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By Chas. F. Jackson

This paper is one of a series dealing with special mining problems and forming part of a general study of mining, methods and costs being conducted under direction of the Bureau of Mines. A considerable part of the material assembled and discussed in this paper has been gathered from articles on individual mines written by consulting engineers to the bureau who are engaged in active mine operation at the properties described, while other data have been taken from the technical press or gathered from personal observations. OBJECT AND SCOPE OF PAPER C. F. Jackson4 ha[-] pointed out that underground transportation (tramming, haulage, and hoisting) absorbs an appreciable percentage of the total underground cost of most mines, averaging for different methods of mining 12.9 to 28.4 per cent of the total underground cost. In general the percentage of cost accounted for by transportation was shown to be highest for the low-cost mining methods.

Jan 1, 1931

By Ludwig Schmidt

[Steel tanks often corrode rapidly in oil fields where the gas produced with crude petroleum contains an appreciable quantity of hydrogen sulphide. In many instances working tanks have been discarded after only six months of service because of failure induced by corrosion. Aluminum has been used for some time in the fabrication of certain equipment incidental to the handling of oils containing hydrogen sulphide L; as in solution, and has exhibited no serious corrosive action. These uses indicated that aluminum tanks might be equally effective in counteracting hydrogen sulphide corrosion. Consequently, in the spring of 1928, an all-aluminum stock tank of 500 carrels capacity and a "composite" tank of equal capacity, having a steel bottom and bottom ring and an aluminum top and top ring, were placed in service on the State-Lassiter lease of the Gulf Production Co. in Crane County, Tex. These tanks were under observation for one year, the test being sponsored by the Gulf Production Co., the Aluminum Co. of America, and the Parkersburg Rig and Real Co. The results of this preliminary test sustained the belief that aluminum is highly resistant to hydrogen sulphide gas and likewise indicated the type or grade of aluminum which could be most economically used for lease tankage. However, in this preliminary test the tanks were not subjected to contact with the large quantities of highly concentrated brines such as often are associated and produced with crude oil. Therefore, it was suggested by representatives of the Aluminum Co. that additional tests be made to include production conditions in which large quantities of brine would be handled, for pact experience had known that aluminum often is susceptible to the corrosive action of brines.]

Jan 1, 1931

By Ludwig Schmidt

Steel tanks often corrode rapidly in oil fields where the gas produced with crude petroleum contains an appreciable quantity of hydrogen sulphide. In many instances working tanks have been discarded after only six months of service because of failure induced by corrosion. Aluminum has been used for some time in the fabrication of certain equipment incidental to the handling of oils containing hydrogen sulphide gas in solution, and has exhibited no serious corrosive action. These uses indicated that aluminum tanks might be equally effective in counteracting hydrogen sulphide corrosion. Consequently, in the spring of 1928, an all-aluminum stock tank of 500 barrels capacity and a "composite" tank of equal capacity, having a steel bottom and bottom ring and an aluminum top and top ring, were placed in service on the State-Lassiter lease of the Gulf Production Co. in Crane County, Tex. These tanks were under observation for one year, the test being sponsored by the Gulf Production Co., the Aluminum Co. of America, rind the Parkersburg Ric and Real Co. The results of this preliminary test sustained the belief that aluminum is highly resistant to hydrogen sulphide gas and likewise indicated the type or grade of aluminum which could be most economically used for lease tankage. However, in this preliminary test the Wake were not subjected to contact with the large quantities of highly concentrated brines such as often are associated and produced with crude oil. Therefore, it was suggested by representatives of .the Aluminum Co. that additional tests be made to include production conditions in which large quantities of brine would be handled, for past experience had shown that aluminum often is susceptible to the corrosive action of brines.

Jan 1, 1931

By Lloyd L. Farnham

This paper is one of a series describing the mineral resources of the Nation, including location, history, production, ownership, geologic setting, and mining methods for most of the known manganese deposits in New Mexico, With few exceptions these descriptions are the result of field examinations by the writer. Of 32 counties, the 12 which occupy the western half of the State contain all the known manganese deposits, These counties are Catron, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, San Juan, and Taos. (See fig. 1.)

Jan 1, 1961

By N. H. Snyder

THE Bureau of Mines has been active in promoting the purchase of coal for Government use under specifications that define the requirements in terms of heating value of the coal, expressed in British thermal units, and the com-position as shown by proximate analyses. To these, when required, are added the fusing temperature of ash, Hardgrove grindability index, and the free-swelling index. Under most of these specification contracts the bidders guarantee the quality of coal, and that guaranteed by the successful bidder becomes the standard of his contract. The deliveries are sampled in accordance with instructions 4 issued by the Bureau; the samples are analyzed in the Bureau's laboratory to determine whether the coal is of the quality guaranteed by the contractor and, if it is not, a price adjustment is made. Analyses of delivered coal and "tipple" samples (samples collected at mine tipples as coal is being loaded into railroad cars or trucks) are valuable data for use in evaluating future bids. Moreover, the continuous sampling of coal as delivered is a check on the practical results obtained in burning the coal.

Jan 1, 1953

By Lewis C. Karrick

Although the Bureau of Mines has thus far made no large-scale experiments with oil shales, and the feasibility of the commercial manufacture of shale-oil products suited to present market requirements has not been demonstrated, there is ample reason to believe that these products will eventually supplement the more commonly used petroleum products and give equally good service. In 1919 the bureau, in cooperation with the Department of Metallurgical Research, University of Utah, began investigating the oil shales of the United States to obtain detailed information on their value. The States of Colorado and Indiana also cooperated through their State universities, in which research laboratories were organized to assist in carrying on the oil-shale studies planned and directed by the bureau. As a result of these studies much information is now available concerning laboratory methods of producing the greatest yields of the best products from oil shale. In order to study the principles that govern the retorting of oil shales and to test the oils produced, it has been necessary to develop and standardize reliable apparatus and methods for distilling shale, and to adapt to the testing of shale oils some of the methods the Bureau of Mines uses for testing petroleum. The methods employed by the Scottish shale-oil manufacturers were also studied, but most of them have been superseded by those described in this bulletin, which give more comprehensive and accurate results and employ more convenient apparatus. This paper is presented, therefore, as a manual of apparatus and methods that the bureau has developed for work on oil shale and found satisfactory for routine tests and for research. Explanation and discussion of the principles underlying the methods of testing are included wherever necessary for a clearer understanding.

Jan 1, 1926

By William W. Aljoe

The hydrologic characteristics of two abandoned underground coal mine sites, near Latrobe, PA, and Uniontown, PA, were investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Mines for possible implementation of alkaline injection into the mine pools as a means of abating their acid discharges. The Latrobe site was chosen for a one-time application of alkaline injection to achieve a partial, short-term neutralization of a limited portion of the mine pool. A quantity of alkaline reagent (sodium hydroxide) sufficient for a one-time neutralization of the water in this portion of the pool was added. Although nearly all of the neutralizing reagent had moved away from the injection wells within 6 weeks, no evidence of neutralization was noted at the mine discharge during the study period. This lack of neutralization probably occurred because the injection wells did not intercept a primary flow path through the mine. Criteria for successful application of alkaline injection at this or other sites include (1) positive identification of the primary flow paths through the mine pool and (2) addition of quantities of alkaline reagent sufficient to neutralize the entire volume of the pool along the primary flow path.

Jan 1, 2010

By L. L. Rethi

The U.S. Bureau of Mines summarized injury data for independent contractor employees working at all locations of coal and metal-nonmetal mines from 1983 through 1990. During the eight years, the greatest contrast in degree of injury between independent contractor and operator employees was in fatalities. From 1983 through 1990, there were 132 independent contractor employee fatalities in the mining industry. In 1988 though, independent contractor employees accounted for nearly one-fourth of all mining fatalities. The fatality incidence rates of independent contractors were consistently higher than those of operators during the eight years. For instance, in 1990, the contractors' rate was twice that of operator employees in coalmining and nearly five times that of operators in metal-nonmetal mining. Three other salient facts highlight the independent contractor employees' fatality injury data during these years. First, 82% of the independent contractor employee fatalities occurred at surface locations. Second, two job classifications?truck driver and equipment operator?represented 37% of the fatalities throughout the 8-year period. And finally, four accident classifications?powered haulage, slips and falls, machinery, and electrical?accounted for 71% of all independent contractor employee fatalities.

Jan 1, 1993

By G. L. Oldright

In an earlier series of 15 Reports of Investigations on Smelting in the Lead Blast Furnace, experimental data were given on the operations of a custom smelter, a smelter treating rich lead products, and a smelter treating highly zinciferous charges. Five "reports" were written on each of the three types of operation, which were later compared in a summary written for the Institute. Developments in each of these types of operation in lead smelting since the last of the above reports was written have continued and have followed modifications necessitated by changes in the nature of the products received for smelting. The sintering-blast furnace-smelting plants have improved their sintering operation .and have made "2-pass" sintering a more standard operation; the richer lead feeds are diluted when marginal precious metal ores are not available to prevent fusion of the sinter cakes and to permit air to contact the sulfides. Means have been devised to make it easier to remove metallic lead from the wind boxes, but no attempts have been observed to use the D & L somewhat as an ore hearth to make more metallic lead. Except in those cases where zinc-rich lead blast-furnace slags were to be retreated in a "slag-fuming furnace," the sintering and the blast-furnace operations were so carried out that a relatively "clean," lead-poor, final slag was discarded.

Jan 1, 1949

By D. Harrington

In recent years over 100,000 persons have been killed annually in the United. States by accidents; about one-fifth of these have been workers in some of our industries; about one-third have been killed by motor vehicles; about another third have mot death in home accidents, chiefly falls, burns, scalds, explosions, poisons, asphyxiations, suffocations, cuts, scratches, and so forth; and the rest have been killed in public accidents, excluding those caused by vehicles but including accidents on railroads or electric cars, drowning, and deaths by firearms and. other means. Definite statistics on nonfatal accidents are not readily available, but at least 10,000,000 fairly serious accidents probably occur in the United States annually. The latest industrial-accident statistics are obtainable from 1935 National Safety Council publications, in which annual industrial fatalities are divided about as follows (in round numbers): Agriculture, 4,500; trade and service, 4,500; construction, 3,100; transportation and public utilities, 2,900; manufacturing, 2,600; mining, quarrying, petroleum, etc., 1,900.

Jan 1, 1938

By C. C. Popoff

This report reviews the phosphate deposits, mines, and industry, and prospects in 10 districts covering most of the Montana phosphate field. These districts are discussed individually, and an evaluation of the resources and potential of each is presented. Phosphate rock produced from underground mines in the Garrison district is shipped to Canada for processing to fertilizers, utilized locally for production of animal feed supplement, and pulverized and sold for direct application to the soil. Production from the Melrose district is shipped to Silver Bow and processed to elemental phosphorus. The Maxville-Philipsburg district is destined to become a major producer with the development of the Douglas Creek mine and beneficiation plant by Montana Phosphate Products Co. Montana ranks fourth after Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho in total annual production in the United States. Production him increased from about 60,000 long tons of acid-grade phosphate rock in 1940 to more than 660,000 tons of acid-, beneficiation-, and furnace-grade ore in 1961. Montana has the second largest potential resources in the Western field; in the area south of Butte there are approximately 1.2 billion tons of phosphate rock (+18 to +31 pct P2O5) available above and within 100 feet below entry level; and in the northern part of the field there are about 67.6 million tons available above entry level. In contrast to Idaho, most of the phosphate deposits in Montana are best suited to underground mining.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. H. Denny

This paper discusses accident experience and costs in 150 Colorado coal mines for the 5 years 1929-33; these mines produced 62 percent of Colorado's coal tonnage during this period. This and similar studies by the United states Bureau of Mines in other States (listed in the appendix to this report) make available comparable information on mine-accident costs and bring out clearly the importance of accident reduction from the humanitarian as well as from the economic standpoint. Compensation insurance costs constitute a considerable part of the cost of coal output. The tendency toward greater liberalization of workmen's compensation laws and increased benefits thereunder may mitigate to some extent the seriousness of an accident to a worker and his dependents, but no compensation is paid ultimately, not by an insurance fund but by the mine operator and the general public, which includes the miner. The one really effective method of reducing compensation costs is to reduce the number and severity of accidents.

Jan 1, 1935

By William H. Lesser

A recent survey of pumping plants in the anthracite region of Pennsyl¬vania showed that more than 90 percent of the pumps in use are the horizontal centrifugal types (1).2/ This report on the design and operation of centrifugal pumps should be helpful to engineers of the region who must select pumps that are best suited to particular pumping conditions in anthracite mines. Before a centrifugal mine pumping plant is designed, the special features of the pumps that may be used should be considered, especially when low repair costs and continuous operation during flood periods are prerequisites, and when acid mine water is to be pumped. Two important advantages of a centrifugal pump are that the flow is continuous and that it can be throttled without developing excessive pressure or overloading its driving unit.

Jan 1, 1950

By Paul M. Tyler

Bismuth is a useful metal and rather an uncommon one . The element probably constitutes much less than one-millionth part of the earth's crust , but the potential supply - to no small extent as a by-product of the production of lead and copper with which it is associated in nature has tended for many decades to exceed the demand. A single mine in Bolivia could readily flood the world's markets , and considerable quantities of bismuth are allowed to escape recovery at many smelting plants .

Jul 1, 1931

By J. L. Eakin

Systematic flooding was introduced into Nowata County, Okla., in May 1931. The results of this means of stimulating the nearly depleted Bartlesville reservoir in the county has been the subject of four Bureau of Mines Reports of Investigations.2-5/ This report presents a discussion of four full-scale water-flooding projects in the Delaware-Childers field and 1 pilot project in the Curl Creek field (fig. 1). All five plants have been in operation for only a few months. Although substantial increases in the rates of oil production have been obtained 1 by the injection of water, the projects are of particular interest at this time because of the novel methods of operation and new equipment that are being employed. One project utilizes a portable "package" plant designed for a pilot operation. All of the controls for this project are centrally located. The design makes it possible to remove the test plant to another location if the project is unsuccessful or if the unit is to be replaced by a larger plant. This project also utilizes diatomaceous-earth filters successfully for the first time and makes use of plastic pipe. Another novel feature of the operation is the aeration of Arbuckle limestone water through an airlift in the supply well.

Jan 1, 1955

By D. E. Van Dillen

Seven configurations for panel entries of a longwall coal mine are compared and ranked according to structural stability. These entry configurations are analyzed using three-dimensional finite element modeling The models include large dimensions to minimize boundary effects, elastoplastic constitutive relations, and simulated excavation and construction of support systems. The stability criteria are formulated in a quantitative manner to facilitate the ranking of the entry configurations. These criteria are based on the expected volume of caved rock in the entry openings. The stability ranking is applied to the entry excavation phase, the headgate phase, and the tailate phase of the entry life cycle. Parametric variations are applied using two-dimensional finite element models to determine the sensitivity to changes in mining and design parameters.

Jan 1, 1981

By Scott Turner

I have been asked to speak briefly about recent progress in the mining industry of the United States, and to touch on the general advancement of en- gineering science as applied to mining. By recent, I shall mean within the past 20 or 30 years. Such a period includes a great many of the changes which are of particular interest to the present generation of engineers, and the undergraduates of today will hardly turn back farther than the beginning of the present century in their study of develop- ment of methods and processes. Also, my own professional life spans this period, and I have seen or have been aware of most of these developments as they were taking place. In my review of developments, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, I shall deal separately with improvements in metal mining, coal mining, mechanical and electrical machinery for mines, metallurgy, petroleum engineering, and safety practices. Under each of these headings I have set down what appear to me to be the outstanding changes brought about during the past 2 or 3 decades. Other points will occur to other engineers; I do not represent that the following re- view is complete; it is only intended to be suggestive. In general, improvements in mining and metallurgical practices have come gradually, the charges being effected little by little, simultaneously in widely scattered places, and through the experience and inventive genius of many men. These changes have has small beginnings, and are generally the cumulative result of many steady and unsensational progressions, which still continue. What we today might be inclined to consider the culmination of a series of betterments in mining is, of course, but an instantaneous phase of developments which will continue in the future at even a more rapid pace than they have in the past. We are looking at but a flesh of a moving picture, with an endless reel to come after we finally leave the theatre. Behind all the changes in the mineral industry, the driving force has been the increasing demand of an expanding population for more metals and minerals with which to advance civilization. More people, with an increasing per capita consumption, together with the exhaustion of the richer but smaller, and more

Oct 1, 1930

By H. C. Fuller, E. L. Anderson, F. S. Wartman, M. A. Cook

"This paper gives an account of the production of ductile-grade titanium powder in 100-pound batches by reduction of purified titanic chloride with magnesium, followed by grinding, leaching, and magnetic separation of the reaction product. Apparatus, technique, and methods of controlling product quality are described, and some data on operating costs are given.Although man has been aware of the existence of the element titanium for over 150 years, only recently has the metal itself been available in a form pure enough, particularly with reference to absorbed gases, to allow an estimate of its physical properties. In comparison with mild steel, the tensile strength of titanium is about the same, the resistance to atmospheric corrosion greater, and the specific gravity much less.These properties suggest the usefulness of titanium as a structural material for applications requiring resistance to atmospheric attack and a good strength-weight ratio. Although known reserves of titanium, high-grade enough to be useful at present are not sufficiently extensive to predicate that titanium might supplant iron, aluminum, and magnesium for structural purposes, the reserves are large enough to make its use as a structural material quite feasible in certain fields in which its unique properties are required.As a result of these considerations, the Bureau of Mines station at Tucson initiated an, investigation into the technology of titanium in 1938. First, a critical survey and small-scale trial of virtually all suggested methods7/ for producing the metal was made. The method devised by Kroll8/ seemed best adapted as a source of metallic titanium for, although the purity of the product was not as high as that of products from some other processes, it seemed that modifications in technique necessary for larger-scale production could be made more easily.Essentially, in applying the Kroll process, titanium tetrachloride was reduced to metallic titanium by adding the chloride slowly to molten magnesium contained in a molybdenum-lined iron reaction chamber filled with a protective atmosphere of argon. After reduction to the state of completion desired, the reduction mass and chamber were allowed to cool. Then the chamber was opened, and the reaction mass, consisting of titanium, magnesium chloride, and some unused magnesium, was removed by suitable means. Most of the magnesium chloride and metallic magnesium were removed by leaching in dilute hydrochloric acid. The leached sponge was then ground wet in a ball mill, releached in strong acid, and dried Removal of free iron by magnetic separation completed the production process.Development of the Kroll process by the Bureau was undertaken first at the station at Salt Lake City, in 1942 and the amount formed per run was increased in several steps from a few grams to pounds.9/ In addition to increasing the size of batch over that used by Kroll, the technique was simplified somewhat by the use of unlined reaction vessels."

Aug 1, 1949

By Thomas M. Barczak

Wood cribs are used extensively by the mining industry to stabilize mine openings. While the cost per crib is relatively low, their extensive use can result in annual mine costs of over $1 million. In an effort to improve the utilization of these supports and to reduce ground control hazards, the U.S. Bureau of Mines has developed engineering methods to assist mine operators in wood-crib design and employment. Design and employment criteria are established based on the strength, stiffness, and stability of the crib structure in relation to the load conditions imposed by the mine environment. Models have been developed based on full-scale tests in the USBM's Mine Roof Simulator that compute the capacity of wood cribs of various configurations and material constructions as a function of displacement of the crib structure due to roof-and-floor convergence. These models permit the comparison of the loading characteristics and costs of employment of different crib designs, and in conjunction with roof behavior models, provide a means to determine the optimum design and employment strategy.

Jan 1, 1993

By E. P. Youngman

The mining law of British North Borneo is entitled " The Mining Ordinance , 1927. 113 The only mining regulation or rule available is " Rules 313 , 114 passed in accordance with article 26 of the ordinance of 1927. Before the passage of this legislation , the country had no specific law governing the granting of mineral rights , although the land law contained provisions relating to mining lands . The land ordinance of 19135 still controls in a few details . All references in this paper , unless otherwise specifically designated , are to the mining ordinance .

Mar 1, 1933