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By Edward H. Williams

IN the middle of the eighteenth century John Frazier and wife, Sarah Ingraham, removed from Boston, Mass., to Philadelphia, Pa., where he was held in such esteem that we find him one of the Committee which arranged the ball at Washington's inauguration. Their son John. Nalbro Frazier, was prosperous in his mercantile career and fortunate in his wife, .Anne West; who was an important personage in the early life of Professor Frazier. This cultured lady brought into the family an atmosphere of religious enthusiasm, of thoroughness and: of unity of purpose. Her son, Benjamin West Frazier, inherited her traits and displayed them during a. short and active life. Like his father, he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was a member of the firm of Zimmerman, Frazier & Co. In their interests he lived for a short- time in Montevideo, and on his return married Isabella Zimmerman, a daughter of the head of the firm. Their happy married life was cut short by the death of Mrs. Frazier shortly after the birth of the subject of this sketch which, occurred October 3, 1841. Mr. Frazier did not long survive her, and left his orphaned sons to, the care of his mother, from whom he had inherited a lovable and deeply religious nature, an : artistic temperament and a capacity for thorough work. Whatever of these traits fell by inheritance to these children were strengthened by the influence of their grandmother, and. the purity of mind, the delicacy of sentiment, the refinement of honor, which characterized. Professor Frazier, are due to Anne West Frazier, and are generally present in the characters of all of gentle blood who have been under the sole and immediate influence of a mature and refined woman. Professor Frazier was educated at the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, and passed thence through the University of

Sep 1, 1905

By L. H. Duschak, C. N. Schuette

In the years 1850 to 1923, the United States produced 2,426,000 flasks- (73,600 metric tons) of quicksilver worth $120,500,000. California yielded 2,195,000 flasks of this total; the remainder came from Texas, Oregon, Nevada, and A.rizona. Most of this metal has been extracted from low-grade ores, those containing less than 0.5 per cent mercury or 10 pounds per ton. The finished product or " virgin metal" is made at the mine and shipped in flasks. Quicksilver is unique in being the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperature. Because of this and other physical and chemical properties, it is perhaps more indispensable to industry than any other metal. On the other hand, the quicksilver industry of the world is of vanishing significance" when compared to the major mineral industries with respect to quantity and value of product, capital invested, or the number of men employed. The peculiar value of quicksilver is due to the fact that in some of its applications no substitute is available and in others the substitutes would be unsatisfactory or extremely expensive. Scarcely a branch of science or industry fails to make some use of mercury or its compounds. As a detonator for explosives, mercury fulminate holds first place and in safety and reliability could be replaced only by the highly expensive silver fulminate.t vThrough its use in detonators and in the metallurgy of the precious metals quicksilver is of special importance to mining. In medicine,in the manufacture of electrical apparatus, the production of pigments and antifouling paints, and the general field of experimental science quicksilver is equally indispensable.

Jan 1, 1925

By J. W. Thompson

CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTE-SALE BY ENTRYMAN. The timber and stone act (20 Stat., 89) does not forbid an entryman from alienating his interest in his claim; but the act makes illegal any prior agreement by which the entryman acts for another in the purchase. Worden v. United States, 204Fed., 1, p. 4, April, 1913. ASSUMPTION OF DEBT BY GRANTEE-LIABILITY TO CREDITOR OF GRANTOR. A grantee of a mine who agrees to pay the grantor's debts in part payment of the purchase price of the mines becomes to that extent the principal debtor, and the grantor becomes the surety, and the grantor's creditor may in equity enforce his claim against the grantee of the mine, and the grantor in such a case is not a necessary party. Silver King Coalition Mines Co. v. Silver King Consolidated Mining Co., 204Fed., 166, p. 169, April, 1913. RIGHT OF COTENANT TO MINE AND SELL. A cotentant in exclusive possession' of mining property who extracts and sells ore is entitled to charge against the proceeds of the sale the reasonable and necessary expense of its extraction and marketing, as in such case the cotenant is not a trespasser.

Jan 1, 1914

By James M. Link

Underground coal mining is the most hazardous industrial occupation in the United States.. Haulage accidents in underground coal mines contribute substantially to the occupational hazards of this type of work. In an effort to improve mine safety, a completely hydraulic transport system has been designed to move coal from the mine face to the preparation plant. The capital investment for the hydraulic haulage system is great, and the size of the mine developed for this study is large. Mine production for the conventional haulage mine is 1. 1 million tons of clean coal per year, while the hydraulic haulage mine will produce over 1.6 million tons of clean coal per year. Safety statistics for a number of mines of this size are shown.

Jan 1, 1975

By Richard L. Sanford

This report summarizes the results of an update on a previous Bureau of Mines grant (G0264026), and includes 5 additional years of computer pro-gram development. The directory includes a sampling of computer usage in operating and manufacturing companies, consulting firms, computer companies, research organizations, universities, and various governmental agencies. References to computer applications throughout the industry are presented as well as comments on program availability. The work effort on the updated directory concentrated on programs that are available to the public and are well documented.

Jan 1, 1982

By A. B. Hooker, L. C. IlsLey

Explosives have been fired electrically for several decades. Mountains have been tunneled, deep shafts sunk, extensive coal and metal mine workings excavated and, in times of war, railroads, buildings, bridges, and fortifications have been destroyed by means of electrically fired explosives. Modern engineering depends so much on explosives that their safe and efficient handling and especially their detonation are of prime importance to all those connected with the use of explosive agents. Electric shot-firing is only one method of igniting explosives, but it is rapidly spreading and because of certain inherent safety features should be encouraged. Data collected by the Bureau of Mines indicate that in the United States a large percentage of the blasting in quarries, shafts,· and tunnels, and from 15 to 25 per cent of the blasts in mining operations, are set off electrically. The Bureau of Mines is interested in electric shot-firing because of its use in mining, and especially because electric methods, when properly applied, are undoubtedly safer than other methods commonly used. Electrical problems of many kinds must be solved in dealing with the various phases of electric shot-firing. Success in using an electric detonator is closely linked with the resistance of its bridge, the resistance of its leg wires, and the insulation of its current-carrying parts. The proper layout of a circuit where a number of shots are to be fired simultaneously depends not only on the types of detonators that are used and their arrangement and interconnections, but also on the size and insulation of the wire leading back to the source of power, and even on the source of power itself. Various types of electric shot-firing machines have been developed, and these offer still another field for study. In investigations of electric detonators and electric blasting equipment, the oscillograph is valuable because it can record electrical activity over very short intervals of time. By its use more complete information about electrical performance can be obtained than by any other means.

Jan 1, 1926

By Henry P. Wheeler

As recently as 1915, helium was available only in very small quantities at a cost equivalent to $2,500 per cubic foot. It was a laboratory curiocity, and its properties were of interest to a limited number of scientists (11).3/ During the past 30 years, however, helium has grown from a plaything of scientists to a factor of importance in the prosecution of the recent war. Navy blimps filled with nonflammable helium proved to be more than a match for German submarines operating in the Atlantic. American bombers were able to fly unheard-of distances to drop bombs on Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokahama, and other Japanese cities because they had been made lighter with magnesium, arc-welded in a helium atmosphere. The Army utilized helium-filled radio-sonde balloons to obtain vital information concerning weather conditions affecting D-day invasions and other military maneuvers.

Jan 1, 1946

By R. L. Brown

This report, summarizing the Bureau of Mines research and technologic work on coal and coal products for the period July 1, 1950, to July 1, 1951, is based largely on publications issued during the year. The sixteenth in an annual series, it gives footnote references to publications giving further details of the research and technologic work described, except in a few cases where research data presented herein has not been published previously. During the year, the national fuels situation was generally one of plentiful supply.3/ Mineral-fuel resources appeared adequate for several hundred years at reasonably increasing rates of supply. Coal-production capacity was in excess of demand; petroleum supplies were adequate; and natural gas use was limited only by pipeline capacity. However, it was pointed out that a world war would drastically change this situation of relative plenty, particularly with regard to supplies of petroleum and its products. Conversion to the use of coal on a large scale would be required, and improved methods of mining and of processing and using coal in solid or fluidized form or converted to liquid fuels could materially contribute to our national safety.

Jan 1, 1952

By L. A. Conley

This report, covering the period January through December 1976, contains abstracts of articles related to cost engineering and economics for chemical and petroleum plants, mining, and other mineral industries from the following periodicals: 1. Air Pollution Control Association Journal 2. Chemical Engineering 3. Chemical Engineering Journal 4. Chemtech 5. Coal Age 6. Coal Mining and Processing 7. Combustion 8. Drilling-DCW 9. Electrical World 10. Engineering and Mining Journal

Jan 1, 1977

By H. Y. Sohn, Joshua E. Ramos, Moo Eob Choi

"A new technology for ironmaking based on direct gaseous reduction of iron ore concentrate is under development. This technology would drastically lower CO2 emission and reduce energy consumption by nearly 38% of the blast furnace requirements. Experiments were performed using iron oxide concentrate at 1150oC in a bench-scale facility, which was the highest temperature that could be reached in the facility. The reduction extent was determined at residence times of 3.5 - 5.5 seconds in which the reduction extent approached 43% with 0% excess H2 and 95% with 860% excess H2. Separate kinetics measurements showed that the rate is much faster at 1200 - 1400 oC. Experiments were also carried out using syngas (mixtures of H2 + CO). About 90% reduction in 3.5 seconds with 860% excess hydrogen contained in the syngas demonstrated sufficiently fast reduction for a suspension process and the feasibility of usingsyngas instead of pure hydrogen.IntroductionDespite the improvements in the modern blast furnace (BF) process, it suffers from many drawbacks. The process requires the feed in the form of sinters or pellets and high-grade coking coal. Thus, BF iron production is projected to decrease gradually [1]. The main factors for this are the environmental regulations [2] and the high capital investment cost.A large number of new ironmaking technologies have been developed or are under development [3]. Most of these processes, however, are not sufficiently intensive to replace the blast furnace because they cannot be operated at high temperatures due to the sticking and fusion of particles. Therefore, a new technology is under development for producing iron directly from fine concentrates by a gas-solid suspension technology, which would reduce energy consumption by about 38% of the amount required by the blast furnace and drastically lower environmental pollution, especially CO2 emission, from the steel industry."

Jan 1, 2009

By N. R. Paterson, D. G. MacKay

"The geology of the Mattagami mining camp, while of particular economic significance, is unfortunately obscured by a very thick mantle of overburden. For this reason geo-physical methods have been relied upon heavily in exploring the area. Geophysical data over five important sulphide discoveries show how targets are selected for drilling and how effective geophysics has been in assisting subsequent development programs."

Jan 1, 1960

By C. R. Breck

THERE has been a running discussion over the past several years with respect to the life and adequacy of our natural gas reserves. Some of the experts agree on one phase of the subject at least-that eventually it will be necessary to augment deliveries of natural gas in the northern markets by the development of a more or less comparable synthetic gas made from coal. The purpose of this paper is to point out: 1. It may be later than a good many people think-the demand for addi¬tional domestic and commercial pipeline gas in at least one section of the North will probably be felt rather keenly before an adequate synthetic pipe¬line-gas project, developed on economic lines, could be completed, even if initiated in the near future. 2. The evidence is considerable that such a project would be technically sound and economically self-supporting, although the margin of profit at first might be so small and the magnitude of an economic enterprise so great -that financing would be impossible without Government aid in some form or other. The part of the country referred to is the heavily populated section in the northeast of the United States. To simplify an examination of the situa¬tion, let us take the potential marketing areas within range to the north and east of the three pipelines: 1. Tennessee Gas Transmission Co. as it enters Erie County, New York state. 2. Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation just before the tap that sup¬plies the general Philadelphia area. 3. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation as it enters the state of New Jersey. The sources of gas for these three pipelines are in Texas and Louisiana. The ultimate maximum combined capacity of the three lines at the points stated is approximately 1,200,000,000 cu ft per 24 hr at the maximum load factor probable of attainment in normal operation. The areas supplied by the three lines north and east of the points stated, or assumed as eventual markets, are: 1. Central New York state, from Buffalo to Albany (both inclusive).

Jan 1, 1953

By F. Lowell Lawrance

JOHN SMITH, citizen of the U.S.A., has become so accustomed to reading that Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to pay war costs. that he no longer is impressed by relatively small figures, such as several hundred thousand or a few million, in connection with Government departments.

Jan 1, 1944

By Richard E. Thill

The Bureau of Mines' Oil Shale Data Bank (OSDB) was created in 1976 to serve as a centralized source for the storage, retrieval, and dissemination of technical literature, patents, and information on research projects in oil shale. Thousands of bibliographic references, patents, and research projects relating to the mining of oil shale have been identified, abstracted, and indexed according to selected keyword topics. The resulting data bank listings are contained in three sections, each with a separate keyword breakdown for use in rapidly identifying references pertaining to a specific subject. All references cited in the OSDB were published prior to an established cut-off date of May 1, 1981, when a redirection of Bureau of Mines programs resulted in the loss of project funds and the subsequent phasing-out of data bank operations. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The oil shale data bank listings are the result of a team effort of the project staff. The contributions of Jimaleen Jansma for keypunching, information acquisition, and data entry, and John Brandenburg and Sandra rake for keywording and information acquisition are gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is expressed to the staff members of the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, Washington D.C. for their cooperation in supplying data on recent research projects in oil shale for inclusion in the OSDR listings. Appreciation is extended also to the staff of the Gallegos Research Group for assisting with computer services to obtain the final printouts and transfer of files onto magnetic tape.

Jan 1, 1982

As a part of its overall wealth in fuel resources, the United States possesses large reserves of coal of ignite rank. According to recent estimates of the Federal Geological Survey (3, 5),l/ the assured lignite reserves of this country amount in total to over 463 billion tons, equivalent to 24 percent of our total national coal reserve on a tonnage basis and 15 percent on a heating-value basis. Distribution and relative amounts of United States coal and lignite reserves are indicated in figure 1. By far the largest proportion of our lignite reserves, over 95 percent is found in North Central States, principally in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, in the vast coal-bearing structural grouping designated as the Fort Union formation. Of the remaining United States reserves, all but a fraction of 1 percent are found in a series of relatively scattered deposits in Texas.

Jan 1, 1954

By P Marlow

Raiseboring is an attractive method of constructing shafts, being safe, fast and comparatively cheap. But this means back-reaming through weathered ground. However in the gravels and weathered near-surface rocks typical of the Western Australian goldfields, back reaming large diameter shafts through to the surface is risky and conventional sinking from surface has normally been required.An alternative construction approach has recently been used to stabilise the weak surficial materials and allow raiseboring through to the surface. The method is based on first installing rings of non-contiguous reinforced bored piles around the shaft perimeter, for temporary support, then back reaming shafts at full diameter through to the surface. Immediately after the reaming head is removed, the weak exposed materials are supported using remotely sprayed fibrecrete.The method has been successfully applied to four shafts since July 2007; 3 m and 4 m diameter shafts at Trident Mine, a 3 m diameter shaft at Wattle Dam and a 4.5 m diameter shaft at Athena Mine.Bored pile layout designs have varied from eight to 24 piles, of diameters 120 to 270 mm, in one or two rings. In one case, the top 10 m of the proposed shaft was pregrouted. Subsequent surveys have confirmed that fallout occurred in some shafts, out to the ring of piles, implying that the piles inhibited collapse.The practical implementation of the method was not always easy and many valuable lessons have been learnt. This paper documents key aspects of the method and the critical elements for its application.

Mar 21, 2011

By S. M. Rupprecht

A deposit to be mined by underground methods can be accessed by a number of methods: ? Adit ? Decline or ramp ? Inclined shaft ? Vertical shaft. Adits are an economical approach when the orebody is above the general floor elevation i.e. suitable in hilly or mountainous terrain. Incline shafts are limited to relatively shallow deposits, and because they are developed on an incline, development lengths for a given depth are the three to five times longer than for a vertical shaft. Vertical shafts are the preferred method for deposits deeper than 300 m but the development rate is slow and construction costs are very high. Declines or ramps offer early access to shallow deposits, which develops the ore body expediently, but are generally developed at a gradient of approximately 12 per cent. Decline haulages have become an attractive alternative to shaft hoisting, and over recent years the role of decline access has become more widespread throughout South Africa. Traditionally, South Africa has enjoyed the use of shaft systems, largely due to the large knowledge base of mining the Witwatersrand Basin, where vertical and inclined shafts were the norm. South Africa has also had the advantage of cheap electricity, giving shafts a definite economic advantage. However, in recent years the national power utility ESKOM has undergone an expansion programme that has led to tariff increases of nearly 100% over a three-year period. Based on the changes in electricity tariffs and technological improvements to underground haulage trucks, the economic inputs to access development have changed. This paper reviews mine access for shallow deposits as currently applied in South Africa. Based on current economic inputs, the paper investigates at what point a vertical shaft would be more economical than a decline system utilizing typical South African mining equipment.

Jan 1, 2012

By Thomas V. Falkie

In bygone days, the mineral engineer spent most of his/her time on the technical aspects of designing, building, and managing mineral operations. In the last few decades, mostly since the 1960s, increasing amounts of engineering man power and time are spent dealing with federal, state, and local government agencies, laws, and regulations. It is not possible to plan, design, build, or operate mines, mills, smelters, or even office buildings without detailed consideration of government regulations and permitting requirements dealing with environment, worker health and safety, etc. The four chapters of this section provide an overview of the social, legal, political, environmental, and health and safety aspects of mineral enterprise. The section sets the stage for the working engineer/geologist in industry, government, consulting, or academe and points the direction for more detailed study in each of these areas.

Jan 1, 2008

By Ryan Marsters, Adam Pring, Robin Dornfest

Raw water supply in the central Rocky Mountains often relies on trans-basin conveyance. Many of these older diversions incorporate high-elevation, miles-long tunnels driven over a century ago in hard rock. Tunnels were excavated using conventional drill-and-blast mining and weak ground was supported by timber sets and other various means. Over time, timbers rot and fail, rock quality deteriorates, and the timbers are gradually replaced by more timber, steel patches and braces, formed concrete, rock bolts, split sets, shotcrete, and other means which are commonly applied over existing support, thereby reducing tunnel cross sections, obscuring previous support systems, and rarely addressing the failing rock itself, leading to further deterioration of both the rock and the existing support. Traditional investigation techniques to assess compromised areas are often unfeasible due to access, depth, rubble and voids behind weight-bearing existing supports, confined space, poor invert conditions, poor ventilation, and flowing water. This presentation will discuss design procedures for assessing obscured ground conditions, assigning support classes which accommodate for unknowns, and implementing contractual means to address inevitable surprises or quantity overruns. Case studies include raw water supply tunnels in the Rocky Mountain region constructed between early to mid-20th century.

Dec 1, 2022

By Q. H. Liao, B. G. Monaghan

The options for designing slopes in complex geological conditions are reviewed. It is shown that modelling, especially numerical modelling, allows a degree of analysis that cannot otherwise be achieved. Examples are presented of how numerical modelling can be used to investigate fundamental aspects of rock mass behaviour. It is demonstrated that an important consequence of change in scale is that the mechanisms of failure also change. The complex failure of the footwall slope at Aznalcollar, a large open-pit mine in southern Spain, is discussed. Numerical modelling with UDEC (universal distinct-element code) has allowed the realistic simulation of displacements measured in the field

Jun 18, 1905