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By Alvin Kaufman

Geothermal plants are competitive with conventional units. A geothermal plant can produce electric energy for 6.70 mills per kwhr, compared with 6.96 mills for coal, 6.74 mills for oil, and 7.04 mills for gas. These costs include fixed and variable charges. Potential for geothermal power exists in the Western United States, Alaska, and possibly Hawaii. Assuming that the current downward trend in cost per kilowatt of coal will cease and that the relative cost of gas and oil, already trending upward, may rise considerably more, geothermal energy will be utilized where available, in producing electric energy. It will be used in California first because it is directly competitive with gas-and oil-fired installations there. A long-term appraisal is difficult because little is known about the sources of geothermal power and the electric generating capacity which the steam fields will support. However, a market for geothermal steam-generated electricity exists within the Western States.

Jan 1, 1964

By Alvin Kaufman

Geothermal plants are competitive with conventional units. A geothermal plant can produce electric energy for 6.70 mills per kwhr, compared with 6.96 mills for coal, 6.74 mills for oil, and 7.04 mills for gas. These costs include fixed and variable charges. Potential for geothermal power exists in the Western United States, Alaska, and possibly Hawaii. Assuming that the current downward trend in cost per kilowatt of coal will cease and that the relative cost of gas and oil, already trending upward, may rise considerably more, geothermal energy will be utilized where available, in producing electric energy. It will be used in California first because it is directly competitive with gas-and oil-fired installations there. A long-term appraisal is difficult because little is known about the sources of geothermal power and the electric generating capacity which the steam fields will support. However, a market for geothermal steam-generated electricity exists within the Western States.

Jan 1, 1964

By K. J. Miller

A laboratory electrophoresis column was designed to separate pyrite from fine coal by utilizing an observed difference in the electrophoretic mobilities of the two materials in water. The apparatus worked well when tested with synthetic mixtures of coal and pyrite, but some modifications in design and procedure were necessary to provide a sharper separation. After these changes were made, the column was tested with a high-pyritic-sulfur raw coal sample. The column successfully fractionated the sample, removing not only the pyritic refuse, but a siliceous refuse as well. The invest ion demonstrated on a laboratory scale that pyrite and other impurities can be separated from fine coal by electrophoresis.

Jan 1, 1970

By Neal M. Muir

The increasing demand for iron ores prompted the Bureau of Mines to investigate the sources of past production in Kentucky to determine whether reserves of usable ore still exist. Preliminary investigation showed that the holdings of the Rose Run Co. were the most promising, inasmuch as the deposit had not been exhausted by past mining and the property was near railroad facilities and but 80 miles from the blast furnaces at Ashland, Ky. The Bureau conducted a churn-drilling and sampling program to investigate the depth, thickness, and iron content of the ore beds so that they might be evaluated as a possible reserve of low-grade iron ores. The Rose Run area in Bath County, Ky., was explored by 74 churn-drill holes totaling 2,059.4 feet of drilling and 4 cuts and test pits. Fifty-seven drill holes and the four test pits penetrated the ore bed at an average depth of 22 feet. The bed had an average thickness of 2.54 feet. Analyses show that the calcium and magnesium carbonate content is more than sufficient to flux the silica and provides an excess that needs an admixture with other siliceous iron ores.

Jan 1, 1950

A revolutionary development in blasting materials has occurred in recent years. Ammonium nitrate, sensitized by the addition of a small percentage of No. (class) 2 diesel fuel or other suitable petroleum product, has been adopted as a low-cost, efficient blasting agent2 in a wide variety of mining, quarrying, and heavy construction operations. Moreover, the ready availability of the component supplies throughout the Nation, together with the ease of formulating them into effective blasting agents, has made it possible for the blaster himself to prepare the mixes at the site of use. Recently, most established explosives manufacturers have begun supplying premixed AN-FO (ammonium nitrate-fuel oil) or a comparable product to various mining operations. However, many individuals and small business establishments are marketing premixed products prepared in facilities that are often poorly constructed and poorly located. Although these blasting agents have partly or wholly displaced explosives such as dynamites in many applications, there are some blasting operations in which the fuel-sensitized ammonium nitrate agents do not appear to be well adapted. As long as the hazards they present are clearly understood and respected, ammonium nitrate-based blasting agents have important safety characteristics when prepared under competent factory control or field-mixed under equivalent close control. This publication attempts to summarize the knowledge of those hazards and to incorporate practical ways to cope with them.

Jan 1, 1963

By L. D. Wyant

That natural gas-gasoline can be used to advantage as a refrigerant is suggested by the fact that the "make" tanks and other parts of the equipment of gasoline plants frequently become coated with frost. The experiments reported in this paper confirm this assumption and indicate that volatile gasoline can be use used to advantage in many refrigerating plants. The Bureau of Mines is making a study of wax distillates in order to find out why satisfactory lubricating oils and waxes can be made easily from certain crude oils and only with difficulty from others. In the commercial distillation of crude petroleum it is customary to separate the distillates into the following groups: (A) Gasolines and naphthas, (B) Kerosenes, (C) Gas oil, and (D) Wax distillate (consisting mostly of light lubricating oil together with small amounts of paraffin Wax).

Jan 1, 1923

By David Schlain

"INTRODUCTION Electrolytic manganese is produced by electrolysis of a solution of manganese sulfate and ammonium sulfate in a diaphragm-type cell, metallic manganoese being deposited on the cathodes and sulfuric acid produced at the anodes. The spent electrolyte is used to leach fresh ore that has previously been subjected to a reducing roast; the resulting leach liquor is purified and returned to the cell.The leach liquor produced at the Bureau of Mines pilot plant 3/ at Boulder City, Nev., contains 135 to 140 grams of ammonium sulfate and 32 to 36 grams of manganese (as sulfate) per liter, and has a pH of about 2.5. After neutralization to a pH of 6.4 to 6.6 with ammonia and thickening, 0.10 to 0.15 gram of hydrogen sulfide per liter is added to the liquor to precipitate the heavy metals, and after 15 to 30 minutes the precipitate is filtered off. Residual sulfides and colloidal material are removed by ferric hydroxide formed by adding a small amount of ferrous sulfate to the solution at a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 and passing air through it. The solution is then filtered and clarified as a precoat filter. Finally, 0.1 gram of sulfur dioxide per liter is added, and the solution is electrolyzed in an anode-in-diaphragm cell. The spent electrolyte coming from the cell contains approximately 10 grams manganese, 135 grams ammonium sulfate, and 45 grams sulfuric acid per liter."

Oct 1, 1946

By J. W. Thompson

SALE AND CONVEYANCE. DEED BY INDIAN ALLOTTEE OF UNSOUND MIND-BONA FIDE PURCHASER. The deed of an Indian allottee whose mind was unsound, but who was not entirely without understanding, is voidable if made before the grantor's incapacity has been judicially determined; and a purchaser of the original grantee who interposes the defense of a bona fide purchaser has the burden of showing a purchase for value and on failure to do so can not claim the benefit of a bona fide purchaser. Adams Oil & Gas Co. v. Hudson (Oklahoma), 155 Pacific, 220, February. 1916. PURCHASER OF MINING CLAIM-RIGHT TO FIXTURES. The purchaser of a mine equipped with an electric hoist, placed in the mine under a rental contract with the owner of the hoist and under an agreement to return it to the owner at the expiration of the term of hiring, can not claim and hold the hoist as against the owner where the agent of the seller explained to the purchaser that the hoist was not owned by the owner of the claim. Montana Electric Co. v. Northern Valley Mining Co. (Montana), 153 Pacific, 1017. p, 1018, October, 1915. AUTHORITY OF GRANTEE TO EXTEND LEASE. A deed conveying lands subject to an oil and gas lease under which the lessee had the right to drill or pay money in lieu of drilling at his option, and reserving to the grantor a share of the royalties under such lease, and expressly authorizing the grantee to lease the land for oil and gas purposes and to take the rentals, authorizes the grantee to extend the existing lease before the expiration thereof in consideration of the annual payment of money in lieu of drilling, as contemplated by the lease.

Jan 1, 1916

By M. H. Chetrick

Since 1945, a commercial-scale pilot plant for the gasification of lignite has been operated by the Bureau of Mines at Grand Forks, N. Dak. The description, operation, and objectives of this pilot plant have already been described in previous reports (6, 7, 8). Although the experimental data obtained from the operation of the externally heated retort have been tabulated and summarized (1, 7), few studies have been made in the correlation of these data. The purpose of the present investigation was to review the data taken in tests of the lignite-gasification pilot plant and to correlate the gas-composition data in terms of their basic factors.

Jan 1, 1950

By James H. Scott

Well-logging techniques that have been used to evaluate various types of mineral deposits are discussed briefly, and many pertinent references are cited. Information is categorized by mineral commodity to make it easy to determine what logging techniques have been used for evaluating specific metals and nonmetals. Part 1 discusses logging techniques applied to deposits of the following metals: aluminum, antimony, beryllium, boron, copper, iron, lead and zinc, maganese, mercury, nickel, silver and gold, tin, tungsten, and uranium. Part 2 covers the following nonmetals: coal, evaporites, fluorspar, oil shale, rock salt, and sulfur. Separate bibliographies are given for English and foreign language references.

Jan 1, 1974

By Pedro Lilienfeld

The objective of this program was the development, design, and fabrication of six personal-sized completely self-contained dust monitors capable of real-time as well as time-averaged monitoring of the concentration of respirable particles in coal mines, in the range of 0.1 to 100 mg/m3. The operation of these monitors is based on light scattering and passive air sampling. The design stressed overall miniaturization, ruggedness, simplicity and versatility. These instruments incorporate a single-chip CMOS microprocessor to perform all signal processing, data display and storage, and timing functions. The overall dimensions of these devices are, approximately, 10 by 10 by 5 cm.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. D. Currie

Haulage accidents in the anthracite region cause fewer fatal and lost-time accidents per million man-hours than similar accidents in bituminous mines, a fact that may be accounted for in several ways, but primarily because haulage, in a large part of the region, is restricted to haulage crews operating only on the gangways where most of the miners seldom come in contact with movement or handling of cars and locomotives. Generally in underground mines the number of men injured compared with the number killed is greater for haulage than for roof-fall accidents, while the number of men killed by haulage is second only to the number killed by roof falls.

Jan 1, 1939

By J. M. Stuve

Low-temperature heat capacities of chiolite (Na5Al3F14) were determined by adiabatic calorimetry in the temperature range 5.8 to 300 K. The derived standard entropy (S°, 298.15) was 115.6 ± 0.2 cal/deg-mole. High temperature enthalpies relative to 298.15 K were obtained by precision drop calorimetry up to 1,000 K. Tables of experimental data and related thermodynamic functions are given for the temperature range of experimental observations.

Jan 1, 1980

By J. F. Barkley

"Conservation of fuel in boiler-plant practice is one of the major projects of the Bureau of Mines. The large central stations with their corps of trained operators and with refined equipment obtain relatively good efficiency. It is in the many smaller isolated plants that the large fuel wastes are apt to occur. Some operators seem to feel that their responsibility is largely expressed in the phase the phase ""carry the load,"" rather than ""carry the load and carry it efficiently."" Often equipment is not provided to give sufficiently accurate guidance to the operator.In within many such plants, it is interesting to note how frequently the same mistakes occur. The following quite typical example illustrates some of these circumstances and their effort on operation. The boiler plant consisted of two 1000 hp. boilers equipped with multiple retort under-feed stokers. These were horizontal water-tube boilers with horizontal baffling, having a high bridge wall at the back of the stoker. One boilers was used to carry a summer carry a winter load of about 1250 hp. The operators felt that one boiler was not sufficient to carry the winter load. No instruments are available for the operator's use, excepting the steam ores sure gases."

Mar 1, 1925

By John M. Devine

Hydrogen sulphide associated with natural gas was noted as early as at Point Albino, Canada. The presence of this impurity was recognized also in other of the earlier oil and gas fields, although the occurrence was by no means common. However, in recent years, with the development of the producing zones of test Texas and the Texas Panhandle, the Production of "sour" crude has increased greatly and hydrogen sulphide has proved a generally troublesome factor--frequently a major problem--in the drilling and operation of many wells in those areas. The problems arising from the drilling and producing of oil or gas wells in hydrogen-sulphide areas, fall under two general divisions: safety problems and corrosion problems. Mention is made of a third division which is closely related to the other two, that of treating--or the development of processes for the removal of hydrogen iron the standpoint of safety and health hazards, hydrogen sulphide in the petroleum industry has been discussed in a number of publications. Likewise, the problem of hydrogen-sulphide corrosion of production equipment has been given considerable attention in the literature.

Jan 1, 1931

By Larry D. Nichols

Poroplastic membranes containing ion exchange liquids were studied for separating cobalt from nickel-containing solutions similar to ammoniacal laterite leaches. The driving force for cobalt transport was differences in pH and composition between the leach and extraction streams. Using a diketone ion exchange liquid, a leach pH of 6.5 to 7.0, and a strip pH of 2.3, cobalt was extracted from a 750 ppm solution containing 2500 ppm of nickel at rates ranging from 1 to 10 µg/cm2 .min in single membrane cells, and from 10 to 100 in more closely spaced multiple membrane cells. Rates were variable, with evidence that cross -membrane flow pasterns were a key factor; a reproducible rate of 30 pg/cm .min would be economically viable. Loss of transport observed after several days of continuous operation was restored by flushing membranes with fresh ion exchange liquid. A major effort was devoted to preparation of thin, leak-free membranes; the resulting membranes endured operating conditions without mechanical failure.

Jan 1, 1982

By Suresh K. Bhatt

A mathematically simulated modeling technique is used in this U.S. Bureau of Mines report to represent a hypothetical mining operation with existing mining technology and prevalent mining costs. Mining scenarios were prepared and evaluated for potential benefits and costs available through computer-assisted mining. Base criteria, parameters, and methodology are described.

Jan 1, 1991

By William H. King

The Mercur Dome mine is in the Camp Floyd mining district, Tooele County, Utah (fig. 1). The property lies between 6,000 and 8,000 feet altitude on the southwesterly slope of the Oquirrh Mountains, a short distance west of Mercur, the district settlement. Mining began in the Mercur area in 1870. Operations at the Mercur Dame mine were started in 1937 after several claims had been consolidated into one group. Preliminary examination of the ground by F. H. Gunnell, a Bureau of Mines engineer, disclosed the presence of vanadium in a carbonaceous shale horizon. Rocks near the Mercur Lame property are chiefly sediments of Carboniferous age, including the Madison and Deseret limestones. The main shaft penetrates the Deseret formation to a point a few feet above the 1,000-foot level where it enters the Madison limestone. The flat-lying vanadiferous shale horizon is exposed on the 1,000-foot level near the top of the Madison limestone. The Bureau of Mines development program, consisting of diamond drilling, auger hole drilling, and sampling, was planned to determine the extent and assay value of the vanadiferous bed. Seven diamond-drill holes totaling 300 feet were drilled from the 1,000-foot level of the mine. Eight hand auger holes were drilled in the back of the drift on this level (fig. 2). Assay determinations were made on 74 samples from the drill holes and supplemental channel samples and are tabulated in this report. The concluding section embodies results of metallurgical tests.

Jan 1, 1949

By P. G. Clites

This bulletin summarizes the results of Bureau of Mines research on the development of the inductoslag melting process. Inductoslag melting is an induction melting technique using a segmented, water-cooled, copper crucible. The process was developed as part of the Bureau's work on effective utilization of reactive metal scrap, and the process has been applied to melting Ti, Zr, Cr, Co, Fe, Ni, and V. Construction details are given for the segmented crucibles and for both an ingot furnace and a casting furnace. The melting process is described, and results of tests conducted with a variety of reactive metals are given.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. L. Brown, H. G. Berger, E. F. Pohlman

"The Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the American Gas Association investigating the relation of properties of gas oils to the gum-forming properties of carbureted water gas. The present report deals with the effects of operating practice on the composition of the light oils from carbureted water gas. A general outline of the gummy meter problem has been presented in a previous paper.*Carbureted water gas is a mixture roughly of 80 per cent water gas by volume and 20 per cent oil gas. The latter, though small in relative volume, supplies more than half of the heating value of the gas under the present-day standard. Therefore, it is logical that the oil used in the carbureting process and the operating practices involved should be subjected to scientific study. Many investigations***** bearing on the aspects considered in this paper have been carried out in the past."

Oct 1, 1923