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By James R. Boyle

The value of Alabama's nonfuel mineral production in 1986 was $405.2 million, a slight decrease from that of 1985. Alabama was second in the Nation in production of bauxite, crushed marble, and ferroalloys; third b fire clay; fifth in masonry cement and lime; sixth in total clays; and seventh in recovered sulfur. Alabama ranked 19th nationally in value of nonfuel minerals produced. Cement, clays, lime, sand and gravel, and stone were the major commodities produced.

Jan 1, 1988

By J. H. Wiggins

In 1919 the United States was threatened with a shortage of gaso- line. In spite of this well-known fact, a detailed field investigation has shown that in one stage only of handling crude oil the volume of gasoline that evaporates is equal to one-thirtieth of the country's yearly gasoline production. This loss occurs during the few days that the oil is stored on the leases before being taken by the pipe line, and in 1919, in the Mid-Continent field alone, it amounted to 122,100,000 gallons. Large as it is, it is only a part of the loss on the lease. Investigation has further shown that the gasoline in crude oil evaporates from one-half to six-tenths as rapidly as the same gaso- line after being distilled and stored, all evaporative conditions being the same. Many wastes in the oil fields are called "necessary." By this is meant that the cost of preventing the waste is greater than the gain through saving. Evaporation losses have fallen heretofore in this category, but now they must be considered unnecessary. In other words, it is no longer economical for any handler of crude oil to permit losses through evaporation. In accordance with its purpose of seeking to conserve mineral resources, the Bureau of Mines investigated the loss of gasoline by evaporation in the storage and handling of petroleum. Inasmuch as most producers had not decided that their losses justified cor- rective measures and no evidence was available on the comparative losses in various stages of handling the oil, the investigation was limited to determining by experiment and observation the nature and magnitude of evaporation losses, where the greatest losses are, and the factor controlling evaporation.

Jan 1, 1922

By Joan Weinberg

The real gross national product (GNP) expanded by 2.3% during the second quarter, down from the anomalous 4.4% growth rate in the previous 3 months. If the expansion continues through October, it will have lasted 5 yr and become the second longest in 40 yr.2 As in the first quarter, improvement in U.S. exports played a role in the continuing--albeit slow--growth. More than 2 yr of declines in the dollar relative to currencies of other industrial countries have contributed to a slight reduction in the trade deficit in real (volume) terms, as real net exports of goods and services rose $1.9 billion (table 1). Exports grew a strong 12.1% while imports, which had fallen the previous two quarters, rose 7.4%. Manufactured goods and petroleum products accounted for most of the second quarter import increase. The American Petroleum Institute estimates that the volume of crude oil and refined products imports in the first half of 1987 surpassed those in the same period last year by 7.5%, reflecting falling domestic production and higher than expected demand. Expenditure on durable goods--those that last at least 3 yr-by both consumers and producers also contributed to the second quarter expansion. Personal consumption of durable goods rose 9.0%, after having fallen the two previous quarters. Motor vehicle purchases accounted for most of the second quarter increase and the first quarter decrease. Sales of automobiles surged in the last quarter of 1986, as consumers rushed to capture the sales tax deduction that was eliminated on January 1. Sales fell in the first quarter of 1987, but have now moved closer to the trend line exhibited in the first three quarters of 1986. Automobiles accounted for half the 0.8% July gain in retail sales, and two-thirds of the 1.4% June gain. Producers durable equipment purchases also rose this quarter, accounting for the increase in nonresidential fixed investment.

Jan 1, 1987

By C. A. Herbert

Coal-mine explosions in the United States during the past 10 years ranked third among the causes of coal-mine fatalities and constituted 16.1 percent of the total fatalities. In Indiana, however, during this same period the percentage of fatalities from this cause was much higher than the average percentage for the entire country. It is only through knowledge of the factors that have led to these past explosions that intelligent steps may be taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Although information concerning many of the earlier explosions is lacking, an attempt has been made to tabulate the information available in the hope that it may be of assistance in calling attention to some of the principal causes of explosions in Indiana.

Jan 1, 1934

By Raja V. Ramani, Robert L. Frantz

"The House/Senate Joint Conference Committee has instructed the Bureau of Mines to have the Advisory Committee on Mining and Mineral Resources Research review on an annual and simultaneous basis each generic mineral technology research center (GMTC). In order to accomplish that review promptly and uniformly, committee members have revised and approved an in-depth questionnaire. That document formed the basis of their review. The information provided by that questionnaire was an important factor in their recommendations concerning the future direction of the program; a presentation was made at the last National Plan Update.The comprehensive nature of the questionnaire and the scope of the information contained therein make it an excellent retrospective of the Center. Having a clear vision of where the Center has been and knowing where it is now will help guide it into the future. It is felt that such a detailed view of the Center's facilities and research program will be of value to Center personnel and Advisory Committee members.Each aspect of the questionnaire has been examined, answered in detail, and documented throughly. With the completed questionnaire as a guide, this volume examines the research program, Center personnel presently active on GMTC projects, number of graduate degrees granted with GMTC support, GMTC publications, degree of individual interaction, technology transfer, the reference center, GMTC equipment and facilities, and any envisioned plans for future research. It is hoped that this volume will serve as a review of the years 1984-1988, the first four years of the Center's operation."

Aug 31, 1989

By E. E. Harton

Bureau of Mines Information Circular 16, Bibliography of Investment and Operating Costs for Chemical and Petroleum Plants, was published in October 1949 as an aid in making estimates of investment and operating costs of processes for manufacturing synthetic liquid fuels. Development of such processes by the Bureau of Mines was authorized by Public Law 290, 78th Congress. This bibliography included refer¬ences to and abstracts of publications appearing from 1930 to September 1948 on all processes in general use in the petroleum refining and chemical industries. Publications in this field have been numerous since compilation of the above bibliography, and the present report was prepared to cover the field from September 1948 through June 1952.3/

Jan 1, 1955

By Fredrick L. Johnson

In 1984, at the request of the U.S. Forest Service, the U.5, Bureau of Mines began a study of the 94,370-acre Arc Dome study area (4-667) in order to appraise its mineral resources, The Bureau of Mines mapped and sampled mines, prospects, and mineralized sites in and near the area, The study area is located in the Toiyabe National Forest, about 54 mi north of Tonopah, Nye County, NV, It is estimated that over 500 claims have been staked in the study area since the mid-1800?s. In January 1986, there were 108 active mining claims completely inside and 59 on the boundary. Another 283 active claims were outside the study area but within 1 mi of the boundary, In addition to the large number of claims staked, exploration activity is also reflected by the almost 700 inactive workings that were found during field investigation.

Jan 1, 1989

By D. A. Reynolds

Yields of ammonium sulfate obtained in the carbonization of coal frequently vary from plant to plant, because ammonia is an unstable compound at high temperatures and therefore sensitive, to changes in carbonizing conditions. Differences in byproduct yields of ammonium sulfate obtained at different plants generally are accounted for by variations in plant procedure, either in preparing the coal or in its carbonization. However, technicians of one large corporation,- which frequently obtained higher yields of ammonium sulfate in its Alabama plants than ever were attained in its Ohio plants, "could not reconcile the differences in yields with their plant operations. These investigators suspected that the Alabama, coal used in their southern plant yielded more ammonia because its composition differed inherently from that of the Pennsylvania and West Virginia coals fused in their Ohio plants, although this concept could not be proved readily in their large-scale operations. Their view is supported by experimental data obtained A Beau of Mines-American Gas Association (BM-AGA) carbonization tests) -21 of a large number of coals including those carbonized commercially in Alabama and Ohio.

Jan 1, 1949

By R. V. Lundquist

A method was developed by the Federal Bureau of Mines for evaluating viscosity data from slurries obtained in leaching sinters from the lime soda sinter process for extracting alumina from aluminous silicates. The logarithm of the viscosity was observed to be a linear function with time. The slope of the plotted line provides a means for evaluating viscosity behavior in a lime soda sinter blurry and also a means for comparing gelation characteristics directly with other variables in the lime soda sinter process. This report presents one aspect of a continuing study by the Bureau of Mines on methods for treating siliceous aluminum ores. It is one of the many programs of the Bureau concerned with conservation, development, and use of our domestic minerals resources. Previous investigations of lime soda processes, both by the Bureau4-7/ and industrial concerns, have demonstrated that sintered materials containing CaO, Na2O, A1203, and S102 in various combinations exhibit a tendency to gel or set when mixed with water or other extraction solutions. Gelling prevents satisfactory recovery of alumina and in extreme cases prevents operation of an extraction plant.

Jan 1, 1960

Underground coal mine tracked vehicles have been studied to determine the state of the art and how brakes might be added to the coal haulage cars. Specific areas of interest are: brake sys terns, couplers, car trucks and car handling procedures. Problems related to adding brakes to the haulage cars appear to be: the limited amount of room to mount the brakes on the cars, brake line connection between rotary dump cars, achieving desirable braking characteristics without over complicating the system and keeping the installation cost to a reasonable figure. This document combines the information contained in the first issue of the "State-of -the-Art of Underground Coal Mine Tracked Vehicle Brake Systems," BRL Report No. 6080, with that contained in a subsequent monthly report.

Jan 1, 1973

By Ann G. Kim

Hydrocarbon gases, primarily methane but also the C2 through C5 paraffins, the C2 and C3 olefins and possibly the C4 and C5 olefins, are byproducts of coal formation. Although it is generally believed that coal formation occurred at temperatures below 200° C, most experimental work on gas formation from coal has been performed at temperatures between 200° and 1,000°C. The objective of this Bureau of Mines experiment was to determine if observable changes in the gases from coal could be produced at temperatures below 200° C in relatively short periods of time. The experiment involved heating coal samples from six coalbeds at constant temperatures and analyzing evolved gases. The composition of the gases at three temperatures was compared. At 35° C, over 99 pct of the gas is methane; at 125° and 150°, methane constitutes approximately half of the hydrocarbon gas. Isobutane and pentane are the predominant higher hydrocarbons at temperatures between 100° and 150° C.

Jan 1, 1974

By M. M. Fine

Small-scale laboratory mineral-dressing studies were made on a total of nine individual or composite samples of manganese-bearing material from the west-central Arkansas, or Mena, district. Of these, only three yielded concentrates that would probably be acceptable for purchases by the Federal Government fur the National Stockpile. Concentrates from some of the other properties, however, contained more than 40 percent Mn and might be merchantable to other purchasers of manganese ore. In most instances, a too-intimate association of manganese oxides and gangue is conducive to low grade, low recovery, or both, so that mechanical concentration processes do not promise much for this district.

Jan 1, 1956

By W. E. Robinson

Oil-shale kerogen was processed into oil and oil products before the first oil well was completed by Drake in 1859. However, because of economic and other advantages, natural petroleum has been the principal source of liquid fuels and lubricants since 1859 and is a convenient root of many [organic] chemicals in common use today. In recent years the difference has narrowed between the cost of producing liquid fuels from well petroleum and other sources. This narrowing of cost difference has resulted both from the increased cost of finding new sources of petroleum in the United States and the experimental demonstration of lowered costs for synthetic liquid fuels by the Federal Bureau of Mines and by industry. Available petroleum resources of this country are being reduced and eventually may be inadequate to meet the demand. Alternate means of assuring an adequate supply of liquid fuels for this country include the development of processes for utilizing other carbonaceous materials such as oil shale and coal.

Jan 1, 1960

Prier to the date of this contract, Ocean Energy had developed and demonstrated a high efficiency fluorescent caplamp which operated from a standard 4 volt miner's caplamp battery. This unit produced about five times the light output of the standard incandescent miner's caplamp. The Company believed that the major market for this unique caplamp was in the industrial and municipal applications. Because of the additional safety requirements for coal mining use, and in conjunction with the much smaller market in the mining industry, the additional expense and difficulty of modifying this caplamp to comply with the Federal and State coal mine regulations were not considered at that time. Recognizing the potential of this lamp for improving illumination conditions for underground coal mining, the US Bureau of Mines contracted with Ocean Energy to make the required modifications to this lamp to bring it into compliance with the Federal and State of Pennsylvania regulations, and thereby, make this lamp available to the anthracite and bituminous coal mining industry. At the outset of the contract, the injection molds for the caplamp housing were being completed, and only prototype, hand fabricated, units were available for tests. The Bureau evaluated these prototype units and formulated a performance specification for the miner's version. Light level and distribution, weight, size, angle of tilt, and operating duration were all specified. In addition, it was required that the caplamp be com¬patible with existin charging equipment at the mines and that the final design be in full compliance with MESA Schedule 6D and he ultimately approved by MESA, Approval and Testing, as well as by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. The scope of this contract covered the modifications required to achieve these objectives. It was agreed by the Bureau that all rights to the lamp, including design, material combinations, circuitry, etc. would remain with Ocean Energy. The charger/adapter system and components, which were developed under contract funds, are disclosed hero and become public knowledge and property. Patent applications have been filed by Ocean Energy to protect the mechanical and electrical design aspects of the lamp. It should be noted that this report contains details, designs and data which may be covered by one or more Ocean Energy patent applications, and disclosure herein is made only to provide better understanding of the contract results.

Jan 1, 1975

This publication summarizes, for all interested parties, the research, development, and demonstration in-house projets programed by the Bureau of Mines for fiscal year 1980 (October 1, 1979 - September 30, 1980) under its Minerals Health and Safety Research program. The objective of these projects is to provide an ordered and sequenced series of advances toward the Bureau's overall goal of providing the system technology required to create a healthier and safer working environment for the Nation's mining and minerals processing workers.

Jan 1, 1980

By Frank E. Cash

Data on the accident experience of the pebble-phosphate industry in Florida for 1930 and 1940 are combined in this report with statistics for the 9-year period 1930-38, inclusive, which were published in Information Circulars 69173/, 69684/, and 71005/. The periodic compilation and publication of such data enable the pebble-phosphate industry, as well as other industries, to consider the relative hazards, compare experience, and thereby help to prevent accidents. ACKOWLEDGMENTS Accident data were furnished by the following operating companies: Amalgamated Phosphate Co., Brewster; American Agricultural Chemical Co., Pierce; Coronet Phosphate Co., Plant City; International Agricultural Corporation, Mulberry; Phosphate Mining Co., Nichols; southern Phosphate Corporation, Bartow; and Swift & Co., Fertilizer Works, Bartow.

Jan 1, 1941

By Alphonso Cornejo, Galen H. Clevenger

This bibliography was compiled in connection with an investigation of the Caron process for the treatment of manganese - silver ores , conducted by the T. S. Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Netherlands East Indies Government . The object of this investigation was to develop a practicable method for treating the refractory manganese- silver ores found in these two countries . The results of the work will be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Mines . This bibliography summarizes the available information on the subject previous to the investigative work embodied in the forthcoming bulletin, and may be useful to those metallurgists or others conducting work along this line .

Mar 1, 1923

By V. F. Parry

The object of this report is to present certain pertinent data on the physical and chemical properties of South Arcot lignite and to present the results of several special tests to show how the raw lignite can be upgraded to superior fuels for certain special uses. The Bureau of Mines Branch of Coal Technology laboratories at Denver have advocated the drying and carbonization of all low-rank fuels for special uses and have introduced and developed new techniques for upgrading and refining noncoking coals. Application of these techniques to the South Arcot lignites was the object of the investigation, and this report presents significant data necessary for planning a fuel program based on utilization of dried and carbonized dusts. In general, the South Arcot lignite is similar in chemical properties to the high-moisture lignites found in the United States and has some physical properties similar to Australian brown coals. The samples submitted for test had lost moisture before delivery to the laboratory, and it has been necessary to estimate the analysis of the lignite in place in the mine. Various observations made in India by qualified technicians indicate that the bed moisture content of the entire seam is in the range of 54 to 56 percent. For estimating purposes in this report, the bed moisture content has been taken as 56 percent and the ash content of the fresh coal as 2.5 percent. The average analysis estimated for the as-mined lignite is: [Moisture percent 56.0 Volatile matter do.22.0 Fixed carbon do.19.5 Ash do.2.5 Heating value B.t.u. per lb. 4,890]

Jan 1, 1957

By F. D. Cannon

"In metal and nonmetallic mineral mines during the 15-year period 1911 to 1925, 30.17 per cent of all fatalities and 16.57 per cent of all injuries were caused by falls of rock or ore from the back or roof or from the wail; 1.24 per cent of the fatalities and 11.05 per cent of the injuries were caused by rock or ore while loading at the working face; 6.66 per cent of the .fatalities and 2.49 per cent of the injuries resulted from men falling down 3 chute, winze, raise, or stope; and run of ore from chute or pocket caused 1.48 per cent of the fatalities and 1.93 per cent of the injuries.3 Hence, accidents due to falls of men and material caused. 39.55 per cent of the fatalities and 34.05 per cent of the injuries in these mines. Accident prevention can best be assisted by each company's preserving complete records of accidents classified according to cause and rate per thousand or 10,000 shifts. A systematic method of recording accidents and the employment of graphs or charts will be helpful to the company safety department in analyzing the cruses of accidents. The purpose of this publication is to analyze data on accidents caused by falls of men and material in metal -mines of the United States, and to suggest methods of preventing or reducing such accidents."

Jun 1, 1929

By M. G. Zabetakis

Benzene and toluene are the first two members of an important homologous series whose general formula is CnH2n-6. The members of this series differ in composition from benzene by some integral multiple of CH2; they can all be prepared in the laboratory by the Wurtz-Fittig, Friedel-Crafts and Grignard syntheses. Because 'of the industrial importance of these-hydrocarbons, the limits of flammability of eight members of the series have been determined at 100° C.-(A temperature of 1000 C. was chosen because the determination of the upper limit of flammability of p-cymene requires an apparatus temperature. of at least 90° C. As elevated temperature data are available for other combustibles at 100° C. but not at 90° C., all data were taken at 100° C. in order to obtain comparable results.) Minimum ignition temperatures of these combustibles have been determined at laboratory-pressures.

Jan 1, 1951