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By Russell R. McLellan

The Tertiary channel gravel deposits in northern California were selected Or detailed investigation by the U. S. Bureau of Mines as part of a national program to locate potential sources of gold that might be developed rapidly by large-scale mining operations. Five bureau research centers representing mining and metallurgy subsystems coordinated their efforts in a team operation to identify and investigate possible solutions to the problem area, that long have discouraged the resumption of large-scale mining in the deposits. This report summarizes the individual investigations, conclusions and recommendations conducted and prepared by all mining subsystems research groups after the completion of two years of field work at the deposits on San Juan Ridge in Nevada County, California. The studies indicate that modern mining technology can cope with the environmental problems that closed the immense hydraulic mines in 1,884. however, they also indicate that mining can be conducted with only marginal profits its unless the price of gold remains substantially above $70 per ounce or unless sufficient by-products can be recovered and sold to place the average value per cubic yard of gravel into a positive commercial range. The by-product potential of the Tertiary gravels remains to be investigated in more detail.

Jan 1, 2012

U.S. Gold Commission Established. - The President, with the authorization of Congress, has named a gold commission made up of 17 individuals, most of them Government officials, to study U.S. policies related to the role of gold in domestic and international monetary systems and report its findings and recommendations to Congress. U.S. Lead Exposure Ruling. - On June 29, the Supreme Court upheld the Government's right to set lead exposure levels for employees at the workplace. The Court ruled in favor of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a challenge by a group that alleged that OSHA had failed to conduct a cost-benefit analysis prior to issuance of the lead standards. It was the Court's contention that Congress did not require such an analysis when it empowered OSHA to establish workplace standards. The petition to the Court was made by the Lead Industries Association Inc., Battery Council International Inc" American Iron and Steel Institute, St. Joe Minerals Corp., and other lead mining and consuming firms.

Jan 1, 1981

By J. O. Lewis, Carl H. Beal

The material for this paper was collected for the most part by C. H. Beal during the years 1916, 1917, and 1918. Many of the conclusions reached in regard to the life of oil wells have already been published by the Bureau of Mines 1 but those presented in this paper deal particularly with the theoretical aspects of oil production. The report discusses some of the fundamental factors governing oil production, taking up first the conditions affecting the. amount of oil in the oil sand, then those factors that control the rate of production of oil wells, and then discusses several related problems, most of which deal particularly with the effect of the production of one well on that of another.

Jan 1, 1921

By Michel C. Frippel

This section of the Minerals Yearbook reviews the minerals industries of 29 countries: the 12 nations of the European Community (Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark/Greenland, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Ireland); 6 of the 7 nations of the European Free Trade Association (Sweden, Nor-way, Finland, Iceland, Austria, and Switzerland); Malta; the 8 Centrally Planned Economies of Eastern Europe (the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Poland, Yugoslavia, Albania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria); and the U.S.S.R. Western Europe Western Europe [loosely defined to include the 12 nations of the European Com-munity (EC) and the 7 nations of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)] is the single largest trading area and consumer of raw materials in the world. If Western Europe was at one time an important mining sector, it has now increasingly relegated the role of supplying minerals for its minerals processing industry to its ex-colonies in North and South America, Africa, and Australia. In this regard, Western Europe is the most important determinant of raw materials consumption (and thus raw materials production). There is an important reason for this since Western Europe lies somewhere between Japan at one extreme and the United States and the U.S.S.R. at the other extreme as regards the availability of natural resources.

Jan 1, 1992

By B. J. Moore

This publication contains analyses and related source data for 234 natural gas samples from wells and pipelines in 21 States and 1 foreign country. All of the samples were obtained and analyzed during calendar year 1975 as a 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 in the United States by the Bureau of Mines since 1917. In late 1965, the survey was expanded to include foreign gasfields. The analyses published herein were made by mass spectrometer and n special helium analysis apparatus, which are described in Bureau of Mines Bulletins 4862 and 576.3 The results of the investigation of the occurrences of helium are published annually to make the information available as soon as possible to the gas industry and the public in general. Seventeen previous publications have presented the results of 10,831 gas analyses prior to 1975. The first 3, Bulletins 486,4 576,5 and 617,6 contain analyses and related source data on 5,218 gas samples collected from 1917 through 1960. The other 14

Jan 1, 1976

By J. R. Thoenen

"The curtailment of imports of foreign potash during the World War directed attention to the necessity of establishing a domestic source of potash for fertilizer, and considerable study has been given to the subject by Government bureaus, research organizations, and private individuals. These studies have covered all known sources of potash, and among them the extensive greensand deposits of New Jersey in which the potash content is found in the mineral glauconite have been investigated.Several hundred patents have been obtained covering processes for the extraction of potash from siliceous minerals, but up to the present time none have proved successful on a large commercial scale.When the investigation of the potash deposits of Texas was started by the Federal Government, the laboratory study of the drill cores was assigned to the Nonmetallic Minerals Experiment Station at New Brunswick, New Jersey, with the object of ascertaining a possible commercial method of utilization.The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate existing literature and previous investigations to ascertain the extent and availability of the deposits, the extent of commercial success so far attained in potash extraction, the most promising known methods and by-products obtained from them, probable markets, and possibility of competition with foreign potash, and by a study of these data to determine whether further chemical engineering analysis and laboratory investigation were warranted.As the study advanced it became evident that adequate reserves of green-sand were available for many years supply. and that whereas many processes had been patented few had been tried commercially. In collaboration with former private and Government investigators these patents were first divided into two"

Feb 1, 1929

By Daniel Harrington

On the night of June 8, 1917, the flame of a carbide lamp accidentally set fire to the uncovered and frayed insulation of an armored power cable near the 2,400-foot level of the North Butte Mining Co.'s Granite Mountain shaft. How this insulation accidentally became exposed is explained on page 15. The highly flammable oiled fabric set fire to the shaft timbers, and as this is a downcast shaft the fire spread with great rapidity, soon filling the mine workings with smoke and gas. At the time 410 men were working underground, 247 of whom escaped by various means, but most of the 163 remaining were probably overcome soon after the lire started, and perished. Only two men were actually burned. The cause of the disaster was purely accidental. The immediate effect was the unexpected reversal of normal conditions; the ultimate effect was great loss of life and the destruction of the main hoisting shaft, putting it temporarily out of service. The work of rescue and fire fighting continued eight days. The following pages present an attempt to draw some practical conclusions and suggestions from this disaster. The property of the North Butte Mining Co. consists of about 220 acres in the northeastern part of the Butte district, Montana. Next to the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. it is the largest pro¬ducer of the district. In 1916, the year before the disaster, there were 1,160 men employed. The output was 560,947 tons of ore, which yielded 24,498,181 pounds of copper, 1,047,063 ounces of silver, 1,712 ounces of gold, and 412,953 pounds of zinc. The profit was $2,479,595. The total development work for that year was 21,694 feet. During the first half of 1917, the year of the accident, the daily tonnage of ore averaged 2,000, an increase of 400 tons over that of the year 1916.

Jan 1, 1922

By Robert C. Johnson

Domestic byproduct fluorine (in fluosilicic acid) availability at various price levels of aluminum fluoride were determined and a contingency availability curve developed. The supply of byproduct fluosilicic acid is restricted in amount to certain geographic regions, where plants processing phosphate rock are located, and the byproduct can be collected. The maximum possible U.S. annual supply, based on potential plant capacities, is 373,400 tons of fluosilicic acid containing 295,400 tons of fluorine. Based on inputs of 5, la, 25, 50, and 100 thousand tons per year, five levels of producing aluminum fluoride from fluosilicic acid (100 percent) were costed. Based on a 12-percent discounted cash flow rate, including the cost of salvaging the fluosilicic acid, the calculated selling price of aluminum fluoride ranged from $233 per ton to $448 per ton. At the higher price, 98 percent of the potential supply of byproduct fluosilicic acid could be used profitably; at the lower price only 46 percent could be used profitably.

Jan 1, 1973

1. Domestic Production and Use: In 1977, 12 companies operated 31 primary aluminum reduction plants, with 3 firms accounting for 65% of production capacity. Washington, Oregon, and Montana accounted for 31% of the total capacity; Gulf Coast States 23%, Northern States 26%, and other Southern States 20%. Based on estimated producer prices output of primary metal in 1977 Has valued at $4.6 billion. Aluminum consumption by 25,000 firms was centered 'in the East Central United States. Of aluminum consuming industries in 1977, building accounted for about 25%; packaging 22%; transportation 21%; electrical 11%; consumer durables 9%; and other uses, 12%.

Jan 1, 1978

The U.S. economy continued to expand during 1986, although at the slowest pace since 1982 when the current business expansion began. Real gross national product (GNP) grew about 2.6%, slightly below 1985 growth but significantly below that of 1984. The continuing expansion was fueled predominantly by rising personal consumption expenditures as well as growing government purchases of goods and services. Fixed investment, although positive, failed to grow at the rate of the overall economy. The trade deficit, which increased more than 30% over the record 1985 level, continued to depress economic growth despite significant declines in the price of petroleum and the value of the dollar. On a more positive note, domestic employment continued to grow--increasing over 2 million from the 1985 level--and inflation and interest rates declined. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 7.0%. Of direct importance to the minerals-producing industries, expenditures for consumer and producer durables as well as investment in residential construction each grew faster than the overall economy, but investment in nonresidential structures fell more than 10% from the 1985 level. The low level of real capital spending declined about 3% in 1986, following strong gains in 1985 and in 1984. Capital expenditures for new plant and equipment bottomed out in the second quarter and expanded in the third and fourth quarters. The decline in the first half of the year was partially attributed to uncertainty arising from the then-proposed tax bill. Also, there was little impetus for corporations to invest in new capacity since factories were operating at less than 80% of capacity during most of the year, in part because of continued competition from imports.

Jan 1, 1987

New Trade Status for Mainland China--On January 24, the Congress approved a most-favored-nation trade status with Mainland China for both imports and exports. A Presidential Proclamation had been issued earlier in anticipation of the Congressional action. Import duties on such commodities as tungsten, mercury, and antimony are automatically decreased. Defense Production Act Extended--The Defense Production Act of 1950 was extended 60 days to March 28, 1980. The provision for the usual 2-year extension of the Act is reportedly included in an omnibus energy bill that is tied up in committee. The Act under Title III provides for the expansion of productive capacity and supply and, more specifically, it gives priority to defense contracting where defense and non-defense interests conflict

Jan 1, 1980

By Jr. Frank Parrish

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

Jan 1, 1965

By Gary A. Kingston

This examination of Pacific Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington) ferrous scrap-industry operations, principally those in Oregon and Washington, points out factors influencing the supply and consumption of scrap materials, such as the complete dependence of steel ingot producers in these States on scrap as a metal raw material and the sizable quantity of scrap exported from Seattle and Portland to Japan. The pattern of the industry is presented as a movement of materials from their diverse sources to the consuming market. The geographic locations of the consuming industries in relation to the areas generating scrap materials and the movement pattern of the supply from source to destination strongly influences the cost of the commodity. The best measure of the scrap supply available in an area is experience in terms of how much scrap was withdrawn at a given price. Scrap availability is not finite, because the return of materials as scrap is secular and influenced by constantly varying market conditions. Steel ingot producers use 75 percent of the approximate 500,000 tons of scrap consumed in Oregon and Washington; steel foundries take 15 percent of the total; and iron foundries, ferroalloy plants, and other miscellaneous consumers utilize the remainder. Also, from 1955 to 1960 an average of about 200,000 tons has been exported annually from Oregon and Washington. The foreign exports are supplemented by lesser shipments to other steel producing States, principally in the western United States. From 1955 to 1960 the preferred and higher value heavy melting scrap grades accounted for about 60 percent of total withdrawals which varied between 600,000 and 950,000 tons annually. Total crap withdrawals from Oregon and Washington are projected to 1.8 million tons by 1985, 60 percent (1.1 million tons) of which will be heavy melting grades. No. 1 heavy melting scrap is most attractive to scrap consumers at $35 per ton or less. Price-supply relationships compared with projected scrap requirements indicate future prices possibly over $35 per ton. High prices over a long period could motivate the Pacific Northwest scrap consumers to produce steel from iron ore. However, technologic changes taking place at integrated steel plants could reduce scrap withdrawals from the Pacific Northwest, which might keep the scrap price sufficiently attractive to obviate production of competitive iron products by the Pacific Northwest scrap consumers.

Jan 1, 1964

By G. A. Apell

"SUMMARYThe quality of Moose Creek coal is considered superior to that of any now being produced in the Matanuska field of Alaska. In rank it is classed as roar coking high-volatile B bituminous coal.At present the Moose -Creek mines are accessible from the Glenn highway by 6 miles of well-maintained gravel road. The nearest railroad loading point is Moose Creek siding; 7 miles by road from the Buffalo mine. Palmer, 12 miles south of Buffalo mine, is the nearest town. Anchorage is 50 miles south of Palmer by road and-railroad.Core drilling and trenching by the Bureau of Mines revealed 2,375,500 short tons of coal in the Buffalo series on the Buffalo Coal Co. leasehold. Of this, 514,200 tons is considered measured coal and 489,900 tons indicated coal. Existence of deeper beds over the same length increased the tonnage of coal of all categories to 3,279,300 tons. The property has an assumed life, of 16 to 22 years, depending on the number of beds mined, based on an output of 500 tons of coal a day and 100-percent recovery. Coal from some of the beds car be marketed without washing however, a washery is necessary if all beds are mined. Beds in the Buffalo series not mined in the ""first mining"" will be irrecoverable at any later date.The Bureau of Mines completed exploration of approximately one-third of the local coal-bearing areas during 1943. Knowledge gained from this work makes it possible to investigate the rest of the area by drilling an estimated additional 5,000 foot of hole."

Dec 1, 1944

By Gary A. Kingston

This examination of Pacific Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Ore on, and Washington) ferrous scrap-industry opera ions, principally those in Oregon and Washington, points out factors influencing the supply and consumption of scrap materials, such as the complete dependence of steel ingot producers in these States on scrap as a metal raw material and the sizable quantity of scrap exported from Seattle and Portland to Japan. The pattern of the industry is presented as a movement of materials from their diverse sources to the consuming market. The geographic locations of the consuming industries in relation to the area generating scrap materials and the movement pattern of the supply from source to destination strongly influences the cost of the commodity. The best measure of the scrap supply available in an area is experience in terms of how much scrap was withdrawn at a given price. Scrap availability is not finite, because the return of materials as scrap is secular and influenced by constantly varying market conditions. Steel ingot producers use 75 percent of the approximate 500,000 tons of scrap consumed in Oregon and Washington; steel foundries take 15 percent of the total; and iron foundries, ferroalloy plants, and other miscellaneous consumers utilize the remainder. Also, from 1955 to 1960 an average of about 200,000 tons has been exported annually from Oregon and Washington. The foreign exports are supplemented by lesser .shipments to other steel producing States, principally in the western United States. From 1955 to 1960 the preferred and higher value heavy melting scrap grades accounted for about 60 percent of total withdrawals which varied between 600,000 and 950,000 tons annually. Total scrap withdrawals from Oregon and Washington are projected to 1.8 million tons by 1985, 60 percent (1.1 million tons) of which will be heavy melting grades. No. 1 heavy melting scrap is most attractive to scrap consumers at $35 per ton or less. Price-supply relationships compared with projected scrap requirements indicate future prices possibly over $35 per ton. High prices over a long period could motivate the Pacific Northwest scrap consumers to produce steel from iron ore. However, technologic changes taking place at integrated steel plants could reduce scrap withdrawals from the Pacific Northwest, which might keep the scrap price sufficiently attractive to obviate production of competitive iron products by the Pacific Northwest scrap consumers.

Jan 1, 1964

1. Domestic Production and Use: In 1983, 12 companies operated 27 primary aluminum reduction plants, with 4 firms accounting for 65% of production. Washington, Oregon, and Montana accounted for 35% of the production; Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia 35%; Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina 14%; other central States 16%. Based on published producer prices, output of primary metal in 1983 was valued at over $5.7 billion. Aluminum consumption by 25,000 firms was centered in the East Central United States. Packaging accounted for an estimated 37% of domestic consumption in 1983, transportation 19%, building 17%, electrical 9%, consumer durables 8%, and other uses 10%.

Jan 1, 1984

By C. E. Julihn

In the fall of 1933 a new discovery of gold was made in the old Mojave mining district of California about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. It led to mining operations that have surpassed in their results all reasonable expectations and are of exceptional promise for the future. In less than 3 years, exploration has opened up a number of veins, from some of which a substantial amount of high-grade ore has been shipped, while a large tonnage of milling ore has been disclosed. Two mills, operating on ore averaging better than $12 a ton, will probably produce more than a million dollars worth of gold in 1936, and a considerable increase of their output in the following year is anticipated. While continuance of these operations for a number of years is already assured by ample reserves of ore, future discoveries of still other veins are reasonably possible, as occurrence of gold throughout the volcanic rocks of the district is widespread and the veins now being mined showed little to attract attention at the surface.

Jan 1, 1937

By E. H. Denny

The presence in the Cripple Creek district, Colo., of irrespirable gas or gases, generally known to consist mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, has been recognized by members of the mining industry in that region almost since underground mining was begun there; the occurrence, origin, and possible control of these gases have been discussed in several articles cited at various places in this report. Similar gases have also been studied in other metal-mining districts, as later discussed. In March, 1925, there were two fatalities from rock-strata gases in the shaft of the Index mine, near Cripple Creek. Two men repairing the bell or signal line preparatory to reopening the shaft were lowered into irrespirable gases and died. Their bodies were recovered by rescue crews from the United States Bureau of Mines and .the Portland mine, Victor, Colo. These crews found it necessary to use oxygen breathing apparatus. In October of the same year a miner was trapped on the 6 level of the Midget mine by an influx of gases that filled the shaft to a point above that where he was working. Oxygen breathing apparatus was again used by Bureau of Mines employees, who were in the vicinity, and the man was brought out in time to save his life. These two fatalities and one near fatality seemed to show that additional investigation of the gases and methods of control might be warranted. Accordingly, field and laboratory studies were begun by the authors of this report after a visit to the district by M. van Siclen, then engineer in charge, mining research division, Bureau of Mines, and after conferences with the Mine Owners' Association of Cripple Creek and with J. T. Joyce, metal-mine commissioner of the State of Colorado. The mine operators of the Cripple Creek district and the State mine commissioner's office gave whole-hearted cooperation in this work.

Jan 1, 1930

By Noel N. Moebs

The Bureau of Mines studied the feasibility of water diversion and overburden dewatering for underground coal mines in the Appalachian region. All relevant published literature pertaining to the occurrence and control of surface and ground water in underground coal mines was reviewed, and the impacts of mine water with respect to health and safety, production, environment, and costs were assessed and are described in this report. The report also identifies the sources of water inflow into underground coal mines, and gives a summary description and evaluation of techniques that can be used to reduce the amount of water entering these mines. Engineering practices currently used by operating coal mines in the Appalachian region to prevent the movement of ground and surface water into active coal workings were reviewed and are summarized. Major emphasis has been placed on the identification of geologic and hydrologic conditions of the site, the water control methods used, and an evaluation of their technical and cost effectiveness.

Jan 1, 1985

By J. R. Thoenen

Up to 1914 almost all of the world's supply of potash came from Germany and Alsace. With the cessation of shipments from Germany during the World War the importance of a domestic suppler was evident. During the past 15 years the United States has been working toward the establishment of a domestic potash industry which would end foreign dominance in this commodity. The Federal government has taken an active part in this program. As its share in the work, the Bureau of Lines has ascertained the potash resources in certain district's through core drilling and has engaged in a comprehensive program of research on the extraction of potash from its various minerals. Until the passage of the Winter bill (H. R. 496) by Congress in 1928 the Bureau of Mines had not been able to give any consideration to the western ores, wyomingite (leucite) and alunite. With the massage of this bill, however, the ray was opened for the extension of the potash studies to cover these materials.

Jan 1, 1932