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By John C. Machisak

THIS PUBLICATION presents injury experience and employment data for the nonmetal mining industry in the United States for 1960. Data for the mines and mills are presented separately, as shown in the list of tables. The Bureau of Mines is authorized to send questionnaires to the nonmetal mining industry for their voluntary submission of injury and employment data. As the information submitted contributes largely to the promotion of safety in the industry, special effort has been made to ma e these questionnaires as complete as possible.

Jan 1, 1963

By Yiming Zhang, Yunpeng Li, Chun Feng, Ruyang Cao

In the past, the selection of the number of empty holes between blast holes heavily relied on the subjective experience of practitioners, leading to unsatisfactory blasting results. The number of empty holes between blast holes is particularly important for the perforation of explosive cracks. In order to determine the optimum number of empty holes for inducing the propagation of explosive cracks, a two-dimensional numerical model of two-hole blasting was established based on the continuous-discontinuous element method (CDEM) using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the medium, and numerical simulation of various working conditions was conducted; the simulation results are basically consistent with the PMMA model test. Through the analysis of blasting parameters, the optimal number of empty holes with a certain hole spacing is fitted. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) There is a threshold for variable x. When x exceeds 50, the presence of empty holes cannot lead to the perforation of explosive cracks between the blast holes. (2) When x is below 50, the optimal number of empty holes inducing the propagation of explosive cracks can be determined through fitting an empirical formula. By adjusting the number of empty holes between blast holes, a significant spacing between adjacent blast holes was achieved, allowing for effective penetration, so as to effectively “induce” the direction of the fracture zone and make full use of the energy of explosives. The research results of this paper are conducive to the research of directional blasting technology and provide certain references for the optimization of precision blasting parameters.

Dec 19, 2023

By John C. Machisak

THIS PUBLICATION presents injury experience and employment data for the nonmetal mining industry in the United States for 1960. Data for the mines and mills are presented separately, as shown in the list of tables. The Bureau of Mines is authorized to send questionnaires to the nonmetal mining industry for their voluntary submission of injury and employment data. As the information submitted contributes largely to the promotion of safety in the industry, special effort has been made to make these questionnaires as complete as possible.

Jan 1, 1963

By Peter J. Nicholson

A new method of constructing retaining walls, in-situ, prior to excavation has been developed. This "Vertical Earth Reinforcement Technique" VERT, has been demonstrated at a full scale test wall at the National Geotechnical Experimentation Site at Texas A&M University. This 10 meter high wall, was constructed of elements of soil mixing in an array that forced composite behavior between the soil mixed elements and the in-situ soils. Inclinometers and extensometers were used to verify the performance of the wall. The construction and results of the testing are presented.

Jan 1, 1998

By C. R. Copeland

Airborne dust emission standards are receiving growing attention. This trend is motivated by significant health studies that have shown adverse health effects due to exposure to dust. Currently, the air quality standards are not specific to particles in the nanoparticulate range (<1,000 nm). However, as our understanding of health related matters increases, it is very likely that nanoparticulate standards will be adopted. It was previously believed that typical comminution and material-handling practices could not result in airborne nanoparticulates. However, experimental studies using air monitoring and SEM have verified the presence of nanoparticulates in the air as a result of comminution and material handling. This means that emerging nanoparticulate air quality standards are a real possibility for industrial operations. With this emerging problem facing the minerals industry, effective suppression methods for nanoparticulates should be explored. Systematic studies have indicated that nanoparticulates from silica can be suppressed utilizing hygroscopic reagents such as calcium chloride. This reagent was as much as 93% more effective than water in suppressing silica nanoparticulates.

Jan 1, 2007

By John M. Devine

Hydrogen sulphide associated with natural gas was noted as early as at Point Albino, Canada. The presence of this impurity was recognized also in other of the earlier oil and gas fields, although the occurrence was by no means common. However, in recent years, with the development of the producing zones of test Texas and the Texas Panhandle, the Production of "sour" crude has increased greatly and hydrogen sulphide has proved a generally troublesome factor--frequently a major problem--in the drilling and operation of many wells in those areas. The problems arising from the drilling and producing of oil or gas wells in hydrogen-sulphide areas, fall under two general divisions: safety problems and corrosion problems. Mention is made of a third division which is closely related to the other two, that of treating--or the development of processes for the removal of hydrogen iron the standpoint of safety and health hazards, hydrogen sulphide in the petroleum industry has been discussed in a number of publications. Likewise, the problem of hydrogen-sulphide corrosion of production equipment has been given considerable attention in the literature.

Jan 1, 1931

By T. E. Hill

The Bureau of Mines investigated the possibility of physically separating Missouri and Minnesota granites into commercially usable fractions of feldspar, quartz, and mica by mineral dressing techniques. The probability of r covering a feldspar fraction from raw granite suitable for commercial uses was developed through correlation of the iron oxide content by extensive petrographic studies. This probability evaluation also included Wisconsin granites and a high-feldspar iron ore concentration tailing from Missouri. Laboratory recoveries of feldspar and quartz were on the order of 80 percent. Mineral content of each fraction was generally over 95 percent, indicating excellent response to separatory techniques, Acid leaching of feldspar and quartz concentrates to remove iron oxide improved the grades chemically; however, occluded iron oxide particles in the leached products prevented attaining top grades of feldspar. Mica was removed as scrap grade at low recoveries. Each concentrate conformed to some category of commercial feldspar, quartz, or mica.

Jan 1, 1969

"The Upper Mannville unit commonly consists of interbedded marine and non-marine sands and shales, but in northwestern Alberta the unit consists of marine shales of the Spirit River Formation. A thick tongue of marine shale (Clearwater Formation) ex-tends eastward into the Athabasca area below sandy Grand Rapids beds. Correlation of Upper Mannville rocks to the southeast is difficult, but in the Cold Lake area a thick sandy depositional cycle (Mannville ""C"" of this paper) appears to be approximately correlative with the Clearwater Formation. In the Lloyd-minster region, tongues of marine sedimentary rock occur in the lower part of the Upper Mannville unit. Most of the Upper Mannville oil occurs in the Grand Rapids Formation at Wabasca, in the thick ""C"" unit and younger Mannville sands at Cold Lake, and in the Sparky and General Petroleums sands of the Lloydminster region (Figure 2).The Lower Mannville unit was deposited on an erosional surface of considerable relief that truncated the Jurassic and older strata of the Western Canada basin. Continental, probably fluviatile, sedimentation persisted over much of the Western Canada basin during deposition of the Lower Mannville unit, but an Arctic or Boreal sea lay over part of northern Alberta. At the end of the depositional episode, the sea transgressed southward and eastward (Figure 3) and re-worked the Bullhead and McMurray sands of northern Alberta into the glauconitic Bluesky and Wabiskaw sands. Topography on the sub-Cretaceous erosion-al surface had a considerable effect on the deposition of the Lower Mannville (Rudkin, 1965), and the highest hills on this surface were not completely on-lapped by Lower Mannville sediments (Figure 3). The coarser elastic material was derived both from a western Cordilleran region and from an eastern Canadian Shield region (Glaister, 1959, p. 620; Mellon, 1956)."

Jan 1, 1966

By Oliver C. Ralston

The minerals that enter welding-rod coatings and fluxes are the main subject of this report. Few mineral producers know just what minerals and what grades and quantities of minerals are required by the welding trade, and it is for their information that this report has been prepared. The various methods of welding are discussed extensively enough to inform this type of audience. Specialists in welding probably will find little on welding that is of value to them, but they may learn something more about the minerals or mineral products that they use. The authors did not find it easy to prepare this publication, and any needed corrections will be welcomed. Regarding welding, research, Jenks4/ 1 points out that while the process of welding in simple in operation, the phenomena attending its use are extremely complicated, and the efficient and safe use of welding requires an understanding thereof. Although the fluxes and the coatings used have solved many problems, many other problems require the joint effort of the whole industry; therefore, it is hoped that this report will be found of practical value.

Jan 1, 1940

By S R. Pecover

AustraliaÆs opal and sapphire mining industry has fallen from its peak in the 1980s and 1990s into a significant low today. This is not due to exhaustion of the resource, but instead an over-reliance of the Australian miner on achieving a fair price for the gemstone product from offshore middlemen dealers. Gemstone and geological research is also at a low as Federal higher education expenditure has fallen with research institutions relying increasingly on private funding in an environment of restricted autonomy and flexibility for researchers. What little remaining research skills the universities have is being bled into the private sector as a result of the mining boom and encouraged by lower than average academic salaries. Nevertheless, some highly innovative research has been taking place, often by self-funded individuals and retired academics simply with a desire to advance the understanding of the particular branch of science in which they are interested. New models for the formation of sapphire and opal are now beginning to be applied to the exploration for these gemstone commodities. This research, together with well thought out plans for managing the gemstone product through its value-adding steps to the jewellery retail level, has the potential to bring about a resurgence in the Australian gemstone industry.

Jan 1, 2008

By G. F. Kuncir

The time-cost-risk analysis described herein was performed as part of an evaluation of the Advancing Oil Shale Mining Technology Program performed by The Aerospace Corporation. The objectives of this analysis are to assess the feasibility of the program relative&apos; to time and cost constraints, and to determine the probabilities of achieving various technological goals. A combination of standard program planning and analysis techniques were used to achieve these objectives. These included a critical path analysis, a resource allocation analysis, and a risk analysis.

Jan 1, 1977

By Daniel S. Witkowsky

The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 provides few specifics to assist the non-fuel mining and mineral processing industries of the United States in achieving pollution prevention (P2) compliance. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) recognizes the absence of specific information to reduce pollution impacts from mining and mineral processing of hardrock and industrial minerals. Therefore, the USBM has prepared this publication to help reduce or eliminate environmental pollution and to assure the viability of these segments of the domestic mining industry. This report includes worksheets designed to help operators of mining and milling facilities to establish a P2 program. The report can also be used by citizen and environmental groups, State and local governments, and academia to gain an understanding of P2 as it relates to mining and mineral processing.

Jan 1, 1995

By A Priatna, H Rumbino, T Casten

This paper discusses the progress of the Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) mine from the pre-feasibility study completed in 2005, through commencement of development access in 2008, completion of the feasibility in 2010 and cave initiation in late 2015. This fourth lift of caving in the East Ertsberg Skarn System (EESS) is located 500 m below the currently producing Deep Ore Zone (DOZ) mine and represents approximately half a billion tonnes of ore and around 1900 planned drawpoints, scheduled to be mined at a peak of 80 000 t/d.The paper reviews the mine design, access requirements, planned footprint sequence and major fixed facility installations such as ventilation, oreflow and shops. A discussion of the preproduction development and construction activities and some of the critical technical challenges overcome during this time frame are addressed, as well as the cave initiation process undertaken in late 2015 and the ramp-up of production and progression of caving.CITATION:Casten, T, Priatna, A and Rumbino, H, 2016. Deep Mill Level Zone – from feasibility to production, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 635–644 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By K. J. Liles

The Bureau of Mines conducted laboratory semicontinuous and continuous heavy liquid tests to determine the feasibility of producing commercial-grade products from the high-clay sylvinite ores of the Permian Basin in New Mexico. Continuous test operations demonstrated that concentrates containing 59.9 percent K2O and recoveries of over 75 percent of the contained potash can be obtained. The organic heavy liquid was effectively recovered by vaporization, condensation, and absorption methods. Less than 5 parts per million of heavy liquid vapors were released to the atmosphere. This loss represents only 0.02 pound of heavy liquid per ton of ore treated.

Jan 1, 1973

By Floyd G. Anderson

The increasing trend toward use of continuous-type mining machines created a significant dust problem in coal mining, which resolved itself into three categories: Visibility at face, deposition on return airways, and the potential health hazard. The control measures applicable to these conditions and studied or developed from 1955 through 1957 are summarized and reviewed in this report. Other important problems brought into focus during the same period were radiation exposure in uranium mining and high temperature and humidity. Although temperature and atmospheric pressure alone may not be contributing factors in the incidence of silicosis, the few mining companies who operate under the extremes of these conditions are dust conscious and keep dust-control engineers on their operating staffs.

Jan 1, 1961

By Z Hu

The technique of reclaiming disturbed land by use of a hydraulic dredge pump (HDP) (which is a set of hydraulic machines for earthwork), termed 'digging deep to fill shallow has been used in the reclamation of subsidence areas in Chinese coal mines. This paper discusses the operational principle of the technique and summarises its reclamation procedures, which are being used in current reclamation practice. The soil condition reclaimed by the HDP was studied. The results showed that the pioneer crops to be planted in the reclaimed soil should be the ‘pulse’ family crops, and that improvements to the reclaimed soil and the HDP technique itself are needed. Bused on the analysis of the previous technical processes, a new rational technical model for the HDP reclamation method is presented in this paper.

Jan 4, 1996

By Linn M. Farish

SOVIET RUSSIA reserves must be stupendous. In 1937 I. M. Goubkin placed the reserves of all categories it approximately 48 billion barren which was about twenty billion horn Is in excel:, of all the oil produced in the world since 1857. It is not unlikely in fact it is probable, that these huge stores of petroleum may ultimately be proven to exist within the present boundaries of the U.S.S.R. The size of the country is almost beyond imagination it is 2.7 times as big as the United States. Great sedimentary basins exist in all its different geological provinces, much of which are entirely untested and barely prospected. Oil in commercial quantities is actually produced from formations in every period from the Devonian to the Pleistocene. In the Emba region alone, 300 salt domes are known with an estimate of 700 still to be found. Only 22 of the 300 have been drilled and all showed oil. Of the 22 domes drilled six are now producing. There are 400 mapped structures reported in Azerbaijan

Jan 1, 1940

By Staff

"The Weyburn Oil Field, located 80 miles southeast of Regina, Saskatchewan, was discovered by Central-Del Rio Oils Limited, in January, 1955. As of January 1st, 1959, the field had 357 wells capable of producing an estimated total of 45,100 barrels of oil per day.Highly portable, economical, drilling rigs are used to penetrate the pay at a depth of 4,400 to 5,100 feet. Presently, the complete drilling operation for an average field well, including drilling, coring, testing, and running casing, requires 12 days. Drilling procedures are conventional for a field of this depth and no serious problems exist. Central-Del Rio core the productive section of all their wells, which provides valuable information for well completions and reservoir studies. Production casing procedure is to set through the zone and perforate the productive inter-val. This was found advisable due to the lensing nature of the porosity and permeability throughout the reservoir, and to the high connate water saturation encountered in the tighter sections of the reservoir in the north and northeast areas of the field.Although a few wells in the field have produced naturally by flowing or pumping without acid treatment, it has generally been necessary to acidize the wells to make them commercial producers. To date, acid treatments appear to effect better stimulation of the limestone reservoir than fracturing treatments. Perforation sealing balls have been used as an aid in selectively treating all of the perforated interval.The majority of the field is on pump, producing at a low gas-oil ratio. The main part of the field has water-free production, with most of the water being produced in the north and northeastern area. Salt-water disposal is now available in the field through two disposal wells completed in the Basal Blairmore sand.The Midale Beds ""Marly"" and ""Vuggy"" zones form the principal reservoir, which is a stratigraphic trap, with the north and northeast edges terminated by a porosity and permeability pinch-out and the south-west and west edges bounded by water-laden porosity. There is no evidence to date of a gas cap. The reservoir apparently is producing on a fluid-expansion-type mechanism. The increasing water production in wells on the southwest and west edges of the field indicated water encroachment from these directions, and suggests some recovery energy may be available from this source.The total probable ultimate remaining recoverable reserves have been estimated at° 332,469,000 barrels of oil. Markets have not been able to keep up with the rate of development of the medium crude re-serves. However, it is felt strongly that substantial additional markets for Weyburn medium crude will be developed by the producers in the near future at realistic wellhead prices."

Jan 1, 1959

By D. S. Kingery

Efficient transportation is necessary to complement modern mechanized mining methods. The increasing trend toward high-capacity face loading equipment has demanded equally efficient haulage methods; this has been met by increasing mine-car sizes, using larger locomotives, and increasing haulage speeds, all requiring properly installed and maintained haulage roads specifically designed for this type of traffic. The recommendations and specifications included in this circular were made to point out salient factors important to the proper construction and maintenance of track haulage roads and to serve as recommended standards for track installation and maintenance. GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED Haulageway. - The track, walkway, trolley wire, feeder lines signal end telephone lines, signals, telephones, support, and drainage of the entry referred to. Subgrede. - The base upon which the ballast is laid.

Jan 1, 1954

By R. E. Ogilvie, H. C. Gatos, R. E. Hanneman

The effect of high pressure on the stability of the (any phase transformation in the Fe-V system was studied by experimental and theoretical methods. The maximum solubility limit of the y loop of the atmospheric phase diagram was found to increase by a factor of five at 40 kbars pres-sure. The solubility limits of (Y and y phases are calculated on an approximate thermodynamic basis at pressures of 20, 40, and 50 kbars as a function THE high-pressure behavior of the a =^ y transformation in iron and iron-base alloys has been the subject of considerable interest recently. For those binary or higher-order alloy systems possessing a closed y loop, the effect of pressure is to extend the region of solubility of the more dense y phase. Although quite accurate calculations have been made of the a y temperature-pressure diagram of pure iron,&apos; only very approximate thermodynamic calculations or experimental measurements have been made of the pressure dependence of a ^ y equilibria in binary systems exhibiting a y loop.2"4 of temperature and are found in excellent agreement with experimental results. The experimental high-pressure phase diagrams were determined using binary diffusion couples diffused under simultaneous conditions of high pressure and temperature and analyzed with an electron microbeam probe. Approximate calculations of the stabilizing effect of high pressure on the o phase are qualitatively confirmed by experimental results. These previous calculations have primarily dealt with the slopes of the allotropic a (Y= y phase boundary at terminal solubility. The lack of detailed understanding or accurate experimental results of the pressure dependence of the two-phase a ^ y field has been due, in part, to the types of experimental methods previously employed. The primary purposes of the current paper are twofold: 1) to develop and make use of thermodynamic expressions with the aid of supplementary data, to approximately calculate the pressure dependence of the entire y loop and the two-phase ((Y + y) width in the Fe-V system; and 2) to accurately determine the corresponding experimental high-pressure phase diagrams. The current paper describes the powerful method used which enables the simultaneously measurement of phase equilibria and diffusion under high pressure and temperature. A second paper, part 11, will deal with the effect of high pressure on binary diffusion in the Fe-V system.

Jan 1, 1965