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The Anaconda Copper Company reportedly reached an exclusive agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc., to explore 24 million acres in south-central Alaska and to share equally with Cook the proceeds of any mineral discovery. According to an Anaconda geologist, "the company is anticipating, based on geologic testing, that it will find significant deposits of copper, lead, and zinc. There is also evidence of the presence of precious metals such as silver and gold, and also strong evidence of strategic minerals such as chrome, platinum, tin, and nickel." Cook Inlet Region, Inc., is owned by 6,500 Alaskan natives. Chile, which has a growing, free-market economy under President Pinochet, reportedly will no longer require companies to obtain prior governmental approval for the exploration and development of new mines.

Jan 1, 1981

By P. M. Ambrose, C. Travis Anderson, Cresap Moss, R. S. Dean

"MANGANESE METALMethods of PreparationMethods of preparing the manganese metal that has been used in chemical and metallurgical investigations have passed through a cycle. Most of the investigations made before the turn of the century used Moissan's pyrophoric manganese. 5/ This material was made by electrolysis into a mercury cathode and distillation in vacuo. It was essentially a pure material, and investigations in which it was employed (with proper precautions against oxida¬tion) led to accurate results concerning the intrinsic behavior of metallic manganese.An early investigation of the properties of ""Manganese-by-Mercury"" was made by M. Guntz. 6/ He prepared manganese by electrolysis of a concentrated MnCl2 solution with a mercury cathode. The manganese amalgam was pressed through chamois and distilled in vacuo (2 to 3 cm. of mercury) at 200°0., slowly rising to 250°0. Guntz recognized especially the decreased reactivity of manganese with increased temperature of mercury distillation. The most careful and com¬prehensive study of manganese made by this method is that of Kuh 7/ whose work unfortunately was never published in an accessible journal.Royce and Kahlenberg 8/ studied the electrode potential of manganese made by this method."

Nov 1, 1939

By Pedro Lilienfeld

This report describes a program whose objective was to develop, design, fabricate and laboratory-test two prototype instruments capable of real-time selective detection and measurement of airborne fibrous-shaped particles. The operation of this fibrous aerosol monitor (FAM) is based on the rotation imparted to the acicular particles by means of a rotating quadrupole electric field of the order of 3000 V/cm. This field induces a dipole charge separation on the fibers and aligns them with the applied field. The selective detection of the fibers is effected by synchronous detection of the resulting modulation of the light scattered from a continuous-wave helium-neon laser beam by the rotating particles. The theory of operation, design of the electric-optical detection configuration and the electronic signal processing method are discussed. By means of a scattering pulse sharpness discrimination technique, fibers whose length exceed a selectable value are detected and their number concentration digitally displayed. Counting times of 1 to 1000 minutes permit the measurement of fiber concentrations between 0.001 and about 30 cm-3. A concentration of the order of one fiber per cubic centimeter can be assessed within a relative standard deviation of 10 percent with a counting period of 10 minutes. The FAM is a portable, battery-powered instrument capable of operating continuously for about 4 hours between battery charges. Preliminary tests with crocidolite and crysotile asbestos as well as with glass fibers were performed in the laboratory and the results indicate good correlation with the standard NIOSH phase contrast microscopy filter counting method.

Jan 1, 1977

By G. G. Campbell

The Bureau of Mines in cooperation with Quaker State Refining Corp. conducted two underground-combustion oil-recovery experiments in the Venango Second sandstone in the Reno pool, Foster-Rena-Oil City field, Sugar Creek Township) Venango County, Pa.) to determine the applicability of the process for reservoirs producing Pennsylvania-grade paraffin-base crude oil. Tests were terminated when analyses of produced gas showed that a self-sustaining combustion front did not exist. It was thought that insufficient fuel had been deposited in the formation. Laboratory retort tests made after the second field test was concluded showed that crude oil from the Reno area would deposit enough fuel to support combustion if air flux, temperature, and time were maintained within defined limits.

Jan 1, 1967

By Howard E. Parkinson

In 1969, new coal mine health and safety legislation was enacted in the United States. As a result of this legislation, the Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines has carried out communications research aimed at developing whole mine communications for increased safety and efficient operation. The research has advanced and many promising results are now being demonstrated to the mining industry. However, there remains a challenge to further improve wireless communications within the mine workings, and through the overburden above the workings. The objectives for future research and development will be discussed, together with the physical and operational constraints that new mine communication systems must face.

Jan 1, 1973

By C. R. Carpenter

A dynamic gas-mixing system assembled by the Bureau of Mines for the generation of precise gas mixtures from sources of concentrated or pure gases and diluent gases is described. A set of electronic mass flow controllers with maximum flows ranging from 10 to 5,000 ml/min, a so-called Pure Air Generator, and gases in cylinders are used to generate differing gas concentrations. The repeatability of the delivery rate of a flow controller, measured on different days, has a precision of 0.3 pct of the setting. This dynamic gas-mixing system reduces the cylinder inventory and the demurrage charges for special gas mixtures. Gas mixtures that cannot be shipped commercially, such as flammable mixtures of methane in air, can be conveniently prepared by this system. The maximum dilution ratio is 2.5 x 104. Thus, gas mixtures can be made over a wide range of concentrations, from the percent region (by dilution of a pure single-component gas) to fractional parts per million (by dilution of a premixed standard, e.g., a 1,000-ppm mixture). This system is especially useful in determining the response of gas detection devices over the entire range of their measurement. Because the controllers are voltage controlled they lend themselves easily to automated control using computer-based systems.

Jan 1, 1983

By C. L. Karr

Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) have developed adaptive process control systems in which genetic algorithms (GA's) are used to augment fuzzy logic controllers (FLC's). GA's are search algorithms that rapidly locate near-optimum solutions to a wide spectrum of problems by loosely modeling the search procedures of natural genetics. FLC's are rule-based systems that efficiently manipulate a problem environment by modeling the "rule-of-thumb" strategy used in human decision-making. Together, GA's and FLC's include all of the capabilities necessary to produce powerful, efficient, and robust adaptive control systems. To perform efficiently, such control systems require a control element to manipulate the problem environment, an analysis element to recognize changes in the problem environment, and an adaptive element to adjust to the changes in the problem environment. The control system also employs a computer simulation of the problem environment. Details of an overall adaptive control system are discussed. A specific laboratory acid-base pH system is used to demonstrate the ideas presented; all results are from the physical laboratory system and not from a computer simulation.

Jan 1, 2010

By Fred W. Johnson

The first section of this circular has been prepared with a view to answering inquiries frequently received by the Bureau regarding laws governing the staking of claims and regulations covering requirements for holding them and obtaining title in fee to placer ground. These laws and regulations were summarized briefly in Information Circular 6796, "Placer Mining in the Western United States." These laws, however, are administered by the General Land Office, Department of the Interior, and it has been considered advisable to combine an authoritative résumé thereof by the Commissioner of that Bureau with information on small-scale placer mining previously published by the Bureau of Mines. The second section of this circular is largely a revised reprint of Information Circular 6611, "Small-Scale Placer Mining Methods", first published in April 1932 for the purpose of answering the many daily inquiries then being received on this subject. This circular has been reprinted repeatedly, and about 30,000 copies have been distributed, most of them in response to applications therefor. At present (June 1937) requests for this publication continue to be received daily.

Jan 1, 1938

By D. D. Hamilton

The ISMS program provided for the development and demonstration of equipment modifications for improved safety in both conventional and continuous coal mining systems. This report documents the success of the program in identifying accident hazards in underground coal mines with 4-to 8-foot seam heights, in designing modifications to reduce the hazards, and in demonstrating improved safety through extended underground use of the ISMS equipment.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. A. Calhoun

"INTRODUCTION A letter from S. D. Strauss, vice president of Metals Reserve Company, Washington, D.C., dated May 22, 1945, to the chief of the Metallurgical Branch, Bureau of Mines, in Washington; includes the following: Because of the present critical shortage that exists in the supply of corundum required by certain industries in war production, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Mr. W. C. Keeley, Vice Chairman for Metals and Minerals, War Production Board, has recommended that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation though Metals Reserve Company, proceed with preliminary mill testing of the corundum ore in Gallatin County, Montana, and that the results of that testing be transmitted to the War Production Board. If the results of the testing work are considered satisfactory, Metals Reserve Company will then provide for the actual mining and milling of the ore for the production of corundum concentrates.Pursuant to the above stated recommendation by the War Production Board, Metals Reserve Company desires to make -use of the facilities of the Bureau of Mines testing plant at Rolla, Missouri, for conducting sink and float and other concentration tests on representative samples of the Montana corundum ore. Two, and possibly three samples of ore are to be tested which will have an aggregate weight of approximately 50 tons."

Dec 1, 1947

By William Seymour, L. D. Schmidt, J. W. Myers, W. T. Reid

"This investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Mines as part of a program of the Solid Fuels Administration to encourage the utilization of anthracite fines, the objective being to determine the practicability of using anthracite fines in the manufacture of packagedThe experimental loss of packaged fuel covered by this report were made at a commercial plant using the Glenn Smith process and ordinarily making packaged fuel from Pocahontas screenings. These lots included several made from straight antimacite mines and others made from various blends of anthracite fines with four different bituminous coals. In all cases an asphalt binder was used. Determinations of the physical properties and the cobustion characteristics o the various samples of packaged fuel were made by the. Bureau of Mines at the Central Experiment Station.The physical tests indicated that a packaged fuel of sufficient strength for ordinary handling can be made from straight anthracite coal or from a wide variety of blends of anthracite fixes with bitunimous coal, using asphaltic binder. However the combustion tests indicated that packaged fuel made from anthracite alone tended to crumble excessively during burning and that as much as 30 to 50 percent of a caking coal may be required In the mixture to produce a block having satisfactory combustion characteristics.The authors wish to acknowledge the. splendid cooperation of Messrs. H. W. Kelly, J. L. Mooney and C. H. Stoss of Columbus, Ohio, who were chiefly responsible for obtaining the materials and making all the arrangements necessary for the production of the packaged fuel for testing.Thanks are due to the officials of Carnegie Institute of Technology for the use of their Olsen. Testing Machine and to H. M. Cooper and W. A. Selvig of the Bureau of Mines for analyses and tests."

May 1, 1946

By T. T. Read, F. C. Houghten

"The bad effects upon the health and output of miners that result when the ventilating current in a mine lacks sufficient cooling power have been described by Harrington and Sayers in a previous report (1)*** The normal temperature of the human body is about 98.5°F. and whenever work is done by the muscles, indeed even when sitting still, the normal bodily processes generate heat which must be given off, otherwise the body will become overheated and a number of bad effects will be produced. If it were possible to so enclose a man that he could continue to breathe and no heat could escape from his body he would die within a short time. In a series of experiments made at the Pittsburgh Station of the Bureau of McConnell and Houghton (2) found that a dry-bulb and a wet-bulb temperature of 112.5°F could he borne for only 35 minutes, even when the subject was at rest. A wet-bulb temperature of 100.4°F (dry-bulb 157°F) could only be tolerated for 45°F minute. Under such conditions the bodily temperature rises as much as 45°F above normal and the pulse is accelerated. Very uncomfortable sensations are felt when the pulse rate exceeds 135. The human body, like any other internal combustion engine, must be cooled in order to function properly.Under ordinary circumstances the air surroundings people is enough coder than themselves to permit this heat generated within the boiy to be river off with¬out difficulty. At higher temperatures, or when the rate of work, with its corresponding generation of heat is high, the body can not throw off heat fast enough, so it begins to sweat and the evaporation of the sweat cools the body. But the results of the experiments cited above indicate that in still air, even with the body at rent, it can not adjust its temperature when the air is above 90° wet- bulb. J. S. Haldane (4) says ""at a wet-bulb temperature of 60°F the actual amount of work done by the miner begins to fall off; as the wet bulb temperature rinse farther the work Bona gradually diminishes to the vanishing point. Then the temperatures indicated by the wet-bulb exceeds 85°F hard work in a mine seems hardly or the commercial working of a mine the wet-bulb thermometer should not in generaI, be allowed to rise above 80°F, unless perhaps where there it a good current."

Dec 1, 1923

By Victor V. Verbinski

This report presents the development of a raw coal concentration sensor for hydro-transport of coal and refuse (rock) from underground mines, and the results of an international test series carried out at the Colorado School of Mines Research Institute in Golden, Colorado, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Hydraulic Transport Research Facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan Research Facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and the Steinkohlenbergbauverein Test Facility in Essen, West Germany. Test results are presented for a three-component sensor and also for the more rugged two-component (all nuclear) sensor.

Jan 1, 1988

By F. Sillers, R. T. C. Rasmussen

"INTRODUCTION This is the third report of investigations by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with industry to establish the value of electrolytic manganese in the manufacture of ferrous and nonferrous alloys. The manganese was produced by the Bureau at its Boulder City pilot plant from domestic ores and by the process developed by it. 4/ The work was done under the direction of R.S. Dean, assistant director, Bureau of Mines, and R. G. Knickerbocker, chief, metallurgical branch. The first report dealt with the use of electrolytic manganese in the manufacture of stainless steels 5/ and the second with its use in acid electric or open-hearth low- and medium-carbon steel castings. 6/The present report treats of the use of electrolytic manganese in the manufacture of low—carbon rimmed and killed steels. A résumé of these three investigations and two others appeared in the magazine STEEL. 7/ Further reports will be published as tests are completed at some 70 industrial plants. All tests were made on full—scale heats or melts, and the resultant product was processed and used commercially."

Jul 1, 1945

By A. C. Munro

This paper, which describes the milling practice at the Britannia concentrator, Britannia Beach, B. C., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines. The concentrator treats copper ore at the present rate of 6,000 to 7,000 tons of dry ore daily and produces copper concentrate and pyrite concentrate by selective flotation methods. The copper concentrate is smelted and the pyrite product is utilized for acid manufacture.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. M. Goris

Cable bolt supports are becoming an important ground control technique in underground mines in the United States and Canada. They show great versatility and are adaptable for use with many mining techniques, they have high load-carrying capacities, they can be installed in small areas with low roots, and they are cost effective. Investigators in a number of research institutes in North America have conducted studies to assess the material and support properties of cable bolts, evaluate their support capabilities under various mining conditions, and provide design criteria for using cable bolt supports as roof control systems under varying mining conditions. While conducting these studies, personnel have collected important information on the history, application, performance, and economics of these supports. This U.S. Bureau of Mines report documents this information so that ground control personnel unfamiliar with cable bolt supports can gain an understanding and appreciation of their use. A comprehensive bibliography of technical information on cable bolt supports was selected by the authors and is also presented.

Jan 1, 1994

By H. C. Fuller, J. H. Jacobs

"Manganese ore from Metals Reserve stock piles at Deming, N. Mex., Cushman, Ark., and Philipsburg, Mont., were processed in the Bureau of Mines pilot plant at Boulder City, Nev., to determine their suitability for the production of electrolytic manganese. Manganese was produced successfully from all of the ores.The ores, crushed and ground to minus 33-mesh, were roasted in a Skinner furnace to reduce the manganese and were then leached with spent electrolyte, from the cells, containing sulfuric acid. Acid-leach extractions of 96 percent on Deming, 89 percent on Cushman, and 97.5 percent on Philipsburg ores were obtained. Neutralization of leaches with ammonia results in the highest manganese extraction; but Cushman and Deming leaches could not be neutralized with ammonia, because the amount required was more than enough to maintain the proper ammonium sulfate concentration. A combination of ammonia and calcine was used. However, ammonia was satisfactory for neutralization of Philipsburg leaches. Sulfuric acid needed for make-up was as follows: Deming, 0.380 pound per pound of manganese extracted when neutralized with ammonia and calcine; Cashman, 0.402 pound per pound of manganese extracted when neutralized with ammonia and calcine; Philipsburg, 0.594 round per pound of manganese extracted when neutralized with ammonia alone.All of the leach slurries settled well enough to be separated and washed in countercurrent thickeners.Impurities were precipitated with hydrogen sulfide and removed by filtration. Cushman ore solution contained only- small amounts of impurities and required 0.055 gram of hydrogen sulfide per liter of solution for purification. Deming and Philipsburg solutions contained large amounts of zinc and required 0.55 and 0.65 gram of hydrogen sulfide per liter of solution, respectively.Electrodeposition was satisfactory on all three ores and current efficiencies of 62 to 66 were obtained.A process for the production of electrolytic manganese has been developed by the Bureau of Mines, first on a laboratory scale4/ and then on a semicommercial pilot-plant scale.5/ At first the- pilot plant operated on ore from the Three Kids mine near Las Vegas, Nev., to determine the practical features of the process on ore of this type. Since completing the work on this ore, the pilot plant has been used for processing other domestic ores to obtain engineering data and other economic information regarding the amenability of such ores to the process."

Sep 1, 1946

By Oliver C. Ralston

The nonmetallic minerals work of the Bureau of Mines started with the organization of the Mineral Technology Division in 1912. A special experiment station devoted to the mining, preparation, and processing of nonmetallic minerals was established in 1923 at New Brunswick, N. J., and concentration problems on nonmetallic minerals of all kinds also were studied at the Mississippi Valley Experiment Station at Rolla, Mo. In July 1936 the Nonmetals Division was organized, and in May 1937 the Nonmetallic Minerals Experiment Station at New Brunswick, N. J., was moved to and made a part of the new Eastern Experiment Station at College Park, Md. At present the Nonmetals Division operates at three points: The Eastern Experiment Station, College Park, Md., which is headquarters for the division chief; the Southern Experiment Station, Tuscaloosa, Ala.; and the Northwest Experiment Station, Seattle, Wash., where coal washing and preparation studies are included with those on nonmetallic minerals. Sand, gravel, and aggregate work is carried on by the Mining Division, as sand and gravel preparation are intimately associated with mining methods. The Economics Branch of the Bureau of Mines also prepares occasional papers on nonmetallic technologic subjects in connection with the presentation of statistics on a particular industry and reviews of the mineral industry in foreign countries for use in the monthly publication, "Mineral Trade Notes."

Jan 1, 1937

By Manuel Gomez, V. F. Parry, John B. Goodman

"INTRODUCTION The need for an accurate and precise analytical method for determining moisture in coals of high water content has been recognized by the coal industry as well as the fuel technologist. Interest in this particular phase of coal technology extends back to the early work of German investigators on the brown coals of Central Europe. Studies by these workers led to the establishment of a direct immiscible liquid-distillation method 4/ as the accepted moisture determining technique in European laboratories. Direct moisture determining methods, those methods that utilize various techniques to drive off the water from a given sample of coal and either collect the water in a calibrated receiver or selectively trap the water driven off in a suitable absorber, have found little favor in the United States. They have been treated merely as research tools.5/ The problem of moisture determination in low-rank coals of the United States has not been given much consideration because such coals contribute only about 2 percent of the total United States production. With renewed activity in low-temperature carbonization and with the growth of interest in coal and coal-tar hydrogenation, the American coals of lover rank containing 20 to 40 percent bed moisture will be subjected to extensive investigation. If the low-rank coals of the United States are to be accurately appraised, the need for qualitative and quantitative analytical proceeded becomes more pronounced. These coals, especially the lignites of Texas and North Dakota, are highly susceptible to oxidation, a process that proceeds to a greater or less extort when low-rank, high-moisture coals are treated by oven-drying methods. The extent of this atmospheric oxidation has been described and evaluated by numerous workers. 7/In many respects, the problem of moisture determination in low-rank coals, those found in the United States and the high-moisture coals of Central Europe, is similar. Conversely, the problem of moisture determination assumes a different aspect when the coals of the eastern and the middle-west sections of the United States are considered. Present methods, the loss in weight gravimetic-type procedures, serve adequately to test these low-moisture coals. The determination of moisture in coals containing 20 to 40 percent water should be approached from a direct method rather than from an indirect gravimetic-type procedure because of the oxidative tendencies of these coals and the demonstratrated inability of a loss-in-weight technique to remove all the water in a given sample of coal."

May 1, 1953

By E. R. Andersen, F. E. Block, T. T. Campbell

This work was done to develop methods for increasing the yields and purity of vanadium prepared by bomb reduction of vanadium compounds . Compounds reduced were V₂ 05 , V203 , VC , and VC13 . Sodium , calcium , and magnesium were used as reductants . Variables considered included reductant form , bomb size , pressure during reaction , method of ignition , and the use of slag fluidizing additives . It was concluded that yields of 85 to 90 percent can be effected by the calcium reduction of V205 in reactors measuring as much as 14 inches in diameter and 60 inches in height . Optimum charge composition included V₂05 , 65 percent excess calcium , and 0.4 moles sulfur per mole vanadium . Purity of the vanadium produced in large reactors varied from 99.5 to 99.8 percent . The higher purity metal , depending upon the amounts of interstitial impurities present , was usually cold ductile . Although high yields of up to 99.5 percent can be effected by bomb reduction of VC1 , the high pressures developed in the bombs and attack of the reactor walls by the byproduct chloride slags discourages this method of preparing vanadium . It was found that significant purification of impure regulus metal occurred when it was hydrided , crushed , acid leached , and vacuum dehydrided . Metal so treated can readily be converted to ductile sheet . A cost estimate based on the production of 100 tons of vanadium per year was prepared . It was concluded that pure ductile vanadium could be produced for approximately $ 20.00 per pound .

Jan 1, 1964