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By Raja V. Ramani

The potential usefulness of reclaimed surface-mined land has received much attention recently. In an effort to develop a procedure for evaluating postmining land use potentials, specific mines in various regions of the U.S. were studied to determine the extent of current mined-land planning and to discover characteristics that are regional in nature. As part of this investigation, the Chinook Mine-West Field, located in western Indiana, has been studied. The Chinook Mine is presently operated by AMAX Coal Company and has been in continuous operation since 1928 under various ownership. The status of current reclamation and land use planning was reviewed. In addition, site planning principles were applied to the active mine area. This application included formation of a data base and development of postmining land use plan alternatives. Key factors affecting site potential realization for midwestern area mines have been identified along with suggestions for applying land use planning processes to mined-land planning.

Jan 1, 1983

By Kenneth B. Higbie

PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON announced at midyear that the test flight of the A-It plane, the world's first super-sonic aircraft capable of flying 2,000 miles per hour, was made possible by "the mastery of the metallurgy 'and fabrication of titanium." Not all of the contributions made by the mineral industry in 1964 were acknowledged so widely. Yet the contributions were significant as the search continued for new and improved methods for providing metals and mineral products to meet the ever-expanding requirements of the world economy. This chapter reviews only a few of the metallurgical developments that resulted from U.S. and foreign research efforts. MINERAL BENEFICIATION Up-to-date theory 'and practice in the mineral ,Processing field in 1963 involved subjects such as autogenous grinding, high-intensity magnetic separation, and mill control by computers. These subjects were fully discussed at the Seventh International Minerals Processing Congress held in New York City during September.

Jan 1, 1965

By Henry P. Chandler

TONNAGE of natural abrasives sold or used in the United States in 1959 increased 12 percent. Artificial abrasives produced in the United States and Canada jumped 24 percent. Imports, exports, and reexports of abrasive materials also showed gains. Sales of grinding wheels were up 33 percent and coated abrasives 17 percent. FOREIGN TRADE Imports of abrasive materials totaled $91 million, an increase of nearly 51 percent over 1958. Chief commodities contributing to [ ]

Jan 1, 1960

By Victor E. Kral

"INTRODUCTION The Phelps Stokes iron deposit, also known as the Iron Mountain claim, was examined by G. L. Thompson, an engineer of the Bureau of Mines, in January 1943. As a result, the Division of Geophysical Exploration 3/ made a magnetorater survey of the deposit in June 1944, and the Mining Branch included it in a,project to explore Nevada iron deposits.The Bureau explored the deposit from September to November 1944 by means of 643 feet of diamond drilling and 445 feet of trenching holes were drilled, all of which penetrated more than: 100 feet of good-grade magnetite, although nearly all the ore except that found in the first hole contained an excessive amount of sulfur. Trenching was done largely over the first two holes, PS-1 and PS-2, and exposed the full width of the ore.The deposit is in Nye County, Nevada, 7.7 miles east of Gabbs. The property was discovered in 1902 was patented in 1907. There has been no production from the property and except for the Bureau's investigation,,has not been, explored since it was patented.Magnetite is the principal ore mineral; it occurs as fine-grained particles associated with sulfides and cemented with talc and calcite."

Feb 1, 1947

By Richard H. Spencer, Thomas E. Doerfler, Robert L. Lagace, James M. Dobbie, William S. Hawes

This report assesses the expected detectability, on the surface above mines, of electromagnetic signals produced in the frequency band of 630 to 3030 Hz by a rescue transmitter activated by miners trapped underground. This assessment is based on a statistical analysis of experimental signal and noise data taken at a representative sample of coal mine sites well distributed over the United States underground coal fields. Regression analyses are performed to characterize the signal transmission behavior of overburdens as a function of depth and frequency. The predicted signal behavior is then combined with experimentally based distributions of the background noise, and aural detection characteristics of signals in noise, to generate curves of the expected probability of detection for trapped miner signals versus overburden depth and operating frequency. The implications of these results, and associated recommendations, are presented regarding the detectability of trapped miners, sensitivity analyses and confirmatory tests, and operational utilization considerations for the trapped miners and the search and rescue team on the surface.

Jan 7, 1980

By D. J. Parker, D. Harrington, L. H. Harrison

The necessity for protection against the hazards of lightning manifests itself from time to time in the mining industry by reason of loss of life, damage to electrical equipment, fires in surface structures at mines, and accidents in the handling and use of explosives. This paper is intended to assemble, correlate, and present some of the salient. points embodied in the available literature on the subject and at the same time give some factual data concerning instances of such loss of, life and damage to property, with special application to the mining industry The annual loss of life and destruction of property by lightning is considerable; the former may be prevented to a limited extent, though use of common sense as to exposure is required and not always followed; the latter can be prevented to a considerable degree. The manufacturers of electrical equipment,, through improved types of lightning arresters,, have done much toward the protection of electrical equipment, with consequent safeguarding of life and of property. Education based on unfortunate experiences has gone far to discourage the handling of explosives and blasting accessories during thunder storms, especially in open pits and quarries, and to a much smaller extent in underground workings. The lowly lightning rod plays an important role in the protection of certain types of buildings (especially isolated buildings), stacks, monuments, and other structures. LIGHTNING PHENOMENA In 1751, Franklin proved that lightning was simply a visible display of electricity - an extended spark; and until a generation ago little had been added to his exposition, to define the various phases of the phenomenon. Matters pertaining to lightning are discussed in the following references:

By Wing G. Agnew, John A. Johnson

"INTRODUCTION This paper is one of a series being published by the Bureau of Mines pertaining to an investigation on the use of stemming in metal mines now being conducted at the Mount Weather Testing Adit. Its purpose is to compare the amount of dust and gases produced as a result of blasting charges of dynamite (1) in drill holes, (2) in bombs, and (3) in mud-cap or adobe shots.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSValuable assistance and advice on stemming were given by members of the staff at the Bureau of Mines, as acknowledged in previous publications. 4/TEST PROCEDUREThe results used for comparison in this report are from dust and gas samples taken after blasting (1) four regular test rounds with no stemming, (2) five bomb shots, and (3) two mud-cap or adobe shots."

Dec 1, 1942

By Ramie H. Thompson

1.1 BACKGROUND In many underground coal mining operations the use of electromagnetic field equipment, particularly communication systems, not only increases the overall efficiency of the mining operation but can be directly linked with mine safety considerations. The use of electromagnetic field producing equipment in underground coal mining operations can only be expected to grow. Several new communication systems have already been proposed. In addition, high-frequency producing equipments for many diverse uses in mining operations are under study. The use of these equipment in underground mining operations is hampered by the possibility of their electromagnetic fields interacting with the electric blasting cap operations commonly carried out in the mines. Such interactions can have at least two results bearing directly on mine safety: o premature initiation of the cap, either in its normal shot location or during hookup or transportation; o dudding of the cap so that normal firing operations do not cause irritation; thereby leaving unexploded high explosives after normal firing. Since the consequences of a premature initiation could, particularly in coal mines operations, result in catastrophe involving human life, the overall approach to prediction of possible hazard must be, as far as possible, of a "worst case" nature. The general problem of predicting possible RF hazards for any electroexplosive device (EED) is best treated by reference to Appendix A of

Jan 9, 1983

By D. J. Bauer

The Bureau of Mines demonstrated the feasibility of fractionating lanthanide nitrates with a tertiary amine on lanthanum-cerium and thulium-ytterbium pairs. Optimum values were determined for pH, phase concentration, and percent chelation of metal ions in the aqueous phase. Percent extraction is markedly dependent on the concentration of lithium nitrate in the aqueous phase. Selective masking of the heavier element in each extraction system with DTPA or EDTA aqueous-phase chelating agents resulted in lanthanum-cerium separation factors of 8.5 and thulium-ytterbium separation factors of 3.4.

Jan 1, 1966

In 2005, a total of 263 metal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Metal mines were the smallest mining commodity sector, comprising 1.8% of all mining operations. ? Gold mines comprised 46.0% (n=121) of all metal mining operations. Other common types of metal mines were iron ore (n=32; 12.2%), copper ore (n=31; 11.8%), and lead and/or zinc ore (n=16; 6.1%). ? Nevada had the largest number of metal mines (n=52; 19.8%), followed by Alaska (n=27; 10.3%).

Jan 1, 2008

By E. Chin

The countries of Asia and the Pacific, with their large mineral resource base, are significant suppliers of a wide variety of minerals to both regional and world markets. Australia, China, and India dominate the commercial mineral exploitation in the region. Australia has known reserves of major minerals, which are adequate for both domestic demand, and for exports, and is a significant producer of bauxite; copper; diamond; gold; iron ore; lead; manganese; mineral sands (titaniferrous minerals, monazite, and zircon); nickel; salt; silver; tin; uranium; and zinc. China is the world leader in proven reserves of antimony, barite, ilmenite (titanium), magnesite (magnesium), molybdenum, rare earths, and tungsten. China also has large resources of low-grade iron ore and significant resources of other mineral commodities, such as coal, based on its production and export capabilities. India has significant resources of bauxite, barite, graphite, iron ore, and mineral sands.

Jan 1, 1995

By Robert E. Wood

[The temperature dependency of the low-density thermal conductivity coefficients, ?°T, of nitrogen, 100° to 1,200° K, is correlated with the Keyes' equation, ?T ½ -1 -12/T) WT = aT+ bT 10 The equation ?T,P = ?°T +a[ ]ß represented 509 experimental higher V pressure thermal conductivities in the temperature range 131.2° to 973.15° K for pressures to 500 atmospheres, with a mean absolute deviation of 2.35 percent. This equation was used to compute thermal conductivities of gaseous nitrogen for 47 pressures, 1 to 240 atmospheres, and 110 temperatures, 133° to 740° K, which are common to conditions encountered in Bureau of Mines helium purification processes. Isobaric heat capacities, CP, and viscosities, ?T,P, from previous work were combined with the present thermal conductivities, ?T,P, to compute Prandl1 numbers, C?T P / ?T ,P, of nitrogen. Tabular values of Prandtl num¬bers are presented for 49 pressures, 1 to 240 atmospheres, and 75 temperatures, 133° to 740° K. Estimated uncertainties are ±5 percent in the tabulated thermal conductivities and ±15 percent for the computed Prandtl numbers. However, the uncertainty may rise to ±10 percent for thermal conductivities and to ±30 percent for Prandtl numbers as the critical conditions of nitrogen are approached.]

Jan 1, 1971

By J. W. Thompson

OWNERSHIP OF ORE-CONSTRUCTION OF CONTRACT. A contract between the Republic Mines Corporation and the Quilp Gold Mining Co. provided that upon forfeiture of its rights under a contract the Republic Mines Corporation was required to give a good and sufficient deed conveying to the Quilp Gold Mining Co. all ore bodies of every description lying east of the west line of the Quilp Mining Co. claim extended downward vertically and lying south of the north end line of the Quilp claim extended downward vertically and which may apex within the lines of the Surprise, an adjoining mining claim. It must be presumed that the contracting parties under such circumstances had in view their statutory rights as provided by the mining statutes of the United States, and that both were familiar with the provisions as to extra- lateral rights granted by the statute to locators of mining claims. This contract means to include all ore bodies of every description lying east (or easterly) of the west (or westerly) line of the Quilp claim extended downward vertically and south (or southerly) of the north end line of the Quilp claim extended downward vertically within the Quilp claim excepting the part that was overlapped by the Surprise claim, owned by the Republic Mines Corporation. Quilp Gold Min. Co. v. Republic Mines Corp. (Washington), 165 Pacific 57, p. 61. PURCHASE OF GAS-REFUSAL TO DELIVER SALE TO OTHERS. A gas company that had entered into a contract to purchase a quantity of natural gas refused to receive and accept the gas that was tendered on the ground that it did not conform to the requirements of the contract; subsequently the company refused to sign a writing by which it was asked to consent to the sale of such gas to other persons. But the refusal of the purchasing company to sign such a writing giving its consent or its refusal to consent to such sale did. not affect the rights of the seller to dispose of the gas elsewhere and to other persons. OWNERSHIP OF MINERALS IN HIGHWAY. All mineral deposits within the limits of a highway belong to the owner of the fee and he is entitled to remove them so long as he does not interfere with the public use of the highway. City of Scranton v. Scranton Coal Co. (Pennsylvania), 100 Atlantic 813, p. 819. SALE AND CONVEYANCE. SALE AND CONVEYANCE EXCEPTION AND RESERVATION. The owner of an undivided interest in oil and gas lands conveyed the same to certain named grantees by deed containing a clause excepting and reserving all the oil and gas produced from the undi- vided interest in the land described. The language is not apt for the creation of either an exception or a reservation, but is rather that of a layman unfamiliar with legal distinctions. Strictly and literally construed, it affords a basis for a contention that that which was excepted and reserved was not realty in any form or anything inci- dent thereto, but personalty produced from the land. Immediately following the description of the tract, the grantor excepted and reserved something from the land described. What he excepted and reserved, he excepted and reserved then, and it was from his interest in the land. The clause expressed according to the evident intention of the grantor would read: "Excepting and reserving from the above all oil or gas which may hereafter be produced therefrom." No other construction can reasonably be placed upon the language used. The carving out of a separate estate in the oil and gas in land is a common occurrence in oil and gas producing fields. Mandle v. Gharing (Pennsylvania), 100 Atlantic 535, p. 536. RESERVATION CONSTRUED AS AN EXCEPTION. Where apt words of reservation are used in a deed they will be construed as an exception where this is the evident intention of the parties to the instrument. Although an exception and a reservation differ in legal effect, yet in their creation there is no magic in words, and if the meaning is clear either expression will operate for the purpose designed. The technical distinction between an exception and a reservation is frequently disregarded in the ordinary use of the word, and whether the language used creates an exception or a reservation must be determined from the intention of the parties ascertained from the entire instrument.

Jan 1, 1917

By L. W. Brandt

As part of its objective to expand the body of mineral information as a basis for new technology, the Bureau of Mines conducted research on the fundamental behavior exhibited by phosphate clay waste in settling ponds. A semiempirical equation used to describe the compaction of ceramic powders in a single-acting die was applied to aqueous phosphatic clay waste and attapulgite slurries. This equation, [*V = a1 e ?k1/P + a2e ? k2/P] was found to describe the compaction of an attapulgite gel and a phosphate slime gel by a moving screen. [*V] is the ratio of the compaction achieved at a given pressure, P, to the compaction achieved at a pres-sure sufficient to remove all space between particles. The constant al represents the fraction of compaction achieved at low pressure by rearrangement of floes to higher packing density, and a2 represents the fraction of compaction achieved at higher pressure resulting from removal of voids within floes. K1 and K2 are constants determined from the experimental data. Both the low-pressure and high-pressure compaction mechanisms were observed in the compaction of the clays. These two compaction mechanisms offer an explanation for the observation that impounded slimes initially dewater rapidly and then dewater at a much slower rate.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. W. Adams

"The present world-wide demand for increased production in all branches of essential industry involves a matter of vital concern t persons engaged in the mining industry, namely, the productive capacity of the individual mine employee. This applies particularly to coal-mining, upon which other industries so largely depend.The folded and faulted condition of the coal beds in some countries, as well as the thinness and depth of the seams, the adaptability to the beds of available mining machines and equipment are factors which cannot be overlooked in determining what increase in individual output may be looked for in any given country. This subject, while of fundamental importance, can only be referred to in a paper of this length, the primary object here being merely to present a comparative tatamant of individual output under prevailing conditions.The quantity of coal produced by a miner does not accurately indicate the miner's capacity as a workman, not only because of the natural conditions referred to above that limit his annual output, but also because of human factors which may possibly, however, be controlled, such as the demand for coal, the car supply, use of labor-saving machinery, number of days worked during the year, accidents in the mine, etc. It will, however, be an aid in answering the important question as to how and where the immediate need for coal throughout the world may best be surlier, if we examine the output of the miners in the important coal-producing countries over a period of years.Complete official information for recent years is, for several countries, jacking, particularly for France, Austria, and Prussia, but partial data from unofficial sources may be used to show the individual output of the miners in these countries."

Jul 1, 1920

By J. T. McCartney

Thin sections of coal have been prepared for many years either by cutting on a microtome (1,2)5 or by grinding and polishing (2,1). Specimens of most coals had to be demineralized in hydrofluoric acid and softened in caustic solutions before they could be successfully cut with a conventional microtome. Some lignites could be cut without pretreatment. Jeffrey (1) obtained sections from coals of all ranks, although long and tedious pretreatment was required for anthracite. His sections were less than 1 cm.2 in area (probably much less for high rank coals) and about 5 microns thick. Thiessen (2) also cut sections of softened coals, mostly of low rank. His sections were a few square millimeters in area and about 3 microns thick. However, Thiessen preferred ground and polished sections for detailed studies because they were larger and had not been chemically attacked by softening media. He prepared ground sections as large as 4 cm.2 in area and usually 5 to 10 microns thick. Thousands of such sections, covering complete column samples of many coal beds, were studied for a number of years (4). With the development of the electron microscope and increased interest in quantitative optical studies of coals, a need for much thinner sections arose. However, no suitable technique for preparing such sections was known until Fernández-Morán developed a diamond knife for cutting ultrathin sections of hard materials (5). Workers at the Centre d'Etudes et Recherches de Charbonnages de France applied this new tool to the cutting of coal sections and have recently described their technique to the Burg, of Mines. Using their methods, with some modifications, researchers of the Bureau of Mines have succeeded in cutting ultrathin sections of coals ranging in rank from lignite to

Jan 1, 1961

By J. C. Edwards

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) implemented a real-time neural network system which can discriminate mine fires from nuisance diesel emissions as part of an atmospheric mine monitoring system in NIOSH?s Safety Research Coal Mine. The real-time response of a neural network to fire sensor outputs was demonstrated for coal and belt combustion in the presence of diesel emissions. The fire sensors consisted of an optical path smoke sensor, a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor, and two types of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors. The real time neural network was trained with coal, wood, and belt fire experiments with and without diesel emissions background. The trained neural network successfully predicted mine fires with these combustibles in the smoldering stage prior to the onset of flames.

Jan 1, 2005

This Volume documents the Phase 111 effort on the Seismic Detection and Location of Isolated Miners on Contract H0122026 undertaken during the fall of 1972 by a task team composed of ADL staff and several seismic consultants. The team was assembled specifically to work together on complementary tasks, at an accelerated level of effort for four months, to meet the Bureau of Mines' time schedule for obtaining independent, objective, technical judgments regarding seismic methods and systems for detecting and locating isolated miners. The impetus for this work resulted from a compilation and analysis, during the first half of 1972, of new experimental data obtained from a series of in-mine field tests conducted by Westinghouse Corp .+ using the CMRSS* interim seismic location system. The Bureau of Mines took advantage of the availability of these new data to reassess the potential and limitations of various seismic methods and systems, and to direct its seismic system improvement program accordingly. ADL assisted the Bureau in this reassessment by drawing on the skills of seismic consultants from industry, universities and government, to supplement the skills of the ADL project team. The consultants were principal resources of broadly-based and detailed technical expertise in the areas of seismic signal-source and signal-propagation characteristics, natural and cultural seismic noise, seismic sensors and field instrumentation, seismic signal and data processing for detection and location, and overall seismic system utilization in the field under operational emergency conditions. Specifically, the participating consultants were: F. Crowley, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories ; W. Dean, Teledyne Geotech, Alexandria Laboratories; R. Greenfield, Pennsylvania State University; J. Kuo, Columbia University; D. Peters and R. Crosson, University of Washington; and F. Pilotte, U.S. VELA Seismological Center. The principal ADL participants were J. Ginty, R. Lagace, M. Roetter, and R. Spencer.

Jan 1, 1974

By Launa G. Mallett, Jr. Brnich

Overview: The first step to emergency preparedness and maintaining a safe workplace is defining and analyzing hazards. Although all hazards should be addressed, resource limitations usually do not allow this to happen at one time. Risk assessment can be used to establish priorities so that the most dangerous situations are addressed first and those least likely to occur and least likely to cause major problems can be considered later. Purpose: This training package was developed to assist instructors as they (1) determine how to use risk assessment to improve safety preparedness and (2) present risk assessment concepts and tools to trainees. The concepts and tools presented here can be applied to any mine hazard.

Jul 1, 2003

By Floyd R. Hertweck

This Bureau of Mines publication contains analyses and related source data for 349 natural gas samples from 26 States and 2 foreign countries. The 3 samples from foreign countries and 339 of the U.S. samples were collected during calendar year 1983. The remaining seven samples were collected earlier, but releases granting permission to publish were not received until 1983. All samples were obtained and analyzed as part of Bureau of Mines investigations of the occurrences of helium in natural gases of countries with free market economies. This survey has been conducted since 1917. The analyses published herein were made by the mass spectrometer and chromatograph. The results of these investigations are published annually to make the information available to the petroleum industry and the general public. Twenty-seven publications have presented the results of 13,332 gas analyses made prior to 1983. The first three bulletins (1-3)3 contain analyses and related source data on 5,218 gas samples collected from 1917 through 1960; these bulletins have been supplemented annually by information circulars (4-17, 19-24, 26-27) containing 8,104 analyses of sam¬ples collected since 1960.

Jan 1, 1984