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By Oscar Lee, B. W. Gandrud, F. D. DeVaney

"IntroductionFlue dust which results from the smelting of ores containing appreciable quantities of fines is one of the troublesome products of iron blast-furnace practice. Gases issuing from the furnaces at a high velocity carry small particles of coke, ore and flux into dust-collecting chambers. These particles constitute the flue dust. Lasses of iron ore through the production of flue dust vary between wide limits in the different furnaces, and depend on a number of factors, such as size and design of furnace, amount of fines in the ore, the operating conditions and the blast pressure.Blast-furnace operators of the Birmingham district keenly realize this waste. The ores are comparatively low grade and require more fuel than is ordinarily used elsewhere. Hence the flue dust is low in iron content and high in coke. As a result it is not in suitable condition for direct sintering. In many other iron and steel centers direct sintering is a common practice. In the Birmingham district efforts have been made to prevent this loss by recharging the dust into the furnace, but, as might be expected, a material fine enough to be blown out once will very likely be carried over again.In general, the flue-dust losses in this district will average 250 pounds per ton of pig iron produced, but at times the losses at different furnaces are substantially higher or lower than this figure. On the basis of the present rate of pig-iron production, the annual loss of flue dust exceeds 300,000 tons. The iron content of the dust probably averages 25 per cent, therefore about 75,000 tons of iron is wasted yearly, or about 3 per cent of the iron mined is lost in flue dust."

Jul 1, 1926

By E. A. Magill

This report is one of a series prepared by the Bureau of Mines on manganese deposits of the Northwestern States. It describes properties on the Olympic Peninsula, Wash. Exploration by the Federal Bureau of Mines in 1939-40 and 1954-55 on several typical deposits is summarized, and examination data are presented for other manganese deposits on the peninsula. An attempt was made to list all known occurrences; however, some properties are abandoned, and their exact location is unknown.

Jan 1, 1960

By Jr. Frank Parrish

This report describes the performance of 17 selected water-injection projects producing from Pennsylvanian-and Permian-age reservoirs. Illustrations depict reservoir structure and thickness, and production and injection history. A selected bibliography of publications pertaining to area oil recovery and geology is included. Tabulations of field and reservoir data reveal marked differences in the projects. Increased oil recovery resulted from injecting water in most cases; however, seven projects recovered less oil than the operators anticipated. Oil recovery by water injection ranged from 0.2 to 262 bbl per acre ft, or 0.1 to 22.5 pct of the initial stock-tank oil in place. Major reasons suggested for poor performance include: (1) Adverse directional horizontal permeability, (2) channeling of injected water through fractures or zones of high permeability, and (3) lack of containment of injected water. One 330-foot-deep project is among the first successful shallow water-floods in north Texas. Another project is the first successful Canyon sand-stone waterflood reported in the area. Previous gas injection in two Cisco sandstone projects did not prevent the reservoirs from responding favorably to waterflooding.

Jan 1, 1965

By Rimas Pakalnis, Doug Milne, Marc Ruest, Lewis Martin

Whereas many researchers and mine engineers have conducted tests on cable bolts using various grouts, water: cement ratios, and physical modifications of the cable to determine the load-carrying characteristics ofa bolt, few studies have been conducted on cable bolts fitted with internal instruments. Those studies that have been done have concentrated on cable response averaged over significant (6.1 m) cable lengths. Researchers at the Spokane Research Laboratory (SRL) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Spokane, WA, are investigating the physical properties of cable bolts by replacing the conventional king wire with a modified king wire on which strain gauges have been installed. A numerical analysis was performed to match laboratory results. Loads calculated by the model were then compared to loads measured in the laboratory on 1.83-m-long cables grouted into two 0.91-m-long pull-tube assemblies. Load along the cable was monitored with 20 strain gauges installed along the length of the cable. This paper documents test results on these modified cable bolts. The instrumented cable bolt provided reproducible point measurements of cable load as opposed to load measurements averaged over long cable lengths. Such point measurements can assist in interpreting the influence of cable confinement, grout quality, rock mass stiffness, and other factors. The instrumented cable bolt is a practical field and research tool because it can predict point loading along the cable. The instrument has been successfully field tested at FMC's Granger Mine, Granger, WY; the Meikle Mine, Carlin, NV; the Stillwater Mine, Nye, MT; and the Getchell Mine, Golconda, NV. By monitoring load and displacement of the rock mass using these instrumented bolts, more-effective ground support can be selected and installed, which will lead to safer working conditions for miners.

Jan 4, 2004

By D. J. Hawk

The mechanical properties of coal are often represented by the orthotropicmaterial model, which consists of nine elastic constants. The material symmetries involved are found in coal primarily because of the natural process by which it was formed. In this thesis the material properties of five U.S. coals, as obtained from cubical testing, are examined, using as a basis for comparison the assumption of the orthotropic material model. An analysis is performed on each set of coal material data in order to examine its conformability to other, less complex material models, these being the transversely isotropic model consisting of five elastic constants and the 'isotropic model consisting of two elastic constants. In addition, the material properties of two American shales are analyzed, based on the assumption that they comply with the transversely isotropic model. An analysis similar to that performed on the coal material is applied to the shale in order to determine the conformity of its material properties to the isotropic model.

Jan 1, 1980

By Robert Stefanko

This report abstracts project work performed for the USBM Grant No. GO-133077 during the period 19 June 1973 to 15 October 1974. Five reports have been separately produced and are as follows: 1. Mine Electrical Systems Evaluation - Cable Splicing, 2. Mine Electrical Systems Evaluation - Explosion-Proofing of Mine Containers, 3. Mine Electrical Systems Evaluation - Transient Analysis, 4. Mine Electrical Systems Evaluation - Mine Power System Performance, and 5. Mine Electrical Systems Evaluation - Model Coal Mine Electrical System Specifications. Abstracts of each comprise the balance of this executive summary, and 50 copies of each volume have been forwarded to the USBM under the terms of the grant agreement.

Jan 1, 1974

By Horst Peter Wölfel

The goal of biodynamic models is to simulate the vibration behaviour of the human body. In combination with experimental studies biodynamical models can be a powerful tool for the analysis of the effects of vibration exposure on health [1] and comfort. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art of biodynamic whole-body vibration models of humans, addressing both numerical models and hardware dummies. Method Two approaches are distinguished, the phenomenological and the anatomical, as illustrated in Figure 1. [ ] Phenomenological models aim to reproduce the vibration behaviour of humans with respect to particular physical quantities, chiefly the driving-point impedance at the interface to the seat, and partly with respect to other transfer functions. Discrete systems of masses, springs, and dampers with several degrees of freedom whose topology and parameters are determined by structure- and parameter identification methods are used in the sense that the functions derived from measurements are reproduced as well as possible. This paper provides an evaluation of this methodology and defines its range of application as well as its limits.

Jan 6, 2006

By Robert L. Lagace

This final report documents the work done by Arthur D. Little, Inc. (ADL) on behalf of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh Mining and Safety Research Center (PMSRC), on Contract H0122026 (which began in August of 1971). Under this contract ADL provided technical assistance to the Bureau on a task basis on virtually all aspects of the Bureau's programs related to present and planned emergency and operational communications and miner location systems for underground coal mines. The work consisted of independent investigations, analyses, experiments, breadboard and prototype hardware development, workshops and technology transfer seminars on mine communications, and on-going evaluations and guidance related to the Bureau's contracted programs on electromagnetic noise, mine communications systems, and trapped miner location. This final report documents the work in two volumes, Volume I, "Emergency and Operational Mine Commun¬ications," and Volume II, "Seismic Detection and Location of Isolated Miners." The Tables of Contents of both Volumes are included in each Volume.

Jan 1, 1974

By Alexander L. Peyton

The Magruder and Chambers copper deposits in the Little River gold district, on the border line of Lincoln and Wilkes Counties, Georgia, have been known for a number of years (fig. 1). The Magruder deposit was first opened as a gold mine but has produced mostly copper and load. Records show that about 50 cars of concentrates were shipped from this property. No record of any production at the Chambers deposit is available. The Bureau of Mines, in its program of investigation of strategic minerals deposits, diamond drilled 10 holes, totaling 3,784 feet, on the two properties between December 3, 1948, and June 23, 1949. Eighty-eight core samples were analyzed, and the analyses and drill-hole data are presented in this report.

Jan 1, 1950

By Harold M. Smith

[Important discoveries of new oil fields were made in 1937 in the State of Illinois. Oil production, which was virtually constant during 1934, 1935, and 1936 at about 4,400,000 barrels a year, a increased to 7,499,000, barrels during 1937, and in 1938 this production was trebled. In 1939, 94,302,0003/ barrels were produced (almost foot times the 1938 quantity), making Illinois one of the cost important oil-producing areas in the United States. The Bureau of Mines has analyzed 35 samples of petroleum from these new Illinois fields and presents the analyses herein. Included with them in this report are analyses of seven samples from fields developed before 1936.]

Jan 1, 1940

By Harold M. Smith

Important discoveries of new oil fields were made in 1937 in the State of Illinois. Oil production, which was virtually constant during 1934, 1935, and 1936 at about 4,400,000 barrels a year, a increased to 7,499,000, barrels during 1937, and in 1938 this production was trebled. In 1939, 94,302,0003/ barrels were produced (almost four times the 1938 quantity), making Illinois one of the cost important oil-producing areas in the United States. The Bureau of Mines has analyzed 35 samples of petroleum from these new Illinois fields and presents the analyses herein. Included with them in this report are analyses of seven samples from fields developed before 1936.

Jan 1, 1940

The Bibliographic Data Base is the result of a literature search con-ducted as one task of the technology assessment of current and advanced logging techniques, sponsored by the United States Bureau of Mines. After compilation, the bibliography was converted to an automated form for ease of utilization, and to allow for maintaining and updating the data base. The data base covers articles, symposia, books, patents, corporate and government reports, and other literature concerned with some aspect of borehole logging from January 1969 through December 1975. Periodic up-dating will be necessary to keep the data base contents in step with developments in the rapidly advancing field of application of borehole logging to mining. Many bibliographic indexes were scanned for entries relating to the subject of interest, and those entries which were included in our data base contain a reference to the bibliographic index in which they were listed (see Section 2.4.7). With the aid of these indexes, a vast number of publications, including foreign reports and publications, have been scanned for works relevant to borehole logging technology.

Jan 1, 1976

In March, the Minister of Mines, Mrs. Judy Erola, released a mineral discussion paper at the annual meeting and convention in Toronto of the Prospectors and Developers Association. Among the mineral objectives discussed was the revitalization of the "junior" mining industry. That industry reportedly has seen its share of total exploration expenditures fall from 50% in 1969 to 10% in 1979. Some sources believe the reason to be the rise of exploration costs and more- restrictive legislation The junior mining industry reportedly was responsible for 40% of all mineral discoveries in the 1969-79 period. CZECHOSLOVAKIA Czechoslovakia expects its capacity for the recovery of gallium metal to increase from 1,650 kilograms to nearly 3,000 kilograms per year by the installation of new recovery equipment at the aluminum plant at Ziar Nad Hronom in Central Slovakia. World production data are not reported, but the United States consumed 8,000 kilograms (estimated) in 1981, of which 5,536 kilograms were imported. Gallium is recovered as a byproduct of the Bayer process for the conversion of bauxite to alumina, and from certain zinc processing wastes. It is used for electronic applications such as light-emitting diodes for visual display panels in calculators, clocks, and other instruments.

Jan 1, 1982

"To prevent the propagation of mine explosions, the Bureau of Mines recommends:1. That all coal and lignite mines, except anthracite mines shall be rock dusted.2. That rock dust shall be distributed upon top, bottom, and sides of all underground openings of every description, to within. at least 4o feet of all working faces and the areas not rock dusted shall be kept wet.3. That the rock dust shall be maintained in, such quantity that the incombustible material in representative samples of dust collected shall not be less than 65 percent. Where methane gas is present in the ventilating current, the minimum percentage of incombustible matter in the mine dust shall be increased 1 percent for each 0.1 percent of methane.4. That when the rock dust in any area becomes caked so thatit cannot be dispersed readily as a cloud in the air, that part of the mine shall be redusted immediately.5. That the dust to be used shall not contain more than 5 percent of combustible matter nor. more than 25 percent of quartz or free silica; all of the dust shall pass through a sieve having 20 meshes per linear inch and 60 percent or more shall pass through a sieve having 200 meshes per linear inch; the dust shall not absorb moisture from the air to such an extent as to cake and destroy its effectiveness as a dry dust.6. That rock-dust barriers shall not be regarded as a substitute for generalized rock dusting.Research and experience have shown that maintenance of an adequate percentage of rock dust in all underground openings, whether gassy or not, of bituminous and subbituminous coal and lignite mines (anthracite dust does not propagate explosions) is the best means of preventing coal dust explosions. In rare instances where all fine coal particles on the floor, ribs, roof, and timbers are in a muddy condition continuously rock dusting is unnecessary.The term ""underground openings"" refers to all unsealed openings whether they contain track or not, and includes rooms, entries, crosscuts, breakthroughs, rock tunnels, slopes, haulageways, airways, and travelingways. The sealing of unused or abandoned parts of a mine in accordance with Mine Safety Board Decision avoids the necessity of rock-dusting the sealed-off openings.The kind of rock dust to be used should have the approval of the State Mine Inspection Service. Pure limestone or pare dolomite produces the best rock dust, as these dusts have low silica content, little tendency to cake, and a light color that aids illumination. To reduce tendency to cake it is preferable that not more than 75 percent of the dust pass the 200-mesh sieve. All sieve sizes are those of the Tyler screen scale. If the mine personnel is repeatedly exposed to breathing high concentrations of the dust, the percentage of free and combined silica should be as low as possible, preferably less than 5 percent. Persons engaged in the application of rock dust should wear approved dust respirators as listed in Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7030 or revisions thereof."

Mar 1, 1940

By Clarence Hall, CHARLES F. MUNROE

Of the common causes of the larger mine accidents, such as falls of roof and coal, gas and dust explosions, mine fires, and the misuse of explosives, all of which are often closely related, each must be studied and fought in a manner peculiar to itself. The last mentioned, the misuse of black powder and other explosives, is sometimes considered the least important of these causes of mine accidents; but its impor- tance is much greater than the statistics indicate, for the reason that the misuse of explosives is the true cause of many of the fatal mine fires, gas or dust explosions, and falls of roof that are credited to other causes. Both the quantity of explosives used and the number of purposes to which they are applied are increasing. They are now made at about 150 plants, in different parts of the United States, and the product of a single year is estimated at nearly 500,000,000 pounds. Nothing in all this material is a safe or "safety" explosive when in the hands of a careless or ignorant person; and this is true whether considered in connection with the shipment or the use of these explosives. In addition to the large losses of life and property resulting from an improper use of explosives in mining, the recent statistics of the railway bureau for the safe transportation of explo- sives have shown more than 400 persons killed or injured and over $3,000,000 worth of property destroyed by explosives in transit by rail. The fact that three years of cooperative effort under the wise supervision of this bureau has reduced these losses to almost nothing encourages the hope that similar cooperative effort may likewise greatly lessen losses of life and property from the use of explosives in mining. The additions to the large death roll of our mines make a recurring appeal to the public for fair treatment of the coal-mining industry, and to the miner and the manager that they join in every possible effort for greater safety. It may never be possible under conditions such as exist to-day to prevent mine accidents entirely. Little can be accomplished in that direction by either the operators or the miners working alone, but experience in all countries shows that

Jan 1, 1911

By M. D. Aldridge

The results of designing, constructing, installing and operating a ventilation monitoring system throughout an entire commercial coal mine is presented. Measured parameters were airflow, methane, carbon monoxide, temperature, relative humidity and differential pressure. A central computer provided for automatic system operation. Preliminary tests of two remotely controlled ventilation regulators were performed in conjunction with the monitoring system.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. J. Gleim

[THE ORGANIC act under which Federal Bureau of Mines was established provided for the investigation of the safe use of electricity in mines. Each Congress appropriates funds for conducting this investigation. As part of this investigation, electrical apparatus used in mines is studied to determine if its operation and use might introduce a hazard. From this study, certain safety standards have been developed. These standards, established with the aid of both the manufacturer and user of such apparatus, are published in schedules, and apparatus that complies with the requirements set forth these schedules is classified as "permissible." This term is defined to designate apparatus as "completely assembled and conforming in every respect with the design formally approved by the Bureau of Mines." In the judgment of the Bureau, the manufacturers of such apparatus have adhered to certain minimum standards of safety in supplying a product that when properly used and maintained is safe for operation in mines where flammable gas or coal dust may accumulate. This work of the Bureau of Mines for increasing safety does not make it obligatory for manufacturers of mine equipment to produce only that of permissible classification. Before the effective date of the Federal Mine Safety Code,5 the Bureau sought to promote safety by recommending that mine operators install permissible equipment in gassy mines as a preventive measure against gas and dust explosions initiated by electrical equipment. For some years, the mining laws of several States have prescribed the conditions under which permissible equipment must be used. The Federal Mine Safety Code requires that ?all new electric face equipment and replacements of equipment purchased for mines where nonpermissible equipment is now being used shall be of a permissible type approved by the United States Bureau of Mines,]

Jan 1, 1955

By Jimmie C. Rosenbruch

The Federal Bureau of Mines evaluated the prospects for using geothermal energy to generate electricity for mines in remote areas. Given the development of a geothermal resource for this purpose, the subsidiary uses of space heating and agriculture were then examined to see if other industries might be viable given a cheap source of heat energy. Sites investigated were located in three areas of Alaska: Kobuk in the northwest, Unalaska in the southwest, and Stikine River in the southeast. Each site was relatively close to mineral deposits whose prospects for development would be enhanced with cheap power.

Jan 1, 1975

By Michael G. Zabetakis

THIS is a summary of the available limit of flammability, autoignition, and burning-rate data for more than 200 combustible gases and vapors in air and other oxidants, as well as of empirical rules and graphs that can be used to predict similar data for thousands of other combustibles under a variety of environmental conditions. Specific data are presented on the paraffinic, unsaturated, aromatic, and alicyclic hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, and sulfur compounds, and an assortment of fuels, fuel blends, hydraulic fluids, engine oils, and miscellaneous combustible gases and vapors.

Jan 1, 1965

By M. A. Elliott, H. H. Schrenk, L. B. Berger, John C. Holtz

"INTRODUCTION Diesel-powered locomotives designed specifically for underground operation were used in the construction of some of the tunnels that comprise the Delaware Aqueduct in New York State. Before this there had been limited use of Diesel-powered equipment such as trucks, bulldozers, and shovels in tunnel construction in various parts of the country, but this equipment was used without modification for underground use and, in some instances, appar¬ently without due consideration of the hazards that might be created by the introduction of fuel-burning equipment into confined underground spaces.As certain definite advantages were apparent if Diesel haulage could be used in tunnel construction in some sections of the Aqueduct, the contractors who were to construct the tunnels in these sections were desirous of using, this type of haulage equipment if it could be used with safety. This matter was given careful consideration by the various agencies concerned with the establishment of safe practices on the Aqueduct project before tunnel driving was started. Of chief concern were the quantities of toxic or objectionable materials that would be discharged into the tunnel air by the exhaust of the locomotives and the volume of ventilating air that would be required to dilute these exhaust gas products to concentrations permissible in the atmosphere of working places."

Jan 1, 1947