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By Christopher Mark, Robert J. Tuchman

This proceedings volume contains papers presented at technology transfer seminars sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on New Technology for Ground Control in Retreat Mining. The seminars were conducted at five locations: Uniontown, PA (March 26, 1997), Norton, VA (April 8, 1997), Pikeville, KY (April 10, 1997), Charleston, WV (April 17, 1997), and Evansville, IN (April 22, 1997). The papers presented here describe several new, highly practical technologies developed by the NIOSH Pittsburgh and Spokane Research Centers3 to improve safety during pillar retreat operations. Two central issues are addressed: pillar design and mobile roof supports (MRS's). Proper pillar sizing is essential for safe pillar extraction. The Analysis of Retreat Mining Pillar Stability (ARMPS) program and its large data base of actual mining case histories are presented. LAMODEL, a second computer program, can be used for analysis of multiple-seam and other complex mining situations. Other papers address pillar design to avoid massive pillar collapses and the proper role of coal strength testing. MRS's have greatly improved safety where they are used for pillar line support. We studied the application of MRS's at 20 mines throughout the Eastern United States. Conclusions regarding the most effective section layouts, cut sequences, and support placements are reported. Field and laboratory tests of MRS's are also described.

Jan 1, 1997

By Walford S. Wright, NORMAN EBBLEY

During the past decade (1937 to 1947), including the war years of heavy demand for metals, the United States realized about one-eighth of its antimony requirements from domestic production, chiefly in Alaska. In World War II, our foreign supply sources became endangered; and uncertainty in our Far Eastern supply made this nation focus on Alaska’s mineral resources with a Production Gear that centered in the Bureau of Mines experimental station at College (Alaska). The development work known as District or central deposits. The strategic mining districts included that of central Alaska was reorganized at Ketchikan Mining Districts. Mines were located here had produced considerable quantities since 1901; but methods for exploration had come from 1936 to spring 1942, some $4 million produced in gold alone. Statistics relating to available ores are those selected by type and exploitation periods with wide variety applied. During the summer of 1941, as part of an extensive Geological Survey program continuing through funds provided by U.S., geological surveys spent six weeks mapping an area approximately two square miles surrounding mines. The mines working both surface & underground work employed these men in mapping exercises.

Jan 1, 1948

By Sean Gallagher

Humankind's interest in measurement of human physical strength probably dates to the first humans. At that time, life was truly a struggle in which the fittest survived. To a great extent, fittest meant strongest. Interestingly, current interest in human physical strength in the workplace stems from 1970-1980s vintage research demonstrating that persons with adequate physical strength are less likely to be injured on physically demanding jobs. Survival in many modem workplaces may still be a case of survival of the strongest. There is, however, a flip side to this issue - that persons with limited strength are more likely to be injured on "hard" jobs. To address this problem, we can apply what we know about physical strength to job design. "Hard" jobs can be redesigned to be within the physical strength capability of most people. Since physical strength is important to these jobs, we must find ways to quantify it through testing. This publication concerns human physical strength testing. Its purpose is not to recommend any particular type of testing, but rather to describe the types of testing available and their uses. It is up to each individual user of strength testing to decide which testing technique is most appropriate for his or her particular application. This booklet discusses four types of strength testing: isometric, isoinertial, psychophysical, and isokinetic.

Jan 1, 1998

By Lincoln A. Stewart

"INTRODUCTION The First Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act, approved August, 25,, 1941, authorized the Bureau of Mines to investigate sources of raw, material for western production and appropriated funds for that purpose. Numerous iron deposits and prospects in the Western States were investigated. Among those selected for more detailed investigation were tile Apache and Chodiski deposits in Arizona.The United States Geological Survey had examined these deposits in 1929 3/ and estimated that ""the quantity of minable ore reasonably to be expected in this locality will reach 10,000,000 long tons, but it will require prospecting by core drill to demonstrate this quantity with certainty"". C. H. Johnson, a mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines, made a preliminary examination in October 1941 and proposed exploration of the Apache deposit Canyon Creek.A trench sampling project was set up, and work at the Apache deposit commenced in November 1941. Mapping, trenching, and sampling of outcrops was completed in March 1942. Trenches were laid out at approximately 200-foot intervals for about 9,200 feet along the iron outcrop east of Canyon Creek, and channel samples were taken across the iron formation. The outcrop also was explored by trenching and sampling along a 1,900-foot outcrop on the west side of Canyon Creek.The first diamond-drilling campaign at Apache was initiated in May 1942 and continued to January 1943, when work was suspended owing to depletion of funds. Six holes spaced at approximately 500-foot intervals and, 500 feet back from the outcrop on the east side of Canyon Creek were drilled through the iron formation during this period.While this drilling was in progress, the Chediski deposit was mapped, trenched, and sampled. The trenches were spaced at intervals of approximately 800 feet along 10,000 feet of the iron-ore outcrop."

Jul 1, 1947

By Roger G. Long

This final report reviews installation, maintenance and inspection of mine pager telephone installations. A Technical Handbook was developed and distributed. Certain commercial telephone test equipment was modified and a tone source and switching circuit were developed for use in the testing of mine pager phone systems. Descriptions are included of the modifications to a commercial test set and of a tone source/ switching unit.

Jan 1, 1975

By Pedro Lilienfeld

This report describes a program to develop, design, fabricate and subject to environmental testing three prototype collection-sensing devices of an eventual mining-machine mounted automated monitor for the measurement of the respirable fraction of coal mine dust to determine both short-term as well as average mass concentrations over typical 8-hour shifts. The design of this instrument is based on collection by filtration and mass sensing by beta-radiation attenuation. The emphasis of this development program was to evolve a rugged, stable and reliable collection-detection head compatible with the environment to which An eventual monitor will be subjected. Laboratory testing of this prototype instrument was performed over a representative range of temperature, humidity, dust concentration and composition, shock and vibration. The results of this testing program indicated that the operation of the prototype version His compatible with these environmental conditions and that further development of this configuration into a field operational device is justified.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. Mal

A test system was developed at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's ventilation test gallery for measuring airflow using a three-axis ultrasonic anemometer. The gallery war used to simulate face airflow conditions in underground mines having a blowing curtain. Airflow data, collected at multiple sampling locations between the face and the end of the curtain, were used to draw airflow profiles for different curtain setback distances, intake flow quantities and entry widths. In addition, methane was released at the face, measured at the sampling locations and displayed as methane distributions in the area between the curtain and the face. Entry geometry had a significant effect on airflow patterns, and the flow patterns affected the distribution of methane in the entry. Flow measured at and parallel to the face was a good predictor of methane dilution and removal within 0.6 m (2ft) of the face.

This Bureau of Mines report and its companion report (Information Circular 9143) have been prepared to assist in the preparation of prefeasibility type estimates for capital and operating costs of mining of various types of mineral occurrences using current technology. The handbook provides a convenient costing procedure based on the summation of the casts for the unit processes required in any particular mining or mineral processing operation. The costing handbook consists of a series of costing sections, each corresponding to a specific mining unit process. Contained within each section is the methodology to estimate either the capital or operating cost for that unit process. The unit process sections may be used to generate, in January 1984 dollars, costs through the use of either costing curves or formulae representing the prevailing technology. Coverage for surface mining includes dredging, quarrying, strip mining, and open pit mining. The underground mining includes individual development sections for drifting, raising, shaft sinking, stope development, various mining methods, underground mine haulage, general plant, and underground mine administrative cost. This system can be used for estimating cost data for an undeveloped deposit or for checking or verifying mining costs from a developed deposit, with a minimum amount of background information.

Jan 1, 1987

By D. Harrington

Although the explosion-fatality record for the fiscal year 1944 showed considerable improvement over those of the preceding 4 years, it is still fur from creditable, and the coal-mining industry and agencies interested in the prevention of coal-mine accidents should not be satisfied until accidents from explosions and fires are eliminated. In view of present knowledge of the methods of preventing explosions and fires, such disasters are inexcusable and discredit the mining industry. Despite this knowledge, far too many coal¬mine operators and employees continue to follow procedures that have resulted in disasters in the past. Included in the appendix to this circular are a number of safety measures designed to prevent coal-mine explosions and fires and metal-mine fires. Their adoption is essential if explosions and fires are to be prevented, as certainly they should be. An epidemic of disastrous mine fires of electrical origin during the past 2 years emphasizes the need for better methods of protection of underground electrical circuits. At present, committees of mining-electrical engineers, electrical-equipment manufacturers' representatives, and others are cooperating with the Bureau of Mines seeking means to solve this problem.

Jan 1, 1945

By Henry E. Perlee

Air compressor explosions that are caused by the ignition of combustible vapor mixtures cannot be explained by a single reaction mechanism or sequence of events. Explosions have been caused by the sudden release of large quantities of lubricating oil, by the rapid vaporization of oil that had accumulated slowly in high-pressure piping, and by the production of decomposition products from carbonaceous deposits. Ignitions can be caused by the heat produced in a catalytic reaction, in a compression process, or when a shock wave is propagated through a combustible vapor-air mixture. The frequency of these ignitions can be minimized by establishing proper maintenance and cleaning schedules. Further study is needed to satisfactorily correlate the various factors involved in compressor explosions.

Jan 1, 1963

By Sidney Katell

Covering the period from January 1961 through December 1961, this report is a continuation of the series that began with the publication of Information Circular 7516 in October 1949. It is also the third report in the series to be prepared as a cooperative effort by the Bureau of Mines and the American Association of Cost Engineers. The cooperative agreement between the two groups provides for the publication of an annual cost bibliography with the work load involved in the preparation shared equally. The abstracted articles, concerned with all facets of cost engineering in the field of chemical and petroleum plants and related facilities, came from the following sources: 1. A.A.C.E. Bulletin. 2. Bureau of Mines Information Circulars. 3. Bureau of Mines Reports of Investigation. 4. Chemical Engineering. 5. Chemical Engineering Progress. 6. Chemical Week. 7. Coal Age. 8. Coal Utilization. 9. Cost Engineering. 10. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 11. Nucleonics 12. Oil and Gas Journal. 13. Petroleum Engineer for Management. 14. Petroleum Refiner. 15. World Oil.

Jan 1, 1962

By Lowell B. Moon

The Stange and Byrnes Heirs manganese mines, adjoining properties in Bland and Giles Counties, Va., have produced at least 20,000 long tons of concentrates containing 8,000 long tons of manganese. They were selected as the site for a strategic-mineral development project because of the existence of geologic possibilities for extensions of the known ore body. In plan, the long dimension of the ore body parallels the axis of a major anticline. Localization apparently is due to longitudinal and transverse fracturing incident to two-way folding. That the manganese oxides were deposited by downward-moving solutions is suggested by the fact that mineable concentrations are confined to a coarse, porous sandstone under-lain by impervious silt and clay. Bureau of Mines project work began on January 15, 1941, and was completed on April 23. The work sampling the faces of the pit, bulldozer trenching, and churn drilling. Pit sampling consisted of 132 channel samples usually 5 feet long and taken at 20-foot intervals. Seventeen trenches aggregating some 4,500 feet in length were dug by the bulldozer. Trenches averaged 12.6 feet in width and 5 feet in depth. A total of 1,978 feet of churn drilling was done in 33 holes. In preparation for churn drilling it was necessary to construct roads to 21 of the 33 sites. A total of 2,867 linear feet of road averaging 13 feet in width was built.

Jan 1, 1950

By G. L. Mowrey, S. D. Maksimovic

An important element of the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) mining research program is the development and evaluation of reliable coal interface detection (CID) systems. Commercially available CID sensors based on natural gamma radiation (NGR) are only applicable if the immediate roof is composed of shaley material. The USBM has made numerous underground and laboratory measurements using several NGR systems approved for installation on mining machines by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In addition, two small handheld NGR instruments were used to make comparative measurements. Underground NGR measurements in 10 different coal seams, potassium-uranium-thorium radiometric analyses on samples from 16 seams, and chemical analyses of coal and rock for correlation with NGR counts were made. Laboratory test results on the effect of air gap and sample thickness, size, and weight on the NGR measurements, as well as general results of the various NGR systems, are discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By Joseph Grumer

About a century ago Bunsen and his associates invented the famous burner that bears his name and was to become the ancestor of today's gas appliances. Over the years, Bunsen's invention became the starting point of a highly developed, practical technology that culminated in the gas industry as we now know it. However, it did not occur to the early workers to investigate the scientific potentialities of the new device, and as a result the science of gas-burner performance did not keep pace with the growing industry. It was with the objective of closing the rapidly widening gap between science and technology that the present research was undertaken Its immediate purpose was to provide basic information on the combustion characteristics of .fuel gases, in particular as they affect flashback, blowoff, and yellow tipping. Information obtained in the present research and contained within this report consists of the following: (1) Fundamental flashback and blowoff characteristics have been determined, it is believed, for all fuel-gas mixtures in which the gas industry may be interested. These are critical boundary velocity gradients for flames in free air, on burners with ports at room temperature and pressure. Burner aeration is characterized by the parameter, fraction of stoichiometric. These basic limits are explained, values are presented, and calculation procedure is given for deriving corresponding values of port loading and percent primary air (chs. I and II).

Jan 1, 1956

By Edward A. Barrett, Roberta A. Calhoun

Introduction This Instructor’s Copy contains most of the information needed to use the Wearing Hearing Protection Properly 3-D training reel. It offers practical suggestions on how to use the reel as a training aid, performance objectives for deciding if the training is appropriate for your needs, and discussion notes that provide additional information to the user. The 3-D reel was designed as a self-teaching aid that drillers and others who work at a drill site can use wherever the opportunity for such training presents itself. The latter could be a company preshift requirement or a tailgate session where workers would have an opportunity to view and discuss the reel. It could also be an individual looking at the reel in a pickup truck prior to beginning work at a drill site. The 3-D training reel is versatile in that it can be used for a small group of persons or for a single worker. For any of these situations, information is transferred to the individual by viewing each of the seven colorful, in-depth 3-D scenes and relating the words that appear in each scene to what is depicted in the visual. Acknowledgment The authors thank Linda J. McWilliams, Statistician, NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, for her assistance in analyzing the experimental data in this document.

Jan 11, 2004

By James A. Brierley

Wastewater from uranium mines in the Ambrosia Lake district near. Grants, New Mexico, U.S.A., contains uranium, selenium, radium, and molybdenum. The Kerr-McGee Corporation has a novel treatment process for waters from two mines, sections 35 and 36, to reduce the concentrations of the trace contaminants. Particulates are settled by ponding, and the waters are passed through an ion exchange resin to remove uranium; barium chloride is added to precipitate sulfate and radium from the mine waters. The mine waters are subsequently passed through three consecutive algae ponds prior to discharge. Water, sediment and biological samples were collected over a 4-year period and analyzed to assess the role of biological agents in removal of inorganic trace contaminants from the mine waters.

Jan 1, 1981

By Wilton Johnson

The Bureau of Mines study indicates that land utilized by the mining industry for mineral extraction and processing from 1930 through 1980 amounted to 5.7 million acres, or 0.25 percent of the land mass in the United States. Land reclaimed by the industry during the same period was 2.7 million acres, or 47 percent of the land utilized. Land use by the mining industry includes surface land used for excavation or mining, for waste from underground mining, and for wastes from milling or processing operations. Data on land use for disposal of overburden waste from surface coal mines and on areas affected by subsidence associated with underground mining are included for the period 1930-71 only. The 10 leading States in total land used for mining over the 51-year period were, in decreasing order, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Florida, Indiana, California, Alabama, and Missouri. Seven mineral commodities accounting for 92 percent of land use are, in decreasing order, bituminous coal, sand and gravel, stone, phosphate rock, clay, copper, and iron ore, all predominately surface mined. Bituminous coal production was responsible for nearly half of the total area utilized. Reclamation of mined lands and waste disposal sites over the reporting period was largely on lands utilized in mining bituminous coal; 75 percent of the land used for bituminous coal production was reclaimed.

Jan 1, 1981

[This is the sixth in a series of reports on properties of commercial motor fuels, made in accordance with a cooperative Agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee and the Bureau of tines of the Department of the Interior. The first report gave data on motor gasolines sold during the winter of 1935.-36.3/ The present report cover brands of gasoline represented by 1,490 samples plus thus: from the Pacific Coat, which ;sere averaged by the Pacific Coast Technical Group before being submitted and are published exactly as they were submitted. In some areas reports were received from 8 to 10 companies on the same brands of gasoline, Whereas in other areas only one Company reported on a brand. Thus, it can be seen that soma of the data are more representative than others. The inclusion of data from several cities within some of the districts has improved the report by reducing the number of brands reported by only one company. Severe changes have been made in the districts. A new district, Memphis, Tenn., has been formed to include Arkansas any western Tennessee. The Rocky Mountain area, have been divided into three sections. Salt Lake City and Denver form the Middle Rocky Mountain district; Laramie, Wyo., Idaho, Montana, and. Spokane, Wash., are included in the North Rocky Mountain district, and Arizona, New Mexico , and El Paso, Tex., have been combined to represent the South Rock Mountain district. The Cleveland district has been expanded to include Ohio ant. Indiana. Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia are included in the Washington (D. C.) district. The Atlanta district includes Georgia, South Carolina; Mississippee, and northern Florida.]

Jan 1, 1938

By Yi-Shen Li

This report has been prepared by Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc. (LMSC), under United States Bureau of Mines Contract No. H0220040 dated 21 June 1972 for the design, development, fabrication, and certification of the One-Hour Self-Rescue Breathing Apparatus (PBA). The PBA is a self-contained, oxygen-generating, CO2-removing closed-loop breathing apparatus that provides a minimum of 1 hour of breathable atmosphere during escape from a mine with a contaminated or oxygen-deficient atmosphere. This Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contract has been successfully completed in a three-phase program. The Phase I tasks included the design, development, and fabrication of prototype units developed at LMSC in accordance with the requirement of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 30, Chapter 1, Subchapter B, Part 11 (Appendix A), and was submitted to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for joint NIOSH and Bureau of Mines certification testing.

Jan 1, 1974

By V. A. Cammarota

In this report, the effects of anode-production variables, such as aggregate coke sizes, pitch binder content, and baking cycle, were investigated. A small alumina reduction cell proved effective in evaluating anodes prepared from commercial materials and from lignite coke and pitch. Compressive strength was found to be the physical property most significantly influenced, but it did not appear to affect anode consumption. Specific carbon consumption, that is, the ratio of carbon in the anodic gas to carbon theoretically oxidized at the anode, was used as an index of anode consumption. It was found that an anode made with lignite coke and commercial pitch was very low in consumption; however, anodes made completely from lignite but by a different fabrication method showed high consumption and anode deterioration. Microscopic examination of anodes after electrolysis showed evidence of higher consumption at low current densities, and was useful in judging overall anode quality. Based on the physical properties of the anodes and their consumption during electrolysis, lignite can be a suitable material for anodes, provided the proper fabrication conditions are used.

Jan 1, 1970