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The morning session opened at 9:00 a.m. and was presided over by Harold Levent., Manager Coal Activities, Cameron Engineers, Denver, Colorado. The first speaker was Dr. Joseph J. Yancik, Assistant Director-Mining, Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington. D.C. Subject-"Coal Mining R&D Programs of the Bureau of Mines." (See index for printed text of Dr. Yancik's paper.) Joseph J. Yancik is Assistant Director - Mining for the Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for the Bureau's research programs in mining. Principal programs are the coal and metal mining health and safety research, mining extraction and excavation, tunnelling, explosives, mined land reclamation, mine fires and mine waste disposal. He administers these programs through four research centers and through outside contracts and grants.

Jan 1, 1974

By I. M. Charles

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: At the request of our Secretary, Mr. Shubart, I am pleased to present the following brief discussion of the Alamo Washery. In order to insure an excellent and uniform preparation of nut coal, the Alamo Coal Company erected last year a modern washery at a cost of about $50,000, in which, since the completion last December, all of the nut coal shipped from the Alamo Mine, has been washed. In part of the workings of the Alamo Mine, the coal is overlaid by a lenticular strata of slate, which invariably falls when the coal is shot down and breaks for the most part into fragments of such size as pass through three-inch round perforations, and are retained on plates having one and a fourth inch round holes with the nut coal. This "draw slate" comprises the principal impurity in the Alamo coal, and to remove it, some bone and a few small fragments of sandstone from the roof and floor, the washery was designed and erected. The few impurities contained in the lamp are readily re-

Jan 1, 1926

The 67th Regular Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute convened in the C'est Bon Hotel, Park City, Utah, and was in session at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was called to order by Past President John A. Reeves, Vice President, Mid-Continent Coal & Coke Company, Carbondale, Colorado. Mr. Reeves introduced President Max A. Robb and read a brief biography as follows: A Westerner by birth, he has chosen to pursue his mining career with United States Fuel Company, a subsidiary of United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company. United States Fuel Company is the largest underground producer of commercial and utility coal in the Intermountain West. Max attended Utah schools and has kept his education current through correspondence courses in mining technology and business education, and through attendance at various university-sponsored development seminars.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. A. Allen

In presenting a summary of the uses of fine and pulverized coal the writer has borne in mind that we are not trying to determine what a combustion engineer should know but we are only trying to find out in what ways the consumption of slack can be stimulated. First discussing the use of powdered coal it can be stated that it has passed the first experimental stage but is still capable of much development and improvement. It has already found successful application in stationary and locomotive boilers, cement kilns, calcining furnaces, reverberatory smelting furnaces and many other types of furnaces, such as open hearth furnaces and annealing furnaces. For stationary boilers it seems to have been thoroughly demonstrated that powdered coal is more efficient than stoker installations. Over-all efficiences of boiler and furnace in stoker installations of the best type run from 70 to 76 per cent; whereas the efficiency of powdered coal installations averages slightly over 80 per cent. However, due to the increased cost of pulverized coal, the increased efficiency of these installations over stokers, from a money stand-point, will not be more than 1 or 2 per cent. The fusing of the ash in pulverized coal installations has given some trouble but apparently is easily overcome, on the other hand the fine ash, which is carried along with the draft, causes trouble both in the boiler and by settling on surrounding buildings or ground. Offsetting the disadvantages the great advantages of pulverized coal for stationary boilers seem to be: First-the ease with which a change in the load on the boiler can be taken care of. Second-when a boiler is cut out for a short period the "stand-by" losses are much less and, Third-a much poorer grade of fuel can be used. In many cases where pulverized coal has been used it has replaced slack coal which is of little advantage to the coal operator. However,, in other places it has replaced gas or oil and this is where the coal man is interested. Pulverized coal has the same advantages as the liquid or gas fuel but the question as to which is preferable depends on their relative cost at the point of use. In small stationary boilers where stokers are not used, very frequently the larger sizes of coal are, and it would be an advantage to the coal industry for them to be converted so as to burn pulverized coal, but so far there are only records of a few of such small installations having been a success and there is apparently room for a large amount of experimentation. In furnaces, such as smelting and assaying furnaces, annealing furnaces, etc., slack coal is not used and where pulverized coal has been installed it nearly always replaces fuel oil or gas. Just how much increased consumtion of coal can be made by pulverizing it for use in furnaces of this type can not be determined but it seems worthy of investigation. For locomotive boilers pulverized coal has found some application up to date but where it was being used in the United States it was stopped when we entered the war. In Brazil, however, the Central Railway has been using pulverized coal for locomotives with excellent results. If it could be possible to apply it to locomotive use where fuel oil is now used, or the larger sizes of coal, it would certainly make a big difference in the slack situation. Now as to the uses of slack coal without pulverizing. The writer's investigations lead him to believe that the greatest opportunities in this direction are in the line of increasing its use by apartment houses and small home owners. In fact in looking into the subject I found that a number of men in Salt Lake City are using run of mine coal in the usual type of house furnaces, some of them by separating the fines and wetting them down before feeding to the furnace claim they get no loss whatever through the grate. However, for best results with fine coal different types of furnaces must be installed and for apartment houses it would seem necessary to have either a small automatic stoker or else spray the fine coal in with an air blast from

Jan 1, 1922

Profiled below are the eight RMCMI 1999 Scholarship Award winners. Seven of the eight attended the 95th Regular Meeting and convention at Crested Butte, Colorado in late June. Each spoke during the Scholarship Awards Monday luncheon and shared their goals with attendees. In addition to receiving a $1,500 tuition credit, thanks to the Patrons of the Institute annual funding of scholarships, each received recognition at the luncheon with a brass plaque signifying this honor. The winners are guests of the Institute Sunday through Tuesday and have an incredible opportunity to meet many in the coal industry who could be potential employers. The state vice presidents host the winners and pay for their travel and hotel expenses. This is a continuing scholarship and may be renewed for tuition credit again in the senior year if they remain a full time student and if recommended by the dean of their college or university. A resident from each of the eight member RMCMI states is selected by the Scholarship committee from Board approved institutions. Criteria for these annual awards is that the recipient (1) is a full time sophomore student who will use the tuition credit the junior year. (2) Be both a U. S. citizen and a legal resident of the member stare. (3) Maintain good academic standing, be pursuing a degree in a mining related field and have an expressed interest in western coal as a possible career path. Contributions to this worthwhile project are tax deductible to each individual RMCMI member or his company. Through donations of $100 or more to the Patrons of the Institute, each Patron receives a plaque and a year bar for each additional year contributions are made. These may be directed to RMCMI Patrons, 3000 Youngfield Street, #324, Lakewood, CO 80215-6553. [ ] ARIZONA WINNER Jennifer Jannusch University of Arizona Jennifer is the daughter of Peggy and Larry Jannusch of Phoenix. She graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in the top 15% of her class. She has been on the Dean's List and won the National Collegiate Engineering Award. Jennifer belongs to the Association of Engineering Geologists, SME, Best Buddies, and enjoys running, painting and languages. [ ] COLORADO WINNER Alan S. Maste¬rs Colorado School of ties Alan is the son of Lee and Ellen Masters of Lakewood, Colorado. He graduated from Lakewood High School and has been on the Dean's List at CSM. He resides with his wife, Karen, and children Morgan, Nicole and Scott. Spending twelve years as a mechanic and semi-truck driver, Alan decided to return to school to pursue an engineering degree. Having maintained a 4.0 G.P.A. at Arapahoe Community College, he was accepted at CSM where he continues to excel. He firmly believes that the future of our country will be enhanced by our ability to utilize our natural resources. Alan enjoys time with his family, fishing, water skiing, bowling and reading Tom Clancy or John Grisham novels.

Jan 1, 1999

D. HARRINGTON: Owing to lack of funds, the United States Bureau of Mines have made no experiments in the Bruceton mines in the use of mudite. MR. McAULIFFE: I doubt that mudite cam be delivered at fifty cents a ton and that a mile of heading can be treated with mudite for ten dollars. You could not dig a ton of sand out of a sand hank for that money. L. C. CLARE: The tram road leading to Wattis mine crosses a shale bed and it is easy to screen the shale through a %-inch sieve and load it into a mine car. W. J. REID: A slow trip passing through a mudited entry will dislodge practically no dust, a rapid trip will make air disturbance enough to coat the cars with fine dust. MR. PRYDE: We have used mudite on stoppings around a fire in Reliance and for two months thought they were getting good results, but the fire was found to be drawing air and to be spreading. This mudite was smeared over the stoppings with a trowel. After this apparently failed we used dry adobe.

Jan 1, 1925

By D. A. Stout

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute: Your Secretary has asked me to write upon a subject' which is a most interesting one, and which has a very wide scope. In view of the great need for further decreasing costs at its coal mines, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company began early in 1924 to experiment with methods of mining which had not previously been. tried out at its mines, and which were selected because of the greater possibilities for the concentration of the work, better grouping of workmen, and increased tonnage per workman, with a resultant increased efficiency, better supervision, and lowered costs. Because of the great competition of the day, means and methods must be provided by which fewer mines can be made to produce larger tonnages and at a lower cost. Western physical conditions are such as to make our problems far more complicated and not so easy of solution as compared to many of the eastern fields where conditions are more favorable for the operation of the mines. The dry condition of our Western mines on account of a relatively low humidity, and with additional gaseous conditions, makes the problem still more difficult to solve. A study of new methods was necessary before adoption, and this was particularly true of the method of extracting the coal. Where mechanical means are used, particularly in the coking coal mines of this state, due consideration must be given to the type, and machines or conveyors should not be installed solely on the basis of their performance elsewhere, without the knowledge of local influencing factors. In trying out the newer methods of extraction at our mines, very careful consideration has been given to the question of safety and the adoption of any new methods must provide adequate means of protection to employes, and be approved by' the State Coal Mine Inspector. In any large industry there are a few outstanding operating costs, and usually the leading ones in their order are labor cost, material cost, and power cost. The things which we, hope to accomplish: 1. Reduce labor costs. 2. Reduce material costs. 3. Reduce power costs by the con 4. Reduce the amount of powder used per ton of coal produced. 5. Increase the lump percentage (particularly at the domestic mines). 6. Reduce accidents and annual compensation payment. 7. Reduce haulage costs. 8. Reduce cost for track work. 9. Reduce cost for timber and timbering, and increase the recovery of timber at a considerable additional saving. 10. Reduce the brushing costs. 11. Reduce the amount of rock hauled to the outside. 12. Reduce the cost for drainage. 13. Reduce the cost for ventilating. 14. Reduce cost of inspection and supervision. 15. Reduce the cost for shot firing. 16. Reduction of number of working places. 17. Grouping of men with increased sociability. 18. Increased tonnage per man. 19. Reduction in total number men employed. In the consideration of the methods used and now working successfully, there were three points which were considered outstanding, to make them wholly successful: ventilation, roof control, and transportation. For making the experiments, those mines were selected where conditions

Jan 1, 1925

By S. R. DeBoer

A study of Western cities reveals the fact that a city where people make their homes for permanent residence is always a city with, well-shaded avenues, with parks and playgrounds; in other words, a beautiful city. On the other hand, the average city that lacks these qualifications is usually a city of transient population. Many of our Western cities must be classified as such. Their inhabitants live in such a city only to the time that they will be able financially to retire from business and go to one of the other types of cities to live; or until opportunity offers itself for a position or a job in such a city. I believe that our Western coal camps could benefit by this truth. If conditions can be created in the camps that will encourage the workers to settle permanently or for a long time at least in the town, it would greatly aid in stabilizing employment. By the term "workers" I do not mean the pick and shovel men alone, but everybody from the superintendent or the manager down; for the educated part of the population suffers probably greater from a desire for better surroundings than the less educated part. Modern City Planning tries to show the way for more attractive towns; for more practical towns also, and at less expense. The grid-iron system of street planning is slowly being replaced by one that fits the contours of the site. Instead of streets that are cut through the hills and built over the valleys to get practical grades, it tries to show how these streets can be made to fit the ground and produce better traffic lines; greatly more attractive streets; better building sites and lots, and all of this at less expense. A well-planned town of this character should have as its nucleus, a central square around which the main stores and business houses are grouped. The main building of this group should be the church, the community meeting place, city hall or such other buildings of a public or semi-public character, that are imposing enough to add interest to the square. From this central square, streets should be built to radiate out in all directions, more or less like a spider-web. The main lines of these streets should be reserved for traffic purposes and they should be wide, for the town may grow into a city, and they should be direct, connecting the town center with outlying points at the shortest and easiest possible line. Between these radiating streets should be residential streets of narrower width and arranged in such a way that fast through traffic cannot pass over them and make them unsafe and unsanitary for family life. Following up the comparison with the spider-web, the town should have circular streets, encircling the whole town with rings at various distances out, along which circular lines parks should be located. In the West, where the need for shade is so great, the town should surround itself with a belt of forest trees. Such a forest belt would break the winds and shelter the town, and also make the whole town a cozier, nicer place to build a home in. A forest belt of this kind does not necessarily mean a great layout of money. Trees can be planted small and at little cost and a carefully studied irrigation system will make the maintenance cost small. If the town has any places of natural beauty they should be carefully preserved and made accessible. Natural parks of this type will often take the place of the artificial parks of large cities, and at no expense to the community. Playgrounds, a swimming pool, either of concrete or a sanded beach on a lake; a place for all to go skating in winter; a hill for sledding in

Jan 1, 1924

Jan 1, 1976

Presiding: Herman Van Houten, Senior Marketing Counselor, Joy Mfg. Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., and John A. Reeves, Vice President, Mid-Continent Coal &Coke Co., Carbondale, Colorado. The Keynote Speaker, Senator Jennings Randolph from West Virginia, was unable to come due to pressing business in Washington. A film presentation on Surface Mining and Reclamation, "Energy Bridge," Courtesy of Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Mining Company, Denver, Colorado, was shown and was prefaced by comments from James V. Fisher. "Advantages of Longwall Mining in Western Coal Production" was a paper presented by David W. Wisecarver, Supervisory Mining Engineer, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Denver, Colorado. Mr. Wisecarver graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1949. After two years with International Harvester and two years in the U.S. Army, he joined the engineering staff on a Bureau of Mines underground mining operation in Virginia for eight years where he saw duties as mine surveyor, shift boss, and assistant maintenance superintendent.

Jan 1, 1977

By Lyman Fearn

Men and institutions are what they are largely because of inheritance. Out of the past comes experience that enables men to build more wisely than did preceding generations. The field of possibilities has widened as the horizon of men's vision has been extended. The realization of these possibilities has depended largely on the application of men's natural endowments, brain and brawn, to the problems at hand. In the field of mechanized mining, Wyoming has a greater percentage of men with vision, who have a realization of the possibilities of mechanized mining, than any other state in proportion to tonnage production. With the introduction of mechanized mining systems have come problems that have caused the men who are connected with the safety work much thought. Discussions on mechanical drilling, cutting, loading, conveying, haulage, etc., have come in for their share of the debate. There have been a few attempts made to show that mechanical mining is safer than are the more primitive ways of doing underground work by man power. We also have a number of places in the coal producing States of the United States, where the mechanized systems have been abandoned chiefly on account of the safety element involved bringing about condemnation of the system by State inspection forces. Certain types of scraper systems have been condemned, and some have voiced opposition to long faces. This would lead us to believe that the question is still a debatable one as far as the safety element is concerned. It is only fair that we discuss the operations of mechanical systems and from the results obtained take analysis of conditions as they exist, basing our conclusions from the results obtained.

Jan 1, 1928

will be held at COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL DENVER COLORADO June 3,4,5, 1931

Jan 1, 1930

Past President Robert L. Hair, General Superintendent, Coal Mines, Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation, Pueblo, Colorado, opened the meeting at 10:00 a.m. "I will now call the Fifty-Third Regular Meeting of the Institute to order this morning and welcome the members and the guests. I'm on the program to introduce John Peperakis, President of the Institute for this year. I regret to announce that Mr. Peperakis received word this morning of an emergency at his mine and left to attend to this. We hope it is of a minor nature and he will return. (Editor's Note: Please refer to the index for printed text of the President's address which he had intended delivering, had he not been called away.) However, in the meantime, Robert von Storch has graciously consented to act as president until John Peperakis returns. "I needn't tell you who he is. Robert M. von Storch is General Superintendent of Coal Mines and Quarries, Columbia-Geneva Steel Division, United States Steel Corporation, Columbia, Utah. I now present Bob von Storch." Mr. von Storch: "As most of you know, the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute cannot compare to the Mining Congress, as it is not a professional organization. It represents the coal operators in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. We have a group of volunteers to put this together and use this occasion to get together and exchange ideas.

Jan 1, 1957

H. C. GLAZE: There is no question in my mind that the day of direct current distribution is practically ended so far as large coal properties are concerned. Another thing that Mr. Drennan touched on that is of the utmost importance, is that of voltage-voltage to the various pieces of equipment inside the mine. You all know how expensive it is to have motors in operation in important places where the voltage .is about half that which the motor should have. This is particularly true in the direct current system. It slows down production, causes burnouts and destruction to apparatus, and is a question that you men have got to go into. It costs a great deal of money, as Mr. Drennan pointed out, to take care of this. The wires are large and cumbersome, while; on the other hand, with an alternating current system you can use a minimum amount of wire. We have installed this class of equipment with so-called "pick-proof" cable of 2,200 volts down slopes, and I have never heard of any trouble whatsoever from this cause.

Jan 1, 1923

Jan 1, 1960

Jan 1, 1966

Bowdil Co. Bucyrus-Erie Co. Coal Age Coal Mining Cobre Tire Dresser Construction FMC Corp. T. J. Gundlach Machine Co. Ingersoll-Rand Joy Mfg. Co. K&P Sales Engineers, Inc. Kennametal Lively Mfg. Co. Long Airdox Co. MSA McLanahan Corp. National Mine Service Co. Page Engineering Co. Plateau Supply, Inc. Pyramid Parts Scandura, Inc. TIC Utah International Utah Power & Light Co. Western Energy Co.

Jan 1, 1986

President Robert E. Murray opened the meeting at 9:30 a.m. He called on the Auditing Committee to give its report. Jack Leech read the report and asked that it be approved. A motion was made, seconded and carried. The Resolutions Committee was asked to present its report. Mr. J. F. Ratchye submitted the following: (1) RESOLVED. Whereas, in the year since the last convention of The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, the Institute and the Coal Mining industry have suffered the loss through death of the services of: James L. Elder William T. Gibbs Julian E. Tobey John H. Plehn NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that there be spread upon the minutes of The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute recognition of the passing of these members, who have so greatly contributed to the advancement of the industry, both nationally and in the Rocky Mountain area, and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the next of kin as evidence of the sincere regard and sympathy of the members of the Institute. (2) RESOLVED: that in recognition of faithful service to the coal industry generally, and to this Institute, Life Membership in The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute be hereby con¬ferred upon the following members:

Jan 1, 1979

By J. J. Welch

The thought and practices in the field of accounting in the past two or three years are undergoing far-reaching changes, but more important than this is the changing viewpoint of business managers toward accounting reports and statistics. Accounting is no longer considered a necessary burden of business, for progressive managers and operating officials everywhere look upon it as a service. A service of supplying operating men and executives with information on their affairs which enables closer and more effective supervision, to the end that business may be conducted more satisfactorily and more profitably. This service is the real function of accounting in business management. Of the many treatises on accounting published in recent years, the great majority deal with principles and procedures, and were written purely from the accountant's point of view, thus they appeal, and are of interest, chiefly to accountants. Recently, however, the interest displayed by the operating man, be he president, general manager, superintendent, mine foreman or potential mine executive, calls upon the accounting department to serve him in furnishing him with figures showing the financial position and economic progress daily. In order to effectively render this service the necessary co-operation between management, operating and accounting -forces must exist. Satisfactory services may be developed only on a basis of close contact and pulling together between these departments. It is not a one-man job, the responsibilities necessarily rest on all. This co-operation contemplates:

Jan 1, 1932

By T. H. Brien, O&apos

At nearly all of the copper smelters in the Southwest, at some time, calculations have been made having in view the economy of replacing fuel oil with pulverized coal as a heat-producing medium for smelting operations This matter has been, and is more so now than at any time heretofore, of very great importance. Due to the intensive development of oil-producing areas of the world and the tremendous use of fuel oil for many purposes, it seems that before many years the supply of oil will become so small as to prohibit its use for such operations as smelting. This may be caused by prohibitive prices, or even by government decree as a conservation measure. In the event that the use of fuel oil becomes out of the question, the copper companies have just two alternatives: the use of pulverized coal or electricity. The copper companies of the Southwest produced an average of 808,400,000 pounds of copper per year for the war years of 1916, 1917 and 1918. This figure is, of course, a higher one than has prevailed since the war, but at the present time nearly all of the mines and smelters are getting back to capacity. There is no doubt whatever that the consumption of copper is going to increase, perhaps for the next ten years. This means that more copper mines will be discovered and developed, and that the mines which are now producing will be called upon for a greater production. This all tends to show that the mine manager who is looking ahead must develop some substitute for fuel oil in the event of its use becoming prohibitive, and all indications seem to point in that direction. The only coal which is commercially available to the smelters in the district under discussion must come from Colorado and New Mexico. These coals are high in ash and volatile matter and comparatively low in calorific value. The proximity of the smelter to the coal mines is a large factor in determining which fuel is more economical. Most of the smelters within two or three hundred miles of the coal mines find it more profitable to burn coal, while those at greater distance find that the higher freight charges on the coal make the use of oil more economical.

Jan 1, 1923