Search Documents

By H. D. Jacobs

The Federal Bureau of Mines, as part of a program to insure future raw material needs for the iron and steel industry, undertook research to beneficiate the oxidized taconites from the western Mesabi range in Minnesota. The data presented were obtained by applying the Bureau-developed selective-flocculation/cationic-flotation process to the second of three oxidized taconite samples. These three samples are representative of an estimated 10 billion tons of ore analyzing 30 to 40 pct iron. The experimental work was performed in a 900-lb/hr pilot plant. Treating the ore sample (36.1 pct Fe) with the Bureau's process produced commercially acceptable concentrates averaging 63.5 pct Fe and 4.3 pct SiO2, with an average iron recovery of 84.6 pct.

Jan 1, 1980

By W. J. McKenna

This paper, describing the milling practice at tine lead-zinc concentrator of the International Smelting Co., is one of a series of papers on milling methods being prepared by the United States Bureau of nines. The concentrator is operated as a unit of the International Smelting Co. and is located about 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, at Tooele, Utah. The Tooele Valley Railroad, operating between the plant and Warner, Utah, a distance of 6.5 miles, makes connection with both the Union Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Railroads.

Jan 1, 1933

By G. R. Hopkins

[A new record in fuel efficiency at petroleum refineries was established in 1939, when a the average B.t.u. requirements per barrel of crude oil processed declined to a new low of 557,000 B.t.u. (see fig. 1). The average fuel requirement per barrel of crude oil refined has remained virtually stationary for the past 3 years. Thus in 1937 the average was 562,000 B.t.u., in is it rose to 567,000 B.t.u., and in 1939 it declined to 557,000 B.t.u. she largest gains in fuel economy cane a decade or so ago on the widespread introduction of heat exchanges and pipe stills. In recent years many successful innovations in heat saving have been adopted, but the combined effect of those is completely masked by the degree to which the capacity is utilized. Some heat requirements are relatively inelastic, so the average consumption per barrel of crude oil refined tends s to increase when the operating ratio (crude runs divided by capacity) declines and vice versa. In 1939 crude runs to stills increased 6 percent (from 1,165,015,000 barrels in 1938 to 1,237,840,000 in 1939) compared with a decline of about 2 percent in 1938. The operating ratio in 1939 was 82 percent compared it's 78 percent in 1938.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Louis A. Panek

The practice of roof bolting or rock bolting to stabilize rock surrounding underground excavations has increased tremendously within a few years. This widespread application has led to many questions concerning the mechanics of bolting and has pointed up the need for a quantitative method of designing bolting systems. To answer these questions a research program was initiated to determine the principles of roof bolting. The first problem chosen for investigation was the use of bolts to reinforce bedded roof, since the great majority of bolts are used under these conditions. The attack employed is a combination of theoretical and experimental stress analysis. Centrifugal testing of models was chosen as the experimental method because it is particularly suited to the study of stratified roof. This report describes the models, the experimental method, and the model-prototype relations. By using dimensional analysis, a general expression for a roof-bolting design formula in terms of the structural variables has been obtained. Certain model-prototype similarity requirements have been relaxed, thereby minimizing the number of variables to be studied and extending the applicability of quantitative test data to a large class of full size structures.

Jan 1, 1956

By John B. Umhau

[' is ann.tal surve:' gives sta.tistical data regC:ll~dirg rims.ry and feCOA-dUTY or ~cra:p tin used in thL United States by industries anc. includcc dc..ta l' is ann.tal surve:' gives sta.tistical data regC:ll~dirg rims.ry and feCOA-dUTY or ~cra:p tin used in thL United States by industries anc. includcc dc..ta ]

Jan 1, 1938

By Harold E. Marr

Energy dispersion X-ray analysis was evaluated for possible application in the secondary metals industries for the rapid analysis and identification of copper-base alloys. Laboratory investigations of standard brass and bronze samples indicate that X-ray methods are capable of separating standard alloys into 10 general classes with analytical times of less than 3 seconds per sample for clean, flat samples. A radioactive source of americium 241 with a secondary fluorescer was used as an excitation source, and a lithium-drifted silicon semiconductor detector was utilized for energy discrimination of X-rays.

Jan 1, 1974

By G. E. McElroy

Changes in existing airway and fan-installation conditions offer the most common opportunities for effecting economical operation of mine ventilating systems, but the largest possibilities for securing this result lie in the original design of the main airways for efficient service. Formulas, and. charts for their graphical solution, are presented herewith for the determination of the elements of airways design when the conditions of service are known, or may be roughly approximated. Although the analyses are made with particular reference to metal-mine airways, there is no essential difference between metal and coal mine main airways, and the methods presented are equally applicable to both. Little attention is paid to designing airways for maximum economy in the ventilation of metal mines. Most of the openings used as main airways are originally designed and used for transportation and other operating purposes. Even where openings are made primarily for ventilation, the possibility of their future use for other operating purposes, or even custom alone, usually results in the selection of a size and shape similar to those of existing openings. Natural conditions, such as heavy ground, often seriously limit the size of opening that can be maintained without excessive expense; and various operating factors, such as velocity limitations on traveling roads, often dictate size requirements in excess of those required for economy in ventilation only. In metal mines the main airways are, as a rule, too small rather than too large for economic service, with the general result that the quantities in circulation are often less than the mine's proper requirements over long periods, even though excessive amounts of power are applied in an effort to remedy conditions.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. A. Herdlick

Under authority of the Strategic Materials Act of June 1939, the Federal Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Geological Survey, began a broad program of investigation of the strategically important chromite deposits in Sweetgrass, Stillwater, and Carbon Counties, Mont. Extensive occurrences of chromite along the Stillwater Complex in Stillwater County were investigated. The two principal deposits, The Mouat-Sampson and Benbow mines, ultimately were developed and placed in production by the Federal Government. As a part of this general development program, the Carbon County chromite deposits near Red Lodge were examined by Bureau of Mines engineers in 1940, and by the Geological Survey .1-1 1942. The district was examined earlier by Schafer, and the Four Chromes area is mentioned briefly by Westgate. Although the Red Ledge deposits were considered to be of minor importance as compared to those of the Stillwater Complex, several of the ore bodies were adaptable to open-pit mining' methods, and one large deposit on Line Creek Plateau was readily accessible to the Red Lodge-Cooke highway. In 1941, the U. 3. Vanadium Corp. began mining crude lump-chrome ore from the deposit on Line Creek Plateau to supplement national stockpiles, which were being depleted by the rearmament program and the disruption of chrome-ore imports by the European war. Access roads gore constricted to Hellroaring Plateau, and the mining operations were extended to that area. A gravity concentrator with a capacity of 200 tons per day was built and operated at Red Lodge to beneficiate lower-grade ore from the district.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. B. Salsman

As part of the research effort on investigating the effects of microwave energy on the chemical and physical properties of minerals and ores, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) Tuscaloosa Research Center has conducted research to measure the dielectric properties of these materials. The objective was to establish a reliable database for use in predicting the effects of microwave heating on a wide range of minerals. The dielectric constants and loss factors of minerals, commonly referred to as the dielectric properties, were determined utilizing the theory of microwave propagation through an open-ended, air-filled coaxial line that was terminated at its open end with the particular mineral under investigation. In this phase of microwave research, the USBM measured the dielectric properties of powdered minerals with medium to high electrical conductivities in the frequency range of 300 MHz to 3 GHz and as a function of temperature from 25 to 325 °C. Since the minerals were prepared as powders, techniques were used to relate the measured dielectric properties of the powdered minerals to the dielectric properties of the mineral at its theoretical or natural density.

Jan 1, 2010

By Leonard Obert, Wilbur Duvall

"INTRODUCTION 'The investigation reported herein is part of a comprehensive research program being conducted by the Metal Mining Research Section, Mining Division, Bureau of Mines, on pressure problems in underground mines. This program was initiated in 1937 and for the first 3 years was concerned primarily with measurement of the pressure on mine pillars and supports and their strength. 4/ 5/ During this period, investigations were conducted in both the laboratory and the field in the comparatively shallow load and zinc mines of Missouri and Oklahoma. As a result a seismic method of determining the pressure on mine pillars was developed.Before this research program was initiated, Chas. F. Jackson, chief of the Mining Division, suggested that rock under pressure might give rise to noises inaudible to the unaided ear - that is, subaudible noises. As a result of this suggestion, listening tests were made concurrently with the routine pressure measurements to see if any rock noises were present; with one exception, it was found there were no rock noises in any of these shallow mines. At the same time, pressure measurements disclosed that, with one exception, pillars were not under pressure amounting to more than 10 percent of the crushing strength of the rock. The one exception was a pillar in the Big John mine of the Eagle Picher Mining & Smelting Co. in the Tri-State district, which showed some physical evidence of failure, such as small cracks and spalling; it was reported that the pillar had been heard to crack or snap at intervals. Listening tests in this pillar disclosed that subaudible noises of comparatively small intensity were present and occurred at 1- to 2-minute intervals, on the average. Unfortunately, owing to the shortness of this pillar it was impossible to make any pressure measurements."

Jul 1, 1942

By Frank L. Hess

Vanadium, although widely spread in minute quantities through the crust of the earth, is found in few places sufficiently concentrated to be economically mined and prepared for use. Most rocks carry from a trace to a few hundredths of a per cent of vanadium oxide, and coal ash may carry about as much as the rocks, Much of the "coal" quoted in the literature as carrying vanadium has been asphaltite, and in other ccal the vanadium is of late introduction. The ash of the petroleums, though usually present in very small quantity, may carry a large percentage of vanadiun, so that production of vanadium from it has been seriously considered. Naturally the ashes of soze asphaltites similarly carry vanadium.' The great deposit at Minasragra, Peru, to which further reference will be made, is probably an altered asphaltite. Ilmenite and cther iron minerals usually carry vanadium 10 and some has been saved from the minette ores of France. 11 Many veins that carry lead copper and zinc minerals also carry a little vanadium, which, especially if the veins are in a comparatively dry region, such as the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, Northern Rhodesia, Southwest Africa, or Spain, collects in the oxidized parts of the veins as vanadinite,

Apr 1, 1932

By Otto Ruhl

The Oronogo-Webb City-Duenweg district is in the northeastern part of the Tri-State zinc and, lead field. Its metal-mining history dates from the early 1850's. For some years prior to 1918 it ranked as the leading producing area of the entire Tri-State field, but by 1920 most of its mines had been abandoned and allowed to fill with water. Its mine operators had-been attracted, to the newly discovered and richer deposits around Picher, Okla. In 1943, the Orenogo Mutual Mining Co. was exploiting the Oronogo Circle deposit in the northern end of the district, and the Federal Mining & Smelting Co. was preparing to mine on its holdings in the southern part near Duenweg. The area between these two operating units ranked as the largest single block of ore reserves under water in the Tri-State field. In 1942, engineers of the Bureau of Mines, in collaboration with the William Stewart Engineering Co. of Joplin, collected all available mine maps, mine reports, and logs of old drill holes in the inundated area. From a careful study an appraisal of these data, the reserves in the block were calculated at 20,647,800 tons of ore containing 606,440 tons of 60-percent zinc concentrates and 46,970 tons of 80-percent lead concentrates. The ore was estimated to contain 1.76 percent recoverable zinc and 0.18 percent recoverable lead.

Jan 1, 1949

By Ivan F. Avery

The design productive capacity of natural-gasoline and cycling plants in the United States on January 1, 1960, was 54.6 million gallons per day, according to the Bureau of Mines biennial survey. This represents an increase of 5.8 million gallons per day during the 2-year period since the last survey. The major increases occurred in Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. In Utah, natural gasoline capacity was reported for the first tine at 320 thousand gallons per day as of January 1, 1960. The total number of plants increased from 584 on January 1, 1958, to 596 on January 1, 1960. However, the operating plants decreased from 558 to 555 in the same period.

Jan 1, 1961

By H. E. Powell

A solvent extraction procedure was developed on a laboratory scale for recovering trisodium phosphate, zinc, and iron from waste phosphate sludge as separate products. The sludge was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and iron was extracted as ferric chloride by isopropyl ether. Zinc was extracted by di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid in kerosine. The efficiencies of the one-and two-stage extractions ranged from 98 to nearly 100 percent. Trisodium phosphate was recovered by crystallization from the raffinate. The value of two marketable products is considerably more than than the costs of the major reagent. The process was developed to permit recycling of values in this waste and to consequently reduce stream pollution from this source.

Jan 1, 1972

By E. Morrice, R. D. Smith

Thermal expansion and electrical resistance measurements were made on cerium metal from 4° to 300° K. The apparatus developed , including a specimen holder and a cryostat system , are described along with the experimental techniques used in obtaining the measurements . The total linear thermal expansion Data at of 99.83 weight - percent cerium metal between 4 ° K and room temperature was 4.24 percent . The resistivity at 4° K was 7.0 x 10-6 ohm- centimeter . 4° K indicate a fundamental relationship between residual resistivity and purity of cerium metal . The effects of annealing and repeated thermal cycling on resistivity were determined .

Jan 1, 1964

By Joel M. Modd, Stephen P. Holt

"INTRODUCTION Nickel is one of the seven metals designated as strategic by the Army and Navy Munitions Board in 1939, when Congress appropriated funds for the investigation of domestic sources of supply of war minerals. The Mertic nickel lode at Punter Bay, Admiralty Island, Alaska, owned by the Admiralty Alaska Gold Mining Co., was investigated as part of this program.During the period 1919 to 1928, the property was examined the following engineers; L. S. Robe, W. E. Dunkic and S.E. Conbest of the Alaska Treadwell Cr., A, F. Buddington of the Federal Geological Survey, and H. C. Boydell. Henry M. Eakin, in the capacity of consulting geologist, examined the deposit in 1928 and later reviewed data resulting; from exploration recommended by him. In 1936, A. Hoogbom, of the Geological Survey of Sweden, made a very brief report on the deposit based upon information furnished by J. S. Pokovich.A comprehensive study by the Geological Survey of the Punter Bay area, including the Mertic lode, was made during the field season of 1937, with brief examinations in 1936 and 1938. 4/Miyaki, representing the Mitsubishi Company, visited the property in 1937 and in the course of his examination took six samples. G. W. Powel examined the deposit in 1937 and took five samples in the Mertie adit.This report describes the results of the Bureau's work and gives information collected from other sources."

Nov 1, 1946

By William H. King

The property of the Cupric Mines Co. is situated in the San Francisco mining district, Beaver County, Utah, 21 miles westerly from Milford (fig. 1), the rail and supply center for the area. Scheelite mineralization was not discovered until 1941, although the occurrence of lead and copper minerals had been known previously. S. VI. Hobbs, of the Federal Geological Survey, examined the Cupric property in November 1941 and prepared topographic and geologic maps of the area. This work was supplemented by additional investigations in January 1943 and March 1944 (fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1949

By R. E. Heithecker

[The separation of enormous quantities of water produced with the oil in some West Texas fields necessitated. the use of special equipment other than the regular lease tanks. Several methods Were used with varying degrees of success. They include, the water-trap, hay tank and gun barrel, gun barrel and settling tank, chemical, and electrical-dehydration methods. The water trap which has been used extensively in the Hendricks field, and in some instances has been installed in the Yates field separates the water' and. oil under high pressure before tile liquid and gas pass through the flow ?bean. The first trap was constructed and installed by the Southern Crude Oil Purchasing Co. in July, 1928. By July, 1929, approximately 300 traps were in use.]

Jan 1, 1932

By R. E. Heithecker

The separation of enormous quantities of water produced with the oil in some West Texas fields necessitated the use of special equipment other than the regular lease tanks. Several methods were used with varying degrees of success. They include the water-trap, hay tank and gun barrel, gun barrel and settling tank, chemical and electrical-dehydration methods. The water trap which has been used extensively in the Hendricks field, and in some instances has been installed in the Yates field separates the water and. oil under high pressure before tile liquid and gas pass through the flow beam. The first trap was constructed and installed by the Southern Crude Oil Purchasing Co. in July, 1928. By July, 1929, approximately 300 traps were in use. Treating cut oil by running it through a hay tank was done quite extensively in the Roberts-Settles field, Howard and Glasscock Counties, Tex., and later the method was used in the Hendricks field. In July, 1931, there were 37 hay tanks in the Roberts-Settles field, treating the oil from 123 wells. The cut oil frequently was made acceptable to the pipe-line company by running it through the hay tank. In some instances, however, it was necessary to heat the oil, and occasionally both heat and chemicals were used before complete separation of the oil and water was obtained.

Jan 1, 1932

By Zabetakis M. G.

This Bureau of Mines report presents a brief summary of the explosion trends in United States coal mines for the past 160 years. These trends show that in spite of the overall improvements in mine safety, the number of fatalities from ignitions of methane has actually increased in recent years. Suggestions are made of procedures that can be utilized to reverse this trend.

Jan 1, 1973