little to you here today. However, I am sure you will all agree with me when I say that in the conduct of a coal mining operation there should be no choice between guessing and knowing. The value of, and the results to be obtained from this Institute, its meetings and printed transactions, as well as those of other similar educational organizations, depend very largely on the mental attitude of those who constitute, through their pronouncements, the more active portion of the membership. Perhaps the most apt criticism that is now being made of the coal industry is that, to an extent possibly exceeding any other industry of similar magnitude and importance, it depends for its conduct altogether too much on "rule of thumb" and "tradition," rather than on proven practice and actual fact. The records of our coal mining association meetings bear expression of many conflicting opinions, the majority of which are sincerely put forth by those expressing same as representing the facts; the extremes expressed, however, frequently fix the question raised as one yet located in "no man's land." There are yet too many chances taken we are still "weighing pounds on railroad track scales" and measuring yards with the proverbial "bit of string." The actual expense of conducting any one of the several operations incident to the production of coal is rarely determined, and in many instances the general cost figures, prepared some weeks after the work is complete, are of that sweeping character that very little can be abstracted therefrom. Many coal companies are now making a daily cost sheet, showing the cost of labor and material in detail, as used in the several related operations,, and such is decidedly helpful, particularly to the mine superintendent and his foreman, who, without such, sail an uncharted sea; the auditor's belated monthly summary rarely ever seen by these men who are held responsible for the labor and material used. I have made reference to this situation as an accentuation of the fact that the coal industry contains more "serious minded, conscientious guessers" than does any other similar industry, although the annual cost of our product runs up well beyond the billion dollar mark, and what is more important, our industry is one that still continues to exact a heavy toll of human life. Now this brings me to the question of safety, the one question that should be, and which is, I know, uppermost in your minds. The coal mining world, engineering and operating, is now well sold on at least two things the theory of using permissible explosives and the elimination of the open light. Furthermore, the industry, particularly that portion which is located in Great Britain and the United States and Canada, are now planning vast extensions of the use of "rock" or "shale dust," both in the form of "dust barriers" and in "direct application" to entries and cross-cuts. This is well; however,, my study of past mine explosions has convinced me that the great majority of such had their very beginning in gas accumulations; frequently originating in restricted areas at the working face, in abandoned worked-out areas, or in some other certain place where ventilation is not, maintained as it should be; and that again leads me to the point where it can again be well said, that there is too much "rule of thumb," too much guessing now being done in regard to the volume of air required, and continuously furnished, in a given entry,, panel, room or area. Just to emphasize this situation, is it not a fact that the majority of mine inspectors express the ventilation conditions as measured by them, in terms of cubic feet per man employed, in each certain split, and does not the mining laws of many states yet demand a minimum of "100 or 150 cubic feet

Jan 1, 1924

PRESIDENT LITTLEJOHN: Until Mr. Wood comes back, we have a gentleman with us who has been sitting in one of the back seats. He has never gotten up and showed himself, and I think we ought to call on Mr. Ryan to stand up and say two words, or a half dozen words. Mr. Ryan! (Applause.)

Jan 1, 1925

By George A. Brown

Flexoid tubing for ventilation and some of the reasons for its use in re-opening old workings at the Union Pacific Coal Company's mines at Cumberland, Wyoming. , These mines are located on a branch line off the Oregon Short Line Railroad, about sixteen miles south of Kemmerer. The seam averages from 16 feet to 20 feet thick and is split about six feet from the bottom with from six inches to four inches of fire, clay; and is covered by a heavy sandstone roof about 45 feet thick and a fire clay floor about 15 feet thick. Pitch of seam 21 degrees. These mines were opened up with 5 openings on the pitch to the west, with main slope, north and south manways and north and south aircourses on 50-foot centers with parallel entries driven north and south at right angles to the slope and rooms turned on 50-foot centers up the pitch ; entries being 350 feet apart and chutes used in the rooms. Several years ago there was a heavy, squeeze came on these mines which necessitated shutting down all of No. I Mine below the third entry, the slope being down to 12 entry; also shutting the lower end of No. 2 Mine down from the twelfth entry to fifteenth entry and from the third entry down to the tenth entry, so as not to work too much territory at the one time. These mines are very gassy and were subject to heavy bumps during the squeeze ; also at the present time. In reopening these slopes, aircourses and entries for the recovery of the pillars, ventilation was quite a problem, as the squeeze had caused them to be practically tight; also the rooms for about 50 feet from the entry and the face of the rooms for about fifty feet. These rooms in the open space being either filled with Methane or depleted air. It was found in opening up these entries that in driving back entries parallel with the top entries for ventilation. which had to be skipped along the barrier pillar left from the face of the rooms of the entry below, that we had more bumps or bounces which made it a dangerous proposition to nine, as it will be noted as stated that the entries, room necks and face of rooms were more or less squeezed tight, showing that all the weight was centered on these points and the more they were disturbed the more it relieved the overlying pressure and something had to give; hence the bumps or bounces which have filled slopes, aircourses, entries and rooms with coal from the ribs and face, for hundreds of feet, throwing cars off the track, both loads and empties, and throwing track up to the roof and discharging timbers. We found it necessary to abandon driving back entries and have used Flexoid tubing with small blower fans to open up these slopes, aircourses and entries which has proved a success. We have carried air for distances that would have been impossible with brattice cloth or with

Jan 1, 1921

Jan 1, 1951

[Adams, Leonard E.819 Newhouse Bldg., Salt Lake City, Utah Adams, V. H422 East San Miguel. Colorado Springs, Colo. Allen, Earl W.2636 So. Gilpin St., Denver 10, Colo. Allen, Thomas State Coal Mine Inspector, State Office Bldg., Denver, Colo. Ambler, J. B P. O. Box 591, Denver, Colo. Apperson, A. B 394 Elm St., Denver 7, Colo. Arnold, G. O Phelps-Dodge Co., Dawson, New Mexico Audin, Abel Somerset, Colorado Audis, Clement, Jr. Paonia, Colorado]

Jan 1, 1948

By D. Harrington

At the time of mine accidents one frequently hears the expression "there will be accidents as long as there are mines", or it may be varied to state that the accident in question was unavoidable, or something similar indicating inability to prevent accidents. However, it is the opinion of the writer, after over twenty-one years experience in both coal and metal mining, seven years being spent wholly in safety work, that by far the greater number of all accidents is due to carelessness or negligence. This carelessness or negligence may be on part of the victim of the accident or of one of his companions, or on part of his employer or possibly even of the inspector or safety man, and in some cases all of these agencies are involved. It manifests itself in various guises, one of the most serious being violation of state mining laws or regulations or of mine rules, and frequently the rules of ordinary common-sense. The cause very frequently is that trait in human nature to "take a chance" and it has been the writer's observation that the worst offender is the old-time miner who has come safely through many years experience, who was mining when the "safety man was a baby", and who clings to old-time ideas and practices and has "no use" for "newfangled" present-day "notions". Unquestionably, there are accidents, wholly unavoidable and many are caused by ignorance and by the new-comer in mining, yet as previously indicated, the writer's observation is that the old-timer is by far the worst offender, bringing grief to himself, companions and employer. Of the numerous manifestations of carelessness and negligence in connection with mine accidents, which have come to the notice of the writer, only one will be treated in this paper, viz: Violation of State Mining Law, and mention will be made only of explosions and major accidents in coal' mines with which the writer came in personal contact as investigator. In most cases, in addition to mine inspection after the accident, the writer heard the evidence given at Coroner's inquest and thus was enabled to for¬mulate fairly definite impressions as to events and conditions leading up to the occurrence.

Jan 1, 1922

By C. B. Huntress

"We have ourselves to blame in the steel industry for our condition." These words were addressed twelve days ago by James A. Farrell, President of the United States Steel Corporation, to his "comrades" at a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute. They carry a note of challenge to all industry, and particularly to the coal industry, where they point the way to the pressing need for operators everywhere to get their feet under one table. It is that note which I would stress to all producers. You have yourselves to blame for your condition. True, there are inter-district competition and competition of substitute fuels, but they'll always be with us, more or less, and the only sensible, sane course is to remove the evils within our respective districts, which can be done only by constructive effort along cooperative lines. It's the same story in Alabama, the same in Illinois and elsewhere. The larger number of the men gathered here are at the front, as it were, in the business of mining coal. They are the men who are doing a remarkable operating job. And naturally, the sessions of this annual meeting treat of news from the front, of technical problems. But, as in actual warfare, those at the front are often uninformed of developments in the rear. They keep on fighting without fully sensing the significance of a disaster at headquarters. You've played your eighteen holes today and evidenced the efficiency of your technique in the, production of coal. It is not amiss to take advantage of this moment, the nineteenth hole, to ponder over what it's all about. After all, what do improvements in the art of mining mean if business policies engulf you in red ink? To the extent that mechanization is a factor in increased overhead, which in turn increases the pressure to produce regardless of market demand, it only aggravates our troubles unless there is the controlling influence of coordinated effort.

Jan 1, 1931

Jan 1, 1926

By T. H. Butler

The two most talked of questions in the mining industry today are rock dusting and mechanical loading. The one as a matter of safety, and the other as a matter of economy, and both are of vital interest to the mining fraternity. Rock dusting and other safety methods will be dealt with by others at this meeting, so I will confine my few remarks to the matter of mechanical loading. I will not attempt to tell you what mechanical loaders are doing in the different mining fields throughout the country, or what they should do, but will endeavor to give you an outline of the work being done with mechanical loaders in No. 4 Mine of the Union Pacific Coal Company, at Hanna, Wye. In order that you may better understand and be in a position to follow me it will be necessary to cite the conditions under which we are working. and the type of loaders in use. The seam pitches from 14 to 17 degrees, and is normally 32 feet in thickness, and is overlaid with a soft sandstone roof. The panel system of working is used, planes being driven on the pitch, and rooms driven on the strike. Owing to faults being encountered planes are driven between the faults, and the. rooms on either side are in some instances 800 to 1,000 feet in depth. Rooms are advanced eight feet in height, and 32 feet in width, by hand loaders and .Toy mechanical loaders, and when driven to the boundary,, 18 feet of the remaining 24 is loaded out with Thew electric shovels, and six feet left to protect the roof. In January, 1916 the company installed a Type 1 Thew shovel, equipped with a 1 1/4-yard dipper, and in July, 1917, they installed a Type 0 Thew electric shovel, equipped with a 1-yard dipper, and in the year 1918 two additional Type 0 Thew shovels, equipped with a 1-yard dipper, were installed, making a total of four Thew shovels for this mine. The introduction of these shovels caused the employees much concern, and like all departures from the old methods of mining, met with indifference by some and open antagonism by others, so that for some time they results obtained were not satisfactory. However, by constant supervision and changes in the method of haulage the results obtained at present, while not entirely satisfactory, are much better and the production and costs are reasonably good. The Thew shovels in use are mounted on traction wheels with swivel axle and move. in all directions by their own power, and while the weight of each is approxi¬mately 20 tons, they are not as cumbersome as. one would think and are easily operated. The system used in working these shovels is to shoot the coal clown ahead of the shovels and maintain two tracks, two cars being used on each track so that shovel is loading on one track while driver is, changing cars on the other. When place is finished the shovel is run back to the first cross-cut by its own power and lowered to the next room with block and tackle, the roof coal in cross-cut being shot down to a height of 16 feet to allow passage of the boom. With better results from the Thew shovels we soon realized that it was necessary to find some method of developing rooms faster than was being done with hand loaders in order to keep the Thew shovels in working places, and in November, 1923, the company purchased from the Joy Machine Company two Type 4 B U Joy loaders, and the installation of same met with the same indifference and antagonism from the employees as did the Thew

Jan 1, 1924