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By Joseph V. Mather, E. H. McCleary

"INTRODUCTION Workmen are transported in shafts in various types of cages or skips, most of which were designed primarily for hoisting cars and materials. Therefore, in general the cages or skips are not completely enclosed, adequate and gates are not always provided, and at many mines signaling devices and telephones are re¬stricted to those at the various landings in the shafts.Shaft accidents are usually severe - frequently fatal - and as a rule such an accident is caused by failure to comply with company rules or by ignoring them.Sixty men were killed and 555 men were injured in shafts of the anthracite and bituminous coal mines of the United States during the 5-year period 1938-42. 4/ Many of these accidents could have been prevented by having properly enclosed cages and adequate locking devices on doors to prevent workmen from falling into the shafts.The officials of the Heidelberg Coal Co. contemplated utilizing an old coal-hoisting shaft as a man-hoisting shaft; however, it was their desire to avoid the use of the conventional cage and to try to provide a safer means of transporting men in the shaft. Investigations and studies made by the officials revealed that an elevator similar to those used in large buildings would be more economical in first cost, maintenance, and operating costs would be less, and it would be safer and more convenient for the workmen. Effective safety devices for such elevators have been developed to such a high degree that those properly installed seldom fail. The elevator or man cage finally chosen cannot be pulled above the top landing through mechanical or man failure; it stops automatically at each landing and cannot be moved while a door is open; when the cage leaves the landing the doors opening to the shaft are automatically locked by mechanical and electrically operated locks; electric lights, telephone communication, and push-bottom controls are available on the cage, and adequate safety switches and overspeed controls are provided."

Jun 1, 1947

By W. F. Wyman, S. F. Ravitz

"INTRODUCTION By far the greater part of the high-grade manganese ore used in the United States is imported from overseas. During the early part of the recent World War importations of manganese ore were seriously threated, and it appeared that it would be necessary to utilize low-grade domestic ores to the fullest possible extent. Among the processes that appeared to offer the best possibilities for beneficating low-grade domestic oxide manganese ores, which ordinarily are net readily amenable concentration by ore-dressing methods, were those involving leaching with sulfur dioxide. The Bureau of Mines therefore investigated the amenability of a large number of such ores to sulfur dioxide leaching.Several sulfur dioxide processes for beneficiating low-grade oxide manganese ores have been proposed. 3/ One of these, based on a patent by Van Arsdale and Maier, 4/ was used recently in a plant constructed to treat 1,000 tons per day of 20-percent manganese ore from the Three Kids deposit near Las Vegas, Nev. 5/ In this process the ore slurry is leached with sulfur dioxide gas, the resulting solution is evaporated to crystallize the manganese sulfate, the crystals are decomposed thermally to produce high-grade manganese oxide and regenerate sulfur dioxide, and the manganese oxide product is nodulized. The Bureau of Mines has recently developed a process 6/ in which a suspension of the ore in calcium dithionate solution is leached with dilute S02 gas, the manganese is recovered from the resulting solution by a simple lime precipitation, and the precipitate is nodulized or sintered to form a high-grade manga¬nese oxide product."

Jun 1, 1947

By Frank L. Wideman

"INTRODUCTION The Cphir Hill Consolidated mine was examined 2/ in January 1944. It was recommended that the mine be explored for the purpose of increasing of lead and zinc ore.The Bureau of Mines began exploratory work at the mine in June 1944 and completed it in June 1945. The work was planned to indicate ore that could be developed and extracted quickly and consisted of core drilling and trenching.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of exploration 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. Its the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by cash 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, O. C. Ralston, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests.The work reported on in this paper was conducted under the supervision of S. R. Zinmerly, removal engineer of the Western Region, and J. A. Marsh, district engineer of the Utah-Wyoming district. Subsequent to May 1945, the project was under the supervision of Paul T. Allman, chief, Salt Lake City Division, Mining Branch. The management and employees of the Ophir Development Co. wore very cooperative. Credit is due to the Bureau employees, all local men, for the excellent amount of work accomplished."

Jun 1, 1947

By G. A. Appell

"INTRODUCTION During the summer of 1945, the Bureau of Mines conducted an investigation and program of churn drilling near the village of Tennyson in Grant County, Wis. The work was undertaken as part of a general investigation of the zinc-producing area of southwestern Wisconsin at a time when all effort was being made to increase the production of metals important to the war program.The area for special investigation was selected on the basis of favorable structural disclosures, evidence of widespread zinc mineralization, absence of any great amount of exploration to depth beneath the productive shallow workings, and the favorable results of several churn-drill holes in the village of Tennyson.During the Bureau's investigation, 30 churn-drill holes aggregating5,888 feet were completed.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of investigation 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 project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual. Investigative work, and prepares the final report.The work described herein was accomplished under the direct supervision of Francis C. Lincoln and the author, mining engineers of the Bureau of Mines. Final data on the investigation were prepared under the direction of Edward F. Fitzhugh, Jr., chief Minneapolis Division, Mining Branch."

Jun 1, 1947

By T. F. Mitchell, J. V. Batty, R. R. Wells, R. Havens

"INTRODUCTION )ne of the most important wartime activities of the Bureau of Mines was the search for new sources of minerals necessary to the prosecution of the war. As a part of the investigation of strategic mineral deposits in the United States under the Strategic Minerals Act (Public 117, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., Ch. 190), examining engineers of the Bureau of Mines investigated and sampled various deposits of chrome ore in California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and those deposits that warranted further study were explored by diamond drilling, trenching, and drifting, as re¬quired. During these investigations, samples were submitted to the Ore Dressing Section of the Salt Lake City Station for metallurgical testing. This paper gives data summarizing results obtained from laboratory ore-dressing studies of the chrome ores submitted.Although the deposits range widely in geographical location, the mineral occurrence of all of them is strikingly similar. Chromium, in all of the ores tested, is present as impure chromite or chromium spinel. Although pure chromite (FeCr204 or FeO.Cr203) contains 68 percent chromic oxide, the iron may be replaced in varying amounts of magnesium, and the chromium may be replaced similarly by aluminum and ferric iron. In studying concentration methods as applied to chrome ores, the composition of the chrome mineral is of fundamental importance, because it is manifestly impossible to produce a high-chrome concentrate from a low-chrome chromite by any mechanical process.In all but one of the ores, the gangue material consists of olivine or altered olivine minerals such as serpentine, antigorite, and chrysotile. The exception, the Antelope or from Montana, has a gangue chiefly composed of actinolite, chlorite, and talc."

Jun 1, 1947

By Victor E. Kral

"SUMMARYA preliminary examination of the Buena Vista iron deposit was made in June 1942 by Paul E. Pesonen, mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines. Subsequent examinations were made by D. W. Butner, of the Bureau, in March 1943, and by the author in July 1944, who recommended exploration by diamond drilling, trenching, and sampling. Work on the project was done during the period March 28 to May 26, 1945.Property holdings, comprising 16 claims known as the Buena Vista group, are situated in sec. 4, T. 24 N., R. 34 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian, north Churchill County, about 37 miles east of Lovelock, Nev.Three diamond-drill holes totaling 575 feet were drilled; 45 small pits and ten trenches, totaling 435 linear feet, were excavated, and 84 channel samples totaling 862 feet were obtained under supervision of the Bureau.Purpose of the project was to determine the possible downward extension of the mineralized sections exposed in the outcrops and to determine grade of the ore.Bureau work was confined to one claim only - the Iron Mountain."

Jun 1, 1947

By W. G. Sandell, L. C. Bauerle, K. C. Dean

"INTRODUCTION As a part of the wartime activities of the Bureau of Mines, metallurgical services were extended to other Government agncies engaged in purchasing and stock-piling some of the more critical and strategic materials. At the request of Dr. Alan M. Bateman, special representative of the Metals Reserve Company, metallurgical studies were made on three samples of oxide tin ore from, the States of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, Mexico. The samples were submitted for testing by A. Porraz of the Financiera Miners, S. A., institution Financiera, Edificio Guardiola, Despachos 500-507, Mexico, D. F.The samples as received were marked Nos. 1, 2, and 3 and described as follows:Sample 1. - Origin: Mining camp ""El Naranjo,"" municipality of Sombrerete, State of Zacatecas, Mexico. This sample was partly concentrated by washing and as received was all minus 10-mesh in size.Sample 2. - Origin: Deposits in Sierra. Fria and Juan Cherey, municipality, of Jerez,State of Zacatecas, Mexico. This sample represented run of-mine ore.Sample 3. - Origin: Mine ""La Frontere, "" Ranch of San Pedro del loya, State of Guanajuato, Mexico. This run-of-mine sample was low in tin content but came from a highly mineralized tin field."

Jun 1, 1947

By Xavier B. Starnes

"SUMMARYThe J. D. Price property is in Crittenden County, Ky., about 5-1/2 miles west of Marion. The Levias-Crittenden Springs fault system traverses the property. Mines on 3 miles of the same fault system immediately northeast have produced about 250,000 tons of fluorspar ore. The Keystone property, adjacent on the northeast, has produced about 150,000 tons of ore. 3/About 1934, lessees, sank a shaft upon the Price property to a depth of 111.5 feet and crosscut from the bottom of the shaft to the principal fault. No ore was found. Later, in 1942-43, they explored the same fault by core-drilling, but this project also was unsuccessful in finding ore.The author visited the property in September 1944, and subsequently the Bureau further explored the property by core-drilling three holes. No ore was found.ACKNOWLEGMENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective 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. This ex¬ploratory project was under the general supervision of E. D. Gardner, regional engineer of the Central Region, and 0. M. Bishop, district engineer, Bureau of Mines. The mining branch is under the direction of L. B. Moon. The work on the project was under the direct supervision of Xavier B. Starnes, mining engineer."

Jun 1, 1947

By Reinhardt Thiessen

"INTRODUCTION Coal is a complex substance consisting of many different constituents representing many chemical compounds, very few of which are known. It is homo genetic, however, in that it is derived almost entirely from plants. But plants as a whole are complex, being composed of a large number of tissues, each consisting of a large number of cells in a great number of arrangements and composed of a number of chemical compounds in great variety of proportions, and enclosing a large number of waste products representing a large number of' chemical compounds as cell contents. Coal should therefore be expected to be a very complex substance.That coals are formed from plants is no longer debated, but the manner in which coal was formed from the plants leaves many problems still unsolved. However, in general it is now conceded that all coals of all ranks and ages had their origin in deposits completely analogous to our peat deposits of today and that coal formation is a process that runs through the whole series, beginning with peat, and through, the various ranks of lignite, subbituminous, high-, medium-, and low-volatile bituminous, semianthracite, and anthracite in a related chain. In the study of coal, it is therefore of the utmost importance to study and to know not only the plants contributing but .also the manner in which they are transformed into the substances forming the deposits. It is therefore of the greatest value to review briefly the formation of :,eat as it is known today, and to inquire into the facts as to what plants contribute to peat, what parts and products prevail, what are the chemical compounds that enter and which prevail."

Jun 1, 1947

By S. F. Ravitz, T. M. Romslo

During 1940 and 1941, the Bureau of Mines examined a large number of silver mines in Arizona for their potential as producers of manganese ores. Although very little manganese ore had been produced from these mines, it was generally known that manganese oxides in appreciable amounts were associated with the silver ore. Following the examinations, the Bureau further investigated some of the ore deposits by diamond drilling and other types of sampling. The results of these investigations, from the viewpoint of manganese, were discouraging. However, the investigations did indicate that appreciable tonnages of manganese-silver ores had been left in some of the mines by earlier operators. Most of these ores were too low-grade for direct shipping as ores of manganese or silver, and their beneficiation by ordinary processes was not economic. Exploitation of the ores appeared to be dependent upon the development of a low-cost milling method, which would yield a marketable manganese product and recover a high percentage of the silver. Later, the Bureau of Mines constructed an experimental mill at Salt Lake City, Utah, for the treatment of manganiferous ores by the dithionate process, designed to recover manganese as a high-grade product. The dithionate residues can be treated by other processes for the recovery of additional values that may be present in the ore. This development focused attention on the manganese-silver ores of Arizona and led to setting up Bureau project No. 370, which is the subject of this report.

Jun 1, 1947

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 R. C. Buehl, J. P. Riott, M. B. Royer

Sponge iron is the metallic product resulting from the reduction (removal of combined oxygen) of iron ore or other iron oxides at a temperature below the fusion point of iron. It has been used for many years in the production of certain grades of high-quality steel, such as tool and cutlery steels. The sponge iron available commercially in limited quantities for such use was produced from high-grade ores that were almost free from the contaminating elements that are generally considered detrimental to the production of certain grades of carbon tool steel. Interest in sponge iron as a scrap substitute was revived when World War II began, when the serious shortage of scrap metals for use in the production of armament caused great concern as to whether steel production could be maintained at the rate necessary for vigorous prosecution of the war effort. Also, because of the severe shortage, steel manufacturers…

Jun 1, 1947

By Harold J. Rose

The economic situation in Switzerland during recent years has resulted in theoretical studies , engineering development work , and many commercial installations of ingenious methods for using energy more efficiently . The purpose of the present investigation was to learn of recent Swiss developments for the more effective use of coal , which comprises 98.9 percent of the romaining known mineral - fuel reserves of the United States .

Jun 1, 1947

By McHenry Mosier

The application of diamond drills for blast holes is limited to the special Job of extracting floor and stope pillars, and therefore their operation is intermittent. The zinc ore drilled occurs in metamorphosed dolomitic limestone. The mining method is sublevel open-stoping on 200- foot lifts. Ample fresh air is provided by mechanical ventilation. Diamond drilling blast holes began in August 1944. Drills were mount- ed on a 3-inch quarry bar. The contract price for labor for operating equipment owned by the company was $0.23 per foot. The diamond bits were cast-set at the factory in a sintered tungsten matrix. Bit replacement costs were $0.15 to $0.20 per foot drilled. The feet drilled per bit ranged from 87 to 258. The feet drilled per diamond-drill shift ranged from 121 to 129. Holes were loaded with 60-percent special gelatin dyna- mite and fired electrically. In percussion drilling, the estimated feet drilled por machine shift with hand-held sinkers was 65. The tons broken per machine shift averaged 40 throughout the mine. Detachable bits have been adopted recently. The principal advantage of diamond-drilling blast holes at the Balmat mino is the extraction in a safe manner of ore not minable by short-hole drilling. The principal disadvantago is the greater cost per foot of holo in comparison with percussion drilling.

Jun 1, 1947

By John Taber, Robert D. O'Brien

"INTRODUCTION The Bozeman corundum deposit was first examined in May 1944 by an engineer of the Bureau of Mines. In August 1944, the property was re-examined because of a sharply increased war demand for corundum. A small program of trench exploring was undertaken after the second examination. The work was started in October 1944 and was completed in December 1944. This report presents the essential data obtained by the exploratory work.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 preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploration work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests.The field work on the Bear Trap project was supervised by E. W. Newman, district engineer Montana District office. The microscopic examinations and. the grid grain-count analyses of the samples and the beneficiation tests were made at the Bureau's laboratory at Salt Lake City, Utah, under the direction of S. R. Zimmerley, chief, Salt Lake City Division, Metallurgical Branch."

May 1, 1947

By Townsend. James W.

"INTRODUCTION As a byproduct of its mineral investigation program, the Bureau of Mines has developed a number of operating devices and techniques worthy of note. This paper, prepared under the direct supervision of Paul T. Allsman, chief, Salt Lake City Division, Branch, and under the general supervision of Lowell B. Moon, chief, Mining Branch, reports upon one such device. A simple device has been developed for measuring angles of deviation from the horizontal as recorded on a glass tube by acid etching. The device has facilities, also, for measuring the angle between the long axis of the ellipse and the north-south reference points established by a Maas compass or from an established axial lamina, on the tube, which was ori¬ented to a specific direction in the hole by rod alinement.The device was found accurate within half a degree on repeated orientations of the same tube. However, the degree of accuracy is dependent on the accuracy of personal manipulation in orienting the tube to the correct plane."

May 1, 1947

By John H. Soulé

"INTRODUCTION The Mining Branch of the Bureau of Mines has used the wagon drill to sample mineral deposits in New Mexico. This method of sampling was successful and con¬stituted an important phase of the work on five exploratory projects undertaken in 1943, 1944, and 1945. The deposits varied in topographic features, geology, mineral content, and in the physical characteristics of the rocks drilled. The altitudes ranged from 630 to 7,800 feet. Three hundred and seventeen holes totaling 6,852 feet were drilled. The deepest hole was 66 feet; the average depth was a little less than 22 feet.The results of the above-mentioned work form the basis of this report. Special attention is given to the later and more improved techniques used. This report was written with the expectation that the procedures might prove advantageous to others in the exploration and sampling of near-surface mineral de¬posits, and that a more extended use of the technique might result.AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgment is due Charles H. Johnson, chief of the Rolla Division, Mining Branch, for helpful suggestions in starting this work, and to J. H. Hedges, chief of the Tucson Division, Mining Branch, W. R. Storms, engineer-in-charge of the Silver City, N. Mex., Field Office, and Donald H. Mullen, mining engineer attached to that office, for assistance in preparing and editing this report."

May 1, 1947

By X. B. Starnes

"INTRODUCTION The Eva Tanguay property is in Crittenden County, Kentucky, about 1 mile south or the village of Mexico, and can be reached from Marion, the County seat, by travellng south on State Highway 91 for 6.8 miles and then turning southwest on State Highway 70 and traveling 2 miles farther.Although the property lies between the Huffaw and Pigmy properties, which together have produced 200,000 tons of fluorspar ore, production from the Eva Tanguay has been estimed at only 1,000 tons. Geological factors on the property indicated the likelihood of an ore occurrence, and the author examined the property in April 1944. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Geological Survey wrote a report on the property, which was not published. A drilling program was initiated by the Bureau of Mines November 1, 1944, and continued until eight holes totaling 3,137.5 feet were drilled.The holes showed that the Tubb fault system on the Eva Tanguay property is composed of three members, all of which contained commercial ore. The line dividing the Haffaw and Tanguay properties crosses the vein outcrops, causing a part of the ore indicated to be on each property.The mineral rights, which are leased by Robert Frazer of Marion, are owned by Mrs. O. S. Denny and W. C. Bohn, both of Marion."

May 1, 1947

By James V. Kelly

"INTRODUCTION In the course of Bureau of Mines investigations of iron ores near Scappoose, Columbia County, Oreg. during 1942, occurrences of laterite were noted in road cuts and outcrops at many localities in the county. In 1944, the State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries completed a preliminary examination of alumina-iron-bearing laterite occurrences in Washington County north of Hillsboro, Oreg.3/ Their report suggested that the lateritic material might be amenable to treatment by the Pederson process for the commercial production of iron and alumina. In order to determine the extent and character of some of the reported lateritic occurrences, the Bureau conducted preliminary explorations in Columbia County near St. Helens, Oreg., from January through June 1945. Almost simultaneously the Alcoa Mining Co. began to explore nearby areas. Their work was continued and expanded after the Bureau's work had been discontinued. This report presents the data obtained from the exploratory work of the Bureau of Mines.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral re¬sources 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, O. C. Ralston, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests.Samples were assayed at the Reno, Nev., laboratories of the Bureau of Mines under the supervision of A. C. Rice, acting supervising engineer, and at the Albany, Oreg., laboratories under the supervision of Dr. B. A. Rogers, chief, Albany Division, Metallurgical Branch."

May 1, 1947

By Guy E. Dent, Hugo E. Kuehn

"SUMMARYFor making a comparison of magnetic surveys measured from the ground and from the air, Worcester County, Maryland, was chosen as a proving ground. Vertical magnetic intensities were observed on the ground, and total magnetic intensities were observed from the air. A comparison of the two magnetic maps reveals similar large magnetic features, but these are displaced in some instances by distances greater than a mile. Magnetic terrane in the two charts is of the same type but often differs greatly in respective characteristic features.The sacrifices in accuracy that may be expected from the use of different systems of diurnal magnetic corrections on ground observations constitute a part of this report.INTRODUCTIONThe value of magnetic surveys for gaining information concerning the crystalline basement is recognized increasingly. That this topography is often reflected to a major degree in the overlying sediments with certain offsetting is well understood. Even where such sediments are deep, the surface topography of upper formations often reflects this bedrock topography to a certain degree."

May 1, 1947