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By Thomas J. Peters

This report is part of the U.S. Bureau of Mines Idaho Land Assesment Program to study the mineral resources of priority roadless areas in Idaho. The results of these mineral inventories provide minerals information needed to make wise decisions regarding future land management practices, and to ensure a dependable supply of minerals at a reasonable cost. The 16,300-acre Lionhead area, studied in 1991, lies along the Montana border north of Henrys lake, 10 mi west of West Yellowstone, Montana. The study area includes much of the rugged Henrys Lake Mountains, and is largely covered with conifer forest. Several peaks are over 10,000 ft in elevation. The Lionhead area has been proposed for Wilderness. No mineral resources were identified within or near the Lionhead study area. Five prospects occur in, or within 1 mi of the area: these include 1) an intermittently used road gravel pit, 2) the Thimbleberry lateritic iron prospect, of geologic and historic interest only, 3) the Tick Heaven talc prospect, 4) the Dry Fork garnet prospect, and 5) the lynx prospect, which appears to be of historic interest only. Talc is seen only as float at the Tick Heaven prospect, but the geology is permissive of talc resources at depth. The garnet prospect, and nearby similar alluvial terrane, mainly outside the study area, appears to be the most likely setting to contain mineable resources. Examined workings include four trenches and pits in rock and one gravel pit.

Jan 1, 1992

By J. A. Organiscak

The Bureau of Mines recently investigated dust generation and methane liberation during half-and full-web cutting at a double-drum shearer longwall face. This study was conducted to ascertain the health and safety aspects of wider web shearing at longwalls. Results from these underground tests showed that deeper web cutting reduced dust generation and methane liberation per ton of coal mined, while significantly improving shearer production rates. When cutting with the airflow (head-to-tail cut pass) full-web cutting decreased dust generation per ton by 16 pct at the shearer and 6 pct at the tailgate, with an increase in shearer production rate of 72 pct. Methane liberation per short ton also deere~sed by 36 pet at the shearer and 22 pct at the tailgate. Full-web cutting against the airflow (tail-to-head cut pass) decreased dust generation per ton by 41 pct at the shearer and 37 pct at the tail-gate over half-web cutting, with an increase in shearer production rate of 61 pct. Methane liberation per ton also decreased by 35 pct at the shearer and 41 pct at the tailgate. These improvements for full-web cutting are a reflection of improved cutting efficiency (less dust and methane produced from cutting) and less new face area exposed per ton of coal mined (less methane liberated from face per short ton of coal mined).

Jan 1, 1988

By M. J. Brevoort

Research work in the Bureau of Mines cryogenic laboratory requires the use of high-sensitivity galvanometers of the d'Arsonval type in a building that is subject to unusually severe vibrations. A modified form of the galvanometer suspension described by Julius3 has damped the vibrations so successfully that a short note concerning it is thought to be desirable, The laboratory is on the site of the Amarillo helium plant near a building that houses gas engines of from 180 to 250 hp., driving compressors and electric generators. The distances from the galvanometers to the individual engines range from about 80 to 180 feet. The subsoil, consisting of black clay loam, transmits the impulses without much damping. The usual methods of protecting galvanometers from vibration were tried and proved fruitless. A Julius suspension purchased on the market was carefully installed in the hope that it would overcome the difficulty, but the conditions were too severe even for this elaborate arrangement. Several mudifications of the original Julius suspension, which were then introduced, resulted in almost complete elimination of all vibrational effects.

Jan 1, 1931

By E. P. Youngman

The mining law of Chosen, which was made effective April 1, 1916, was promulgated as ordinance 8, December 24, 1915, in accordance with the provisions of articles 1 and 2 of law No. 30 of 1911. The new le repealed the mining law, Fo. 3 of 1906, and the placer mining law, No. of 1906, and in effect annulled all prior mining legislation. An amendment to the mining law of 1916 (by virtue of law No. 30 of 1911) vas. passed December 16, 1918, as ordinence o. 17. The detailed regulations, which were to supplement the law proper, and rich in all probability follow closely the regulations in force in the Empire, were not available. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this paper are to the mining law of 1916.

Mar 1, 1933

By M. J. Brevoort

Research work in the Bureau of Mines cryogenic laboratory requires the use of high-sensitivity galvanometers of the d'Arsonval type in a building that is subject to unusually severe vibrations. A modified form of the galvanometer suspension described by Julius' has damped the vibrations so successfully that a short note concerning it is thought to be desirable. The laboratory is on the site of the Amarillo helium plant near a building that houses gas engines of from 180 to 250 hp driving compressors and electric generators. The distances from the galvanometers to the individual engines range from about 80 to 180 feet. The subsoil, consisting of black clay loam, transmits the impulses without much damping. The usual methods of protecting galvanometers from vibration were tried and proved fruitless. A Julius suspension purchased on the market was carefully installed in the hope that it would overcome the difficulty, but the conditions were too severe even for this elaborate arrangement. Several modifications of the original Julius suspension, which were then introduced, resulted in almost complete elimination of all vibrational effects. These modifications were suggested by careful study of the original idea embraced in the Julius construction. They were designed to give further constraint to motion in any direction other than that parallel to a line from the point of support through the center of gravity of the suspension, This was accomplished by making the suspended frame more rigid and by improving the means of adjusting each of the supporting wires to the same degree, thereby transmitting any impulse symmetrically through the three wires. The result was a suspension that is more effective, particularly for severe vibration, than the form described by Julius; also, it is believed to have advantages in stability, simplicity, and ease of adjustment over the few suspensions for this type of service that the author has found described in the literature.

Jan 1, 1931

By A. L. Murray, P. A. Surgeon

The Spring Canyon Mine Rescue Association is a cooperative association supported jointly by five coal-mining companies located in Spring Canyon, Utah. The properties of mining companies the Carbon Fuel Co, Rains , Utah, the Liberty Coal Co. , Latuda, Utah, the Standard Coal Co. , Standardville , Utan, the Spring Canyon Coal Co. , Storrs , Utah, and the Peerless Coal Co. , Peerless , Utah about a mile apart and normally employ a total of 915 men , 733 underground 182 on the surface . and The Association was organized on July 5, 1921 , and Rudolph Clark, fomerly first - aid miner on U. S. Bureau of Mines Rescue Car 11 , was placed in charge. as manager . A board of directors made up of a representative from each of the cooperating companies (usually the mine superintendent ) is the governing body of the Association and the expenses are prorated on a basis of the production of each of the five mines . The Association maintains eight sets of Gibbs rescue apparatus and a motor truck fitted up as a combined rescue truck and ambulance . Additional apparatus are to be purchased . Standardville is the central camp in the canyon and has been made the headquarters of the Association . The apparatus are now kept and the truck housed in a small station, but plans have been prepared for a large station which will be built this summer . This new station will have a large apparatus room , a test chamber, a suitable room. for training, and a garage on the first floor, while above will be the living quarters of the manager . There is a good road through the canyon and the other camps are all within two and one -half miles of Standardville .

May 1, 1922

By Thomas J. Peters

In 1987, at the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Bureau of Mines studied a 12,564-acre portion of the 34,795-acre Rockhouse Wilderness Study Area (CA-010-029) in order to evaluate its identified mineral resources. The study area is located in Kern and Tulare Counties, CA, about 60 air mi northeast of Bakersfield at the south end of the Sierra Nevada. A review of the geologic and mining literature, and a field examination identified a turquoise and a gold prospect in the study area, and another gold prospect and a feldspar prospect within a mile of the study area boundary. Thirty-three rock and 16 alluvial samples were taken.

Jan 1, 1988

By R. R. Sayers

Mine operators and managers for a number of years have known that the maintenance of health among the workers has an appreciable financial value, In order to maintain the health, it has been found ne cessery to imow; 1. The health hazards existing in the industry as a whole and the specific hazard in the individual mine. 2. The physical condition of applicants for employment as well as that of the old employees. This can be determined only by systematic physical examination of all applicants and of regular employees at intervals of at least once a year thereafter. 3. All cases of sickness that occur among the workers. No operator or manager, or personnel, medical, or safety organization can control or prevent sickness without knowing where, when, and under what conditions the sickness actually occurs. In order to obtain information as to the hazards of industry, investigations have been and are being made of the effects of the condi- tions both in the field under usual working practices and in the laboratory. In the field several factors are generally present which affect the health. The effect of these factors may be determined by studying each of them separately in the laboratory. However, both the field and the laboratory studies are limited in value in that such studies usually have been made over a comparatively short period. While we have some information as to their immediate effect, we do not know to what extent extreme heat, humidity, the presence of dust or other health hazards are the cause of disability. Mortality statistics are probably the most easily available indices as to the hazards of industry. As an example, a study of such statistics among coal miners of Indiana shows a marked increase in the death rate in 1918.

Mar 1, 1923

By M. H. Kersten, G. A. Brady, Jerry W. Ramsey

Anthracite samples were oxidized with nitric acid to prepare products representing intermediate stages of oxidation . Similar oxidizing conditions affected different anthracites to varying degrees as characterized by peptization behavior with 0.1 N NaOH . Techniques used in attempts to separate and characterize the products included esterification , absorption spectrophotometry , sublimation , chromatography , electrophoresis , metal salt formation , and solvent extraction . Mellitic acid , either free or in the form of metallic salts , was identified in the acid- soluble products from 10 tests in which the anthracite was treated with nitric acid for periods varying from 24 to 1,000 hours . pentacarboxylic acid was also found in some products . Other benzene carboxylic acids were not present in amounts detectable by the methods used in this study . The acid- insoluble residue from nitric acid treatment varied significantly in solubility behavior toward different classes of solvents . The most effective ones tried included polar oxygenated solvents and pyridine . Infrared spectra of the extracted material indicated that similar compounds were extracted by the different solvents . Aliphatic amines and aniline peptized the residue and o- toluidine reacted with it . Organic material separated from the residue by peptization with dimethylformamide contained 1 percent ash , consisting of more than 50 percent zirconium .

Jan 1, 1964

This section contains a summary of our investigation of the soil conditions (type, porosity, moisture content, etc.) at the two sites (Lanse and Kato, Pennsylvania) selected for field testing of latex as a soil sealant. Other natural conditions such as rainfall, frostline, depth of the water table, etc., were also measured and recorded for possible later use in assessing the effect of the latex seal on the total environment. The numbered sites referred to throughout this report are shown on the maps of the Lanse and Kato sites (Figures 1 and 2). KA, RB and KC are positions at the Kato site - all other numbered positions refer to the Lanse site. Two other terms used throughout the report which should be explained are “horizon” and "profile". These are synonymous terms for soil layer, A horizon (or A profile) referring to topsoil and B horizon (or B profile) referring to subsoil. The properties that control the flow of water through the soil are of special interest because these will also govern the passage of a sealant into and through the soil. Normally the particle size distribution is a good measure of soil permeability, which is directly proportional to sand content and inversely proportional to silt and/or clay content. Tables I1 and I11 show the percentages of gravel or stones, sand, silt and clay of Lanse and Kato soil samples. According to the United States Department of Agriculture classification, the gravel is ,ignored and the residue separated into sand, silt, and clay fractions. Figures 4 and 5 indicate by means of the USDk soil texture triangle that the variability of composition of Lanse soil ranges from sandy loam in the creekbed to clay loam. The variation is even greater among soil samples from Kato. Porosity of soil, also known as percent voids, is another indication of how readily water will travel through soils. Soil density usually increases and porosity decreases with depth, and as expected, the porosity of the top soil at Kato, a forest, is exceptionally porous and open (see Table IV) The pore diameter and length of soil capillaries is extremely variable, and its distribution in the field is impossible to determine. In addition to the capillaries, soil also contains many macro cracks, crevices, and passages around stones and roots. All these affect the flow rate of water through soil. Poiseuille's law states that the rate of flow of a liquid through a narrow tube is proportional to the 4th power of the radius of the tube. Pore size normally decreases with depth and in soil containing appreciable amounts of silt and clay this is especially true. Thus, deeper soils should be less permeable and such was the case at Lanse and Kato.

Jan 1, 1972

By P. J. McDonough

The Bureau of Mines designed and tested a hardware-software system for measuring on-line corrosion rates of materials in a rod mill in operation. Currents ranging from 10-6 to 10-3 A and potentials in I-mV increments were converted to a digital signal. The digitized data were frequency-modulated and transmitted from a rotating ball mill to an FM receiver, where they were decoded by computer and then processed in real time using assembly language software. This design approach would allow accurate measurement and control of systems where signals of small amplitude and large ranges are present.

Jan 1, 1988

Develop a user-friendly computer program that permits those interested in mine health and safety to access and analyze on a personal computer (PC) employment, production, and accident data for U.S. coal and metal-nonmetal mines. This software is being designed with a major focus on flexibility and case of use. The Mine Accident Decision Support System (MADSS) will be available for distribution in mid-1994. Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) is seeking volunteers willing to pilot test a preliminary version of the software and to provide suggestions for its improvement. Background Since 1975, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has compiled large data bases of information about U.S. mines and the reportable accidents, injuries, and illnesses that have occurred in those mines. Employment and production data arc collected on a quarterly basis from each mine and accident information is collected on an incident -by-incident basis. The USBM has compiled estimated costs for each of these accidents using computer models. All of this information is potentially useful to mine health and safety researchers. However, it has been underutilized because it is stored in large mainframe data bases that arc inaccessible to many users and/or are cumbersome and difficult to use.

Jan 1, 1993

By Linneas Laage, Thomas Weber, William Pomroy

"Underground mine fires can significantly influence mine ventilation airstreams, in some cases throttling or even reversing airflows. As a result, the performance of a metal and nonmetal mine stench fire warning system, which depends on the ventilation to carry the vital warning signal, under fire conditions is different from performance under nonfire conditions. The safety of underground miners can be jeopardized if the warning signal is delayed. This Bureau of Mines report describes research to investigate fire and stench warning system interactions. A computer model is presented that permits quantitative analysis of stench warning signal delays as a function of fire location and intensity. The results of a case study involving computer simulations of stench distribution in a hypothetical mine network subject to various fire exposures are also discussed. This case study illustrates a technique for identifying the areas within a mine that are subject to unacceptable warning signal delays, thereby enabling preemptive action by mine personnel, such as redeployment of stench injectors. INTRODUCTIONFires are an ever-present threat to the safety of underground miners. Since the smoke and toxic gas produced by a mine fire can be spread rapidly by the mine's ventilation system, mine evacuation must be accomplished as quickly as possible in the event of fire. In metal and nonmetal mines, the most common means of passing the fire warning signal to each miner is the stench system. The typical stench system utilizes ethyl mercaptan, a highly odoriferous organic compound, injected on the surface into the compressed and/or ventilation airstreams. Upon smelling the stench, workers evacuate the mine according to an emergency preplan.Although the stench system has been used successfully for over 60 yr, it has several serious shortcomings, owing to certain chemical properties of ethyl mercaptan and to certain performance characteristics and limitations of present injection systems.Recent Bureau research succeeded in upgrading the overall safety and effectiveness of the stench system through the use of a superior stench odorant and the development of improved stench injection equipment (1).4 This research has also investigated a specialized computer simulation model capable of calculating the precise concentration of stench in any mine ventilation network branch at any time after stench release (2). An adaptation of the computer model now enables the analysis of stench system and ventilation system interactions under the influence of a mine fire."

Jan 1, 1987

By Michael G. Pojar

This Bureau of Mines report estimates the population of the principal types of machinery in use by the coal mining industry during 1982 in surface and underground mines. Estimates were arrived at using 1976 coal equipment population estimates as baseline data with modifications made for new mine development, expansion, and closure occurring during 1976-82. Estimates were broken down into 3 regions which included all 26 coal-producing States. Modifications made to the baseline data were computed using (1) actual equipment information when available, plus (2) equipment information hypothesized from representative generic mine models, which were predicated on mine size and mine method. Roughly half of the equipment fleet at new or expanding coal operations was known; the remainder was hypothesized. The mine models used to generate equipment information are included in this report, along with the hypothesized equipment use data. The equations and various factors used to determine the equipment adjustments for mine closings, new mine openings, and small coal mine operations are also identified.

Jan 1, 1986

By C. P. Mabie

This report summarizes studies by the Bureau of Mines in developing a simple method for estimating the phosphorus pentoxide (P205) content of finely ground sedimentary phosphate ores and beneficiated products. The method used involved leaching, filtration, and precipitation. The Bureau found that measurement of the volume of ammonium phosphomolybdate precipitate obtained from samples containing 16.8 to 37.7 percent P205 and the use of an appropriate calibration curve permitted estimates of percentage of P205 content accurate within ± 1.1 to ± 2.6 percent, respectively, at the 95-percent confidence limits. Incidental to mineral dressing and petrographic investigations of western phosphate ores in 1959, the Bureau of Mines undertook development of a simple process-control method for rapid on-the-spot evaluation of phosphate-mineral recovery. Because of the fine-grained and obscure character of western phosphate ores, chemical, rather than microscopic or petrographic, techniques were investigated. The described method involves acid decomposition of the ore or product, filtration, addition of ammonium molybdate reagent to the filtrate, and centrifuging and measuring the volume of yellow ammonium phosphomolybdate precipitate produced.

Jan 1, 1961

By Forrest T. Moyer

The safety record of the mineral and mineral-fuel mining and processing industries in 1966 was improved slightly for the second consecutive year as indicated by reduced injury-frequency and injury-severity rates. The overall operating activity was higher in 1966, as measured by the increased number of men working and the total man-hours of worktime. Injury Experience.-The rate of occurrence of all disabling work injuries in the mineral industries was 17.38 per million man-hours in 1966. This overall rate comprised frequencies of 0.28 for fatal and 17.10 for nonfatal work injuries, compared with respective rates of 0.28 and 17.26 in 1965. Fatalities totaled 543; 5 more than in 1965. The total of 33.091 nonfatal injuries was 291 higher than in 1965. However, the larger number of disabilities was offset by the increased worktime in 1966. so that the fatality frequency was unchanged and the nonfatal frequency rate decreased from 1965.

Jan 1, 1967

By D. H. Carlson, J. H. Johnson

"The U.S. Bureau of Mines and Michigan Technological University (MTU) are collaborating to develop an apparatus for measuring diesel tailpipe emissions in underground mines. A tailpipe emissions measurement apparatus (EMA) is described that dilutes diesel exhaust and measures the concentrations of diesel particulate matter (DPM), CO, CO2, NO, and NO2 at known dilution ratios.The EMA was evaluated by side-by-side comparison of its measurements with those by laboratory grade instruments. Concentrations of CO and C02 measured by the EMA were usually within ± 14 pct of concentrations measured by laboratory-grade instruments for CO and ±20 pct for C02• EMA measured DPM concentrations were, on average, 29 pct lower than those measured by laboratory-grade instruments, with the differences being fairly consistent. The CO and C02 differences are related to the method of calculating the EMA's dilution ratio, and the difference in DPM concentrations is attributed to thermophoretic and/or condensation losses related to the EMA's unheated sample probe. Preliminary analysis of data obtained with a heated sampling probe and modifications in the sampling procedures have indicated reduced variability in DPM and in the calculated dilution ratios."

Mar 1, 1992

By J. M. Stuve

Provisional values for the heat of formation of europium trichloride and europium sesquioxide were determined by solution calorimetry utilizing europium metal of more than 99-percent purity. The resulting values for the heats of formation of Eu203 (cubic) and EuCls (hexagonal) were -386,970 ±l,200 cal/mole and -218,740 ±650 cal/mole, respectively, measured at 298.15° K.

Jan 1, 1965

By Donald A. Voigt

This publication is intended as a guide for persons responsible for obtaining classifications and approvals Tor explosive compounds, mixtures, or devices from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). It deals with the procedures for obtaining a recommendation for classification of an explosive compound, mixture, or device through the Bureau of Mines. Completion of the procedures detailed in this guide is necessary to obtain a final classification of an explosive compound, mixture, or device and assignment of an "EX" number by DOT, which will allow the producer to offer the explosive for shipment within the United States. This guide also gives procedures for obtaining United Nations (U.N.) classification for shipping outside the United States.

Jan 1, 1990

By M. A. Trevits, J. E. Urosek, A. C. Smith, M. P. Valoski

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is conducting research to test, evaluate, improve or modify coal mine fire-fighting strategies and methodologies through large-scale tests. Since wood is the second most abundant fuel available during a coal mine fire, it was decided that series of large-scale wood crib fire tests were needed to measure the products of combustion and to observe the capability of commonly available direct application fire suppression equipment, namely, fire extinguishers, water and gas-enhanced foam. This paper discusses the wood crib fire tests, provides insight into the products of combustion and describes observations made during the application of the fire suppression agents.