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By David A. Lipton

In 1983, U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel examined mines, prospects, and mineralized areas to determine the mineral resources in the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness Study Area (WSA). The 14,571-acre WSA, located 42 miles east of El Centro, CA, is underlain primarily by Mesozoic granitic rocks and pre-Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks. Six prospects were found within the WSA and two mines are adjacent to it. Mineral deposits within the WSA have had insufficient development and rock exposures for calculating resources. The WSA contains no identified mineral resources; however, further exploration may disclose gem quality minerals. Two mines adjacent to the WSA, the Pack Rat and Beebe Hole, have produced gem quality kunzite and aquamarine from pegmatite dikes. According to the owners, a significant amount of gem minerals have been mined here in the last decade. Based on past production and the characteristic minerals indicating gem-bearing pockets, additional pockets are likely. Similar pegmatite dikes occur from Mt. Tule to Carrizo Gorge and may contain gem-bearing pockets. Pegmatite dikes also occur in the WSA near Rockhouse Canyon, but contained few of the mineral associations indicative of gem-bearing pockets. Manganese occurrences north of the Beebe Hole and Packrat Mines and within the WSA contain low concentrations of manganese. Significant sand and gravel were not identified. There is no evidence of deposits of oil and gas, or geothermal energy.

Jan 1, 1985

By W. D. Mcmillan

The Dempsey tract in Washington County, Mo., had a small production of lead-zinc ore from shallow workings. Old dumps from early-day lead mining contain about 25,000 tons of ore averaging about 3 percent combined zinc and lead. Because of the urgent war requirements for lead and zinc, the Dempsey property was examined by Otto Ruhl, formerly an engineer of the Bureau of Mines in August 1942 and selected for further investigation by churn drilling twenty holes totaling 1,309 feet were bored in the fall of 1943. The results of the work are presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 1948

By William W. Adams

A general increase in employment prevailed in the stone-quarrying industry of the United States during 1941 compared with 1940. Likewise, more accidents occurred to men working in and about the quarries, with the result that the accident-frequency rate for the industry as a whole was higher in 1941 than in the previous year. Reports from operating companies to the Bureau of Mines, covering open and underground quarries, as well as rock-crushing and rock-dressing plants, cement mills, and limekilns at or near the quarries, showed a total of 86,123 men employed and a total of more than 22 million man-days of labor performed during 1941. The total working time of the industry averaged 260 days per man. Measured in man-hours, the volume of work equaled 173 million, an average of 2,011 man-hours per employee.

Jan 1, 1943

By G. S. Scott

The investigation of the causes, behavior, and control of anthracite mine fires, which the Bureau of Mines has been carrying on has yielded several publications directly applicable to mine-fire problems. 3/, 4/, 5/, 6/, 7/, 8/ As a further step in elucidating the causes of heating in certain anthracites subjected to oxidation, reliable information vial needed relative to the actual amount of heat that is liberated when a unit volume of oxygen combines with anthracite at varying temperatures.

Jan 1, 1939

By Frank T. Duda

A U.S. Bureau of Mines interactive FORTRAN computer program can screen explosion-proof enclosures intended for underground service. The program incorporates important information and criteria to assist enclosure manufacturers and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) personnel by providing a first-order approximation of rectangular explosion-proof enclosure characteristics prior to actual certification testing. The program uses information and data that can be retrieved automatically during program execution. The program also performs the calculations for a series solution algorithm and various equations to evaluate the enclosure for both a static internal pressure and an internal explosion. The program writes the intermediate and final calculations and information concerning the status of the screening process to a summary file on a floppy disk. One data base contains MSHA certification requirements given in the Code of Federal Regulations (30 CFR 18). A second data base contains material properties of acceptable construction materials and weld joint efficiencies. A series algorithm determines bolt and cover stresses for a simply supported rectangular cover with arbitrary bolt locations. Limit and yield line analysis is used to calculate the strength of body panels.

Jan 1, 1989

By D. J. Bauer

The Bureau of Mines demonstrated the feasibility of fractionating lanthanide nitrates with a tertiary amine on lanthanum-cerium and thulium-ytterbium pairs. Optimum values were determined for pH, phase concentration, and percent chelation of metal ions in the aqueous phase. Percent extraction is markedly dependent on the concentration of lithium nitrate in the aqueous phase. Selective masking of the heavier element in each extraction system with DTPA or EDTA aqueous-phase chelating agents resulted in lanthanum-cerium separation factors of 8.5 and thulium-ytterbium separation factors of 3.4.

Jan 1, 1966

By R. Newman

An inexpensive slow-speed data acquisition system has been adapted to digitally record multiple parameters simultaneously at intervals of 15 seconds. The system was built for use with standard soils testing equipment to automatically record load and displacement parameters at predetermined instants in time. Simultaneous readout is achieved by the use of special signal conditioner and sample-and-hold circuits which read the multiple signals simultaneously and hold them until the slow acting system can print out. Three channels of a 10-channel system have been converted and found to operate successfully during a series of direct shear tests. A unique feature of the system, which significantly reduced its cost, is the power supply units. Dummy circuits are used to maintain a constant power demand during sampling) thus eliminating the need for a costly power supply with rapid response characteristics. The entire system, having an overall accuracy of 0.25 percent, was put in operation for a cost under $2,500.

Jan 1, 1970

By E. J. Matson

Under the investigation for critical and strategic minerals the Kaiser mine, formerly the Baxter fluorspar property, in northeastern Mineral County, Nev., was explored. The work comprised excavating 32 trenches averaging 90 feet in length, 8 feet in width, and 1 1/2 feet in depth. The trenches were excavated across the strike of the ore body to enable the engineer to spot the diamond-drill holes; 7 such holes were drilled, aggregating 3,276 linear feet. A total of 20 core samples and 107 sludge samples was taken. The work under this program indicated that the fluorspar southwest of the deposit extended laterally and also at depth at least 250 feet below the 400-foot level. INTRODUCTION The Kaiser fluorspar deposit is in the northeastern portion of Mineral County, Nev. Mining was begun about 1928, and the property has been a consistent producer of both Acid- and Metallurgical-grade fluorspar. The mineralized zone has been developed along a strike length of about 2,000 feet and to a depth of over 700 feet along the dip.

Jan 1, 1957

By D. E. Hirsch, J. W. Davis, Norman G. Foster, F. G. Schwartz

This investigation was undertaken to identify nitrogen , oxygen , and sulfur compounds (polar components ) found in catalytically cracked distillate fuel . It is significant that these compounds concentrate in the sediments and gum that form when the fuel is stored . The polar components were divided in three portions by elution from a chromatographic column filled with alumina . After the hydrocarbons were washed through the column with pentane , a benzene eluted extract was removed followed by an ether eluted extract and then an alcohol desorbed fraction . These extracts were individually distilled in a molecular still and the fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography , mass spectrometry , infrared spectrometry , and elemental and functional analyses . Naphthalene and its homologs , phenanthrene and its homologs , and other compounds such as methyl indene , C₂ quinolines , phenyl indan , and the benzothiophenes , appear in the benzene extracts . Quinolines are the major components of the lower boiling fraction of the ether extract , although carbazoles , acridans , and indoles are present in some concentration . Elemental and functional group analyses of the alcohol fraction indicated 10 percent of the distillate portion was nonhydrocarbon , and in this portion the average molecule contained more than one nonhydrocarbon element . Compounds of such complexity are not well known , and standards for positive identification are limited .

Jan 1, 1963

By H. S. Caldwell

The objective of this investigation by the Bureau of Mines was to develop and test for laboratory use a retort embodying many features required for practical commercial-scale applications of vacuum distillation of metals. A gas-fired vacuum retort was developed comprising a hollow, cylindrical graphite liner encased in a thin shell of stainless steel. The liner prevents the shell from collapsing under vacuum and protects it from corrosion by metal vapors and the molten metal charge. The vacuum-tight shell protects the liner from oxidation and flame erosion. The retort was used to distill zinc from dross and die-casting scrap. More than 99 percent of the zinc was recovered as a condensate containing 99.8 to 99.9 percent zinc. (Atmospheric distillation recovers 95 to 98 percent at a purity of 99.5 percent zinc.) Distillation rates of 50 pounds of zinc per hour were attained at a temperature of 65° C. with pressures ranging between 50 and 100 microns. Distillation at this low temperature is not practicable at atmospheric pressure. Also, the retort is suitable for distilling other volatile metals such as cadmium and magnesium.

Jan 1, 1961

By A. L. Engel

The Stayton Mining District in San Benito County, Calif., near Hollister, includes several square miles with many occurrences of antimony ore. The sample submitted for the test described in this paper came from a vein said to have been traced and sampled for 5,000 feet on the surface, 1,500 feet carrying 2-1/2 to 3 percent antimony and the remainder 1/2 to 2 percent. Thirty thousand tons 'With a content of 3 percent antimony are said to be blocked out. A drift of 200 feet on the vein has shown ore containing 4.2 percent antimony. The present sample assayed 3.8 percent. Previous flotation investigation of this are resulted in a recovery of only 71.6 percent in concentrates containing 56.8 percent Sb. It was desired to develop a method of treatment that would give better results. The antimony in the sample occurred as the mineral stibnite, Sb2S3, antimony sulfide.

Jan 1, 1949

By J. S. Dunning

The objective of this research by the U.S. Bureau of Mines was to determine the effects of AI additions on the sulfidation resistance of Fe-Cr-Ni alloys. A series of Fe-Cr-Ni alloys with and without -additions of 4 pet AI were tested in a wet S vapor atmosphere at 677 C. A study of the morphology and composition of corrosion scales indicated a different corrosion mechanism for AI-free alloys compared with AI-containing alloys. Aluminum-containing alloys formed a compact, tightly adherent layer at the metal-scale interface that reduced corrosion rates by a factor of 3 to 10 compared with that of AI-free alloys. The thin, adherent AI-containing scale limited inward diffusion of 0 and S to the base metal and outward diffusion of Ni from the base metal. Aluminum-containing alloys formed a three-layer scale in oxidizing-S environments, while AI-free alloys formed a less protective two-layer scale.

Jan 1, 1989

By Terry J. Close

In 1986 and 1987, at the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel studied 7,040 acres of the 7,240-acre Sheep Mountain Wilderness Study Area (OR-006-003) in order to evaluate its identified mineral resources. The area studied is along the divide between the Snake River and Pine Creek about 1.5 mi south of the village of Oxbow in Baker County, OR. No mineral resources or mineral-related activities were identified in the Sheep Mountain study area. The basalt covering most of the study area has no known mineralized sites. However, it contains common agate and opal that is of limited interest to mineral collectors. This basalt (stone) could be used locally as construction material (crushed stone or fill); however, suitable material is wide spread in the region and more accessible to possible markets.

Jan 1, 1987

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

This publication summarizes, for potential contractors and other interested parties, the proposed research, development, and demonstration contract projects programed by the Bureau of Mines for fiscal year 1977 (October 1, 1976-September 30, 1977) under its Advancing Coal Mining Technology program. The objective of these projects is to provide an ordered and sequenced series of advances toward the overall goal of providing the system technology required to increase the productivity of the coal mining process.

Jan 1, 1977

By Laurence G. Trudell

Geology and oil-yield data are presented for a 58-square-mile area encompassing the U.S. Department of the Interior oil-shale leasing program tracts in the western Washakie Basin, Sweetwater County, Wyo. Lithology and oil yields of samples from three Bureau of Mines coreholes are evaluated and correlated with Kinney Rim surface sections measured and sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey. Minable sections of oil shale averaging up to 25 gallons of oil per ton crop out on Kinney Rim in the Laney Member of the Green River Formation. Thick oil-shale sections in the Laney Member that average 15 gallons per ton represent 155 million barrels of oil in place per square mile. In the lower part of the Green River Formation the Tipton Shale Member contains a 20-to 40-foot section averaging 15 gallons per ton. Beds of high-volatile C bituminous coal up to 6 feet thick are present in intertongued parts of the lower Green River Formation and upper Wasatch Formation.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. L. Loofbourow

The adjacent towns of Rouyn and Noranda, centers of the Rouyn mining district of western Quebec, are 360 miles by air line almost duo north of Toronto. Rouyn is reached from the main lines of the Canadian National Railways and the Canadian Pacific Railway at North Bay, Ontario, by the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway and its subsidiary, the Nipissing Central Railway. Noranda is the southwestern terminus of a branch from the Canadian National Railway between Winnipeg and Quebec. The Rouyn mining district is a part of a mineralized zone that has been traced for a distance of 140 miles from Kirkland Lake in Ontario eastward into the Province of Quebec to the Pascalis district. From Rouyn the mine is 5 miler almost duo south over a gravel rend built by the company with assistance from the Province of Quebec.

Jan 1, 1933

By J. P. Powell

The importance of recovering more oil from known petroleum reserves has placed increasing emphasis on the application of secondary producing methods. One of the most successful of these has been the injection of water into depleted oil reservoirs. Water flooding is now recognized as a valuable conservation measure that not only prevents the premature abandonment of stripper leases but also is credited with reviving operations in many oil-producing areas previously abandoned. The injection of water into an oil-producing zone as a method of stimulating oil production was legalized in Kansas in 1935. Although water flooding had been attempted previously in other parts of the State, 1935 marked its introduction into the shallow stripper area of eastern Kansas. Two years later flooding was begun in the five-county area that is described in this report. Figure 1 is a map showing the water-flood areas in Allen, Bourbon, Crawford, Labette, and Neosho Counties, Kans. To July 1, 1955, the 77 projects in the oil fields of these 5 counties are credited with recovering an estimated 12.3 million barrels of oil that would not have been produced by methods used previously. These projects are expected ultimately to cover 10,700 acres, of which only 5,400 has been flooded to date.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. Mitchell Linnet

Bureau of Mines personnel examined mines, prospects, and mineralized areas to determine the mineral resources and potential of deposits in the Bucks Lake and Chips Creek RARE II areas in Plumas and Butte Counties, California. These areas lie along the west slope of the Sierra Nevada on opposite sides of the North Fork Feather River and encompass an area of 62,800 acres (25,400 ha). Metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Pennsylvanian Calaveras Formation are intruded by plutons of Mesozoic age. Mineral; of economic iterest are in quartz veins in metasediments close to these plutons; they are principally gold and silver with minor amounts of copper, lead, and zinc minerals. Molybdenum, copper, silver, and tungsten minerals occur in tactite along metasedimentary-granitic rock contacts. In both areas, auriferous Tertiary channel gravels have been extensively developed. Asbestos occurs in ultramafic rocks in both areas, and a limestone deposit was explored in the Chips Creek area. Gold is the principal economic mineral in the Bucks Lake RARE II area. The Shenandoah Mine (fig. 1, no. 19) contains 7,500 tons (6,800 t) of indicated and inferred subeconomic gold resources in sulfide-bearing, silicified metamorphic rocks of the Calaveras Formation (table 1). Similar rocks have yielded gold at the Edman and Megowen Mines, adjacent to the area. A high potential exists for additional lode resources in the area around the Shenandoah Mine. Callahan Mining Corporation personnel believe a multi-million ton disseminated gold deposit underlies the property.

Jan 1, 1983