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By Alan R. Buehler

A mineral survey of the 20,792-acre Sand Butte WSA (Wilderness study Area), ID-57-8, was conducted by U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel in 1985, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management. The WSA is in Lincoln County, south-central Idaho, about 15 miles south-southeast of Carey. There are no mines, prospects, or claims within the WSA. Basaltic lava is the only rock type exposed within the WSA. The only mineral resource is a few tons of a platy variety of lava (slab pahoehoe) which is suitable for use as decorative stone. Similar slab pahoehoe, produced from other lava fields in southern Idaho, retails for approximately $125/ton. The deposit in the WSA is too small to be mined commercially but may have value to consumers who gather their own decorative stone. INTRODUCTION A mineral survey of the Sand Butte WSA (Wilderness Study Area) 1/ was conducted in June 1985 by the USBM (U.S. Bureau of Mines) and the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) at the request of the BLM (U.S. Bureau of Land Management). The USBM examines individual mines, prospects, claims, and mineralized zones, and evaluates identified mineral and energy resources. The USGS evaluates potential for undiscovered resources based on areal geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys. Results of the investigations will he used to help determine the suitability of the WSA for inclusion into the National Wilderness Preservation System. The immediate goal of this and other USBM mineral surveys is to provide data to the President, Congress, government agencies, and the public for land-use decisions. The long-term objective is to ensure the Nation has an adequate and dependable supply of minerals at a reasonable cost.

Jan 1, 1986

Use instantaneous sampling to pinpoint dust sources and to Improve dust control on longwalls. Approach Use a dust monitor developed under a Bureau contract. How It Works Sampling can be done by either a moving or a stationary method. In the "moving' method, the dust monitor is carried by a survey engineer walking at the midpoint of the shearer Dust levels and face position (support number) are taken during all phases of the mining cycle while the shearer is cutting. These measurements can show how changes in airflow along the face, face specific; (rock partings) and cutting sequence (cutting the wedge) variables affect dust levels. In the "stationary sampling" method, the survey engineer stands with the RAM at a fixed location on the face. As the shearer approaches, the dust level and the distance to the shearer are recorded at 10-second intervals. Typically measurements start when the shearer is 20 feet from the sampling position and continue as the shearer passes the position until it is 20 feet away on the other side. Dust profiles around the machine are obtained at several fixed locations along the face only while the shearer is cutting.

Jan 1, 1982

By Thomas P. Mucho, William D. Monaghan, John Wood, Michael A. Trevits

We have tested the ability of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to resolve adjacent mine workings. The work was conducted at two National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health locations – an underground coal mine and an underground limestone mine. The objective of our work was to determine if GPR signals could be received from distant mine workings. The GPR system was calibrated on underground mine pillars of known dimensions using a variety of antennas. The system was then tested at several underground locations in an effort to detect an adjacent drift entry; and an adjacent abandoned coal mine. As a means of verification, an in-seam horizontal hole was drilled from the active coal mine to the abandoned mine to confirm the presence and location of the abandoned mine workings. Our results show that in the case of the limestone mine the maximum depth of penetration where the mine workings could be resolved was 85 ft; and in the case of the coal mine the abandoned mine workings could be resolved at a depth of 205 ft. We conclude that it may be possible to utilize GPR for initial underground mine studies followed by directional drilling to accurately delineate the extent and position of adjacent abandoned mine workings.

By F. R. Cattoir

This report presents the results of preliminary studies for the evaluation of some fused-salt electrolytes for refining tungsten metal, and describes the equipment used. Some impurities could be eliminated with electrolytes composed of sodium chloride, sodium iodide, or sodium tetraborate in combination with tungstic oxide or sodium tungstate. Electrolytes composed entirely of chlorides were unusable because of the volatility of tungsten chloride. Refining 96-to 98-percent tungsten to produce a commercial grade was more successful than further refining of 99.9-percent tungsten. No electrolyte tested yielded a product pure in all respects. Electrolyte temperatures of about 900° C were necessary to maintain a good dissolution rate at the anode and acceptable cell operation. Cathode current densities at the beginning of a deposition cycle were limited to approximately 1 ampere per square inch. Higher current densities resulted in a finely divided product that frequently failed to adhere to the cathode. The most conspicuous impurities in the tungsten produced were carbon, iron, and molybdenum; the former two came from the iron cell and the graphite cell liner. Electrolytes com-posed of tungstic oxide or sodium tungstate in sodium iodide, or 2Na, 0.B203, were capable of producing tungsten carbide.

Jan 1, 1963

By H. J. Heinen

This report summarizes preliminary research studies by the Bureau of Mines in electrowinning molybdenum directly from pure or impure molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) by fused-bath electrolysis in an open graphite cell without need of a protective inert atmosphere. A formulated electrolyte of the tertiary system containing 41.6 percent sodium pyrophosphate, 16.7 percent sodium tetraborat, 33.3 percent sodium chloride, and 8,4 percent molybdenum trioxide, by weight, electrolyzed at 1,000° C,, gave excellent results. Current density studies were made over a range from 20 to 260 amperes per square decimeter. Current efficiencies of 80 to 90 percent were obtained over the entire range. Yields up to 500 grams of molybdenum per kilowatt-hour were obtained. Higher current densities, however, reduced yields and produced a finer grained metal. The two most important facets in electrowinning molybdenum from MoO3, in an open cell, are temperature and electrode spacing to minimize or eliminate the formation of the suboxide MoO2, the major source of oxygen contamination. At temperatures of 1,000° C. and higher, together with the proper spacing of the electrodes, formation of oxides are practically eliminated. Molybdenum metal electrowon from pure MoO3 was 99.9 percent pure and contained 0,056 percent oxygen and 0,007 percent carbon. This metal, when arc-melted, had a Vickers hardness number of 175 and contained 50 parts per million oxygen and less than 10 parts per million carbon. Molybdenum metal electrowon directly from an impure MoO3 containing 90 percent MoO3 resulted in a metal of 99.8 percent purity.

Jan 1, 1961

By John P. McDonnell

This U.S. Bureau of Mines report describes the results from an in-mine investigation of an alternative longwall gate road design. The coal mine operator modified the pillar layout (reversed the location of the big and small pillars) in a portion of a three-entry longwall gate road area. The modified pillar layout was an attempt to reduce stress and, subsequently, stress-related ground control problems (cutter roof and dynamic floor heave events) in the tailgate region during "second-panel" mining. The results from borehole pressure cells installed in the modified gate road area showed that the ground pressures in the panel edge and adjacent small pillar were significantly reduced during second-panel mining compared with ground pressures experienced in the typical pillar layout gate road areas. The reduced stress levels around the tailgate entry adjacent to the second panel, as compared with the tailgate stress levels with the typical pillar arrangement, contributed to improved tailgate ground conditions in the test pillar zone.

Jan 1, 2010

By Donald R. Corson

The Bureau of Mines is conducting research on the effects of various established and potential soil-stabilization additives to hydraulic backfill. This initial phase is an evaluation of the effect of inclusion of varying amounts of Portland cement and combinations of cement and a dispersant on the bearing strength of backfill. Results of unconfined compression tests are given for over 200 sample cylinders incorporating a fill material with cement or cement and dispersant. Inclusion of a minor amount of dispersant (0.2 percent by weight) is found to yield a significant increase in strength for 20-to-1 and leaner sand-cement mixes. An apparent optimum concentration of dispersant exists beyond which no further increase in strength is achieved. A dispersant-cement ratio of l.8- to-1 yielded a strength increase of 515 percent over the strength of untreated 40-to-l sand-cement mixes.

Jan 1, 1966

By R. V. Ramani, R. Stefanko, G. W. Luxbacher

MINE VENTILATION NETWORK ANALYSIS

Jan 1, 1977

By W. W. Adams

During the calendar year 1927 the United States Bureau f Mines conducted, for the third consecutive year, a safety contest among more than 250 mines and quarries. Aside from its underlying purpose to promote safety, the object of the contest was to learn which mine or quarry had completed the year's work with the smallest proportionate loss of time from accidents to its employees. Competing companies were grouped into five classes, namely, anthracite mines, bituminous teal mines, metal mines, nonmetallic mineral mines, and quarries and open-pit mines. To the winning company in each group was awarded the bronze trophy "Sentinels of Safety," the gift of The Explosives Engineer magazine. The winner in each group was the mine or quarry whose record showed the smallest loss of time from accidents in proportion to the total amount of time worked by 411 employees. This proportion is designated the "accident-severity"3 rate; it indicates the number of days of disability resulting from personal injuries per thousand man-hours of work performed by all employees. Each company's standing was determined by the Bureau of Mines from detailed records furnished by the contestants. Records of the leading companies were made known to a committee of seven men well known to the mining industry but not connected with the Bureau of Mines. This committee selected the winning companies in accordance with rules governing the Competition. According to the contest rules, the competition for the trophy was restricted to mines employing at least 50 men underground and to quarries and open-pit mines employing at least 25 men in the pit. As several plants fell below these figures during the year, their records could not be considered in connection with the award of the trophy. Figures covering these plants are, however, included in the attached tables.

Jan 1, 1928

By J. D. Marchant

Solid-state electrotransport of impurities in cerium, lanthanum, and praseodymium, using a pulsed current, was investigated. The results were compared with those of using a steady current. Impurities that showed appreciable movement with the pulsed current, but not with the steady current, were as follows: Molybdenum and oxygen in cerium, aluminum, iron, and molybdenum in lanthanum. The use of a pulsed current enhances the practical application of solid-state electrotransport to remove a wider variety of impurities from the host metals.

Jan 1, 1971

By Thys B. Johnson

A three-dimensional dynamic programing method is presented for determining the optimal ultimate open pit limit. The method given is based on the block concept and is an extention of the two-dimensional Lerchs-Grossmann approach. The three-dimensional technique presented herein is fast and simple and may be used for an initial open pit evaluation when only limited data are available or as a more refined model when the entire deposit is well delineated. The method is illustrated by simple numerical examples and is also presented in algorithmic form. A computer program was written in Fortran IV which implements the three-dimensional algorithm and some computational aspects are discussed.

Jan 1, 1971

By Ivette E. Torres

Table 8 provides data for the estimated value of world export trade of all mineral commodities from 1980 through 1991. It also provides a breakdown of the total into mineral fuels and non fuel minerals. These data have been developed from UN export trade data presented in table 9. The percent distribution and growth of the value of world export by major commodity groups are presented in tables 9, 10, and 11, respectively. In terms of industrial minerals (nonmetals), data in tables 10 and 11 include crude industrial minerals only, while table 8 includes an estimate for other industrial minerals. The 1991 estimates that appeared in the 1991 issues of this publication have been revised. It is typical for this section to review the year prior to the year of review because of the unavailability of data at the time of publication. The aggregated value of export trade in mineral commodities for 1992 was not available at the time of publication. The total value of nonfuel and fuel mineral exports for 1991 was about $616 billion in current (1991) dollars. The value of mineral fuel export trade accounted for about 53 % of the total mineral export trade. In 1980, the contribution of mineral fuel to the value of mineral commodity export trade had been almost 68%. The 1991 world mineral commodity export trade represents a 5.3% decrease (table 8) from that of 1990. The largest decrease was attributed to the decrease of export trade of fuel minerals (5%). The value of non fuel mineral export trade decreased by 4 %. Because the value export trade of all commodities increased by 1.2 %, the share of mineral commodities decreased from 19.2 % to 17.9 % of the total.

Jan 1, 1994

By Lloyd A. Morley, Alan M. Christman

1. Anonymous. "Getting Down to Earth," booklet 25T, James G. Biddle Co, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (1970) pp. 1-48. 2. Anonymous. "Megger Ground Tester, Special Instructions," booklet 25-J-1, James G. Biddle Co, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. (1961) pp. 1-16. 3. AIEE Committee. "Application Guide on Methods of Substation Ground¬ing," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (April 1954) pp. 271-277. 4. AIEE Committee. "Voltage Gradients Through the Ground Under Fault Conditions," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (October 1958) pp. 669-692. 5. American Standards Association. "American Standard Safety Rules for Installing and Using Electrical Equipment in and about Coal Mines," U. S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8227 (1964). 6. Armstrong, H. R. "Grounding Electrode Characteristics from Model Tests," AIEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems (December 1953) pp. 1301-1306. 7. Beck, Edward. Lightning Protection for Electric Systems, McGraw¬Hill, New York (1954) pp. 281-295. 8. Bellaschi, P. L. "Impulse and 60 Cycle Characteristics of Driven Grounds," AIEE Transactions (March 1941) pp. 123-128. 9. Bellaschi, P. L. "Lightning Strokes in Field and Laboratory," Elec¬trical Engineering, Vol. 58 (November 1939) pp. 466-468. 10. Bellaschi, P. L., Armington, R. E., and Snowden, A. E. "Impulse and 60 Cycle Characteristics of Driven Grounds-II," AIEE Tran¬sactions (1942) pp. 349-363. 11. Bewley, L. V. "Theory and Tests of the Counterpoise," AIEE Transac¬tions (August 1934) pp. 1163-1172. 12. Brereton, D. S. and Hickok, H. N. "System Neutral Grounding for Chemical Plant Power Systems," AIEE Transactions on Applica¬tions and Industry (November 1955) p. 315. 13. Bruce, C. E. R. and Golde, R. H. "The Lightning Discharge," Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, London, Vol. 88 (December 1941) pp. 487-505.

Jan 1, 1976

By John Nagy, Henry G. Dorsett, Murray Jacobson

Laboratory studies show that ignition of a dispersed combustible dust in an open vessel may be prevented by adequate inerting . Factors affecting the inerting requirements are -- dust concentration , spark energy , ignition temperature , composition of the substances used for inerting , fineness of dust and type of combustible . The oxygen concentration of the atmosphere and in some instances the proportion of admixed inert powder and moisture required to prevent ignition are given for 367 dust samples . Variations in inerting requirements with strength of igniting source are discussed .

Jan 1, 1964

By W. N. Cathey

Many materials including carbides, silicides, phosphides, borides, nitrides, oxides, and metals were studied by the Bureau of Mines as potential fuel cell catalysts for electroreduction of oxygen in a 1[N]H2S04 electrolyte. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of abundant, low-cost materials as substitutes for platinum or to increase the catalytic efficiency of platinum. Several compounds were rejected because of their reaction in the corrosive environment of the oxygen electrode. However, some of the remaining were the most active catalysts. Activity of carbides such as tungsten carbide could be improved by doping with platinum-group metals, by varying stoichiometry, or by sputtering on a layer of platinum. While no catalysts were found with activity as high as platinum, some compounds were shown to be deserving of further investigation.

Jan 1, 1979

By Christopher C. Jobes, Alan G. Mayton, Farid Amirouche

Based on prior mine vehicle studies of operators’ exposure to whole-body vibration, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated four seat designs on mine haulage vehicles, with regard to roadway-induced jarring/jolting and operator comfort. Investigators collected objective and subjective data from vehicle operators on two existing and two NIOSH seat designs. This study included time and frequency response data using accelerometers and a data recorder, operator perceptions of jarring/jolting and discomfort levels using a linear visual analogue scale, and data from a questionnaire developed for this study. Results from the analysis of subjective data show that operators generally favoured the NIOSH-designed seats over the existing seats. The results of analyses from the absorbed power method and the threshold limit method, based on ISO 2631-1 (ISO, 1985), support the premise that NIOSH seat designs are superior to the existing vehicle seat designs on both models of mine shuttle cars used in the study. The NIOSH seat designs, featuring viscoelastic foam padding, were more effective in reducing vibration energy for operators exposed to vehicle jarring/jolting. In this paper, the performances of the NIOSH and existing seat designs are compared relative to the operator’s exposure to vehicle vibration (mainly jarring/jolting).

By David C. Oyler, Gregory Hasenfus, Gregory M. Molinda

Few studies have specifically measured and documented the large-scale loading behavior and durability of ventilation stoppings to mining induced movements, particularly from longwalls. Ventilation stoppings are more commonly the concern of ventilation engineers, and ventilation stopping response to ground movement has only been documented in an incidental manner. This paper presents the investigations of underground measurements that have been conducted to determine the loading response of stoppings constructed from lightweight aggregate concrete masonry units (CMU). These investigations have produced some interesting results that may prove beneficial, not only for developing and assessing alternative stopping construction techniques, but also for designing and selecting standard construction methods for use in varying mining conditions. For instance, the interface friction that results from wedging a CMU stopping during construction plays a substantial role in its ability to resist both lateral and vertical loads. Although they are not intended for ground support, the study showed that block stoppings can resist vertical loads of at least 2,700 to 3,000 kN. Asymmetric loading of a stopping may result in localized failure of blocks within a stopping, which, depending on the severity, can be a precursor of impending stopping failure. In addition to measurement results and implications, the paper will also present details of field measurement methods used to assess stopping response. Stopping stiffness and material strength characteristics will also be presented.

By David M. Hyman

The Bureau of Mines has developed two experimental designs for deter- mining the volumes and relative proportions of the various gas species, particularly methane (CH4), occluded in rock salt. To date, the rock salt samples analyzed have been relatively small (400- to 1,000-gram) grab samples from Louisiana Gulf Coast domal salt mines. The results obtained are comparable to results in Polish domal salt mines, in terms of occluded gas volumes per mass of rock salt. The notable difference between the Louisiana and Polish occluded gas mixtures is in the relative proportions of the individual gas species. The two methods used by the Bureau are ballmill crushing and dissolution. Of the two, the dissolution method appears to be more versatile because it can be performed in situ. The relevance and applicability of data on the occluded gas contents of rock salt are dependent on sample size, sample collection method, geologic context of the sample, and the correlation with gas emissions that occur as a result of mining-induced fractures and pressure differentials.

Jan 1, 1982

By C. K. Rose

A hydraulic scaling rig was placed in operation at the Bureau of Mines oil-shale mine near Rifle, Colo., in 1953. The rig consists of a self-leveling platform mounted on a hydraulic-powered boom. The boom is mounted on the bed of a diesel truck. The equipment provides a movable work platform from which two men can work in safety and comfort while barring loose rock from the backs and walls of the rooms, pillars, and haulageways. INTRODUCTION As a part of its synthetic liquid fuels program the Bureau of Mines has developed a mine in the richer oil-shale beds of the Green River formation near Rifle, Colo. An important part of the work of the Oil-Shale Mining Branch is investigation of techniques for low-cost mining of oil shale on a commercial basis. It is evident that scaling loose rock from the high backs and walls of the mine represents a portion of the direct mining cost. This paper describes the development of a scaling rig for operation in the upper heading of the mine, which is 39 feet high.

Jan 1, 1954

By L. G. Marshall

This report is one of a series published by the Federal Bureau of Mines describing mining methods and performance at individual operations throughout the United States. The objective of these papers is to promote development and conservation of our mineral resources by disseminating reliable technological information on mining methods, practices, and results that may be applied to the engineering analysis and solution of mining problems. SUMMARY Operation of a limestone quarry producing flux for the steel industry and crushed stone for production of concrete is described in this report. The deposit being mined is a flat-lying limestone formation under a thin overburden 2 to 25 feet thick. The height of the quarry face varies from 9 to 60 feet, averaging 40 feet. Production rate ranges from 4.5 to 5 million long tons per year.

Jan 1, 1959