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By Bernard Lewis

This report summarizes the fundamental research and technical studies conducted by the Explosives Branch of the Bureau of Mines from July 1, 1943, to June 30, 1949. It is the thirteenth of a series of annual reports, which have aimed to bring to the reader a resume of the research results that have appeared in published form during each fiscal year. The work of the Explosives Branch covers a number of activities - explosives research, explosives testing, flame and combustion research, flammability of gases and vapors, dust-explosions research, and technical studies in the experimental mine. An important part of the work of the branch is fundamental research to advance our knowledge and understanding of explosion processes. Considerable emphasis has been placed on studies of ignition and flame stabilization, as it is felt that an understanding of these processes should assist materially in alleviating explosion hazards in coal mines. The results are also finding important application in the development of jet propulsion. Studies of the explosibility of gases, vapors, and dusts saving thousands of lives and are preventing the destruction of much property. In innumerable instances in which potential explosion hazards exist, safe operating procedures have been recommended from data taken in the Laboratory. Aware of the value to national security of research results of combustion, flame, and explosion, the Army, Navy, and Air Forces are actively supporting important phases of this fundamental research.

Jan 1, 1950

By Albert H. Fay

This glossary is publi~hed- by the Bureau of Mines as a contribution' to the mining literature in the belief that it will fill a long-felt need. It contains about 20,000 terms; these include both technical and purely local terms related to metal mining, coal mining, quarrying, petroleum, and natural gas, and metallurgical works; names of useful, important, and common minerals and rocks; an<lgeological terms. It presents in one comprehensive volume the available standard, technical terms relating to the mining and mineral industry, as well as provincialisms that have been or are now in use in English-speaking countries. The glossary also includes many terms relating to ceramics and the clay industry, glass making, foundry practice, railway and building construction, electrical installation and power-plant equipment, and chemical terms relating to metallurgical practice. Complete lists of terms for' each of these allied industries are beyond the scope of this glossary. Paleontological terms, although closely associated with geology, are far removed from mining and metallurgical operations, and for this reason have been omitted. In a compilation of this magnitude, it is difficult, within a reasonable time to verify all definitions as to the latest usage. Much verifying was done and it is hoped that the best and latest definitions have been used. Reference to the publications cited will enable the reader to determine approximately the period when the definition was used. Definitions in use by engineers of high national or international reputation are given first preference. When definitions from different sources are the same, credit is given to the earlier author as being the original or nearest to the original source. Immediately following each term the name of the locality wherein the word is presumed to have originated or is widely used is given, where such information is available. The name of the author or source from which the definition was obtained follows the definition, and serves as a key to the publications listed. The terms selected from the various glossaries and publications examined have been compared with the Webster,

Jan 1, 1920

By Keith L. Harris

Buoyed primarily by growing consumer spending, the economy rebounded from a weak second quarter. According to preliminary estimates released by the Department of Commerce, real gross national product (GNP) grew $2 1.9 billion during the third quarter, producing a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 2.4%, compared with a rate of 0.6% in the second quarter of 1986 and 4.1% for the third quarter of 1985 (table 1). Third-quarter real personal consumption expenditures and Government purchases of goods and services rose $42 billion and $7 billion, respectively, but those gains were partially offset by the continuing decline of gross private domestic investment, off $16 billion, and the growing trade deficit, up $11 billion. Three quarters of the growth in consumer spending occurred in the durable goods sector as consumers responded to discounted financing offered by automobile manufacturers attempting to lower inventories of 1986 vehicles, Increased purchases of other durable goods, such as furniture and home furnishings, also contributed to the strength of the durable goods sector. The success of the automobile inventory reduction program as well as weak factory output led to a $20 billion decline in inventory growth. Investment for housing and producers&apos; durable equipment expanded, however, and mitigated some of the impact of slower inventory depending on gross private domestic investment, Capital spending for nonresidential structures declined for the third consecutive quarter. The declining capital spending and the growing trade deficit continued to be significant and interrelated problems for the economy. Real capital spending for new plants and equipment during 1986 is expected to decline 2.5% after rising 8.7% in 1985 and 15.8% in 1984 (table 2). It is likely that capital expenditures bottomed out in the second quarter and that they will expand in the third and fourth quarters. The first-half decline was partially attributed to uncertainty arising from the pending tax- overhaul bill. Furthermore, there is little impetus for corporations to invest in new capacity since factories are operating at less than 80% of capacity (table 3) largely because of the continuing growth of imports. The growth rate of the trade deficit dropped sharply in the third quarter to less than half that of the previous quarter. Low oil prices, declining auto- mobile and steel imports, and increased exports of agricultural goods contributed to this decline. The continued low growth of the economy caused the Federal Reserve System to reduce the discount rate for the fourth time this year (in late August), drop ping it to 5,596, the lowest level in about 9 years. Inflation, as measured by the fixed- weighted GNP price Index, continues to remain low, but rose from the revised second-quarter level of 1.7% to 2.596, mostly because of rising food costs.

Jan 1, 1986

By Andrew Stewart

The author desires to express appreciation to R. A. Cattell, C. T. Seibel, and H. S. Kennedy, of this Bureau, and to Dr. Richard Wiebe of the fixed nitrogen research laboratory, Department of Agriculture, for helpful criticism and comments in the preparation of this paper. More especially thanks are due to A A. Cattell for his many valuable constructive suggestions. INTRODUCTION From time to time, the Bureau of Mines receives inquiries from the non-technical public on the subject of helium. People ask for information concerning its properties; they want to learn Whence it is derived, how it is produced, and to what uses it may be put. In consequence, the following paper has been written to give in simple terms an account of this most remarkable of gases. It has been thought desirable for purposes of analogy to include reference to All the members of the group of elements to which helium belongs, and, incidentally, to embody in the narrative certain other information pertinent to the subject.

Jan 1, 1933

By F. S. Wartman

This paper gives an account of the production of ductile-grade titanium powder in 100-pound batches by reduction of purified titanic Chloride with magnesium, grinding, leaching, and magnetic-separation of the reaction product. Apparatus, technique, and methods of controlling product quality are described and some data on operating costs are given.

Jan 1, 1949

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Jan 1, 1985

By Gordon T. Austin

The combined value of production of natural abrasives, which includes tripoli, special silica stone, garnet, staurolite, and emery, increased about 21070 in 1989. The increase in the value of staurolite and tripoli production was the result of an increase in the quantity of materials produced and an increase in the unit value. Emery decreased due to the significant decline in the volume of the material produced. Special silica stone experienced both a decrease in unit value and quantity produced. Garnet showed a small increase in quantity, but a decrease in unit value. The silicon carbide industry saw a slight decrease in the quantity produced and a 12070 increase in the value of production. The fused aluminum oxide industry showed a 5070 decline in the quantity produced, but enjoyed a 15070 increase in the value of production. Combined production for both industries decreased 4070 in quantity but increased 13070 in value compared with those of 1988.

Jan 1, 1991

By V. H. Gottschalk

Sponge iron is a product resulting from the reduction of an iron oxide below the temperature at which the product melts. Commercial grades usually contain 80 to 95 percent metallic iron, 2 to 5 percent unreduced iron oxide, and an amount of siliceous gangue material depending on the pur.ity of the are used for reduction. The reducing agent may be gaseous or solid, and a large variety of procedures have been proposed for bringing the reducing agent into reaction with the iron oxide. Of the proposed procedures, the one that has the distinction of having been in continuous commercial operation for the longest time, from 1911 to date, was developed at a ceramic plant in Hoeganaes, Sweden, and yields? a product that has an enviable reputation as furnace feed wherever special, high-quality steels are made.

Jan 1, 1948

By C. G. Maier

The fundamental chemistry of zinc smelting, especially that part dealing with the chemical reduction of the zinc-oxide content of a roasted zinc ore, has been discussed by metallurgists in some detail, but, in the light of present knowledge, unsatisfactorily. A considerable portion of the information available has been qualitative, or quantitative in a sense that could not be interpreted chemically. A number of attempts to elucidate the physical chemistry of zinc oxide reduction have been based upon unsubstantiated and, as is now known, incorrect equilibrium data. To write upon the chemistry of zinc smelting at this time, when electrolytic methods for the production of zinc metal from ore are becoming increasingly widespread, may seem a belated effort. So, for example, C. A. Hansen,3 in the communicated discussion of an article by the author,4 writes as follows:

Jan 1, 1930

By Theron A. Klinefelter, Sidney Speil, Sidney Gottlied

"INTRODUCTION The investigation of domestic talcs by the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines, was initiated in December 1941 at the request Gen. Charles Hines of the United States Army. The urgency for such study was expressed by General Hines as follows:The radio-manufacturing industry has recently been expanded by the Army to provide sufficient, capacity for defense needs, and considerable concern has been expressed by the supply Arms and Services over maintaining continued availability of supplies of the necessary raw material. These ceramic products are used by the Signal Cores in all Army radio equipment, and to a greater degree in the new special ultra-high-frequency equipment. The Air Corps has recently become a user large amounts of radio-grade ceramics for aircraft spark-plug covers required for high-altitude operations. In addition, the use of this material is essential to the proper functioning of the radio-navigation aids of the Civil Aeronautics Board.Progress in the Bureau of Mines studies on talc was made available to representatives of the Army and Navy through frequent interim reports. Through the efforts of the several war agencies concerned with raw-materials supply and the domestic talc producers, the condition of scarcity that developed in 1942 passed to one of ease in 1943, and has so continued to date. Tentative estimate of reserves delineated indicates a supply of high-grade steatite sufficient to meet military war requirements for at least 4 or 5 years."

Apr 1, 1945

By E. D. Gardner

This paper is the second of a series of three on placer mining in the western United States. The first paper4 discusses the history of placer mining in the Western States and the production of placer gold, geology of placer deposits, location of placer claims on public lands, sampling and estimation of gold placers, and classification of placer-mining methods, together with hand-shoveling and ground-sluicing. This paper deals with hydraulicking, sluice boxes and riffles, recovery of gold and platinum from placer concentrates, treatment of amalgam, and marketing of placer gold. The discussion of sluice boxes and subsequent subjects in this paper applies to all forms of placer mining. The third paper deals with dredging and other forms of mechanical handling of placer gravels, and drift mining.

Jan 1, 1934

By Robert G. Clarke

The production of natural abrasives varied in quantity and value compared with those of 1974. Output of tripoli-type materials and garnet both decreased in quantity and value. Special silica stone products decreased in quantity but in-creased in value. The production of emery increased 38% in quantity. The production of manufactured abrasive materials decreased for all types and the decreases were more in quantity than in value. [ ] FOREIGN TRADE Imports of abrasive materials were 15% less in value than in 1974, and exports plus reexports decreased in value 10%. Net exports, the excess of exports and reexports over imports, were $9.3 million, about four times that of 1974. The volume of all abrasive materials exported decreased and the value of nearly all decreased.

Jan 1, 1977

By Earl T. Hayes

THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY has been assembled to aid research by the Bureau of Mines, and others on high-purity tungsten. It appears approximately 50 years after the development of ductile tungsten-one of the first metals to be produced in a high-purity form. Requirements of the missile age are ever more demanding that engines rout hotter and space vehicles fly higher and faster. Thus, it has become necessary to reexamine all conventional materials of construction as well as to investigate new combinations. At this stage of our technology we have alloys capable of operation at 1,800° F. and several possibilities of developing some. that will be satisfactory up to 2,500° F. Strength-weight comparisons, detrimental to tungsten at, lower temperatures, disappear at this point, mid tungsten or its alloys appear to be the only metal capable of operation at truly high temperatures. The aim of this bibliography has been to include only references that concern improving the purity of tungsten-from processing the ore to treating the finished metal. In this sense it is a selected and not a critical bibliography. The period front January 1911 through February 1959 has been covered. Because repent literature has the greatest, value, most of the selected items refer to publications issued within the pest 5 years.

Jan 1, 1960

The contribution of minerals to the growth and development of the United States is best demonstrated by the uses which have evolved during the past two centures. During pre-Revolutionary days the colonies were essentially agricultural in character, producing cotton, tobacco, rice, indigo, grains and flour, fish, livestock, dairy products, and timber. Shipbuilding was the major manufacturing industry. In 1763, the total value of exports for Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts was £2,722,000, of which £55,000, or 2 percent, was for "copper ore, and iron in pigs" (3)1 and £49,000 was for 21,000 barrels or hogsheads of "pot-ash." The value of 75 ships built for sale in 1763 by the colonies was £61,500.

Jan 1, 1976

This Kaiser Engineers report on the feasibility of surface mining on the North Slope of Alaska has considered the quantity and quality of the North Slope deposits with attention paid to the economic, technical, and environmental constraints of the mining systems suggested for the three candidate minesites at Kukpowruk River, Elusive Creek, and Kuk River. Site selection, based on coal rank and quality as well as seam thickness and geometry, also considered demonstrated and hypothetical reserves relative to three mining systems (dragline, shovel, dragline and shovel), mining equipment requirements, infrastructure, and transportation relative to the Arctic environment and costed for potential markets. Throughout the report the delicate permafrost environment has received particular consideration. Recommendations based on the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of mining the coal deposits of Northern Alaska by surface mining techniques have resulted in two conclusions: 1. The coal deposits can be mined with currently available technology; 2. It is uneconomic to mine these coals given current coal resource estimates, costs, and market conditions. A literature survey is included in appendix.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. Venter

The history of firedamp is the same as that of coal: The initial stage was the accumulation of vegetation, which was converted into peat under certain local conditions, then lignite, bituminous coal, and finally anthracite. These deposits ceased to increase owing to inundation that deposited earthy sediment, sometimes as much as several tens of meters (several tens of yards). The vegetable matter, whether it was covered with sediment or not, began to ferment. The basic organic components of the vegetable matter are: Cellulose, lignin, and wax and resin in varying proportions, according to the different kinds of vegetable matter. There are, in addition, some impurities, generally mineral.

Jan 1, 1953

By Harold M. Smith

Among the more important raw materials now utilized for the commercial production of synthetic organic chemicals is natural &apos;gas. Natural gas has been used as a fuel and source of energy almost from its discovery, but its potentialities as a chemical raw material were not realized until recently. Research in the use of natural gas for Chemical synthesis received great impetus from the discovery by Brooks and Humphrey4/ in 1918 of alcohols in the diluted ?acid oil? obtained by sulfuric acid treatment of cracked petroleum distillates. Experimental data soon showed that hydrocarbons from natural gas could be converted to these same products. Laboratory methods for chlorination of natural-gas hydrocarbons, particularly of methane for the production of methyl chloride, methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride, and chleroform were known before that time but were not developed commercially. Methods for obtaining alcohol by oxidation of hydrocarbons derived from natural gas also were known before 1918 but had not received commercial consideration. Since 1918, and particularly during the past 15 years, the work of chemists and chemical manufacturers throughout the world has resulted in an accumulation of data regarding the reactivity of natural-gas hydrocarbons, and related hydrocarbons found in refinery gases or made synthetically. These data have been used to develop methods for converting hydrocarbons into chemical products and thus form the basis for a large and growing industry.

Jan 1, 1947

By Alastair M. Lumsden

A study was initiated to examine the ways in which a number of foreign countries classify and regulate metal/non-metal mines which experience problems due to naturally-occurring flammable gases. Twenty countries were selected for study, and useful information was obtained from sixteen of these. Nine countries were visited (five of them twice) to hold meetings with representatives of government mine regulatory agencies and mine operators, and to visit mines encountering methane and other gases (carbon dioxide, nitrogen). In the later stages of the study seven gassy metal/non-metal mines in the United States were visited so as to provide a basis for comparison, and hence the evaluation of both the U.S. and foreign gassy mine regulations. In addition to obtaining copies of the mining laws and regulations of a number of foreign countries, nine foreign gassy mines, and the seven in the United States were documented in as much detail as possible. All this information is presented, along with appropriate conclusions and appendices. The study took two years and three months to complete.

Jan 1, 1983

By A. Brown

This report details work performed and results obtained in a study of the water management aspects of oil shale mining and retorting in the Piceance Creek Basin. Three specific sites were investigated, and optimal water management systems for both conventional and in-situ extraction processes were generated. Water-related legal and environmental constraints on development were identified and the water management schemes were developed in compliance with these regulations. Limitations on shale oil production implied by limited water supplies were evaluated. Potential Basin-wide effects of development were evaluated using a computer model, and mitigation strategies were developed. Recommendations for additional investigation and analyses were presented.

Jan 1, 1977

Throughout October, U.S. producers priced unalloyed 99.5 percent aluminum ingot at 53¢ per pound. Dealers, in last month&apos;s domestic market, were quoting unalloyed ingot at a range of 45.5¢-46.3¢ per pound. Costa Rica recently issued a proposal to Japanese aluminum smelters to participate in an integrated aluminum-refining project which would include bauxite development. The project reportedly would include a 600,000-kilowatt hydroelectric power station, a 600,000-metric-ton-per-year alumina plant, and a 300,000-ton-per-year primary aluminum smelter. Two U.S. firms--Aluminum Co. of Amerjca (Alcoa) and Martin Marietta Co.--and several European aluminum smelters are also said to be interested in taking part in this project. Alcoa conducted a feasibility study for the Costa Rican Government in 1970 and estimated the bauxite reserves to contain 150 million metric tons.

Jan 1, 1977