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By Irving Hartmann

[The explosability of coal dusts has been the subject of many investigations studies have been conducted in laboratories, in galleries and in coal faire; of several countries to obtain information on the causes, development, and prevention of mine explosions. Early laboratory experiments on it American colas dealt with pressures developed in test bomb by explosions of dust clouds and with, the effects of gas in the dust atmosphere.5/ Later, the emphasis shafted to evaluation of the relative fleet flammability and the ignition temperatures of coal dusts.6/ Much worthwhile effort was devoted to the development of Laboratory apparatus and test procedures that gave good correlation with large-scale explosion tests in the Experimental cost mine. In recent years a number of special problems were studied, mostly with bituminous Pittsburgh coal dust]

Jan 1, 1954

In 2005, a total of 2,063 coal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Coal mines comprised 14.1% of all mining operations. ? Bituminous mines comprised 92.6% (n=1,911) and anthracite mines 7.4% (n=152) of coal mining operations. ? Approximately 70% of all coal mines were located in three states: Kentucky (28.0%), West Virginia (21.8%), and Pennsylvania (20.6%).

Jan 1, 2008

By J. G. Walters

This bulletin presents, in collected and tabluated form, Bureau of Mines and American Gas Association (EM-AGA) carbonization data pertaining to the chemical analysis of tars and the characterization of tars and light oils obtained from U.S. coals.

Jan 1, 1967

By William W. Adams

The stone-quarrying industry of the United States, including such related operations as rock crushing, rock dressing, and the manufacture of cement and lime, reported a larger volume of employment in 1934 than in 1933. Reports from the operating companies to the United States Bureau of Mines showed an increase in the number of men employed, number of man-days of employment, and total number of man-hours of labor performed during the year. Moreover, the average worker had a longer period of employment during 1934, the gain amounting to 11 percent over 1933. The increase in employment was accompanied by no increase in accidents for the industry as a whole; in fact, the accident rate for 1934 was a fraction lower than the rate for 1933. In some branches of the industry the frequency of accidents increased, but these increases were more than offset by reductions in rates for other branches. Reports for 1934 were received from 1,403 active plants. The working force averaged 64,331 men for 204 days per man, and the total period of employment for all of the men was 95,258,880 man-hours. Each employee averaged 1,481 hours of work during the year. The total number of hours of labor represented a gain of more than 8 percent, and the average working time per employee showed a gain of 62 hours per man.

Jan 1, 1936

By R. Y. Williams

The investigative work described in this report was undertaken by the Bureau of Mines under a cooperative agreement with the department of mining engineering of the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Geological Survey." The purpose of this agreement was to provide for a comprehensive investigation of coal-mining conditions in the State, with especial reference to the possibility of lessening waste in the mining and preparation of coal and of reducing the dangers to which miners are exposed. The Bureau of Mines paid particular attention to those phases of the investigation that were of general interest from their bearing on safety and efficiency in the coal-mining industry as a whole. Thus, it studied the occurrence of gas (methane) in the mines of the southern part of the State," tested the inflammability of the coal dust from many mines, examined the efficiency of the control of ventilating currents, and investigated the factors affecting the humidity of mine air with respect to their bearing on the occurrence of mine explosions. Following the establishment of the fact that under certain conditions dry bituminous coal dust is inflammable, there arose the problem of finding efficient methods of preventing or limiting coal-dust explosions. Experiments in the gas-and-dust gallery at the Pittsburgh testing station of the Bureau of Mines verified the fact that certain dusts that explode violently when dry are rendered inert by proper humidi- .fication of the atmosphere within the gallery, and the importance of humidity as a factor in limiting the inflammability of coal dust in a mine is demonstrated by the fact that there has never been in Illinois a dust explosion during the summer months, whereas the records show a number of dust explosions during cold weather. It is easy to see that the warm moisture-laden air that enters a mine in the summer must deposit moisture on cooling, whereas the cold and relatively dry air that enters in winter must take up moisture as it becomes heated in traveling through the mine.

Jan 1, 1914

By Robert F. Pettit

This paper on methods and costs of mining and milling iron ore at the Iron Mountain mine of Ozark Ore Co., St, Francois County, Mo., is one of a series of Bureau of Mines reports on methods, practices, and costs of mining and milling throughout the United States. The Iron Mountain operation is notable for its successful transition from open-pit to underground mining, for use underground of large earth-moving equipment, and for development of a multilevel room-and-pillar mining method. Milling methods also have undergone transitions - from hand sorting and log washing in the early days to gravity concentration. Milling ultimately may include flotation to recover additional iron from products now discarded as tailing,

Jan 1, 1957

The Mateen deposit comprises two large spodumene-bearing pegmatite dikes that outcrop along the, side and crest of a hill overlooking 'Rill City in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. The Bureau of Mines investigated the Mateen deposit as part of a comprehensive study of the lithium mineral-production possibilities in the Black Hills area. The work was undertaken during the second World War, when the demand for certain lithium salts and compounds exceeded the small productive capacity of the industry. During the course of the investigation, the Bureau of Mines took 61 large channel samples from surface trenches, 4 channel samples from a shaft, and 3 from the face of an open cut. In addition, 8 diamond core-drill holes were completed to investigate the attitude of one of the dikes at depth. Metallurgical tests were conducted by the Bureau of Mines to determine the feasibility of beneficiating spodumene-bearing ores from the Mateen dikes.

Jan 1, 1948

By R. O. Kneisley

This U.S. Bureau of Mines report summarizes a study of large-scale strata response to longwall mining at a western U.S. coal mine. This study utilized surface and subsurface measurements, geologic mapping, in situ stress measurements, and pressure cell readings to characterize strata behavior. Preliminary analysis of surface subsidence and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) was used to determine a suggested main roof caving sequence. Coal ejected from the face apparently resulted from brittle failures that occurred because of lack of significant yield zone development. The combination of a strong coal with pronounced directional behavior, low overburden pressures, a good caving roof, and a high-production environment that minimized time-dependent loading apparently reduced yielding of the longwall face. The panel 1 headgate-entry design appears adequate; however, the abutment pillar and adjacent panel tailgate rib are highly stressed and may contribute to problems during second panel mining. The small chain pillar yielded after passage of the face, but the pillar width may be near maximum since evidence of a stressed core exists.

Jan 1, 2010

By B. W. Naugle

A small-scale laboratory coke oven similar to those described by Swiniarski, Cryan, and Altieri and Fuchs, Sandhoff, Taylor, and Gauger was built by the Bureau of Mines in 1943. Tests made since that time have indicated that such a small oven is of questionable value in predicting the coking pressures to be expected in commercial coke ovens. This summary of the work done has been prepared at the suggestion of the Advisory Committee to the Bureau of Mines-American Gas Association Survey of Carbonizing Prop¬erties of American Coals.

Jan 1, 1948

By A. J. Barry

A method was developed for testing the anchorages obtained with 3/4-inch, expansion-type, headed bolt and shell assemblies. The apparatus is a modification of that used in testing -inch-diameter, slotted-type bolts. Four makes of expansion-type shells were used in 64 tests made in sandstone and shale roof. The results show that for 3 makes of shells the anchorage effectiveness is independent of the installed land, and for the fourth make of shell a better anchorage is obtained when instilled at a load of 8,000 pounds. The results also show that deformation of the expansion plug influences the majority of the anchorages obtained with two makes of shells. This deformation causes a larger increase in displacement for a given added increment of load. The data from 48 of the 64 tests were combined to establish a relationship between average displacement and increase in bolt load (above the installed load). This relationship can be used to evaluate the anchorage effectiveness of any 3/4-inch-diameter, expansion-type, headed bolt and shell assembly tested in the field.

Jan 1, 1956

By John H. Weitz

Dolomite, heretofore regarded merely as a variety of commonplace limestone, has suddenly attained headline prominence, partly because of the increase in demand for dolomite refractories to line metallurgical furnaces now working at an unprecedented rate of activity, but chiefly because it has become an ore of the light-weight metal, magnesium, needed in vast quantities for the manufacture of war machines. A multitude of inquiries, chiefly from war agencies and prespective operators, for data not only on locations of dolomite deposits but on their size and quality, has made it necessary for the Bureau of Mines to assemble all information available on this important subject. From the Bureau's own records, published information, and correspondence, date on locutions, extent, thickness, accessibility, workability, and chemical composition of high-grade dolomite deposits throughout the United states were accumulated for presentation herein. The report includes about 1,000 tabulations of analyses and a map showing locations of the deposits. The uses of dolomite are discussed in Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7192, "Occurrences and Uses of Dolomite in the United-States," published in 1941. The cordial corporation of many State ecological surveys and various individuals who have contributed information is gratefully acknowledged.

Jan 1, 1942

By W. W. Graff

This paper describing the mining practice at Mine No. 5 of the Marquette range, Michigan, is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining practices, methods, tend costs in the various mining districts of the United States. The top-slicing system of mining, has been used ever since the present operating company took control of the property in 1903, the main level and sublevel layout being chanced only as local conditions required and the use of mechanical equipment increased.

Jan 1, 1930

By C. H. Riggs

This petroleum-engineering report of the Atlanta oil field in BO them Arkansas reviews reservoir conditions and pressure-production history of one of the important Smackover limestone fields in southern Arkansas. The study of the field was made and the report prepared to aid operators in this and similar fields to increase the efficiency of recovery through the application of better engineering practices. A similar study of the Magnolia field in Arkansas by Carpenter and Schroeder was the first of these reports prepared under a joint agreement between the Arkansas Oil and Can Commission and the Bureau of Mines. The increasing demands for petroleum and its products and the steadily increasing cost of discovering and developing oil field; emphasize the importance of conserving known reserves of oil and gas. In recent years vast improvements have been made in the technique of oil recovery, both by better utilization of the natural energy stored in the reservoir and by improved methods of applying external energy to the reservoir system. This report may aid in oil conservation by careful evaluation of the several factors that did or did not contribute the greater recovery in the Atlanta field and by suggesting improvements in production methods and applications.

Jan 1, 1949

In 2007, a total of 725 nonmetal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).1 Nonmetal mines com-prised 4.9% of all m ining operations. ? Mines producing common clay comprised 25.4% (n=184) of all nonmetal mining operations. ? Nonmetal mining operations were located in all states and territories except Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Aug 1, 2009

By Louis A. Turnbull

An investigation of coal deposits near Cerrillos Santa Fe County, N. Mex., was undertaken 14 the Bureau of Mines in 1943 as part of a general program to determine sources of metallurgical coal for western steel plants. Almost all of the coal used for metallurgical purposes west of the Continental Divide Is mined from the Lower Sunnyside bed in, Carbon County,, Utah. Coke used in western steel plants that is produced from Lower Sunnyside a coal is weaker, structurally, than coke used elsewhere in this country. For this reason, western coal operators and steel manufacturers are anxious to develop new areas of coking coal of better quality then the coal produced from the Sunnyside bed. The objective of investigations of western coals was to (a) develop additional reserves of coking coal to supplement proved reserves in the Sunnyside bed. and (b) develop; if possible, reserves of coal with coking quantities superior to those of Lower Sunnyside

Jan 1, 1951

By Thomas C. Miller, Rudolph Sporcic

A relatively simple and inexpensive encapsulated hydraulic device has been developed by the Bureau of Mines to facilitate study of coal bumps , and to measure pressure changes in a coalbed as it is subjected to roof loading during mining . Construction of the device and application techniques are described . Preliminary feasibility tests in the laboratory and field indicate that the device responds satisfactorily to pressure changes in coal created by roof loading .

Jan 1, 1964

By Robert W. Waytulonis

The mining regulations of all 50 States were reviewed by the Bureau of Mines, and those parts pertaining to the use of internal combustion (IC) engines (particularly diesel engines) in underground mines or confined spaces were extracted. Also extracted were subjects associated with the use of IC engines; for example, storage and handling of flammable liquids, maintenance, and ventilation requirements. As the laws now stand, 29 States have specific regulations that affect the operation of diesel engines in underground coal and/or metal and nonmetal mines. The other States have no regulations because either they have no mining activities or they defer to Federal regulations. Six states have regulations expressly prohibiting the use of diesels in underground coal mines. Specific contacts (addresses and phone numbers) precede each State's regulations to facilitate inquiries about regulation revisions and interpretation.

Jan 1, 1981

By E. W. Dean

This report on the physical and chemical properties of typical crude oils of Oklahoma is the sixth in a series of preliminary chapters of a bulletin covering the producing districts of the United. States. Preceding reports* may be obtained on request. The details of the methods used in this survey in collecting samples, making laboratory tests, and interpreting results are discussed in the first three papers. If any errors or omissions are noted by readers, it is hoped they will be brought to the attention of the Bureau of Mines for correction before the appearance of the permanent report. Samples of Oklahoma crudes analyzed in this report were taken from those fields representing the major production of the State. The Oklahoma Geological Survey designates 172 different oil and gas fields in the State, S1 being in Osage County, 14 in Tulsa County, 14 in Okmulgee County, 9 in Washington County. The list of samples collected by the Bureau of Mines represents only 5 fields in Osage County - Bigheart, Burbank, Hominy, Osage Junction, and Pershing - yet these samples, together with those from adjoining fields, are representative of nearly all crude produced in the county. The sample 'from the Pershing field, for example, is representative of the crude produced in several fields in that part of the county - such as Nelagoney, Pawhuska, Wyomona - and the sample from the Skiatook,

Jan 1, 1922

By D. Harrington, W. J. Fene

For nearly 30 years the Bureau of Mines has contended that mine explosions can be prevented and has pointed out to the industry ways and means by which they could be avoided. The record of co2l-mine explosions • during the past fiscal ?Bar bears out the :Bureau1s contention, inasmuch as fewer men were killed by coal-mi~e e:xplosions in the United States during that year than in :gi_y corresponding 12 months in the history of coal mining in the United States, insofar as records are available; and more than a year has elapsed since·a major explosion (in which five or more men were killed) has occurred, this being t.1-J.e first continuous 12- month period without a major coal-mine explosion disaster in the United States in more than 60 years. The methods of preventing mine e:iiplosions are well known to experienced, well-informed persons cngnged in coal mining. Despite this knowledge, many coal-mine operutors continue to use practices and methods that they should know have resulted in countless explosions, and mine workers persist in following past procedure or in breaking safety rules and practices almost certain eventually to result in disaster. ' Virtually all explosions are the result of human failure, such as carelessness or neglect by officials or workers or others. These human failures can be corrected chiefly by ed.ucation and proper and adequate supervision and strict discipline. In some instances mine officials are ·lax, careless, poorl~• informed, and often incompetent; end in many instances miners have repulsed the introduction of known preventive methods because of sheer obstinacy, ignorance, heedlessness, or possibly fear that the operator was trying to o'bta.in some unfair adva.,.'1. tago or would neglect some other phase of accident or e,:plosion prevention. The freedom of the fiscal year 1938-39 from major coal-mine explosions ar..d frora any considera~le number of fat,JJ.i ties from minor explosions is a. matter for congratulation, but on the other hand. the occurrence of one rather bad e~losion in each of tho 3 calendar years 1937

Nov 1, 1939

By Fred C. Turin, Jasinder S. Jaspal, Alan G. Mayton, William J. Wiehagen

Dump site injuries occur in all major mineral industries. Working in elevated areas near an edge is a common hazard for operators of off-highway mobile mining equipment. In this Information Circular (IC), serious injuries involving haulage trucks working at dump sites are examined for the period 1988 to 1997. Data were acquired from injury reports gathered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The IC is organized into three sections. The first presents an overview of the frequency and severity of injuries. The second analyzes injury characteristics using MSHA-defined data fields and author-defined injury classifications. Key findings are discussed in the third section. In summary, 370 serious injuries were identified that involved trucks at dump sites, of which 26 were fatalities. Although haulage truck activities at dump sites resulted in a small proportion of the total number of injuries at surface mines, these injuries were much more likely to result in death or significant amounts of lost time than most other surface mine injuries. These findings support the belief that haulage truck activities at dump sites are worthy of continued study by those interested in improving the health and safety of workers at surface mines.

Jan 3, 2001