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By John E. Conley

The need for lightweight aggregate for use in concrete products ,and structures has caused the Bureau of Mines to undertake an investigation to determine the availability of suitable raw materials and to study methods, procedures, and equipment to supply that need. Evidence is at hand to prove that the shortage of lightweight aggregate is nationwide. A survey recently covered in a report (13)5/ by the Construction Branch of the National Housing Agency has pointed out the locations in which lightweight aggregates are produced. A study of this information discloses that the producing centers are widespread, and that certain areas, notably the region east of the Mississippi River, and especially the sections along the Atlantic coast line and the Southeastern States, have only a few such plants. Certainly, many localities are badly in need of installations equipped to provide an ample supply of high-grade lightweight aggregate. The work undertaken by the Bureau of Mines includes investigation of the use of clays, shales, slate wastes, coal-mine wastes, diatomite-clay combinations, and various other 'mineral mixtures as possible raw materials. Likewise, special consideration has been given to the development' of equipment and techniques to produce the lightweight products.

Jan 1, 1949

By Richard Quirk

This report describes methods and techniques employed by The Glidden Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, in explorating an ilmenite-bearing sand deposit in Ocean County, New Jersey, during 1960 to determine ore reserve potential and the feasibility of mining and establishing a milling plant on the property for the production of ilmenite concentrate. The property covered approximately 1,250 acres. Comprehensive sampling by water-jet drilling indicated the deposit averaged 20 feet in thickness and contained 4.5 percent heavy minerals, of which 80 to 85 percent was ilmenite and leucoxene. Average depth of the water table as determined by auger boring was 16.8 feet. Pilot plant tests indicated that circular concentrators in combination with spiral concentrators would recover at least 80 percent of the heavy mineral content of the sands. It was estimated that sufficient ore reserve tonnage had been developed to supply the company's Baltimore chemicals division, pigments department, with a suitable grade ilmenite concentrate for a period of 20 years at the present rate of pigments production. The property was designated as Lakehurst mine and plans are in progress for mining development and plant construction.

Jan 1, 1963

By Rudolf E. Greuer

This report contains a theoretical study on the usefulness of fighting mine fires with inert gases. Four introductory chapters review the role of fires in the mining industry; the conventional fire fighting techniques, the influence of inert gases on the burning of gases and solids, and the well established inert gas fire extinguishing systems for buildings and machinery. A large chapter describes the use which inert gas has found so far for fighting mine fires in major mining countries. More applications have occurred than generally expected and the inert gas method has in the last years become routine in Czechoslovakia and the USSR. This chapter is based on an evaluation of the extensive literature as well as on personal information obtained from leading experts.

Jan 1, 2012

By C. V. Brennan

This paper, describing the various mining methods and practices at Britannia mines, Britannia Beach, British Columbia, is one of a series covering mining practices, methods, and costs in the mining districts of the United States and Canada. The Britannia property has been operated continuously for 30 years, and in that time many diverse methods have been used in exploiting the various types of orebodies worked. Under normal conditions mining methods include surface gloryholes, shrinkage stoping, shrinkage with powder drifts for primary breaking, horizontal cut-and-fill, horizontal and inclined square-setting, and timbered and open rills, the three latter systems being combined with close filling. The Britannia method of mining, a large-scale retreating shrinkage system usually combined with powder drifts for primary breaking, has been developed and applied here very successfully. Each block of ground as developed is studied as a separate problem, and the mining method, or combination of methods best adapted to the work in hand is applied thereto. Operating at, capacity, the series of mines produces 7,000 tons of ore per day.

Jan 1, 1935

By Gordon Clark, Basar Arioglu, Nasri Munfah, Sanja Zlatanic, Tolga Togan

"The 13.2 m (43 ft) external diameter, double deck Istanbul Strait Road Tube Crossing is one of the most challenging underwater tunnel projects in the world. Subjected to 11 bars of hydrostatic pressure, variable geology, and being in a very active seismic area, the execution of the project required innovative solutions, sophisticated construction techniques and prudent risk management approach. The 5 km (3.1 mile) tunnel consists of a 3.4-km (2.2-mile) tunnel boring machine- (TBM) bored tunnel, 1 km (0.62 mile) twin NATM tunnels and cut-and-cover sections. The project is being delivered in a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract in a public-private partnership. The technical challenges, coupled with financial and commercial risks required the implementation of sophisticated risk management tactics including the provision of independent design verification. The project was opened to traffic on December 20, 2016, four months ahead of schedule.. This article presents the technical challenges of the project from the design, construction, and risk management aspects..Project backgroundThe $1.245 billion Istanbul Strait Road Tunnel Crossing project, dubbed the Eurasia Tunnel, is one of several major infrastructure projects being implemented in the Republic of Turkey in a public-private partnership approach. The project provides a direct and easy connection between the Anatolian (Asian) side of Istanbul and the heart of its historical district on the European side across the Bosphorus Strait which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. The project improves connections to a wide network of motorways on both sides, increase capacity across the Bosphorus by 100,000 vehicles a day, reduces congestion and saves motorists an average of 45 minutes of commuting time in each direction bringing significant economic benefits to the city and the region. It eases traffic across the strait, reduces congestion, decreases pollutants and emission while maintaining Bosphorus. It is the most complex part of the project with the greatest challenges and risks. Part 2 is 5.4 km (3.6 miles) long consisting of 3.4 km (2.2 miles) of 13.2 m ( 43.3 ft) external diameter TBM bored tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait, 1-km (0.62-miles) of twin NATM tunnels on the Asian side, cut-and-cover transition boxes in the Asian and the European sides and depressed approaches on both sides. In addition, this segment includes the toll plazas, ventilation buildings, and the tunnel control and maintenance facilities."

Mar 1, 2017

By Jeffrey S. Newman

This report establishes a methodology for the evaluation of gas detection devices and is the result of a critical investigation into the basic principles defining gas detector performance. A scheme is presented to evaluate the performance of a test sample of gas detectors based on the detector type and intended application. Test procedures, worksheets, test apparatus, glossary and statistical methods for handling test data arc given. In addition, evaluation standards and test parameters are identified. It is intended that this report serve as a comprehensive framework for the eventual certification of all gas detectors for mine applications. A plan is proposed and recommended for the quantification and implementation of evaluation standards for gas detection device certification.

Jan 1, 1980

By Walter W. Kaufman

This User's Manual, extracted from information contained in the Final Report for the above referenced project, outlines test procedures to measure the braking capabilities of underground non-coal rubber-tired mining equipment. Methods to interpret test results, recommendations for safe braking capabilities, and basic techniques to improve braking systems and road surfaces are also discussed. Possible applications for runaway vehicle protective devices other than braking systems are reviewed. Also included is a listing of mining equipment and brake component manufacturers who supply the majority of equipment to the United States non-coal mining industry. In conjunction with this list of manufacturers, a general tabulation of brake related specifications appears for vehicles observed during stopping tests conducted underground.

Jan 1, 1977

By Arthur E. Morris

Fifty years ago when Professor Yazawa began his career, the field of process simulation and modeling was in its infancy. Since then, tremendous progress has been made in our ability to model metal production flowsheets from mine to refined metal. This progress has come about by parallel developments in basic understanding of process chemistry and in computational techniques. This paper will review the progress made in process understanding and modeling in lead, zinc, and copper metallurgy from its inception to the present, and the role of Professor Yazawa's work in furthering this progress. Specific examples wi1\ be given for the sintering of lead concentrates, slag fuming, zinc concentrate roasting, flash smelting of copper, and pyro-extraction of zinc. Factors limiting further progress will be described.

Jan 1, 2003

By Corwin L. Cooper

This paper, describing; the milling and cyanidation methods and costs at the Yellow Aster gold mine, is one of a series of papers being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on bold milling practices in the United States. Acknowledgments Acknowledgment is made to the executives of the Anglo American Mining Corporation, Ltd., for permission to publish this article, and to A. W. Frolli, manager, and other members of the company staff, for assistance` in preparing the, paper.

Jan 1, 1936

By Robert H. Peters

This report presents a literature review conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The review summarizes what has been learned from recent empirical studies of the relationship between mine safety and characteristics of miners, mine management, and mining companies. The review is based on literature published in the United States during the period from 1976 to 1988. In addition to summarizing the empirical findings, this report discusses the implications and limitations of these studies, and gives recommendations for improving mine safety. An annotated bibliography section appears in the appendix.

Jan 1, 2009

"INTRODUCTION While investigating prevention of sabotage and maintenance of production of essential war minerals, engineers of the Bureau of Mines visited more than 1,400 metal and nonmetallic mines, quarries, and open pits in all parts of the United States.The need for, uniform safety practices is indicated by the fact that during 1938-1940, inclusive, the Western Safety Conference, under the sponsorship of the California Department of Industrial Relations, undertook the prepara¬tion of a set of standard safety regulations for the 15 participating political subdivisions. The membership of these political subdivisions is comprised of representation from Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Lower California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, For the guidance of its own engineers; the Bureau of Nines found it necessary to prepare a set of safety practices that could be used uniformly throughout the United States. These safety practices were compiled from State mining regulations, mining company safety rules, and the experience of Bureau of Mines engineers for more than 3 decades, and represent the best safety practices of the Nation's' mineral industry.The purpose of this publication is to make safety practices available for the non-coal branches of the mineral industry, with the hope that they may assist in reducing accident occurrence. The Bureau will welcome questions and suggestions regarding these practices in order that changes may be made as necessary.Where the adoption of any practice would not materially increase the safety of employees or would work undue hardship on the operator, the Bureau does not recommend such adoption."

Sep 1, 1946

A maximum acceptable level of 2 mg/m3 of respirable coal mine dust in active mine workings was established, effective January 1, 1973, under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. It is generally agreed that, as a result, coal mines in the United States are significantly less dusty than they were a decade ago. For example, operators of underground mining machines were exposed to between 3.9 and 6.5 mg/m3 of respirable coal mine dust during 1968-69; now they are exposed to between 1.3 and 1.8 mg/m3. Also, the incidence of underground sections cited for exceeding acceptable levels of respirable coal mine dust decreased during 1976-78, and the vast majority of all working sections are now in compliance. This improvement is very substantial by world standards. It must be regarded as a creditable accomplishment by the coal mine operators, federal agencies, and mine workers involved. Most of the improvement has been brought about by the use of existing technology to control, suppress, and collect respirable coal mine dust. Research and development by the Bureau of Mines has contributed significantly to the accomplishment by improving the methods for sampling, control, suppression, and collection.

Jan 1, 1980

By W. Hodge Caraway

This report presents the results of an evaluation of several indirect methods of measuring the water content of oil-reservoir rocks. The water content of oil-base cores is considered to be most nearly representative of the water content of the undisturbed petroleum reservoir and therefore, the direct method of measuring the volumes of water in cores cut in oil-base drilling fluid was adopted as a standard for comparison. The indirect methods evaluated included (1) displacement through a semipermeable membrane by air, (2) centrifuge, (3) evaporation, (4) mercury injection, (5) chloride dilution and (6) electric logs. Approximately 270 samples of cores from petroleum-reservoir rocks were used in the study. The cores, most of which were cut with oil-base mud in the hole, were taken from oilfields in California, Texas Gulf coast, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Alaska.

Jan 1, 1959

By McHenry Mosier

Mechanical loading, adopted long ago in open-pit, coal, and non-metal mines, was not used extensively in underground metal mines until the World War. In less than a decade it became standard practice in underground work in many mining districts. In 1924 the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Mines, published a bulletin entitled "Mechanical Underground Loading in Metal Mines," which was prepared by Charles E. van Barneveld, mining engineer, Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1940

By H. F. Yancey

The investigations described in this bulletin are confined to a study of the washing characteristics of bituminous coals. The major part of the work was conducted by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Engineering Experiment Station of the University of Illinois and the State of Illinois Geological Survey Division between 1918 and 1924, in accordance with the provisions of an agreement between these agencies. The washing characteristics of coals from many of the important coal-producing fields of the Eastern and Central States were examined. The coals of the Pacific Northwest States and Alaska have been studied separately by McMillan and Bird of the Northwest Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines at Seattle in cooperation with the College of Mines of the University of Washington.2 OBJECT OF INVESTIGATION The object of the investigation of coal preparation by the Bureau of Mines has been to promote the production of better prepared coal and to facilitate the correct selection and design of coal-preparation plants by obtaining as complete information as possible regarding the washability of the various types of American coals and the treatment best suited to each. In addition, some attention has been given to the development of new methods of washing coal. The work naturally divides itself into three rather distinct steps: (1) Development of a systematic method of examining and testing a coal; (2) classification of the American coals on a basis of the occurrence of the impurities associated with the coal in the beds; (3) examination of one or more representative coals of each type.

Jan 1, 1929

By H. Al-Kazzaz

The 2-mm butt joints of ZE41A-T5 sand castings were laser welded using 1.6 mm EZ33A-T5 filler wire and a continuous wave Nd:YAG system at a power of 4 kW, surface defocusing and various welding speeds, Compared with the base metal, the fusion zone showed significant grain refinement due to high cooling rate, No grain coarsening was observed in the heat affected zone (HAZ). The porosity area percentage and total solidification crack length in the fusion zone (FZ) were reduced as the welding speed increased from 4 to 7 m/min, Fusion zone area, total penetration depth, and weld width decreased with increased welding speed, The hardness in the FZ was similar to or higher than the base metal after a natural aging of about one year, but there was a drop in the hardness of the HAZ, The HAZ width decreased with increasing the welding speed, Tensile test showed that a joint efficiency of approximately 75 ? 90 % was obtained.

Jan 1, 2005

By A. Dutta, B. Devulapalli, A. Mukhopadhyay, E. W. Grald

"Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFO) has matured over the past two decades as an analysis tool for conducting virtual experiments with significant time and cost savings. It complements and reduces physical testing. CFO has penetrated the diverse materials industry in much the same way as Computer Aided Design (CAD) did more than a decade ago. As the basic numerical algorithms used in CFO have steadily improved, so have the reliability, consistency and user-friendliness improved significantly, too. Other recent trends have also contributed to the rapid growth and widespread adoption of CFO. In this presentation, CFO applications from several materials processing industries will be presented using case studies. Emphasis will be on metals, glass and semiconductor applications.IntroductionThe term materials processing covers a diverse array of industrial applications and products today. From the continuous casting of steel, to the deposition of semiconductor materials atom by atom, to the extrusion of molten polymers, materials processing applications span an incredible range of length scale, process times, pressures, temperatures and velocities. The properties of the materials themselves, in terms of density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, etc., can be complex functions of temperature, shear rate, chemical composition and time. And the processing equipment may be very complicated in geometric shape.Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the technique of solving the governing equations of fluid motion and other related phenomena using a computer, has enjoyed widespread and rapid growth, which started in the aerospace and automotive industries. More recently, CFD has also been successfully applied to a great many materials processing problems, in spite of the challenges described in the previous paragraph. The reasons for the growing usage of CFD in materials processing are many. Using CFD to test design options and reduce the number of physical prototypes can decrease the time and cost associated with new product and process development. CFD gives insight and provides detailed predictions of operating conditions in lieu of difficult, intrusive and often expensive experimental methods. CFD can be used as an aid to scale-up processes from lab or pilot scale to full production. Troubleshooting the performance of existing equipment is often carried out with the help of CFD. Determining how an existing piece of process equipment will operate under new conditions, or with new input ,materials, is also a common task for CFD."

Jan 1, 2004

By Jacek Paraszczak

For mining companies facing strong international competition and unfavorable commodities? prices, automation of underground operations has got a potential to increase productivity and help cut cost. However, despite considerable technological progress in this field, there still remain some problems to overcome. Furthermore, a success implementation of automation depends also on numerous operational, organizational and even human factors. In this context, this paper reviews briefly a technological progress with regard to different underground operations. Following that, several issues related to implementation of automated equipment and systems are presented and discussed. Particular emphasis is put on the factors whose importance is sometimes underestimated. Some recommendations in this respect are also given. It is stated that a success of an automation project is a function of many ?winning conditions?, which may be created through a very thorough planning and preparation. It is also underlined that despite achievements made, a vision of a man-less underground mine is not yet a question of near future as it may seem.

May 1, 2001

By R. G. Dressler

The design and operation of the Koppers powdered-coal gasifier and its auxiliaries at Louisiana, Mo., are described. This unit was designed to convert 1 ton of coal per hour with oxygen and superheated steam into synthesis gas - primarily carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The first run was made on May 4, 1949. After this, 44 short runs (less than 8 hours each) and 1 long run (lasting 11 days) were made. Total gasification time was 420 hours. The gasifier was not cooled down during the year when these runs were made. After an initial period of test operations and equipment proving, during which 12 runs were made, the effect of numerous variables on gasifier performance was studied. The long run was made primarily to check the equipment in sustained operation. Detailed data from these runs are presented.

Jan 1, 1954

To improve communication among Government, industry, and academic researchers in the field of thermodynamics, the Federal Bureau of Mines sponsored a Workshop on Techniques for Measurement of Thermodynamic Properties in August 1979. Participants at the workshop presented 33 papers on the subjects of temperature measurement and control, general calorimetric techniques, low-temperature calorimetry, high-temperature calorimetry, galvanic cells, ionic solutions, and heterogeneous phase equilibria. A special invited lecture was presented by E. F. Westrum, Jr., on the resolution of lattice heat capacity. This Information Circular comprises the proceedings of the workshop and includes the texts of papers presented and discussion by attendees.

Jan 1, 1981