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By P. A. Hendricks

This U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) report identifies and evaluates factors responsible for metal/nonmetal (M/NM) underground mining accidents involving mobile equipment. Information regarding the occurrence and severity of the accidents, the type of equipment involved, the primary and contributing causes, and preventive measures is included. The goal of this report is to provide information that will aid mine operators and safety managers in the recognition of hazards associated with operating mobile mining equipment in an underground mining environment.

Jan 1, 1994

This report describes the new Bureau of Mines Core Repository System (CORES) and presents the methods for selecting, processing, and storing physical samples and descriptive data for future reference by earth scientists. The system preserves splits of chip samples and longitudinally sliced segments of core. A records retrieval system provides for storage of data on microfilm and magnetic tapes and uses the keysort parameters of location and commodity for the identification of data.

Jan 1, 1978

By Norman G. Foster

The mass spectra of 14 previously unreported alkylthiophenes are pre-sented. Low ionization voltage data of selected compounds from these 14 and 23 previously reported alkylthiophenes are presented and discussed for their value in supporting fragmentation mechanisms analytical correlations. A comparison with and corroboration of earlier correlations is made. Additional correlations concerning detection of side chain branching and the detection of ethyl-alkyl and propyl-alkylthiophenes are made. A discussion of the possible fragmentation routes and mechanism of fragmentation is given. Speculative structures are inferred s out some of the ions and hence this work provides a basis for suggesting fation mechanisms for the alkylthiophenes according to modern theories ass spectrometry. Verification of these mechanisms must await the availability of isotopically labeled molecules which are labeled in specific lotions that permit the definition of the paths of frag-mentation. Some suggestions for further work to generalize on the correlations and studies made to this point are presented.

Jan 1, 1965

By H. M. Thorne

The Petroleum Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines at Laramie, Wyo., in cooperation with the University of Wyoming, has in progress chemical and refining studies of Wyoming black oils. In general, these crude oils are characterized by their high sulphur, high asphalt, and low gasoline content and are called black oils because of these properties and their color. Characteristics of the various Wyoming black crude oils, as determined by the Bureau of Mines Hempel method of analysis, have been pubished.4/

Jan 1, 1938

By H. M. Thorne

The Petroleum Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines at Laramie, Wyo., in cooperation with the University of Wyoming, has in progress chemical and refining studies of Wyoming black oils. In general, these crude oils are characterized by their high sulphur, high asphalt, and low gasoline content and are called black oils because of these properties and their color. Characteristics of the various Wyoming black crude oils, as determined by the Bureau of Mines Hempel method of analysis, have been published.4/

Jan 1, 1938

By Howard J. Pincus

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of fracture fillings and associated alteration on the mechanical behavior of rocks. Experimental results are presented for 98 specimens from the Climax mine, which were tested since the annual report (May 1973). The conclusions reached are based on both these results and those reported in the annual report. The locations studied are the Climax and Henderson mines in Colorado and the San Manuel mine in Arizona. The rock types studied from each location are from: 1) Climax, medium-grained granite, fine-grained granite, granite porphyry, schist, and gneiss; 2) Henderson, rhyolite porphyry; 3) San Manuel, quartz monzonite and quartz monzonite porphyry. A description of the rocks was made including: color, texture, mineralogy, composition and fabric of fracture fillings, density, apparent porosity, and optical diffraction patterns. Unconfined and triaxial compression tests were run on the Climax and San Manuel specimens. Sonic velocities were measured during the compression tests; Shore sceleroscope hardness was measured before the compression tests. Conclusions are that some relation appears to exist between compressive strength and the following properties and features for all specimens: dynamic Young's modulus, sonic velocity, density, rock composition, slope of velocity curve, composition and fabric of fracture fillings-veinlets, and apparent porosity. There appears to be some relation between compressive strength and Shore scelerscope hardness for the quartz monzonite (San Manuel). A relation appears to exist between texture and compressive strength and the extent of failure on fracture fillings for schists, gneiss, and fine-grained granite (Climax). The amount of swelling clays (montmorillonite, hydromicas, etc.) present in the rock and the relative number of fractures in which they constitute of major portion of the fracture fillings are related to the strength of the rocks. Possible tests for checking the amount of these clays present is presented including saturation, dyes, and X-rays. A useful index relating to rock strength, as revealed in this study, is the presence of swelling clays in detectable abundances. These clays can be detected in the field with a simple wetting and striking test; in the laboratory they can be detected by X-ray and dye methods.

Jan 1, 1974

By D. Harrington

Part III-B, presented in this circular, completes the series reviewing the literature on effects of breathing dusts with special reference to silicosis; it includes data on the status and cost of compensation for silicosis in the United States and several foreign countries and a summary and general conclusions covering the whole series. Parts I, II, and III-A of the series have been issued as Information Circulars 6935, 6840, 6948 , and 6957; Part I defines and classifies dusts, indicates sources of exposure, and describes the physiological effects of breathing dusts; Part II-A discusses the principal dust factors producing pulmonary pathology and methods of determination of dust in air; Part II-B presents data on the engineering and medical control in the prevention of dust diseases and general recommendations for their control in industry; and Part III-A deals with the economic and legal aspects of dust diseases in industry.

Jan 1, 1936

By R. G. Warncke, D. Harrington

"INTRODUCTION The use of black blasting powder as an explosive in coal mines has long been recognized as hazardous and has been responsible for many of the worst disasters in American coal mines. One of the most pressing of the numerous problems confronting the Bureau of Mines, upon its creation in 1910 was to determine methods that would lessen the hazards created by the use of explosives in coal mines. The Bureau continued the study begun by the Technologic Branch of the Geological Survey as to the nature of explosives and made numerous tests to determine types of explosives suitable for blasting in coal mines. The Bureau has tested and approved hundreds of types of explosives and has disseminated information on methods and conditions for use underground to make them permissible as to safety. The Bureau of Mines has encouraged the use of permissible explosives for coal-mine blasting, and its experts both in the laboratory and in the field believe that the use of black blasting powder in any form (granular or pellet) is hazardous in any underground coal mine. Despite the information published at various times and innumerous ways and the general knowledge of the hazards that the use of black blasting powder in any form creates in the blasting of coal, the coal mines in the United States, during 1947 used approximately 34 million pounds of black blasting powder (granular or pellet), or approximately 11.8 percent of the total quantity of explosives used by the coal-mining industry.Many coal mines of the United States, for various and sundry reasons, probably will continue the use of black blasting powder, and this circular has been written for the benefit of such users, not that any suggested method or methods will make the use of this explosive safe, but it has been found that methods and conditions of use of black blasting powder can be improved so as to lessen, though not eliminate, the hazards created by its use."

Mar 1, 1949

By W. J. Campbell

This report by the Federal Bureau of Mines Particulate Mineralogy Unit recommends mineralogical definitions and identification-characterization concepts for selected silicate minerals and their asbestiform varieties. Precise definitions acceptable to mineral analysts, regulatory personnel, and medical scientists are essential because of the present lack of conformity in terminology concerned with measuring and controlling asbestiform particulates and their related health effects. Because of the complexity and variability of crystal morphology in different mineral groups, the descriptive terms are generally explained by illustration rather than by numerical values. Applications and limitations of several analytical techniques for particulate identification and characterization are discussed.

Jan 1, 1977

By L. D. Tracy

This paper represents work conducted by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Illinois Geological Survey and the Engineering Experiment Station of the University of Illinois.

Jan 1, 1926

By John Ward Smith

This paper describes and evaluates a method that the Federal Bureau of Mines used to determine the ultimate composition of the organic material in 10 samples of oil shale from the Mahogany zone of the Green River formation in Colorado and Utah. Since interest has centered on the Mahogany zone, the richest section of the deposit, these 10 samples were chosen to provide a broad representation of this zone with the objective of obtaining generally valid ultimate composition values. The most probable organic composition for the Mahogany zone and the 95-percent confidence limits for each component average (in weight-percent of organic material) are: Carbon 80.5 ± .4 Hydrogen 10.3 ± .1 Nitrogen 2.4 ± .1 Sulfur 1.0 ± .1 Oxygen 5.8 ± .5 As only minor variations in composition were observed, the organic material of this particular bed is quite similar over a wide geographic area.

Jan 1, 1961

By Carl L. Bieniewski

U.S. molybdenum production increased fivefold from 18.2 million pounds in 1946 to 90.5 million pounds in 1966, and constituted 87.3 percent of the total free world supply in the 1946-66 period. Mining development in other free world countries in the next few years may reduce the magnitude of the U.S. position, although similar development planned for the United States may counteract some of the relative gains by those countries. In 1966 two-thirds of the reported molybdenum consumption in the United States by end uses was as an alloying element in steel. Molybdenum also has important use as an alloying element in iron and high-temperature alloys. Consumption of molybdenum metal for making fabricated parts has increased in the past few years, especially in the space and nuclear industries. Molybdenum compounds are used mainly for making pigment, catalysts, and lubricants. Based on producer reports of shipments of primary products to domestic customers, U.S. consumption of molybdenum increased from 16.5 million pounds of molybdenum in 1946 to 65.6 million pounds in 1966. U.S. molybdenum reserves are now estimated to be 5.9 billion pounds of recoverable molybdenum, an increase of 2.1 billion pounds above previous estimates. Molybdenum ores account for 71.4 percent of the reserves, copper ores for 22.3 percent and copper-molybdenum, tungsten, and uranium ores for 6.3 percent. Several methods for predicting future demand are illustrated and estimates of demand using these methods were made for 1975. Based on present capacities and announced company plans for future developments, estimates of annual production were made for 1967 through 1975 for the United States, Canada. Chile, Peru, and the free world. These data indicate that molybdenum production in 1975 for the free world is expected to be 246 million pounds with the United States producing 68.2 percent and Canada, Chile, and Peru 30.3 percent.

Jan 1, 1970

By Donald H. Mullen, Walter R. Storms

"INTRODUCTION The Copper Flat area of the Central mining district, Grant County, N. Mex., has been visited by numerous engineers 4/ of the Bureau of Mines and geologists 5/ of the Federal Geological Survey. In December 1944 the Bureau. 6/ proposed that geophysical work be done in that area in order to locate favorable sites for future company exploratory and development work. This geo-physical work was begun early in 1945 but never fully completed because of insufficient funds. The engineers who made the survey recommended that more work be done, especially to locate the bottom of the Copper Flat laccolith by resistivity-depth surveys. All known minable zinc-lead ore bodies had been found above this laccolith in the Copper Flat mine, but it was thought that other minable ore deposits should occur in favorable limestones beneath it. The geophysicists also recommended core drilling beneath the laccolith.In the summer of 1946, following some mapping by S. G. Lasky of the Federal Geological Survey, funds were appropriated for a Bureau of Mines project in the Copper Flat area. The project was completed in June 1947. 8/"

Apr 1, 1948

By N. S. Dalal, X. Shi

"Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy has been employed to· examine the role of tetraperoxochromate( V) ions (Cro:-) and other Cr(V) species in the generation of hydroxyl (OH) radicals in the reaction of Cr(VI) with H2O 2 in biological media. In contrast to earlier suggestions, the present ESR studies using crystalline K3CrO8 as a source of Cro:- show that decomposition of Cro:- in water or in H2O 2 does not generate significant amounts of OH radicals. Addition of NADH to a solution containing Cro:- yields a Cr(V)-NADH complex, which readily reacts with H2O 2 to generate OH radicals. Similar results obtained from several other biological reductants, including vitamin B2 , indicate that a vacant coordination site on a Cr(V) complex facilitates its reaction with H2O 2 to generate ""OH radicals. We thus suggest that in biological media, reaction [3] instead of [1] or [2] is the major pathway for the OH radical generation: While the carcinogenic potential of Cr(Vl)-based compounds has been well established via epidemiologic and animal studies (1), the underlying biochemical mechanism is still not well understood (2). In a recent development, however, Kawanishi et al. (3) have reported that hydroxyl (OH)2 radicals might be the key species in the mechanism of Cr(VI) toxicity. As to the mechanism of the ""OH radical formation they suggest that Cr(VI) reacts with cellular hydrogen peroxide (H2O 2) to form the tetraperoxochromate(V) (Crog-) ions, which decompose to produce hydroxyl radicals. It was also suggested (3) that the ""OH radicals thus produced cause genotoxicity via DNA base modification and deoxyribose phosphate backbone alterations. More recently Aiyar et al. (4) reported the detection of OH radicals in the reaction of Cr(VI) with H2O 2 in biological media, including the reaction of ""OH radicals with deoxyguanosine to generate 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine adducts, confirming that ""OH radicals could indeed play a significant role in the mechanism of Cr(VI) toxicity. However, the mechanism for the ""OH generation was not clarified, although the role of Crog- ions as possible precursors was mentioned, somewhat along the lines suggested by Kawanishi et al. (3). The possibility of the participation of Crog- in the ""OH generation has also been indicated by Sugiyama et al. (5), since they mention that vitamin B2 enhances the formation of""OH radicals in the reaction of Cr(VI) with H2O 2 because of the generation of Crog- in the reaction."

Jan 1, 1990

By E. P. Youngman

In the Unfederated Malay States, with the exception of Johore, the rights of suzerainty, protection, and administration were transferred by giam to the British Government in 1909. In the States of Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah, and Perlis, the rulers are assisted by State Councils and by British advisers appointed by the British Government.3 With respect to Johore, the largest, richest, and most highly organized of the Malay States not in the Federation, the treaty of December 11, 1885, with Great Britain, defined the relations of the State to the British Govern- ment and allowed the Maharaja to assume the title of "Sultan"; an amendment to this treaty (May 12, 1914) provided that the Sultan should be advised by a British officer, the General Adviser. ...... The political organization of the States is reflected in the mining legis- lation, Johore being the only one having a comprehensive code. The mining enactments now in force, according to the High Commissioner for the Malay States, are as follows:

Jun 1, 1932

By Rethel L. Hubbard

Fourteen straight-run asphalts were prepared in the laboratory from bitumens obtained from three sources: (1) native bitumen from Rozel Point, Utah, (2). bitumen extracted from Athabaska bituminous sandstone at Canada, and (3) bitumen extracted from Edna bituminous sandstone outcropping in San Luis Obispo County, to seven asphalts with penetrations ranging from 19 to 287 at 77 F. were prepared from each of the bitumens. The yields of the prepared asphalts ranged from 74.5 percent for a 27-penetration asphalt from the Athabaska bitumen to 99.5 percent for a 271-penetration asphalt from the Rozel Point bitumen.

Jan 1, 1949

By C. E. Arrington, A. C. Rice

"Part 1. REDUCTION AND USE OF OXIDANTSSUMMARYA study has been made of the volumetric determination of molybdenum by reduction in the Jones reductor, receiving the reduced solution in a mixture of ferric alum and phosphoric acid, and titrating with standard oxidizing agents. In addition to potassium permanganate, which has long been utilized for this titration, potassium dichromate and ceric sulphate have been found to be applicable. The latter oxidants have been found to be especially useful in the form of dilute solutions for the determination of small amounts of molybdenum. The tests revealed that certain internal indicators give excellent results in these titrations.Reason for These ExperimentsThe following study was initiated with the hope of providing the mining and metallurgical industries with an accurate and rapid technical method for the determination of molybdenum in such low-grade materials as ores, rocks, tailings, steels, and alloys containing less than 0.3 percent molybdenum. Although the experimental work was designed with this purpose in mind, many of the results are applicable to material containing a higher percentage of molybdenum.While the Bureau of Mines had an experiment station in Colorado, considerable analytical work was done on what were then (up to about 1923) classed as rare metals. One of these was molybdenum; and in Bulletin 212, Bonardi's (1) 3/ 60-page chapter covered all methods for the analysis of molybdenum."

Apr 1, 1939

By E. H. Rose

This paper, describing the concentrator practice of the Moctezuma Copper Co., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines. The Nacozari concentrator of the Moctezuma Copper Co. (the Mexican subsidiary of the Phelps Dodge Corporation) is located about 75 miles south of Douglas, Ariz., in the Moctezuma District of the State of Sonora. Nacozari is the southern terminus of the Nacozari Railroad, ever which all concentrate is transported to Douglas for smelting.

Jan 1, 1930

By Sathit Tandanand

This Bureau of Mines report describes the method of obtaining a strength index for rock drillability, particularly for percussion drills. The original Protodyakonov method has been slightly modified, essentially to eliminate uncertainties in the measurement of the volume of fines, and to avoid conjecture in selecting the representative value as the strength coefficient. A theoretical consideration of the relevant parameters in the method was extended from a comminution theory, and hence the meaningful value was obtained experimentally by plotting the ratio of the number of drops and the volume of fines against the number of drops. The minimum ratio of the number of drops to the volume of fines in the plot was selected as the coefficient of rock strength. The modified method of obtaining the strength coefficient preserves the original Protodyakonov test apparatus and the merit of simplicity of the test procedure. The modified coefficient of rock strength shows its usefulness in predicting penetration rates with greater reliability than other mechanical properties. Consequently, the drillability curves were drawn using the modified coefficient of rock strength as the parameter for penetration rate prediction in the field.

Jan 1, 1975

By A. Aly Selim

This report describes the feasibility of predicting percussive drilling rates by equations derived from statistical regression analysis. The least squares statistical method was used and the analysis was performed both by direct and by stepwise linear regression analysis. The predicted penetration rate is a function of the drill power and the physical properties of the rocks penetrated. The results show promise that the technique may be of value in providing a mathematical model by which percussive drill manufacturers and users can predict the performance of a given drill. Experimental work involved two mining type percussive drills. Penetration data for these drills were determined from nine rocks drilled in the laboratory. Drill work rates (power) were determined in a separate series of experiments. Rock physical properties were measured from diamond-drill core samples taken from the same blocks used for percussive drilling.

Jan 1, 1970