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By John C. Machisak

Injury data and experience, with related employment statistics, at coal mines in the United States for 1960 are presented in this publication under the following general sections: A General injury experience: Tables 1 to 6: Current data on number of injuries, decree of injury, frequency and severity rates, average severity, and related employment and production data by work location. B Selected injury experience: Tables 7 to 38: Current data on principal agencies of injuries, distribution of injuries by part of body injured, days of disability, extent of hand and machine loading, experience by employment and production groups, and various other operating factors and physical conditions related to the occurrence of injuries at the Nation?s coal mines.

Jan 1, 1962

Three types of communication systems have become popular in solving communication requirements underground: Loud-speaking pager phones, carrier current phones, and magneto ringing phones. Basically, all three are simply single-channel party line systems. Although these systems are quite reliable, the single channel creates a variety of problems. For example- 1. Since no call is confidential, messages are sometimes purposely made vague, especially if accidents or safety topics are being discussed. 2. A potential user must literally "wait in line" until the channel becomes clear for his use; thus, when foremen have to wait to call in reports or supply requests, this single chan-nel creates a serious productivity bottleneck. 3. In many large mines, there are independent branch lines that must be tied together by a dispatcher, adding further delays to the system. To solve these problems, some mines have installed other phone systems-mostly commercial dial phones in industrial enclosures that offer extra channel capacity and private line features. Others have installed a system that combines both dial- and page-phone features in a single unit. Although these do represent improvements, they do not truly solve the overall problems that face modern mines. Besides extra channels, a communication system should have the following features to enhance productivity and safety: 1. A means of paging a roving miner to alert him that he is wanted on the phone. 2. Wireless-to-wired system interconnects by which a miner can talk on the wired phone system by using a remote portable radio. 3. Remote monitors that alert personnel when there is a toxic or explosive gas buildup. 4. Control interfaces that allow remote control of fans, pumps, or other devices. 5. Transmitters and receivers that can serve as emergency links. 6. Loopback that allows an alternate path of communications if the main path is cut. This chapter focuses on equipment and methods to meet the special communication needs of individuals in various places of the underground mine. The communication requirements can be broken down into four categories: 1. The mine entrance (shaft communication). 2. Permanent and semipermanent locations (shop areas, lunchroom, crusher stations, etc.). 3. Mining areas (the room-and-pillar sections, longwall faces, block caving areas, etc.). 4. Haulageways (tracked trolley haulage, diesel, belt haulage). Methods of implementing systems to meet the communication needs of these areas are described in sections 3.2 through 3.5. Section 3.6 discusses methods of satisfying special communication requirements that exist. Major topics in this category include communications with roving personnel, the isolated miner, and motorman-to-snapper communications. Emergency communication systems are described in section 3.7.Detecting and

Jan 1, 1984

By W. H. Eddy

The Bureau of Mines made small-scale continuous tests and large-scale commercial plant tests of a calcareous fluorspar ore near Cave-In-Rock, Ill., to determine if the application of the lignin-fluoride process of fluorspar flotation would be industrially feasible for treatment of fluorspar ores, and also to compare the lignin-fluoride process with the quebracho process, which is the method currently used for concentrating calcareous fluorspar ores. The small-scale continuous tests yielded fluorspar concentrates analyzing 93.6 percent CaF2 with a recovery of 87.6 percent of the total fluorspar in the ore. In large-scale commercial plant tests, a fluorspar concentrate analyzing 93.3 percent CaF2 with a recovery of 78.0 percent was produced by the quebracho method. About 86.0 percent of the fluorspar was recovered in a metallurgical-grade fluorspar concentrate from the lignin-fluoride circuit which analyzed 89.9 percent CaF2? with a much simpler flowsheet than that in the current commercial application.

Jan 1, 1967

By R. V. Lundquist

The compound 2Na2O?3CaO?5Al2O3 occurs as a minor phase in lime-soda sinters prepared for extracting aluminum from siliceous aluminum-bearing materials. About 99 percent extraction of sodium and aluminum from synthesized 2Na2O.3CaO.5Al2O3 was obtained in solutions of NaOH-Na2CO3 at leaching temperatures of 50° C and above. Extractions in water were low because insufficient NaOH was generated by hydrolysis. Extractions in NaOH solutions were limited to about 80 percent owing to the precipitation of hydrated calcium aluminates. Rapid extractions of 100 percent were obtainable in NaaC03 solutions, but the subsequent rapid precipitation of alumina trihydrate caused losses in alumina recovery.

Jan 1, 1965

By Ronald P. Hollenbeck

Samples of clays, shales, and slates from 29 locations in the Appalachian Region of Alabama and Georgia were tested and evaluated to determine their suitability as raw material for the manufacture of lightweight aggregate by the rotary-kiln method. Samples from 11 locations in Alabama (one each in Etowah, Lawrence, and Morgan Counties and two each in Colbert, Cullman, Tuscaloosa, and Walker Counties) and one location in Walker County; Ga., produced satisfactory lightweight aggregate.

Jan 1, 1969

By Walter R. Storms

This paper, which describes the mining methods of the Potash Co. of America in Eddy County, N. Mex., is one of a series being prepared by the Mining Branch, of the Bureau of Mines on mining practices and methods in various mining districts of the United States. 4, T. The mine and plant of Potash Co. of America are situated in sec. 20 S., R.. 30, E.,. N. M. P. M., about 22 miles by paved road northeast of Carlsbad (fig. 1). A spur line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad also connects the mine with Carlsbad.

Apr 1, 1948

By L. E. Schultze

The Bureau of Mines devised a technique to recover a Zn-Pb concen-trate from a geothermal brine. More than 99 pct of the Zn and Ph was precipitated by treating the brine with H2S and controlling the pH with lime. Recycle of the sulfide precipitates increased crystal size and resulted in easily filterable products. A typical sulfide precipitate contained 53 pct ZnS, 8 pet PbS, 24 pct MnS, and 15 pct FeS. Addition of sulfide as FeS or CaS was not effective in precipitating Zn and Pb, but Zn in the brine was selectively removed with a strongly basic ion-exchange resin. A proposed flowsheet for metals recovery is discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By M. M. Wong

Electrolysis of titanium carbide and a material consisting of titanium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen as soluble anodes in Used electrolytes was investigated by the Bureau of Mines for the preparation of crude titanium metal. Tests made in all-chloride electrolytes showed only a low recovery of titanium as well as a substantial volatilization of titanium trichloride (TiC13) when present in the electrolyte. Electrolysis at 750° to 850° C in a mixture containing 85 percent NaC1-15 percent potassium floutitanate (K2TiF6) yielded as high as 91 percent recovery of titanium from titanium carbide and 62 percent recovery of titanium from the titanium-carbon-nitrogen-oxygen material. Problems associated with the preparation of crude metal by fused-salt electrolysis are discussed. The crude metals produced from both anode materials were electrorefined in a sodium chloride-titanium chloride (NaCl-TiC12) electrolyte, and ductile titanium metal was obtained.

Jan 1, 1963

By E. G. Noble

The effects of HBr concentration and temperature on the solubility and hydration state of AlBr3,' CoBr2, PbBr2, MnBr2, KBr, and NaBr were investigated by the Bureau of Mines. Saturated aqueous solutions of the AI, Pb, K, and Na bromides were sparged with HBr gas at 20°, 40°, and 60° C, and saturated solutions of Co and Mn bromides were sparged at 20° C. Increased HBr concentration caused decreased salt solubility because of the common ion effect for all the investigated bromides except PbBr2. Aqueous solubilities at 20° C were, in percent, 51.7 for AlBr3, 53.2 for CoBr2, 1.1 for PbBr2, 59.6 for MnBr2' 39.5 for KBr, and 47.4 for NaBr. At 60° C, the solubilities were, in percent, 53.3 for AlBr3, 2.2 for PbBr2' 46.0 for KBr, and 53.8 for NaBr. Solubilities in solutions sparged to HBr saturation at 20° C were, in percent, 0.5 for AlBr3, 42.0 for CoBr2, 32.2 for PbBr2, 21.0 for MnBr2, 0.6 for KBr, and 0.3 for NaBr. At 60° C, the solubilities at HBr saturation were, in percent, 1.8 for AlBr3, 41.4 for PbBr2, 1.3 for KBr, and 0.4 for NaBr. CoBr2 precipitated out to a minimum solubility of 27.2 pct at 28.7-pct-HBr concentration. Further increases in HBr concentration increased CoBr2 solubility because of the formation of bromide complexes. PbBr2 in-creased in solubility as HBr concentration increased.

Jan 1, 1988

By P. J. Coleman

Research in the field of mining safety and health in the United States plays an important part in protecting the lives of miners. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Mining Program conducts surveillance, studies and developmental work aimed at improving the safety and health of miners. With recent reviews of the Mining Program by the National Academy of Sciences and the Mining Program response (NIOSH, 2008), the importance of setting goals, conducting high quality engineering and scientific research and evaluating the outputs, outcomes, relevance and impacts of these projects has been reemphasized. Surveillance of reported injuries is a first step in deciding on research directions and in designing specific projects. Groups of injuries often share features and attributes that suggest common causes and may respond to similar preventive efforts. Identifying groups of injuries also serves to prioritize intervention efforts. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Accident and Injury database (MSHA, 2008) provides individual case reports of mining injuries, illnesses and certain no-injury accidents (events such as roof falls that stop mine production or miners? activities for more than one hour). This database is an indispensable resource for researchers and stakeholders needing information on the statistics of these events. From an epidemiological perspective, research projects target groups of miners at risk due to specific patterns of work, equipment, mine settings and the management of safety and health in their mines. Incidence rates are provided by the MSHA data for selected variables, such as surface/underground location, standard industrial classification and state. While incidence rates are the preferred measure for all variables, denominators are not typically available; for example, to more clearly under-stand the data about injury by occupational type, it would be necessary to conduct demographic surveys. A current survey of the demographics of the mining industry should be complete by 2010, which will allow incidence rates to be developed for a number of variables such as age, occupation and experience. This survey will provide the first update of its kind since the first survey was conducted in 1985.

Jan 1, 2010

By Leonard F. Heising

At the Groveland mine iron ore is mined by open-pit methods and concentrated by means of spirals and flotation. A brief history of the mine and its early development is given. The ore deposit is described, with emphasis on those physical characteristics that affect the choice of mining and milling methods. Development and mining, which include breaking ground, loading, transportation, engineering, and operating control, are explained, and the milling method is described Mining and milling costs are given in percent of total cost.

Jan 1, 1963

Lignite constitutes approximately 97 percent of the near-surface coal resources in Texas. The most significant bituminous resources are in the north-central and southern parts of the state. Coal reserves in Texas are estimated to be 13.7 billion tons, about three percent of U.S. coal reserves. The average thickness of coal seams mined in Texas is approximately eight feet. Texas gained primacy when its regulatory program was conditionally approved February 16, 1980; the program was fully approved June 18,1980. The state's Abandoned Mine Lands program was approved June 23,1980.

Jan 1, 1992

By Richard A. Andre, R. Larry Grayson, Thomas Simonyi

"INTRODCICTIONThe search for the cause(s) of coal workers' Pneunoconiosis continues despite the vast amount of research that has been undertaken over the past forty to fifty years. Good correlation between the mass of dust inhaled over workers' lifetimes and the incidence of the disease has led to the development of effective environmental standards and implementation of good procedures for the control of dust generation and dispersion in the working place. Research has only begun, however, to uncover the biochemical mechanisms involved in initiating the disease.Correlation between the rank of the coal seam in which miners worked and disease incidence and severity is acknowledged worldwide, but the agents in the higher rank coal seams which cause CWP arc still not defined. The basic components of the coal seams, i.e., the elements and minerals, are generally known, but the way in which they interact with human pulmonary cells is largely still a mystery.The process of disease development is a biochemical one which depends on the characteristics of the pulmonary cells within their immediate biochemical environment and the characteristics of invading respirable coal mine dust particles, probably both chemical and physical ones. The cell-particle relationship, therefore, must be defined, and both cells and particles must be characterized according to properties which potentially are involved in the disease process.Following such characterization, specific respirable dusts from different coal seams, which appear to have different effects on coal workers, must be obtained or constructed and then used in experiments designed to determine dust toxicity or the response of animals exposed to the dusts.The results presented here focus on characterizing properties of respirable coal mine dust particles collected from operating longwalls in West Virginia and Virginia Longwall panels were selected for analysis because the respirable dust in the coal face areas is largely uncontaminated by rock dust and analysis of the dust yields results unconfounded by rock dust."

Jan 1, 1990

By R. E. Campbell

Uranium metal of improved purity was prepared by electrorefining commercial magnesium-reduced uranium in a molten sodium chloride-uranium trichloride electrolyte. The best operating conditions for the preparation of refined metal were established as follows: an electrolyte containing 8.7 to 13.3 weight-percent uranium; initial cathode current densities from 300 to 1,500 amp/sq ft; and a molten salt temperature of 860° C. Ingots produced from electrorefined uranium crystals prepared with these operating conditions were substantially free of metallic impurities. The only impurities in the refined and consolidated metal were present in low or undetectable amounts.

Jan 1, 1965

By P. M. Sullivan

At its College Park Metallurgy Research Center in Maryland, the Bureau of Mines has installed and is operating a 5-ton-per-hour pilot plant for continuous mechanical separation of values contained in raw urban refuse. The entire sys tern was assembled using commercially available equipment. The process relies on multistage processing including shredding, air classification, screening, gravity concentration, and electrostatic separation. Compactor trucks deliver raw refuse collected along typical routes in metropolitan Washington, D.C., to the pilot plant. The loads are separated into concentrates of (1) light-gage iron, (2) massive metals, (3) glass, (4) putrescibles and waste combustibles, (5) paper, and (6) plastics. While some refinements remain to be made in the processing system flow-sheet, the data obtained to date have been highly encouraging, indicating favorable economics for commercial-size plants.

Jan 1, 1973

By L. F. Willmott

The production operation of a Kerpely gas producer at Louisiana, Mo., is described. This unit, originally designed for airblown operation was modified to permit using oxygen in the blast in place of air. The first runs J for test purposes, were made in June 1950. After this, seven production runs were made and these are the subject of this report. Total gasification time was 245 days. In each run, Nut or Pea coke or mixtures of both at a rate varying from 1,700 to 2,300 pounds per hour was converted with oxygen and saturated steam to produce synthesis gas - primarily carbon monoxide and hydrogen -approximating a predetermined rate of 80,000 to 95,000 cu. ft. per hour and a predetermined hydrogen-carbon monoxide ratio, The requirements per 1,000 std. cu. ft. of (CO + H2) were 21.6 to 30 pounds of coke, 213 to 267 std. cu. ft. of oxygen, and 3L4 to 47.B pounds of steam.

Jan 1, 1955

By Raja V. Ramani, Wilson Miola

"The potential health effects of quartz-bearing airborne dust in mine and mill atmospheres point to the need for the quantification of quartz content in the source material for determining the source-sink relationships and for choosing applicable control measures. While a standard method exists from a regulatory point of view for the sampling of coal mine atmospheres for determining (i) respirable dust concentrations and (ii) the amount of quartz in the samples, there is no generally accepted standard method for quartz analysis in bulk samples of coal and host rocks. Generally, the bulk sample is reduced to a powder for producing quartz analysis samples. Extensive controls arc necessary to ensure representativeness of the analysis samples when these are very minute fractions of the bulk samples. Since the amount of analysis sample is not limited, alternative methods for quartz analysis may also be tried. It is, however, necessary to adopt a procedure which will satisfy several statistical requirements to guarantee representativeness of the quartz analysis samples.In this paper, the important factors in the preparation of quartz analysis samples from the host rocks and bulk samples are discussed. The method developed to prepare the analysis samples is outlined. The results of application of the procedures are presented. The procedure developed for quartz analysis sample preparation is based on sound statistical foundations. The procedure has been validated for reproducibility and homogeneity.The current methods used for quartz analysis in powders are the P-7 infrared spectrometry and quantitative X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Both have similar restrictions concerning the sample characteristics and operational problems, which arc intrinsic to radiation beams, device geometry, mechanics and controls of the radiation behavior. Although improvements can be made in the spectrometers and diffractometers, some of the most important steps are the procedures for analysis sample preparation from bulk samples and for calibration of the instruments. The sample preparation process is often referred to as one of grinding and sizing the bulk sample to generate the powder for the scanning devices. The particle sizes are referred to and their influence emphasized but the representativeness of the sample is assumed. Assuring sample representativeness during the sample preparation procedures is critical.For the sampling of airborne respirable dust in coal mines, the collection devices, the collection procedures and the analysis procedures are defined. This is not true for bulk samples where weights must be reduced thousands of times to generate the analysis samples for the scanning devices. The specifications to be developed may include bulk sample amount, sample reduction procedures, sample particle size distribution and sample amounts. However, the common problem of insufficient sample amount which is often encountered with mine airborne dust samples need not exist for bulk samples. Further, the same bulk sample can yield analysis samples for several experiments. The latter, of course, requires sample homogeneity.Three concepts are important in the selection of any procedure for sample preparation and analysis. These arc accuracy, reproducibility and representativeness. The adopted procedure has to guarantee a homogeneous sample representative of the population, a defined level of accuracy and reproducibility. Important statistical concepts are embedded in these requirements, particularly with respect to estimation and dispersion errors. Accuracy and reproducibility are totally different though not independent concepts. Estimation is related to accuracy and the true value. Dispersion is related to reproducibility and is measured by the classical statistical standard deviation of the distribution of a series of measurements or analysis performed over the same lot or analysis sample. The dispersion variance (or dispersion error) does not tell a"

Mar 1, 1992

By Albert E. Long

To date the commercial diamond bit setters have been principally interested in the speed with which they could produce a sharp, fast-cutting bit. Thus, a premium has been placed on setters who combine a high degree of manual dexterity with the ability quickly to select the Sharp points and edges of the diamonds and set them in the mold without lost motion. The premium on speed does not allow the setters the time, nor are they trained, to consider also the crystallographic structures of the diamonds which are the clues indicating the harder and more suitable working surfaces. Since early fall of 1949, the Bureau of Mines has been conducting a long-range series of experiments in which drill bort have been oriented in diamond bits in an effort to determine the effects and economic practicability of utilizing the hardest surfaces of the diamond crystal structure. The preliminary experiments completed to date indicate that a substantial saving in diamonds may be affected by using the harder areas of the diamonds as working surfaces in the crown of diamond bits. The experimental work is being conducted by the Bureau of Mines in the laboratories and full-scale mine of the Mining Research Branch, Minerals Technology Division, Region VIII, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines at the Mount Weather Station, Bluemont, Va.

Jan 1, 1951

By Thomas E. Marshall, Timothy Batchler, Anthony T. Iannacchione

As the amount of new fractured surfaces or "damaged rock layers" within roof rock increases, the stability of the rock mass decreases. While direct measurements of this phenomenon are not easily made, there is good circumstantial evidence to support this hypothesis. For example, it is common to observe increased cracks or fractures in the immediate mine roof rock before a roof fall. Likewise, roof drill holes placed in areas that later fail often reveal increased numbers and/or separations of fractures within the rock column through time. And finally, the frequency of microseismic activity, representative of rock fracturing, increases before a roof fall. For this study, more than 700 microseismic emissions were collected from two underground limestone mine roof fall areas in southwestern Pennsylvania. Microseismic events were located and magnitudes determined using the moment magnitude technique. Moment magnitude is based on the event seismic moment, which is a measure of the seismic deformation. The amount of new fracture surface length was calculated based on the stored strain energy within the rock prior to fracture. In the two case studies presented, a significant amount of microseismic activity was observed as much as two days before the first signs of failure in the roof fall areas. Additionally, results from this analysis reveal much about the behavior of strata prone to failure and allows for the construction of hazard maps based on microseismic emissions. The potential use of this technique as a means of anticipating roof falls is analyzed and discussed.

By H. M. Lawrence

The recovery of phosphate rack from the ores in the land-pebble district of Florida is a simple washing and screening operation. In the gashing plants coarse phosphate only is saved. Log-Washer overflows and screen-undersize products containing an appreciable content of fine phosphate are discarded. The phosphate grains in the material discharged to waste are generally finer in size than the mesh--14 to 20 mesh or 0.346 to 0.03 inch--of the finest screen in the washer. The operators state that the washers ordinarily recover from 50 to 60 per cent of the phosphate content of the matrix mined. Any increase that can be effected in the recovery of phosphate would be of advantage to the industry and would conserve the mineral resources of the country. In considering possible methods that might increase the recovery obtained in phosphate-washing plants the application of flotation, if it could be successfully developed, seemed to warrant investigation.

Jan 1, 1928