Search Documents

By J. R. Soule

"The fluorspar deposits in the Gallinas Mining District, Lincoln County, New Mexico, were examined early in February and again in April 1943 by the Bureau of Mines because of the possible importance of newly discovered deposits and of old mine workings showing fluorite-bearing material. There &re many of these deposits spread over a considerable area, and it appeared that exploration might indicate sufficient reserves to support a local mill that could contribute to the supply of fluorspar needed for war purposes. Accordingly, the Bureau initiated an exploratory program in June 1943, which was completed in August 1944.H. E. Rothrock, Roy Earhart, R. G. Smalley, and V. C. Kelly, geologists of the Federal Geological Survey, began mapping and studying the district in May 1943 and continued this work throughout the Bureau's exploration.David J. Stauffer, district ranger, U. S. Forest Service, and several claim owners assisted in the examinations and subsequent exploration.The fluorspar deposits in the Gallinas Mountains are reached by an unpaved forest road, which, leaves U. S. Highway 54 half a mile south of Gallinas station. The road runs due west for 3 miles, then turns due north just beyond the first cattleguard. This north branch is followed for 2 miles to a second cattleguard. There a left branch extends northwest up Red Cloud Canyon to the Red Cloud, and. All. American deposits; the right branch continues north for 2.miles past the Wade Porter ranch, to another left branch, which goes almost 2 miles west to the Hoosier Group deposits. The remaining deposits are reached by trail from either the Hoosier Group or, more easily, from the Red Cloud claim (fig. 1).The Hoosier Group is in sec. l9,, T.. 1S.,1 R. 12 E.; all of the other known ore occurrences are in secs. 13, 14, and 23 to 27, inclusive, T. IS., R. 11 E. All of the deposits are in the Lincoln National Forest and within the limits of a State game refuge. The nearest railroad loading point is Gallinas, Station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Corona, the next station north of Gallinas, is a Mile or two farther from the deposits.Minor supplied, telegraph, telephone, freight, and express service, and limited living accommodations, Are, obtainable at Corona, 10 to 15 miles from the deposits of Carrizozo, N. Mex., 50 miles south."

Apr 1, 1946

By E. C. Baker

Costs of disposing of steel slag are estimated based on the present method and a proposed alternate method for a steel mill in the Pittsburgh area. Estimated cost data were calculated by the Bureau of Mines and do not reflect the investment and operating costs and credits of a specific steel mill and processing plant. The alternate method of steel slag disposal would result in an appreciable cost savings to the mill and concurrently supply the industrial and commercial markets with low-cost, high-quality construction materials.

Jan 1, 1970

By R. E. Peterson

Scrap iron is partially oxidized at elevated temperatures in the selective oxidation process to produce iron oxide and a dense residual metal of high purity. Investigation of the process was confined to converting automobile hulks into useful products. In one test series, compressed, sheared automobile scrap was processed at 1,000° C in a 36-foot-long rotary kiln at feed rates ranging from 300 to 1,200 lb/hr. Less fuel was required to maintain the temperature at the higher feed rates because of the heat generated from the burning of the combustibles and the oxidation of the iron. The bulk density of the residual metal exceeded 75 pounds per cubic foot. In an attempt to lower the quantity of contaminants in the residual metal, another test was designed using automobile hulks which had been prepared by ripping, a low-cost method of scrap fragmentation. Before oxidizing the ripped scrap approximately 62 percent of the total copper was removed in a tumbling, screening, magnetic separation and hand-sorting system. Cast iron made from the residual metal obtained by selective oxidation contained 0.15 percent copper; iron oxide scale obtained from the kiln averaged 0.13 percent copper. Pellets made from the scale demonstrated compressive strengths necessary for blast furnace reduction; lead and zinc were removed by volatilization when the induration was performed in a reducing atmosphere.

Jan 1, 1972

By A. W. Deurbrouck

Five preparation plants employing concentrating tables for washing 3/8- inch to 0 raw coal were tested. Two of the plants were washing Pittsburgh-bed coal, two were washing Pocahontas-bed coal, and one was washing Elkhorn-bed coal. Samples of the feed to and products from the tables were collected over the normal operating shift. These samples were analyzed, and complete performance criteria were determined. The results of this study show that the concentrating table is an effective fine-coal cleaner even when operating at 40 percent over the recommended 10 tons per hour feed rate. Recovery efficiencies for the 3/8-inch to 200- mesh size fraction ranged from 97.3 to 99.3 percent; maximum yield errors and ash errors were 2.4 and 1.0 percent, respectively; probable errors ranged from 0.074 to 0.115 specific gravity units and error areas from 52 to 73 square centimeters. The amount of minus 200-mesh material in the water used for feed water and dressing water to the table had no significant effect on the sharpness of the separation achieved but did have an effect on the ash content of the clean- coal product. In the one plant studied, the substitution of fresh water for plant circulating water reduced the ash content of the clean coal by about 6 percentage points.

Jan 1, 1963

By D. Harrington, W. J. Fene

That fatalities from mine explosions can be very much reduced from the experience of past years if not wholly eliminated was fairly well demonstrated during the fiscal year ended June 30 , 1934 , there being only 28 deaths in the United States from explosions during this period . This is by far the lowest number of fatalities from explosions in the history of coal mining in the United States insofar as records are available . Although the frequency of occurrence of explosions has not decreased greatly during the past 6 years , there has been a marked decrease in severity , indicating that our coal -mining people are taking more effective precautions to prevent the spread of explosions . Pennsylvania is a good example of what may be done in reducing both the frequency and the severity of explosions ; by the adoption of up- to - date safety measures , Pennsylvania bituminous mines now have the enviable record of only one major explosion disaster in more than 5 years , and the one major explosion which did occur cost but 7 lives although 277 persons were exposed ; their lives were saved because rock- dusting prevented the spread of the flame and violence . Many of our other mining States are making definite progress in working mines without disastrous explosions and fires ; some of these , like Alabama , West Virginia , Indiana , Wyoming, and others now operating with few , if any , explosions , have had anything but a favorable record in the past .

Jan 1, 1935

By Arden D. Fugate

The Federal Bureau of Mines conducted extensive studies on solid-state defluorination (laboratory scale) and tests on molten defluorination (intermediate scale) of siliceous fluorspars. The studies were made to develop a pyrohydrolytic process for liberating fluorine from offgrade fluorspars. Test results showed that more than 90 percent of the fluorine can be evolved by solid-state defluorination at 1,300° C., and more than 97 percent can be liberated by molten-state defluorination at 1,420° C. Solid-state defluorination conditions were established by conducting tests on mixtures of ceramic-grade fluorspars and high-purity silica flour. Pelletized mixtures were defluorinated under varying conditions of time, temperature, and relative concentrations of silica, calcium fluoride, and water. The effects of adding various amounts and combinations of aluminum oxide and iron oxide on defluorination were also studied. Investigations of solid-state defluorination indicates that the following two reactions are involved: 2CaF2 + 3SiO2 = 2CaSiO3 + SiF4, and CaF2 + Sio2 + H20 = CaSiO3 + 2HF, The second reaction is dominant, although significant defluorination can be achieved by the first reaction.

Jan 1, 1961

By Donald E. Redmon

This Bureau of Mines report reviews injury experience in the nonmetallic mineral industries (except stone and coal) for 1966-67. For each of the years, 23 tables summarize disabling work injuries by department, source of injury, extent of disability, part of body injured, and nature of injury. Correlative information on employment, worktime, and operating activity is also presented.

Jan 1, 1973

By John A. Johnson

The first report of investigations5/ in this series pertaining to the investigation of stemming at the Mount Weather testing adit dealt with dust produced from blasting. The present report discusses the effect of stemming on eases generated by blasting, describes the test procedure, and analyzes the results from, blasting 61 standard rounds. Following care the types of stemming that -,re being investigated: 1, No stemming. 2. Sand in 2 paper cartridges. 3. Clay in 2 paper cartridges. 4. Commercial hydrated lime in 2 paper cartridges. 5. Combustible blasting plugs. 6. Ceramic is blasting plugs with clay in 2 paper cartridges.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. J. Chindgren

Upgrading of commercial red cake and recovery of vanadium oxide from uranium-vanadium mill solutions were investigated by the Bureau of Mines. Alternative procedures potentially useful for manufacture of high-quality vanadium oxide at the mill site were explored and developed. The simplest and best procedure for converting commercial red cake containing about 10 percent combined sodium and potassium oxides (Na20) (K20) into a 98- to 99-percent vanadium pentoxide (V205 product appeared to be a metathesis in an ammoniacal solution of ammonium sulfate. Molybdenum, as well as the alkali metal oxides, was removed from the red cake by this procedure at a modest expenditure of labor and reagents. When preparing vanadium oxide of higher grade, it was necessary to dissolve the red cake and reprecipitate the vanadium as ammonium metavanadate. Calcination at 450° C, decomposed the metavanadate and yielded oxide of about 99.5 percent V205. By recyrstallizing the metavanadate before decomposition, an oxide product approaching 99.9-percent purity was obtained.

Jan 1, 1962

By J. D. Davis

On May 15, 1936, Congress authorized the Bureau of Mines to conduct certain studies, experiments, and. investigations of subbituminous coal and lignite.4/ Appropriations were made in July 19 7, and since that date an active investigation has been underway to complete the provisions of the act. Part of the investigation has included a comprehensive survey of the known properties of the lower-rank non-coking coals, and provisions were made to obtain more data on certain varieties. In line with this plan, a typical subbituminous coal was selected for an extended series of tests in the standard. Bureau of Mines-American Gas Association unit,5/ at the Central Experiment Station. This particular noncoking coal was the first one of its rank that had been tested in the apparatus; for this reason the results are of particular interest because the testing apparatus was originally designed for use in studying the coke- and gas-making properties of coking coals. The test as described below has been developed by the Bureau of Mines since 1927 through a cooperative agreement with the American Gas Association.6/ Ninety to 180 pounds of coal is heated in a circular retort, 13 to 18 inches in diameter, at wall temperatures ranging from 500°C. to 1,110°C. in 100°C. steps. All products are collected and measured; their physical and chemical properties are then carefully determined to ascertain the gas- and coke-making properties of the coal. During the last 10 years approximately 50 representative American coals have been tested in the Bureau of Mines equipment. The results on the first 30 coals and a complete description of the test procedure are contained in a joint publication of the Bureau of Mines and the American Gas Association.7/ The remaining twenty coals have been reported in Bureau of Mines reports as Technical Papers and Bulletins.

Jan 1, 1939

By C. J. Wilhelm, John M. Devine

"Hydrogen aulphide associated with natural as was noted as early as at Point Albino, Canada. 4 The presence of this impurity was recognized also in other of the earlier oil and gas fields, although the occurrence ma by no means common. However, in recent years, with the development of the producing zones of west 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 any 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 sulphide. From the standpoint of safety and health hazards, hydrogen sulphide in the petroleum industry has been discussed in a number of publications. 5 Likewise, the problem of hydrogen-sulphide corrosion of production equipment has been given considerable attention in the literature.6"

Sep 1, 1931

By J. P. Powell

This report provides information on the techniques and results obtained on representative waterflooding projects in Cowley County, Kans. Records show that waterflooding was begun as early as 1935, but not until 1948 was the method expanded. The greater depths to the oil-producing formations in this area compared to those in eastern Kansas undoubtedly delayed the widespread use of secondary-recovery methods. This report presents a discussion of four waterflooding projects in Cowley County, Kans. The locations of these projects are shown in figure 1. The projects have been in operation from 1 to 7 years and have produced more than 1 million barrels of additional oil by injecting 11.5 million barrels of water. The projects are designed to take advantage of elevation and height of the separator tank to collect by gravity flow the produced brine at the respective treating or storage tanks. The closed-type water system is used on three of the projects and an open-type water conditioning system on the fourth. On one of the projects, which was drilled along a narrow shoestring formation, alternate well, were converted to input wells. However, most of the input wells for flooding converted producing wells.

Jan 1, 1958

By W. B. Tarpley

This program was conducted to demonstrate the unique advantages of suppressing methane ignition in underground mines by use of Energy & Minerals Research Company's thixogel fire extinguishing system, which stably suspends dry powder extinguishing agent in thixotropically gelled liquefied gas extinguishant. As anticipated, the project demonstrated thixogel system advantages of: 1) capability to disperse state-of-the-art powders in thixogelled Halons; 2) non-agglomerating stability for dependable expulsion; 3) stability in storage for long shelf life; 4) virtually in¬stantaneous dispersion; 5) expansive cloud formation; 6) reach and re-forming around obstacles; 7) at least twice the extinguishant effectiveness; and 8) compatibility of use with Fenwal bottles and MSHA canisters. Thus, it should prove a superior explosion/fire suppressant for coal face cutters and triggered barriers, as well as for motorized equipment, electrical equipment and the like.

Jan 1, 1981

By M. J. Sapko

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has developed a portable meter for measuring the component concentrations in binary dust mixtures whose constituents have different optical reflectivities. The meter has been successfully tested with coal dust-rock dust mixtures taken from coal mines in Europe and the United States and fluorinated-carbon mixtures that change from carbon black to pure white during fluorination. Additional study has also substantiated the theoretical expressions used in the design of the meter.

Jan 1, 2010

By D. Harrington, W. J. Fene, H. B. Humphrey

In the fiscal years 1946 and 1947 the number of mine explosions decreased compared with the preceding years. However, the loss of life was so serious during the fiscal year 1947 the period when the Government administered bi- tuminous-coal and lignite mines that from April to June 1947 extraordinary measures were taken in mines then under Government possession to obtain com- pliance with provisions concerning rock dusting, ventilation, and blasting that had not been followed. The great loss of life in explosions during the fiscal year 1947 as compared with 1944, 1945, and 1946 is not easy to explain, but the necessity for maintaining adequate protection has been definitely demonstrated. Management, workers, and inspection agencies alike must keep the mines reasonably safe against explosions or allow them to lapse into a condition where chance is the principal protection against disaster. The at- tention given to protecting coal mines and the men employed in them against mine fires, following the disastrous fires in 1944 and 1945, has at least tem- porarily controlled this hazard loss of life from coal-mine fires was re- duced to 1 fatality in 1947. The number of fires was also less, and progress has been made in reducing the heavy losses in both life and property from un- derground coal-mine fires that occurred in the two years mentioned. Fatalities from mine explosions during the past 6 fiscal years, July 1942 to June 1947, totaled 674, and there were 149 explosions; during the preceding 6 years there were 655 fatalities in 132 explosions. The 6 fiscal years 1942- 47 cover the active period of Federal coal-mine inspection. During the fiscal year 1947, there were 154 fatalities from explosions compared with 58 during the fiscal year 1946, 64 in 1945, 94 in 1944, 152 in 1943, and 152 in 1942.

May 1, 1948

By V. E. Edlund

Laboratory batch flotation tests were conducted on copper converter slags to evaluate the relative merits of recovering copper from slow-cooled versus water-quenched slags. Three slags containing 1.6, 5.0, and 6.6 percent copper were used. More than 90 percent of the copper was recovered in a rougher concentrate leaving a 0.2- to 0.3-percent copper tailings when treating slow-cooled slag. Lower recoveries and higher copper tailings ranging from 0.5 to 0.6 percent copper were obtained from quenched slag. Grindability studies were made on the respective heat-treated slags. Quenched slags proved more difficult to grind than slow-cooled slags. Cost studies showed that quenched slags can be treated at slightly lower cost than slow-cooled slags. However, the cost advantage of processing quenched slags is more than offset by the higher copper recoveries obtained from slow-cooled slags.

Jan 1, 1971

By S. M. Shelton

The widespread occurrence of domestic manganese deposits and the shortage of ferromanganese-grade ore have been sources of much speculation and investigative effort for many years. The present emergency has intensified the search by the Bureau of Mines for methods of producing ferromanganese-grade concentrates4/ from low-grade ores.

Jan 1, 1941

By S. M. Shelton

[The widespread occurrence of domestic manganese deposits and the shortage of ferromanganese-grade ore have been sources of much speculation and investigative effort for many years. The present emergency has intensified the search by the Bureau of Mines for methods of producing ferromanganese-grade concentrates4/ from low-grade ores.]

Jan 1, 1941

By A. Matzick

In its work under the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program the Bureau of Mines has developed on a 6-ton-a-day-pilot-plant scale a continuous, gravity-feed retort far distilling oil from oil shale. The development work covered by this report was done from January 27, 1950, to January 26, 1952, at the ail-Shale Experiment Station near Rifle, Colo. Over 300 pilot-plant tests were made during the investigation. The basic retort developed has been named the Gas-Combustion retort. In this process, part of the heat for retorting of the shale is generated by burning recycled product gas in a combustion zone within the descending shale bad in the retort. Additional heat is supplied by combustion of the carbonaceous residue remaining in the spent shale after the oil has been distilled. Air for combustion is admitted through an air distributor in the center of the bed at about the mid-point of the retort. Hot gas rising from the combustion zone heats countercurrently the descending raw shale and liberated shale oil by pyrolysis of the shale. After passing through and exchanging heat with the incoming raw shale, the oil is condensed as a fog or mist in the gas, which is withdrawn at the tip of the retort. The cool gas is then piped to an oil-recovery system where the oil is separated from the gas in centrifugal separators or other types of mechanical or electrostatic separators. The hot, spent shale below the combustion zone is cooled by heat exchange with recycle gas, which is a portion of the effluent gas from the oil-recovery system.

Jan 1, 1955

By D. K. Deardorff, Laurance L. Oden, H. Kato, M. I. Copeland

The equilibrium relationship of hafnium and tantalum was studied to facilitate alloy and property investigations . The data obtained are presented graphically as the equilibrium diagram . Alloys were prepared from high - purity components by nonconsumabletungsten- electrode arc melting . Data for the equilibrium diagram were obtained by optical pyrometry , metallography , X- ray diffraction of heat treated specimens , X- ray diffraction using a high- temperature camera , and differential thermal analysis . During the investigations , a casting apparatus was constructed , and the existing melting - point apparatus was improved . The bcc allotrope of hafnium forms a continuous series of solid solutions , called beta , with tantalum which exhibit a minimum melting point at 20 wt pct tantalum and 2,110 ° C. At 24 wt pct tantalum and 1,050 ° C , hafnium- rich beta decomposes in a monotectoid reaction to yield alpha and tantalum- rich beta . The monotectoid isotherm extends from 5.5 to 60 wt pct tantalum . The twophase region , in which hafnium- rich and tantalum- rich beta solid solutions are immiscible , rises to a maximum temperature of 1,265 ° C at 38 wt pct tantalum . The solubility of hafnium in tantalum decreases from 40 wt pct at the monotectoid temperature to 20 wt pct at 750 ° C.

Jan 1, 1964