Search Documents

Effective control of respirable dust is one of the most serious problems associated with longwall mining in the United States. This report describes the development and laboratory testing of dust collectors for use on double drum shearers. Systems tested included: ? High Capacity Flooded Bed Scrubber ? Water Powered Extraction Cowls ? Water Powered Extraction Drums ? Water Powered spot Scrubbers. The systems were tested using tracer gas in a full-scale model of a longwall shearer face. This report provides a detailed description of the test facility, test methods, and system test results.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. W. Thompson

RIGHT OF LIFE TENAN1' TO OPEN MINES. The common-law rule that a life tenant was not permitted to open or share in mines does not prevail in Michigan; but a life tenant by dower right is permitted to share in the royalties, as the strict common- law rule is not in harmony with the spirit of our institutions and the policy of our law and would often result in defeating the purposes of dower statutes. Poole v. Union Trust Co. (Michigan), 157 Northwestern 430, p. 432, March, 1916. SALE AND CONVEYANCE. PURCHASE OF ENTIRE ESTATE--FRAUD. A purchase of land where no exceptions or reservations of minerals were made and the land was bought as property, when nothing is excepted and no qualifications or reservations are embodied in the agreement, was presumptively and by common understanding a purchase of the property in its entirety; and the insertion in the deed of a reservation of mineral rights in violation of the contract of purchase and without the grantee's knowledge or consent was fraudulent. Mtynarczyk v Zyskowski (Michigan), 157 Northwestern 566, p. 569, March, 1916. RESERVATION OF MINERALS--EXTENT AND EFFECL A reservation in a conveyance of land excepting and reserving to the grantor all coals and mines beneath the surface with the sole right and privilege to remove the same, is not as broad as the grant itself. A contract for the purchase of a mine recited that a deed had been executed by the owner and placed in escrow to so remain until the sum of $30,000 should be paid. The contract provided that $1,200 of the purchase price was to be paid in cash, $800 in 60 days, and the remainder out of 20 per cent of the gross output of the mine, such per cent to be paid in five years unless the vein and value of ore should not continue in depth, in which event the purchaser was to have two years longer to complete the payment of the purchase price. The contract contained other covenants to the effect that the purchasing corporation would fit up a certain specified mill and would continue development work at such rate as to keep the mill in operation if ores sufficiently valuable should be found and in the absence of unavoidable accident. The contract also provided 1/ that abandonment of work for a period of six months at anyone time, except as above, on said property," should operate as a forfeiture of the purchaser's right. In an action by the vendor to quiet the title to the land and to have the contract declared void, the court found that the purchaser failed to perform the work on the property and failed to place thereon the improvements as required by the contract and permitted debts to accumulate against the property, taxes to be levied thereon, and that for more than a year the purchaser had not done any work or labor of any sort upon the mine or premises, and that the contract contemplated development work from the time the purchaser took possession of the property, or at least promptly thereafter, and the fact that no machinery was in place for a year or more after the execution of the contract was a breach of the covenant of continued development, and that the clause in the contract" except as above" does not contemplate a delay in the development resulting from a failure to install machinery, but it means that unless prevented by unavoidable accidents the purchaser shouLdhave no valid excuses for neglecting the work for a period of six months or more.

Jan 1, 1917

By John D. Bardill

This report covers magnetic surveys in the Dannemora arca , which was part of a general survey of magnetite deposits in New York started in 1943 . The objective of these surveys was to afford a basis for the selection of exploration projects .

Jan 1, 1947

By Floyd R. Hertweck

The helium resources of the United States were estimated by the Bureau of Mines to be 1,037 Bcf as of January 1, 1981. These resources are divided into four categories, in decreasing degree of assurance of their existence: (1) helium in storage and in measured natural gas reserves, which totals 211 Bcf, (2) helium in indicated natural gas resources, which is estimated at 207 Bcf, (3) helium in hypothetical natural gas resources, which is estimated to be 318 Bcf, and (4) helium in speculative natural gas resources, which makes up the remaining 301 Bcf. These helium resources are further divided into depleting, nondepleting, and stored classifications, The depleting resources are those associated with natural gasfields that are, or will be, produced for the natural gas they contain. All of the helium in undiscovered (hypothetical and speculative) natural gas resources is included in this classification. These depleting resources are estimated to contain 897 Bcf of the total helium resource base. Nondepleting resources are those in shut-in, abandoned, or otherwise nonproducing natural gasfields. Helium resources contained in nondepleting natural gas resources are estimated to total 100 Bcf. There is 40 Bcf of helium in storage in the Federal Government-owned Cliffside Gas Field near Amarillo, Tex.

Jan 1, 1983

By Patricia J. Leonard - Mayer

A Bureau of Mines surface resistivity method has been used to determine the joint strike and coefficient of anisotropy of jointed , nearsurface formations at five study areas . The field studies demonstrate the use of rotated , or azimuthal , Wenner-Lee arrays for determining the strike of predominant joint sets . The results of the field studies include the following : in a formation having a predominant , vertical joint set , the maximum value of the apparent resistivity ( pa ) occurs in the same direction ( azimuth ) as the joint strike ; the polar coordinate graph of pa for such a formation is approximately elliptical ; the coefficient of anisotropy ( ^ ) can be calculated from the field data , and values of λ for jointed formations are in the same range of values reported for layered formations ; values of λ are higher at mined sites than at unmined sites . The azimuthal resistivity method and horizontal profiling were used at a site in Pennsylvania to delineate a zone of intensely jointed and fractured bedrock that provided a flow path from a surface stream to a mine . Analysis of the data has been based on a simple model of a jointed formation having a single joint set ; the success achieved to date indicates the need for a more complex model and additional field data .

Jan 1, 1983

By John C. Feeley

The methods used and the funds available for the development and oper- ation of shall mines and the reopening of small abandoned mines frequently present problems that tax the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the mining engineer far beyond that required in the mass production from large deposits. The objective of this paper is to describe in considerable detail the means whereby engineers have solved local problems in reopening an abandoned mine at which equipment, facilities, and funds were limited... The Etowah Coal & Iron Co. Gadsden red-iron-ore mine at Gadsden, Ala., 18 of interest in this category since it is the only independent red-ore mine under active development in the State. All other red-ore mines in Alabama are owned or controlled by the large iron or steel companies. The The mine, located on the southwest end of Shinbone Ridge in the outskirts of Gadsden lies in an ares once productive. but now idle, for many years. ore is relatively highgrade compared with that in the Birmingham area, but the bed is thin and somewhat lenticular. The presence of a large blast furnace at Alabama City, 3 miles from Gadsden, and the growing scarcity of red-iron ore supplies for it offered inducements for reopening the mine in 1946. Up to the time this circular was prepared (1947) only a small quantity of ore (about 1,500 tons) has been produced and shipped to the furnace. A force of 14 men was employed in sinking the main slope and developing a third "lift" (a local term for level) 100 feet below the old mine workings.

May 1, 1949

By G. R. Smith

This report describes research carried out by the Bureau of Mines to develop new technology for electrorefining metals at much higher current densities than those normally used in commercial practice, preliminary studies using rotating-ring and cylinder electrodes to increase the mass transport of copper are discussed. Following this work, single- and multichannel cells were developed that utilized a high electrolyte flow in the channels formed by the anode-cathode pairs. Using these cells, copper was successfully refined at current densities in the range of 70 to 300 amp/ft2. The effects of flow rate, electrolyte composition, and grain-refining and leveling agents on the morphology and purity of electrodeposited copper were determined.

Jan 1, 1979

By D. H. Yardley

A major purpose of this contract was to evaluate a variety of dust suppressants to determine their effectiveness in mitigating dust from taconite tailings. During the course of the investigation tailings from pilot-plant tests of Minnesota copper-nickel ores became available and chemical binders were also tested for dust mitigation effectiveness on this mineralogically different material. Field-test plots were established on taconite tailings and wind tunnel laboratory tests conducted. The laboratory tests consisted of comparing treated and untreated samples at wind velocities of 40 mph using a weight-loss method and direct dust emission measurements. It was shown that the emission of fine dust from taconite tailings, in the range of 4.5 microns to 0.85 microns, could be reduced by 99 percent using certain chemical suppressants. It was also demonstrated that a straight water spray on coarse tailings (3/4" to + 10 mesh) reduced dust emission by 95 percent. Although eight different chemicals were tested, most of the tests were made using Coherex, ammonium lignin sulfonate and sodium silicate. These same dust suppressants were used, singly and in combination on almost 75 field-test plots. The Coherex appears to provide the best results in terms of economics and durability. Wind tunnel tests on treated and untreated Cu-Ni tailings demonstrated that applications of dust suppressants reduced fugitive fine dust by better than 99 percent.

Jan 1, 1980

By Jr. Hazen

Relationships that may exist between assays and sample interval lengths when using unequal sample intervals in mine sampling have been investigated as part of the larger research problem of adapting statistical methods to the analysis of weighted average grades. The theoretical relationship between the amount of difference in the weighted and unweighted average grade of ore and the size of the correlation coefficient between assay value and sample interval length was found to be linear. Numerous examples of actual field sample and assay data, which have been obtained by using unequal sample intervals, are documented, and the differences between weighted and unweighted average grades of ore and the correlation coefficients between assays and sample interval lengths have been computed and plotted on graphs. Differences between these actual field data and the expected theoretical linear relationship are examined. It is hypothesized that the use of unequal sample intervals in mine sampling is, in fact, stratified sampling in a statistical context. The sampler establishes stratification by selecting unequal sample intervals on the basis of differences in lithology, changes in rock type, characteristics of mineralization, or differences in metal content. Statistically} methods currently used in mine sampling, involving unequal sample intervals, fail to consider differences in the inherent variances in grade of ore within the various strata established by using unequal sample intervals. Consequently the strata are sampled with different precision. This difference in precision of sampling between strata may account for much of the deviation between the plotted points representing actual field sampling data and the theoretical linear relationship between the amount of the difference between weighted and unweighted average grade of ore and the size of correlation coefficient between assays and sample interval lengths.

Jan 1, 1966

By James F. Devine

This Bureau of Mines report describes tests conducted at three sites to determine if, and to what extent, a vertical presplit fracture plane placed between a blast point and detection point will reduce vibration levels. Statistical analyses indicate that the presplit fracture plane did not reduce the vibration level.

Jan 1, 1965

By J. C. Franklin

The Spokane Mining Research Center of the Federal Bureau of Mines is placing major emphasis on chemical stabilization as part of the ground support program. Development of polymeric material suitable for bonding rock fractures around the mine opening is one phase of the program. Some of the problems that must be considered are viscosity, applicability, adhesion, cure times, strength, toxicity, and flammability. Epoxies and polyesters were investigated, but shrinkage in polyesters caused redirected effort toward epoxies. Test results with the latter showed that bonded fractures in mine-roof strata were stronger than the virgin rock. Further tests showed that polymeric materials have good potential for bonding, and in conjunction with polymer roof bolts, are expected to result in an economic and useful new support concept.

Jan 1, 1974

By D. R. Tesarik

To ensure the stability ofa tailings pond embankment, the height of the phreatic surface must be kept at or below a safe level. In this investigation, the Bureau of Mines analyzed various horizontal drain designs for tailings embankments to determine their effects on location of the phreatic surface. This report describes the investigation, and it includes 21 dimensionless graphs that can be used to estimate the drain spacing and length dimensions necessary to ensure the stability of embankments of various configurations. Analyses were based on the use of two computer codes, a three-dimensional finite-element code and a two-dimensional finite-difference code. The computer-generated results were compared with results obtained from a laboratory embankment model, other laboratory test results, and piezomet-ric data from two actual tailings embankments. Nearly the same phreatic surface locations were predicted using either of the computer codes. For one of the actual embankments studied, the predicted phreatic surface location was slightly higher than the measured location; for the other, the predicted location closely followed the actual surface trend. Phreatic surfaces of the laboratory model were slightly higher than the code-gener-ated locations, and the differences grew larger as drain length increased or drain spacing decreased.

Jan 1, 1984

By Robert W. Van Dolah

The prevention of fires and explosions involving the combustibles and oxidants likely to be found in flight vehicles requires a knowledge of the flammability and related characteristics of these materials. This circular is a compilation of the available charactersilics data for a series of combustibles and oxidants of current interest. Vapor pressure data are presented for fluorine, oxygen, chlorine trifluoride, nitrogen tetroxide, nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide, hydrogen, ammonia, pentaborane, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, hydrazine, and a series of hydro-carbons including decalin, tetralin, bicyclohexyl and other high-density fuels. In addition, flammability characteristics diagrams are included for each of the fuels in contact with air and, where available, other oxidants (for example, oxygen and nitrogen tetroxide). To assist in understanding these data, sections on definitions and theory and applications have been included. Each section is complete in itself and can be used separately. For example, a reader who is familiar with the general theory of combustion and detonation may find the data sections more useful than the definitions and theory and the application sections. However, since pertinent data are included in these sections, they should also prove useful to the experienced engineer interested in preventing fires and explosions.

Jan 1, 1963

By V. T. Dow

In April 1957 the Bureau of Mines instituted a reconnaissance of titanium-and zirconium-bearing heavy sandstone deposits in the Four-State area of Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado. This report summarizes the study. Eighty-two deposits or groups of deposits, containing an estimated 27,920,000 tons of titaniferous sandstone, were examined in the Four-State area; 16 in southern Utah, 19 in Wyoming, 33 in New Mexico, and 14 in southwestern Colorado. The 16 deposits examined in Utah contain an estimated 1,043,000 tons with an average grade of 17.98 percent TiO2, 5.67 percent ZrO2, 20.98 percent Fe, and 0.09 percent equivalent Th02. The 19 deposits investigated in Wyoming are estimated to contain 21,873,000 tons of titaniferous sandstone having a weighted grade of 5.22 percent 702, 0.55 percent ZrO2, 24.8 percent Fe, and 0.01 percent equivalent Th02.

Jan 1, 1961

By C. M. Romanowitz

This report deals with the factors which should be considered in evaluating a placer deposit and selecting a dredging system for mineral recovery. Overall dredging feasibility and the design of dredging systems are reviewed. Excavation methods, each with its advantages and disadvantages, are compared. Direct operating costs, both original and updated, of gold dredges with bucket capacities of 6 to 18 cubic feet are included. Costs vary with digging depth, changes in environmental conditions, and physical characteristics of the placer, all of which affect excavation rate and recovery. The costs, updated with appropriate indexes, should be used only as guidelines to evaluate potential dredging projects with similar characteristics. The relation of direct dredging costs to annual production is graphically illustrated by a family of curved envelopes that span dredge sizes from 2-112 to 18 cubic feet. A curve fitted to the data expresses the relation of direct costs to annual production for 151 dredge-years.

Jan 1, 1970

By R. S. Dean

Boron compounds have been considered for many years as possible additions to iron and steel. A very recent use of boron-steel rods was for the control of neutron intensity in the graphite-uranium pile at the Clinton plutonium plant(130).4/ Norris(129) reports that slags containing boric oxide reduce the ferrous oxide content of steels and thereby the aluminum required for deoxidation. Boron is not considered an alloying element, but minute amounts produce what is often called a "needled" steel. The study of a series of iron-boron alloys by convenient steps, starting with iron containing no boron, indicated that boron was a hardening agent and made the iron very difficult if not impossible to forge. Then came the discovery that very minute traces of boron are quite different from the smallest amount previously thought worthy of study.

Jan 1, 1946

By James V. Kelly

"INTRODUCTION In the course of Bureau of Mines investigations of iron ores near Scappoose, Columbia County, Oreg. during 1942, occurrences of laterite were noted in road cuts and outcrops at many localities in the county. In 1944, the State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries completed a preliminary examination of alumina-iron-bearing laterite occurrences in Washington County north of Hillsboro, Oreg.3/ Their report suggested that the lateritic material might be amenable to treatment by the Pederson process for the commercial production of iron and alumina. In order to determine the extent and character of some of the reported lateritic occurrences, the Bureau conducted preliminary explorations in Columbia County near St. Helens, Oreg., from January through June 1945. Almost simultaneously the Alcoa Mining Co. began to explore nearby areas. Their work was continued and expanded after the Bureau's work had been discontinued. This report presents the data obtained from the exploratory work of the Bureau of Mines.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIn its program of exploration of mineral deposits, the Bureau of Mines has as its primary objective the more effective utilization of our mineral re¬sources to the end that they make the greatest possible contribution to national security and economy. It is the policy of the Bureau to publish the facts developed by each exploratory project as soon as practicable after its conclusion. The Mining Branch, Lowell B. Moon, chief, conducts preliminary examinations, performs the actual exploratory work, and prepares the final report. The Metallurgical Branch, O. C. Ralston, chief, analyzes samples and performs beneficiation tests.Samples were assayed at the Reno, Nev., laboratories of the Bureau of Mines under the supervision of A. C. Rice, acting supervising engineer, and at the Albany, Oreg., laboratories under the supervision of Dr. B. A. Rogers, chief, Albany Division, Metallurgical Branch."

May 1, 1947

By Joseph L. Ritchey

The Trail Lake RARE II area comprises 1,300 acres (526 ha) in Lassen and Plumas Counties, California, adjacent to the Caribou wilderness. No mining claims, prospects, or quarries are reported within the study areas, and no evidence of potential mineral deposits was found during a field reconnaissance. Quaternary basaltic lava flows uniformly underlie the area. INTRODUCTION The Trail Lake (No. B5-095) RARE II further planning area occupies 1,300 acres (526 ha) adjacent to the Caribou Wilderness in Lassen and Plumas Counties, California. Susanville is about 30 mi (50 km) east and Chester is about 17 mi (27 km) south of the study area. Access from State Highways 44 and 36 is provided by well-maintained gravel roads.

Jan 1, 1981

Research workers from the Bureau of Mines and industry met with other government and industry representatives at the Mont Chateau Lodge, Morgantown, W. Va., on May 30-31, 1973, to discuss the current status of methane control in eastern U.S. coal mines. The opening remarks, the eight technical presentations, and the discussions of the members of a government-industry panel are published here for the benefit of those concerned with the control of methane in coal mines. In addition, an introduction has been added to present the background of work in this field.

Jan 1, 1973

By C. J. Cohen, L. A. Dahners

"SUMMARYA method has been developed for surveying, drill holes without lowering into the hole any surveying equipment other than an etch tube. The orientation of the rods at the collar of the hole is maintained as the etch tube is lowered. The attitude of the etch ellipse in depth with respect to the rod orientation at the collar can then be observed. This relationship permits the bearing of the hole in depth to he calculated. The rod orientation is maintained during the lowering by means of a pair of alinement clamps. One clamp is fastened to the top of each rod as the rod is coupled and is removed when the alinement has been transferred to the other clamp at the top of the next succeeding rod. A particular advantage of this survey technique is that surveys can be readily made in magnetic country rock.PRINCIPLE OF THE TECHNIQUEAn axial lamina of the column of drill roes is the lamina in which one fiber would be the centerline of the rods. In the new survey technique, the rods are fed into the hole in such a manner that the axial lamina of each successive rod maintains its position at the collar of the hole. In depth, as the rods bend in following the drill hole, the axial laminae also bend. The lamina that was originally vertical will, in general, be tilted away from the vertical. The trace of this lamina is marked on the glass etch tube before the tube is lowered in the hole. The axial lamina that becomes vertical at the survey station is recognized as that axial lamina which contains the long axis of the etch ellipse. The angle between the lamina originally vertical and the lamina vertical at the survey station is thus measurable. When the vertical axial lamina at one survey station has been determined by the etch ellipse at that station, angle R between this lamina and the vertical axial lamina at the next survey station becomes measurable also. By moans of angle R, and dip angles D1 and D2 at the two stations, the change in bearing (z) of the drill hole between the two stations can be calculated."

Aug 1, 1944