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By R. L. Roller

In recent years, there have been many articles and papers written on the use of specially designed belt conveyor systems in mining operations, either economic studies or actual experience. These papers generally conclude that the use of these systems can reduce overall costs from 10% to 40% over conventional methods using general purpose equipment (truck/shovel, scrapers, etc.). However, they also generally conclude that conveyor systems are inflexible and capital intensive. With the increasing cost of mobile equipment, the capital cost conclusion is losing steam, particularly when the costs of maintenance shops, road and ramp construction and other related start-up costs are thrown in. Attention here will be focused on answers to flexibility related questions, but first, a look at costs in general. Basic production economics tell us that when we have a small job to do, it is cost effective to use simple, low cost, general purpose tools which will have a minimum impact on total cost. It also tells us that when we have a large project, we can employ methods using special, relatively expensive production tools. Figure 1 illustrates what occurs on projects, of different sizes, with various quantities of production. With small quantities of work, the cost per unit of work starts out much lower using general purpose equipment, rather than using special purpose methods and equipment. However, at a relatively low quantity of work, the cost hits a lower limit and, regardless of how great the quantity of work, the unit cost can never go any lower.

Jan 1, 1985

Large GDP increases in the Pacific Rim countries have been accompanied by similarly large increases in demand for oil products. In the case of residual fuels, this demand has been tempered by the substitution of other energy products such as coal or gas. In the region's developing and newly industrialised nations, it has not been possible to make the very large investments in infrastructure which allow other energy sources to be used for transportation. As a result, GDP growth has been mirrored in the demand growth for automotive fuels. Other non-substitutable products such as lubricants have also benefitted by the region's GDP growth.   The combination of a number of years of sustained growth, coupled with increasing quality requirements is now stretching the upgrading capacity of the region's refineries. IT, as seems likely, the region continues to enjoy a high GDP growth rate, then this will be accompanied by increasing reliance on finished products coming out of the Middle East.   The owners of the most simple form of refinery in which crude is simply distilled and the naphtha reformed into petrol will face major capital investments. If they decide not to bear this cost, they will face increasing problems in selling their surplus residual fuel oil at an economic price. Quality will become an increasingly important issue. Not only in the well publicised areas such as unleaded petrol, but also for products such as lubricants which play a major role in the efficiency of modem equipment. Quality of service such as hours of opening, ease of access, and service station facilities will also become increasingly important as the oil companies use these to attract customers and gain brand differentiation.

Jan 1, 1990

By Keith Merriam, Jim McDonnell, Peter Radziszewski, Rob Rotzinger, Ian DeHart

"Taseko Mines Limited Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine recommenced operation in 2004 with the initiation of a series of development projects to increase throughput capacity as well as modernize the mine.In the second staged development project, a VTM-1250-WB regrind mill was selected to replace the existing conventional ball regrind mill to achieve a target grind size of 80 % passing 45 µm. In the third staged development project, a second VTM-1250 regrind mill was selected for installation in Concentrator #2, to match the existing Concentrator #1 Vertimill. This resulted in approximately 25% spare regrind capacity in the Concentrator #2 design, complete spare parts interchangeability and potential future expansion capacity to 50,000 t/d with no circuit upgrades.In this context, a study was initiated to assess not only the performance of a Vertimill grinding circuit processing a copper concentrate to a particle size of 80% passing 17 µm but also to provide Taseko’s New Prosperity project specific design information for grinding to particle sizes below 80 % passing 25 µm.The objective of the work described in this presentation was to explore Vertimill ultrafine (sub 100 µm) grinding test methodologies at both the lab and pilot scales, compare the scale-up data with operational data from the VTM1250 at Gibraltar Mines and subsequently apply this information to particle sizes down to 80% passing 17 µm. The presentation will describe the results obtained preceded by a description of the Gibraltar regrind circuit historical operation and operational performance as well as a description of the Vertimill technology.INTRODUCTIONTaseko Mines Limited is a mining company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to mining development projects for copper, copper-gold, gold, and niobium properties, Taseko Mines is seventy-five percent owner and the operator of the Gibraltar Mine near Williams Lake , British Columbia. Taseko Mines Limited’s Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine recommenced operation in 2004 with the initiation of a series of development projects to increase throughput capacity as well as modernize the mine.Metso is a leading process performance provider, with customers in the mining, oil and gas, and aggregates industries. It has corporate headquarters in Helsinki Finland, offices in 50 countries and manufacturing facilities on five continents. Amongst other types of equipment and services, Metso designs and manufactures VERTIMILL® (VTM) Grinding Mills."

Jan 1, 2015

By R. J. Hundermark, L. R. Nelson

The critical importance of tap-hole design and management to furnace performance and longevity is explored through examining some of the specific matte, metal and slag tapping requirements of non-ferrous copper blister and matte converting and smelting, ferroalloys smelting and ironmaking systems. Process conditions and productivity requirements and their influence on tapping are reviewed for these different pyrometallurgical systems. Some critical aspects of the evolution of tap-hole design to meet the diverging process and tapping duties are examined. Differences and similarities in tapping practices and tap-hole management are reviewed. Finally core aspects of tap-hole equipment and maintenance are identified that are considered important to securing improved tap-hole performance and life, so pivotal to superior furnace smelting performance.

Jan 1, 2014

"The paper treats the spatial aspect of mine sequence optimization. This aspect is revealed in the context of determination of the optimum number of cutbacks of an open pit mine. Cutback mining is a dominating method currently in base\precious metal mining and it is based on a pseudo-economic discretization of the pit space by using advanced pit design algorithms. The result of the implementation of such approach of pit design is the generation of pit shells, which need to be grouped into an optimum number of cutbacks for maximization of the project value. A mathematical solution of this problem is developed with the utilization of a combinatorial analysis. The solution provides a multi-variant investigation of the optimum mine sequence with the implementation of an author’s method for production scheduling optimization, which uses the Net Present Value as a criterion for assessing the economic efficiency of mine sequencing. A case study is provided for the conditions of a hypothetical open pit gold mine to illustrate the applicability of the approach. The results obtained reveal the complex nature of the variation of the Net Present Value as a function of the cutback geometry. INTRODUCTION The mine sequence optimization in open pit mining is a procedure that predetermines the efficiency of the production scheduling optimization. From a technological standpoint, the mine sequence optimization deals with two aspects – spatial and time. Each of them plays a tremendously important role in searching for the optimum solution of the open pit design problem. Original results on the time aspect of mine sequence optimization are published by Halatchev [2002]. They reveal a wide range of the Net Present Value (NPV) variation for a multi-variant arrangement of mine sequence over time and using a fixed geometry of the cutbacks, which determines the economic potential of a single open pit mine from a deterministic standpoint. The results show a range of NPV variation up to 30% depending on the stripping ratio of the mine. The effect of this variation is mainly due to the implementation of the mine planning principle of waste deferment in the scheduling optimization and using all theoretically possible variants of mine sequence arrangement by the inclusion of the bench sequences over the Life-Of-Mine (LOM) in the production process."

Jan 1, 2015

By GEORGE T. Harley, Walter R. Storms

This paper, which describes mining mothods at International Minerals & Chemical Corp, 'e. potash mine. in. Eddy. County, N. Mex., is one of a sories being prepared by the Mining Branch of the Bureau of Minos. on mining method a and practicos in, various mining districts of the United States. The mine shafts and. surface plant or International Minerals & Chemical Corp. are situated. in. sec.. 12, T. 22 S., R. 29 E., N. M. P. M., about 26-1/2 miles by paved highway east of the city of Carlsbad (figs. 1, 2, and 3). A spur line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad connects the mine with the Clovia-Pecos branch of the same road near Loving, a few miles south of Carlsbad. This spur also serves the refinery of United Staics Potash Co. This report gives. the history and describes the geology of the district. Methods of prospecting, exploration, sampling, and estimation of tonnage and values are explained; development and mining methods are discussed in con- siderable detail; transportation, ventilation and drainage are outlined; safety measures are noted; and the wage scale and organization are mentioned.

Jun 1, 1949

By Joseph Hartshorne

EVER since the introduction of the Siemens regenerative furnace, it has been recognized that a certain amount of gas is lost each time the furnace-action is reversed. This loss comes, first, from the gas which passes through the free connection between the stack and the gas-main, which exists during the time the reversing-valve is turning over; and, secondly, from the gas which is in the chamber and flues, from the hearth to the reversing-valve, and which flows back into the stack when the valve is reversed. The amount lost each time is, of course, small; but, since a furnace is reversed from four to six times every hour for, say, 300 days in the year, the aggregate is large enough to be well worth attention. The estimate has been published' that, in Germany alone, the loss from the first of the above causes amounts to 500,000 marks per year. The loss from the second cause is, of course, much greater. A process for saving this entire loss, in use at Teplitz, Bohemia, for about three years, would seem to be of value even in this country, where coal is cheaper and where the small economies are not watched as closely as they are in Europe. This process, invented by Mr. Adelbert Kurzwernhart, late Technical Director of the Teplitzer Walzwerk, has been worked out with thoroughness. The loss from each cause can be calculated very closely for any particular furnace, and the results to be expected from the process ascertained. It can easily be decided, therefore, whether it is worthwhile to adopt it under any given conditions. The amount of chamber-gas lost depends upon,-(1), the cubic contents of the chamber, ports and flues upon one side of the furnace, up to the reversing-valve (deducting, of course,

Mar 1, 1906

By A. R. T. Denues

This investigation was made under a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, and the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory. Funds were supplied by the Chile Exploration Co., whose executive offices are in New York City. The support, cooperation, and services of these agencies made the work possible and are acknowledged gratefully. The writer wishes to express his particular indebtedness to the staff of the Explosives Division of the Bureau of Mines for services and assistance, particularly Dr. Wilbert J. Huff, consulting explosives chemist, J. C. Holtz, J. E. Tiffany, and A. B. Coates; to F. O. Gardner, treasurer of the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory; to G. B. Holderer, consulting engineer in connection with liquid-oxygen explosives for the Chile Exploration Co.; to the Enos Coal Mining Co. of Oakland City, Ind., particularly to G. H. Utterback of the staff of the mine for providing facilities that made field tests possible; and to full-time assistants J. W. Rothhaar and J. G. P. Weinheimer and to W. S. Hiller, part-time assistant, who were employed under the cooperative agreement.

Jan 1, 1940

By T. V. Shockley

The Gulf Coast, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Brownsville, Texas, is one of the largest high energy consuming areas in the United States. This region has areas of very high industrial density. The lower Mississippi River from Baton Rouge past New Orleans has a high industrial density. Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Orange-Beaumont-Port Arthur area, Houston (4 separate areas) and Corpus Christi all have the same high industrial density. This situation developed due to good transportation, good labor conditions, good weather and the abundance of cheap energy-gas and electricity. Obviously the latter had the greatest impact. The availability of cheap natural gas made Gulf Coast sites very attractive to energy intensive industry such as metals and petro-chemicals. The area was also very attractive to refinery development due to the large supply (endless?) of crude oil available. As we all know, the energy situation has changed dramatically in the last five years. The cost of a MMBTU has risen from the 17¢ to 19¢ level to a price of $1.95 to $2.10. The price of interstate gas, as defined by the National Energy Plan recently passed by Congress, was approximately $1.98/MMBTU escalated to October, 1978. It goes without saying, that this has had a major impact on doing business in the Gulf Coast. As fuel prices soared, different companies responded in different ways; but overall, industrial energy consumption along the coast was reduced 20% to 25% from 1974 to 1975. Since 1975 production and energy use has been increasing, however, production at some plants is still significantly below plant capacity.

Jan 1, 1979

By A. A. Paoli

The selection of a mining plant for carrying on development work presents many problems distinct in themselves, and affected by various local factors. In this paper, the writer proposes outlining and discussing in some detail the chief factors governing the economic selection of such plants. This will be followed by an enumeration of the underground and surface plant required for carrying on several hypothetical exploratory and mining operations. Where it is impossible or not convenient to obtain hydro-electric power, and where wood for fuel is scarce, we now find oil engines being used. A 100 h.p. oil engine, such as would be required to operate a three-drill air compressor, consumes approximately five Imperial gallons of fuel-oil per hour at full load. On the basis of a 60 per cent load factor, this gives, for eight hours' operation, a probable actual consumption of twenty-four Imperial gallons.

Jan 1, 1929

By T. Ahokainen, J. Pitkälä, J. L. Xia, A. Jokilaakso, J. Vaamo

"The aim of the present paper is to use the two CFD codes to model the two phase flow in a water model ladle with central gas injection. The codes examined are CFX and Phoenics. An Eulerian two phase model is used and predictions are compared against the experimental data available. The results show that the codes can reasonably well predict the gas-liquid plume in the ladle, and predictions are generally in a good agreement with experimental data. However, differences do exist in predicting the gas volume fraction and velocity profiles. The results should be interpreted most carefully and cautiously, because they are very sensitive to the boundary conditions and dependent on the models for the physical phenomena involved. IntroductionSubmerged gas injection has widely been used in the metallurgical industry for more than a century. At the present, the use of gas is most effective in steelmaking industry where the advantages of the gas injection have already been long well understood. Effective mixing, large contact area between reactants, easy modifications and flexibility of the processes are the most important advantages. Disadvantages include refractory wear, blocking in the tuyeres, and splashing. These disadvantages can be reduced and advantages further improved by studying the flow phenomenon in process vessels. However, it is difficult to study flow in a real vessel because of the high temperatures and physical and mathematical modelling is therefore increasingly used in the process development work."

Jan 1, 1999

By Russell G. Warncke

"This report is based primarily on a study of safety conditions and practices followed in the coal mines of Japan. Not all of the coal fields in Japan were studied, but typical mines in the largest producing areas and a fair cross section of coal-mine-safety conditions observed during February to April 1948 are described.Information was obtained through investigations conducted in the mines, discussions with mine-management officials and representatives of labor unions of the various mines visited, and examination of records and statistics from the various offices of the Coal Board of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and from the Coal Association of Japan. Statistical data covering the same subject, obtained from different sources, varied in many respects and apparently were reported inaccurately, but such discrepancies can be attributed to different methods of reporting and compiling statistics.It is difficult to correlate the high fatal and nonfatal injury rates that prevail in Japanese coal mines with the conditions observed in the mines. Virtually all mines visited were attempting to prevent accidents and explosions, by apparently following known safety precautions for the prevention thereof. Some commendable safety innovations were observed at several mines; they indicated that mine officials are giving thought and consideration to hazardous conditions that affect their particular mines.Naturally, the operating officials and management were anxious to impress the writer with their interest in accident prevention and safety. Operating officials were found to be receptive to safety and wore interested in formulating definite safety programs. Some nines had well-planned and well-organized safety programs, which, if put into effect, would contribute greatly toward reduction of accidents.The approach to safety in Japan is quite different from that in the United States, especially the concept of personal responsibility for accidents and the extent to which the individual should be protected against hazards. Management is responsible for providing and maintaining safe working conditions. Collaboration between management and worker, as understood in the United States, does not exist in Japan.Increase in accidents since the cessation of hostilities is the result of unsettled economic conditions in the coal industry, influx of inexperience workers, and breakdown of discipline among the miners, who have been organized into unions. Those unions are greatly influenced by ""leftist"" tendencies.It was observed that the Japanese mine worker is fatalistic by nature and has little, if any, noticable safety consciousness. The most urgent major requirements to reduce accidents in the coal mines are to train the worker in accident prevention and instruct him regarding the inherent hazards of his occupation.Revision of the mining laws would help to reduce accidents if the companies would comply with such laws and provide safer working places and if the workers would cooperate with management and observe and comply with such laws as are enacted for their protection."

Dec 1, 1949

By E. M. Watkin

"Although Canada has achieved one of the highest living standards in the world, people and organizations have, over the past decade, begun to question the cost and means of this achievement. Concern has been expressed about the degree of environmental disturbance arising from industrial activities which have greatly contributed to our increased living standards. These industries include hardrock mining, pit and quarry operations, hydro-electric schemes, various agricultural enterprises and urban land developments.In the construction and operation of the above industries many environmental problems arise because the natural vegetative land cover is destroyed or drastically disturbed. Disturbance may occur to such a degree that revegetation is di ffi cult, often it appears impossible. Portions of the environment around such industries remain aesthetically unacceptable and appear to offer little or no potential for future resource use in wildlife, recreation or agriculture.The general public cannot dissociate itself from the activities of the aforementioned industries. It has, over many years, accepted the benefits and conveniences arising from those activities. Despite this, the increasing level of public concern imposes upon industry a need to alleviate or repair past, present and future environmental disturbance. Therefore it is incumbent upon industry to modify present technology or develop new techniques which would allow the disturbed environment to be easily and rapidly repaired."

Jan 1, 1975

By R. S. Dean

"INTRODUCTION The idea of direct steel is by no means new. Although the work of Bessemer and Siemens provided simple and effective moans for converting pig iron into steel and established the ""blast-furnace route"" as the almost universal method of producing steel, metallurgists have not ceased to dream of direct steel. By direct steel is meant any process by which iron oxide in ore is reduced to Iron of the same or greater purity than the final steel or wrought iron. That is, carbon or alloying elements would be added as needed, not reduced in unwanted quantities into the iron and then removed more or completely by refining (Bessemer or open hearth) only to be readded in desired quantities.In general, direct-steel processes are ""sponge-iron"" processes, because reducing iron oxide without simultaneously alloying the iron with carbon, phcophorus, sulfur, and silicon present in ore and fuel succeeds only if the temperature is below the melting point of the iron. Such solid iron formed by reduction of iron oxide at relatively low temperature is sponge iron, which is butlery and porous. When the reduction proceeds at the higher temperature at which the particles of metal can weld together or finally even melt to yield pellets or balls that do not have the porosity and low-density characteristic of sponge iron, the product might preferably be called simply ""direct iron."""

Jan 1, 1945

By R. Blickensderfer

The laboratory wear testing capabilities of the Bureau of Mines are described, Wear tests are used to support the Bureau?s research efforts toward reducing the wear of equipment used for mining and minerals processing and any wear involving a loss of strategic or critical materials. The emphasis is on abrasive wear because it accounts for most of the wear losses that occur in mining and minerals processing equipment, Spalling wear, caused by repetitive impact in grinding equipment, also is included, Ten abrasive wear tests, including high- stress and low-stress and two-body and three-body conditions, are described: dry-sand, rubber-wheel abrasive wear; Taber Abraser; abrasion resistance of refractory materials; dry-particle erosive wear; elevated-temperature, dry-particle erosive wear; low-angle slurry pot; jaw crusher gouging wear; ball mill wear; pin-on-drum abrasive wear; and high-speed impact gouging. Two repetitive impact tests are described: ball-on-block impact-spalling and ball-on-ball impact-spalling. Test equipment, procedures, and specimens are described, and typical test results are presented and discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By Q Wang

Net present value (NPV) has been the main criterion in mining project evaluation and production plan optimisation. It is a common practice in NPV calculations to take into account only the tangible cost items in the corporate accounting system. The costs incurred due to damage to the local ecosystem and environment are left out and treated as externalities. Such practice on the one hand underestimates the total cost of a mining operation and, on the other hand, ignores the difference in ecological/environmental impacts between different mine plan alternatives. This paper attempts to measure the ecological costs of mining and to incorporate such costs into the evaluation scheme in mining project evaluation and mine planning. The ecological costs of mining are estimated based on the areas and types of land (eg forest land, grazing land, crop land) damaged by mining activities and the carbon emission from fossil fuel consumption. For the land areas (and their associated ecosystems) directly damaged by mining activities, the ecological costs are measured by the prevention and restoration costs, the lost values of eco-services of the damaged land, including bio-product production, soil erosion control, water run-off control, oxygen release, air pollutant absorption and formation of soil nutrients. The ecological cost of carbon emission from the energy consumption of a mining operation is measured by the cost of cultivating the equivalent forest land required to uptake the emitted carbon. A case study on a large-scale open pit mining project is presented to demonstrate the influence of ecological costs on the mine planning outcome.

Sep 26, 2011

By Joseph F. Daniels

In recent considerations of the utilization and beneficiation of coal, the chemise and the chemical engineer have been occupying the centre of the stage with their presentation of the picture of new fuel forms. The stage hands and supernumeraries of the cast, the miners and the consumers who carry the brunt of the present-day burdens, are apt to be forgotten in the glorious settings and the climaxes. With no thought of disparaging or of minimizing the efforts of our fellow scientists, let us remember that economic considerations as well as technical difficulties will limit these chemical applications, which must develop and move slowly before reaching the stage of industrial application at some later day. In the meantime, the coal-mining industry must live on hard faces rather than rosy dreams. In these brief notes it is my purpose to call attention to some of the physical advances in the utilization and beneficiation of coal which have been of interest to the industry in the State of Washington.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. Karl Zipf

This report presents nearly all structural data available from explosion tests of 20-psi mine ventilation seals and concrete-block ventilation stoppings that were conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health during 1997?2008. Although the seals tested were designed to meet the former federal 20-psi pressure design standard, the structural information contained herein on these seal tests will facilitate the analysis and design of coal mine seals that meet the new explosion pressure design criteria of 50 and 120 psi as set forth in the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)?s final rule on ?Sealing of Abandoned Areas.? The seal testing data are organized into six broad categories of seal structures based on the materials used and the construction method for those 20-psi seals: 1. Concretelike materials with steel reinforcement and reinforcement bar anchorage to rock 2. Pumpable cementitious materials of varying compressive strengths with no steel reinforcement and no hitching 3. Articulated structures such as solid-concrete-block seals and ventilation stoppings made of solid and hollow-core concrete blocks 4. Polymer and aggregate materials without hitching 5. Wood-crib-block seals with or without hitching 6. Articulated structures such as lightweight blocks with or without hitching This summary contains data on 52 different structures in the above categories?44 seals and 8 ventilation stoppings. The structural data sets include the applied loading on the tested seal represented by a pressure-time curve and, when available, the measured seal response represented by a displacement-time curve. The structural data sets enable the calibration and verification of numerical models of seal behavior at the 20-psi level, which may then facilitate future structural analyses of seal designs for the new 50- and 120-psi explosion pressure design criteria.

Aug 1, 2008

Determining the environmental consequences of green field projects is becoming an increasingly important component of new projects. Feasibility studies are regarded by potential investors as incomplete if a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has not been completed. These EIAÆs need to meet various local and international requirements in order to achieve bankability. Heavy mineral mining projects are often located in ecological sensitive coastal zones, and bring with them a suite of social impacts in the mainly developing countries within which they are usually located. This paper draws on experience gained in undertaking EIAÆs for heavy mineral mining projects in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa, and uses these case studies to identify potential pitfalls. Important lessons include the need to initiate the EIA process as early as possible in the project, in order to develop management systems to mitigate the environmental impacts of exploration. Close and on-going consultation with affected communities is also seen to be critical to the success of the EIA. Proactive participation on the part of the environmental consultants with the project team and all interested and affected parties (IAPs) is important. An EIA commissioned later in project planning makes it difficult for the EIA to contribute in a positive manner to the project. Early engagement with environmental consultants allows the environmental assessment to develop from a report to an actual process, and to become fully integrated with project planning. The proviso is that an initial æfatal flawÆ assessment is required to identify any potential æshow stoppersÆ, in order to meet one of the important objectives of EIA, namely an assessment of whether or not the proposed project is the preferred development intervention in the study area. For more controversial proposals this may require the commissioning of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which circumvents some of the limitations of the project level EIA. Whilst confidentiality is a constraint to full disclosure, an open participatory approach to public consultation is essential to add credibility to the EIA process and to gain, at least, the acceptance of the process from the majority of IAPs. Full disclosure is encouraged by organisations such as the International Finance Corporation, who acknowledge that good public consultation costs a lot of money, but bad public consultation costs a lot more! An open approach to disclosure presents understandable difficulties for proponents, as they are required to give up some of their control over the project, and to trust the social scientists engaged in the process. However, independence in the EIA process is critical to its success. This paper will highlight these and other issues by drawing on five case studies to identify lessons learnt, and explore the above themes in more detail.

Jan 1, 2001

By Perry D. Teitelbaum

In two earlier studies the Federal Bureau of Mines undertook to explore comprehensively the dimensions of the Nation's energy balance. The first of these studies, published in 1950 as Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7582, by Harold J, Barnett, was primarily concerned with projections of future domestic energy requirements and supplies, because these related to projected growth in major fuel-consuming sectors of the economy, changing rates of energy-use efficiency, and interfuel substitution patterns. But, to provide the essential background for these projections, it was first necessary to assemble and examine in some detail the quantitative information on the size and shape of the current United States fuel economy. Among other things, Barnett's path-breaking study indicated the need to consider energy as an entity, particularly for public and private policy makers, industry and commodity analysts, economists, and others concerned with long range questions of domestic and international energy supply and demand. The study also spotlighted a gap in the fabric of current economic intelligence; no comprehensive collation and reconcilation in any single report of available published statistical information covering the origin -a disposition of all energy materials existed. In response to this latter need, the Bureau of Mines prepared the second of the two studies referred t3 above. This was published in 1951 as Report of Investigations 4805, by W, H, Lyon and D, S. Colby, and it consisted of statistical information on the production and use of each of the various fuels and electric energy in the United States for 1929, 1939, and 1947; all were presented in tabular form and on a uniform basis. The three years selected were chosen largely on the basis of data availability.

Jan 1, 1961