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By E. C. Lane

The motor gasoline that is bring marketed in the United States this stunner is slightly more volatile than that sold a year ago. During the past eight years the Bureau of Mines has made semi-annual surveys of the gaoline marketed in the United States, the survey just completed being the sixteenth in the series. The cities in which samples have been collected have been chosen as representative of the more important marketing territories as it is obviously impracticable to obtain a sample of every gasoline sold in the entire country.

Jan 1, 1927

By John W. Buch

Hydraulic cutting tests made on samples of Pennsylvania anthracite (3,700 psi and 260 gpm) were promising enough for the Bureau to establish a full scale experiment in an anthracite mine. Water pressure and quantity for mining anthracite were arbitrarily established at 5,000 psi and 300 gpm (1,000 hp). For full-volume flow, hydraulic pressure is controlled by orifice size with the displacement pump. The hydraulic jumbo was designed for maneuvering on pitches from 0° to 20° in any direction and for a coalbed ranging in thickness from 10 feet 6 inches to 15 feet. All motions of the jumbo are by oil hydraulics. Jet flow is controlled (start-stop) at the face, through an interlocked pushbutton system. One button is in the operator's cab; one, at the pump station; and one (a safety shutoff), near the mining face. To December 1962, 7,400 tons of bed material had been mined at an average rate of 0.800 ton per minute, with an average power requirement of 14.125 kilowatt-hours per ton. In January 1963, the objective was changed from an engineering-development basis to a research basis--to determine, ultimately, the most efficient level of operating characteristics for maximum response, as measured by mining-out rate. This research phase of the project is not yet complete, but conclusions, and the method of arriving at them, will be made the subject of another Bureau publication. It should be noted that as of December 1963 nearly 13,000 tons of bed material had been mined, at rates as high as 1. 3 tons per minute for a complete face advance.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. J. Matson

"The Bureau of Mines has been investigating deposits of critical and essential minerals in the United States since 1939. Projects were set up on only the most promising properties.A preliminary examination of the Mount Hope mine was made in January 1943 by the Bureau's engineers, who recommended exploration by diamond drilling.The mine is in the unsurveyed portion of T. 22 N., R. 1 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian, south-central Eureka County, Nevada, 25 miles by road north of the village of Eureka. A partly graded and Graveled secondary road connects the mine and Eureka on U. S. Highway 50.Extensive sampling was done by the Bureau in February. 1943. Core drilling from the surface was started on March 15, 1944, and completed on April 2, 1545. The 16 holes drilled totaled 7,215 feet. The mining company also did extensive underground core drilling from April 21, 1944, to January 4, 1945. This report gives the results of core drilling supervised by the Bureau of Mines.The drilling program was designed to explore for extensions of the mineralization exposed in the mine workings. As a result of drilling, additional ore was found, and it is believed that this project has fulfilled the purpose for which it was planned.In its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization, of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to na¬tional security and economy. It is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, analyzes samples of ore and performs beneficiation test. Both these branches are under the supervision of Dr. R. S. Dean, assists director.With respect to this report special acknowledgment is due to Charles W. Merriam of the United States Geological Survey for his interpretation of the Mount Hope mine Geology and his cooperation throughout the project; Col. Leverett Davis, former lessee of the property; K. K. Hood, manager of the Mount Hope Unit, Callahan Zinc-Lead Co., Inc.; C. P. Knaebel, assistant manager, and M. P. Nackowski, geologist, of that company, for their help, and to the Sullivan Machinery Co. for its assistance."

Aug 1, 1946

By J. V. Batty

Various ores from deposits in the Boulder Dam Recreational Area, Clark County, Nev., were submitted for ore-dressing tests as part of the Bureau of Mines studies of western manganese ores. The Virgin River manganese deposit is situated on the Virgin River arm of Lake Mead, 5 miles from Bonelli's Point, which was formerly the junction of the Virgin and Colorado Rivers. It is 20 miles from Overton, Nev., and 26 miles from Boulder City, Nev. The ore body, composed of wadlike manganese in a tuffaceous gangue, is a flat-lying bed overlain with beds of gypsum and basalt. Two ore samples were submitted by engineers of the Bureau for ore-dressing investigation. Low-grade sample 1 was a composite of channel samples cut from outcrops of the ore body; sample 2, of intermediate manganese grade, was taken from the dump-at the exploratory shaft sunk by the Bureau. The Boulder City manganese deposit is situated in the Boulder Dam Recreational Area -3 miles southwest of Boulder City. The ore body is a manganiferous gypsum bed 32 feet thick, slightly inclined from the horizontal. The ore sample submitted-by engineers of the Bureau for-testing was taken from channel cuts in the walls of the shaft, which cuts through the bed vertically.

Jan 1, 1948

By Glenn C. Reed

The Sheep Creek iron deposits, Meagher County, Mont., were investigated by the Bureau of Mines in 1943 and 1944. Work undertaken included exploratory trenching, churn drilling, petrographic studies, and detailed beneficiation tests. It was determined that the Sheep Creek ores occur both as fissure filling and bedding replacements in thin-bedded shale and arenaceous limestones of the Algonkian Belt series. At least five stratigraphic horizons were found to be mineralized. Metallurgical studies indicate that the ores are not amenable to beneficiation by present-day low-cost methods. Details of geology, sampling, and beneficiation tests are presented in this report.

Jan 1, 1949

By Ronald P. Hollenbeck

The value of mineral production in Alabama increased 1 percent above the record high set in 1965. Alabama ranked second among the States in the production of bauxite, third in the production of masonry cement, native asphalt, and scrap mica, sixth in the production of portland cement, ninth in the production of iron ore, and tenth in the production of lime. The mineral industry of Alabama was dominated by the mining and processing of coal and stone, the manufacturing of cement, and the production of crude petroleum. These industries accounted for 87 percent of the State's total value of mineral production, compared with 85 percent in 1965.

Jan 1, 1967

By Bernard Lewis

This report summarizes the fundamental research and technical studies conducted by the Explosives Branch of the Bureau of Mines from July 1, 1943, to June 30, 1949. It is the thirteenth of a series of annual reports, which have aimed to bring to the reader a resume of the research results that have appeared in published form during each fiscal year. The work of the Explosives Branch covers a number of activities - explosives research, explosives testing, flame and combustion research, flammability of gases and vapors, dust-explosions research, and technical studies in the experimental mine. An important part of the work of the branch is fundamental research to advance our knowledge and understanding of explosion processes. Considerable emphasis has been placed on studies of ignition and flame stabilization, as it is felt that an understanding of these processes should assist materially in alleviating explosion hazards in coal mines. The results are also finding important application in the development of jet propulsion. Studies of the explosibility of gases, vapors, and dusts saving thousands of lives and are preventing the destruction of much property. In innumerable instances in which potential explosion hazards exist, safe operating procedures have been recommended from data taken in the Laboratory. Aware of the value to national security of research results of combustion, flame, and explosion, the Army, Navy, and Air Forces are actively supporting important phases of this fundamental research.

Jan 1, 1950

By A. Sainato, S. J. Kravits, G. L. Finfinger

This Bureau of Mines report describes and compares the procedures, capital investments, and operating costs of rotary and in-hole motor drilling techniques used to drain methane gas from the Pittsburgh Coal- bed in an underground mine located in southwestern Pennsylvania. A timestudy was conducted during the drilling of each of two boreholes, and the data were collated to serve as a base for comparing drilling procedures and operating costs. Findings indicate that drilling with an in-hole motor offers four advantages over rotary drilling; namely, an increase in drilling productivity, fewer worker-hours required, ease of maintaining vertical and horizontal bit trajectory, and less expensive drilling cost per foot of borehole.

Jan 1, 1985

By Wing G. Agnew, John A. Johnson, McHenry Mosier

"INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSIONSThe first three reports of investigations 5/ in this series, pertaining to the investigation of stemming at the Mount Weather Testing Adit dealt with the dust produced by blasting, the effect of stemming on gases generated by blasting, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of different types of stemming and no stemming when used with 60-percent ammonia gelatin dynamite.This report covers an investigation of the length of stemming material through which a primer will fire and detonate a charge of dynamite, such as a missed hole.The practice of drilling a new hole a foot from a missed hole to blast out the missed hole should be prohibited. It is dangerous, as is evidenced by the number of miners killed through drilling into missed holes. It is even more hazardous in a mine on a multiple-shift basis, in which the same miners do not drill succeeding rounds."

May 1, 1942

By Joseph D. Davis

The term "fusain" was first adopted from the French by the American geologist J. J. Stevenson in 1911, according to Wheeler, (1),3 who applies it to that portion of coal resembling charcoal, which he treats as one of the four ingredients of banded bituminous coal. The term has since been adopted by American writers. The Germans use it with slightly different spelling - namely, fusit. It is the equivalent of "mother-of-coal" and "mineral charcoal" of the earlier British writers. The English word fusain is also applied to "a crayon of fine charcoal" and is derived from the Latin root fusus. OCCURRENCE OF FUSAIN IN COAL AND ITS RECOGNITION Fusain is fairly widely distributed in coals of all ranks in varying amounts. It is almost always present in very thin sheets between the bedding planes of the banded coal constituents and presents a jet-black silky appearance who n the coal is split away. As fusain has little cohesive power the coal splits readily along the planes where it occurs. Such fusain bands often attain appreciable thickness -- frequently 1/4 to 3/4 inch. -Beet (2) has reported a maximum thickness of 2 inches for fusain partings, and Sinnatt (3) has found it in the form of plates and lumps; one lump taken by him from the Peacock mine weighed 3-3/4 pounds. Bore (4) has found it in coal balls. Sinnatt (3) states that fusain occurs in two forms, "the first a hard compact variety occurring rather rarely, which can not be pulverized by pressure of the fingers the second type is the common substance" -- that is, a very friable, easily pulverized material. The writer has also found the two types of fusain in the same coal bed and has observed that the hard variety contained considerable calcium carbonate, which probably entered the material in situ by infiltration. Sinnatt further remarks that the layers of fusain (soft type) usually contain less moisture than the coal (or lose it more readily on exposure), and when exposed they quickly change to flocculent powder so that the fines of the coal as mined are likely to contain a major proportion of this substance.

Jan 1, 1929

By R. L. Rough, W. K. Overbey

The Bureau of Mines obtained samples of oil - reservoir rock from wells in Ohio , Pennsylvania , and West Virginia as part of an investigation of the susceptibility of petroleum reservoirs to secondary - recovery techniques . Illustrations and tables showing the geographic and stratigraphic sequence of the cored reservoirs and 40 tables of detailed lithologic descriptions of the reservoirs are presented . Information relevant to geologic surroundings , oilfield history , coring and well logging operations , and reservoir core analyses are referenced throughout the report .

Jun 1, 1970

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) defines an independent contractor as any person, partnership, corporation, subsidiary of a corporation, firm, association or other organization that contracts to perform services or construction at a mine. Contractors that perform specific types of work are required to report the number of employees who work at coal mines and noncoal mines.

Jan 1, 2008

By W. W. Simpson

During cyanidation of mercury-bearing gold-silver ores, significant amounts of mercury are extracted. The presence of mercury decreases. gold loading and increases mercury stripping time on activated carbon, complicates fire refining of the gold cathodes, and creates a potential health hazard. Addition of calcium sulfide (CaS) to the cyanide leach slurry precipitates the solubilized mercury but also some silver. The Bureau of Mines investigated silver loss during CaS precipitation of mercury. Addition of 0.1 lb CaS per short ton ore to a mercury-bearing gold-silver ore precipitated both mercury and silver. However, if copper was added with CaS, or if the ore contained copper, much of the sil-ver loss was prevented. Addition of 235 ppm Cu with 0.1 lb/st CaS, prior to carbon-in-pulp adsorption, resulted in 89-to 97-pct, 80-to 91-pct, and O-pct adsorption of the solubilized gold, silver, and mer-cury, respectively, on the activated carbon.

Jan 1, 1986

Develop improved blasting practices that can help to curb overbreak in highwalls at surface mines, thereby reducing the hazards of rock-falls to workers and equipment, The Problem The serious hazard in surface mining is the falling of rock from highwalls. Poor highwall stability is caused in part by geologic conditions, but often is aggravated by faulty blasting practices, where the explosive energy not only fractures the rock to be excavated, but also damages the rock that borders the excavation. This reduces the general stability of the hlghwall and increases the rockfall potential. The probability of injury to mine workers or damage to equipment associated with exposure to the highwall increases with the height of the highwall and the extent of its overbreakage. Most rockfalls occur in the first 15 days after a new highwall is exposed. This statistic is significant since most of the work below a highwall is done during this period. The area of greatest hazard is within 25 ft of the toe for rocks that fall vertically, and up to 90 ft from the toe for falling rocks that are deflected by the highwall during their descent, The workers most frequently involved in such accidents are dozer operators, ground laborers, and shovel operators or oilers.

Jan 1, 1985

By S. B. Levin

"INTRODUCTION An exposure of large beryl crystals in pegmatite on Beryl Mountain, in Sullivan County, N. H., was the basis for investigation by the Bureau of Mines to determine the extent of the beryl mineralization and to expose other parts of the same zone that were favorable for additional beryl-rich shoots. Testing by surface cuts, trenching, and tunneling was conducted by the Bureau of Mines from August to December 1943.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of investigation of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral resources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to the national security and economy. The Mining Division, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, does the actual investigative work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Division, O. C. Ralston, chief, analyzes samples and makes beneficiation tests. The field work was supervised by Paul M. Tyler, regional engineer, and John D. Bardill, district engineer. S. B, Levin was in direct charge of the project.LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITYThe deposit is on the northeast slope of Beryl Mountain, 1 mile south of the village of South Acworth. The village, on State Highways 101 and 123a, is 12 miles northeast of Bellows Falls, Vt. The deposit is reached from South Acworth over a gravel-surfaced road and about 1,000 feet of good truck trail (fig. 1).The nearest railroad siding is at Cold River, on the Boston & Maine Railroad, where there is also a fairly modern, but now idle, feldspar mill."

Mar 1, 1948

By M. C. Malamphy

A general description of the activities and results of bauxite investigation by the Bureau of Mines at its bauxite project in Saline and Pulaski Counties, Ark., has been given in Report of Investigations No. 4251. The factual data obtained during the project are reported in a series of Reports of Investigation beginning with No. 4251, of which this is the seventeenth. The data are accompanied by maps showing the location of holes drilled and the deposits developed. Each area upon which work was done is reported by half townships. Each bauxite deposit investigated was assigned a name and a number for ready reference and identification, and its location and name are shown on the appropriate half-township map. The description of each half township is followed by a description of each deposit developed in that half township. The 14 half-township maps and 77 detail maps of the bauxite deposits in this series of reports give the locations and numbers of all the holes drilled on the project, except the deep holes drilled to test the geophysical anomalies. The locations of those holes show on figure 13 in volume 1. The descriptions of the deposits developed are followed by complete detailed logs of the drill holes.

Jan 1, 1948

By R. R. Sayers

Carbon monoxide poisoning, as usually encountered, is an acute condition resulting from breathing atmospheres containing that gas. It is characterized clinically by headache, dizziness, weakness in the legs, increased respiration at first which later becomes irregular and depressed, collapse, unconciousness, and death; anatomically it is characterized by temporary changes in the red blood cells due to the combination of carbon monoxide with hemoglobin, and, in prolonged severe exposures, degenerative changes in various tissues of the body, especially those of the central nervous system. No race or nationality is immune or has a, special tolerance for carbon monoxide. From data at hand, it is known that both sexes are about equally susceptible. All ages are affected, but small percentages seem to have a more deleterious effect upon young animals and this is possibly true of children. Exercise, high temperature and humidity, and low oxygen content of en atmosphere increase the degree of poisoning for a certain concentration of carbon monoxide. Anything that lowers the physical fitness of a man, such as illness, overwork, or excesses of any kind, exaggerates the effects. More cases of poisoning from carbon monoxide occur in coal mines in the cold months of the year, because explosions take place more frequently during that period, also in homes where gas is used for beating purposes, and in garages from accumulation of automobile exhaust gases due to poor ventilation.

Jan 1, 1923

By G. H. Gronhovd

This is the final report on a research program to develop a pilot plant gasifier for slagging gasification of lignite at high pressures and to obtain process data under various operating conditions. An operable pilot plant was developed, and the test results show that lignite is well suited for the process. Tests were run at pressures from 80 to 400 psig, and the results indicated that pressure had little effect on gas composition or the material requirements per unit gas produced. Gas production rates as high as 26,000 scfh/sq ft of reactor area were obtained at 300 psig, but limitations on auxiliary equipment prevented full-capacity operation at 400 prig. In several tests lignite having a 37-percent moisture content and 2,500° F ash-fusion temperature was successfully gasified. Refractory materials were found to have a short life in contact with high-temperature slag, and a water-cooled taphole was developed. Exploratory tests with coking coal were unsuccessful.

Jan 1, 1970

PURPOSE: Evaluate practical technological advances in hearing protective devices for use in different mining environments RESEARCH SUMMARY: Previous NIOSH research shows that miners develop hearing loss much more quickly than nonoccupationally noise-exposed individuals and that miners experience a greater severity of hearing loss than would be expected for nonoccupational noise-exposed persons of the same age and sex. As described in the National Occupation-al Research Agenda, problems created by occupational hearing loss include(1) reduced quality of life due to social isolation and unrelenting tinnitus,(2) impaired communication with family members, the public, and coworkers, (3) diminished ability to monitor the work environment (i.e., warning signals, equipment sounds, etc.), (4) lost productivity and increased accidents resulting from impaired communication and isolation, and (5) expenses for workers? compensation and hearing aids.

Jan 1, 2001

By Frank E. Federspiel

In 1992, the Bureau of Mines conducted a mineral resource investigation of the 19,200-hectare Garfield Mountain study area in east central Idaho. The area had been proposed for Wilderness. Cretaceous-age quartzite and limestone conglomerates underlie the area's east half; thick travertine beds, as well as limestones, dolomites, sandstones, and volcanic tuffs occupy the west half. All the rocks have been faulted and folded as part of the Western Overthrust Belt. Two, enormous travertine deposits occur in the west end of the study area. The lower deposit, controlled by Faxe Kalk Inc., has at least 200 million m3 (cubic meters) of travertine resources. Most of their deposit is very bright with a high CaC03 content and a low insoluble residual percentage: thus it is suitable for use as a paper and paint filler. The upper deposit, owned by Idaho Travertine Corp., contains 100 million m3 of travertine resources; it is used for facing or dimension stone. Weathered travertine outcrops are buff to tan and locally vuggy. Bureau of Mines samples of' outcrops contained greater than 95% CaC03. Approximately 600 m3 of travertine have been quarried from the two deposits and used for facing stone. Four travertine quarries and two dozer cuts were examined. Faxe Kalk has 103 White Rock placer claims on the lower deposit; approximately one-half of the claims are within the study area. Idaho Travertine has the Limestone 1 and 2 placer claims on the upper deposit. A 4,647-m-deep oil and gas exploratory well was drilled on the east end of the study area without success.

Jan 1, 1993