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By Harold L. Rhodes

The Bureau of Mines has developed a method for determining the H2S content in natural gas samples. A gas chromatograph with a flame photometric detector was used to analyze samples with H2S concentrations ranging from 5,000 ppm to a minimum detectable limit of 0.01 ppm. A mass spectrometer was used to analyze samples containing H2S in amounts greater than 5,000 ppm. Methods are presented for preparing containers for H2S samples and for preparing standards using partial pressure and weighed standard methods, Sample collection techniques are discussed, as are analytical results which illustrate the loss of H2S while in the sample container and provide a basis for evaluating containers used for sampling and standard preparation.

Jan 1, 1979

By Lance Rasband, Richard Hanke, John Starcevich

"Mining on Seattle’s SR99 tunnel began in July of 2013. Initial mining progressed slowly through a 4.5 m (14.9-ft) thick fiber-reinforced concrete headwall before immediately entering the first of three planned safe havens. Once through the headwall and safe haven the machine would move through roughly 122 lineal m (400 ft) of jet grout improved soil at a rate of slightly more than 1.6 m/d (5.3 ftpd). It was anticipated that once mining has passed through the improved area, “Bertha” – now the world’s second largest tunnel boring machine (TBM), would be moving at a rate of almost 11 m/d (36 ftpd). By the end of October 2013, Bertha had mined roughly 131 m (430 ft), averaging 1.4 m/d (4.7 ftpd), and had begun mining within native soils. By the start of December 2013, tunneling had reached the 244 m (800 ft) mark and Bertha was averaging 3.6 m/d (11.9 ftpd), achieving as much as 12.8 m (42 ft) of progress on given days. Unfortunately, on Dec. 6th, 2013, Bertha began to stumble and all progress quickly came to a halt.Initial reports stated an obstruction had stopped Bertha in her tracks. The preliminary investigation involved installation of 10 deep dewatering wells to reduce the hydrostatic pressure within the ground around the TBM, to allow the contractor’s personnel to inspect the cutter head from within and also to investigate for the presence of obstructions at the face of the cutter head. During inspection, the contractor’s crews found fragments of steel pipe entangled in the cutter head. The steel was apparently from an abandoned 254 mm (0.9 in.) diameter monitoring well casing, previously installed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to monitor groundwater conditions for the design and planning of this tunnel project. After the steel was removed from the cutter head and cleared from Bertha’s path, she attempted to move forward but was only able to generate a slow crawl."

Jun 1, 2016

By H. H. Evinger, M. Muskat

A method has been developed whereby one may calculate the productivity factors of producing formations from a knowledge of the reservoir conditions. Account is taken not only of the heterogeneous character of the gas-oil flow system but also of the detailed variations with pressure of the shrinkage and viscosity of the oil, the solubility of the gas in the oil, and even the variability of the gas viscosity and the deviation of the gas from ideal behavior. Curves are shown giving the results of numerical calculations on the production rate as a function of the pressure differential for a high-prcssure and a low-pressure system, three values of gas-oil ratio being treated in each case. Curves are also given showing the variation with distance from the well of the pressure, oil saturation, and permeability. The effect of connate water is briefly discussed in relation to the apparently large discrepancies between the calculated and observed productivity-factor values. Introduction The significance of the productivity factor as a measure of the capacity of an oil-bearing formation to produce is well recognized; for it is the composite and integrated resultant of the physical prop-crties of both the porous medium and the fluid stream passing through it with respect to the ease with which the particular petroleum fluids present in the formation can flow through it and into producing wells. The most direct method of determining the productivity factor of a well consists, as is well known, in the simultaneous measurement of reservoir-pressure differentials and rates of production and the expression of the data in terms of rate of flow per unit pressure drop.' Actual measurements carried out in this manner on producing wells have given factors that generally lie in the range of o to Ioo bbl. per day per pound pressure drop. This wide range arises not only from variations in permeability but also from the varying sand thickness of producing formations. One of the aims of developing a theory of the mechanics of oil production obviously is that of predicting what the productivity factor should be from a knowledge of the individual characteristics of the producing formation and the fluids produced. For homogeneous fluid systems passing through a porous medium into a producing well, it has been known for some time that the steady-state rate of liquid flow Q is given by the formula:* Q ? u log r?/r? where k is the sand permeability, h its thickness, µ the liquid viscosity, ?p the pressure drop between the well and the distant parts of the reservoir, in particular that at a radius re, and r? is the well radius. This gives the productivity factor: f= Q/kh?p ? 2p/µ log re/r? f=Q/ kh?p ? 2p/µ log re/r? which will have a numerical value for a

Jan 1, 1942

By M. Muskat, H. H. Evinger

A method has been developed whereby one may calculate the productivity factors of producing formations from a knowledge of the reservoir conditions. Account is taken not only of the heterogeneous character of the gas-oil flow system but also of the detailed variations with pressure of the shrinkage and viscosity of the oil, the solubility of the gas in the oil, and even the variability of the gas viscosity and the deviation of the gas from ideal behavior. Curves are shown giving the results of numerical calculations on the production rate as a function of the pressure differential for a high-prcssure and a low-pressure system, three values of gas-oil ratio being treated in each case. Curves are also given showing the variation with distance from the well of the pressure, oil saturation, and permeability. The effect of connate water is briefly discussed in relation to the apparently large discrepancies between the calculated and observed productivity-factor values. Introduction The significance of the productivity factor as a measure of the capacity of an oil-bearing formation to produce is well recognized; for it is the composite and integrated resultant of the physical prop-crties of both the porous medium and the fluid stream passing through it with respect to the ease with which the particular petroleum fluids present in the formation can flow through it and into producing wells. The most direct method of determining the productivity factor of a well consists, as is well known, in the simultaneous measurement of reservoir-pressure differentials and rates of production and the expression of the data in terms of rate of flow per unit pressure drop.' Actual measurements carried out in this manner on producing wells have given factors that generally lie in the range of o to Ioo bbl. per day per pound pressure drop. This wide range arises not only from variations in permeability but also from the varying sand thickness of producing formations. One of the aims of developing a theory of the mechanics of oil production obviously is that of predicting what the productivity factor should be from a knowledge of the individual characteristics of the producing formation and the fluids produced. For homogeneous fluid systems passing through a porous medium into a producing well, it has been known for some time that the steady-state rate of liquid flow Q is given by the formula:* Q ? u log r?/r? where k is the sand permeability, h its thickness, µ the liquid viscosity, ?p the pressure drop between the well and the distant parts of the reservoir, in particular that at a radius re, and r? is the well radius. This gives the productivity factor: f= Q/kh?p ? 2p/µ log re/r? f=Q/ kh?p ? 2p/µ log re/r? which will have a numerical value for a

Jan 1, 1942

By Agnes Y. Lee

As part of the U.S. Bureau of Mines program to improve base metal leach systems, pressure leaching of galena (PbS) concentrates in fluosilicic acid (H2SiF6) solution was investigated. Lead extraction was 93 pct when PbS was pressure leached in H2SiF6 at 95° C with 2OO-psig O2 pressure for 40 min, using ferric nitrate [Fe(N03)3] as a catalyst. The effects of several catalysts, O2 pressure, time, and acid concentration on leaching were determined. The purified leach solution was electrowon to recover high-purity Pb metal. The H2SiF6 used in leaching and electrowinning can be recycled continuously. A flow diagram was proposed based on this investigation. Elemental sulfur (SO) was recovered from the leach residue by solvent extraction. A method was also developed for treating the flnal residue to segregate the important byproduct elements such as Ag, Cu, and Zn and enable their recovery by standard commercial processes.

Jan 1, 1990

By C. W. Davis

During the fiscal year 1935-36, the Ore-Testing Section has been active in carrying out a program designed to attain the objectives that have been set up for it. For the Purpose of standardizing important testing methods, an attempt has been made to develop a rationalized scheme for ore testing, starting with preliminary investigations to determine the physical and chemical properties of the ore, following this with a logical selection and trial of processing tests to find out how the ore may be most effectively treated, and concluding with a discussion of what interpretation may be placed on the results in terms of plant design and operation. A selection of Procedures that appear well-suited to the ore-dressing problems under investigation is included in the following paper of this report so that other experimenters may be enabled to verify our findings and to offer criticisms and suggestions for improving our practice. A tentative scheme for the evaluation of flotation reagents is being investigated, and some progress has been made in a study to determine the significance of small-scale testing. These projects have required 899 analyses. Papers on these and others on ore testing, such as testing for amalgamation and for cyanidation, will be included in future annual reports.

Jan 1, 1937

By Joseph L. Ritchey

The Trail Lake RARE II area comprises 1,300 acres (526 ha) in Lassen and Plumas Counties, California, adjacent to the Caribou wilderness. No mining claims, prospects, or quarries are reported within the study areas, and no evidence of potential mineral deposits was found during a field reconnaissance. Quaternary basaltic lava flows uniformly underlie the area. INTRODUCTION The Trail Lake (No. B5-095) RARE II further planning area occupies 1,300 acres (526 ha) adjacent to the Caribou Wilderness in Lassen and Plumas Counties, California. Susanville is about 30 mi (50 km) east and Chester is about 17 mi (27 km) south of the study area. Access from State Highways 44 and 36 is provided by well-maintained gravel roads.

Jan 1, 1981

By C. W. Davis

During the fiscal year 1935-36, the Ore-Testing Section has been active in carrying out a program designed to attain the objectives that have been set up for it. For the purpose of standardizing important testing methods, an attempt has been made to develop a rationalized scheme for ore testing, starting with preliminary investigations to determine the physical and chemical properties of the ore, following this with a logical selection and trial of processing tests to find out how the ore may be most effectively treated, and concluding with a discussion of what interpretation may be placed on the results in terms of plant design and operation. A selection of procedures that appear well-suited to the ore-dressing problems under investigation is included in the following paper of this report so that other experimenters may be enabled to verify our findings and to offer criticisms and suggestions for improving our practice. A tentative scheme for the evaluation of flotation reagents is being investigated, and some progress has been made in a study to determine the significance of small-scale testing. These projects have required 899 analyses. Papers on these and others on ore testing, such as testing for amalgamation and for cyanidation, will be included in future annual reports.

Jan 1, 1937

Wildcat strikes in the Appalachian coal fields, primarily in West Virginia, have resulted in an estimated 4.5 million ton loss in coal production during July and through the first week in August. Since then, the strike intensified further, and on August 9, nearly all of West Virginia's 60,000 miners were off the job with another 10,000 miners on strike in eastern Kentucky. The Bureau of Mines estimates that West Virginia's coal output is currently (8/9) eight million tons below last year when the state produced 108 million tons. West Virginia, the Nation's second largest coal producer of coal behind Kentucky, has not failed to mine over 100 million tons a year since 1938. At the end of the second week in August, nearly all coal miners in West Virginia remained out. The strike is a protest against a cutback in union health and retirement benefits. An announcement June 23 about the United Mine Worker's health and retirement fund precipitated the strike, Fund directors said that because of inflation and production losses caused by earlier wildcat strikes and the severe winter, miners would have to pay the first $250 of hospital costs and 40 percent of doctor bills, up to $500 a year. Previously, the funds paid all hospital and doctor bills. According to the West Virginia Coal Association each day of the strike in West Virginia results in a loss of coal production of 500,000 tons, a loss of $3.8 million in miners wages and $1 million in contributions to the UMWA's health and retirement fund.

Jan 1, 1977

By M. E. Volin

The tungsten potentialities of the Combination mine were examined by a mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines in 1947. A report based upon his personal knowledge of the mine and the results of the examination contained recommendations for further investigation. This report presents factual data from Bureau of Mines field investigations begun in August 1947 and continued until December 1948, except for a 5-month recess during the first winter. The Combinat.ion mining property of 52 patented claims and 15 patented mill sites is in the Black Pine mining district, Granite County, Mont., 11 miles northwest of Philipsburg. The altitude in the mine vicinity is approximately 6,500 feet.

Jan 1, 1952

By Eric E. Cather

A mineral survey of the Fisher Gulch RARE II area (A5299), Trinity County, California was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey. The Bureau of Mines was responsible for detailed examination of mines, prospects, and mineralized zones; the Geological Survey conducted geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies of the area. The area is underlain by the Salmon Hornblende Schist. Tonalite stocks 1.5 mi (2.8 km) to the east and northeast of the area intrude the schist and are closely associated with the nearby nines (Cox, 1967). The mines have quartz veins containing sulfides and gold in shears trending east to north past in the schist and tonalite (Hotz, 1972). Strewn and terrace gravel s occupy most of the drainages, many have yielded substantial quantities of gold.

Jan 1, 1981

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES OF LOCAL SECTIONS AIME Committee on Local Section Affairs Roger Pierce, Chairman Carleton C Long Thomas C Frick AIME Committee on Student Chapter Affairs John P Nielson, Chairman John C Calhoun, Jr J R Van Pelt, Jr Council of Section Delegates A A Burr, Chairman (Hudson-Mohawk) Ralph A Watson, Vice-Chairman (North Pacific) L G Neely, Secretary (West Central Texas) INTERIM COMMITTEE M O Langham (East Texas), Fulton J Olivier (Delta), L W Smith (Niagara Frontier), G R Spindler (Central Appalachian) LOCAL SECTIONS (There are 78 Local Sections in the United States, 9 Foreign) ADIRONDACK Established June 18, 1952 Official year begins in April Meets fourth Saturday monthly, April through October Seven meetings annually Local Section Dues AIME Members $2, Nonmembers $3 Charles F Dievendorf, Chairman Severn P Brown, Vice-Chairman George E Erdman, Secretary-Treasurer Gouverneur Talc Co , Inc Gouverneur, N Y Malcolm V Lowry, '60, Section Delegate Committees Membership David J Crawford, Chairman Program Brower Dellinger, Chairman Student Affairs Eugene A Eastman, Chairman

Jan 1, 1959

By Edwin A. Clarke

[For almost 2 decades the Bureau of Mines has been Interested in converting solid fuels to liquid fuels. Small-scale laboratory investigations were carried on for a number of years.4/ This work wad expanded substantially under authority of Public Law 290, approved by the 78th Congress on May 5, 1945. As part of the. broadened program, coal-hydrogenation demonstration plant was designed and erected at Louisiana, Mo., where: hydrogen-manufacturing and compression equipment, shoes, electric power, and other utilities and facilities were available from a discontinued wartime ammonia works . The plant uses the direct -hydrogenation or Bergius process, but the process differs from prewar European practices in many respects. Many noteworthy improvements h eve bean made, particularly by substituting automatic instruments for manual control of process variable's, in line with modern American processing practices. The over-all objective of the demonstration plant is to bridge the gap between laboratory end commercial-scale operation by furnishing cost and engineering data to develop a synthetic liquid-fuels industry when it proves technically and economically justified. Fitting into the over-all program, specific objectives o early runs were to (1) train personnel who had no experience with this type of operation, (2) break in the installed equipment, (3) obtain successfully integrated operation of the entire plant, and (4) work towards obtaining data on the hydrogenation of coal-tar oil and a typical low-ash coal. In beginning fan integrated operation, it is common practice to operate and obtain reaonably smooth performance of each unit before the over-all operation is undertaken. The first part of the plant completed was the refinery, consisting of several fractionating systems, a stabilizer, and a chemical treater.]

Jan 1, 1953

By Lukas Pichler

The market trend of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) with demand for higher strength products is increasing continuously. The inline cooling technologies have established as the most powerful metallurgical tool to achieve these demands. However, the cooling capabilities of existing hot strip mills, plate and Steckel mills are often not adequate to generate high cooling rates and the cooling accuracy required for the production of AHSS. Hence there have been many developments for an intensive, highly flexible accurate homogeneous cooling technology. Considering the wide variety of strip and plate geometry, Primetals Technologies have developed Power Cooling Technology for strip and introduced MULPIC®4 Technology for the plate production. In this paper we shall discuss these enhanced technologies that provide the inline cooling requirement with examples from the recently commissioned machines.

Aug 17, 2017

By M. E. Nicholson

The solid solubility of boron in iron has been determined by saturating iron with respect to FeyB at several temperatures from 870° to 1135 C. In alpha iron the maximum solubility was found to be 0.002 pct B and in gamma iron the solubility varied from 0.001 pct at 915°C to 0.020 pct B at 1165OC. The eutectic and peritectoid temperatures were found to be 1165° and 911 °C respectively and the gamma iron solidus was located approximately at 0.020 pct B. RECENT investigations of boron-treated steels', ' indicate that the solubility of boron in austenite is of the order of 0.003 pct at 900°C. This has led to the general belief that the solubility of boron in a and r iron is considerably less than that indicated by Wever and Muller." Therefore the solid solubilities of boron in a and r iron have been re-determined. The eutectic and peritectoid temperatures were also remeasured and the r-iron solidus was studied in some detail.* In 1929 Wever and Miiller investigated the phase equilibria of Fe-B alloys. Fig. 1 shows the solid solubility region of the Fe-B diagram based on their investigation. They found that boron lowered the A, transformation temperature to 1381 °C where saturated 6 solid solution "which must contain about 0.15 pct B" and "r solid solution containing about 0.10 pct B" are in equilibrium with liquid containing 1.9 pct B. At the eutectic temperature of 1174"C, 7 solid solution was found to contain "about 0.15 pct B." A peritectoid relation was found to exist between a and y iron with an invariant temperature at 915 "C, where the boron solubility in 7 iron was "about 0.10 pct B" and the solid solubility in a iron "did not exceed 0.15 pct B." Although most of their

Jan 1, 1955

By S. H. Chauvenet

Jan 1, 1882

By Robert H. Ridgway

This circular outlines salient facts regarding the sulphur industry of the United States and the world. It is founded chiefly upon published information available in the literature of the subject. The Bureau of Mines has in its files additional, more detailed data upon many of the topics presented very briefly here, and will endeavor to assist the mineral industries and the public by giving further information in response to individual inquiries. It will welcome comments, criticisms, and contributions of data that may assist in making later editions of this circular more accurate, or in developing more fully the bureau's mineral files pertaining to sulphur. Throughout this paper sulphur is used to designate crude sulphur or brimstone, not sulphur produced from pyrites or' smelter gases.

Jan 1, 1930

By Kazutoshi Haga, Atsushi Shibayama, Altansukh Batnasan

This study presents a viable approach for recovery of precious metals such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), and base metals, including copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) via iodine-iodide leaching and precipitation. The behaviours of dissolution and precipitation of precious and base metals during iodine-iodide leaching and precipitation processes were discussed. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was used to remove base metal impurities exist in the pregnant leach solution under alkaline conditions. Precious metals remained in the resulting solution from NaOH precipitation were recovered by reduction using ascorbic acid (L-AA) solution. Results show that under optimum leaching conditions, almost all (> 99%) of Au was dissolved in an iodine-iodide solution when the dissolution efficiencies of other precious metals (Ag, Pd) and base metals, besides calcium (leaching of 25%) were less than 1 and 6%, respectively. The study revealed that more than 95% of Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe and Mn were initially removed from the pregnant leach solution at pH of 9.3 with addition of 0.1 M NaOH. Then 99.8% Au, 81.7% Ag and 74% Pd were precipitated from the obtained solution after NaOH precipitation while L-AA dose was 0.6 ml/ml at the condition. It can be concluded that the precious and base metals could be recovered selectively and economically from WPCBs via iodine-iodide leaching followed by precipitation using NaOH and L-AA.

Mar 1, 2018

The 1965 Lignite Symposium, the fourth in a series and the third sponsored by the University of North Dakota and the Bureau of Mines, was held at Bismarck, N. Dak., on April 29-30, 1963. Them 7 symposia provide a forum for those interested in the technology and utilization of solid fuels, especially lignitic coals. As part of the meeting, a 200-mile field trip was taken including inspection of (1) the 200-megawatt, pulverized Lignite-fired Leland Olds plant of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, under construction near Stanton, N. Dak.; (2) the site of the Glenharold mine of the. Truax-Traer Goal Co., Division of Consolidation Coal Co., where a wheel excavator was being assembled; (3) the operating Beulah mine of Knife River Coal Mining Co., subsidiary of Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., near Beulah, N. Dak.; and (4) the 400-megawatt, hydro-electric Garrison Dam powerplant, near Garrison, N. Dak.

Jan 1, 1966

By Charles H. Behre

This paper deals with recent geologic studies in the slate belt of Northampton, Lehigh and Berks counties, Pennsylvania. The work was conducted under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey. Three years have now been spent in detailed consideration of the economic geology of this region. In the field, particular attention was paid to the bearing of geology on quarry development and property valuation and the object of this paper is to summarize the results from that viewpoint. Excellent studies of a somewhat similar nature have already been carried out by Bowles,' but with the emphasis upon the details of quarrying and fabricating methods, rather than upon the geologic relations. The Northampton-Lehigh-BeRks District Location The region here discussed lies in east-central Pennsylvania and extends southwestward from Delaware River, on the New Jersey line, to the Schuylkill in north-central Berks County. It is an elongated belt occupying the northern sections of the three counties mentioned and lying along the southern edge of Blue Mountain. Its length is about 50 miles and its average width five or six, though in places it attains a maximum of 10 miles. There are no large cities in the region, but about 10 miles south are Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Railroads serving the slate belt are the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and the Pennsylvania along the Delaware River, the Lehigh Valley and Central of New Jersey along the Lehigh, and the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and Reading on the Schuylkill. In addition, two railroads—the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh and New England—cut obliquely through the slate region to reach the more isolated communities. Transportation facilities are thus excellent. The slate deposits of these three counties are conspicuously unified, both economically and geologically. In general type of marketable

Jan 1, 1928