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By R. M. Gooding

This paper presents a short history of the production of mineral-energy fuels and energy from waterpower in the United States, with brief discussions of the utilization of each of the fuels and hydropower, and a look at fuels competition and interchangeability. Basic data, in figures and tables, are brought together in this publication for the production of coal in the United States from 1800 to 1960, for crude petroleum, natural gas liquids, and natural gas from 1859 to 1960, and for hydropower since 1900. Production for each segment of the fuels complex in the principal producing States from 1946 to 1960 is shown. Data are not included for consumption as such or for imports and exports.

Jan 1, 1963

By Joe N. Magee

As part of the important program of promoting conservation and efficient utilization of petroleum, Bureau of Mines engineers are making studies of secondary oil-recovery projects throughout the United states and publishing reports setting forth the pertinent facts so that others may profit by the experience gained. This report presents the results of a study by engineers of the Bureau of Mines, stationed at Franklin, Pa., of secondary oil recovery in a part of the Cabin Creek field, Kanawha and Boone Counties, W. Va., where natural gas is injected into the reservoir to stimulate oil production. Most oil produced in the Appalachian region at present is obtained from stripper fields in which almost all natural energy has been dissipated. Secondary-recovery methods are used extensively in many oil-producing areas of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky for recovering oil not produced by primary-production methods. The part of the Cabin Creek field reported in this study is shown in figure 1 and has been designated by the operator as project 4. In 1944 the developed area of the entire field was approximately 4,200 acres, and the area of project 4 was about 600 acres. In the developed area of the project the oil reservoir is in the Berea sandstone and occurs at 2,914 to 3,410 feet.

Jan 1, 1952

By George H. Schnakenberg

This Bureau of Mines publication describes a passive personal sampling device for N02 in air, developed by the New York University Medical Center under Bureau Grant G0133066. The sampler has been successfully demonstrated in the field and in the laboratory. In corroborative laboratory trials the agreement with reference method is excellent. The overall accuracy is approximately ±5 pct of reading to a precision of about ±l pct. All evidence indicates that these samplers should indicate the time-weighted-average N02 concentration to the above accuracy and precision equally well in the field since effects of wind velocity and relative humidity are negligible and the effects of temperature are about 0.1 pct per °F. The duration of exposure and the approximate temperature are the only data that need to be collected in the field. A two-step analysis procedure in field or service laboratory is then used to obtain the total cumulated exposure to N02 in parts per million-hours (ppm times hours), which can be converted to the time-weighted-average concentration of N02 in ppm by dividing cumulated exposure by the duration of the exposure.

Jan 1, 1976

By R. W. Stahl

An award is a form of recognition given for superior performance in a special field of endeavor. Each year awards are given by the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association and the National Safety Council to mineral industries' mines, quarries, and plants that have worked a specific number of man-hours without a lost-time injury. These awards have a dual significance in that they prove that efficiency can be attained without injury to persons. Safety awards do not result from luck or good fortune but do result from sincere desire coupled with sufficient effort and cooperation to achieve a desired goal.

Jan 1, 1963

By W. A. Young

Vermiculite deposits on the. Platt ranch, 12 miles southeast of Encampment Carbon County, Wyo., were investigated by the Bureau of Mines early in 1949. Major activity was centered on property held under lease by the Mikolite Mining & Development Co. (figs. 1 and 2). Vermiculite occurs in masses and lenses of varying size and as disseminations in altered hornblende diorite. Alteration of the host rock probably resulted from the proximity of dikes and irregular masses of pegmatite. Investigation of the Mikolite property consisted of surface trenching, diamond drilling, and sampling. Four trenches totaling 5,401 linear feet were excavated with a bulldozer and Diesel power shovel. Three diamond-drill holes totaling 600 feet were drilled from the surface to determine the character of mineralization at depth. Eighty-one bulk samples were obtained from the trenches, and 130 sludge samples were collected from the drill holes. Samples were analyzed, and ore-dressing tests were made in the Bureau of Mines laboratories at Salt Lake City.

Jan 1, 1952

By D. A. Larson

The Bureau of Mines conducted research to develop preliminary engineering data necessary if the cobalt-rich manganese crusts that occur in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Hawaiian Archipelago are to be mined. The research was divided into the following sections: (1) physical, mineralogical, and chemical descriptions; (2) mechanical property testing, such as compressive strength, tensile strength, and a rippability index; and (3) mechanical cutting characteristics, including average and peak cutter forces, the specific energy, and cuttings size distribution. Section 1 utilized microscope, X-ray powder diffractometer, and electron microprobe analyses. Section 2 utilized standard mechanical property testing techniques. Section 3 utilized a converted planer mill with full-size coal cutters to fragment the crust and substrate samples. The manganese crust samples were mainly manganese and iron oxides and hydroxides with an average cobalt content of 1 pct and had a nucleus or substrate of rock or sediment. The significant results shown by the mechanical property and cutting tests are that the crust and all but two types of substrates (basalt and trachyte) are weak materials and easily cut with standard drag cutters. The crusts are generally comparable to medium hard coal in strength and in their resistance to cutting.

Jan 1, 1987

By R. D. Leitch

The work of the United States Bureau of Mines on stream pollution3 by coal-mine drainage has included a study of seasonal variations in acidity and volume of several streams in Pennsylvania. The acidity of these streams has been determined during the two or three years prior to 1930 and the results may be considered to represent "normal" low water conditions. The summer of 1930, however, was unusually dry and represents what may be termed "extreme" low water conditions on these streams. This report is a comparison of the results obtained for extreme low water of 1930 and for other years. The streams investigated were Buffalo Creek in Somerset County, Indian Creek (lower 5 miles) in Westmoreland County, Little Toby Creek in Elk and Jefferson Counties, Daguscahonda Run in Elk County and West Creek in Elk and Cameron Counties. These will be treated separately in the order given. Most of the descriptive matter and physical data pertinent to the streams and drainage basins are taken from published reports of the Pennsylvania State Water Supply Commission, 1917.4

Jan 1, 1931

By N. A. C. Smith, E. W. Dean, W. A. Jacobs, H. H. Hill

Fractional distillation is the most important process in the commercial refining of petroleum. The same procedure, conducted on a small scale, is the basis of a number of analytical methods of wide application in the petroleum laboratory. The Bureau of Mines has studied apparatus and procedure for the distillation analysis of petroleum, and this report is presented as a record of developments up to the present time. The work is incomplete, but the extensive information that has been obtained to date is made available as a guide in handling laboratory distillation problems. The analytical distillation of petroleum is commonly made to determine range of boiling points or to separate the oil. into fractions for detailed examination, or both. When only one of these two ends is sought the procedure involved is notably simpler than when, as is more common, information is required regarding both boiling range and properties of fractions. Moreover the degree of minuteness of measurement and the accuracy of the data required from analytical distillations differ considerably. Often the simplest sort of comparative figures are satisfactory; other tests require complicated and highly tedious procedure. No one distillation method is universally applicable, and it is impossible for anyone group of investigators to foresee all the different kinds of requirements that may occur in the industry.

Jan 1, 1922

By M. A. Elliott, F. W. Brown

"INTRODUCTION During the recent war the Bureau of Mines, at the request of one of the armed services, investigated the hazards that night be encountered 5n handling perchloric acid, particularly if spilled on certain materials. The hazardous nature of perchloric acid when mixed with reducing agents had been known qualitatively, but it was desired to obtain quantitative data on the explosion hazards of such materials. Accordingly, tests were made to determine the sensitivity of mixtures of perchloric acid and oxidizable materials to initiation by heat, impact, sparks, flame, and explosive impulses. This report summarizes the results of those tests.PROPERTIES OF PERCELORIC ACIDAnhydrous perchloric acid is a colorless,hygroscopic, volatile, mobile liquid that fumes in the air. The anhydrous acid is unstable at ordinary temperatures, and therefore the commercial acid is a water solution containing either 60 percent or 70 percent by weight of the anhydrous acid. The commercial acid is widely used in chemical analysis, frequently to oxidize organic material. If proper precautions are not observed, such an oxidixation may become exceedingly rapid and result in an explosion. Several such explosions involving the acid are mentioned in the literature. 4, 5, 6/"

Jan 1, 1948

By R. E. Heithecker

The Zwolle oil field of Sabine Parish, La., is different from most oil producing areas of the State in that the oil is obtained from marl and chalkrock formations. The thickness of the reservoir rocks averages 500 feet; but production is not continuous throughout this thickness, as the oil apparently is localized in vertical and nearly vertical solution cavities and channelways or in porous zones of limited horizontal extent. The nature of the oil accumulation has caused two outstanding peculiarities of the field: (1) About 60 percent of the tests drilled were dry holes and (2) there were many instances of well interference. Commercial production was discovered in November 1928, after 17 years of prospecting in and around the present limits of the area now developed which has a length of about 22 miles and a maximum width of 4 miles. The field had produced 10,266,896 barrels of oil to January 1, 1934. The oil ranges in gravity from 400 to 420 A.P.I.

Jan 1, 1934

By P. A. Wasson

Drill cores from 15 holes in the West Central Mesabi Range were studied as part of the Lake Superior iron resource investigation begun in 1957 by the Bureau of Mines. Chemical, petrographic, and metallurgical analyses were made to determine grade, mineralogy, magnetic characteristics, and response to beneficiation. Data in this report were developed to provide a better under-standing of the nature and character of low-grade iron ore occurrences, to measure potential of usable ore, and to provide a basis for comparison with bank samples previously taken in the same general area. The average iron content of 4,445 feet of core was 31.8 percent. Iron oxides present were hematite, goethite, and magnetite; the gangue minerals were chiefly quartz, iron silicate, and iron-bearing carbonates.

Jan 1, 1962

By N. S. Dalal, B. Jafari, F. Y. H. Green, V. Vallyathan

"Using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy we have carried out a systematic study of the measurement of concentrations of organic free radicals in freeze-dried lung tissue. Sixty-six tissue samples were obtained from the National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study (NCWAS). The samples were characterized in terms of the concentration per gram of the free radicals, and examined in relationship to the histopathological parameters such as age, numbers of years in the mining atmosphere, the degree of disease, and smoking history. Preliminary results indicate a positive correlation between the free radicals in the lung tissue and the severity of pneumoconiosis.IntroductionThis paper summarizes our electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of the concentration of organic free radicals in the freeze-dried lung tissue of autopsied coal miners. This work was undertaken because it is well known that most coals contain carbon-centered organic free radi¬cals,(1,2) and recent studies from our laboratories indicated that reactive free radicals might play a role in the biochemi¬cal mechanism of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) (3) Thus we obtained 144 lung-tissue samples from the Nation¬al Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Morgantown. The samples came from the data bank of the National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study (NCWAS). This selection was unique because fairly detailed histopathologi¬cal information was available for each sample.Other recent studies in this field are those of Ohta et al (4) who conducted ESR measurements on black dust deposited in autopsied human lungs, but no coal miner was included therein. Earlier Retcofsky (2) had examined one lung-tissue sample via ESR spectroscopy and had concluded that the free radicals in the lung tissue reflected simply the fusain (narrow component) ESR signals. The present study was thus undertaken to complement the earlier work (2-4) and the results indicate a positive correlation with the disease severity fairly strongly."

Mar 1, 1989

By Christopher D. Risbrudt

In this comprehensive study of the use of wood products in coal mining, a sample of over 220 mines provided data by questionnaire. Wood use per ton of underground coal was found to vary substantially by mining process and region. In the Eastern Coal region, 1.6 board feet of wood was used per ton of coal, wel above the 0.6 board feet usage per ton in the West. The kind of timber used varied also by Region. Hardwood use is about 40 times greater than softwood in the Eastern Region. There, hardwoods are plentiful, relatively cheap and strong. In the West where softwood forests predominate, softwoods were 2-1/2 times more common in mine wood use than hardwoods. Nearly 80 percent of the wood used in underground coal mines is used in cross bars and props. Nearly 54 million cubic feet of wood products were used in coal mining in the sample year 1979; about twice as much going to underground mines as surface mines. Wood requirements for mining were projected to 2030 for a range of three oil price scenarios. Much greater wood use will be required for greater coal output.

Jan 1, 1982

By Grant R. Brown

The report provides guidance for determining those environmental impacts associated with the surface mining of steeply pitching coal seams. In addition to the environmental impacts, four additional issues are addressed, namely (1) Time and motion studies of those coal mining systems employed in mining seams which pitch in excess of 250, (2) Assessment of those mining techniques, (3) Development of rationale for the mining methods employed, (4) Identification of the reclamation practices and determine whether these practices were in compliance with appropriate Federal and State regulations. Five surface mines located in three geologically distinct basins of the United States were analyzed during the period of August through November 1979. The three basins include the Hanna Basin of Wyoming, the North Park Basin of Colorado and the Southern Anthracite Field of Pennsylvania.

Jan 1, 1980

By K. O. Bennington

The thermodynamic properties of two manganese silicates, pyroxmangite and fowlerite (zincian rhodonite), were experimentally determined by the Bureau of Mines. The standard enthalpies of formation were determined by hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution calorimetry, the low-temperature heat capacities by adiabatic calorimetry, and the high-temperature heat capacities by differential scanning calorimetry over the range 322 to 1,372 K. Data for the standard enthalpy of formation (AH298), the derived standard entropy (S298), and the standard Gibbs energy of formation (AGf 298) are as follows: Pyroxmangite [(Mn0.9554Cao,0446)(Si03)J- AHf298 319.668±0.46 kcal/mol AH298 (from oxides)... -7.215±0.11 kcal/mol 5295 23.785±0.048 cal/(mol'K) AGf298 -301.190±7.96 kcal/mol Fowlerite [(Mno.7o3Zno.0884Ca0.2086)(Sio3)]--AHf298 ?... -329.914±0.419 kcal/mol AH298 (from oxides)... -8.400±0.104 kcal/mol 5598 21.949±0.059 cal/(mol-K) AGf298 -310.716±7.99 kcal/mol These experimentally determined values were combined with data from the literature to calculate the Gibbs energies and equilibrium constants of formation over the temperature range of the measurements. Standard enthalpies, Gibbs energies, and equilibrium constants of formation are given as a function of temperature from both the elements and the constituent oxides.

Jan 1, 1987

By Oliver Bowles

The term" sandstone" is applied to a rock composed of mineral grains smaller than pebbles, cemented together more or less firmly. "Conglomerate" is the name given to a rock composed of pebbles, or pebbles and bowlders, of various sizes cemented together. If the pebbles are large and well rounded the rock is sometimes called " pudding stone." Although the term "sandstone" includes all varieties, certain specific terms are applied to types characterized by particular compositions, colors, or uses. "Quartzite" is a variety in which the individual grains are so firmly cemented together with quartz that the rock will fracture as easily through the grains as through the cement; "ferruginous sandstone" is one rich in iron as cementing material, or as grains, or both; "micaceous sandstone" is one in which mica is prominent; " arkose" is a feldspathic or granitic sandstone composed of angular grains; "calcareous sandstone" is one containing considerable calcium carbonate; and" argillaceous sandstone" is one containing considerable clay. The term "flagstone" is used for a rock that splits readily into sheets suitable for flagging; "freestone" for rock than can be cut or carved readily, and with equal ease in all directions; and" ganistel'," in the United States, for sandstone suitable for the manufacture of refractories. Others are named from their characteristic colors such as " bluestone," " redstone," or " brownstone."

Jan 1, 1917

By Michael S. Miller

In 1985, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Mines studied a 50,57U-acre portion of the 90,345-acre Twin Peaks Wilderness Study Area (CA-020-619A) in order to evaluate its identified resources. The area studied is located about 45 miles northeast of Susanville, CA, in Lassen County, CA, and Washoe County, NV. The area is underlain by Tertiary volcanic, volcaniclastic, and intrusive rocks. Quaternary stream, lake, and landslide deposits overlie the older rock. There are no mines or mining claims in the study area. One mineral resource, pozzolan, was identified. Mining claims, inactive in 1985, have been staked adjacent to or near the northwest corner of, and also southeast of, the study area. Examination and sampling of 17 mineralized sites, delineated mostly by prior geochemical surveys, showed at least 30 million tons of subeconomic pozzolan resources and small or low-grade occurrences of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, molybdenum, zeolites and clay.

Jan 1, 1986

By E. Wittenau

This paper describing the concentrator practice of the Copper Queen Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corporation at Bisbee, Ariz., is one of a series of papers on milling methods and costs being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines. The Copper Queen Concentrator treats 4,000 tons of copper ore daily by preferential flotation, whereby the copper sulphides are floated and considerable iron pyrite is depressed. During 1929 the heads to the concentrator averaged 2.15 per pent of copper, the recovery was 91.32 per cent of the total copper, and the concentrates produced contained 12.92 per cent of copper.

Jan 1, 1931

By John B. Bennett

This Bureau of Mines report presents a method of standardizing forecasts of mineral consumption that attempts to resolve the problems caused by the use of different data bases, different definitions of minerals consumption, and different base years for making projections. Using this method, forecasts of U.S. and world mineral consumption, in the year 2000, for nine commodities (aluminum, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, tin, tungsten, and zinc) are standardized and compared. Also selected forecasts or associated growth rates are used to generate implied values of consumption for 1980-83, which are then compared to actual values of consumption for 1980-83. The economic growth predictions underlying the forecasts are examined, and some general conclusions are drawn. A description of each methodology used to generate these forecasts is given in an appendix.

Jan 1, 1986

By C. M. Frost

The hydrodesulfurization characteristics of a residual fuel prepared from Wilmington, Calif., crude oil were determined at temperatures from 600° to 900° F, pressures of 200 to 800 pSig, and space velocities from 0.2 to 2.0 Vo/Vc/hr, using cobalt molybdate type catalysts. A prediction equation, developed from the experimental data, satisfactorily predicts the fraction of total sulfur that can be removed under any combination of operating conditions within the ranges investigated. Yields and properties of the low sulfur product are correlated with the fraction of total sulfur removed. Kinetic calculations show that the apparent reaction order and activation energy change with space velocity and temperature.

Jan 1, 1970