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By Michael Hood

High-volume, low-pressure water jets have been employed for erosion of loosely consolidated rocks for centuries. This excavation method finds application in specialized circumstances even today. The use of high-pressure, low-volume water jets for rock cutting is more recent and was made possible by the development of high-pressure water pumps. Despite the benefits often claimed for these systems, high-pressure water jets still have not found widespread application. In this report, the U.S. Bureau of Mines has reviewed the various methods that have been employed using water jets to break rock and has focused on one method, termed "jet-assisted cutting," which was determined to be the closest to commercial development. The current state of knowledge based on laboratory and field experiences using this cutting method is reviewed, and possible future developments for this approach to excavation are assessed.

Jan 1, 1990

By D. H. Platt

Data obtained from on-the-site observations have been compiled to describe the equipment and installation methods used for satisfactory suspension roof support in a large-diameter tunnel. Experimental roof bolting was undertaken from June 1950 until May 8, 1951, in the East Delaware tunnel, which is part of the Delaware aqueduct in Delaware and Sullivan Counties, N. Y. Revised suspension-roof-support plans and specifications were prepared during the spring of 1951 by the City of New York Board of Water Supply; these were approved by the State of New York Department of Labor April 13, 1951, and adopted by the City of New York Board of Water Supply on May 8, 1951.

Jan 1, 1952

By C. E. Wicks, J. E. Tress, F. E. Block

The Bureau of Mines investigated the effects of gamma radiation on materials and chemical reactions to obtain information that could be of value in modern metallurgical practices . Various combinations of metals and their ores and compounds were irradiated in attempts to effect reactions that might be applicable in the extraction and separation of metal values from minerals and The types of reactions studied included complexing of salts , decomposition of hydrated salts , metal chlorination reactions , leaching of ores and minerals , halogen exchange , and various reducing reactions . All irradiations were performed at the Materials Testing Reactor Gamma Facility of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission at Idaho Falls , Idaho . Spent fuel elements were utilized as the source of the gamma radiation . Some irradiation - induced changes , ranging from mere color change to participation in chemical reactions , were noted . The greatest value of these investigations , however , was the experience acquired , which should be valuable in future explorations of similar nature .

Jan 1, 1964

By E. J. Lintner

This paper is one of a series being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines describing clay mining and crushing methods and costs at various operations throughout the United States. These papers are designed to disseminate technical information regarding methods used. The cost tabulations represent local operating expenditures only and not total production costs. It is recognized that publication of total production costs might perhaps, in many instances, cause embarrassment to the individual operator as well as to the industry as a whole. On the other hand, operating costs are essential to the technical discussion and study of the methods employed. The attention of the reader is specifically called to this distinction in order that no misunderstanding of the scope of the cost tabulation shall ensue. The following report deals specifically with the methods employed by the Camp Brothers Company, Mogadore, Summit County, Ohio.

Jan 1, 1936

By Raja V. Ramani

The potential usefulness of reclaimed surface-mined land has received much attention recently. In an effort to develop a procedure for evaluating postmining land use potentials, specific mines in various regions of the U.S. were studied to determine the extent of current mined-land planning and to discover characteristics that are regional in nature. As part of this investigation, the Chinook Mine-West Field, located in western Indiana, has been studied. The Chinook Mine is presently operated by AMAX Coal Company and has been in continuous operation since 1928 under various ownership. The status of current reclamation and land use planning was reviewed. In addition, site planning principles were applied to the active mine area. This application included formation of a data base and development of postmining land use plan alternatives. Key factors affecting site potential realization for midwestern area mines have been identified along with suggestions for applying land use planning processes to mined-land planning.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. G. Pariseau

A U.S. Bureau of Mines case study of pillar recovery in high-grade ore near the Ross shaft at, the Homestake Mine, Lead, SD, has demonstrated the usefulness of the finite-clement method for the evaluation of shaft pillar mining plans and shaft stability. This report, one of three in a series describing the Ross shaft pillar case study, focuses on the premining stability analysis. The two-dimensional computer program UTAH2 was used in advance of pillar mining; results suggested that the shaft would remain stable. Subsequent reports describe parts 2 and 3 of the study. In part 2, borehole extensometers and other instruments were installed to provide data for model verification and shaft monitoring. Results of the recalibrated two-dimensional model confirmed the premining stability evaluation. However, after mining began, great concern developed because of the appearance of cracks and other signs of ground movement over considerable distances from the area of active pillar miping. In part 3, an intense three-dimensional modeling effort using UTAH3 was initiated. The results again showed that the shaft would remain safe. Three-dimensional analyses of alternative pillar mining scenarios indicated that more of the shaft pillar ore reserve could be recovered than previously thought.

Jan 1, 2010

By Stephen Utter

Stresses induced by block-caving mining were estimated from in-place measurements of strain or deformation in rock and concrete around mine openings. The four types of gages used for measurements in the Climax Molybdenum mine during 1959-61 were Whittemore gage, Carlson strain meter,2 Valore strain cell, and Climax extensometer. Gage performance in the laboratory was evaluated by stressing instrumented rock and concrete specimens in a universal testing machine and by comparing measurements taken by the gages and a standard gage. Gage performance in the mine was evaluated by comparing measurements taken during an 18-month test. The Whittemore gage, Carlson strain meter, and the Climax extensometer proved suitable for the investigation; the Valore strain cell, effective in the laboratory tests, gave erratic measurements in the mine.

Jan 1, 1965

By L. J. E. Hofer

This Bureau of Mines study, part of a broad program of research in air pollution related to minerals, was conducted to determine the nature and extent of the poisoning of catalysts when used to remove certain air pollutants from exhaust gases. The poisoning examined in this investigation occurs when leaded gasoline is used as a fuel for automotive engines. This research was conducted in cooperation with the Public Health Service. The smog in the Los Angeles area is attributed to the effect of radiant energy on the mixture of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides found in the atmosphere there. A large portion of the hydrocarbons is believed to originate in the exhaust gases of automobiles. To prevent the escape of these hydrocarbons into the atmosphere catalytic mufflers have been proposed. In principle, these are simple and nonmechanical, consisting of a vessel charged with a catalyst capable of destroying the exhaust hydrocarbons by catalyzing their oxidation. However, these catalysts are severely affected by the particulate matter, mainly in the form of lead sulfate (PbS04), lead oxysulfate (PbS04.Pb0), and Lead chlorobromide (Pb(Cl,Br)2), contained in the exhaust gas. Deposition of lead on the catalyst as PbS04, PbS04, PbS0, and Pb(Cl,Br)2 restricts catalytic activity. As a result,after 20,000 miles of operation the temperature necessary to achieve 50-percent conversion of isopentane in a mixture of 0.2 percent isopentane, 2 percent carbon monoxide and 4 percent oxygen, and the balance nitrogen at 10,000 hourly space velocity has risen from 400° C. to 500° C. even with a catalyst taken from the exit portion of the catalyst bed. The rest of the catalyst was more severely affected. Therefore, it would appear that operation for 20,000 miles is near the limit for a catalyst.

Jan 1, 1963

By C. W. Dwiggins

This report describes the development, theory, and application of techniques and instruments for quantitatively determining nickel, vanadium, and iron in oils, using direct, X-ray emission spectrographic methods (5, 6).3 The methods developed apply to petroleum and other oils as well as some specific fractions of oils. The quantities of nickel, vanadium, and iron in various petroleums are of practical and theoretical interest. Even traces of nickel and vanadium may poison cracking catalysts, and X-ray methods have been used for determining nickel in such catalysts (7). At least parts of the nickel and vanadium occur as metal-porphyrin complexes, a fact which may have considerable bearing on knowledge of the origin of petroleum.

Jan 1, 1962

By H. Herbert Hughes

Soapstone commonly is associated with talc , and reports on either commodity usually contain a discussion of the other . From a geological or mineralogical standpoint the combination is justifiable , for soapstone essentially is impure talc . Commercially , however , the relation between them is remote . About 95 per cent of all talc sold in the United States is in ground form, whereas practically all soapstone is sold as furnace blocks or as fabricated structural slabs for many and diverse applications .

Feb 1, 1932

By J. C. Duchon

The use of extended workdays or compressed workweeks (regular shift lengths exceeding 8 h) is attracting growing interest in many industries using continuous operations. While extended workdays promise increased worker satisfaction due to more days off, including weekends and holidays, there are legitimate concerns about the potential effects on the health and safety of such a schedule. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) conducted a study at a Canadian underground copper, lead, and zinc mining operation that was designed to study the safety and performance implications of extended workdays. Measures were taken before and after a change from the old 8-h continuous schedule to the new 12-h continuous schedule, including behavioral performance measures to analyze perceptual-motor changes, continuous heart-rate monitoring and aerobic capacity to measure physical fatigue, a variety of self-report questionnaires to measure perceived adaption and satisfaction with the new schedule, and pulmonary-respiratory measures to examine air contaminant exposure. Based upon the overall acceptance of the new schedule by the workers and lack of change in fatigue-sensitive behavioral and physiological performance measures, this study recommends that the mine retain the 12-h schedule. However, certain precautionary measures are suggested to insure the safety of the workers.

Jan 1, 2010

By P. T. Brooks

A process for extracting 69 percent of the vanadium from weathered Nevada dolomitic shale containing about 1 percent V205 was developed on a laboratory scale by the Bureau of Mines. The process essentially is comprised of salt roasting, leaching with dilute sulfuric acid, solvent extraction, and precipitation of vanadium as ammonium metavanadate. Carbonaceous unweathered shale was less amenable to treatment. A preliminary cost estimate for mining and processing 1,500 tons per day of weathered shale indicated a production cost of about 1 dollar per lb of V205. Considering recent sales at nearly $1. 75 per lb of contained V205, larger scale testing to obtain more definitive process design and evaluation data may be warranted.

Jan 1, 1974

By W. W. Adams

"During the calendar year 1925 the Bureau of Mines received from the operators of several hundred mines and quarries complete accident records covering deaths, permanent disabilities, and “lost time” temporary injuries. Some of the companies, - those that participated in the National Safety Competition-also furnished information showing the number of man-hours of work performed during the year. With these two types of information it was possible to calculate the accident-frequency and accident-severity rates of the different plants. Complete and comparable reports of accidents and Man-hours of “exposure” were received from 34 underground metal mines, 59 underground coal mines, 15 underground mines producing other nonmetallic minerals, and 102 open quarries or open-pit mines. The figures in the table appended to this report show the accident severity rates and other data for each of the 34 underground metal mines and for the group as a whole. It is proposed to publish similar figures for the other classes of mines and quarries at an early date.The 34 metal mines listed in the table are situated in Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota., and Utah; they employed 5, 925 men, an average of 174 men per mine, including employees above-ground as well as underground. With but few exceptions, 50 men was the minimum number of employees in any mine. The total period of employment or “exposure” at the 34 mines was 14,612,607 man-hours, an average of 2,466 hours per man, or the equivalent of 308 work-days of eight hours for each employee. Accidents resulted in 15 fatalities, 9 permanent disabilities, and 1,950 temporary “lost time” injuries (causing disability exceeding remainder of shift). The fatal and nonfatal injuries represented 132,575 days of disability. Thus the accident frequency rate for the group was 135 accidents per million hours and the accident severity rate was 9.073 days lost per thousand hours of 1 “exposure”. The severity rates ranged from 0.227 to 88.653, while the ·range of the accident-frequency rates was from 16. 6 to 307 .4. In compiling the accident severity rates shown in the table, all accidents caused by explosives were weighted at twice the number of days actually lost, as one of the purposes of the National Safety Competition was to stress the prevention of accidents caused by explosives."

Sep 1, 1926

By R. D. Leitch, J. G. Calverley

"INTRODUCTION Although many investigators have provided information on the strength and other properties of concrete the published literature cites few data on the effect of mixing cement with acid mine waters or on acid resistance of concrete in contact with mine waters. Most of the reported work on the effect of impure waters has dealt with the resistance of cement specimens to ""sulfate waters,"" that is, waters or soils with a relatively high sodium sulfate content. The ""Merriman test"" is used commonly to determine the corrosion resistance of cements for 28 days, but it does not seem certain that a cement having a high sulfate resistance in the Merriman or similar tests necessarily will show correspondingly great resistance to the sulfates of iron and, particularly, to sulfuric acid, which usually are present in acid mine waters. Extensive use of cement mortar for laying up masonry stoppings in coal and other mines and for constructing concrete mine haulageways and shaft linings, coal-storage and other retaining walls, highway bridges, culverts, and many other types of construction where it is difficult to obtain fresh water for mixing or where the structures are later exposed to contact with acid waters makes it important to know the effect of these conditions on cement and whether there is a cement better suited for such work than ordinary portland cement.CONDUCT OF THE INVESTIGATIONFor a short time early in 1935 the opportunity to obtain at least some additional information on the effect of acid mine water on cements was presented by the Relief Works Division, which provided money for irregular and indefinite employment for several months. Purchase of apparatus or material was not permitted under this arrangement, and indefinite duration of the work, intermittent employment, and finally complete cessation of the work prevented planning for extensive investigation of this particular problem."

Jan 1, 1940

By IRENE AITKENS

The Mining Law of 1910 , with amendments of 1914 and 1928 , is at present in force in the Dominican Republic . The first and basic mining law of the Republic was passed in 1876 , and although numerous changes and amendments have been made from time to time , the new laws and amendments thereto have not changed the original or basic law materially . However , these enactments have materially changed the legal methods governing the exploitation of the mineral resources of this country and have added new regulations and requirements to those concerning certain specific minerals , etc. The original or basic law still exists as it was first promulgated to protect the rights of the Dominican Republic itself , the rights of the landowner , and the rights of prospectors in general . The Mining Law of 1876 remained in force , without amendment , until it was superseded by the law of May 25 , 1904 , an enactment modeled after the Mexican mining law and designed especially to encourage the investment of

May 1, 1931

By W. F. Dietrich

1. On St. Thomas and St. Croix, and possibly also on St. John, low-quality red-burning clays probably can be developed to provide the major part of the raw materials for structural clay products and earthenware pottery. 2. The potential sales volume for structural clay products is too small to sustain a plant in the Virgin Islands to manufacture such products in competition with Puerto Rico; however, handmade patio tile might be produced successfully. 3. The market for pottery utility wares in the Virgin Islands is too small to justify a plant devoted solely to the production of such wares; but it may be feasible to evolve a diversified community activity to make jugs, pots, casseroles, bowls, charcoal burners, patio tile, and other items.

Jan 1, 1955

By ALICE V. Petar

Thallium is one of the rare metals that has come into commercial use within recent years . Its comparative scarcity , combined with a resemblance to the common metal lead , have retarded the development of uses for thallium . Although production is still measured in pounds rather than in tons , it is now finding application in a number of fields . Perhaps the earliest commercial use of thallium was as a constituent of optical glass of higher refractive power than similar glasses containing lead . One of the later applications to attract attention was the use of the oxysulphide in a sensitive electrical device similar to the selenium cell . The " Thalofide " cell , which was patented in 1919 , constituted for a time the most important outlet for thallium. During the next few years the limited use of thallium and its salts in other fields was insufficient to absorb an annual production of a few hundred pounds , and the price dropped from $ 16 or $18 per pound in 1922 to $ 5 per pound in 1924 . Beginning in 1925 several new uses were developed , especially as a poison for rodents and ants , and as a result the demand for thallium increased sufficiently to cause a recovery in price to the present level of from $12 to $15 per pound .

Jun 1, 1931

By Joe B. Rosenbaum

New applications and concepts of solvent extraction as a unit operation in extractive metallurgy have been developed in the last decade. Wider use is being made of established solvent extraction techniques in processing spent nuclear fuel elements and in winning columbium-tantalum, hafnium-zirconium, thorium, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium. Commercial application has been extended to recovery of beryllium, boron, bromine, copper, molybdenum, phosphorus, rare-earth metals, and rhenium. Systems in use and proposed typically extract metals or salts as anion, cation, or neutral species from aqueous media by reaction with a recycleable organic reagent.

Jan 1, 1971

By John B. Bennett

This Bureau of Mines report presents a method of standardizing forecasts of mineral consumption that attempts to resolve the problems caused by the use of different data bases, different definitions of minerals consumption, and different base years for making projections. Using this method, forecasts of U.S. and world mineral consumption, in the year 2000, for nine commodities (aluminum, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, tin, tungsten, and zinc) are standardized and compared. Also selected forecasts or associated growth rates are used to generate implied values of consumption for 1980-83, which are then compared to actual values of consumption for 1980-83. The economic growth predictions underlying the forecasts are examined, and some general conclusions are drawn. A description of each methodology used to generate these forecasts is given in an appendix.

Jan 1, 1986

On September 4, 2007, Mine Safety and Health Administration, in alliance with the International Union of Operating Engineers and the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers, presented the first annual Mine Construction Maintenance and Repair?s Safety Contractor of the Year Award to Artisan Contracting, Inc., of Cape Girardeau, MO. Eligible contractors located throughout the United States were nominated. Artisan Contracting was nominated by Illinois Cement Company located in LaSalle, IL. Illinois Cement Company is a Division of Eagle Materials Inc., located in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Larry Frankum President of Artisan Contracting Inc., stated, ?While it is gratifying to receive a wonderful award such as this, we must not forget how fragile a good safety record is. We must constantly remain diligent in pursuit of maintaining safe work sites.?

Feb 1, 2008