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By Kenneth H. Johnston

This publication describes a thermal-recovery project and two waterflood projects in Carter, Garvin, and Stephens Counties, Okla., that will be visited during the 1966 annual tour by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Kansas-Oklahoma Waterflood Association. Among the unique features of the projects arc (1) the movement of heavy (15° to 28° API gravity) crude oil through the reservoir and into the well bore with energy furnished by burning a portion of the crude oil therein; (2) the use of an inverted nine-spot pattern with dually completed injection wells, to produce oil from deep (8,200 to 10,200 feet) reservoirs; and (3) the flooding of five sand lenses separately by using controlled water injections through multizone completed injection wells. Discussion of the individual projects includes information on their early history, method of completing and operating wells, source and treatment of injection fluids, oil production decline curves, and the results obtained from the development.

Jan 1, 1966

By Kenneth H. Johnston

This publication describes a thermal-recovery project and two waterflood projects in Carter, Garvin, and Stephens Counties, Okla., that will be visited during the 1966 annual tour by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Kansas-Oklahoma Waterflood Association. Among the unique features of the projects arc (1) the movement of heavy (15° to 28° API gravity) crude oil through the reservoir and into the well bore with energy furnished by burning a portion of the crude oil therein; (2) the use of an inverted nine-spot pattern with dually completed injection wells, to produce oil from deep (8,200 to 10,200 feet) reservoirs; and (3) the flooding of five sand lenses separately by using controlled water injections through multizone completed injection wells. Discussion of the individual projects includes information on their early history, method of completing and operating wells, source and treatment of injection fluids, oil production decline curves, and the results obtained from the development.

Jan 1, 1966

By D. H. NETLAND

DURING the year 1907 an investigation of the Clinton formation in New York has been carried out under the direction of the State Geologist, and a full account of the results has been prepared for publication.1 The more important economic features of the report are summarized in the present paper. Previous knowledge of this, the type, section of the Clinton has been contributed mostly by Hall and Vanuxem in their reports for the Natural History Survey of New York, which were issued in their final form in 1842-43. Brief accounts of the ore-occurrences have been given by B. T. Putnam,2 J. C. Smock,3 A. H. Chester,4 and E. C. Eckel.5 Prof. C. H. Smyth, Jr.,6has discussed the origin of the Clinton ores in two papers, which, so far as the local occurrences are concerned, have removed all doubt that may have existed on that subject. Distribution of the Clinton Formation. The Clinton strata in New York State are restricted to a single belt, Which extends from the eastern central part to the Niagara river, which it crosses, and thence continues for some distance into the province of Ontario. The New York

Mar 1, 1909

By Jerry E. Olson

In 1984, the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a mineral survey of the Pahute Peak Wilderness Study Area (WSA) (NV-020-621), which covers 57,529 acres in Humboldt County, NV. About 90 percent of the WSA is underlain by Tertiary volcanic and shallow intrusive rocks. Of the remainder, metasedimentary rocks of unknown age are in contact with Cretaceous intrusive rocks in the northwest corner of the WSA. The entire WSA is within an upthrown fault block of the Basin and Range physiographic province. Portions of the WSA, especially south of Pahute Peak (Big Mountain), may be part of an eroded caldera structure. No mines or evidence of major exploration were identified within the WSA. Workings in Copper Canyon, claim blocks along the northwest boundary, and zones of anomalous character as defined by the Bureau of Land Management were examined. No mineral resources were identified, but sample results indicate three significantly mineralized sites, one with indications for zinc skarns in Copppr Canyon, another favorable for precious metals 2 miles south of Copper Canyon, and another area near the northwest boundary with geologic conditions characteristic of molybdenum deposits. Further investigation of these sites is warranted. Petrified wood is present in small amounts near the west central range front.

Jan 1, 1986

Development of automatic fire protection systems for large, mobile mine haulage equipment was initiated under Department of Interior's Bureau of Mines-FMC Corp. contract H0122053, "Improved Sensors and Fire Control Systems for Mining Equipment June 1972 to May 1973." After successfully designing and mock-up testing an effective economical automatic fire protection system, and after having demonstrated that the system could extinguish controlled fires on 100-ton capacity haulage trucks, USBM-FMC contract 110232059 was issued in June, 1973, to conduct further development and validation testing. This report documents technical progress and activity under the latter contract. Figure 1 shows areas of the two haulage trucks that were protected by the automatic fire protection systems tested during this program. Figures 2 and 3 are composites showing hardware and schematic diagrams of the systems tested.

Jan 1, 1974

By E. L. Singleton

The Bureau of Mines investigated extraction of aluminum from aluminum-silicon alloys as a means of utilizing domestic aluminum silicate ores for aluminum production. Aluminum was extracted from aluminum-silicon alloys by electrolysis in molten electrolytes of NaCl-KCI-AIC13 and NaCl-KCI-AIF3 in a laboratory-scale cell. Six alloys with aluminum contents ranging from 20 to 87 percent aluminum were tested, and aluminum products of primary grade or better were obtained. More than 80 percent of the aluminum was recovered with current efficiencies as high as 91 percent. Recovery of a metallurgical-grade silicon product from the anode residue by an acid leaching procedure was possible with the 50-50 and 65-35 Al-Si alloys.

Jan 1, 1972

By E. Pribonic

Failure of a mine material hoist can cause injuries, fatalities and significant infrastructure damage, along with an associated loss of production. Principal causes of hoist accidents are overwind and underwind. Past and present means of arresting hoisting equipment are marginally effective and utilize destructive systems that are not reusable following an arrest. The use of permanent magnet eddy current arrestor technology is proposed; the history and fundamental science of the technology are presented, followed by real world examples and calculations of performance for failsafe, friction-free, instantly reusable eddy current arrestors as applied to stopping a 30-ton ore skip traveling at 16 metres per second. A comparison of existing arrestor types with the eddy current arrestor is included and limitations of the ECA are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2008

By Roy F. Waters

An inventory was made by the Bureau of Mines of wastes of mineral origin, water requirements, treatment of wastes, and water treatment practice of 163 industrial installations in the Lower Missouri River Basin. This is the second and concluding report on the survey, conducted in cooperation with the Missouri Basin Field Committee of the Department of the Interior as part of the Missouri Basin project. Principal industries covered by this second report are: Sand and gravel, coal, meat, ice, brewing, paint, petroleum, chemical, fabricated metals, and a number of industries having either no waterborne wastes, or none of mineral origin. Gravel, sand, and silt from 47 producers are the major wastes, totaling 6 million tons annually, Coal mine wastes in the form of slurried solids from washing crude coal are second in volume, totaling 100,000 tons per year. They contain an average of about 40 percent coal. Salt is the third largest waste, amounting to 28,000 tons per year, Next is calcium carbonate, most of which is formed in water treatments, Because of its high unit value, chromic acid is important, although the waste quantity is much smaller; cyanide wastes are also significant because large quantities of sodium hydroxide and chlorine are consumed in their treatments prior to disposal. The various industries discharging wastes use 38 billion gallons of water annually; the recirculation rate is 109 billion gallons per year. The plants discharging no waterborne mineral wastes use 2 billion gallons of water per year and recirculate more than 1 billion gallons. Sand and gravel plants use 13.5 billion gallons; petroleum refineries use 10 billion gallons in direct use and recirculate 82 billion gallons per year.

Jan 1, 1962

By J. S. Coats, G. E. Patts, N. Hughes

Conventional sampling methods are known to suffer from the variable loss of fine gold by elutriation. Freeze sampling yields representative and quantitative data that, when combined with information on the sedimentology of gravel-bed rivers, may facilitate the development of improved dispersion models for source detection. It is suggested that freeze sampling may have particular application to the orientation stage of a large gold exploration survey

Jan 1, 1991

By Thomas E. Finch

This report is an engineering-economic evaluation of alternate methods of handling the parting between two coal seams. It consists of evaluations of parting stowing techniques applicable in a representative, thick seam western United States mine. Methods are examined for their potential implementation, and an estimated operating cost per yard of material moved is developed. The methods are of two categories castback or haulback. Haulback methods use truck haulage except With scrapers, and the castback methods are a direct stowage with no intermediate haulage equipment. Possible equipment combinations include draglines, shovels, hydraulic backhoes, bucket wheel excavators, scrapers, and front end loaders. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the effective competetiveness of the various alternatives.

Jan 1, 1975

By G. Kill

Although other energy commodities have developed successful futures contracts, long-term contracts still dominate the coal market. To establish whether coal markets will develop in the same way, coal price and volume data are tested against a set of criteria considered to represent some of the factors contributing to the development of a successful futures contract. Coal meets only some of the criteria: market players are subject to little risk in quite a stable market, have strong preferences for the specific nature of long-term contracts and profit from product uniqueness, each trade being individually negotiated. Potential structural changes in the western European market are not felt to be sufficient to create demand for a coal futures contract, but an empirical model has been developed that could form the basis of a further study to predict the potential for success

Aug 1, 1994

The objective of this handbook is to provide the inspector with guidance for recognizing hazards from inhalation contaminants in above ground work areas of underground and surface coal mining and processing facilities and evaluating these hazards by collecting samples or making field determinations and interpreting the analytical results. There are several portions of the handbook which should prove most useful to the inspectors. The names and locations of these portions are listed below: Survey Check List (Page 2-3) Rules for Determining if Sampling is Required (Page 2-1) List of Most Frequently Encountered Contaminants (Page 2-2) List of Candidate Contaminants and their Sampling Conditions (Table 2, Starting on page 2-5) Interpretation of Results (Page 2-16) Procedure for a, Health and Safety Inspection (Page 2-25) For obtaining information not available from the above mentioned portions of the handbook, the inspector is directed to the Table of Contents, the Glossary of Terms, and the List of Commercial Products Encountered in Surveys.

Jan 1, 1975

By Mark S. Stagg

Blast-induced ground vibrations from surface coal mine, quarry, and construction blasting were measured and analyzed for frequency content and duration characteristics. Eighteen commercially available ground vibration measurement systems were evaluated in the field and laboratory for linearity, accuracy, and crosstalk. Buried, surface, and sandbagged transducer placement methods were compared, along with peak and vector-sum measurements. The recommended minimum frequency ranges for ground vibration instrumentation are 2 to 150 Hz for coal mine and quarry blasting, and 5 to 200 Hz for construction and excavation blasting. When higher or lower frequency vibrations are possible, as in construction blasting or for a quarry shot close to a residence, care should be taken to insure proper choices of instrumentation and vibration criteria. Several instruments operating in these ranges are available, and all but one of the seismographs tested fell within ±3-dB accuracy limits (+41 pct, -29 pct). Waveform recordings of all three ground vibration components are recommended as the peak amplitude and frequency may vary among the three. Peak or vector-sum readings are adequate if only amplitude levels are desired. The soil density matched box should be anchored or buried, particularly for high-frequency, high-amplitude construction blasting.

Jan 1, 1980

By R. L. Blake

The crystal structure of hematite, a-Fe203, has been refined as part of a continuing study of the behavior of phases in the Fe-O system during reduction and oxidation. Three-dimensional diffraction intensities were collected on two spherical single crystals of hematite with a semiautomated Buerger single-crystal diffractometer. The first crystal refined was a natural Elba hematite with minor impurities. The other, a synthetic crystal, was refined at the request of Mossbauer spectroscopy investigators concerned with impurities in the natural crystal. The structure has been refined with a least-squares program and the final structure for the natural crystal irradiated with CuKa-radiation gave a discrepancy factor (R) of 3.65 percent using 49 unrejected reflections of the 51 measured. For the synthetic crystal, using MoKa-radiation, the discrepancy factor converged to 2.8 percent using 95 unrejected reflections and was 3.3 percent for all 109 reflections. The structure model of Pauling and Hendricks has been confirmed with essentially no change in the iron coordinates and approximately a 5-percent change in the oxygen coordinates. Selected interatomic distances and angles were calculated as were anisotropic temperature factors.

Jan 1, 1970

By Donald R. McMahon

This paper presents a unique case history that documents the use of a braced secant pile wall to underpin a heavily loaded footing inside of a manufacturing plant. Construction of a pit for a new manufacturing process directly next to the footing necessitated the underpinning. The footing supports an overhead crane that needed to remain operational throughout construction of the pit and therefore, settlement of the footing could not be tolerated. The base of the footing was about 7.7 feet above the base of the 17-foot deep excavation. The footing bears on a silty clay deposit that grades from a stiff consistency beneath the footing to a soft/medium consistency near the base of the pit excavation. This paper describes the design and construction of the secant pile wall and bracing to control wall deformations, ground movements and settlement of the footing. The footing was monitored for settlement throughout construction of the pit and no measurable movement was observed.

Jan 1, 2006

By C. H. Herty

As the problem of inclusions in steel has become increasingly important, more and more attention has been paid to the source of the oxide inclusions in steel. In killed steels the oxide inclusions are traceable to the reaction of deoxidizers with the iron oxide dissolved in the steel during the refining period of the open-hearth heat. In a large class of steel known as "rimming steel" the action of the steel during solidification depends entirely on the gas evolved, and this evolution in turn is controlled by the amount of iron oxide in the liquid steel in the mold. It is therefore of great importance to be able to determine the amount of iron oxide dissolved in steel and to devise methods for the control of iron oxide in any class of steel. The object of the present investigation was to obtain a true value of the oxygen content of liquid steel. If the steel has not been deoxidized, the greater percentage of the oxygen is present as iron oxide in solution.

Jan 1, 1932

By Donald O. Capstick

A mineral survey of a 5,700-acre portion of the 11,510-acre Upper Deep Creek Wilderness Study Area (ID-111-44B) in southwestern Idaho was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1985. No mining claims have been located, no minerals have been produced, and no resources have been identified in the study area. Three reconnaissance samples of alluvium from the Deep Creek drainage contained $0.21, $0.22, and $2.72 per cubic yard in placer gold, higher than usual for the Owyhee River canyonland area. The samples of near-surface material contained very fine gold in values too low to support large-volume commercial placer operations, but the quantity and size of the particles of gold in the alluvium is expected to increase near bedrock. Consequently, the area may be a target for recreational as well as small commercial suction dredge operations. The physical characteristics of the individual pieces of gold (bright and angular) indicate that it may have recently come from an unidentified nearby source.

Jan 1, 1986

By Richard L. Fowler

[Study and development of sensing techniques and sensors were performed to aid shuttle car drivers in detecting, obstacles and in guiding the car along the face haulage route. Microwave, acoustic, and optical sensing techniques were considered as part of the feasibility study for obstacle detection. Various guidance techniques, including wire-following and rib-ranging were investigated. Active optical sensing was selected for obstacle detection to obtain the bear overage and sharp angular cutoff characteristics required within the packaging limitations defined by the shuttle car configuration. Rib-ranging guidance was selected to achieve completely self-contained shuttle car system which responds to the mine geometry without need for wires, stripes, or other path defining devices. Extensive hybrid computer simulation runs were performed to valuate various guidance techniques during the feasibility study. Subsequent simulation rues were performed to establish parameter values for the rib-ranging guidance system. The obstacle detection and guidance system was designed, fabricated and installed on a standard shuttle car. The system satisfied all applicable permissibility requirements of Schedule 2G. An experimental permit was issued to Bendix for operation in an underground coal mine. System evaluation tests were performed first above ground at the Bendix Research Laboratories. The simulation model was validated by these runs. Final testing wan performed underground in an operating mine with an experienced shuttle car driver. All sensors successfully demonstrated Chi predicted performance capability during underground face haulage tests. Dust did not Impair system performance and lens cleaning was not required during working shifts. Further development is required to achieve the desired obstacle detection performance Closed loop steering control with manual override is recommended o: mended for the lateral guidance e system. The guidance system should be an invaluable aid to low-coal shuttle car drivers where continuous mining machines are utilized.]

Jan 1, 1973

By C. K. Leith

OTHERS here are far better qualified than I to discuss some of the specific proposals for government regulation of the oil industry. I shall make no attempt to carry oil to Oklahoma. The question of public control, however, is inherent in other branches of the mineral industry in varying degrees, and my comments will be directed mainly toward some of the trends affecting the mineral industry as a whole, as a background for your more specific consideration of oil legislation. A proud American tradition has been the insistence on freedom of competition, on equality of economic opportunity, on a policy of laissez faire. Nowhere has this principle been given wider application than in the mineral industry. The mineral field has been open to all comers, and the job of mineral exploitation has naturally attracted daring and independent spirits. The laws governing conditions of discovery and development, as well as the anti- trust laws, have been devised to foster the spirit of private initiative. The result has been the building of a mineral industry on a scale never before approximated anywhere in the world. The impetus thus gained, the methods, the technique, the financial resources, have been projected be- yond our boundaries and have made the American mineral industry the purveyor to the world for many essential commodities and first in the exploitation of the world's minerals. Our habits of individual self-reliance and success are deeply ingrained, and there is hardly an individual in the entire mineral field who does not instinctively recoil fro111 the extension of collective control, whether public or private.

Jan 1, 1932

By Kim B. Shedd

An initial evaluation of the flow of cobalt-containing materials in the United States was prepared. The following aspects of materials flow were included: cobalt released as a result of mining and processing other metals and minerals; scrap generation and subsequent recycling or cobalt recovery; and cobalt losses resulting from the generation of wastes, dissipative uses, and disposal of used products. Where possible, estimates were made to quantify the amount of cobalt lost from the materials flow. More than 2,000 metric tons (mt) of cobalt are released annually from mining and mineral processing in the United States, including 480 mt of cobalt in coal produced in the United States. Metallurgical industries examined in this study have well-established recycling or cobalt recovery practices. The petroleum industry recycles spent catalysts, and some chemical catalysts are also recycled. Losses generated during cobalt chemical and powder processing were estimated at 50 to 80 mt of cobalt annually. Losses from alloy processing and the manufacture of parts and products were estimated to be 360 mt. These industrial losses are greatly outweighed by an estimated 2,780 mt of cobalt' consumed in the United States each year to make products that will ultimately be disposed of.

Jan 1, 1992