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By James Westfield

This report covers the calendar year 1954 and has been prepared and submitted to the Congress of the United States in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 106(a) and Sec. 2l2(c) of the Federal Coal-Mine Safety Act (66 Stat. 692; 30 U.S.C. Sec. 451-483). Background The Federal Coal-Mine Inspection program was established to carry out the provisions of Public Law 49, 77th Congress, H. R. 2082, approved May 7, 1941. This act has since been amended to be known as Title I -Advisory Powers Relating to Health and Safety Conditions in Mines, under Public Law 552, 82d Congress, approved July 16, 1952, which also includes Title II -Prevention of Major Disasters in Mines. Public Law 552 is known as the Federal Coal-Mine Safety Act.

Jan 1, 1956

By O. C. Blade

Total sales of diesel fuel in the United States continue to Increase. This growth is due primarily to two causes: More conversion to diesel units by the rail-roads In recent years, and the greater use of diesel engines in trucks, busses, and tractors. Following are some figures on the distribution of the fuel computed from data issued by the Bureau of Mines.2/ [ ] Deliveries of diesel type fuel from refineries totaled 91,522,000 barrels during the first six months of 1955,3/ corresponding figure for 1954 was 91,170,000 barrels. Information on the properties of this engine fuel is very important to the petroleum industry, engine manufacturers, and consumers. To supply such information the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, under cooperative agreement, are conducting annual surveys of diesel fuel oil produced in refineries in this country.

Jan 1, 1955

By John H. Soulé

This paper describes the location and general features of the ?Red Bed? or sandstone copper deposits in southeastern Colorado and New Mexico. Most of the areas containing this type of deposit were visited, and many deposits were examined. Some deposits were not visited because of lack of information as to their location. In the large area covered a great variety of climatic, geographic, and topographic conditions exists. Some of the deposits are in arid areas, whereas others are in heavily forested regions. Altitudes range from 3,400 to 9,200 feet, and the terrain varies from flat plains to rugged mountains. Transportation is a difficult problem in most of the districts, involving long truck hauls to a railroad and long rail hauls to a smelter.

Jan 1, 1956

By C. W. Owings

One phase of Bureau of Mines health and safety work is promotion of the use of safe and effective dust-collecting devices in connection with rock drilling in coal mines. To insure that adequate equipment of this type is available to the coal-mining industry, the Bureau of Mines conducts investigations and issues approvals for dust-collecting equipment that meets the requirements of a schedule established for testing dust collectors intended for use in connection with roof drilling for roof bolting and for other rock drilling. 6/ Performance tests are conducted under the provisions of this schedule by engineers of the Branch of Health Research. This circular describes briefly the requirements and procedure for approval and lists drill-dust collectors that have been granted approval as of January 31, 1956. The addresses of manufacturers of approved devices are listed alphabetically at the end of this circular.

Jan 1, 1956

By John R. Reynolds

This paper describes mining and milling methods of the American Smelting & Refining Co. at the Morning mine in the Mullan area of the Coeur d'Alene mining region in Idaho and is one of a series of Bureau of Mines reports dealing with methods and costs of mining throughout the United States. The Morning mine has been described previously in a Bureau of Mines report published in 1930,2/ and the milling methods and costs at the Morning concentrator were presented in a Bureau of Mines report published in 1932. 3/ These reports are supplemented by this publication, which presents data to show the effect of changing times and conditions on a typical medium-size mining operation during the latter part of its history, when costs were rising and production was from increasingly greater depths. The report contrasts two periods in the history of the mine-periods not too far separated in years but considerably different in economic conditions. During the first period (1939) costs of labor and materials were moderate, mining operations were just being transferred from the main shaft to deeper workings opened from the offset shaft, and the operation prospered. During the second period (12 years later) production costs had increased following the national trend in all industry, mining was from greater depths near the bottom of the ore body, and the operation was becoming unprofitable. Mining on the lower levels of the property ceased in 1953.

Jan 1, 1956

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of aviation gasolines and aviation jet fuels produced in the United States during 1955 was made under a co-operative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. Analytical data are presented for 116 samples of aviation gasoline and for 38 samples of aviation jet fuel. The analyses were made on samples typical of the manufacturers' 1955 production in their laboratories and the results submitted to the Bureau of Mines for compilation. The products of 20 manufacturers of aviation gasolines and of 16 producers of aviation jet fuels are represented.

Jan 1, 1956

By Hal J. Kelly

A picture of the ceramic industrial potential of the Pacific Northwest States is presented by reviewing the present ceramic industries, raw-material resources, and current market demands. A resume is given of the industrial plants manufacturing ceramic ware as well as available information on raw-material resources. No attempt was made to prospect for new deposits but rather to evaluate, insofar as possible, those already known. Since much of the industry is concentrated on the Pacific coast, most of the information available on resources concerns deposits in that area. Large, undeveloped districts in Montana and Idaho, however, offer promise of larger reserves of ceramic raw materials. Average annual production, some operating costs, and annual power consumption are given for each of the plants. Production and some cost figures are listed to show the limited nature of the present industry and to suggest fields open for new development.

Jan 1, 1956

By E. P. Carman

This report is the 19th in a series summarizing Bureau of Mines research and technologic work on coal and related investigations. The first 17 reports covered fiscal years; however, the 18th report3/ covered the 18 months from July 1, 1952, to December 31, 1953, to permit the publication of this and subsequent reports on a calendar-year basis. Most of the material in this report relates to publications by Bureau authors issued during the reporting period. Some work is referred to on which the results have not yet been published or may not be published for security or other reasons. In a few instances publications are mentioned that were issued before the reporting period but were not included in previous reports. Further details on the published work described herein may be found in the publications cited in the footnotes. Research and technologic work on coal by the Bureau is directed toward developing and encouraging increased conservation of coal resources through safer and more efficient mining, preparation, and utilization. Significant advances were made during the year in these fields, particularly in coal-mine safety and in preparation and utilization of the various ranks of coals.

Jan 1, 1956

By F. L. Wideman

This paper is one of a series on mining methods being published by the Bureau of Mines. It describes briefly mining practices at the Sunrise iron mine of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp., Platte County, Wyo. The Sunrise mine is in the Hartville iron district in east-central Wyoming (fig. 1). The district covers part of the Hartville Mountains, a region of moderate relief in which erosional features have been formed by the dissection of a low plateau. Altitudes vary from 4,300 feet along the North Platte River to 6,000 feet in the uplift. The climate is semiarid, with hot summers and winter temperatures below zero for short periods. Grasses, cacti, yucca, and low desert shrubs grow at lower elevations. Cottonwood and boxelder trees and willows grow along permanent streams; juniper and coniferous trees are confined to the higher elevations.

Jan 1, 1956

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of burner-fuel oils produced during 1956 was issued under a cooperative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, at the request of the Oil-Heat Institute of America and the petroleum industry. This survey is the second for this type of fuel, the first being made in 1955. 2/ The surveys are conducted to provide information on the characteristics of burner-fuel oils now manufactured for sale. They are similar in pattern to the diesel-fuel surveys, conducted since 1950, 3/ and are not intended to conflict with but rather to supplement them. The importance of fuel oil has resulted in the need for more information by the petroleum industry, manufacturers of heating appliances, and consumers regarding the types and qualities of the fuels currently being marketed. Samples of burner-fuel oil typical of their manufacture during the early part of 1956 were analyzed by the refiners in accordance with instructions from the subcommittee on fuel surveys of the Automotive Research Committee of the American Petroleum Institute, Results of the analyses were transmitted to the Bureau of Mines where the data were studied and compiled as shown in the tables of this report.

Jan 1, 1956

By O. C. Blade

Sales of diesel fuel in the United States during the post year and a half have increased greatly. In 1955 over 174 million barrels were sold of which 80 million (or 46 percent), were used by the railroads, and over 44 million barrels (25 ½ percent) of the fuel were used in trucks, busses, tractors, and heavy moving equipment. Vessels (12 percent), industry (9 ½ ), the military forces (4 ½ ), power plants (2), and oil companies (1/2 percent) account for the remainder. 2/ Dally deliveries of diesel type fuel from refineries averaged over 16,750 barrels during the first six months of 1956 in comparison with 15, 250 barrels during the corresponding period of 1955. 3/ Information on the properties of diesel fuel is very important to the petroleum industry, engine manufacturers, and consumers. To supply such information the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, under cooperative agreement, are conducting annual surveys of diesel fuel oil produced in refineries in this country.

Jan 1, 1957

By James E. Hill

In the course of exploratory drilling during World War II by the Bureau of Mines under the Strategic and Critical Minerals investigations Program, a problem arose as to the ultimate disposal of the drill core resulting from that program. The difficulties experienced in obtaining factual information to evaluate mineral deposits examined (during that program) influenced the Bureau in a decision to catalog and store the drill cores for future reference. Initially, the drill cores were stored at the nearest Bureau of Mines station that had space available for the purpose. Recently the Bureau stations at Minneapolis, Minn., and Denver, Colo., were designated as the locations of permanent drill-core storage facilities. Drill cores that are retained from Bureau of Mines mineral-exploration projects are stored at these two locations and are given preference in selecting cores for storage. Drill cores are accepted also for storage from other Government agencies, State agencies, private companies, or individuals on the basis of available facilities and consistent with the significance of the core in relation to Bureau of Mines objectives and national interest. Selection and acceptance of such drill core are determined by the Bureau of Mines. The drill cores stored at the two locations are available for inspection by any person having a legitimate interest in the mineral deposits represented by the cores. Approximately 1,850,000 feet of drill core can be stared in the facilities now available to the Bureau of Mines. Approximately 475,000 feet of drill care is stored or scheduled for storage at Minneapolis, Minn., and 240,000 feet of core stored or scheduled for storage at Denver, Colo. A list of drill core now in storage at the Bureau of Mines core-storage facilities at Denver and Minneapolis is included as appendix A.

Jan 1, 1957

By E. B. Olds

This paper describes the methods and costs of deepening the 3-compartment underground shaft in the Hooper Tunnel adit at the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company Crescent mine in the Coeur d'Alene mining region, 7 miles east of Kellogg, Shoshone County, Idaho. The work was done with the aid of a Defense Minerals Exploration Administration contract (No. Idm-E493, Docket No. DMEA-2764). Preparation for deepening the shaft was begun March 26, 1953, and sinking was completed May 27, 1954. The shaft, bottomed at 1,275.5 feet in 1939, was deepened to 3,276 feet, using mechanical mucking and intermediate pockets. A total of 50,349 man-hours was required to complete the work of sinking 2,000.5 feet, cutting 7 pump stations, and driving 2 pocket raises. The rate of advance was 7.1 feet of shaft per operating day, or 8.4 feet per day of actual sinking. The total direct cost for sinking was $205.20 per foot.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. P. Powell

Systematic waterflooding was first tried in Washington County, Okla., in 1937, when a 40-acre project was begun in secs. 24, 29, 32, and 33, T. 27 N., R. 13 E., jointly by the Keener Oil Co. and the Phillips Petroleum Co. The property later was sold to Lee Morrison. A second project was begun in 1941 in sec. 14, T. 6 N., R. 12 E., by the Oklahoma Oil Corp. Both projects were abandoned by the end of 1942. A third project was begun in 1945 and the fourth in 1948, but 1949 actually was the beginning of intensive waterflooding development in Washington County. The results of previous waterflooding projects are described in Bureau of Mines Reports of Investigations.2 3 4/ Oil production in the county followed a similar trend, dropping to a low of 990,000 barrels in 1945, then steadily increasing until 1956, when more than 4 mil-lion barrels of oil was produced. Most of the increase in oil production is directly attributable to water injection.

Jan 1, 1957

By Jesse A. Miller

ALTHOUGH the element titanium was discovered by William Gregor in 1790, over a hundred years passed before it was put to commercial use. The first commercial application of titanium was as an alloy additive to iron and steel, and the first ferroalloys were produced domestically in 1906. Titanium pigments were developed somewhat later and have been produced in the United States since 1918. The use of titaniferous material in welding-rod coatings first gained acceptance ill the mid-30's. The metal titanium has only had commercial importance since 1948; domestic production for that year was 10 tons. The relative importance of these major uses of titanium in various forms may he gaged by the consumption of titanium dioxide (Ti02) for these purposes in 1954. Of a total of 440,000 short tons of Ti02 consumed in 1954, 95 percent of the total was consumed for pigments; 2 percent for welding-rod coatings; 1 percent for non-titanium-base alloys and carbide; and 2 percent for miscellaneous uses. The titanium-metal industry is in its infancy, but it has more than doubled its output every year from 1948 to 1954, reaching 5,370 short tons in 1954.

Jan 1, 1957

By James Westfield

A brief resume follows of some recent activities of the Division of Coal-Mine Inspection that have had a favorable effect on health, safety, and the reduction of injuries at coal mines: 1. The Federal Mine Safety Code for Bituminous-Coal and Lignite Mines of the United States was issued originally by the Director of the Bureau of Mines on July 24, 1946, after consultation with management and labor representatives of the coal-mining industry. The code has been used by Federal coal-mine inspectors during their inspections of bituminous-coal and lignite mines as a basis for determining the existence of unhealthful and unsafe conditions and practices in these mines. A revised code was issued by the Secretary of the Interior October 8, 1953, following further consultations with representatives of management and mine workers, and was incorporated by reference in the 1952 and subsequent bituminous-coal wage agreements. The agreement of May 29, 1946, between the Secretary of the Interior, acting as Coal Mines Administrator under authority of Executive Order 9728, and the United Mine Workers of America, covering bituminous-coal and lignite mines in Government possession, charged Federal coal-mine inspectors with the responsibility of making periodic investigations of the mines and reporting to the Coal Mines Administrator any violations of the Federal Mine Safety Code. The inspectors were active in making prompt investigations of hazardous mines that had been closed by order of the Coal Mines Administrator to determine if enough improvements had been made to allow the mines to reopen. Federal coal-mine inspectors also had temporary authority to close mines they found to be imminently dangerous, but such authority (under Executive Order 9728) was removed on June 30, 1947, when Government control of the mines was terminated.

Jan 1, 1957

By John C. Machisak

Statistical data on injuries in the metal and nonmetal industry of the United States first became available to the Bureau of Mines by collecting reports from the operators for the calendar year 1911. Since then reports have been collected annually. The present bulletin, covering the calendar year 1954, is the 31st publication (1933-34 was published as Bulletin 398) containing statistical data on injuries at metal and nonmetal mines and related plants, and it 1s the first such bulletin to be published since 1942. The last publication was Bulletin 461, Metal and Nonmetal-Mine Accidents in the United States, 1942. The unpublished statistics for 1943-53 may be found in the Appendix of this bulletin. The Bureau of Mines is authorized to collect data on injuries and related employment at metal and nonmetal mines, but there is no Federal law that compels operators to submit such information. Therefore, all materials submitted are voluntary responses to the Bureau's requests for information. The figures presented herein may not be complete for the entire industry, nevertheless, every effort has been made to make them so, and the data given are believed to be representative of the hazards to which metal and nonmetal workers are exposed. Moreover, the figures are comparable as between States-which is significant in view of the lack of uniformity among the States as regards classes of plants covered by State laws, classes of injuries covered by State reports, and other factors that tend to make it impracticable or impossible to compare the injury experience of one State with that of another or comprehend the relative importance of the various causes of injuries in the industry as a whole.

Jan 1, 1957

By W. L. Dare

This publication is one of a series by the Federal Bureau of Minus describing methods and costs of minim, uranium on the Colorado Plateau. The La Sal mine is in the Big Indian mining district, about 29 miles southeast of Moab, San Juan County, Utah. The claims that encompass the mine were located in March 1953, and the La Sal ore body was discovered as a result of a drilling program begun in August 1953. The mine is owned by the La Sal Mining & Development Co., a subsidiary of the Homestake Mining Co. Homestake continued the drilling program and in May 1954 began sinking a 572-foot shaft and constructing a surface plant. The plant and shaft were completed in October 1954. The La Sal ore body is in the Chinle (Triassic) formation. it is tabular and dips with the enclosing beds about 8° southwest. The ore body is generally 4 to 8 feet thick but in a few places is as much as 20 feet thick it is being developed by a series of strike drifts and dip inclines, driven within the ore stratum on about 100-foot centers. A haulage level driven beneath the ore body is connected by raises to the upper workings.

Jan 1, 1957

By Ruth F. Brinkley

This report is the 16th of a series of reports originally issued annually and more recently biennially to acquaint the reader with the work of the Explosives and Physical Sciences Division, Region VIII.3/ In the majority of instances the results of the investigations are made available to the public through Government publications and journal articles. In certain instances (specifically as regards security-classified research, investigations of a confidential nature, and short-range programs of very limited scope) results are reported only to those immediately concerned.

Jan 1, 1957

By R. B. Bauder

In connection with a Bureau of Mines research program on utilization of Cuban lateritic ores, a comprehensive review was made of the chemical literature on nickel and cobalt. Initially, the review had as its objective the selection, from the voluminous literature dealing with the chemistry of these two metals, of only those references to reactions that were especially pertinent, or at least closely related, to the field of extractive metallurgy. Later, the coverage was extended to include references to the techniques and plant applications of extractive metallurgical procedures for the recovery of nickel and cobalt. In this report, the period from January 1929 to July 1955 has been covered, as it seemed logical that recent literature should be of greatest value. This cutoff date was established in order that the bibiliography could be issued at an early date, inasmuch as currently much work is in progress on the lateritic ores. Later, a supplement will be prepared extending the coverage to about 1900.

Jan 1, 1957