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The Waukon iron deposit comprises about 210 acres situated 2-1/2 miles north of Waukon, in Allamakee County, northeastern Iowa. The deposits have been exploited intermittently since 1899 and have produced about 67,000 tons of concentrated iron ore. From January to May 1943, the Bureau of Mines investigated the deposit to determine the extent of the ore-bearing material and its amenability to concentration, Seventy-one test pits were sunk. Those that indicated are of a grade high enough to warrant concentration tests were sampled. Average grade of ore was indicated to be 37.02 percent iron and 27.78 percent silica on a dry basis. Beneficiation tests indicated that the percentage of recovery might be relatively low.

Jan 1, 1949

By J. F. McIlwain

The Bureau of Mines has investigated fumes generated by selected welding electrodes used in mines in order to help determine their relative health hazard potential. Fumes were generated and collected in an enclosed chamber for subsequent generation rate and chemical constituent determination. Shielded metal arc electrodes from the following groups were tested: AWS types E308-16 and E310-16 stainless steel, ECoCr-A Co-Cr hardfacing alloy, ENiCr Ni, an Mn-Cr buildup alloy, E7018 carbon steel, and EII018-M low-alloy steel. Flux-cored wire electrodes of this last group also were tested. Fume generation rates and the chemical composition of the fumes were measured. From these data, exposure in-dices were determined, which give a relative measure of the health hazard potential of using the electrodes. The effect of welding onto build-up alloy layers on the fume composition also was examined for five of the higher alloy groups.

Jan 1, 1987

By R. J. Leary

The Bureau of Mines experimental blast furnace was blown with oxygen-enriched blast in combination with natural gas injected at the tuyeres. The air blast was augmented with oxygen to form an enriched blast containing 24,8 pct oxygen, and tests were run at natural gas injection rates of 4.5, 6.0, and 8.3 pct of the air blast. Similar enrichment to 26.8 pct oxygen was tested at natural gas rates of 7.2, 9.1, and 11,0 pct of the air blast. At intermediate proportions of natural gas to oxygen, (1) the fuel rate and the replacement ratio of coke by natural gas were unaffected by oxygen injections and (2) the productivity increased about 4 pct for each I pct oxygen added to the blast. The higher proportions of natural gas to oxygen were less efficient; in return for a lower coke rate, the fuel rate increased and productivity declined. A deficiency in reducing gas imposed a limit upon lower than normal proportions of natural gas to oxygen. Beyond this limit the formation of reducing gas was insufficient to support the rate of metal production. When this condition was encountered, the coke rate requirement for specification iron was abnormally high and production fell off badly. Adiabatic flame temperature is discussed as a means for proportioning oxygen and natural gas additions.

Jan 1, 1967

By A. D. Hahn

This report describes and gives the results of an examination by the Federal Bureau of Mines of ilmenite-bearing placer sand deposits in the 24-mile long valley of Otter Creek, Kiowa and Tillman Counties, Okla. Drilling and sampling was completed in three periods between October 1956 and September 1957. Mineralogic studies and mineral-dressing tests on recovery of ilmenite and other heavy minerals from composited samples of the sands were made in Bureau of Mines laboratories at Rolla, Mo., in 1957 and early 1958. Otter Creek rises in and drains the southwestern extremity of the Wichita Mountains, which are represented locally by knolls and ridges of gabbro and granite surrounded by plains floored with flat-lying Permian red beds. The valley fill consists of a basal sand-clay component, derived from weathering of the igneous rocks, and an overlying silt-clay alluvium. Ilmenite is present in significant quantity and recoverable grain size only in the basal sand-clay.

Jan 1, 1960

Capture airborne respirable dust generated by an auger-type continuous mining machine to reduce workers' dust exposure. Approach Install a water-powered scrubber system, operating at 1,400 psi, on the sides of the conveyor. The scrubber draws the dusty air from the face area and discharges cleaned air into the face return. How It Works Auger-type continuous miners pose unique ventilation and dust control problems. To protect face workers from the dust, the end of the brattice is usually maintained close to the face to increase ventilation effectiveness. However, it is taken down as the machine cuts toward the exhaust side to allow the machine to complete its cut. Often, the brattice is not reinstalled in a position to most effectively control

Jan 1, 1989

By K. C. Dean

The Bureau of Mines, following passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, was authorized to conduct research on methods for utilizing, stabilizing, or reclaiming mineral wastes. This report summarizes laboratory research conducted by the Bureau and cooperative field studies made with the mineral industry to reduce the environmental impacts of air and water pollution deriving from mineral wastes. Utilization research showed that both dry-press and steam-cured building bricks and ceramic tile could be made from copper mill tailings and other discarded mineral wastes. Sponge iron was produced from steel mill and amination industry wastes, and valuable mineral products were extracted from such diverse sources as flue dusts and uranium tailings. Mineral wastes were combined with agricultural and/or sewage wastes to make artificial soils that have the potential of resolving several disposal problems by production of a useful commodity. Physical, chemical, and vegetative stabilization methods were evaluated, singly and in combination, for reclamation potential on copper, uranium, lead-zinc, and asbestos tailings. Suitable methods were developed in the laboratory for overcoming major adverse conditions of these wastes such as salinity, heavy metal toxicity, acidity, basicity, lack of nutrients and organics, and unstable surfaces. Field testing of these methods was performed on a variety of mineral wastes. Costs for the various stabilization and utilization-procedures developed were also determined.

Jan 1, 1986

This manual provides instructions for installing, operating, and maintaining a protective canopy on the Joy Mfg. Co. loader. These instructions are based upon two actual install .at ions: one made in a mine on loader, model 14BU10-11AH, and one in the factory on model 14BU10- 11AH. The parts list and engineering drawings for the protective canopy are included at the end of the manual. And a discussion of some alternative design concepts is also included. The manual can also be used for retrofitting other loaders with similar protective canopies. Skilled mechanics can determine if the instructions herein would be applicable to the other loaders and can determine any necessary modifications if they are not.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. C. Hickman

Preliminary evidence indicated that the Chattanooga Shale might constitute a potential vast low-grade source of uranium. Investigation by core drilling indicated that while the Chattanooga Shale may constitute a resource for the future, the very low (0.006 percent) average uranium content is not economic when compared with the relatively higher grade western ores. A total of approximately 12,000 feet of test drilling was done in 72 drillholes, and large samples were mined for extractive and metallurgical testing. An experimental mine site was selected on the basis of the drilling project.

Jan 1, 1967

By Edmund S. Leaver

[In previous reports 5/ of ore-testing studies standard methods of conduction tests with precious-metal ores selected as representative of certain mining districts were discussed in considerable detail.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Edmund S. Leaver

[In previous reports5/ of ore-testing studies standard methods of conducting; test with precious-metal ores selected as representative of certain mining districts were discussed in considerable detail. In addition to standard tent procedures such as direct cyanidation, amalgamation, gravity concentration, and flotation, or a combination of these methods, it is sometimes necessary to apply other methods, such as preliminary roasting and washing of the calcine with plain or acidulated water before cyanidation. In all of this work standard tenting procedure has been supplements by he necessary assaying and analyses of original ore and test products.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Rolland L. Blake

The Bureau of Mines is concerned with extracting minerals from residual geothermal brines after their heat content and some demineralized water have been recovered. This literature study is based on a survey of the literature and discussions with individuals knowledgeable on various aspects of the subject. This report examines the potential of the domestic geothermal mineral resources, considers the technical problems involved, and outlines possible effects on the environment from reservoir fluid withdrawal and reinjection. Geothermal resources in the Western United States were extensively explored during the 1960's. Limited development operations included exploratory drilling and operating wells producing hot brine, separating steam for experimental electric power generation, and recovering minerals in solar evaporation ponds or in extraction plants. Interest in the recovery of minerals and salts from geothermal fluids waned because of corrosion and scaling problems and low or no market value of the mineral products. Most of these problems can be controlled with existing technology and careful planning of processes and equipment. Extracting geothermal minerals is technically feasible, but the problems of low or no market value for major mineral products, and insufficient amounts of more valuably major products, make mineral recovery uneconomical at present.

Jan 1, 1974

By G. L. Oldright

This paper is the twelfth of a series on smelting in the lead blast furnace and the fifth dealing with blast-furnace gases. It was noted in Report of Investigations 2957 that the gases evolved from the top of the lead blast furnace at Tooele were similar in composition to those from the top of an iron blast furnace. It was noted in Report of Investigations 3095 that at Kellogg, where a smaller percentage of coke on charge and shorter stock column were employed, the gases evolved were much less reducing. At times there was a considerable amount of oxygen in the top gases at the second plant. More SO2 was also evolved from sulphides in the charge. Then operations were conducted as at Kellogg, the gases were alternately reducing and oxidizing. This paper deals with the gases evolved in smelting a charge containing more zinc than at either of the other two plants with about the same amount of coke as was used at Kellogg,: To compare other factors influencing the composition of the gases, it may be noted that at Tooele the approximate height of the charge column was 15 feet, at Kellogg 9 feet and at Trail 13 feet. The furnaces have about the -same cross-sectional area- tog. The furnaces at Tooele are about 6 inches wider at the tuyeres, being 54 inches wide against 48 for the other two plants. At Tooele and Kellogg the furnaces are fed at the top from bottom-dump cars. At Trail the charges are dumped from Decauville cars (bottom cars which dump when tilted), which run on tracks placed on both sides of the blast furnaces. The hoods through which the waste gases are conducted are directly above the shafts of the furnaces. The flues for removing the effluent gases lead off from under the charge floor at Tooele and Kellogg. (Charging and distribution of the feed in the furnace covered later in a rate paper of series.)

Jan 1, 1934

By L. C. IlsLey

Permissible electric nine lamps are approved with the. understanding that if actively marketed they will be listed in Bureau of Mines publications so that state mine departments, compensation bureaus, mine operators, miners, and others interested in safety equipment for mines may know the permissible lamps available and the important safety features of each. The last list of permissible electric mine lamps was issued as Report of Investigations 33045 in June 1936, a supplement to Bulletin 332.6 All lamps described in Bulletin 332 are either obsolete or have been materially modified, as covered by extensions of the original approvals. These modified lamps and the new designs approved since 1930-totaling 12 cap lamps and 23 lamps of miscellaneous types-comprise the present list of actively marketed permissible electric mine lamps. This bulletin presents the Bureau's test requirements and procedure relative to permissible electric mine lamps and describes briefly the lamps, giving tabulated details of each.

Jan 1, 1942

By Kenneth L. Cashdollar

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the West Virginia Office of Miners? Health, Safety, and Training (WVOMHS&T) investigated the explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, which occurred on January 2, 2006, and resulted in 12 fatalities. As part of the investigation, the agencies requested that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health?s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory evaluate the effects of explosions on specific mine ventilation seals and other structures and objects at its Lake Lynn Experimental Mine (LLEM). The results of the LLEM study would assist MSHA and WVOMHS&T in a more thorough understanding of the various questions that arose during their investigations of the explosion. Six large-scale explosion tests were conducted in the LLEM from April to October 2006. The protocols for these tests, and in particular the procedures for constructing various Omega block seals, were developed mainly by MSHA and WVOMHS&T. NIOSH developed the experimental procedures at the LLEM that would provide the required range of explosion pressures against the seals. Three 40-in-thick seal designs using Omega 384 low-density block were constructed in the LLEM and exposed to various explosion pressures. These seal designs are referred to in this report as the ?2001 design,? the ?hybrid design,? and the ?Sago design.? The 2001-design Omega block seal (80 in high) located in crosscut 2 of the LLEM survived all six explosions, with pressure loadings up to 51 psi. The 2001-design Omega block seal (88 in high) in C-drift was destroyed during Test 2, which subjected the seal to a head-on explosion that resulted in a pressure loading of 51 psi. The height difference between the two seals and the orientation of each seal to the explosion were contributing factors. The higher seal would be weaker for the same seal thickness. The hybrid Omega block seal in crosscut 3 survived an explosion at a pressure loading of 25 psi and failed during another explosion at a pressure loading of 39 psi at the seal. Based on these tests, it seems that the hybrid seal design is weaker than the 2001 seal design. The Sago Omega block seals were constructed in crosscut 3 and C-drift before Test 3. The crosscut 3 seal survived a pressure loading of 18 psi and was destroyed during an explosion at a pressure loading of 35 psi at the seal. The C-drift seal survived a head-on explosion that resulted in a pressure loading of 21 psi and was destroyed during an explosion with a pressure loading of 57 psi at the seal. Based on these LLEM tests, it seems that the Sago seal design is weaker than the 2001 seal design, yet it still complied with the requirements of 30 CFR 75.335(a)(2) that were in effect at the time of the mine disaster. During these LLEM explosion tests, the distance of seal debris travel was also measured. In Test 5, the C-drift seal was destroyed during a head-on explosion that resulted in a pressure loading of 57 psi, and the seal debris was thrown over 500 ft. In Test 6, the C-drift seal was destroyed during a head-on explosion that resulted in a pressure loading of 93 psi, and the Omega block debris was thrown over 900 ft. During these tests, the explosion pressure effects on other structures and objects were also documented. Unless otherwise specified, all of the pressure data listed in this report represent the highest recorded smoothed (averaged over 10 ms) explosion pressure loadings. The information in this report was used by MSHA and WVOMHS&T as supporting data in their analyses and investigative reports of the Sago Mine explosion.

Sep 1, 2009

By Manuel Gomez

Low-temperature carbonization product yields for 129 coals representative of 12 Utah coalfields were estimated, using regression equations developed from heating value and proximate and ultimate analysis data. It was shown that yields of char, tar plus light oil, water of decomposition, and gas, as well as the gas volume and the heating value of the gas, could be predicted with reasonable accuracy. Published and experimental results from eight Utah coals carbonized at selected temperatures in the 4500 to 1,000° C range were used to determine the effect of temperature on product yields. Carbonization temperature, heating value) oxygen, and volatile matter of coal appear to be the principal variables influencing carbonization product yields. Data presented show that the heating value and the residual volatile matter in low-temperature char may be predicted using relationships developed from proximate analysis data for 220 coals.

Jan 1, 1967

By Irvin G. Burough

Andros Analyzers Incorporated has designed and built two prototype continuous methane monitors capable of being mounted on a mining machine'. These instruments were designed for in-mine safety use. The monitors incorporated an NDIR optical/electronic analyzer design in which the response to the sample gas (methane in air) was achieved by synchronous detection and measurement of the amplitude oscillations of the trasmitted energy from an infrared source caused by the pressure modulation of the sample gas within the optical cell. Zero and span stability were to be achieved by the amplitude modulating of the infra-red source and using detected signal to correct for optical/electronic system variation. This design effort was to simplify and reduce the cost of the major components while eliminating the need for daily calibration. This report is the final report on this effort.

Jan 1, 1981

By Ralph H. Whaite

In undermined urban areas, new solutions to subsidence problems are being sought. The Bureau of Mines is investigating a hydraulic backfilling technique whereby fill material is pumped as a slurry through a closed system and widely distributed in inaccessible mine workings from a single borehole. A full-scale demonstration was completed in 1973 in Scranton, Pa., which is underlain by abandoned anthracite mines in several coalbeds superposed one above another. A 30-acre residential area was stabilized by injecting about 450,000 cubic yards of crushed mine refuse into two coalbeds through five injection boreholes. Nearly 200,000 cubic yards was injected through one borehole from which the material moved into the mine workings on all sides; the injected material reached a maximum lateral distance of 640 feet and filled mine openings from floor to roof. In the gravity-feed method formerly used to backfill inaccessible mine workings, quantities of fill injected per borehole averaged about 300 cubic yards. The gravity-feed method required many closely spaced injection holes and provided incomplete filling. The new method, designed for inundated mines, proved successful also in mine workings about mine-water pool level. Distribution of slurry through a buried pipeline minimized disturbance to the community.

Jan 1, 1975

By N. H. Coates

The Bureau of Mines determined average film coefficients of heat transfer for helium flowing through smooth, water-cooled tubes at Reynolds numbers of 5,000 to 25,000, helium inlet temperatures of 1,600° to 2,600° F, average temperature difference across the helium film of 800° to 1,300° F, and heat flux to 215,000 Btu/(hr)(sq ft). Since helium was the only gas used, the ranges of values for physical properties of the fluid are limited--thermal conductivity from 0.15 to 0.20 Btu/(hr)(sq ft)(O F/ft), viscosity from 0.082 to 0.104 lb/(ft)(hr), and Prandtl number from 0.63 to 0.68. Four equations, three of them dimensionless, correlate these coefficients with other properties of the helium--bulk temperature, film temperature, dimensionless parameters based on temperature, and the ratio of wall temperature to bulk temperature.

Jan 1, 1966

By J. Ronald Lawter

The purpose of the work described in this report was to measure the effects of diesel engine emissions on the air quality of work areas in a coal mine. Concentration measurements of a number of diesel related air contaminants were made at the Martin County Coal Corporation Mine in Inez, Kentucky. Compounds measured included carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide. In addition, concentrations of the two classes of odorous compound;, aromatic hydrocarbons, and oxygenates were obtained along, with aldehyde concentrations. Surveys were made of the mine by odor analysts to determine the perceived intensity of diesel-produced odors. It was found that the concentrations of the measured species were well below their Threshold Limit Values. Odor intensity levels in the moderate to strong range were observed in the mine.

Jan 1, 1977

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