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By B. J. Moore

This publication contains 14,242 analyses of gas samples from oil and gas wells and natural gas pipelines in 40 States and 24 foreign countries. These gas samples were collected in the period 1917-85 as part of the Bureau of Mines survey for helium occurrences. The gas analyses contained herein were made by several methods over the period covered. Analytical work on samples collected early in the period was done on the Orsat apparatus. The one-cut apparatus and four-cut fractional distillation equipment were added later. A mass spectrometer was acquired in 1949 and used for all gas analyses made after that time. From 1917 to 1978, helium analyses were made on special helium analytical equipment designed and built by the Bureau of Mines Helium Operations Laboratory. In 1978, this apparatus was replaced in the quantitative helium analysis work by a gas chromatograph.

Jan 1, 1987

By Forrest T. Moyer

All general measures of the safety record of the coal mining industry worsened appreciably in 1970. Injury experience for the year was 260 fatal and 11,552 nonfatal injuries at respective frequency rates of 1.00 and 44.40 per million man-hours of worktime. The fatality total was 57 higher and the rate of occurrence was 18 percent higher than the corresponding figures of 203 fatal injuries with a frequency rate of 0.85 in 1969. The worsened fatality record in 1970 resulted primarily from a major disaster (a single accident which results in the death of five men or more) on December 30, 1970, that killed 38 men. There were no major disasters in 1969. The total of 11,552 nonfatal injuries in 1970 was the highest annual total since 1960. It was 1,635 higher and the frequency rate was 6 percent higher than the corresponding totals for 1969 of 9,917 nonfatal injuries occurring at a rate of 41.76. The injury severity rate of 8,308 days lost or charged per million man-hours was 13 percent worse than that of 7,359 in 1969. Similarly, the average severity of 183 days lost or charged per injury in 1970 was 10 days or 6 percent higher than in 1969. Aggregate worktime of 260.2 million man-hours and production of 609.8 million tons in 1970 were, respectively, 10 and 7 percent higher than in 1969. An average of 144,480 men were at work on an average of 227 active days in 6,316 mines and 544 mechanical cleaning plants during 1970.

Jan 1, 1973

By Darrell L. Beddard

The Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 PM, Pacific Daylight Time. It measured 7.1 in magnitude and was felt from Los Angeles north to the Oregon state line and east to western Nevada. The epicenter of the earthquake was located along the San Andreas Fault, in the Southern Santa Cruz Mountains just north of the City of Watsonville, California. It was the largest earthquake to occur in the San Francisco Bay area since the 1906 earthquake. A total of 87 aftershocks of Magnitude 3.0 or larger were recorded within 21 days after the seismic event. As a result of this earthquake thirteen State-owned and five locally-owned bridges were closed to traffic. Three of the most publicized State-owned structures closed to traffic were Struve Slough Bridge, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Cypress Street Viaduct. Struve Slough Bridge was twin slab bridges that collapsed and were rebuilt and open to traffic three months after the earthquake. San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge experienced collapse of upper and lower spans at Pier 9 and was reopened to traffic one month after the earthquake. The Cypress Street Viaduct experienced collapse of 48 bents that resulted in the upper roadway falling onto the lower roadway.

Jan 1, 1996

Adolph Greiner, Seraing, Belgium:—I have nothing special to add to Professor Hubert's paper except to say that there are some little things that it would be well to have corrected when the paper comes to be published. In dealing with the thermal efficiency of the engine, you will find that the 29.84 per cent. was a very high one. Professor Hubert has forgotten those engines built under the Cockerill type, but he has referred to them in Appendix 11. At our works at Cockerill we have built 63 engines, giving 63,000 h.p., and the other companies who have received licenses have built 113 engines, making 103,000 h.p., and aggregating 176 engines and 166,000 h.p. Eight years ago I had the pleasure of giving to the Institute the results obtained up to that time. Since then a good many engines have been constructed. In 1898 I thought a blast-furnace producing 100 tons of pig iron would allow 3,000 h.p. Professor Witz and Professor Hubert show that with the same production of pig the new engines take 3,800 h.p. out of the gas. At present at Cockerill we make 700 to 800 tons of pig iron per day, and we hope to have 26,000 h.p. in a few years. At present we have only half of that in gas-engines, but we hope to have in five or six years all the gas out of these furnaces to the number of 25,000 or 26,000 h.p. Tom WEstGarth, Middlesbrough, England :—My contribution is not a paper in the ordinary sense of the word, because I am sure you will agree with me that what I have written is only supplementary to the other two papers. The notes are schedules of the larger-size gas-engines built by British engine-makers, of 500 h.p. and upwards. If you look at the schedules you will find that in England gas-engines have become quite ordinary motors for a good many purposes. It was at first thought that gas-engines were troublesome, and ill-

Jan 1, 1907

By Anderson Dana

THIS PAPER describing methods and costs of mining and preparing gravel and sand for market at the Port Jefferson plant of the Seaboard Sand and Gravel Corporation, is one of a series of articles on gravel and sand mining, prepared for and published by the U. S. Bureau of Mines, which is designed to disseminate technical information regarding the methods used. The cost tabulations represent operating expenditures only and not total costs, It is recognized that publication of total costs might in many instances cause embarrassment to individual producers, as well as to the industry as a whole. On the other hand, operating costs are essential to the technical [ ]

Jan 1, 1932

By David E. Thompson, Andrew F. McKown, Herbert H. Einstein, Amr S. Azzouz

INTRODUCTION Design of supports for underground chambers in rock has undergone considerable development. This becomes evident when comparing support dimensions of subway station caverns built in the U.S. over the past fifteen years. The Porter Square Station cavern, which is a part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Red Line extension, is the latest in this series. It is approximately 168 m (550 ft) long, 21 m (70 ft) wide, and 14 m (45 ft) high, and has a permanent support of light steel ribs imbedded in a 0.4 m nominal (15 in) shotcrete lining. An extensive construction control instrumentation program made it possible to evaluate the performance of the cavern and its support. This evaluation, which is presented in this paper, was the objective of a research project sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) and jointly conducted by Haley and Aldrich, and MIT. The actually used design procedure was compared with other approaches, notably procedures based on Finite Element analyses and empirical rock mass classification methods. Support dimensions predicted with all these approaches were compared to the actual support and its performance.

Jan 1, 1983

By K. M. Mohamed, R. K. Zipf

The shear strength properties of generic cement foam material and cement foam/concrete interfaces were examined at three testing scales. In laboratory direct shear tests on specimens with average shearing area of 0.006 m2 (10 in.2), the cement foam material had average peak and residual shear strengths of 0.88 MPa (128 psi) and 0.39 MPa (56 psi), respectively. Depending on the concrete strength, the cement foam/concrete interfaces had peak and residual shear strengths ranging from 0.71 to 0.81 MPa (103 to 117 psi) and from 0.27 to 0.29 MPa (39 to 42 psi), respectively. In laboratory direct double shear tests on specimens with average shearing area of 0.084 m2 (130 in.2), the cement foam/concrete interfaces had average peak and residual shear strengths of 0.17 to 0.30 MPa (25 to 44 psi) and of 0.11 to 0.23 MPa (16 to 33 psi), respectively. In large shear tests of simulated cement foam seals with the Mine Roof Simulator (MRS) test frame, cement foam/concrete interfaces with shearing area of 1.486 m2 (2,304 in.2) had average shear strengths of about 0.08 and 0.16 MPa (11 and 23 psi) along the roof and floor interfaces, respectively. The average shear strength through the cement foam material was 0.38 MPa (55.3 psi). Finite element analysis of the large seal tests and the back analysis of the shear strength of full-scale cement foam seals conducted at the NIOSH Lake Lynn Laboratory confirmed shear strength of about 0.14 MPa (20 psi) along the seal/rock interfaces. The study concluded that the structural analysis of cement foam seals should be based on their residual shear strength determined from small laboratoryscale tests of the cement foam/concrete or rock interface and not be based on their peak strength.

Jan 1, 2014

By George K. Schenck

This Bureau of Mines publication describes and evaluates a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) based end-use data system for minerals that is designed to link the demand for minerals to economic activity in commercial uses. The new data system is two-dimensional. The first dimension of technical product classes (TPC's) measures the consumption of minerals in major primary intermediate products. The second dimension measures the consumption of these TPC's in SIC end-use sectors in sufficient detail to identify the major determinants of demand for each TPC. Intercomodity comparisons are achieved at the level of SIC two-digit major groups. The methodology was developed so that all available sources of information from Government and industry can be utilized at minimum cost. This information will be supplemented with additional data to be obtained by modifying existing Bureau of Mines canvasses so as to elicit additional quantitative responses from mineral producers. The new data system is expected to improve significantly the ability to forecast demand for minerals, and provide an information base that would, for the first time ever, permit resolution of such questions as trends in substitution among materials and the intensity-of-use of materials in end-use sectors. For the 42 TPC?s identified in the report, data are available for the new system from current sources or, except for three TPC?s that require new canvasses, can be obtained by modification of existing Bureau canvasses.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. C. Chelgani

The Thor lake deposit is a world class resource of rare earth (REE) metals and minerals in Canada. Development work to optimize a REE mineral recovery process flow sheet is underway, however, given the ore mineralogy; the developed reagent scheme is relatively complex. As part of a research project, micro flotation tests were conducted on a feed sample in order to examine factors affecting stream partitioning. SEM-EDX was performed to evaluate variability in grain composition between streams (concentrate and tails) and TOF-SIMS surface analysis was used to determine statistically significant differences in surface species particularly related to potential activation (or depression) of the examined mineral phases. SEM-EDX analysis reveal that the concentrate has a significantly higher proportion of REE bearing grains (carbonates and phosphates) relative to the tail (almost none were identified). Spectral fingerprinting by TOF-SIMS has allowed for the identification of all reagent species investigated. Reagent signal intensity discrimination on test stream mineral surfaces was observed by the TOF-SIMS analysis using reagents at plant concentration levels. TOF-SIMS analysis confirmed that REE bearing grains reporting to the concentrate are doing so in response to collector attachment whereas grains reporting to the tail are doing so in response to a lack of collector and/or in combination with the presence of the depressant. The surface analysis of gangue phases reveal a similar reagent discrimination; the signal intensity of collector species was significantly higher on the concentrate samples relative to the tails while depressant species were significantly enriched on the surface of the gangue phases in the tail samples. A detailed evaluation of the surface species representing the various reagents used in flotation scheme revealed a distinct competitive relationship between two of the reagents. The surface analysis identified that when used in concurrently, there appears to be a negative feedback resulting in a significant reduction in loading for several of the collectors on grains reporting to the concentrate. An evaluation of the effect of reagents on REE mineral in pilot plant is currently under way. Key words: Rare earth minerals, Flotation, Surface chemistry, TOF-SIMS, SEM-EDX

Feb 27, 2013

By Ernest N. Patty

WHEN an Alaskan prospector makes a new mineral discovery he stakes out his claims and then starts prospecting for a near-by landing field. This may be a convenient lake but more often it is a gravel bar along a river, where, by cutting off some brush and throwing the larger rocks to one side and then tying a flour sack to a pole, he may decoy some intrepid aviator into testing it gingerly with the wheels of his plane. It was only a few years ago that .the fence around the baseball park at Fairbanks, Alaska, was taken down so that planes could get in and out of the ball park without ripping off boards. Today the grandstand is lost among the modern hangars which line one side of a modern and busy airport. Planes come and go all during the day, and in summer, when there is no darkness, the night stillness is frequently broken by the hum of a motor overhead. Fairbanks is the hub of interior Alaska and from that hub airplanes radiate in all directions to mining camps large and small. An air industry of comparable size is based at the town of Anchorage, and in fact there are but few towns of more than 200 population in the Territory that do not have one or more planes based there.

Jan 1, 1937

Perhaps one of the most important conferences or symposia which our Institute has conducted, was the joint Aus. LM.M./AJ.M.E. meeting held in Canberra in May 1978, with the theme International Resource Management (Woodcock, 1978).We were privileged to witness active participation in the meeting by outstanding personalities from the mining and metallurgical industries of Australia and New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom and to hear addresses on subjects of international significance to the mining and metallurgical industries.Our Institute is one concerned with professionalism.The principal objects of The Institute as described by our founders include, "promoting the arts and sciences connected with the economical production of the useful minerals and metals, and the welfare of those in the industries, by meetings for social intercourse, and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate by means of publications amongst its members and associates, the information thus obtained".Sir Maurice Mawby (1968) said in his Presidential Address to the Institite, "the most important aspect of these objects was the promotion of the arts and sciences of the mining industry".Why is it then, that a large proportion of the papers given at the meeting in Canberra dealt with world wide social aspects of the mining and metallurgical industries, rather than the technology, the arts and sciences of mining and metallurgy as principal factors in international resource management?The answer is quite simple of course, and that is that the social and political factors are the principal factors which create the demand for basic raw materials and in the long term determine the costs and prices of the commodities which our professional abilities are drawn upon to produce.

Jan 1, 1979

By D. R. Wilburn

The worldwide budget for non fuel mineral exploration was expected to increase by 27 percent in 2003 from the 2002 budget, according to the Metals Economics Group (MEG) of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The increase comes after five years of declining spending for mineral exploration. For the first time in several years, all regional exploration budget estimates for 2003 as defined by MEG would increase from similar 2002 estimates. However, MEG included 193 more companies in its 2003 survey than in 2002. As with previous MEG survey reports, estimates reflect anticipated expenditures rather than actual dollars spent. Caution, therefore, must be taken when comparing 2002 and2003 estimates or evaluating the magnitude of regional changes from year to year. Sample variations and currency exchange rates may influence year-to-year variations of MEG data. Even so, it is likely that the general climate of improved metal prices in 2003 encouraged companies that had previously left the mineral exploration sector or reduced their exploration activity to once again focus on minerals exploration or increase exploration activity and budgets.

Jan 1, 2004

Surface subsidence caused by coal mining operations was the subject of a very successful symposium organised by the Illawarra Branch of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in February, 1973. This symposium dealt with the principles of subsidence and overseas experiences arising out of underground mining. Since that time the New South Wales Department of Mineral Resources and Development (formerly the Department of Mines) has incorporated in the approval for pillar extraction certain conditions related to the monitoring of surface movement. Surveys and plans are required to be kept at mines where total or partial extraction of coal takes place. This paper traces the monitoring of surface movement in the Northern Coalfields of New South Wales over the past ten years. Reference is made to the National Coal Board's Subsidence Engineers' Handbook (1975) and how the guidelines expressed therein have been beneficial. Mining engineers in Australia are able to plan underground workings where minimum subsidence is allowable and are in a position to foreshadow the surface effects where total pillar extraction is carried out. In certain cases such surface effects can be minimised by structural design in buildings or pipelines.

Jan 1, 1980

By Hans de Ruiter

"Delft University of Technology, RWTH Aachen, Helsinki University of Technology and Imperial College established the Federation of European Mineral Programs (FEMP) in 1999 as a legal body to coordinate joint M.Sc. education.By 2003 the number of participating universities in Europe has grown to 9 (in 7 countries) offering 3 different M.Sc. joint programs. Furthermore students from 8 universities in the USA, Canada, Australia and Chile participate through exchange agreements. About 25 companies are associated with FEMP. Further expansion with other clusters of universities is being investigated.So far some 160 students have taken the programs and are working in all parts of the world in a variety of jobs.The European Commission has recently announced the new “Erasmus World” program that will stimulate the offering of joint programs by European universities and offer third-country students and teachers a greater opportunity for mobility and an enhanced European added value. Host European postgraduate courses will be selected for a five-year period. They will receive funding from the Community and a “EU” seal. Around 250 “EU Masters Courses” will be established.The envisaged new Erasmus program and it’s network and operating practices are very similar to those being used by EMC, EMEC and EGEC. Erasmus World therefore offers a great opportunity for further developments with FEMP as the official body.INTRODUCTIONThe current situation in Europe is that globalisation of the supply of mineral resources has caused the larger mining and the manufacturing companies to expand and invest particularly outside Europe. However these industries still have a great significance for the European Union and its members, which means that mineral engineering know-how is still important in the E.U. It was therefore realised in the mid-nineties that is vital to maintain the very high level of knowledge and skill base in mining engineering and mineral technology that currently exists in the E.U., through good and well-balanced education programs."

Jan 1, 2004

Analyses of scheelite from all the known scheelite fields in the South Island of New Zealand have shown that the scheelites are essentially molybdenum-free. The scheelites are almost stoichiometric CaWO4, except for some strontium replacing the calcium, with a maximum of 0·92 per cent SrO. Variation in strontium content appears to be' related to the metamorphic grade of the enclosing rocks.

Jan 1, 1970

By A N. Kasnanto, D A. Sims, J Pocoe, B Pulungan

In this case study we compare the sampling quality of diamond drilling (DD) and reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the high sulfidation Purnama gold–silver (Au-Ag) deposit located in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.There was a systematic bias of 23 per cent gold metal under-call in the diamond drilling based Ore Reserve estimate compared to the mill reconciliation over three years of production. The RC based Grade Control data and mill production data were in much closer accord. Investigation led to quantification of the significantly reduced sampling imprecision (or improved precision) of RC drilling samples relative to diamond drilling samples and the determination of a grade bias between the drill types caused by sample volume and metal distribution in the mineralisation. An infill RC drilling program was undertaken to improve data density across the pit for inclusion in the Mineral Resource estimate. This subsequently increased Au metal in the estimate by 16 per cent.The sampling imprecision of primary diamond drill sampling is rarely tested. Duplicate sampling can be used to quantify sampling imprecision at each stage of subsampling. In diamond drilling it is tested at the primary sampling stage via second half core sampling, while RC sampling is tested with field duplicate sampling at the rig. Duplicate data can be compared in a number of ways to determine imprecision including Thompson-Howarth plots which quantify imprecision to allow comparison between different methods and protocols. Comparing sampling imprecision between data sets and data types allows determination of optimum drilling and sampling protocols and can reflect upon the underlying validity of Mineral Resource input data and estimation outputs.CITATION:Sims, D A, Pocoe, J, Kasnanto, A N and Pulungan, B, 2017. Why combine reverse circulation and diamond drilling in Mineral Resource estimation at Purnama?, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 413–422 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017

De Beers? Finsch diamond mine began operation in the 1960s as a surface project using the latest technology available. During the 1990s, the operation, located about 160 km (100 miles) west of Kimberley, South Africa, began its move as an underground mine. The earlier stages (Blocks 1, 2 and 3) of underground work at Finsch used open stope mining methods, also using the latest in technology. The mine began developing Block 4 in 2004. How-ever, studies on this level showed that block caving was a more efficient mining method than open stoping. It was during those studies that De Beers determined that Block 4 would be a good candidate for testing Sandvik?s automated truck haulage technology.

Jan 1, 2008

Delhi Australian Petroleum Ltd., acting as operator for the joint interests of Delhi and Santos Ltd., has been engaged in petroleum exploration in the western Great Artesian Basin since 1958.Extensive airborne magnetometer, gravity meter, reflection and refraction seisomograph, and surface geological surveys have been carried out. Results of the surveys have considerably altered the concepts of the geology of the area.Seven exploratory wells have been drilled in the area. Results of the drilling have established the presence in the subsurface of previously unknown Paleozoic sediments which are capable of generating hydrocarbons.Production of oil or gas has not been achieved, but each phase of the exploration programme has resulted in progressively establishing the basic conditions necessary for the discovery of commercially profitable accumulations.INTRODUCTIONDelhi Australian Petroleum Ltd. commenced operations in Australia in 1958. They have subsequently been engaged in systematic exploration for oil and gas, acting as operator for their partner, Santos Limited. The methods and techniques employed are those used throughout the petroleum industry. The results of the exploration programme contribute to a better understanding of the basic geology, and concomitantly a firmer analysis of the petroleum producing potential, of the western Great Artesian Basin.Each phase has progressively enhanced the gross geological interpretation of the area with regard to favourable conditions for the generation and accumulation of hydrocarbons, but the stage has not been reached where productive potential is definitely established.Exploration status in 1958Basin configurationIn 1958 knowledge of the pre-Jurassic stratigraphy of the geographically defined western Great Artesian Basin...

Jan 1, 1964

By Lino Arias

The main objective of this project is to review and develop a comprehensive application of Lane’s cut-off grade model to a case study, as well as to compare its principles and results compared to break-even cut-off grade model utilisation under the same conditions. The case study sets the context of the application: A conceptual study of a gold open pit mining project requires a cut-off grade analysis, which consists in develop a cut-off grade policy that maximises the net present value (NPV) using Lane’s and break-even model.

Sep 1, 2017

By Doug Halbe

A number of CIP plants have been built in Western Australia in the past two years. The authors have surveyed several of these new plants and present drawings, data and discussion of operating and design innovations and areas of interest.

Jan 1, 1982