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An accelerated and coordinated program of coal research is believed by many to be a necessary step in assuring coal's proper position in the expanding energy market. The President's Advisory Committee on Energy Supplies and Resources Policy, for example, made the following recommendation: We recognize that coal is a great national asset and endorse a cooperative study to determine what research and development could be undertaken. The coal industry and both Federal and State Governments should participate in this study and its costs. Representatives of the coal industry have agreed that such a study should be initiated. Accordingly, Felix E. Wormser, Assistant Secretary - Mineral Resources, United States Department of the Interior, requested the Bureau of Mines and Bituminous Coal Research, Inc., to conduct a survey of current research on bituminous coal. In addition to this survey, studies were made to determine research projects that would be of value to the coal industry.

Jan 1, 1956

By Oliver C. Ralston

[This paper is an expanded revision of a report entitled "Froth Flotation and Agglomerate Tabling of Nonmetallic Minerals, " published in Transactions of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (vol. 40, November 1937, pp- 691-726) and prepared a year previously. Revisions embodied herein brine the data up to January 1, 1938. References have also been added to make the earlier paper more complete for the period it covered.]

Jan 1, 1938

By Oliver C. Ralston

[This paper is an expmded revision of a report entitled "Froth Flota- tion and Agglomerate Tabling of Honmetdlic Idinerds, " published in Trans- actions of the Canadian Ir-stitute of Iriining and !,letdlurgy (vol. 40, November 1937, pp- 6? 1-726) and al'enared a year pr~viousl:~. Revisions en'oodied herein brinc the &ta I:T to Jn?uac"g 1, 193;. References have also been added to make the earlier paper more complete for the period it covered. This paper is an expmded revision of a report entitled "Froth Flota- tion and Agglomerate Tabling of Honmetdlic Idinerds, " published in Trans- actions of the Canadian Ir-stitute of Iriining and !,letdlurgy (vol. 40, November 1937, pp- 6? 1-726) and al'enared a year pr~viousl:~. Revisions en'oodied herein brinc the &ta I:T to Jn?uac"g 1, 193;. References have also been added to make the earlier paper more complete for the period it covered.]

Jan 1, 1938

By Charles L. Harness

The barite industry has made notable progress since the days when barite was used only as an adulterant in white-lead paints and the only method of mining it was with pick and shovel. The following chronological record may serve to show how this heavy white mineral has grown in importance in the national exonomy and at the same time to indicate development of methods for obtaining it. 1845. - Barite first, mined in Fauquier County, Va., for use as an adulterant in white-lead paints. 1850 (approx.). - French settlers 60 miles southwest of St Louis, Mo., discovered barite; called it "'tiff;' meaning white. It was mined and shipped to St. Louis for use in paint.

Jan 1, 1946

By Thomas Fraser

IN a Nation-wide appraisal of coking-coal reserves and of the feasibility of expanding them by upgrading marginal coals, it is natural that the Pittsburgh region of Pennsylvania should be considered first. Here, where the American iron and steel industry started, the Pittsburgh coal bed is of paramount importance. The use of coke in iron blast furnaces is said to have begun with the discovery that good blast-furnace fuel could readily be made by a simple method of coking Pittsburgh coal. To the present time, the prosperity of the steel industry has depended largely on utilization of this great coal reserve and the cheap transportation afforded by the Monongahela River system. OBJECT AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION The initial project in the study of upgrading marginal coking coals was laid out in this area, which contains large reserves of Pittsburgh coal contiguous to the Monongahela and its navigable tributaries. Much of the Pittsburgh coal remaining here is known to have a high sulfur content. The problem of reducing the sulfur to meet metallurgical requirements already has received much attention, and it is considered to be one of the most difficult technologic problems in the field of coal washing.

Jan 1, 1950

By C. Watson Owings

"The mining Industry in the United States is becoming fully cognizant of the hazards of dust in underground mining as well as in surface plants. The dust problem in metal mines has been brought to focus through knowledge of the harmful effects of dust, especially silica, and through adoption of more or less stringent legislation classifying certain types of pneumoconiosis as occupational diseases. The coal-mining industry is aroused principally by the apparently great increase in the dust-explosion hazard resulting from the rapid growth of mechanized mining. The United States Department of the Interior, through the Safety. Division of the Bureau of Mines, has been requested repeatedly to recommend methods of allaying dust in both coal and metal mines. Methods adequate under hand-mining conditions fail to effect satisfactory reduction of dust in more rapid extraction with modern equipment. Studies of methods and equipment for allaying dust are being conducted in both metal and coal mines. Results of these studies are discussed, and indications of possible means of reducing dust concentrations are presented in the hope that the health and 'safety of men employed in the mining industry may be increasingly safeguarded.DUSTThe term ""dust"" is a common one, and yet the meaning is applied to widely different particle sizes. The general term means ""earth or other matter reduced to fine, dry, and powdery particles."" The root from which the word is derived means ""something that can be blown about by the wind."" As a result of tests on the explosibility of coal, the Federal Bureau of Mines has arbitrarily defined dust as being. ""that which will pass through a 20-mesh screen,"" based upon the fact that particles coarser than 20-mesh have little influence on the development of an explosion of Pittsburgh coal-bed dust. The study of dust, from a health standpoint, has given rise to still another definition of dust, namely,- according to Drinker3/, ""solid particles ranging in size from less than 1 micron to about 150 microns."" A micron is 1/25,400 inch, and 150 microns are approximately 1/1,700 inch. Atmospheric dust usually is considered as 10 microns or less, larger particles not being counted under the microscope in determination of dust concentrations."

Apr 1, 1942

By Paul M. Tyler

Magnesite is of importance primarily as a refractory material for lining steel furnaces , although substantial amounts are used in the production of flooring compositions and other building materials and for certain chemicals , notably epsom salts . Since consumption for all of these purposes is largely in the eastern United States and domestic deposits are situated in California and Washington , this country's magnesite mining industry , which was created largely by war- time conditions , has subsequently been sustained by tariff protection .

May 1, 1931

By E. P. Youngman

Zirconium, formerly distinctly a rare element, is rapidly becom- ing of rather extensive commercial importance. Economic features of the zirconium industry, together with general information regarding the metal and its compounds, are discussed in a separate paper, to which this paper is a supplement. In addition to giving a brief discussion of the four or five de- posits that so far have proved to be commercial sources of the element, this circular summarizes available data (including some hitherto unpub lished material from the files of the Bureau of Mines) upon other occur- rences, including many of scientific interest only, of the two commercial. minerals, zircon and baddeleyite, and also data upon some of the minor minerals, such as eudyalite and cyrtolite, which have attracted addition- al interest in recent years because they are frequently richer in hafnium than the more common zirconium minerals.

Jun 1, 1931

By H. W. Gillett, E. L. Mack

Prior to 1911 the literature on melting brass by electricity consisted entirely-save for some suggestions made in patent literature but not actually worked out-of a few observations by farseeing men ' on the theoretical advantages of melting brass and other nonferrous alloys in electric furnaces. Roeber was the first to see and clearly state the possible advantages of the electric furnace in brass melting. The same factors tha.t make it desirable to manufacture special steels in the electric furnace rather than in crucibles, he declared, apply to brass as well. He pointed out the possibility of using larger melting units, of eliminating crucible cost, of readily controlling the purity of the product. and of nearly eliminating the loss of zinc. "The replacement of the • old crucible process is sure to come," he said; "perhaps it will come in two years, but it will, necessarily, in ten years .... The inevitable advance along this industrial line will have great influence in the metal world and will also provide, in large cities, a new kind of load for the central station." The years 1905 to 1910 may be termed the purely theoretical period of the development of the electric brass furnace, though the Conley furnace was tried out e:xperimenta.lly about 1910 and a few heats were made in an induction furnace. 2 In December, 1911, the American Chemical Society held a symposium on mineral wastes, at which Bassett s discussed the zinc· losses that attend making brass in fuel-fired furnaces.

Jan 1, 1922

By J. Clark

The objective of this study has been to determine the state of the art in underground, thin-seam-mining systems, to identify new technology and procedures that would reduce the hazards of thin-seam mining and to recommend areas for further research. The study was carried out in two phases, the first of these being devoted to a survey of authoritative literature. Subsequently, the practices adopted in the various mining countries were analysed and comparisons made to identify machines and methods with the potential for application in the USA. Published figures on US bituminous coal reserves show the high proportion contained in thin seams and US accident statistics demonstrate that the risk is greater in thin-seam operations. A comparison has been made with the experiences of foreign operations. The Phase 11 study proceeded along two separate avenues to examine the distinctive problems associated with seam thicknesses above and below 30 in. Current systems of mining appropriate to seams greater than 30 in were elaborated and compared by means of a simulation exercise in terms of safety, production and cost. For seams below 30 in, less conventional systems, some presently disused, were studied and their potential evaluated; the research and development work necessary to make them viable has been indicated.

Jan 1, 1980

By A. L. Engel

This publication describes further research by the Federal Bureau of Mines in beneficiating domestic manganese ores. The ores selected for treatment were typical of many manganese deposits in California and Nevada in that they have not been economical to mine because they are low grade or contaminated with siliceous minerals and are not amenable to physical concentration.3 4/ It would be desirable to develop a simple treatment method resulting in nearly complete extraction of manganese from these ores and applicable to small-scale operations. Sulfation reduction appeared to be such a method. The studies reported in this publication were directed toward sawdust or lignin-sulfonates as reducing agents. Sawdust, as waste from lumbering, and lignin-sulfonates, byproducts of woodpulp papermaking, are comparatively cheap and may be available in areas where manganese ores are found. Sugar, oils, and coal were also tried as reducing agents.

Jan 1, 1960

By Samuel B. Flagg

The Bureau of Mines is endeavoring to ascertain how mineral fuels in which the Government has a direct interest, by ownership or use, can be utilized with highest efficiency. For this reason the bureau has been, and is, carrying on investigations to ascertain the condi- tions of furnace construction and management that are necessary to insure the smokeless combustion of the different coals that are found in public lands or are purchased for Government ships and power plants. Another reason for the bureau undertaking these investigations is the need of better furnace management and a more careful selec- tion of fuel at many Government plants. There are Federal build- ings in hundreds of cities. The coals available at many of these cities differ greatly in quality, and the furnaces in some of the Fed- eral buildings were not designed for efficient utilization of the cheap- est available coal. Hence, some of the boiler plants smoke badly unless fed with low-volatile coal and have caused repeated com- plaints not only from neighboring property owners who have suffered damage, but from persons endeavoring to create a civic pride in clear air. In the course of its fuel investigations the bureau has noted the conditions governing fuel consumption in different cities and has studied the attempts made by these cities to abate smoke through the passage of ordinances imposing penalties on smoky stacks. Some results of that study are presented in this report. The most im- portant conclusion reached is that smoke abatement by ordinance can not hope to succeed unless supported by public sentiment and that a smoke ordinance should look to future prevention rather than to immediate prohibition. In other words, strict control of furnace construction offers much greater hope for smoke abatement than desultory imposition of severe penalties on the escape of "dense" or "black" smoke.

Jan 1, 1912

By Dorsey A. Lyon, Robert M. Keeney

This bulletin is one of a series dealing with the application of the electric furnace to the smelting of ores and the manufacture of alloys, and is published by the Bureau of Mines in the endeavor to increase efficiency in metallurgical processes. The bulletin presents, first, a critical discussion of the possibility of smelting copper ores in the electric furnace; second, the results of the experimental work of other investigators on the electric smelting of copper; third, the results of experiments by the authors on the electric smelting of native copper concentrates and sulphide copper ores; and, fourth, a comparison of the electric furnace with the blast furnace and reverberatory furnace for copper smelting. Before considering the electric smelting of copper ores the reader should understand that the electric furnace was not developed as a competitor of the combustion furnace, but for the purpose of doing high-temperature work that can not be done in the combustion furnace, and for the treatment of ores from deposits that are in regions where fuel is scarce and costly but hydroelectric power is comparatively cheap, as in Chile, and in certain parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Furthermore, it is not the object of this report to try to prove that the electric furnace should replace the reverberatory or the blast furnace, as used at present in smelting copper ores, but to show that the electric furnace may be used with advantage in localities where conditions are not favorable to the use of the reverberatory or the blast furnace. For example, otherwise valuable ore deposits may be situated in a district so remote from, or inaccessible by, railway that the cost of get- ting coke for smelting, or of transporting the ore to a smelter, is pro- hibitive. If there is sufficient water power at hand, from which electric power can be developed at a reasonable cost, and this electric power is used for smelting the ore in an electric furnace, with subse- quent bessemerizing, if necessary, the concentrated product may be

Jan 1, 1915

The lignite deposits of the United States represent a huge potential source of fuel for power generation. It has been estimated that lignite constitutes about 24 percent of the remaining National reserves of solid fuel on a tonnage basis and about 15 percent of the reserves on a B.t.u. basis. (See sec. 3, part 1.) The major portion of these reserves is in North Dakota. Lignite has been used locally for domestic heating since the first settlers burned it at forts and fur-trading posts as early as 1855. Some of the first studies of the use of lignite in steam boilers were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Mines from 1910 to 1920 (15, 19) 1/ However, the commercial utilization of lignite as fuel for producing power developed slowly. Not until about 1925 was any really successful lignite industrial fuel-blaming equipment developed. Since then the commercial use of lignite as a fuel for producing power has been increasing steadily.

Jan 1, 1954

By Charles F. Jackson

Gold mining is a subject that not only appeals to the popular imagination but has vital importance to the world's economic structure. However, a discussion of the use of gold as a medium of exchange, and a basis for credit between nations and for monetary systems is not within the scope of this paper. The importance of gold in carrying on the commerce of the world, the present supply and rate of production, the probable trend of future production, the probable future requirements, and related subjects have recently received much attention from bankers and economists, and many articles on these subjects have been published. During slack periods of base-metal production due to falling prices, accompanied by scaling down of base-metal mining operations and often by the closing down of at least some mines, there usually result revival of interest in gold mining, search for previously undiscovered deposits, and reopening of some old gold mines.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. R. Crane

Mining of the red iron ores of the Birmingham district, Alabama, has _gone on energetically for the past 50 years and has created a large iron and steel manufacturing center, the only important one in the South. The district produces about 10 per cent of all the iron ore mined in the United States and 80 per cent of the Alabama output is red ore ; moreover 43 of the 419 blast furnaces of the country are in the district tributary to Birmingham and produce 7 per cent of the pig-iron output. The rapid growth of the district has been made possible by investigations that have led to radical changes in furnace practice; studies of methods by which the low-grade, highsilica ores may be treated by concentration 1 will give still greater impetus to development. The· mode of occurrence of the ore has made mining practice comparatively simple, but with the rapid extension of the workings underground and the disturbed condition of the ore bed some distance from the outcrop, conditions tend to become more difficult. Stoping, handling, support, drainage, and ventilation are all affected, sometimes favorably and sometimes adversely, by the extended workings and increased depth of cover. Should beneficiatioil make available the high-silica ores of the lower bench of the Big Seam, mining practice must necessarily be adapted to the new conditions and will be rendered more difficult as the weight of cover increases at long distances from the outcrop. The support of workings will require more attention as the weight of cover increases, and the efficient and economical operation of the mines will depend largely upon improvements in mining and handling the ore.

Jan 1, 1927

By W. M. Myers

[The principle of the application of electrolytes for deflocculation of fine materials in order that impurities may settle out, and the subsequent flocculation of the suspended particles by a different reagent, is well known and has been applied successfully to clays. Flocculation is also applied with success to ore slimes. Thus certain electrolytes, particularly alkalies added to a suspension of colloidal particles cause deflocculation so that, suspension may be-maintained indefinitely. The addition of bother electrolytes particularly acids, on the contrary produce's flocculation and the articles produce's are rapidly precipitated from suspension leaving a clear liquid above: the precipitated mass. Salts of trivalent elements such as aluminum act similarly. Due to its cheapness the double sulphate of aluminum and potassium, ordinary alum, has been used extensively for treating clays. These properties of electrolytes. and. their utilization in the commercial: preparation of clays have been described in publications of the Bureau of Mines.2]

Jan 1, 1927

By R. S. Dean

The function of the Metallurgical Division is to conduct investigations relating to the treatment of mineral products from the state in which they are mined to the refined metal or other unfabricated product. These investigations include scientific and practical studies of ore dressing, covering the crushing and grinding of ores, separation by gravity, flotation. and magnetic methods; the hydrometallurgical treatment of ores, including cyanidation and amalgamation of the precious metals; the smelting and refining of copper, lead, and zinc, as well as the rare metals; and steel-melting practices from the raw ore to the finished steel. The object of this work is to conserve natural resources and eliminate waste by furnishing information on current methods of metallurgical practice. making fundamental studies of metallurgical processes, and developing new processes to the point of demonstrating their practicability. The Division is made up of sections devoted to the several phases of this work, each section being headed by an investigator capable of supervising his particular work. The work is carried on at the experiment stations and field offices or in the field, whichever seems best suited for the work in hand. The following, projects should be mentioned as particularly outstanding among those consummated successfully during the year: 1. Application of the type of chemicals known in the textile industry as wetting-out agents to flotation and agglomeration of ores, particulary soluble salts such as sodium and potassium chloride which must be treated in saturated brine. 2. Demonstration or a linear relation between surface and coercive force in magnetic minerals and Its application to magnetic separation and to the determination of grinding efficiencies and other metallurgical data which require surface determination at very fine sizes. 3. Pilot-plant demonstration of the practicability of the reduction of iron ore by natural gas and conversion of this direct iron into steel by direct melting and by forging and rolling before melting. The structure and properties of the iron so produced were studied in detail. This report covers the fiscal year July 1. 1934, to June 30, 1935.

Jan 1, 1936

By McHenry Mosier

This paper describing mining practice at Morenci, Ariz., is one of a series of articles on mining method, and practice in the various mining districts in the United States. At present (1929) practically all the mineral production in the Morenci district is from the Humboldt mine of the Morenci Branch, Phelps Dodge Corporation. The mining method used is adapted to the type of ore body being exploited; it has been developed by adopting methods used elsewhere and making necessary changes to fit local conditions. Improvements in current practices are still being made.

Jan 1, 1929

By R. S. Dean

The function of the Metallurgical Division is to conduct investigations relating to the treatment of mineral products from the state in which they are mined to the refined metal or other unfabricated product. These investigations include scientific and practical studies of ore dressing, covering the crushing and grinding of ores, separation by gravity, flotation, and magnetic methods; the hydrometallurgical treatment of ores, including cyanidation and amalgamation of the precious metals; the smelting and refining of copper, lead, and zinc, as well as the rare metals; and steel-melting practices from the raw ore to the finished steel. The object of this work is to conserve natural resources and eliminate waste by furnishing information on current methods of metallurgical practice, making fundamental studies of metallurgical processes, and developing new processes to the point of demonstrating their practicability. The Division is made up of sections devoted to the several phases of this work, each section being beaded by an investigator capable of supervising his particular work. The work is carried on at the experiment stations and field offices or in the field, whichever seems test suited for the work in hand. The following projects should be mentioned as particularly outstanding among those consummated successfully during the year: 1. Application of the type of chemicals known in the textile industry as wetting-out agents to flotation and agglomeration of ores, particulary soluble salts such as sodium and potassium chloride which must be treated in saturated brine. 2. Demonstration of a linear relation between surface and coercive force in magnetic minerals and its application to magnetic separation and to the determination of grinding efficiencies and other metallurgical data which require surface determination at very fine sizes. 3. Pilot-plant demonstration of the practicability of the reduction of iron ore by natural gas and conversion of this direct iron into steel by direct melting and by forging and rolling before melting. The structure and properties of the iron so produced were studied in detail. This report covers the fiscal year July 1, 1934, to June 30, 193b.

Jan 1, 1936