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By A. D. Hahn

This report describes and gives the results of an examination by the Federal Bureau of Mines of ilmenite-bearing placer sand deposits in the 24-mile long valley of Otter Creek, Kiowa and Tillman Counties, Okla. Drilling and sampling was completed in three periods between October 1956 and September 1957. Mineralogic studies and mineral-dressing tests on recovery of ilmenite and other heavy minerals from composited samples of the sands were made in Bureau of Mines laboratories at Rolla, Mo., in 1957 and early 1958. Otter Creek rises in and drains the southwestern extremity of the Wichita Mountains, which are represented locally by knolls and ridges of gabbro and granite surrounded by plains floored with flat-lying Permian red beds. The valley fill consists of a basal sand-clay component, derived from weathering of the igneous rocks, and an overlying silt-clay alluvium. Ilmenite is present in significant quantity and recoverable grain size only in the basal sand-clay.

Jan 1, 1960

By Charles L. Parsons, R. B. Moore, S. C. Lind, O. C. SCHAEFER

Early in 1912, from information received by the Bureau of Mines, it became evident that quantities of valuable radium-bearing ore from Colorado were being exported for manufacture in foreign coun- trics and that at least part of the manufactured product was being returned to this country and sold at a price entirely incommensurate with that received by the miner and the prospector. Consequently, in line with its efforts to increase efficiency in the mining and treat- ment of mineral resources, the Bureau of Mines undertook an inves- tigation of conditions. Results of this preliminary investigation were published, in the summer of 1913, as Bulletin 70, which gave an out- line of the radium deposits of the West, the conditions of mining, the wastes involved, and the status of the production of radium from its ores. At about this time newspapers and medical journals were publish- ing statements regarding the value of radium in cancer therapy. These reports, although many of them were exaggerated, brought out clearly the remarkable virtue of the gamma rays for the treat- ment of cancer and other malignant growths. In view of the fact that the largest known supplies of radium ore in the world are in the States of Colorado and Utah and on the public lands of the United States, it was deemed highly important for the Bureau of Mines to study the production of radium in detail. Such study, it was hoped, would enable the prospector and miner to obtain a fairer price for the ores and would furnish information necessary in case Congress appropriated funds to develop methods for extracting radium from ore on the public lands under Government supervision, to be supplied at cost to the hospitals of the Army, Navy, and Public Health Service.

Jan 1, 1915

Southeast Alaska's mining industry has come to life after nearly 50 years of relative dormancy. Commencement of operations of the Greens Creek Mine in 1989 marked a turning point in the industry as the first large scale mining operation in the region since closure of the Alaska-Juneau Mine in 1944. The Greens Creek Mine is now the nation's largest silver producer. Other large scale mining projects are now on the drawing board, including development of the Kensington Mine and reopening the Alaska-Juneau Mine, which could become North America's largest underground gold mine. The region's mining industry includes more than these large scale projects, however. For example, a significant level of mineral exploration occurs each summer in Southeast Alaska. In addition, mining operations in British Columbia and Yukon Territory are generating jobs and income in Southeast Alaska.

Jan 1, 1992

By Christopher D. Risbrudt

In this comprehensive study of the use of wood products in coal mining, a sample of over 220 mines provided data by questionnaire. Wood use per ton of underground coal was found to vary substantially by mining process and region. In the Eastern Coal region, 1.6 board feet of wood was used per ton of coal, wel above the 0.6 board feet usage per ton in the West. The kind of timber used varied also by Region. Hardwood use is about 40 times greater than softwood in the Eastern Region. There, hardwoods are plentiful, relatively cheap and strong. In the West where softwood forests predominate, softwoods were 2-1/2 times more common in mine wood use than hardwoods. Nearly 80 percent of the wood used in underground coal mines is used in cross bars and props. Nearly 54 million cubic feet of wood products were used in coal mining in the sample year 1979; about twice as much going to underground mines as surface mines. Wood requirements for mining were projected to 2030 for a range of three oil price scenarios. Much greater wood use will be required for greater coal output.

Jan 1, 1982

By H. B. Hill

The discovery of the Oklahoma City field and its .rapid development into one of the major oil-producing districts is an outstanding epoch in the history of the petroleum industry not only of .Oklahoma but also of the United States. The relatively great depth to which the wells were drilled and the large initial production of high-gravity oil are of special significance. The field has boon under proration almost from the time that its development began, and many new production problems have developed out of the changed conditions of operation. The discovery well was first tested in December 1928 at a depth of 6,402 feet, with an initial production of 4,847 barrels of 38.5° A.P.I. gravity and several months later was completed at a depth of 6,624 feet. The large initial production, the high pressure, and the large gas volume in the different horizons of the discovery well suggested the potential possibilities of gas and oil, production in formations of Pennsylvanian and pre-Pennsylvanian age.

Jan 1, 1933

By John L. Nieber

This information circular describes a computer program called VARSAT2D, a comprehensive unsaturated fluid flow simulator developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. VARSAT2D solves for either a vertical or horizontal, transient or steady-state solution in variably saturated, heterogeneous, anisotropic porous media using the Galerkin finite-element approach. Simplex triangular elements are used. Moisture retention characteristics are described by specifying either the Brooks and Corey, Brutsaert, or Van Genuchten power functions, with hysteresis described using the Maulem independent domain model. Boundary conditions may include any combination of time-varying seepage, pressure along solution domain, boundaries and/or at internal node points, unit hydraulic gradient at the lower boundary, and a uniform source and/or sink. This program should be a welcome addition for mining and environmental hydrologists, researchers, and engineers interested in modeling unsaturated fluid flow.

Jan 1, 1994

By F. G. Miller

[Petroleum tscknologists nnd progressive operatorr. constantly are striving to increase the percentage of oil thnt may be recorered from reservoir rocks through wells. The exhaustive studies that hve boen made of the function of natural gas in the production of oil, for example, havo aided operators greatly in increasing tho quantity of oil recovered from reservoirs. Natural gas dissolv.3d in and otheraiso asnociatod under pressuro with oil in rsservoir rocks, howovor, is not tho only source of energy available for rnovi~~ oil through sands to wells. In becomine Veservoi~enorgy conscious^^ encineera havo lonrned that in nnny petroleum resorroirs the edgewater flanking the oil accurrulation constitutos a potantinl source of enorgy cnpnblo, through pro1,sr control, of increasing oil-recovory officioncies materially. ?To longer is tho oncronchmont of mter into the oil- and gas-fillod uart of tho reservoir conridsred as evil to be combatted by dovious mothods but rnthar a nrtturrtl consequence, incident to the withdraval of oil nna gas from tho rolls, thnt mP.y be used nd~~mtngeoualy in lengthening the flowing life of wells ,md incre~sing the oconornic recovery nf oil and gns. Little is knom a3out tho nac'n-~nisrn by mhich wnter qor-rtos in driving nil through reservoir rocks, nnd thjro is n scnrcity of published informa- tion on rates of rnovzrnant of ~ntcr +,hat will result in naxilnm oil recoveries. Bureau of Xine s er.gir.ess nr r'reciate the ~aucity of scientific knowledge on the best methods of lying the natural rater drive to in- crease oil-recovery efficiencies arid ar9 initiating stildies that rill, they hope, contributo to tho procont small fund of information now available on the subject. This rh~.ort is s syr,o_nsis or brief c03pilation of published dAta and thought nccumulntod 30 far, groliminary to la-uorgtory ox~eriment+ tion NI& further resaarch on the principlgs und~rlying the nnturnl wnter drive RS it nffocts oil rocovory. The vrritors hopo th2t the omosition of available information prosentod in tho rey~ort rill stindate constructive thought and efforts loading torard moro comrlote extraction of oil and gas from resorvoirs.]

Jan 1, 1938

By H. P. Greenwald

For some years past the Safety in Mines Research Board of Great Britain has been making an intensive search for. materials that would be more efficient than rock dust and that could replace it wholly or in part as a moans of preventing the prorogation of coal-dust explosions in mines5/ In the course of this work several rock ducts and numerous inorganic compounds were tested. The results place incombustible substances in two main groups; (1) Those whose effect in suppressing the combustion of coal dust is proportional to their capacity for absorbing heat, and (2) those that shoo much higher effectiveness than would be expected from their heat capacity. The first group includes several inorganic compounds and materials commonly ground for use as rock dust, such as shale, gypsum, and limestone. Outstanding examples of the second group are compounds of the halogens6/ with the alkali metals,7/ especially potasium and sodium8/. British investigators term those salts "inhibitors" because it is assumed that their presence has a hindering or inhibiting effect on one or more of the chemical reactions that together constitute combustion. In other words, the action of an inhibitor is postulated as chemical rather than physical; theoretically, the effect is to prevent liberation of energy instead of to absorb energy already liberated.

Jan 1, 1940

By Walter C. Woodmansee

The only reported mineral production in 1977 was small output of alluvial gold, valued at an estimated $54,320.2 In addition, marine shells are gathered for use in lime manufacture, although output was not reported. Proposed development of a bauxite mine and smelter, involving Rennell and Vaghena Islands, was deferred in June. Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Ltd. (CRA), in partnership with Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd., and the Solomon Government, with- drew from the project, and Mitsui, which conducted a feasibility study and metallurgical testing of the bauxite, decided to defer further work because of slack demand for aluminum in Japan and difficulties in arranging financing. The Mitsui feasibility studies reportedly indicated that the project could be viable despite technical difficulties and relatively high initial investment costs. The project was to produce 1.5 million tons of bauxite and 600,000 tons of alumina per year from reserves totaling 60 million tans at 45% to 50% A1203.

Jan 1, 1981

By Forrest T. Moyer

Injury experience at metal mines and mills (excluding officeworkers) in 1964 was 60 fatal and 3,672 nonfatal disabling work injuries during an exposure time of 149 million man-hours worked. These injuries occurred at a frequency rate of 24.57 per million man-hours and had a severity rate of 3,687 days lost or charged per million man-hours. Employment at 2,363 metal mines and 291 mills, excluding officeworkers, was 68,140 men in 1964. The average number of days worked was 274 The principal cause of fatal injuries at all mines and mills was haulage accidents and in underground mines, only, was falls of ground. The principal cause of nonfatal injuries was handling material accidents. The frequency rate at metal mines and mills in 1964 was slightly below that of 1963, whereas the severity rate was higher. Injury experience at 94 primary nonferrous smelters, refineries, and reduction plants (excluding officeworkers) was 8 fatal and 999 nonfatal disabling work injuries during a worktime of 98 million man-hours worked. The combined injury-frequency rate in 1964 was 10.29 and the injury-severity rate was 1,005. The 36,956 employees worked an average of 329 days during 1964. The principal cause of injuries at these plants was handling material accidents.

Jan 1, 1968

By J. K. Whyatt

Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been exploring recent advances in the use of strain-softening constitutive laws that approximate shear fracturing. The purpose of these tests is to investigate shear-fracture-related rock bursts in hard-rock mines. The capabilities and remaining problems in the use of strain-softening laws in finite-element, distinct-element, and finite-difference methods are reviewed. Performance of the finite-difference implementation of strain softening is compared to classic experimental results and observations of rock mass behavior in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. The results show promise for developing methods to identify the general location and orientation of shear fractures and their sequence of occurrence, but such methods cannot be relied upon to quantify post-fracture loads or displacements accurately. Uncertainty over the amount of energy consumed by failing rock and the dependency of energy consumption on model mesh definition prevent direct application of the results to analyses of rock bursts.

Jan 1, 2010

By J. Frederick Stampfer

Current certification testing of self-contained breathing apparatus includes tests with human subjects wearing the apparatus while exercising. During these tests, certain apparatus variables are measured during rest periods. Because of concerns that the present tests may not accurately simulate the stresses to which an apparatus is subjected in the field, the Bureau of Mines proposed new human subject tests. It was also felt that different measurement techniques would supply more reliable data on the apparatus response to these stresses. The Los Alamos National Laboratory was asked by the Bureau to evaluate the proposed tests and monitoring techniques. The major conclusions derived during this study are these: (1) The proposed tests are not too physically demanding. (2) As long as human test subjects are used, a minimum subject weight should be required for certification tests. (3) Important apparatus variables are the breathing resistance, temperature, and carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations of the inhaled gas. (4) Continuous monitoring should be used, rather than monitoring only during rest periods. (5) New pass/fail criteria based on realistic estimates of the user's physiological requirements, as tempered by present and future engineering limitations, are needed. (6) When available, breathing machines, rather than human subjects, should be used for most certification testing. (7) A more realistic ergonomics test than that proposed is needed. (8) A gas leak test for the system and a facepiece leakage test are also needed.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. S. Hansen

In support of its objective to conserve mineral resources by minimizing premature failure of materials, the Bureau of Mines conducted a cooperative study with the U.S. Department of Energy on the erosion and abrasion resistance of hard materials for valves in coal conversion systems. This report describes a newly developed erosion-testing apparatus and presents data on the erosion resistance of over 200 materials. Erosion resistance of most metals was comparatively low. In contrast, ceramics and cermets such as B4C, WC, SiC, Si3N4, and TiB2, when fabricated to minimize porosity, displayed greater than five times the erosion resistance of metals. Coatings such as boron diffused into Mo and WC, chemical-vapor-deposited TiCN, and electrodeposited TiB2 were highly erosion resistant if applied in thicknesses ranging from 60 to 75 µm. Erosion resistance of cemented carbides was inversely related to metal binder content.

Jan 1, 1979

By Albert W. Deurbrouck

This report describes the preparation characteristics of the significant coalbeds in Russell County , Va . Almost 2 million tons of coal was mined in 1961 ; 75 percent of the coal was cleaned mechanically in preparation plants in the county . The coal of Russell County is ranked as medium- to high- volatile bituminous , contains small amounts of sulfur , and generally requires some cleaning to reduce the ash content to limits acceptable for metallurgical purposes .

Jan 1, 1963

By JOEL H. SWARTZ

During a series of resistivity measurements carried out in 1929 and 1930 a number of questions arose concerning the effect of topography on the character of the curves and the depths attained , the ratio of true depth to certain radii interpreted as representing depth , etc. To answer these questions it was decided to undertake a series of experimental investigations on artificial strata . It is the purpose of the present paper to present the results of the studies thus undertaken .

Feb 1, 1931

By Oliver C. Ralston

Nonmetallic technologic investigations of the U. S. Bureau of Mines are headquartered at experiment stations in three widely separated localities of the United States. During 1936, the Nonmetals Division of the Technologic Branch was formally set up by combining the direction off the work of these three experiment stations under one administration. The New Brunswick (N.J.) station which in the past has been known as the Nonmetallic Minerals Experiment Station, is henceforth to be at College Park, Md., as part of the Eastern Experiment Station, and its principal activities will be related to the nonmetallic resources of the Eastern and New England States.

Jan 1, 1937

By F. E. Diebold

The methodology for describing the geochemistry of elements in a coal seam have been developed. This has been applied to the Rosebud Coal Seam, which is an economically important member of the subbituminous coals of the Fort Union Formation in Eastern Montana. The method development has involved a detailed study of two popular techniques for determining the metal geochemistry of coal, namely, whole coal analyses and coal physical fractionation. The mathematically contrived element associations (whole coal analyses technique) and the element concentration trends in the float and sink fractions (physical fractionation technique) are considered to lead to only qualitative conclusions concerning the chemical associations of the elements in coals. Additionally, the processes taking place with the coal during low temperature ashing in an oxygen plasma are experimentally investigated and shown to be of sufficeint extent that the use of such low temperature ash for deciphering element geochemistry is questionable. The method developed in this study is a chemical fractionation that involves the sequential leaching of coal with water, 0.5 N HC1, 3 N HC1, 2 N HNO3, and 48% HF. These leach solutions are shown to selectively dissolve the predominate inorganic phases, sulfates, Ca and Mg carbonates, Fe sulfides and K alumino-silicates and quartz, respectively. These phases were identified with the use of XRD, SEM, EM and leaches (water and 0.3 N HC1) of whole coal and low temperature ash. The incorporation of the anion-exchange step in the leaching scheme was investigated and was observed to warrant further study of such intensity to be, at the time, unuseable. The use of this sequential leaching technique on several coal samples from the same seam generates element concentration trends that can be quantitatively interpreted with respect to the chemical associations of the minor and trace metals in the coal seam. The properties of the various seams of economic importance in the Fort Union Formation in Eastern Montana are compiled and presented. The subsequent conclusion is that there is not a large variation in the properties of these coal seams and that the variations within the Rosebud are within one order of magnitude. The chemical fractionation technique, investigated in this study, was applied to composite tipple samples of the Rosebud seam. Each composite sample represented 76,800 tons of coal. A minimum of 32% of the Ca and Mg are present as separate water soluble sulfates. An excess of the sulfate ion in the water extracts shows the predominating influence of the ion exchange capacity of the organic compounds in the coal. Based upon the CO content of the coal and the HC1 leachate data, 25 to 30% of the alkaline earth elements exist as separate carbonates and the remainder are associated with the organic compounds. The small fraction of the illite that dissolves in the HC1 and HNO3 leachates accounts for the K and Al. Slight dissolution of the pyrite in the HCl solvent occurs, the small amounts of Li and As do not relate to any known phase and Mn is present as a separate carbonate phase. Fe and a significant amount of the As exist in the pyrite that is dissolved in the HNO. Se is equally partitioned between the pyrite and the organic compound~. Most of the trace elements are found in the HF solutions. Li, V, and Cr were interpreted to be associated with the clay minerals (kaolinite and illite). Ni and Pb appear to be present as separate phases and 50% of the Hg is HF soluble but is not chemically related to any known inorganic phase.

Jan 1, 1983

By Ruth F. Brinkley

Principle activities of the Bureau of Mines Explosives Research Laboratory from July 1, 1960 to June 30, 1961 are reviewed briefly in Part 1. Part 1 also includes data obtained in connection with several minor investigations which are not sufficient to warrant separate publications. Part 2 gives brief abstracts of publications that appeared during fiscal year 1961; in general, the research reported in these publications antedates this period.

Jan 1, 1963

By Van H. Manning

"Under the organic act establishing it, the Bureau of Mines is authorized to conduct investigations designed to improve health and safety conditions in the mineral industry and to promote efficient development and utilization of our mineral resources. The field of the Bureau's activity, therefore, begins with the commercial development of mineral deposits and ends with the production and utilization of the final marketable product.In order to serve more efficiently the various sections of the country, the Bureau has established, in addition to its main offices at Washington, D. C., eleven field experiment stations, three field offices and several mine rescue cars and mina rescue stations. These field branches are so distributed as to cover most of the mining districts of this country, including Alaska. The field service in general deals with specific experimental problems, cooperative work with non-governmental institutions, and mina rescue work, while the Washington office is the administrative head and is responsible for the distribution of general information, the chiefs of the technical and administrative divisions of the Bureau being stationed there.The Bureau is prohibited by law from doing work exclusively for the benefit of any private company or individual. Generally speaking, the Bureau does no assaying, ore testing, or similar service work for the benefit of private companies or individuals. In response to requests for work of this sort a list of assay and ore testing laboratories is supplied. In referring inquiries to com-mercial laboratories or consulting engineers, care is taken to mention several names so as to avoid designating any one establishment or engineer."

Apr 1, 1920

By M. A. Schellhardt, E. J. Dewees, R. Vincent Smith

"INTRODUCTION Abnormal material requirements of the nation at war impose an intensive demand upon many irreplaceable natural resources. Natural-3as reserves) for example, are being subjected at the present time to extensive depletion by large-scale withdrawals of gas to supply unprecedented demands for fuel and raw materials for the synthesis of strategic products. Fluids produced from many so-called gas-condensate type reservoirs have become an important source of hydrocarbons vital to the war effort.Development of gas-condensate type reservoirs in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas in recent years created many problems not common to ordinary gas-producing operations. Early in the development of condensate-type gas fields, general practices were evolved and applied to insure efficient re¬covery of the hydrocarbons existing in the gas phase under initial reservoir pressures and temperatures, put often the practices were predicted mainlyregardingupon generalized theory regarding the behavior of the fluids and were not always the most efficient, because field and laboratory procedure for testing these hydrocarbons had not progressed as rapidly or as far as field development. Specific information regarding the composition and properties of fluids ultimately recoverable from many gas-condensate reservoirs, especially, is lacking."

Oct 1, 1944