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The Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior is increasingly concerned with the safety and health of personnel engaged in coal-mining operations, particularly below ground. The Bureau is also concerned with improving the utilization of domestic mineral resources, and reducing the environmental impact of mineral operations. One obvious way to improve safety and minimize health hazards would be to eliminate coal mining entirely by bringing the energy value of the coal to the surface in some other way, such as by partially burning it underground to form combustible gases and bringing these gases to the surface, where their energy content can be put to use. This technique might also improve the utilization of the coal resource. ? Accordingly, the Bureau of Mines, interested in re-evaluating underground coal gasification technology in terms of current and expected conditions in the United States, requested Arthur D. Little, Inc., (ADL) to appraise the technology to determine: ? Whether the current (1971) state of the technology offers a technically feasible method for gasifying coal underground that is applicable to the reserves of bituminous and lower rank coals in the United States. ? Whether a program of research and further development of the technology could ultimately make it a technically feasible alternative to current open-pit and underground coal mining operations. ? What the nature and cost of further research and development work in the technology should be.

Jan 1, 1971

By John B. Knaebel

This paper is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining methods and costs at various mines in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and is a description of practice at the Edwards mine of the St. Joseph Lead Co. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The cooperation and assistance of the officials of the St. Joseph Lead Co. in permitting publication of this paper and providing every facility for its preparation are gratefully acknowledged. Especial thanks are extended R. J. Mechin, manager, R. F. Mitchell, mine captain, and J. S. Brown, geologist, for their generous aid, and the assistance of W. H, Weijola, mine engineer in assembling some of the illustrations is deeply appreciated, The helpful suggestions of C. F. Jackson, principal mining engineer, U. S. Bureau of Mines, are gratefully acknowledged.

Jan 1, 1932

By Edwin A. Clarke

[For almost 2 decades the Bureau of Mines has been Interested in converting solid fuels to liquid fuels. Small-scale laboratory investigations were carried on for a number of years.4/ This work wad expanded substantially under authority of Public Law 290, approved by the 78th Congress on May 5, 1945. As part of the. broadened program, coal-hydrogenation demonstration plant was designed and erected at Louisiana, Mo., where: hydrogen-manufacturing and compression equipment, shoes, electric power, and other utilities and facilities were available from a discontinued wartime ammonia works . The plant uses the direct -hydrogenation or Bergius process, but the process differs from prewar European practices in many respects. Many noteworthy improvements h eve bean made, particularly by substituting automatic instruments for manual control of process variable's, in line with modern American processing practices. The over-all objective of the demonstration plant is to bridge the gap between laboratory end commercial-scale operation by furnishing cost and engineering data to develop a synthetic liquid-fuels industry when it proves technically and economically justified. Fitting into the over-all program, specific objectives o early runs were to (1) train personnel who had no experience with this type of operation, (2) break in the installed equipment, (3) obtain successfully integrated operation of the entire plant, and (4) work towards obtaining data on the hydrogenation of coal-tar oil and a typical low-ash coal. In beginning fan integrated operation, it is common practice to operate and obtain reaonably smooth performance of each unit before the over-all operation is undertaken. The first part of the plant completed was the refinery, consisting of several fractionating systems, a stabilizer, and a chemical treater.]

Jan 1, 1953

By S. M. Shelton, W. A. Calhoun, M. M. Fine, T. L. Johnston

"INTRODUCTION An extensive test program is in progress by the Bureau of Mines to determine ways and means of recovering ferromanganese-grade ore 6/ from the wide-spread domestic manganese and manganiforous iron deposits. Samples for testing were received from the Interstate Manganese Co. in northeastern Tennessee, 11 miles west of Mountain City and 10 miles southwest of Damascus Va. The ore deposit occurs in the residual material of the Shady dolomite 7/ as an unconsolidated mixture of hard and soft manganese oxides and clay.Numerous tunnels and pits have developed a large reserve of ore in an area of about 15 acres. One pit 250 by 50 by 20 feet is being mined by rower shovels. The ore is hauled to a washing plant for log-washing, hand-sorting, and jigging. Coarse concentrates from the washing plant are marketed without further beneficiation.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of R. F. Fisher, who made the roasting and magnetic tests."

Mar 1, 1942

By H. D. Raymond

This report contains a summary of designs, specifications, costs, and schedules developed for a prototype oil-shale demonstration mining program to be undertaken at the Horse Draw site in the Piceance Creek Basin, Rio Blanco County, Colorado. The objective of the demonstration program is to assess the feasibility of extracting oil shale and associated saline minerals from deep, rich oil shale zones which occur within the central portion of the Basin. Four mining systems were specified for demonstration. These include (1) chamber and pillar mining with backfill; (2) sublevel stoping with backfill; (3) sublevel stoping with full subsidence; and (4) block caving. Commercial-scale designs for each system were modified and scaled down as required to achieve program objectives. The demonstration mine layout and design includes specifications for ore handling, backfilling, ventilation, dewatering, maintenance, and supply systems. A feature of particular interest in the design is the combination of block caving and sublevel stoping methods into a single unit for demonstration of subsidence mining systems in deep oil shale deposits. The report also contains a detailed breakdown of projected capital and operating costs for the demonstration mining program.

Jan 1, 1979

By Forest H. Majors

"INTRODUCTION The Brutch sulfur deposits were explored by the Bureau of Mines during the spring and summer of 1944. Old workings were rehabilitated and sampled, test pits and shafts were sunk, and trenches were cut through the surface alluvium.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy. It is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts prelimi¬nary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests. Both these branches are under the supervision of Dr. R. S. Dean, assistant director.Special acknowledgment is due S. R. Zimmerley, regional engineer, and Paul T. Allman, principal engineer, Bureau of Mines, Salt Lake City, for their supervisory aid, and to the metallurgical staff, Salt Lake City, for beneficiation of samples."

Oct 1, 1946

By F. G. Horino

The Bureau of Mines conducted compressive strength tests on model pillars of selected rock types with each pillar containing a critically oriented plane of weakness. The objective of these tests was to determine if a significant increase in the strength of the model pillar could be obtained by either (1) installing tensioned rock bolts through the pillar and normal to the plane of weakness, or (2) wrapping tensioned steel wire ropes around the pillar at uniformly spaced intervals along the pillar. Equations based on Coulomb's failure criterion are developed to predict uniaxial compressive strength of model pillars that are either rock-bolted or wire-roped. Laboratory compressive strength tests on unbolted and bolted model pillars of sandstone, marble, Indiana limestone, and oil shale containing a plane of weakness oriented at 45° showed that the bolted pillars are stronger than the unbolted pillars by 84, 31, 52, and 28 pct, respectively. Laboratory compres-sive strength tests on nonroped and roped model pillars of Texas limestone, sandstone, and granite containing planes of weakness showed that the roped pillars were stronger than the nonroped pillars by factors ranging from 1.01 to 2.41, depending upon the angle of the plane of weakness and the rock type. Rocks with a low Young's modulus benefited most by the wire-roping technique.

Jan 1, 1971

By J. D. Davis

On May 15, 1936, Congress authorized the Bureau of Mines to conduct certain studies, experiments, and investigations of subbituminous coal and lignite .4/ Appropriations were made in July 1937, and since that date an active investigation has been underway to complete the provisions of the act. Part of the investigation has included a comprehensive survey of the known properties of the lower-rank non-coking coals, and provisions were made to obtain more data on certain varieties. In line with this plan, a typically subbituminous coal was selected for an extended series o tests in the standard Bureau of Mines-American Gas Association unit,5/ at the Central Experiment Station. This particular noncaking coal was the first one of its rank that ha& been tested in the apparatus; for this reason the results are of particular interest because the testing apparatus was originally designed for use in studying the coke- and gas-making properties of coking coals. The test as described below has been developed by the Bureau of Mines since 1927 through a cooperative agreement with the American Gas Association.6/ Ninety to 180 pounds of coal is heated in a circular retort, 13 to 18 inches in diameter, at wall. temperatures ranging from 540°C. to 1,110°C. in 100°C. steps. All products axe collected and measured; their physical and chemical properties axe then carefully determined to ascertain the gas- and coke-making properties of the coal.

Jan 1, 1939

By L. R. Burdick

Anthracite barley is considerably cheaper than rice. Its use, therefore, is attractive from a cost standpoint, - but its smaller size (through 3/16 inch over 3/32 inch round-mesh screen) makes it more difficult to use on some equipment when fairly high combustion rates are necessary to carry plant loads. Tests wore made in one plant to determine the performance of rice and various types of barley on a chain-grate stoker in a two-arch refractory furnace. In general, the efficiency and capacity increased with increased fuel size and volatile content. This performance is presented in tabular and curve form, together with a short review of the ignition and burning process on chain-grate stokers and a discussion of the operating procedures and limitations during the tests. In this particular installation, higher combustion rates and efficiencies could have been obtained with barley if the grate links had been designed for more uniform air flow through the grate surface. Careful maintenance and operation are particularly necessary for satisfactory results with barley on equipment not especially designed for its use.

Jan 1, 1950

By Rudolf E. Greuer

Every mine contains inflammable materials, either in form of the minerals mined or in the form of brought-in supplies. Although great efforts are made to make mines as far as possible fireproof and to prevent ignition sources, the possibility of mine fires, like that of other accidents, will always continue to exist. Detailed statistics are available for coal mines. They show (65,112) that the number of major mine fires in the USA over the last 20 years has remained more or less constant with approximately 50 per year. The same number is reported (26) for the British coal mines. Other countries (147) report about 1 major fire for every 10 million tons of coal production. Conflicting data are published on the number of fatalities caused by fires, presumably because frequently deviating opinions on the cause of death exist. On the average (82,99) 4 miners are killed per year in the US and in the British coal mines. Although this number is much smaller than that for several other causes of fatalities, one must keep in mind that almost every small fire can develop into a large disaster.

Jan 1, 1973

By N. L. Wimmler

"INTRODUCTION The Southern Cross district in Deer Lodge County, Mont., has been chiefly a gold producer. Most of the production has come from gold-bearing hematite-limonite ores. Some of these ores were mined and shipped to smelters for use as flux in smelting copper ores. A magnetite deposit in the Pomeroy property, containing no gold or other economic nonferrous minerals, was mined from 1921 to 1923, the ore being shipped to smelters for flux.The iron-bearing deposits in the Southern Cross area were examined by Bureau of Nines engineers/ on June 28, 1943, and October 14, 1943. As a result, a Bureau exploration project was recommended; it was conducted during 1944. A magnetometer survey was first made of the magnetite-bearing area at and in the vicinity of the Pomeroy property. Exploration by diamond core drilling was then conducted within this area, and in the Southern Cross and Hold Fast properties. The cyanide tailings dump at the Hold Fast mill was sampled by auger drilling.This report presents the data obtained by the Bureau of Mines exploration."

Dec 1, 1946

By Robert W. Van Dolah

The prevention of fires and explosions involving the combustibles and oxidants likely to be found in flight vehicles requires a knowledge of the flammability and related characteristics of these materials. This circular is a compilation of the available charactersilics data for a series of combustibles and oxidants of current interest. Vapor pressure data are presented for fluorine, oxygen, chlorine trifluoride, nitrogen tetroxide, nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide, hydrogen, ammonia, pentaborane, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, hydrazine, and a series of hydro-carbons including decalin, tetralin, bicyclohexyl and other high-density fuels. In addition, flammability characteristics diagrams are included for each of the fuels in contact with air and, where available, other oxidants (for example, oxygen and nitrogen tetroxide). To assist in understanding these data, sections on definitions and theory and applications have been included. Each section is complete in itself and can be used separately. For example, a reader who is familiar with the general theory of combustion and detonation may find the data sections more useful than the definitions and theory and the application sections. However, since pertinent data are included in these sections, they should also prove useful to the experienced engineer interested in preventing fires and explosions.

Jan 1, 1963

When the Organic Act of 1910 established the Bureau of Mines within the Department of the Interior, the Bureau's programs involved only health and safety research and education, and fuels testing. As the Federal Government's primary agency for research in minerals, the Bureau has expanded its scientific and technological investigations to mining, processing minerals substances, eliminating occupational health and safety hazards in the mineral industries, economic development, and resource conservation. Today, Bureau activities cover a broad spectrum of programs for meeting the diverse (and sometimes conflicting) needs of mineral industries, government, and the public. In the 1960's, the Bureau initiated programs to resolve environmental problems associated with past mining and mineral processing. In the 1970's, the energy crisis raised the national consciousness concerning our limited supplies of domestic mineral and fuel resources. Dependence on foreign sources of raw materials critical to our national economy and competition from other countries for these world supplies stimulated the need to conserve and use with intelligence the Nation's minerals, metals, and fuels.

Jan 1, 1976

By A. G. Sharkey

THE PURPOSE of this investigation was to develop methods for analyzing coal derivatives and products from the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. As part of this investigation it was necessary to study the mass spectral characteristics of many classes of compounds. The mass spectra of alcohols, the trimethylsilyl ether derivatives of alcohols, acetal-type compounds, ketones, esters, and naphthenes were correlated with structure, and analytical methods were formulated. A method was devised to determine the ratio of branched to normal hydrocarbons up to CIS in the Fischer-Tropsch product. Low-ionizing-voltage mass spectrometry was combined with type-analyses to analyze tar acids and neutral oils from coal. The necessary sensitivity correlations at low-ionizing voltage were developed, particularly for phenolic compounds. Special analytical techniques were developed for the mass spectral analyses of specific compounds and compound types including (1) oxides of nitrogen, (2) hydrogen sulfide, (3) isomers of butenes and pentenes, and (4) hydrogen deuteride. An investigation was made of the effects of various hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds on tungsten filaments in the mass spectrometer. The operating characteristics of rhenium filaments under similar conditions were studied. Several improved sample handling techniques were developed, including an automatic manometer and a self-filling micropipet. Studies were made of anomalous and negative peaks in the mass spectra of certain gases.

Jan 1, 1967

By V. L. SKITSKY

Geophysical Abstracts are published by the Division of Geophysical Explo- ration of the U. S. Bureau of Mines as an aid to those engaged in geophysical research and exploration. Inasmuch as geophysicists in the field may have little opportunity to consult libraries, the policy of the Division is to provide abstracts suffi- ciently informative in themselves to keep readers abreast of literature and patents published in the United States and abroad. - DISTRIBUTION. Abstracts 1-86 were issued as Information Circulars by the Burca of Mines; Abstracts 87-111 appeared as Bulletins of the Geological Survey; Abstracts 112-127 have been published as Information Circulars by the Bureau of Mines; succeeding issues will be resumed by the Geological Survey.

Jun 1, 1947

By S. R. Zimmerley

[In the course of a flotation investi£ation, a siliceous gold ore was ground in a'ball mill to ':1inns 300-meeh. It wa. found that the small amotIDt of _Ius 300-mesh material had a gole.. assay approximately twice that of the oriGinal ore, &~d that this overs.ize nroduct also contained much abrac..ed iron. .,Joreove I the gold assay of the abraded iron t which was !1epnrated ma§metically', ~iVFl.£ eight ti;nes that of the are. These facts suggested that some r31aticnship ex?...,ted between the abnorma11y high gold content an the prese:1ce of brA-cit)" iron. It was decided, therefore, to investigate furt~er th~ Fl.Gsociation of the bold ~ith the iron abraded from the balls during sri~Qing ]

Jan 1, 1937

By Max J. Spendlove

The Federal Bureau of Mines has been a leader in resource recovery research since it was founded in 1910. Until the early 19601s, most of the projects were concerned primarily with the task of extending and improving conventional technology oriented to secondary metals and minerals upgrading and processing for marketable products of highest value. By the mid-1960's with the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, all resource recovery research programs were increased in scope and intensity as an effort to solve the growing number of environmental problems and the rapid depletion of domestic energy and mineral resources. Many new materials were investigated including urban refuse, manufacturing, industrial wastes, and stockyard wastes. The objective was to promote maximum recycling as the most practical answer to problems of waste disposal, pollution control, and the short supply of minerals and energy. The new research projects ranged from the conversion of animal manure and other organics to oil, to the recovery of precious and common metals from demolished aircraft and electronic scrap. This profile includes brief descriptions of many selected research projects that typify, the total spectrum of Bureau of Mines research in the important field of resource recovery.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. R. Pierce

A gas well has a certain definite capacity to deliver gas from the gas sand through the producing string of pipe. This capacity depends upon the pressures in the sand; that is, a well will deliver gas at a rate of flow which is determined by the formation or "shut-inn pressure in the sand and the back pressure at the face of the sand in the well. The three factors, rate of flow, formation or "shut-in" pressure, and the back pressure, for a given well, can be written into a fundamental relation which is strictly applicable only to that well. This relation can be used to determine the capacity of the well to deliver gas from any formation pressure against any back pressure held at the f ace of the sand in the well. Studies have been made of the deliveries of 400 gas wells operating under different conditions of pressure, Most of the wells which have been studied are in Osage County, Okla.; however, several representative studies have been made on wells in southern Louisiana, southern Texas, the Texas Panhandle, and West Virginia.

Jan 1, 1929

By L. C. IlsLey

The theory and practice followed by the Bureau of Mines in investigating electrical equipment4/ made for service in gassy mines are of particular interest not only to manufacturers but also to those organizations that deal with safety anal inspection at the mines. This publication purposes to discuss the theory upon which tests of equipment in explosive atmospheres are based and to consider inspection and other matters pertaining to investigations made by the Bureau in ascertaining whether a machine merits approval. The material in this report is taken from an earlier bulletin,5/ which is row out of print, and has been revised and brought up to date to make the information again available to manufacturers, inspectors, and others interested in the development of safe equipment.

Jan 1, 1954

By W. E. Brown, P. R. Porath, V. Miller, C. E. Wood, C. Prasky, E. P. Barrett

"INTRODUCTION This investigation was a part at the Bureau of Mines program for the production of critical and essential materials needed for the war.The Boykin Committee for investigating the steel shortage aided in obtaining an appropriation to be expended by the Bureau of Mines in studying the utilization of North Dakota lignite in the manufacture of hydrogen that could be used in the production of sponge iron from low grade ores of Minnesota.OBJECT OF INVESTIGATIONThe investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Mines to ""determine the workability of the proposed bubble-hearth process and its possible use in connection with an experimental plant for the gasification of lignite being operated by the Coal Division of the Bureau of Mines at Grand Forks, North Dakota.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis report is one of many on various aspects of the Bureau of Mines program directed toward the more effective utilization of our mineral resources.Investigations of our mineral resources are conducted by the Mining Branch, L. B. Moon, chief, and by the Metallurgical Branch, O. C. Ralston, chief.The scope of the report falls in the province of the Metallurgical Branch, whose activities embrace the separation of difficulty beneficiated ores, the production of pure metals from domestic deposits, the exploration of marginal ore reserves, the recovery of secondary metals, and the improvement of present industrial metallurgical practice."

Jun 1, 1947