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By Constantine C. Popoff

This report reviews and analyzes, by a simple analytical and logical reasoning, the conventional methods of reserve computations of mineral deposits described in various domestic and foreign publications. It brings together, formulates, and evaluates the principles underlying interpretation of exploration data; and ties such principles to the proposed classification of methods. The material is discussed in sufficient detail to allow general application.

Jan 1, 1966

By William H. Pomroy

Fires in underground metal and nonmetal mines pose a threat to the safety of underground miners and to the productive capacity of this Nation's mines. Contaminated air (smoke, carbon monoxide, and other products of combustion) is the primary life safety hazard created by a mine fire. The most reliable defense against the hazard posed by the rapid spread of contaminated air underground is early warning fire detection and rapid evacuation. This Bureau of Mines report describes the design and operation of four prototype early warning fire detection systems, for underground noncoal mines, presently undergoing prolonged in-mine testing by the Bureau. The systems are described within the context of the underground mine environment.

Jan 1, 1985

By N. S. Petersen

As part of the Demand Evaluation Program of the Bureau of Mines to determine future needs for minerals, a study was instituted to develop and describe a methodology for approaching the problem of substitution between mineral commodities and between mineral commodities and other materials. The report comprises three sections: A review of general factors relative to substitution, a case study of the effect of substitution on zinc die-casting markets in recent years, and a general methodology for reviewing materials substitution with specific emphasis derived from reviewing substitution in the domestic zinc die-casting markets.

Jan 1, 1971

The Florida phosphate industry, which supplies about three-quarters of the domestic phosphate fertilizer, produces tremendous volumes of phosphatic clay wastes (slimes). These clays retain a high percentage of water for extended periods of time. The clays also pose an environmental hazard because the disposal technique involves aboveground storage behind earthen dams. Although much research has been undertaken by numerous organizations to dewater slime, no completely satisfactory solution has been developed. In June 1972, a cooperative effort by the Federal Bureau of Mines and the Florida phosphate mining industry was initiated to develop a solution for dewatering the Florida phosphatic slimes. This report discusses various aspects of the slimes problem, reviews past research, makes recommendations for future research, and includes a bibliography of references and patents dealing with the subject.

Jan 1, 1975

By Gary M. Larwood

A study was conducted to determine the amount of transportation equipment required to move 1.2 billion tons of coal in 1985. The Federal Bureau of Mines has investigated a majority of the various practices associated with coal transportation and has gathered information on the regional origin-destination patterns, methods of movement, equipment stocks, rate structures, and operational capacities of the most important modes of coal haulage currently in use. Models employing this information were developed to establish the origin-destination pattern for 1985 coal shipments, estimate practical tonnage capacities for selected coal hauling rivers, develop modal shares for both unconstrained (by river capacity) and constrained cases, and present a range of coal transportation equipment requirements for given sets of constraints. Projected transportation shares for rail ranged from 63.7 to 72.3 percent, and for river, from 8.8 to 16.4 percent. Other coal transportation modes (truck, conveyor, Great Lakes, and tidewater) are expected to retain their historic shares of coal traffic. Equipment estimates were made for 1985 rail and water transportation based on 1973 average and best practice. Average practice estimates ranged from 675,000 to 710,000 hopper cars (100-ton) and 3,100 to 5,940 barges (1,400-ton equivalent). Best practice estimates ranged from 126,000 to 142,000 hopper cars and 1,750 to 3,450 barges. Full implementation of 1973 best practice by 1985 is unlikely.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. D. Ramsdell

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of the impurities, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and iron (in low percentages) on the mechanical properties of electrolytic titanium. The strength and hardness of binary Ti-O, Ti-N, and Ti-C alloys are linear functions of alloy content in the composition range investigated. Compared to oxygen and carbon, nitro-gen is the most effective strengthener and hardener, followed by oxygen, then carbon. When the carbon concentration is above 0.10 percent, carbides are present, and strength and hardness are relatively unchanged. For equivalent hardness levels, Ti-Fe alloys are stronger than binary titanium alloys containing oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon. However, the strengthening is related to the presence of transformed beta in the structure.

Jan 1, 1960

By Jr. Frank Parrish

This report describes the performance of 17 selected water-injection projects producing from Pennsylvanian-and Permian-age reservoirs. Illustrations depict reservoir structure and thickness, and production and injection history. A selected bibliography of publications pertaining to area oil recovery and geology is included. Tabulations of field and reservoir data reveal marked differences in the projects. Increased oil recovery resulted from injecting water in most cases; however, seven projects recovered less oil than the operators anticipated. Oil recovery by water injection ranged from 0.2 to 262 bbl per acre ft, or 0.1 to 22.5 pct of the initial stock-tank oil in place. Major reasons suggested for poor performance include: (1) Adverse directional horizontal permeability, (2) channeling of injected water through fractures or zones of high permeability, and (3) lack of containment of injected water. One 330-foot-deep project is among the first successful shallow water-floods in north Texas. Another project is the first successful Canyon sand-stone waterflood reported in the area. Previous gas injection in two Cisco sandstone projects did not prevent the reservoirs from responding favorably to waterflooding.

Jan 1, 1965

By G. B. Shea

In the search for possible future sources of petroleum products, the recovery and utilization of bitumens from the large outcropping deposits of bituminous sandstones in the United States have been under study by the Bureau of Mines for the past several years. The results of laboratory research in the adaptation of the hot-water separation process to recovery of bitumen from bituminous sandstones were reported in an earlier publication, on the Edna deposits near San Luis Obispo, Calif. This publication included analytical data on the cracked products and asphalts obtained from the extracted bitumen and on the cracking and distillation of the bitumen. Comparable hot-water separation tests have been run in the San Francisco, Calif., laboratory of the Bureau of Mines on quarry samples from the large deposits of bituminous sandstones near Vernal and Sunnyside, Utah. The bitumens were isolated from the extracts of the separation plant and analyzed at the Petroleum and Oil-Shale Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines, Laramie, Wyo. Part I of this report summarizes the general characteristics of the Vernal and Sunnyside deposits and discusses the hot-water separation process as applied to those bituminous sandstones and the results obtained. The separation tests showed that these bituminous sandstones also respond to treatment by the hotwater method of separation. The bitumen in the Vernal sandstone was extracted more readily by the action of hot water than was the Edna bitumen, which greatly simplified plant operation. The Vernal sandstone contains no water-soluble iron compounds, such as were found in the Edna sandstone, and, therefore, required no preliminary water washing. Recovery of bitumen from the Vernal sandstone was about 96 percent.

Jan 1, 1952

By G. S. Baur, J. W. Montoya, S. R. Wilson

Beryllium occurs in the Honeycomb Hills area in volcanic tuff similar to the more extensive berylliferous tuff occurring 20 miles east at Spor Mountain , Juab County , Utah . Samples from the two areas have been mineralogically examined to ascertain whether they have similar characteristics . The Honeycomb Hills samples showed the presence of beta- Be ( OH ) 2 , as well as an amorphous berylliferous substance , whereas in the Spor Mountain tuff the beryllium- bearing minerals are hydrated bertrandite and berylliferous saponite .

Jan 1, 1964

By R. S. Sanford

The Claim Point chromite deposits are at tidewater near the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula in southwestern Alaska, The United States Geological Survey had a field party in the region from July until September 1940 under P. W. Guild, assistant geologist; maps and geological data were assembled and made available to the Bureau of Mines. A preliminary investigation of the deposits at Claim Point by the senior author during July 1941 was followed by surface sampling and core drilling to determine the quantity and grade of the ere, The Geological Survey was represented at the project by George O. Gates, geologist. Cores were checked and the structural data revealed by drill cores were interpreted. The principal chromite deposits have been sampled and delimitated by trenching and core drilling. Other deposits were trenched and sampled but were too small or too low-grade to warrant core drilling.

Jan 1, 1949

By J. G. Walters

This report presents the results of an investigation in Which the chloroform solubilities of coals and chars are related to rank, temperature of thermal treatment, time at a given temperature, vacuum thermal treatment, plasticity, oxidation, blending, and mass spectral analyses and molecular weights of the extracts. It was found that the quantity of chloroform extract obtained from chars can be altered by creating a vacuum above the charge during preparation of the char, increasing the time at temperatures within the plastic temperature range, and by utilizing different rates of heating to attain a given temperature. Relationships found between the chloroform solubilities of chars produced at temperatures within the plastic temperature range and the relative fluidities in this temperature range indicate that the chloroform-soluble portion of the char is a significant component of the plastic mass. Chloroform-extract yields from chars made from blends of coals cannot be calculated from chloroform-extract yields obtained from chars made from the component coals.

Jan 1, 1967

By A. C. Fieldner

In the course of its investigations on the properties of coal and in rendering fuel-inspection service to other agencies of the Government, the Bureau of Mines has accumulated a comprehensive file of coal analyses that includes data on virtually every coal field of commercial importance in the United States. As knowledge of the composition of coal is potentially valuable to every user of coal, the Bureau publishes its analytical records. Before 1921 such publications contained analyses of coal from all parts of the United States; individual analyses or average analyses of a series of shipments of coal were given with the name and location of the mine producing the coal. Beginning in 1921 the analyses were published by separate States because the quantity of data had become so great. The separate papers published to date, with Bureau of Mines Technical Paper numbers, are as follows: Alabama, 347; Arkansas, 416; Colorado, 574; Illinois, 634 and 641; Indiana, 417; Iowa, 269; Kansas, 455; Kentucky, 30S; Maryland, 465; Missouri, 366; Montana, 529; New Mexico, 569; Ohio, 344; Oklahoma, 411 ; Pennsylvania (bituminous), 590; Tennessee, 356; Utah, 345; Virginia, 365; Washington, 491 and 618 (618, published in 1941, supplements 491); West Virginia, 405 and 626; and Wyoming, 484. From time to time the various papers will be revised to include later analyses and other data. The Bureau of Mines annually receives many inquiries as to the composition of coals obtained from specific localities or, conversely, as to the localities from which a given kind of coal may be obtained. This paper presents a summary, in tabular form, of the composition of commercial coal resources of the country. Specimen analyses are given exemplifying the analysis of coal mined in each coal-producing county, or, where it was feasible, coal from each bed in each county; also, ranges of analyses, within which the composition of most of the coal represented will fall, are given where there were enough analyses to permit satisfactory determination of the ranges. In addition, the degree of metamorphism from lignite toward anthracite of much of the coal is indicated by the classification by rank. This classification reveals to more experienced users of coal some of the general properties of coal, that is, whether the flame will be long or short, whether the coal will cake in the fire, and how it is likely to behave on exposure and in storage.

Jan 1, 1942

By W. L. Eaton

This report is the second in a series concerning the Bureau of Mines program for microfilming maps of abandoned mines in the Pennsylvania anthracite region; a catalog of the microfilmed maps of mines in the Wyoming Basin of the Northern anthracite field is presented. The first report I.C. 8274, published in 1965, was a catalog of microfilmed maps of mines in the Eastern Middle anthracite field. Additional catalogs will be published as the microfilming of significant mining areas is completed.

Jan 1, 1968

By M. Clair Smith

The Sweetwater, Castro, Trinidad, New London, and Hilltop chromite properties are situated within an area 8 miles long and 1 mile wide between San Luis Obispo city and Morro Creek, San Luis Obiso County, Calif. Development work at this group of mines was a part of a long-range project by the Bureau of Mines to develop strategic mineral reserves in the United States in accordance with the Strategic Minerals Act of 1939. The junior author of this report participated in the preliminary examinations made in 1941 of the chromite deposits that later in the same year were the subject of more intensive investigation under the immediate supervision of the senior author. The ore occurs in lenses and kidneys in masses of dunite contained in large poridetite areas. Production has boon in the form of lump ore and concentrates from disseminated ore. Work by the Bureau of Miner included surveying, mapping, trenching, sampling, and assaying. It is summarized separately in the text under the name of each mine investigated. The report gives a brief history of the district, describer the concentrating plant of the Castro Associates, and gives detailed results on sampling and assays at the various proportion.

Jan 1, 1951

By James A. West

The Quapaw pool is one of the smaller pools in an extensive area of Bartlesville-sand production in the eastern part of Osage County, Okla. (fig. 1). Most of the fields in this area were discovered from 1906 to 1916 and were developed and operated similarly. The Quapaw pool is representative of the area, and much of the developed in studying this pool is applicable to the other reservoirs. This petroleum-engineering study of the Quapaw pool was conducted to provide reservoir data that may aid in more widespread application of the intensive secondary-recovery production methods that have been employed with excellent results in the Bartlesville-sand fields of nearby Washington, Nowata, and Rogers Counties. This study is particularly appropriate because of the intense interest in Osage County fields as areas suitable for water flooding. Water flooding was introduced first into Oklahoma during 1931 in Rogers County, and activity was concentrated in the shallow Bartlesville-sand fields of and Nowata Counties for many years. Although water-flooding projects are now operating throughout the State, the intense activity of the Nowata-Rogers Counties area spread to adjoining counties only during the past few years. Since 1948 the rate of oil production in Washington County (between Nowata and Osage Counties) has increased by 260 percent as a result of water flooding. Currently, leases in eastern Osage County are sought eagerly by water-flood operators, and during the past 2 years the Osage Indian Agency has issued nine permits for water-flooding projects in eastern Osage County. Water-flooding operations are in progress on several projects. Although large oil reserves in eastern Osage County should, be recoverable by water flooding, development and operation of projects will be more expensive than projects in the shallower producing areas to the east. In addition, the Osage County reservoirs appear to be more complex and somewhat more difficult to water-flood successfully. It is hoped that this study will contribute to better understanding of the Quapaw reservoir and, in a general way, to the many similar reservoirs in eastern Osage County.

Jan 1, 1952

By Benjamin W. Haynes

Cement kiln dust (CKD) produced in the contiguous United States and Hawaii was characterized as part of the Bureau of Mines' program in minerals environmental technology. The mineralogical and chemical composition was determined for 113 CKD samples from 102 plants that normally send CKD waste to landfill. Characterization included the determination of 28 elements, 7 anion species, carbon dioxide, noncarbonate carbon, and chemically bound water. Mercury was determined in 15 samples. Interelement correlation coefficients were determined for 23 elements, 5 anions, CO2, noncarbonate carbon, and chemically bound water. To assess the hazardous waste potential of CKD, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Extraction Procedure (EP) toxicity test was performed on all 113 CKD samples. All but one sample were in compliance with the test; the noncomplying sample slightly exceeded the EP toxicity test criterion for lead.

Jan 1, 1982

By P. S. Lewis

Shortage of natural gas is reviving interest in low-Btu fuel gas made by gasifying coal in fixed-bed producers. The Bureau of Mines gasified strongly caking Pittsburgh bed coal over test periods lasting four days in an experimental gas producer located at Morgantown, W. Va, Mechanical stirring throughout the fuel bed was effective for keeping the fuel moving and this stirring made the operation successful; hence, the gas producer was named the stirred-bed producer. Nuclear density gages were applied as control instruments to indicate coal flow and fuel level, and to record the frequency and location of void spaces in the bed, The gas, of nominal 140 to 165 Btu/scf calorific value, could be burned in a boiler for generating steam.

Jan 1, 1972

By E. R. Cole

This Bureau of Mines investigation was prompted by the need forr a stable anode for electrowinning metals, particularly zinc and copper, from acid solutions. The polarization behavior of Pb-Ag (1 pct Ag) anodes in H2SO4 and fluoride solutions was determined as the first step in the development of such an anode. A Luggin capillary, dc power supply, high-impedance voltmeter, and other equipment standard to an electrochemical laboratory were used in this study. It was determined that during polarization, a relatively hard, stable coating of Pb02 was formed on the surface of the lead-silver anode and the rate of formation of this coating was considerably enhanced by the presence of fluoride ions in solution. Subsequent investigations at the Bureau of Mines Rolla Research Center resulted in the development of a Pb02-coated titanium (Pb02-Ti) anode. Results of this effort were presented in Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8111. Additional data resulting from extensive testing of the Pb02-Ti anodes, as well as process improvements and innovations, are included in this report. The anodes were considered generally unsatisfactory for zinc electrowinning because of lower conductivity, higher oxygen overvoltages, and shorter in-cell life as compared with the Pb-Ag anodes now being used in industry. However, the PbO2-Ti anodes were used successfully to oxidize waste chromium solutions and to electrowin copper.

Jan 1, 1981

By Jon C. Volkwein

The Bureau of Mines conducted a series of tests to evaluate the effectiveness of mixing a compressed-air-generated foam with dried whole-grain silica sand to suppress dust in minerals processing plants. Dust at downstream transfer points was monitored with personal gravimetric samplers and with Real-Time Aerosol Monitors (RAM's) that were connected to strip' chart recorders. Results showed dust reductions of 80 to 90 pct on three separate occasions at two different plants. The mechanism by which foam suppresses dust is discussed, as are the constraints on the use of foam, which may include incompatibility of the foam with the mineral product, difficulty in controlling the foam generator, and cost.

Jan 1, 1983

By Benjamin W. Haynes

This Bureau of Mines publication comprises a compilation of the state of the science in Pacific Ocean manganese nodule mineralogy and elermental composition. The report is divided into three sections: morphology, mineralogy and elemental composition. The nodule morphology section defines what is considered a nodule for the study, and details the external characteristics and internal structure. Nodule mineralogy is discussed in three sections: manganese minerals, iron oxide minerals, and accessory minerals. The major manganese minerals discussed are todorokite, birnessite, and vernadite. The iron oxide minerals are less well known and include feroxyhyte, goethite, and lepidocrocite. Accessory minerals present include quartz, clays, and other silicates and nonsilicates. A discussion on moisture content is also included. The elemental composition section presents data on 74 elements occurring as cations or anions. Summary data, histograms, and interelement correlation coefficients are presented. The elements are grouped as follows: major and minor elements of potential economic interest (8), other major and minor elements (9), elements of environmental interest (8), rare-earth elements (15), precious-metal-group elements (6), radioactive elements (3), other trace elements (17), and anion-forming elements (8). Cross sectional determinations of Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, Pb, Fe, Ce, and Ba are given for a single nodule to show the general tendency of different growth patterns within a nodule because of different element associations and composition.

Jan 1, 1982