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By E. L. Fosse, W. S. Wright

"INTRODUCTION Preliminary and detailed exploratory examinations of iron and copper ores on Prince of Wales Island have been conducted by the Bureau of Mines from early in 1942 until the end of 1944. Among these investigations was that of the Jumbo magnetite deposit, which was visited by Stephen P. Holt, an engineer of the Bureau of Mines, during a preliminary examination of the Copper Mountain and Jumbo properties September 15 to 18, 1943, During the months of June, July, and August 1944, a more detailed examination, which consisted essentially of mapping and sampling, was made by the authors working in conjunction with George C. Kennedy of the Geological Survey, Geological, topographical, and dip-needle contour maps were made of the area, and 97 channel samples were cut.ACKNOWLEDGMENTIn 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 preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes sam¬ples and performs beneficiation tests. Both these branches are under the supervision of Dr. R. S. Dean, assistant director.Special acknowledgment is made to R. D. Stewart, Territorial Commissioner of Mines and former general manager, and to Duncan Campbell, Ketchikan, Alaska, former mine superintendent of the Jumbo mine. Acknowledgment is also due to George C. Kennedy of the Federal Geological Survey for extending cooperative assistance in topographical mapping, dip-needle surveying, and geological study of the deposits. Further acknowledgment is made to C. Travis Anderson, chief, Rolla Division, Metallurgical Branch, and other members of that division for conducting beneficiation tests on Jumbo Basin ores."

Oct 1, 1946

By R. J. Pokora

This Bureau of Mines report is an applications manual that can be used by the nonmetallic mining industry for guidance in installing noise control materials into crushing and screening plants. These noise control modifications were installed and successfully tested at three operating quarries. This report identifies the major noise sources that can be encountered in crushing and screening plants, and discusses the applicable noise control materials and techniques that a plant operator can utilize on a retrofit basis to reduce equipment noise.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. M. Merritts

The control of coal dust created and released during the operation of continuous mining machines in bituminous-coal mines of the United States is a problem. The interest manifested in this problem indicates the seriousness of the hazards involved, particularly when the dust has not been abated at its source and has become air-borne. Officials of the Sunnyside No. 1 mine, Kaiser Steel Corp., were confronted with the problem of abating the coal dust created by operation of a recently installed continuous-mining machine, and they requested the aid of representatives of the Coal-Mine Inspection Branch, Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, in developing an effective method of allaying the coal dust at its source.

Jan 1, 1951

By Paul V. Mullins

Review and evaluation of all available data on the vapor pressure of car-bon dioxide at the ice point, including previously unpublished results obtained by the Bureau of Mines, are presented. Suggested corrections and adjustments to all the data yield an average value of 26,136.4 mm mercury. Indicated agreement is within plus 1 part in 8,000 to minus 1 part in 11,000. A novel pressure bomb in which a sample of pure carbon dioxide is placed and sealed by a diaphragm fluid separator and its use as a reference pressure standard for extended and repeated use in the calibration of deadweight gages is described.

Jan 1, 1966

By J. B. Zadra

Much has been published by various investigators on the use of activated carbon for adsorbing precious metals from cyanide solution and pulp. For the benefit of the reader, a list of these earlier publications appears at the end of this report. The present paper deals only with a process for extracting gold from gold-laden carbon and re-use of the de-adsorbed carbon. At the Getchell mine, Redhouse, Nev., experiments have been in progress for several years concerning the use of activated carbon to adsorb gold from their slime circuit pulp. The experimental work has been successful. Their practice has been to ship the gold-laden carbon to a smelter for treatment, which meant the total loss of the carbon in addition to smelter and freight, charges, all of which proved costly and wasteful.

Jan 1, 1950

By K. B. Lindsey

Geologically, the Williston Basin is a large structural depression of sedimentary rock in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota and Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada. The approximate It-mite of the basin are shown on figure 1; it is roughly circular with a diameter of about 400 miles and contains approximately 120,000 square miles. Although the petroleum potentialities in this area had long been recognized, it had not been vigorously prospected by the petroleum industry because of its geographic location, rigorous winters, depths to possibly productive zones, difficult geological problems, and the fact that more seemingly favorable areas were available for prospecting. With the discovery of oil near Edmonton, Alberta, in the prolific Devonian reefs, an incentive was given to explore for oil in the southeast extension of the same sedimentary trough, the Williston Basin. The Virden field discovery in southwestern Manitoba in January 1951 was a direct result of this southeastward movement. Discovery of this shallow field was followed soon after by discovery of' deep production on the Nesson anticline in North Dakota at Clarence Iverson No. 1 well. North Dakota then became the twenty-seventh petroleum-producing State.

Jan 1, 1954

This publication contains 10 papers presented at a symposium on ATRS systems in Charleston, WV, on June 23, 1983. Included are papers by MSHA Technical Support (Roof Control), West Virginia Institute of Technology, the Bureau of Mines, and seven roof bolter manufacturers and/or designers of ATRS systems. These papers summarize the most recent developments in ATRS technology and can serve as a guide to potential designers, developers, and users of ATRS systems.

Jan 1, 1985

By Ferdinand Roehlich

An evaluation of the use of manually activated, installed,. dry chemical fire protection systems on underground metal and nonmetal mine vehicles is described. In addition, an assessment of the possible health risks posed by the dry chemical extinguishing agents used in such systems is provided. Work involved installation of fire protection hardware on an operating piece of underground metal/nonmetal mine equipment and, via actual fire tests, a determination of the effectiveness of the hardware in extinguishing on-vehicle fires. Two fire protection systems were installed on a Caterpillar 988 front-end loader in St. Joe Mineral's Fletcher mine, near Viburnum, Mo. Both a fully pressurized Safety First CM-20 and a nonpressurized cartridge actuated Ansul A-101 were installed for comparative purposes. Both systems operated satisfactorily during an 8-month endurance trial period which preceded the actual fire tests. Each system was able to extinguish an 18" x 4" class B test fire placed in the engine area of the machine. The health hazards analysis of dry chemical powder consisted of a detailed search of published literature relating to these multipurpose agents. This data was verified via a controlled laboratory analysis of two monoammonium phosphate based powders (Safety First Unikem and Ansul Forey) and an analysis of air samples collected at various locations on the test vehicle during the fire tests. Although the powder was found to be nontoxic, two potentially dangerous thermal decomposition products were identified--ammonia and phosphoric acid. However, later analysis indicated that an operator would not be exposed to dangerous concentrations of either compound if he were to remain outside of the powder cloud. A "Selection and Use Manual for Manually Activated, Fixed Fire Suppression Systems on Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mining Equipment" was prepared both as an, appendix to the report and for distribution under separate cover.

Jan 1, 1977

By Arnold O. Tanner

The domestic mining industry gained more strength in 1988 as the healthy comeback that became evident in 1987 continued and grew for many commodities. The increasing and more stable commodity prices, still predominantly in the metals sector, reinforced both the new ways of conducting business and the use of technological advancements in successfully lowering operating costs during the last 4 to 6 years. Some commodities and companies still struggled to survive, but increases in productivity and profits were becoming more common.

Jan 1, 1990

By Steven J. Schatzel

Large-scale methane releases in dual salt mines have resulted in ignitions and mine fatalities as recently as 1979. Several past studies have implied that hazardous methane occurrences in U.S. salt domes are distributed neither uniformly nor randomly, but are geologically controlled and potentially predictable. A first step by the Bureau of Mines in addressing the problem of methane in deal salt mines required development of a new test to determine volumes of gases in solid salt samples. This report considers the results achieved when 80 deal salt samples were tested for gas content by dissolution in a controlled atmosphere chamber. Criteria were organized to delineate salt types based on geological occurrence. Outburst samples range from 0.014 to 7.4 cm3 CH4/100 g NaCl, anomalous salt samples from 0.0027 to 2.6 cm3 CH4/100 g NaCl, and normal salts from less than 0.0003 to 0.31 cm3 CH4/100 g NaCl. The presence of higher hydrocarbons was most common in samples containing larger quan¬tities of methane. The presence of higher hydrocarbons appears to be useful in detecting methane hazards where some methane may be lost before gas content testing. An exploratory rotary and/or core drilling program, dissolution testing for gas content, and up-to-date geologic mine napping could allow a mine operator to assess methane hazards in dual salt.

Jan 1, 1984

By Edmund Newton

The Haile mine has been the outstanding gold-mining operation and the largest single producer of gold in the Appalachian region. Gold was discovered at the Haile in 1827, previous to the present operation, production has been nearly $4,500,000 (gold at $20.67 per ounce.) from somewhat over a million tons of ore, with an average extraction of about 70 percent. The Haile property, now operated by Haile Gold Mines, Inc., is in the southern part of Lancaster County, South Carolina, 3-1/2 miles northeast of the town of Kershaw and 55 miles north of Columbia, the State capital. (See fig. 1.) The corporation has a lease and purchase contract on 1,805 acres, covering the present productive area. In addition, it holds lease contracts on 1,500 acres additional adjacent to this area.

Jan 1, 1940

By J. Dean Warner

Alaska contains many critical and strategic minerals that are scarce in the conterminous United States. Among these are tin, tantalum, and columbium. This Bureau of Mines report summarizes available data on the production, reserves, and occurrences of these minerals in Alaska. Alaska produces about 200,000 lb of tin per year, with historical production since 1901 estimated to have totaled 5,830,600 lb. Measured, indicated, and inferred tin reserves total over 140,000,000 Ib. Much of the tin production has been from the placer mines of the western Seward Peninsula; however, most of the reserves are in that area's lode deposits. Alaskan tin occurrences are part of a belt of tin mineralization that extends along the western coast of North and South America. The Alaskan portion of this "tin belt" comprises placer occurrences and lode occurrences of five major types: greisen, vein, skarn, pegmatite, and volcanogenic massive sulfide. Greisen and vein occurrences are the most abundant, but skarn deposits have historically been the most economically important. Columbium and tantalum have not been produced in Alaska; however, they may be recoverable as byproducts of tin, tungsten, gold, or uranium mining. Approximately 135,000 Ib of columbium oxide (Cb205) are inferred within the Tofty placer deposits in the Manley Hot Springs district.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. M. Strong, Lauson Stone

Under the terms of the act establishing the Bureau of Mines, this bureau was authorized to carryon the work of testing and analyzing fuels which had been conducted by the technologic branch of the United States Geological Survey. That work included in its scope an investigation of the availability and uses ofliquid as well as solid fuels, for the original outline of the fuel-testing investigations contemplated, as soon as the funds would be available, a study of the liquid-fuel resources of the country and the making of related researches to determine how these resources could be utilized with greatest efficiency. Owing to the fact that many difficulties were being encountered in the adaptation of the heavier fuel oils for convenient use in internalcombustion engines, it was deemed best to begin the investigation of liquid fuels with tests of gasoline, a fuel in more or less general use. When this investigation began, the extensive introduction, especially by foreign powers, of liquid fuels for small naval craft had awakened much interest. However, the quality of gasoline was reported to vary materially in different countries and the quantity available was said to be rapidly decreasing, with the probability of a prohibitive increase in price. At the same time the claim was made that denatured alcohol, of fairly uniform quality, could be procured in all parts of the world, that unlimited quantities could be readily produced at a low cost, and that this fuel could be used much more efficiently than gasoline in internal-combustion engines. Such statements naturally led to a widespread belief that the time was near at hand when denatured alcohol would entirely displace gasoline as engine fuel. Therefore, the first investigations of the liquid mineral fuels logically embraced a careful series of comparative tests of gasoline and denatured alcohol in engines. A series of over 2,000 such tests was conducted at the Government fuel-testing plants at St. Louis, Mo., and Norfolk, Va., details of which are given in the following pages. The report is published by the Bureau of Mines because of the transfer of the fuel-testing investigations to this bureau.

Jan 1, 1912

By T. H. Jeffers

Significant amounts of cobalt are present in readily accessible spent copper leach solutions. The Bureau of Mines investigated the feasibility of extracting cobalt from these solutions in a multiple-compartment ion-exchange (MCIX) column. The effects of aqueous flow rate, resin flow rate, column height, and compartment height on cobalt extraction were determined. Cobalt extractions of 92 pct or higher were achieved at solution flow rates of up to 5.5 gpm/ft of column cross-sectional area and an aqueous-to-resin flow ratio of 40:1. Overall cobalt extraction increased as the column height increased, but cobalt extraction per unit of length was more efficient in 8-and 12-ftco1umns than in an 18-ft column. Solvent extraction procedures were utilized to purify and concentrate the MCIX column eluates and produce a cobalt sulfate solution containing 70 to 80 giL Co. Metallic cathodes containing over 99 pct Co were e1ectrowon from this solution. Zinc, nickel, and copper byproducts were also recovered during processing of the ion-exchange eluates. Estimated total capital cost for a commercial-scale 10,000 gpm of a spent leach solution containing 26 million. With credits for zinc, nickel, and copper estimated net operating cost was $9.36/lb Co.

Jan 1, 1987

By Stephan Stecura

Crystallographic modifications and kinetics of solid-state phase trans-formations were determined for five rare-earth" sesquioxides--La2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, and Gd2O3. Oxides used for crystal modification studies were prepared by thermal decomposition of the following high-purity salts of the five rare-earth elements--carbonates, chlorides, fluorides, nitrates, oxalates, and sulfates. X-ray diffraction patterns of the cubic and hexagonal oxides were indexed by a graphical method and patterns of the monoclinic oxides by Ito's method. The kinetics of crystallographic transformation were determined by high-temperature X-ray diffractometry. The kinetic data were interpreted using a shrinking sphere model. All of the transformations followed first order kinetics. Activation energies were calculated by application of the Arrhenius equation. These solid-state phase inversions were concluded to occur by a reconstructive transformation mechanism.

Jan 1, 1965

By Robert L. Kranz

Mining-induced microseismicity data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in a hard-rock mine were analyzed for spatial and temporal patterns that might prove useful for prediction of rock bursts or assessment of rock mass damage changes. Pattern attributes described and illustrated in the previous report (part 1) were applied to the study of aftershock sequences associated with two different stopes. The aftershock sequences were spatially and temporally fractal, and the fractality was maintained for up to 16 h following a sequence progenitor. This suggests mechanical interdependency among the after-shocks. No statistical difference was found in the distributions of fractal dimensions when comparing two different stopes or when comparing aftershock sequences initiated by blasts or bumps. This suggests a lack of sensitivity to both stress perturbation mechanism and local damage states. However, differences between the two stopes were found in other sequence attributes that support inferred differences in the magnitude of stress concentrations and damage near each stope, and over time as a stope is developed.

Jan 1, 2010

By W. O. Vanderburg

The leasing or tribute system has been an important factor in the development of our metal-mining industry, particularly in the gold and silver mines of the Western States. It has received its widest application in. the early history of many camps and in the last stages of many mines. The system is especially adapted to mining where the ore's occur in narrow veins or are erratically distributed in small bunches or pockets so that selective mining, hand sorting, screening, or hand cobbing is required to produce shipping or milling-grade ore. The leasing system is also applicable to the development of prospects where the owners are unable or unwilling to assume the risks of searching for ore. The virtue of the system lies in the opportunity it affords miners with little capital to get started; at the same time, it rives owners an opportunity to have their property developed at small cost.

Jan 1, 1934

By John E. Conley

Of the three chemical elements most vitally essential for plant growth the United States, before World War I, had developed ample domestic supplies of but one-phosphorus. During and shortly after the war period, the fixation of nitrogen was greatly expanded in this country, as in many others, insuring a supply adequate for agriculture as well as for munitions. However, in spite of a search for sources of the third element, potassium, which began years before the war, attained almost frantic intensity between 1914 and 1919, and continued for 10 years thereafter, it was not until 1921 that the American Trona Corporation put its Searles Lake operations into continuous production. This company in 1926 became The American Potash & Chemical Co. but has never supplied much more than 15 percent of the potash consumed in the American market. Likewise, though discovered in 1921 in drill cuttings from oil wells, it was not until 1926 that domestic deposits of potassium salts adequate to render the United States independent of foreign sources of supply were proved to occur in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.

Jan 1, 1944

By Floyd G. Anderson

This report reviews and summarizes information on prevention and suppression of dust in mining, tunneling, and quarrying published in the United States during the years 1958 through 1960. Unpublished pertinent data developed or assembled by the Bureau of Mines during this period also are included. Silicosis statistics reported by the U.S. Public Health Service indicate a sizable silicotic population in the United States and suggest a need for greater dust-control effort. A joint medical-environmental survey was begun by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Bureau of Mines to evaluate the magnitude of the silicosis problem in the metal mining industry in the United States.

Jan 1, 1962

By Walter G. Dupree

When the original version of this study was published in 1972 it was evident that a problem was developing on the energy scene. The ability of the United States to find the energy supplies it needed within its own boundaries--at least in the forms desired--was declining. Production of crude oil in the United States had peaked in 1970 and was declining slowly; environmental restrictions had begun to hamper the production and consumption of high sulfur coal; natural gas reserves were beginning to dwindle; and the development of nuclear power was proceeding more slowly than originally planned. Shortfalls in energy supply were being met through the importation of increasingly larger quantities of petroleum, but supplies were adequate and the price of the imports was below that of domestic production. The energy problem was more prospective than current. In October of 1973 the prospective problem became the "Energy Crisis' when the Arab petroleum exporting countries reduced crude oil production, imposed an embargo on the shipment of crude oil to the United States, and then raised the price of crude oil in a series of large steps. This crisis was a clear demonstration of the dangers of the dependence of the United States on imported petroleum, and of the Nation's vulnerability to the actions of the oil exporting countries. After the embargo was lifted, attention shifted to the immediate hardships resulting from the higher prices for gasoline, fuel, and electricity,

Jan 1, 1975