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By A. D. McMahon

This survey is one of a series of Bureau of Mines publications designed to serve the needs of Government and industry for comprehensive information on mineral commodities and activities. Copper, a versatile metal, has been vital to all civilizations from pre-historic times to the present. Its essential value in antiquity and until the nineteenth century arose from its malleability and ease of working, its corrosion resistance and durability, its attractive colors in alloyed and unalloyed forms, and, of course, its availability. The principal uses were for tools, utensils, vessels, weapons, pipe, statuary and other objects of art, and for building and architectural purposes where formability, permanence, and beauty were necessary qualities. Utilization of copper based on these physical and mechanical properties has grown tremendously for commercial, structural, mechanical, architectural, and art items; and its capacity for forming numerous alloys has led to a myriad of applications from miniature copper and brass eyelets to huge bronze battleship propellers. The early nineteenth century marks the epoch of the greatest use of copper, transmitting electrical energy. This particular property of copper is fundamental to the spectacular growth of the electrical industry and all associated industries relying on electricity for power, light, and heat. More than half of all copper produced is used for transmission of electricity.

Jan 1, 1964

By P. R. Thomas

The Bureau of Mines determined the costs associated with the production of chromium, in the form of chromite and high-carbon ferrochomium, from the demonstated resources of 10 market economy nations. The analyses evaluated the relative geologic and economic position of these chromite resources contained within 80 producing or potential mining operations. This report presents cost evaluations of a demonstrated resource of chromite, contained within the nations studied, of appoximately 1.2 billion metric tons (t). Of this total, 70 pct is contained within the southern African nations of Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa. The majority of current chromium mining and smelting capacity is contained within these two countries as well. India and the Philippines have recently demonstrated greatly increased chromite resources and hold the most promise for expanding both chomite and ferrochromium production outside southern Africa. Their demonstrated resources represent approximately 7 and 16 pet, respectively, of the cost evaluated total tonnage. Chromite resources, on an identified or hypothetical basis worldwide, are highly concentrated within Zimbabwe and South Africa, with these two nations containing in excess of 95 pet of the total. Given the present market structure, a majority of chromium contained within the demonstrated chromite resources of the nations studied is economically recoverable; but from a long-term resource and economic perspective, South Africa should inceasingly dominate the markets for both chromite and high-carbon ferrochromium. In addition, it is anticipated that an increasing percentage of chromium traded on the world market in the future will be in the form of high-carbon ferrochromium as opposed to chromite, as this additional processing stage continues to relocate from the industrial nations that account for a majority of chromium consumption to those nations that mine chromite.

Jan 1, 1984

More than 400 academic, government, and industry representatives attended the second symposium on ash utilization and technology held in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 10-11, 1970. Sponsored by the National Coal Association, Edison electric Institute, American Public Power Association, National Ash Association, and the Bureau of Mines, the symposium featured 23 formal presentations by leading experts from Europe and the United States on all major phases of ash production, utilization, and research. Abstracts of all the papers are grouped right after this introduction, and the full symposium proceedings follow. Biographical sketches of the representatives are given in an appendix. Sponsoring organizations and their chief representatives were the National Coal Association, James R. Garvey, Bituminous Coal Research, Inc.; Edison Electric Institute, C. E. Brackett, Southern Electric Generating Co.; American Public Power Association, Howard J. Stemm, Columbus (Ohio) Electricity Division; National Ash Association, Inc., John A. Tillinghast, American Electric Power Service Corp.; and the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, William L. Crentz.

Jan 1, 1970

By Russell R. McLellan

The Tertiary channel gravel deposits in northern California were selected Or detailed investigation by the U. S. Bureau of Mines as part of a national program to locate potential sources of gold that might be developed rapidly by large-scale mining operations. Five bureau research centers representing mining and metallurgy subsystems coordinated their efforts in a team operation to identify and investigate possible solutions to the problem area, that long have discouraged the resumption of large-scale mining in the deposits. This report summarizes the individual investigations, conclusions and recommendations conducted and prepared by all mining subsystems research groups after the completion of two years of field work at the deposits on San Juan Ridge in Nevada County, California. The studies indicate that modern mining technology can cope with the environmental problems that closed the immense hydraulic mines in 1,884. however, they also indicate that mining can be conducted with only marginal profits its unless the price of gold remains substantially above $70 per ounce or unless sufficient by-products can be recovered and sold to place the average value per cubic yard of gravel into a positive commercial range. The by-product potential of the Tertiary gravels remains to be investigated in more detail.

Jan 1, 2012

By D. T. Randall

The burning of coal without smoke is a problem that concerns the Government directly because of the advantages of smokeless combustion both in public buildings and on naval vessels. In addition, smoke abatement is a factor in conserving the fuel resources of the United States. Hence, as part of its general investigation of the best methods of utilizing the coals of this country, the Bureau of Mines, which is in charge of the fuel-testing work formerly carried on by the United States Geological Survey, has made extended tests to determine the conditions necessary for the smokeless combustion of bituminous coal in boiler furnaces. Bulletin 39,¢ a preliminary report, treats the smoke problem from a theoretical point of view, detailing the steps that are being taken by municipalities, manufacturers, and citizens to abate smoke, also showing the possibility of a clean city. The present bulletin not only shows that bituminous coals high in volatile matter can be burned without smoke, but also that large plants carrying loads that fluctuate widely, where boilers over banked fires must be put into service quickly and fires forced to the capacity of their units, can be operated without producing smoke that is objectionable. Proper equipment, efficient labor, and intelligent supervision are the necessary factors.

Jan 1, 1918

By R. W. Brigstocke

History The birth of the mining industry of Canada took place about 1670. According to Salone (Salone E., La Colonisation de la Nouvelle France, page 205) the first discovery of ore in the country was made by an iron-master, Monsieur de la Potardiere, near Trois Rivieres, Quebec. Under French rule some prospecting was done; but at this time no one seemed to consider the working of mines practicable. It was not until the time that Begon became Intendant, when the Marquis of Vaudreuil was Governor, that mining was attempted. Begon was a patron of industrial arts and did his best to promote home manufactures. The mining industry was developed under his regime and discoveries of copper and lead ores were made in 1730. About this time the St. Maurice Forges were erected to treat bog-iron ore, and they were in operation for many years. Prior to 1747, iron pans to the value of £21,000 were manufactured, together with bar-iron and plough-shares. About 1769, that is, ten years after the conquest by Wolfe, stoves and other articles, and, later, potash kettles, appeared. What is still more interesting to us-or was, at least, to General Wolfe-is that cannon balls made at the St. Maurice Forges delayed his operations. A map dated 1744, a copy of which appears in the report of the Ontario Bureau of Mines for 1913 (Vol. XIX), indicates the extensiveness of the wanderings of the French and also shows the location of the lead mine on the east shore of Lake Timiskaming. Bog-iron ore was turned into metal, with charcoal for fuel, at Norman-dale, Norfolk county, Ontario, in 1813, and at Clementsport, Nova Scotia, in 1825. In a volume published in 1672, reference is made to the occurrence of coal on the Atlantic seaboard, and in 1677 Monsieur Duchesneau, the Intendant, levied a royalty of twenty sous per ton on all coal taken from Cape Breton.

Jan 1, 1932

1. Domestic Production and Use: Twelve companies operated 31 primary aluminum reduction plants, three firms accounting for 66% of production. Washington, Oregon, and Montana accounted for 32% of the total production; Gulf Coast States, 25%; Northern States, 29%; and other Southern States, 14%. Output of primary metal in 1973 was valued at $2.2 billion. About 80% of the secondary recovery was from new aluminum base scrap and 20% was from old scrap. Aluminum consumption by 25,000 firms was centered in the East Central United States. Of aluminum consuming industries in 1972, building accounted for 28%; transportation 19%; electrical, 13%; packaging, 16%; and consumer durab1es, 10%.

Jan 1, 1974

New Trade Status for Mainland China--On January 24, the Congress approved a most-favored-nation trade status with Mainland China for both imports and exports. A Presidential Proclamation had been issued earlier in anticipation of the Congressional action. Import duties on such commodities as tungsten, mercury, and antimony are automatically decreased. Defense Production Act Extended--The Defense Production Act of 1950 was extended 60 days to March 28, 1980. The provision for the usual 2-year extension of the Act is reportedly included in an omnibus energy bill that is tied up in committee. The Act under Title III provides for the expansion of productive capacity and supply and, more specifically, it gives priority to defense contracting where defense and non-defense interests conflict

Jan 1, 1980

By E. D. Gardner

This paper discusses small-scale lade gold mining and milling. It is abstracted from a bulletin being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines entitled "Equipping, Developing, and Operating Small Gold Mines." Gold is widely distributed in the mountainous regions of the United States; relatively few deposits, however, can be profitably worked on a large scale. Because of the high intrinsic value of gold, ores containing this metal may be very rich; hence it is possible to mine profitably smaller bodies of gold ore than of the more common metals.

Jan 1, 1934

By Wendell L. Reich

Percussion drilling dates back to the hand operated star drill and hammer. Eventually steam and compressed air were substituted for muscle power and the mechanical percussion drill was born. From the hand held jack hammers, driving a forged steel bit into the rock, there evolved the jack leg, the rubber tired and crawler mounted drill carrier with automatic feed, increasing power and reducing man?s muscle requirements. Because the reaction of a blow on one end of a piece of steel has to be transmitted to the other end there is a limit to the depth or length of drill steel that can economically be used in out of the hole percussion devices. During the late 1800?s there is evidence that designers were attempting to put the percussion tool at the bottom of the hole, directly on the bit, in order to avoid the long drill steel which absorbed much of the blow, leaving little to be applied to the bit and the rock being drilled.

Jan 1, 1972

The domestic mineral and material industry grew in some key sectors and declined in others during 1993; overall, the industry was poised at yearend for stronger growth in 1994. Metals production is expected to increase with anticipated growth in U.S. motor vehicle sales. There also may be increased demand for industrial minerals in 1994 based on domestic highway and building construction. Additional information on events, trends, and issues in the mineral and material industry is presented below and in the commodity sections that follow. Overall Industry Performance The value of processed materials produced from minerals in the United States during 1993 is estimated to have been about $326 billion, an increase of 5% compared with that of 1992. The estimated value of U.S. raw nonfuel minerals production in 1993 was $31.6 billion, about 1 % less than in the preceding year. The value of domestic minerals production has risen in 28 of the last 33 years.

Jan 1, 1994

The accompanying supply/demand flow diagrams and 10-year tables for mineral and fuel commodities present essential data required by government, industry, and others to formulate policies and programs that can help assure an adequate and continuing supply of mineral raw materials. The 10-year data base terminates with 1975 figures because adequate world information was not available beyond that date. The selected mineral supply/demand tables and flow diagrams comprise but one "output" from the massive body of information and data collected and compiled by the Bureau of Mines on a continuing basis covering mineral production, consumption, prices, shipments, imports, exports, and stocks, as well as industry activities in all States and abroad.

Jan 1, 2012

By Joel A. Hunt

The Bunker Hill Mine, located in north Idaho, consists of over 150 miles of passageways within highly fractured and faulted Precambrian metamorphosed rocks. The Bunker Hill Mine was at one time a major producer of lead and zinc; currently it is on inactive but maintained status. Ground water moving along flow paths that have been disturbed by mining reacts with pyrite and oxygen to produce acid water within the mine. Discharge of this acid water averages more than 5 cubic feet per second, with an average zinc concentration of 160 mg/L and pH of 2.8. Treatment of this acid mine drainage is required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Cessation of all underground activities at the Bunker Hill Mine will not terminate the production of acid mine drainage. Reclamation alternatives that could either reduce the quantity or Improve the quality of the drainage upon mine closure are highly attractive. This project is directed towards delineation of reclamation alternatives based upon an understanding of the characteristics of ground water recharge near the mine. A variety of field techniques were used to identify areas of rapid infiltration and to investigate the ground water flow system associated with the upper portion of the mine in a portion of the Milo Creek drainage. These techniques include Installation of piezometer nests, dye tracing, surface resistivity, dye dilution, spring surveys, and hydrochemical analyses. Sites of direct Infiltration into the mine have been located. These include mine workings directly below perennial streams, intersections between streams and faults, and a caved area adjacent to an ephemeral stream. Results of these investigations indicate that recharge through these sites is not as rapid as suggested by previous studies. Inflow to the underground workings from the ground water flow system around the margin of the mine may account for more mine water than sites of direct infiltration. Recharge control at areas of direct infiltration could result in a net decrease in the quantity of acid drainage from the Bunker Hill Mine. Locations suggested for recharge control are West Milo Creek above the Guy Caving Area, the intersections of the Cate Fault with South Milo and Milo Creeks, and an area of Milo Creek below the Milo Creek Dam that overlies shallow mine workings.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. Foster Bain

The war has brought about many changes in the Western States, and some have deep pr sent or potent al economic significance. The West has been feeling severe growing pains for a number of years. Especially since the beginning of preparation for national defense and through the period of

Jan 1, 1945

By William O. Vanderburg

This paper gives the results of a reconnaissance of the mining districts in Humboldt County, Nev., made during the month of June, 19373/. During the field work, virtually all the mining districts in the county were visited and many data were obtained on a number of active and inactive properties. No attempt has boon made to include in this report all the properties in the various mining districts, and it should be emphasized that whether or not a property is mentioned herein has no being on its merit. The report covers the location of the various mining; districts, types of deposit, information on past operations and current activity, and general information likely to be useful to operators, investors, and others interested in mining. The geology of the deposits is discussed only briefly. The names of the various mining districts mentioned in this report are those generally used when they were organized for purposes of record and regulation. As organized, the districts embraced largo areas with no definite boundaries, and the names have little significance.

Jan 1, 1938

By K. E. Waters, J. E. Nesset, F. Rosenblum, R. Langlois, J. A. Finch

"Some sulphide mineral mixtures when exposed to air and a warm and humid environment can exhibit a self-generating temperature rise, referred to as self-heating or spontaneous heating. The observed self-heating derives from the oxidation reactions of the active sulphides. In previous publications by the authors, it was proposed that the self-heating of sulphides proceed in three distinct stages; namely, Stage A, Stage B and Stage C. In Stage A (<100OC) the sulphides, in the presence of moisture are oxidized, generating heat through a series of sequential reactions and forming elemental sulphur as one of the products. In Stage B (>100OC) the elemental sulphur produced in Stage A is further oxidized to generate additional heat and SO2. Stage C (>~380OC), sometimes referred to as thermal runaway or roasting, is not addressed in this paper. This communication focuses on the type and role of elemental sulphur found in Stages A and B, and the sequence of reactions that is occurring in Stage A. The sequence is divided into two phases, the first based on galvanic interaction between the sulphide minerals that generates an acidic environment but little heat, and the second involving the production of H2S which rapidly oxidizes to produce heat and elemental sulphur. To date, data suggest that the primary oxidation product formed in Stage A is the stable orthorhombic a-S8 form of elemental sulphur. Above 96OC the a-S8 transforms to a monoclinic ß-S8 structure which is less stable and will readily oxidize to generate heat and SO2. Above 159OC a proportion of the ß-S8 sulphur will transition to a polymeric Sµ form of sulphur which can readily volatilize. INTRODUCTION Some particulate and granular materials, when exposed to appropriate atmospheric and physical conditions, can exhibit a self-induced temperature rise resulting from accumulated heat due to internal exothermic oxidation reactions. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as self-heating or spontaneous heating. Under favorable physical and environmental conditions, these reactions can elevate the temperature of a given material from ambient to the point of auto-ignition. Self-heating behaviour should not be equated to pyrophoric behaviour which describes a group of materials (e.g. certain finely powdered metals) that will ignite spontaneously in air below 55OC. There are numerous materials such as coals, hay, forestry wood products, food products to name a few that can exhibit self-heating behaviour. This publication continues the focus of the authors on the self-heating of sulphide mineral mixtures. Many of the metals of commercial use found in nature are in the form of these sulphides which must be mined, crushed, ground and concentrated prior to smelting or hydrometallurgical processing in order to produce primary metal. The issues of sulphide self-heating therefore pertain to the mining and processing of metals."

Jan 1, 2018

The Canadian concept for nuclear fuel waste disposal is being assessed by AECL Research in a series of experiments at its Underground Research Laboratory (URL) near Lac du Bonnet. Manitoba, Canada. As pan of this research, the Mine-by Experiment has been designed to obtain information on rock mass behavior, the development of an excavation-induced damage zone and failure mechanisms around a circular bored tunnel. An iterative design approach was used to effectively reconcile the experiment objectives and construction logistics. This paper discusses the design considerations and construction methodology adopted on the project.

Jan 1, 1991

By A. J. Weinig

IN the accompanying figure consider the classified AB in closed circuit with a ball mill, wherein T = Tonnage of new feed C = Ratio of circulating load Now consider that the circulating load is made up of two portions of ore. One portion is due entirely to the characteristics of the ball mill and the tonnage of new feed impressed on the ball mill. This portion of the circulating load in no way is to be blamed on the characteristics of the classifier and is all composed of oversize. Consider, for illustration, that this portion of the circulating load is handled in the A division of the classifier, assuming that the classifier is divided longitudinally into two divisions by an imaginary line. Because the classifier does not usually make a perfect separation of the undersize, a certain portion of the total circulating load is to be directly blamed on the efficiency of the classifier. Let this portion of the circulating load be considered as being handled in the B division of the classifier. Now if the classifier is operating perfectly (100 per cent efficient), the width due to the B division becomes zero and correspondingly the efficiency of the classifier diminishes as B becomes wider in proportion to A. If E is the mechanical efficiency, then

Jan 1, 1934

By Ronald D. Rothchild

This report describes the results of a study of longwall ignition hazards and specific suppression systems to minimize each of the major hazards. The major ignition hazards were identified by conducting a literature search and conversing with knowledgeable individuals in the United States mining industry. Three classes of potential ignition suppression systems are discussed: triggered suppression systems for face ignition, passive suppression systems, and control of ignition hazard in the gob. The triggered suppression systems included protection for the shearer, head and tail gates, welding equipment, and the shearer power cable. Passive systems include improved ventilation and water sprays, and charges in the shearer head. Gob protection can be improved by isolating the gob from working areas and by introducting inerting agents into the gob.

Jan 1, 1976

A stronger U.S. economy stimulated the domestic mineral sector in 1994. Metals demand was spurred by robust U.S. motor vehicle sales, while demand for major industrial minerals rose in response to highway and building construction. Domestic mineral and material demand is expected to increase in 1995, particularly if interest rates do not restrain the building industry and international monetary exchange rates remain advantageous to U.S. automobile manufacturers. Additional information on events, trends, and issues in the mineral and material sector is presented below and in the commodity sections that follow. Overall Performance Processed materials of mineral origin produced in the United States during 1994 increased to an estimated value of $360 billion. Domestic output of raw nonfuel minerals in 1994 was estimated at $34 billion, about 6% more than that of 1993. The value of U.S. minerals production has increased in 29 of the last 34 years.

Jan 1, 1995