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By D. J. Parker

The oft-repeated expression that the taproot of safety lies in the attitude of the management toward accident-prevention work is indisputable and has become almost an axiom. Trite and somewhat timeworn though the statement may be, it is nevertheless true that the supervisory force must earnestly support a policy of safety and maintain at all times a con¬ siderate regard for the welfare of the employee if that high degree of cooperation of the employee, so vital to the successful prosecution of any safety program, is to be expected. The responsibility for preventing accidents rests upon the management, and in the case of the Spring Canyon Coal Co. such responsibility is recognized and accepted with little or no reservation. This company, aside from the humanitarian aspects involved, believes that safety is good business and not a matter to be treated passively or in a perfunctory manner. The problems with respect to safety that have been met and wholly or partly solved can best be appreciated when some of the natural conditions, adverse and otherwise, existing at this operation are taken into consideration. Mine 1 is about 1 mile north of the town of Spring Canyon, Carbon County, Utah, and is served by both the Denver & Rio Grande Western and Utah Coal Route railways. During the year 1931 the mine produced 312,397 tons, approximately 10 per cent being derived from pillar workings. The normal daily output during the summer months is about 2,000 tons, and during the peak of production in the winter season the daily production varies from 2,500 to 3,000 tons. The number of miners varies from 87 in summer to 220 in winter, and the day men vary in number from 66 in the winter to 45 in the summer; 12 company men are employed the year around. The officers of the company are J. B. Smith, president, San Francisco, California; T. R. Stockett, general manager, Salt Lake City; and G. A. Murphy, superintendent, David Brown, assistant superintendent, and John Sullivan, mine foreman, all of Spring Canyon, Utah.

Dec 1, 1932

By J. G. Kirby

According to the Bureau of Mines annual survey, there were 319 petroleum refineries in the United States as of January 1, 1957 capable of processing 9,123,674 [ ]-barrels of crude oil daily. This was the first time in eleven years that the total number of refineries increased. The crude throughput capacity of the refineries increased 491,284 barrels daily (6 percent) above the January 1, 1956 capacity. The East Coast and Texas Gulf Coast refining districts accounted for 60 percent of the additional capacity installed. Three new refineries were put into operation on the East Coast during the year with a total daily crude throughput capacity of 154,434 barrels while the other refineries in the district report a net loss in capacity, installing equipment capable of processing 140,000 barrels, but dismantling equipment with a capacity of 150,100 barrels. In the Texas Gulf Coast district, one new refinery with a daily crude oil capacity of 5,000 barrels was placed in operation in 1956 and 143,700 barrels of crude capacity was added to existing refineries. The capacity of the average refinery to process crude oil increased from 27,145 barrels daily to 28,601 barrels in 1956.

Jan 1, 1957

By H. Dolezal

An investigation was made on the use of magnesium for the direct reduction of rutile to make low-cost, offgrade titanium which could be upgraded to an acceptable grade of metal by electrorefining. Reductions made with charges containing magnesium chloride under hydrogen yielded products with oxygen con-tests close to the theoretical equilibrium composition. Two reduction products were made from rutile for use in electrorefining amenability tests: (1) a product from reduction in an inert atmosphere which contained 88.9 percent titanium and 4.42 percent oxygen, and (2) a product from reduction in a hydro-gen atmosphere which contained 92.5 percent titanium and 2.40 percent oxygen. Reduction products obtained under both of these conditions were amenable to electrorefining.

Jan 1, 1965

By Albert E. Long

Since December 10, 1945, the Mount Weather Branch, Mining Division, Bureau of Mines, has been maintaining detailed performance and cost records on the diamond coring bits used throughout the United States by the Bureau of Mince. Figure 1 is a copy of a typical master record sheet showing the scope and type of information recorded for each bit. It is the intention of the Bureau of Mines to issue analytical reports covering the effects of diamond size and quality on the cost of core drilling in different rocks as the information on a significant number of bits used in any one type of rock is accumulated. This report is the first of such a proposed series and is based on the diamond loss and bit costs incurred in the use of 539 AX bits in coring operations on 10 different projects involving 6,097 feet of drilling in gneiss. The 10 projects were located in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (fig. 2). As a result of the information accumulated on the use of diamond-coring bits in drilling in gneiss, it has been found that the type of bit, the matrix, the percent of core recovered, and the size and quality of diamonds used have a definite effect on the cost of bits per foot drilled.

Jan 1, 1950

By Joseph M. Pugliese

The Bureau of Mines through its contract research program recently analyzed the mining and environmental requirements in the premining stage for copper mining in the northern highland of Wisconsin. The Critical-Path-Method (CPM) was used in this research. However, a step-by-step derivation of the CPM Diagram was beyond the scope of this effort. The Bureau of Mines objective now is to show, step by step, how the original hand-computed CPM Diagram was constructed. The streamlining (restructuring) of this diagram from the original effort is also summarized. The critical path time (longest time) through the original CPM Diagram was 25.12 yr, excluding public liaison effort. This diagram showed the involvement of the regulatory agency, mining applicant and public in the premining stage. Analysis of this diagram produced a streamlined version which reduced the critical path time by nearly 7 yr. The CPM construction methodology offered here may be applied to mine planning for any mining operation.

Jan 1, 1983

By Robert C. Bates

This Bureau of Mines report converts published data on the cost of ventilating uranium mines to a common price base and analyzes these data to determine the cost per ton of uranium ore at various levels of radiation exposure control. There appears to be an exponential increase of cost as the radiation level is lowered. The 1967 base costs are extrapolated to present dollars, and some cost comparisons are given for other radiation control measures.

Jan 1, 1981

By Charles B. Kenahan

The chemical and galvanic corrosion properties of commercially pure titanium, a titanium-manganese alloy, a titanium-aluminum-tin alloy, 2 titanium-copper alloys, and 2 titanium-aluminum alloys were studied. Tests were conducted in synthetic ocean water, tapwater, 1-percent sodium hydroxide, 5-percent ferric chloride, and 5-percent ammonium sulfate solutions, various concentrations of sulfuric and hydro-chloric acids, and 1-percent oxalic acid. All tests were carried out at 35° or 60° C., with a flow of air or helium. Dissimilar metals involved in galvanic-couples experiments were aluminum, magnesium, and stainless steel. Electrode-potential measurements on single (uncoupled) specimens were also measured. Commercially pure titanium and the titanium-base alloys were generally quite similar in their resistance to corrosion, whether alone or in. contact with a dissimilar metal. Contact with the titanium metals caused aluminum and magnesium to corrode by galvanic action. Coupling with stainless steel in sulfuric acid solutions decreased the normal corrosion rate of the titanium metals. Contact with aluminum in air-aerated oxalic acid and 0.1N sulfuric acid solutions resulted in cathodic corrosion of titanium and the titanium-base alloys; however, there were a few exceptions. The copper alloys showed better corrosion characteristics than titanium in certain sulfuric acid solutions but were more susceptible to chemical attack in some hydrochloric acid solutions.

Jan 1, 1958

By D. H. Desy

The Bureau of Mines studied the properties of copper that had been oxide dispersion-strengthened with 2 vol pct of either yttria or alumina. Compounds of copper and aluminum or yttrium, coprecipitated from aqueous solution, were converted to oxides; the copper was reduced, compacted, sintered, and extruded. For the resulting copper-dispersoid composites, room temperature tensile properties after annealing in hydrogen, elevated temperature tensile and stress-rupture properties, and electrical conductivity were determined. Compared with oxygen-free copper, copper-2 vol pct alumina or yttria had improved strength after annealing between 400° and 1,000° C, and improved elevated temperature strength, with little loss in electrical conductivity.

Jan 1, 1969

By Franklin H. Persse

Domestic bismuth supply was projected from production figures for the ores in which it occurs--copper, lead, zinc, and tungsten. Published and unpublished data concerning host ores were examined to determine bismuth reserves and resources, and mine production. Potential recoverable bismuth occurring with reserves and resources of copper, lead, and zinc was estimated to be 36.3 million pounds. A bismuth availability diagram was developed from quantity estimates and ratios of production cost to value for these host ores. Additional recoverable bismuth occurring with domestic tungsten reserves was estimated to be 1.5 million pounds. Domestic byproduct production of bismuth will approximate 1.3 million pounds annually by 1980. This quantity will provide about 37 percent of the 3.5-million-pound estimated requirement for that year. Known world supply of bismuth appears to be sufficient for world demand to the end of this century. The study indicates that bismuth reserves and potential resources in the rest of the world have not been adequately reported.

Jan 1, 1970

Provide a low-maintenance, reliable means of generating bubbles and controlling bubble size for column flotation. Approach Commercial sparger systems used in flotation columns to process minerals provide only limited means of controlling the size of bubbles generated and the rate of air injection. Generally, these limitations are a detriment to flotation performance, particularly in recovering coarse or fine mineral particles. In addition, conventional bubble generation systems require frequent maintenance, often requiring shut-down of the column itself for repairs. To permit greater control of the bubble size generated in the flotation column and to eliminate the counter-productive problems associated with the operation of current air sparger systems, the Bureau of Mines investigated alternative methods for generating bubbles. Based on the investigation, an external bubble generation system was designed, developed, and laboratory and commercially tested.

Jan 1, 1987

By A. S. Moore

The Bureau of Mines is doing research and development work on removing acid-gas impurities from synthesis gas made directly from coal. Since conventional gas scrubbers, packed towers and bubble-cap columns, are expensive to construct and difficult to operate with viscous solutions, one aspect of the work was developing a compact, agitated, gas-liquid contactor for use with concentrated absorbents. The efficacy of the agitated contactor for absorbing carbon dioxide in diethanolamine increased with increasing solution rate, turbine speed, diethanolamine concentration, and carbon dioxide concentration in feed gas, and with decreasing liquid-gas ratio. It was unaffected by pressure between 200 and 300 p.s.i.g. and little affected by temperature between 115 and 190° F.

Jan 1, 1961

By D. G. Foot

The Bureau of Mines investigated two methods for recovering potash from carnallite ore in continuous 100-lb/h flotation units. In the insoluble-slimes flotation procedure, insoluble slimes were removed by flotation prior to potash flotation. In the direct flotation method, insoluble slimes were depressed and the potash floated directly without prior removal of the insoluble slimes. Seventy-three percent of the potash in the ore was recovered in a leached final KCl product contain-ing 59.1 pet K20 using the insoluble-slimes flotation method. The direct flotation method recovered 74.5 pct of the potash in a final product containing 60.2 pet K20. The rate of return on the investment was calculated at 13 pct for the insoluble-slimes flotation method and 15 pct for the direct flotation method, based on a Bureau economic evaluation.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. P. Adams, R. A. Beall

The Bureau of Mines developed a method to melt and cast specimens of hafnium- carbon alloy and studied their properties . A rotating - ladle vacuum or inert atmosphere arc furnace was designed , special electrodes and molds were developed , and operating procedures were worked out for casting small shapes . The cast specimens were evaluated according to their carbon content for melting point , density , microhardness , electrical resistivity , and oxidation resistance . Lattice dimensions were determined , and metallographic specimens were prepared . Photomicrographs were taken of specimens containing 2.72 , 5.50 , 6.47 , 9.97 , 12.8 , and 15.7 weight - percent carbon , and their grain structures were compared .

Jan 1, 1963

By Michael G. Zabetakis

Investigation of gas explosions usually reveals that the combustible gases have come from transmission and storage facilities or from natural gas or oil wells. However, combustible gases such as methane and hydrogen can derive from biological processes. Hazardous situations have been created in the past by the use of abandoned mines for the disposal of sewage and rainwater, by the interconnection of storm and sanitary sewers, by sealing the openings in manhole covers when repaving the roadway over a sanitary sewer, and by the construction of buildings over or near garbage fill areas without adequately providing for the release of combustible gases.

Jan 1, 1962

By W. M. Nabors

As part of a program to promote conservation and efficient utilization of petroleum resources, Bureau of Mines engineers at the Morgantown (W. Va.) Petroleum Research Laboratory are studying secondary oil-recovery projects in the Appalachian region. The increasing demand for petroleum and its products and the increasing cost of exploratory drilling tend to emphasize the importance of improving the recovery of oil from known petroleum reserves. Published reports setting forth the pertinent facts of these operations may help others to profit by the experience. This report presents the results of a study of secondary-recovery methods used in West Virginia by the Piedmont Oil and Gas Co., the Ryan Oil Co., and Water floods , Inc., on their Roane County leases in the Walton and Clover Rush Run pools. The principal oil-producing horizon underlying the area studied is the Big Injun sand, at approximately 2,000 feet. The sand is often referred to as blanket sand because it underlies much of the State and is oil-productive in many localities. Most of the pools in the area were discovered during 1907 to 1910 and were similarly developed and operated.

Jan 1, 1960

By S. W. Parr, T. E. Layng

There is presented below the results of experiments made on six samples of Utah coals furnished through the U. S. Bureau of Mines , under an agreement dated June 16th , 1920. The details of all values for all runs are tabulated and presented herewith . Clear The samples, consisting of approximately 150 pounds each, were received at the University of Illinois , on June 15 , 1920 , and are listed as follows : Creek , Wattis , Castle Gate , King , Standard , and Aberdeen . The proximate and ultimate, analyses of the various ccals from that region , representing all the types included in these samples , have already been made by the Bureau of Mines , and are available . * Similar determinations were also made on the particular samples forwarded for purposes of these experiments . The results obtained on the coal as received did . not very in any material feature from the values reported by the Bureau, they are shown in Table 1. It is of importance to note only that the oxygen content is uniformly high , namely approximately 9.5 to 11.5 per cent of the as- received coal , while the oxygen - hydrogen ratio is also high, being on the average approximately 2 ( oxygen) to 1 ( hydrogen) .

Sep 1, 1921

By H. D. Pallister

A review of? reports and literature on the pyrite deposits at Pyriton, Ala., indicated that a large tonnage of pyrite, some of which contained a small amount of copper, had been mined and shipped to fertilizer plants throughout the South. The information contained in this literature tended to demonstrate that the ore occurred in separate lenses of greater or less extent and of varying thickness and richness in pyrite as well as in copper. The outcrop being parallel with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad and just south of it makes the deposits readily accessible for shipment. Slopes could be sunk as they were in the past in the ore body if it were of sufficient grade and thickness, and the ore could be hoisted up the slope and milled close to the slope mouth with an ample supply of water from Talladega Creek, which follows the outcrop closely.

Jan 1, 1949

By Manuel Gomez

The Bureau of Mines used data from 31 core samples to develop prediction equations for evaluating chemical and carbonization properties of six seam units in a lignite deposit approximately 2 miles wide and 8 miles long in the Wilcox Formation of central Texas. Statistical response surfaces, based on core analyses, were computed for 14 parameters indicative of lignite quality. These computed surfaces, and their mathematical equations, can be used to predict values of the selected properties of the lignite seams at any desired surface coordinate position between core hole locations. The wide range of application shown by this study indicates that the methods of statistical regression analysis may be useful to evaluate large deposits of lignite or higher rank coal.

Jan 1, 1969

By W. A. McKinney

A sample of oxidized copper ore from a large deposit located in Pinal County, Ariz., about 50 miles northeast of Tucson, was treated by the Federal Bureau of Mines in a small-scale continuous pilot plant by a procedure which comprised acid curing complemented by water leaching and countercurrent decantation washing in a series of drag classifiers. A feed was prepared by pugging minus 1/4-in, ore with concentrated sulfuric acid and about 10 pct, of eater, followed by curing in batches for about 24 hr. The cured ore was fed continuously to a leach drum, where it was mixed with advance solution from the countercurrent washing system to dissolve the sulfated copper. The pulp was thickened and washed in four Esperanza-type classifiers, using a flocculating agent to obtain rapid settling and thickening. The leached ore pulps thickened satisfactorily in the drag classifiers when about 0.8 lb. of a polyacrylamide flocculant per ton of dry feed was used. Clear overflow liquors were obtained, and classifier rake products containing about 60 pct. solids were produced, As much as 90 lb./hr. of ore was treated in the plant, with a recovery of 60 pct. of the total copper or 80 pct, of the acid-soluble copper when 2 tons of water per ton of feed was used in washing. The acid consumption was 4.3 lb./lb. of copper recovered. On the basis of the maximum feed rate employed and the effective pulp-settling area of the classifiers, a total of 1 sq. ft. of pool area was required per ton of dry feed per day for the thickening and washing operations. The washing efficiency in the test was 95 pct.

Jan 1, 1960

By Richard L. Rains

In 1984 and 1985, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Bureau of Mines studied part of the 162,887-acre Mormon Mountains Wilderness Study Area (NV-050-161) in order to evaluate its identified mineral resources. The study area is located in Lincoln County, NV, about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The study area had no mines or mining claims in 1985, and no mineral resources were identified within the study area, or at the Whitmore mine or Iron Blossom prospect near the study area. The alluvial fans around the southern boundary are staked with about 450 placer claims. Chemical analyses of samples indicate that some limestone in the study area is suitable for manufacturing cement or for agricultural purposes but the limestone is distant from markets and therefore not economic in the foreseeable future. The study area is blanketed with oil and gas leases, but no known productive horizons were identified.

Jan 1, 1986