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By Alla D. Mah

Compilation of data on materials of metallurgical interest is one of the important activities of the Berkeley Thermodynamics Laboratory of the Bureau of Mines. Recent renewed interest in metallurgy of vanadium renders the present compilation a timely guide for experimentation to improve present methods or to develop better methods of extractive metallurgy. Thermodynamic data for vanadium and its inorganic compounds have been critically surveyed, selected, and compiled into one convenient reference from which information can be readily obtained for evaluating heat balances, determining trends, and establishing limits of metallurgical processes. By indicating the direction of experimentation, this report enables the saving of time, effort, and expense which would otherwise be necessary for trial and error experimentation. Much of the data has been obtained experimentally at the Berkeley laboratory. Other data were collected through an extensive survey of worldwide literature through April 1965. Estimates were made when no data were avail-able. Data on the vanadium halides was sparse, and the results derived from existing data were at times divergent. Some of the selected values for the halides may need modification as more or better experimental data become available.

Jan 1, 1966

By E. C. Lane

This paper is the first part of a report giving the results of the Bureau of Mines' twenty-third semiannual survey of motor gasoline marketed in the United States. A companion report, Part II, is in preparation and will give a more detailed discussion of the whole survey. Results of the determination of copper-strip corrosion, color, sulphur content, copper-dish evaporation residue, and gum content as given by the Bureau of Mines steam-oven method will be presented in the second paper, which will also include the prevailing retail price and the tax at the time the sample was taken. This paper deals specifically with data relative to gravity, Reid vapor pressure,5 and distillation (method 100.13).6 The samples tested were divided into "competitive-price gasolines" and "premium-price motor fuels," a method of presentation that was begun with the twenty-second semiannual survey.7 A total of 312 samples were collected from service station pumps in 20 cities throughout the United States. Of this number of samples, 207 were "competitive-price gasolines" and 105 were "premium-price motor fuels." All of the samples were collected in March, 1931, and analyzed at the Petroleum Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Miner at Bartlesville, Okla.

Jan 1, 1931

By Robert S. Sanford

Intensive investigations of domestic manganese deposits were conducted by the Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey during the earlier part of the war minerals investigations when there was doubt that the quantity of manganese needed to produce the greatly increased tonnage of steel demanded for war supplies could' to obtained from its customary sources. Domestic deposits of ores that contain sufficient manganese for direct production of ferromanganese essential in steel Manufacture are generally small, and the bulk of the supply is imported. One of the few large deposits of low-grade manganese ore known in the United States is in the Artillery Peale district in southern Mohave County, Ariz. Manganiforous sediments underlie a very large area. Several large groups of claims, covering the most of the manganese-bearing ground, wore assembled in 1929 and 1930. The greater part of this area was leased by the M. A. Hanna Co. in 1937. Investigations by engineers and geologists for this company revealed that the average content of manganese is very low; but that the Maggio Canyon area, about 180 acres, contains higher-grade material. The company put down 28 vertical diamond-drill holds to explore this ground, under the direction of B. N. Wobbor, geologist.

Jan 1, 1948

By John W. Sweeney

Shales and clays from Illinois were sampled, tested, and evaluated to determine feasibility of producing lightweight aggregate by rotary-kiln methods. Sampling procedures and the 1 ,,,y of the Pennsylvanian shale units are discussed. Chemical, X-ray spectrographic and X-ray petrographic analyses were run on the samples to determine if a correlation existed between chemical mineralogic composition and expansion. Preliminary expansion testing was conducted in a muffle furnace. Rotary-kiln tests were conducted in a 16- inch by 14-foot rotary kiln. The weight of the aggregate ranged from 27 to 59 pounds per cubic foot. Concrete cubes employing the aggregate were tested to determine the qualities of the concrete. Compressive strength of the concrete using the 7-bag of cement cement per cubic yard mix, after autoclave curing for 6 hours, ranged from 2,950 to 6,750 psi. No correlation was found between the chemical, X-ray spectrographic, and X-ray and petrographic analyses and expansion, Sixteen samples made suitable lightweight aggregates in the laboratory rotary kiln. The expansion temperature range of eight of the samples was extremely narrow, and difficulties would probably be encountered in processing these materials commercially.

Jan 1, 1965

By Jr. Holmes

The Bureau of Mines drilled and sampled the more important magnesite deposits in the Currant Creek Mining District, White Pine County, Nev. The properties of the Ala-Mar Magnesium Co., Inc., and the Nevada Magnesite Co. were examined in August 1942 by D. W. Butner, engineer of the Bureau of Mines, to determine the advisability of investigating the deposits under the strategic minerals program. Development involving diamond drilling, trenching, and sampling was started September 1, 1942, and was completed in the latter part of November 1942. The deposits are on unsurveyed public land in T. 12N., B. 59 E., M.D.B.&M., in an area of high relief ranging from 7,300 to 8,100 feet in altitude. Both properties are situated northwest of the Tonopah-Ely Highway, U.S. Highway 6, from which a dirt road extends about 4.6 miles northwesterly, about 35 miles southwest of Ely, to the Ala-Mar property, and another dirt road extends about 10 miles westerly, about 26 miles southwest of Ely, to the Nevada Magnesite property. The magnesite occurs as irregular nodules, veins, and lenses in a bedded calcareous tuff formation, which overlies a group of volcanic rocks, and which is capped by remnants of rhyolite flows.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. J. Kroll

This report is concerned with the many sidelines that were investigated incidental to developing a process to produce ductile Zirconium by members of the staff of the Bureau of Mines laboratory, Albany, Oreg. The results of the main investigation, concerning the production of malleable zirconium by reduction of chloride with fused magnesium under helium, have been described in previous publications. These should be taken as a background to facilitate understanding of this work. Literature on the metallurgy of zirconium has been summarized in a separate publication (2), and references are given in this report only when new publications have to be considered or old ones stressed. Most of the observations described in this report can be applied to the problems involved in making titanium with virtually no change. In general, titanium is easier to reduce than zirconium, since its affinities are lower. Also, its chloride is easier to handle and keep clean because it is a liquid at room temperature.

Jan 1, 1952

Objective: To provide a safe, practical, cost-effective method for measuring coal rib thickness during highwall mining.

Jul 1, 2008

By Mark Flower

A 20L ignition test chamber has been used to test suspensions of 7 UK and world traded coals in air and O2/CO2 mixtures typical of oxy-combustion conditions. The coals varied in rank from sub-bituminous to bituminous and were tested in varying concentrations from the ignition limit to 400g/m3. Following each successful test the combustion residue was collected, weighed and analysed within a thermogravimetric analyser, allowing Q factors to be estimated. The ignition limit varied slightly in air, but was mostly around the 200g/m3 level. With the exception of Coal C, which was much harder to ignite, it correlated roughly with coal rank. The ignition limit changed significantly with O2 concentration when in mixed O2/CO2 gases. Only a few high volatile coals ignited in 21% O2/CO2 v/v, and then only with a 2500 J, rather than a 1000J, igniter. An increase in O2/CO2 levels to 30 or 35% gave ignition patterns similar to those carried out in air with a further increase to 40% having little additional effect. In addition the minimum ignition concentration decreased with increase in O2. Heterogeneous combustion or gasification of the coal by CO2 appears to be confirmed by comparing weight loss results for air and O2/CO2 mixtures respectively for an equivalent peak pressure rise.

Jan 1, 2009

This report describes the activities and publications of the Bureau of Mines Health and Safety Research and Testing Center, Pittsburgh, Pa., for the fiscal years 1960-65. It includes a discussion or work being conducted on roof control, dust explosions, ventilation, health, coal mine fire control, and electrical-mechanical testing, and an abstract of each paper published during the report period.

Jan 1, 1966

By F. A. Rutledge

Mercury deposits were discovered in 1941 in the sedimentary rocks of the Cinnabar Crook area, near the head of the Holitna River drainage in southwestern Alaska, by Russell Schaefer and Harvey Wincholl of Sloitmut, Alaska. High-grade float was found in both Canary Gulch and Cinnabar Gulch, and indications of other deposits wore found in Aldor and Broken Shovel Gulches. Schaefer and Winchell's exploration in 1942 and 1943 revealed placer deposits of cinnabar along Canary Gulch. During prospecting on Canary Gulch, 3,600 pounds of ore was recovered from the detrital material on the Lucky Day lode at the head of the gulch. When retorted, this ore was reported by the owners to have produced 26 flacks of quicksilver. During the summer of 1943, Wallace M. Cady and Charles A. Hickcox, of the U. S. Geological Survey, spent 4 weeks mapping and investigating the area. Bruce I. Thomas and Harold C. Pierce, mining engineers of the Bureau of Mines, examined and sampled several deposits in September 1943. Following their preliminary examination, in view of the exceptionally high-grade cinnabar present, additional investigation by the Bureau of Mines was recommended. A program of trenching, test pitting, and sampling to delimit the deposits was completed during the summer of 1947 under the direction of the author.

Jan 1, 1950

By Mackenzie Burnett

An inducer-type pump, capable of injecting dry coal into a hydraulic transport pipeline has been developed and installed in a specially designed and fabricated slurry injector vehicle. The full scale prototype injector system can deliver up to 11 ton/min of coal into an 8-in pipeline t pressures up to 95 lb/in2. The Helical Inducer Injector operates on centrifugal principles with flow passing axially through helical pitched conical rotor. Water is delivered to the pump through an annular slot at the atmospheric pressure coal inlet. The spinning rotor maintains an air-core vortex of water which pressurizes the discharge housing. A screw feeds coal through the open inlet into this vortex. The inner radius of the vortex contracts as pressure is increased, giving a limiting maximum pressure which is proportional to the square of the rotor speed. Below this limit, flow rate, discharge pressure, und rotor speed re independent variables. The self-powered, 4 -in high slurry injector vehicle follows and receives ROM coal from a continuous miner, reduces the top size to 3-in, and delivers the sized coal to the injector feed screw for slurry formation and pumps it through a mobile hose attached to the vehicle's outby end.

Jan 1, 1983

By K. K. Kelley

The entropy values at 298.1° K. for the elements and inorganic compounds, on which sufficient data were available for calculation in 1931, were discussed in a previous publication (96).3 Since that time the specific beats at low' temperatures of many more inorganic substances have been determined, and considerable advances have been made in the realms of spectroscopy applicable to the determination of thermodynamic properties. Moreover, a critical study of the existing vapor-pressure data made by the author (98) furnishes entropy of vaporization results suitable for obtaining approximate values of the entropies of a number of gases from the entropies of the solids or liquids. Consequently, it appears worth while at the present time to supplement the former publication, giving the new values now obtainable and making such revision in the older values as the data warrant. The methods of calculating entropies were discussed in previous publications (96, 98) and will not be repeated here. ENTROPIES AT 298.1° K. FOR INORGANIC SUBSTANCES In the following pages, the same arrangement is followed as in the previous publication (96). All entropy values are expressed in 15° gram-calories per degree Kelvin per gram-formula mass of substance. The figures given for gases do not include the effect of nuclear spin, as is nearly universally customary at present. The estimates of accuracy in the case of the values obtained from heat-capacity data apply only to the existing measurements and to the necessary extrapolations as they are made. It is assumed usually that the substances are in such an energy condition at the lowest temperatures reached in the specific-heat measurements that the usual normal type of extrapolation may be made. No allowance is made for error in this assumption. The recent work on Gd2SO4. 8H2O and FeC13 illustrates the difficulties that may arise in obtaining the entropies of some paramagnetic substances. Also the data and calculations for such substances as CO, H20, and N20 show that the correct entropy is not obtained in all cases by indiscriminate application of the usual

Jan 1, 1936

By S. C. Rhoads

The Bureau of Mines is investigating low-chromium alloy substitutes for type 304 stainless steel (type 304 SS). The purpose of the research is to reduce the chromium content in austenitic stainless steels used for corrosion-resistant applications. Nine Fe-9Cr-12Ni alloys containing additions of 0 to 5 pct Mo, 0 to 2 pct V, and 0 to 2 pct Cu were selected for evaluation. All of the experimental alloys containing 5 pct Mo and an alloy containing 2Mo-2V-2Cu possessed structure and tensile strengths similar to those of type 304 SSe Alloys containing SMo-2V and SMo-2V-2Cu had ac-ceptable welding properties as measured by the Varestraint test. Alloys containing at least 2 pct Mo had cQrrosion resistance comparable to that of type 304 SS in solutions of nitric acid, phosphoric acid, acetic acid, and citric acid. In chlorides, all the experimental alloys were susceptible to localized corrosion and stress corrosion cracking similar to that of type 304 SSe The corrosion properties were established by weight-loss tests, electrochemical polarization tests, and stress-corrosion cracking tests. An Fe-9Cr-12Ni-SMo-2V alloy and an Fe-9Cr-12Ni-SMo-2V-2Cu alloy had a combination of welding properties, tensile properties, and corrosion resistances that were most comparable to those of 304 SS.

Jan 1, 1984

By D. Harrington

Most of those in the Health and Safety Branch, Bureau of Mines, necessarily participate in activities associated with essentially all phases of the mineral industries, including coal and noncoal mines, quarries, smelters, metallurgical plants, and various petroleum operations. One of the strictly war activities of the branch - the Explosives Control Division, which administers the Federal Explosives Act of December 26, 1941 - has functions that require contacts not only with nearly all phases of the mining and allied industries but also with those engaged in scores of other occupations that manufacture, store, use, or possess explosives, or many of the ingredients of explosives. The field men of the Health and Safety Branch (approximately 300 in number) Are occupied full time in health and safety activities and annually make thousands of contacts with people in the mineral industries as well as the plants in which they work. From these they formulate several thousand written reports containing sources of thousands of conclusions and recommendations aimed at reduction of health end safety hazards in these industries. Although such activities have been greatly increased during the war and immediate pro-war periods, they have been in effect to a considerable extent since the Bureau of Mines was created in 1910.

Jan 1, 1944

By James J. Dowd

The investigation to evaluate the reserves of coking coal is being made by the Bureau of Mines in three parts: (1) To estimate known (measured plus indicated) recoverable reserves of all coking coal; (2) to upgrade marginal coals through effective preparation; and, (3) to study the carbonizing properties of coal and coal blends not now widely used for metallurgical coke. This is the third of a series of reports giving results of studies by counties under part (1) of the investigation. This report covers Pike County, Ky., which comprises parts of the Harold, Williamson, Matewan, Gilbert, Pikeville, Regina, Hurley, Pound, and Clintwood quadrangles. (See fig. 1.) A base map for each bed in each quadrangle was made to the scale of 1 inch equals 1,200 feet. Maps of mines, locations of drill holes, bed and total coal thicknesses, and the outcrop of the bed were plotted on the maps. With all available data plotted, isopach lines were drawn to limit areas of known unmined reserves in beds 0 to 14 inches thick, 14 to 28 inches thick, 28 to 42 inches thick, and over 42 inches thick. These areas of coal reserves also were divided into "measured" and "indicated" categories. All areas in each thickness range and in each category, mined-out areas, areas excluded from the estimate but which may contain reserves based only on geologic inference, and areas outside of the outcrop were measured by planimeter on the base maps. Estimates of total reserves 14 inches and more thick and maps for individual beds were prepared from these data.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. J. Hundhausen

The Shamrock copper-nickel mine in Jackson County, Oreg., was formerly a part of the Chisholm mercury property. In 1948 new owners advanced the old workings 40 feet to reveal encouraging widths of copper-nickel sulfide, ore on the Shamrock claim. When the owner's funds became exhausted, the Bureau of Mines carried on the development in 1949-50, completing 1,650 feet of bulldozing trenching, 396 feet of drifting, and 3,419 feet of diamond drilling. The Bureau's trenching disclosed a separate surface deposit 600 feet south of the mine deposit. This and the previously known deposit subsequently were diamond-drilled. The underground deposit has a known length of 100 feet, a dip length of. 100 feet and a width varying from 1 to 25 feet. The surface deposit is 200 feet long, 200 feet deep, and 5 to 38 feet wide. Neither deposit has been entirely delimited by development to date.

Jan 1, 1952

By J. C. Dumbrille

The following account of wining practices of the Kirkland Late Gold twining Co., (Ltd.), at Kirkland Lake, Ontario, is one of 4 series of papers being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines on mining practices, methods, sad costs in various districts. The author has prepared this paper with the help and permission of J. B. Tyrrell and W. M. Sixt, the managing director and the mine manager, respectively. This mine is operating at a daily rate of about 150 tons.

Jan 1, 1931

By Lulie H. Crump

Salient information on reserves, production, and consumption of fuels and energy by State are summarized in this Bureau of Mines publication. The data are broken down by fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and hydropower and nuclear for the major consuming sectors: Household-Commercial, Industrial, Transportation, Electric Power and Miscellaneous. In addition, total energy consumption in the Nation in 1972 is compared with consumption in 1971 and 1973 (preliminary data).

Jan 1, 1974

By S. M. Shelton, M. M. Fine, T. L. Johnston

"INTRODUCTION The Bynum property is about 15 miles west of Gadsden and 1 mile north of Walnut Grove, Etowah County, Ala. The ore lies in layers and as irregular masses and pockets in the clay residue from decomposed quartzite and limestone formations to the district.The property has been developed by means of numerous shallow shafts sunk to water level - about 25 foot. Operations are confined to small-scale, selective mining of pockets of high-grade ore. The ore is marketed directly, without beneficiation. The property does not yield a large amount of manganese ores. No estimates of reserve ore tonnages are available.A 206-pound sample was furnished for test. It was taken at random from a stock rile estimated to contain 130 tons of ore. The sample con¬sisted of a mixture of manganese oxides, iron oxides, and siliceous fragments in clay. The manganese occurred largely as soft, unconsolidated pyrolusite and wad. Some hard, crystalline pieces of psilomelane were distributed through the soft material. Small amounts of iron oxides were associated with the manganese oxides. Chert, quartzite, and clay comprised the gangue minerals.Dry analysis of the sample was as follows: 36.0 percent manganese, 6.1 percent iron, 2: .0 percent silica, 1.5 percent calcium carbonate, 0.36 percent phosphorus, 3.0 percent alumina, 2.2 percent barium, and 0.31 percent zinc."

May 1, 1942

By E. G. Davis

Large-scale ultrafine grinding tests of a coarse kaolin were made using the Bureau of Mines developed attrition grinding process in continuous open-and closed-circuit systems. A 20-inch diameter attrition grinder, designed and constructed at the Tuscaloosa Laboratory, was used. Studies included single- and multiple-stage open-circuit grinding, and also continuous grinding tests in closed-circuit with a 6-inch-diameter solid bowl centrifuge. Clay feed, containing 9.0 percent minus-2-micrometer esd, was used at fates up to 840 pounds per hour. Multistage grinding tests gave better results than single-stage treatment when equivalent clay feed rates were used. Closed-circuit grinding tests yielded ground products containing slightly more minus-2-micrometer-esd clay than the open-circuit grinding when using the same clay feed. Energy consumption was lower in closed-circuit grinding than in batch or open-circuit grinding. A modified two-stage closed-circuit grinding system gave the best grade of product and amount of minus -2-micrometer-esd clay produced per pound of clay feed. The ground product from this test contained 88.5 percent minus-2-micrometer-esd material and electrical energy consumption was 327 kilowatt-hours per ton of minus-2-micrometer-esd material produced.

Jan 1, 1973