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By L. E. Schultze

The Bureau of Mines has devised techniques to recover lithium from geothermal brines as the chloride. More than 99 pct of the lithium was precipitated from a brine containing 170 mg/L Li by adding a solution of AICl3 and increasing the pH to 7.5 with lime slurry. The Li-Al precipitate was dissolved in HCl and sparged with gaseous HCI to recover the AlCl3; this resulted in a solution containing LiCl and CaCI2. The solution was evaporated at 1000 C to obtain a mixture of the chlorides from which 97 pct of the lithium was recovered and 90 pct of the calcium was rejected by leaching with tetrahydrofuran. The LiCl recovered by evaporation of the tetrahydrofuran was purified by dissolution in water and treatment with oxalic acid. The final LiCl solution contained 89 pct of the lithium originally present in the brine and had a purity of 99.9 pet.

Jan 1, 1984

By Murray Jacobson

A method for determining airborne trona dust concentrations using a midget impinger was developed. During sampling, the trona dust, composed of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, dissolves in the collecting medium (water). Resulting solutions are then titrated using 0.1 [N] hydrochloric acid solution. The mass concentration of the trona sample is determined from a calibration curve relating the volume of acid required for neutralizing a collected sample to the mass of the dust. Test results obtained using this method are equivalent to those obtained using a gravimetric sampling method.

Jan 1, 1971

By Stephen R. Iverson

The U.S. Bureau of Mines made an economic appraisal of the Buttermilk study area, Inyo County, California in October 1980. Results of surveys indicate no potential for metallic, non-metallic, or energy resources in the area. However, glacial till covering most of the area prevented bedrock examinations by the appraisal teams or earlier prospectors. No mining claims are known to be in the area. INTRODUCTION Present Studies The U.S. Bureau of Mines, Western Field Operations Center, searched county mining claim records and other data available concerning mineral deposits, claims, leases, production, and mining activity in the area. The Bureau conducted field work in October 1980 searching for prospects and claim locations. Fourteen reconnaissance lode and placer samples taken from the area were analyzed for gold, silver, and tungsten; a spectrographic analysis also was run on selected samples.

Jan 1, 1981

By R. P. Adams

Because of the extreme interest in materials with high melting temperatures and the advantages offered over the powder route for making high-density material, arc-melting and centrifugal-casting methods were investigated for preparing shapes of hafnium carbide with and without excess carbon. Highly satisfactory equipment was constructed and efficient operating procedures were established. Also, methods for preparing consumable electrodes and shrink-tolerant graphite molds were developed. Although crack-free hafnium carbide (6.3 weight-percent carbon) shapes were not made, coherent castings containing 9 to 13.5 weight-percent carbon were produced; the same compositions were shown to be resistant to thermal shock. Selected physical and chemical tests were performed on castings chosen for investigation by chemical and nondestructive inspection techniques. Electrical conductivity and thermal expansion measurements were made. Measurable oxidation of all the compositions studied was observed to start between 500° and 600° C. Attack by nitrogen, however, did not occur until temperatures exceeded 2,000° C. A linear relationship of the logarithm of the diamond pyramid hardness to the temperature was noted. Considerable scatter of the bend-rupture strengths at room temperature and of the tensile strengths up to 2,000° C was found. However, at the latter temperature and above, a definite relationship of strength to temperature was observed and some ductility was noted.

Jan 1, 1968

By Wilton Johnson

Native asphalt was produced in 1982 by five companies in two States, Texas and Utah. Bituminous limestone, used primarily as a paving material for street and road repair, was produced by White Uvalde Mines and by Azrock Industries, Inc., Uvalde County, Tex. Historically, gilsonite, a solidified hydrocarbon found only in Utah and Colorado, had been mined by American Gilsonite Co. and by Ziegler Chemical and Mineral Corp. from properties near Bonanza, Uintah County, Utah. During 1982, Hydrocarbon Mining Co., a subsidiary of the Oberon Oil Co., entered into a joint venture with Miocene Resources Inc. of Novato, Calif, to form Hydrocarbon Resources Co. for the purpose of mining gilsonite about 50 miles south of Vernal, Uintah County, Utah. Under the agreement, Hydrocarbon Mining contributed gilsonite-bearing properties held by lease or sublease as well as mining equipment to the venture. The property contained leases totaling 760 acres with probable reserves of 268,000 tons of gilsonite. Miocene Resources provided the partnership with a minimum of $200,000 to develop two of the leases and were to be responsible for management of the mining operations.2

Jan 1, 1983

A computer system for calculating the illumination on coal mine surfaces due to machine-mounted lights is described. Utilizing numerical models of mining machinery and measured data on luminaire output characteristics, the program computes the ft-candle levels incident on the mine entry surfaces for any desired machine/luminaire/ entry configuration. Shadowing effects of the machine are taken into account. Results are provided at 2 ft. intervals on the face, left and right walls, floor and roof. The system operates, interactively from a Tektronix 4014 graphics terminal which handles all input/output functions. The software is installed on a Cyber 74 computer that communicates with the terminal via telephone line.

Jan 1, 1978

By D. W. Bridges

Solvent extraction has become important in recent years as a unit process in extractive metallurgy. The flexibility and simplicity of the technique have attracted widespread attention, and numerous papers describing actual and projected metallurgical applications have been published. However, differences in terminology, procedure, objectives, and standards, as reflected in reports by different operators and investigators, have sometimes made appraisals and comparisons difficult. Consequently, a need appeared for n series of basic reports on the subject. This Bureau of Mines Information Circular is the first of such a series. It deals with the status of solvent extraction in metallurgy, as well as with the rudiments and terminology of the unit operation. In analytical chemistry, extraction of molecular species from aqueous media by immiscible organic solvents has been used for many years to separate and determine chemical elements (61).4 Complex chlorides of iron and other metals are readily soluble in ethers and ketones, as are the nitrates of uranium and thorium. Most metals are extractable as complex salts of some organic reagent, such as dithizone, 8-hydroxyquinoline, or cupferron.

Jan 1, 1962

By J. H. Jacobs

The first authorization, in November 1940, was for a plant of only several hundred pounds capacity at Boulder City, Nev. Improvements in the process and subsequent additions to some sections have enabled the plant to produce more than 2,000 pounds of manganese per day for substantial periods. By the time pilot-plant operations were suspended in June 1945, over 1,500,000 pounds of metal had been produced. The future of electrolytic manganese production obviously depends not only on satisfactory development of methods but on availability of raw material and demonstration of valuable uses. Investigations of manganese-ore deposits in this country, made since 1938 by the Bureau of Mines, have revealed large amounts of ore suitable for making electrolytic manganese. At first the pilot plant was operated on ore from the Three Kids mine near Las Vegas, Nev. After practical features of the process had been worked out, other ores from throughout the United States were tested in the pilot plant. The purpose of this paper is to compare the results obtained on the following ores: Three Kids; Ladd mine, Tracy, Calif.; Chamberlain, S. Dak., nodules; and ore from Metals Reserve stockpiles at Deming, N. Mex.; Cushman, Ark.; and Philipsburg, Mont.

Dec 1, 1947

By Elmer E. Buban

A lightweight compressed oxygen rescue breathing apparatus (RBA) for rescue and recovery missions has been developed by Mine Safety Appliances Company under contract to the Bureau of Mines. The apparatus is a positive pressure, closed circuit system of 4 hours duration. The weight of the complete apparatus, including an optional cooler, is slightly over 30 pounds. Weight reduction over currently available RBAs is achieved through the use of lithium hydroxide for scrubbing C02 in place of conventional chemicals and the use of a composite glass fiber/ aluminum shell cylinder for oxygen storage in place of steel cylinders. Positive pressure is maintained in the breathing circuit at all times by applying a constant spring force to the breathing bag. The harness has been designed to reduce the work of the wearer by redistributing the weight of the apparatus to the wearer's hips.

Jan 1, 1981

By William E. Sopper

Heat-dried municipal sludge was applied to a barren burned anthracite refuse bank in 1974. Sludge was applied at rates of 0, 40, 75, and 150 dry metric tons per hectare" Ten species of trees were planted and five species of grasses and legumes were seeded for evaluation. One plot was also irrigated with sewage effluent. The 150 t/ha sludge application rate produced the best overall herbaceous vegetation growth response. The 40 and 75 t/ha sludge application rates produced the best tree seedling growth response. Foliar analyses for trace metals indicated no phytotoxity problems. Analyses of leachate water at the three-foot soil depth indicated that the sludge applications did not impair water quality. Results of the study indicate that treated municipal sludge can be used to revegetate land disturbed by mining activities without adverse effects on the vegetation or water quality.

Jan 1, 1978

By Duane L. Abata

This work, conducted under Bureau of Mines contract, deals with the development of a computer graphics software package that will: 1. display mine ventilation schematics and other representative Illustrations for a real-time data acquisition system under development by the Bureau, and, 2. utilize the Bureau-owned Minefire and Ventilation Code for display of ventilation on and contamination predictions. The software package has been written try operate on a 64K, Z-80 based microprocessor-computer. The project has been divided into two phases. The first phase dealt with the development of the graphics software The sec rind phase dealt with the retrofit of the Minefire and Ventilation Code to the Z-80 microprocessor-computer.

Jan 1, 1984

By Eugene T. Sheridan

The 22d annual survey of the packaged-fuel industry by the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, revealed that 26 plants in 8 States were in operation and reported production in 1956. The demand for packaged fuel in the United States has declined gradually since the end of World War II, and the number of operating plants has decreased from 70 in 1946 to 26 in 1956. Annual productive capacity of the industry has decreased also during this period, and the decrease in capacity was about proportional to the decrease in operating plants. Packaged-fuel plants are relatively small, and 85 percent of the active plants in 1956 had an annual capacity of less than 10,000 tons. The same situation prevailed in 1946, when 84 percent of the plants had a capacity of less than 10,000 tons. Total capacity for the 26 active plants in 1956 was 174,600 tons, an average of 6,715 tons per plant. Operating rates in 1956 were the highest since 1951, and the rate of production for the industry averaged 37 percent of capacity.

Jan 1, 1958

To improve communications between mine workings and surface locations during emergency situations and for administrative purposes. The Approach: Development of a device for interconnecting phone systems which permits two-way communication between a public telephone and a mine pagerphone by authorized personnel. How It Works: The system, developed by personnel at the Bureau's Pittsburgh (Pa.) Mining and Safety Research Center, makes connections between the public phone line and mine pagerphone line. As shown in Fig. 1., incoming calls are sensed by the ring detector (4) and the system "answers" the call electronically. To reach the pagerphone system, the caller inserts an audible tone of fixed frequency through the microphone of his telephone. This tone is produced by a miniature, pocket-carried tone generator and is detected by a tone recognition circuit (5). When this hap-pens, relay, switching, and logic circuitry (6) closes the connections between the two phone systems. Simultaneously, a page activator (9) places a DC paging voltage on the mine phone line.

Jan 1, 1974

By A. J. Kraemer

This paper is the second and concluding report of the results of the twenty-fourth semiannual survey made by the Bureau of Mines of motor gasoline marketed in the United States. The first report7 on this 1931 survey gave the results of the examination of the gasoline samples in accordance with the new Federal specification for United States Government Motor Gasoline.8 The present paper reports results of the examination of the gasolines for color, doctor test, gravity, end point, per cent recovered, copper-dish gum, and steam-oven gum. The retail price and the tax at the time each sample was taken are also reported.

Jan 1, 1932

By Michel C. Frippel

This section of the Minerals Yearbook reviews the minerals industries of 27 countries: the 12 nations of the European Community (Belgium, Dermark/Greenland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom); 6 of the 7 nations of the European Free Trade Association (Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden); Malta; the 8 Eastern European economies in transition (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia); and the U.S.S.R. Western Europe Western Europe [loosely defined to include the 12 nations of the European Community (EC) and the 7 nations of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)] is the single largest trading area and consumer of raw materials in the world. If Western Europe was at one time an important mining sector, it has now increasingly relegated the role of supplying minerals for its minerals processing industry to the more minerally endowed countries in North and South America, Africa, and Australia. In this regard, Western Europe is the most important determinant of raw materials consumption (and thus, indirectly, raw materials production). Western Europe has significant reserves of industrial minerals but has limited availability of metalliferous raw materials. It, therefore, imports significant quantities of the latter and ranks along with the United States and the U.S.S.R. in the production of refined metals. Nonetheless, there is an inherent tendency to underestimate the importance of Western Europe in the world of minerals, both as a minerals processor and raw materials buyer. The reason for this is that Western Europe is generally thought of on the basis of individual nations rather than as a whole. Viewed in this limited context, the United States, the U.S.S.R., and Japan appear to dominate the world economy. Viewed as one regional area, however, Western Europe includes the fourth (FRG), fifth (France), sixth (United Kingdom) and seventh (Italy) largest economies of the world, all bordering on one another. With the remaining 15 EC and EFTA countries, Western Europe has a land area approximately 40 % of that of the United States, exceeds the U.S. population by 50 % and has a gross domestic product about the same as that of the United States.

Jan 1, 1993

By Robert L. Montgomery

Heats of solution of samarium (III) oxide and chloride in hydrochloric acid and of samarium (III) oxide, sulfate, and hydrated sulfate in sulfuric acid were measured. The heats of solution of this hygroscopic oxide are larger than those from the literature, probably because of more complete removal of water in the present study. From the literature value for the heat of combustion of samarium, the heats of formation of samarium (III) chloride and sulfate are -244.18 ± 0.41 and -928.5 ± 1.6 kcal./mole, respectively. The heat of hydration of the sulfate is -34.7 ± 1.0 kcal./mole. The heats of formation of other samarium com-pounds have been recalculated, using the new data.

Jan 1, 1959

By Eliot J. White

The Bureau of Mines tested cores from 35 wells from 14 oil-producing zones in southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and western Kentucky to determine why rates of water injection were apparently low in some zones. Since these zones contain only minor amounts of clay minerals, it is concluded that permeability reduction results from movement of dislodged silica particles and other material, including the clays, that lines the pores. Both single-phase and two-phase permeability measurements, however, indicated that most samples had only low to moderate water sensitivity, so that permeability reduction due to such particle movement should usually not be of practical significance. The effective permeability to water was considerably lower than the effective permeability to oil during two-phase flow measurements, as is typical of most reservoir rocks. It can be concluded, therefore, that relatively high injection pressures will be required in waterflooding thin zones or zones having low permeabilities.

Jan 1, 1966

By E. C. Lane

This paper is the second report of the results of the United States Bureau of Mines twenty-third semiannual survey of motor fuel marketed in the United States. The first paper, reporting data relating to gravity, vapor pressure, and distillation range of the samples, was published as Report of Investigations 31293. A third and concluding paper giving the results of other tests will be published as soon as these tests have been completed. The present paper deals with the data of the twenty-third semiannual survey presented in accordance with the revised specifications for United States Government motor gasoline. The sample numbers used are identical with those used in Report of Investigations 3129, with additional data included for copper strip corrosion (method 530.22),4 and sulphur content by the lamp method. Three hundred and twelve samples were collected and analyzed in this survey. Two hundred and seven samples were competitive-price gasolines and one hundred and five samples were premium-price motor fuels.

Jan 1, 1931

By Dorsey A. Lyon, Robert M. Keeney

This bulletin is one of a series dealing with the application of the electric furnace to the smelting of ores and the manufacture of alloys, and is published by the Bureau of Mines in the endeavor to increase efficiency in metallurgical processes. The bulletin presents, first, a critical discussion of the possibility of smelting copper ores in the electric furnace; second, the results of the experimental work of other investigators on the electric smelting of copper; third, the results of experiments by the authors on the electric smelting of native copper concentrates and sulphide copper ores; and, fourth, a comparison of the electric furnace with the blast furnace and reverberatory furnace for copper smelting. Before considering the electric smelting of copper ores the reader should understand that the electric furnace was not developed as a competitor of the combustion furnace, but for the purpose of doing high-temperature work that can not be done in the combustion furnace, and for the treatment of ores from deposits that are in regions where fuel is scarce and costly but hydroelectric power is comparatively cheap, as in Chile, and in certain parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Furthermore, it is not the object of this report to try to prove that the electric furnace should replace the reverberatory or the blast furnace, as used at present in smelting copper ores, but to show that the electric furnace may be used with advantage in localities where conditions are not favorable to the use of the reverberatory or the blast furnace. For example, otherwise valuable ore deposits may be situated in a district so remote from, or inaccessible by, railway that the cost of get- ting coke for smelting, or of transporting the ore to a smelter, is pro- hibitive. If there is sufficient water power at hand, from which electric power can be developed at a reasonable cost, and this electric power is used for smelting the ore in an electric furnace, with subse- quent bessemerizing, if necessary, the concentrated product may be

Jan 1, 1915

By E. W. Dean

This report on the physical and chemical properties of typical crude oils of Oklahoma is the sixth in a series of preliminary chapters of a bulletin covering the producing districts of the United. States. Preceding reports* may be obtained on request. The details of the methods used in this survey in collecting samples, making laboratory tests, and interpreting results are discussed in the first three papers. If any errors or omissions are noted by readers, it is hoped they will be brought to the attention of the Bureau of Mines for correction before the appearance of the permanent report. Samples of Oklahoma crudes analyzed in this report were taken from those fields representing the major production of the State. The Oklahoma Geological Survey designates 172 different oil and gas fields in the State, S1 being in Osage County, 14 in Tulsa County, 14 in Okmulgee County, 9 in Washington County. The list of samples collected by the Bureau of Mines represents only 5 fields in Osage County - Bigheart, Burbank, Hominy, Osage Junction, and Pershing - yet these samples, together with those from adjoining fields, are representative of nearly all crude produced in the county. The sample 'from the Pershing field, for example, is representative of the crude produced in several fields in that part of the county - such as Nelagoney, Pawhuska, Wyomona - and the sample from the Skiatook,

Jan 1, 1922