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By L. C. IlsLey

Cooperation between the United States Bureau of Mines and the Safety in Mines Research Board of Great Britain, continuous since 1924, has made possible this and other papers on safety subjects. Grateful acknowledgment is made to representatives of the Safety in Mines Research Board of the Mines Department for their assistance in arranging visits to several mine-safety stations, and to F. H. Wynne, Deputy Chief Inspector of Mines, Great Britain, for arranging visits to mines in Great Britain, Belgium, France, and Germany. During the summer of 1927 the writer had the privilege of visiting the mine-safety testing stations in Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, and France, in the order named. All of these countries have large coal mines, many of which are rated as gassy. Therefore, when the installation of electrical equipment is contemplated, each of these countries is confronted with the same safety problem as in the United States - the development of electrical equipment that will not ignite gassy mine atmospheres, should such atmospheres through neglect or accident surround the equipment. The means used by those countries in safeguarding gassy mines should therefore be of general interest to safety engineers in American coal mines, and it is proposed to give a brief survey for each of the four countries mentioned. The first of these surveys will cover conditions in Great Britain.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. R. Bartels

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has established a wire rope research laboratory to examine the factors that affect the life of wire rope. Two sin-diameter 6x25 fiber core (FC) ropes were degraded on a bending fatigue machine, These were the second and third ropes in a series of tests on this construction and size rope. Tensile and nondestructive tests were performed on samples of the rope to determine the relationship between rope deterioration and rope breaking strength. The tests indicated that once a wire rope nears the end of its service life, both deterioration and the consequent loss of rope strength begin to increase at an accelerated rate.

Jan 1, 2010

In 2004, data obtained from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicated a total of 891 underground (6.2%) and 13,587 surface (93.8%) mining operations.

Sep 1, 2007

By CDC CDC

In 2004, a total of 251 metal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Metal mines were the smallest mining commodity sector, comprising 1.7% of all mining operations. • Gold mines

Sep 1, 2007

By J. W. Thompson

ORES PROCESS OF ORE CONCENTRATION-PATENTABILITY. The patent issued to Sulman, Pickard, and Ballot, November 6, 1905, and assigned to Minerals Separation and Minerals Separation American Syndicate, for new and useful improvements in ore concen- tration, its object being to separate metalliferous matter from gangue by means of oils and fatty acids that have a preferential affinity for such metalliferous matter, the principal feature of which is "agitat- ing the mixture to cause the oil-coated mineral to form a froth," was clearly anticipated by other patents, and each step in the process described in the Sulman, Pickard, and Ballot patent is fully described in more than one of the prior patents, with the single exception of the reduced quantity of oil used; but the discovery that the small fraction of oil is sufficient to produce flotation of the metalliferous matter can not be made by itself or in combination, the subject of a patent. Hyde v. Minerals Separation, 214 Fed., 100, p. 109, May, 1914. ACTION FOR CONVERSION OF MINERALS. In an action by the grantor of a certain mine and mining property against his grantee to recover damages for the conversion of a quantity of ore that the grantor before the conveyance had mined and extracted from the mine and placed on the dump near the mine, the plaintiff is not entitled to recover where it appears that at the time the ore was placed on the dump the mine was owned and operated by a mining company and that at the time the ore was taken out of the mine the company had no intention of doing anything with it but simply deposited it on the dump as waste and to give an opportunity to develop the mine and get better ore to send to the smelter, and that

Jan 1, 1915

By John H. Soule

"Although known since 1902, the Capitan iron deposits have not been mined, mainly because of the low grade of the ore. Only a small amount of exploratory work has been done since the discovery. C. H. Johnson, district engineer of the Bureau of Mines in New Mexico in 1942-45, visited the property; as a result, preliminary sampling of the property was done in 1943.3/ Owing to the results of this preliminary work, an extensive development program by wagon drilling was planned and executed early in 1944.4/ Equipment available at that time was limited in the depths that could be reached; and, as geologic studies indicated the possibility that other limestone beds below the surface might have been replaced by iron minerals, a supplementary development program by churn drilling to reach greater depths was prosecuted in late 1947 and early 1948, with the author as project engineer.The following sections note the location and accessibility of the deposits and mention the physical features, climate, labor and living conditions. Property and ownership are outlined, the history and production of the property stated briefly, and the ore deposits are described. The work done by the Bureau of Mines is explained and supported with maps, sections, and assay logs.From March 1, 1944, to June 1, 1944, 179 wagon-drill holes totaling 3,490 feet and 4 test pits totaling 75 feet were completed, and from November 1947 to February 1948 seven churn-drill holes totaling 2,488 feet were drilled and sampled. Metallurgical tests are summarized and referenced.With respect to this report, special acknowledgment is due to J. H. Hedges, chief, Tuscon, Ariz., Branch, Mining Division, and to W. R. Storms, engineer in-charge of the Silver City, N. Mex., field office. Acknowledgment also is due to J. Bruce Clemmer, chief, Tuscon Branch, Metallurgical Division, for analyses done in the last phase of this project, and to Dr. Vincent Kelley of the Federal Geological Survey for his cooperation during this work.The Capitan iron deposits are in secs. 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15, T. 8 S., R. 14 E., central Lincoln County, N. Mex., as shown on figures 1 and 2. The only known large deposit upon which the Bureau did development work lies around the common corner of secs. 10, 11, 14, and 15, as shown in figures 2 and 3, and just southwest of and in the foothills of the Capitan Mountains. This range of mountains trends east and west. The elevation of the highest peak is 10,205 feet.The deposits are reached by traveling on State Highway 48 from Capitan north for 4 miles, to a point just inside the Lincoln National Forest fence and thence due east over a poor dirt road for 1.2 miles. Just over a small wooden bridge, the left-fork is taken, and the poor road is followed to the deposits, a further distance of 1.1 miles (see fig. 1). This road follows the fence to and through the Davis ranch. All the roads from Capitan to the deposits are dirt roads but are impassable only for short periods during and after heavy rain or snow."

Aug 1, 1949

By Louis E. Dalverny

U.S. Bureau of Mines research to develop diagnostic methods to locate and evaluate fires in abandoned mines and waste banks and techniques to extinguish such fires was applied to an abandoned 60-acre underground bituminous coal mine (Renton, Allegheny County, PA) to locate and extinguish three separated fire zones. Mine fire diagnostics interpret changes from baseline values in subsurface pressures, temperatures, and mine gas composition under imposed pressure gradients induced by a borehole exhaust fan. The effective gas sampling area surrounding each borehole is greatly enlarged. Sampling iterations, using a "communicating" boreholes set, provide "fire signature" information for locating both heated and cold areas. Time-dependent monitoring differentiates heating and cooling periods resulting from combustion front movement and/or fire extinguishment activities. A water injection with fume exhaustion extinguishment effort involved injecting water through boreholes to quench the heated zones while exhaust fans actively removed heated gases from the mine. The technique was ineffective as implemented, primarily because of inadequate spreading of water from the injection points. The Bureau's diagnostic method determined the fire locations and the effectiveness of the water injection with fume exhaustion extinguishment technique.

Jan 1, 2010

By Virgil Miller, R. G. Knickerbacken

"INTRODUCTION The Bureau of Mines work reported by the Metallurgical Division 4/ in 1934 shows the possibility of producing artificial manganese ore by pre- ferential oxidation of manganese from spiegeleisen produced from manganiferous iron ores of the Cuyuna range, Minnesota. A three-step process is described as being capable of producing a ferrograde ore from this type of low-grade, domestic, strategic material. However, the melting temperature in the last step of the process that forms the manganese product is high, and the phosphorus content is not easily controlled. Also, the tenor of the manganese in the product is not comparable with other methods that use less process energy.Lofquist 5/ patented an improvement of the above three-step smelting method, in which sulfide was added to lower the melting point of the product.More recently, reputedly successful attempts have been made to reduce iron preferentially from manganiferous iron ores, simultaneously removing the phosphorus with the iron, by means of an unusually high temperature blast and excess coke.Anson G. Betts 6/ patented a process for the matte-smelting of manganese ores, in which the ore was mixed with pyrite and enough carbon or coke to serve as thermal energy and reducing, agent in a manner similar to the standard blast-furnace process. This process was intended to give pig iron, a manganese-iron matte, and a waste slag. Wood, Barrett, and Porath 7/ presented data on the treatment of low-grade, domestic, manganiferous iron ores and low-grade, domestic manganese ores by this Betts mattes pelting process."

Aug 1, 1942

By K. A. Johnson, H. F. Yancey

"INTRODUCTION Coals vary so widely in their burning characteristics that all coals prepared for domestic stoker use cannot be burned efficiently on every type of stoker. The overfeed stoker, a large number of which are in use in the Pacific Northwest, operates satisfactorily when burning low- to high-ash, noncaking bituminous or subbituminous coals, whereas on the clinkering-type, underfeed, bituminous stoker both caking and noncaking bituminous and subbituminous coals are burned, generally with ash contents below 12 percent and ash-softening temperatures between 1,800º and about 2,600º F. Because fly ash continues to be one of the most troublesome factors in domestic underfeed stokers, noncaking coals especially must be chosen carefully with respect to size composition, particularly as regards the exclusion of excessive fines. Their formation as a result of degradation in storage handling or because of crushing in .the stoker worm will increase the fly-ash nuisence.Bituminous and subbituminous coals with higher ash-softening temperatures and, often, higher ash contents have not been able to enter the domestic stoker-coal market in the Pacific northwest because clinkers are not formed readily during clinker-type underfeed-stoker burning, especially in mild weather, and because of the labor and attendant inconvenience required in handling larger volumes of ash. The work described in this report was undertaken to enable mines producing coals of the kind described to enter the stoker-coal markets. The anthracite stoker selected was one that conveys the refuse from the ash pit of the furnace and deposits it into one of two covered, dust-tight disposal cans."

Dec 1, 1945

By L. D. Tracy

This is the third of the series of reports on coal-mine royalties and leasing conditions in Illinois. The results of the study of District VI were published as Serial No. 2726, January, 1926, and those of District VIII as Serial No. 2745, April, 1926, of the Bureau of mines. The counties of Macoupin, Sangamon, and Montgomery, which are three of the principal coal-producing areas in the northern part of District VII, have been chosen for this report because these counties cover an entirely different part of the State than do the two districts already covered. Some leases in, Randolph and Washington counties are included as they are in the southern part of the district, and the data happened to be readily available.

Jan 1, 1926

By J. E. Spurr

"Zinc Industry in BelgiumBy March F. Chase, Consulting Metallurgist, Bureau of MinesBelgium for many years was the principal spelter producing country of the world. Gradually its production was surpassed by that of Germany, and Germany in turn lost first place by the production in the 77ti.tad States. For the ten years previous to 1914, 21.6 per cent of the world's spelter was produced in Belgium. Of this production approximately 40 per cent was exported. A large percentage of the balance was rolled and of the shoots thus produced a considerable quantity was also exported.From an economic standpoint even before the war, the Belgian industry was in a unique, if not praoarious, position. Dependent upon foreign countries for ore and foreign markets for sale of products, smeltor was at a distinct disadvantage when compared with some of those of other localities. These disadvantages were partly offset by cheap coal and labor and by whatever there is of value in experience and what we may term for want of a better expression smelting tradition. However intangible this latter may be, it did have and has today an influence on commercial operations.One must not overlook the effect it will have on the revival of the industry. It may not be the determining factor but the fact that for so many years this industry flourished in Belgium, and played such an important role in the industrial life of the country will decide many operators to attempt to re-establish their operations.In 1913 the Belgian spelter plants produced 204,220 long tons of spelter or approximately 20 per cent of the world's production. During this year 500,000 to of ore were treated. The actual value of all of the products derived from treating sine ore amounted to 225 million frames."

May 1, 1919

By William C. Cooley

This volume contains copies of the 5 x 8 in. accession card file for all items collected which were judged to be relevant to underground hydraulic coal mining. In many cases, abstracts are included. Abstracts were taken from the source, from other reviews, or from the preliminary screening of Russian documents performed by Dr. A. L. Brichant. No attempt was made to write abstracts for every accession item.

Jan 1, 1975

By G. L. Oldright

The studies previously made on Smelting in the Lead Blast Furnace have dealt with the custom smelter of the International Smelting Co. at Tooele, Utah, and on the smelter of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Smelting Co. at Kellogg, Idaho. The International plant may be considered representative of the traditional custom smelter. The lead smelter of the future seemingly will have to treat increasingly richer lead charges. This feature was then stressed in describing the Bunker Hill plant.

Jan 1, 1934

By Charles B. Manula

Judging from the rapid pace of increased demands for mineral products, technological forecasting will become an increasingly necessary tool in mining. Even though the mining industry in 1966 produced more are than ever before, current extraction rates are only a fraction of what is expected in the later years of the twentieth century. If metal and mineral commodities continue to hold their respective and present share of markets, the prospect of coping with demands from a population that will double in the next thirty years can become an impossible task when viewed outside the limits of technological advance and change. Those mining companies that are doing little to develop new and expanding horizons for their operations cannot expect to survive. Nearly 90% of all metals and mineral products consumed last year was recovered by open-pit mining. This has placed great pressure on this segment of the industry which, consequently, has resulted in some spectacular developments. Already production rates at many places are dwarfing those of the Panama Canal and other well-known earth moving projects which are frequently identified as massive undertakings. With projects of this scale, the need for increased sophistication of engineering, planning, management and administration of modern mining installations has never become more apparent. The design of complete systems for the mine and plant that fit the mould of today's business and social environments is undergoing an evolutionary process.

Jan 1, 1968

This NIOSH Toolbox Training program contains 52 different modules designed to stimulate safety discussions among your employees. Each module is intended to be completed in roughly 10 or 15 minutes, so a Toolbox Training session can be conducted once a week for the entire year. Each session counts toward your employee’s 8-hour annual MSHA refresher training, thus saving an entire day of work.. The modules are used to refresh employees on the procedures, policies, and practices of working safely at a specific mine site and can easily be tailored to fit conditions and situations found on your property. Every module follows the same format, so that as the weeks pass, miners will start to approach every safety situation in the same way. A typical Toolbox Training session contains five basic steps that cover all the information in the module. 1. Identification of the hazard and discussions about the types of injuries typically associated with the hazard. 2. Discussions of some of the causes of the hazard. The MSHA example included with each module should be referenced. 3. After the hazard and accident has been explained and understood, discussions about best practices and tips for avoiding a similar accident. 4. Review of similar conditions or near misses from your mine site using the leading questions on the form to start a discussion. Specific examples of equipment or structures on the site that could lead to the same accident should be discussed. The blank space on the module is used to add your own remarks and questions to supplement the given information. 5. Miners fill out the training record on the back of the form with name, initials, and date of training session. The modules are designed to be kept in a standard three-ring binder and easily photocopied. This way, the same set of modules can be used for years to come. A blank form is included that can be used to create more Toolbox Training modules. The key component of Toolbox Training is to start a discussion among employees that will allow them to see the hazards around them every day and respond to these hazards in a safe and consistent manner. To start a discussion, ask questions that need more than a one-word response. Get the miners to talk about similar situations from their own experiences and give suggestions about how to fix the hazards around them. Toolbox Training is a quick and effective way to cover specific mining hazards, but it only works if miners are involved in the discussion.

Jan 1, 2004

By John W. Taber

"INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARYDiscovery of these unusual fluorite deposits was brought to the attention of the Bureau of Mines late in 1951, shortly after the first locations were made. A brief investigation of the deposits by the Bureau revealed seven principal outcrops of fluorite in two areas. The smallest outcrop continuously exposes massive fluorite over an area 25 by 55 feet; the largest outcrop is a similar exposure 180 by 240 feet. The deposits, appear to be sharp-walled, low-angle, tabular ore bodies in granite and are at least 10 feet thick.The Bureau investigation of the deposits included bulldozer strip-trenching, drilling and blasting rock cuts, and channel sampling across three of the largest outcrops. This sampling indicated an average grade of 97.2 percent CaFp and 1.44 percent SiO2.Preliminary metallurgical tests on the ore indicate that it can be concentrated to acid-grade specifications by simple gravity methods. One laboratory test recovered 78.4 percent of the fluorite in a product containing 98.7 percent CaF2, 0.25 percent SiO2, and 0.10 percent Fe2O3."

Oct 1, 1952

By Jr. Gabler

Because of concern over the availability and reliability of an uninterrupted supply of manganese and other materials, the U.S. Congress requested that the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) study the /low of strategic and critical materials in the economy to delineate and quantify the production areas where metal values are lost. As a result, the USBM developed a generic computerized commodity flow model that is readily amenable to updating. The original model developed for cobalt, with slight modifications, was used to track the flow of manganese. This report follows the flow of manganese through its metallurgical and chemical applications and highlights areas where significant losses occur owing to downgrading, export, or disposal. The study indicates that materials containing 695,000 short tons (st) of manganese were consumed domestically in 1990. Scrap recovery specifically for manganese recycling was insignificant. However, considerable manganese was recycled through processing operations as a minor component of ferrous and nonferrous scrap and steel slag. The major loss category is manganese lost in steel processing, 323,156 st or 46 pet of the 1990 apparent consumption. Most of this loss reports to steelmaking slags. Recovery from slags is technically feasible, but is not economically feasible.

Jan 1, 1995

By Hsin Wei Wu

A real-time Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) monitor has been developed on the basis of the successful National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) designed Personal Dust Monitor (PDM) unit. The objectives of a recently completed Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) study were to modify the PDM to measure the submicrometre fraction of the aerosol in a real-time monitoring underground instrument. Mine testing focused on use of the monitor in engineering evaluations to determine how conditions can be improved. Studies, including a selection during Longwall (LW) moves as described in this paper, demonstrated how DPM concentrations from vehicles fluctuate under varying ventilation and operational conditions. Correlation between the current SKC DPM measurement system and real-time DPM monitors were conducted and results from six mines show a correlation between elemental carbon (EC) and the new monitor DPM mass ranging from .51 to .81 with R2 >.90. These differences are suspected to be due to variations from mine to mine in aspects such as mine atmospheric contamination, vehicle fleet variations, fuel type, engine maintenance, engine combustion efficiency, engine behaviour or interference from other submicrometre aerosol. Real-time monitoring readily reflects the movement of individual diesel vehicles and allows pin-pointing of high exposure zones such as those encountered where various vehicles work in areas of constrained or difficult ventilation. DPM monitoring approaches that have been available for some time based on shift average monitoring do not readily allow successful engineering evaluation exercises to determine acceptability of pollution levels. Identification of high DPM concentration zones allows efficient modification of mine ventilation, operator positioning and other work practices t o reduce miners? exposures without waiting for laboratory analysis results.

Jan 1, 2010

By Edward E. Tate

This is a report on the design, development, and manufacture of a prototype roof bolting machine for high rise applications. The machine is designed to traverse a 32 inch entry and rebolt a roof fall area to a height of 28 feet 10 inches. Covered in the report is a chronology of the project, an explanation of the design problems, and a description of their solutions. The report concludes that the equipment as designed is suitable for the purpose intended and further testing is recommended.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. C. Fowler

Hydrogen sulphide associated with the gasps and vapors from certain crude oils now produced in the United States has forced a serious health and safety problem upon the petroleum industry. Although the presence of hydrogen sulphide in or occurring with Mexican crudes has been known for some time, it was not until recently that crude oils which give off poisonous amounts of hydrogen sulphide have been produced to any extent in the United State. The injurious effects of this poisonous gas were first recognized by the refiners along; the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts upon receiving shipments of crude petroleum from Mexico. The problem of combating the hazards of the gases and vapors given off by this petroleum become more important as the use of Mexican crude increased. In 1925, the Bureau of Mines and Public Health Service under cooperative agreement with the American Petroleum Institute, studied the causes rend effects of hydrogen sulphide poisoning. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 2312 is report of this investigation, and although written with special reference to refineries, it nevertheless contains much information that is of value to the producer of petroleum.

Jan 1, 1927