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By Steven W. Schmauch

In 1986, at the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Bureau of Mines Studied 25,340 acres of the 28,960-acre Twelve Mile Creek Wilderness Study Area (OR-003-162) in order to evaluate its identified mineral resources. The study area is located in Malheur County, OR, about 30 miles northwest of McDermitt, NV. The area is underlain by thick sequences of rhyolite to with lesser amounts of andesite and basalt flows. Bureau of Mines personnel reviewed pertinent literature, mining records, and examined the study area for possible mineral resources in geologically favorable sites. There are no organized mining districts and no record of past or current mining activity. Based on sample results, published literature and field observations, there are no identified mineral resources.

Jan 1, 1987

By Charles Findlay

As one of its projects for degasification of major panels of coal prior to mining within them, the Bureau of Mines conducted methane emission studies during development of a set of three headings 1,800 feet in a major coal panel (2,700 by 3,500 feet) which had been completely isolated by sets of main headings for 12 months in the Federal No. 2 mine (Pittsburgh coalbed) in northern West Virginia. Similar emission studies were conducted in the development of two sets of main headings in virgin coal areas nearby. Comparing the two sets of data indicated that the isolated coal panel had been degasified by approximately 70 percent.

Jan 1, 1973

By Dana T. Updyke

An evaluation was made of one of several improved underground communication systems sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The system evaluated was installed in a typical metal/non-metal room and pillar mine and utilized UHF repeaters connected to a unique distributed antenna and passive reflector system which provided mine-wide communications. A microprocessor controlled data collection system was assembled and installed for the evaluation. Data consisting principally or times and durations of messages and identities of the originating transceivers was collected between February and August of 1982 (6 mos.). Analysis of the data shows that the principal benefits are reduction in time required for unscheduled maintenance and repair, enhancement of safety, and better coordination of production activities. A cost benefit analysis shows a net benefit over cost, although it is also concluded that the capacity of the system is greater than can be justified by current activity in the mine.

Jan 1, 1983

During the period 1979 thru 1982, Multi Mineral Corporation conducted a mining research program at the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Mines Oil Shale Mining Environmental Research Facility in the Central Piceance Creek Basin, Rio Blanco County, Colorado. The program consisted of mining, environmental and geotechnical research data and, the results are described in this report.

Jan 1, 1983

By Kenneth H. Johnston

This publication describes a thermal-recovery project and two waterflood projects in Carter, Garvin, and Stephens Counties, Okla., that will be visited during the 1966 annual tour by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Kansas-Oklahoma Waterflood Association. Among the unique features of the projects arc (1) the movement of heavy (15° to 28° API gravity) crude oil through the reservoir and into the well bore with energy furnished by burning a portion of the crude oil therein; (2) the use of an inverted nine-spot pattern with dually completed injection wells, to produce oil from deep (8,200 to 10,200 feet) reservoirs; and (3) the flooding of five sand lenses separately by using controlled water injections through multizone completed injection wells. Discussion of the individual projects includes information on their early history, method of completing and operating wells, source and treatment of injection fluids, oil production decline curves, and the results obtained from the development.

Jan 1, 1966

By Kenneth H. Johnston

This publication describes a thermal-recovery project and two waterflood projects in Carter, Garvin, and Stephens Counties, Okla., that will be visited during the 1966 annual tour by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Kansas-Oklahoma Waterflood Association. Among the unique features of the projects arc (1) the movement of heavy (15° to 28° API gravity) crude oil through the reservoir and into the well bore with energy furnished by burning a portion of the crude oil therein; (2) the use of an inverted nine-spot pattern with dually completed injection wells, to produce oil from deep (8,200 to 10,200 feet) reservoirs; and (3) the flooding of five sand lenses separately by using controlled water injections through multizone completed injection wells. Discussion of the individual projects includes information on their early history, method of completing and operating wells, source and treatment of injection fluids, oil production decline curves, and the results obtained from the development.

Jan 1, 1966

By E. R. Maize

This report is the third of a series on convergence of roof and floor in coal mines and subsidence of surface that accompanies it. The first paper5/ dealt with extraction in a mechanized mine (Montour 10) having relatively short rib lines that retreat rapidly. The second dealt with extraction in a mine (Crucible) in which coal was loaded. by hand and in which the rib lines wore long and slow-moving. The present report deals with a mine (Gibson) in which conditions approximated those in the Crucible mine, except that the distance between room centers was considerably less and the pillars were narrower in consequence. Moreover, the average cover was less and the studies were made under the steep hillside of a stream valley compared with a gently rolling surface over the portions of the second mine studied. Gibson mine lies in the east-central hart of Washington County, Pa. , approximately midway between the Montour 10 end Crucible mines on a north-south line. A cooperative agreement covering the work was made with the Hillman Coal & Coke Co. through W. L. Affelder, vice president. This paper describes the methods used in the investigation, gives excerpts from the data obtained, and offers such generalizations as appear to be justified.

Jan 1, 1940

By Richard S. Watt

The Bureau of Mines is often called upon to analyze the demand for various minerals and fuels and to make projections of the future demand. Because minerals and fuels are raw materials and because the demand for raw materials [pends] on the demand for finished goods, these projections are usually [conned] with derived demand rather than final demand. In order to obtain quick [d] reasonably accurate analyses of the demand for mineral commodities, the [reau] developed a method and has used it successfully (31).4 To illustrate the [thod], this report presents a full analysis of the demand for a mineral commodity with enough general theory to permit application of the method to any mineral. Sodium chloride (common table salt) was chosen as the subject of the analysis because the demand for it is less complicated5 and permits a simple application and clear presentation of the method.

Jan 1, 1962

This report describes the work performed by Mine Research Company in developing a prototype mobile roof shield during 1971-1972 for the U. S. Bureau of Mines, along with background information leading to the design decisions adopted for the project. In addition, the report evaluates the choice of design and analysis and the results of the project in terms of future possibilities of mobile roof support systems. The report begins with the discussion of the problems of designing, building, and using mechanical and hydraulic roof support in coal mines. It then gives a historical summary of past work with discussions of the design choices made for previous roof support systems.

Jan 1, 1973

By Kenneth Wardell

Criteria have been fully developed for determining the optimum size of oil and gas well blocks. The criteria lead to the formation of well barrier pillars which are, of themselves, inherently stable and take account of variable mine roof and floor conditions. The criteria ensure, through considerations of ground movement, that strains transmitted to well casings, are within tolerable limits of casing specifications. The criteria cater for well barrier pillars in multi-seam mining situations and where previous old mining has taken place. The criteria maintain flexibility in being adaptable to local mine design situations. The criteria are applicable to proposed extraction thicknesses up to 15 feet at depths up to 2,400 feet. The criteria are related to producing wells and to abandoned wells. In the latter connection, various states of well abandonment are recognised.

Jan 1, 1980

By L. M. Irwin

This Bureau of Mines investigation relates the physical properties of copper reverberatory furnace slags to changes in composition, The smelting of upper Michigan copper ore presents some problems that probably differ from those of other copper smelting areas. The study of these problems has, however, provided important data regarding slags in general and therefore will be of value to other operations as well. Conclusions reached from this study were: (1) Slag fluidity and refractive indices varied directly with the iron content and inversely with silica, lime, and alumina, and (2) there was no apparent correlation between slag fluidity and its copper content.

Jan 1, 1962

By Don] [Hinkle

Unable to Load

Jan 1, 1977

By P. Nicholls

Patent records show that the idea that the burning of fuels can be improved by mixing or pretreating them with chemicals 6 dates back to the early years of the last century. By 1845, English and French patents included the specific beneficiations of elimination or reduction of smoke, soot, and clinker; reduction of the ashes, presumably meaning the total weight of refuse from the ashpit; elimination of sulphur fumes; increase in the rate of burning; increase in the time a given charge of fuel would last; and, in most patents, a saving of fuel. The earlier patents specified additions up to 80 pounds or more per ton of fuel, but after 1860 the quantity was rarely more than 4 pounds. There is no record of the extent to which these patents were commercialized, but after 1884 many American patents were assigned to companies specializing in treatment of coal, so it is probable that the products were marketed on a considerable scale at least as early as that date. From 1900 on, many companies marketed proprietary products that were sold under the general name of "fuel savers." Since its establishment in 1910, the Bureau of Mines has continually received inquiries about these products and, at the request of other govern-mental departments, has tested some used in accordance with the instructions of the purveyors; the results were all negative and, within the accuracy of measurements, the products had no effect on the burning.

Jan 1, 1937

By S. J. Aresco

The Bureau of Mines has been active in promoting the purchase of coal for Government use under specifications that define the requirements in terms of heating value of the coal, expressed in British thermal units, and the composition as shown by proximate analyses. To these, when required, are added the ash-softening temperature, the free-swelling index, and the Hardgrove grindability index. Under most of these specification contracts the bidders guarantee the quality of the coal, and that guaranteed by the successful bidder becomes the standard of his contract. The deliveries are sampled in accordance with instructions4/ issued by the Bureau of Mines; the samples are analyzed in the Bureau laboratory to determine whether the coal is of the quality guaranteed by the contractor and, if it is not, a price adjustment is made. Analyses of the delivered coal and tipple samples (samples collected at mine tipples as coal is being loaded into railroad cars or trucks) provide valuable data for use in evaluating future bids. In addition, the continuous .sampling of coal as delivered is a check on the practical results obtained in burning the coal.

Jan 1, 1958

By Lawrence K. Barker

Crude shale oil produced by underground retorting of Green River Formation oil shale was hydrogasified over a cobalt-molybdate-on-alumina catalyst at operating temperatures ranging from 800° to 1,300° F, pressures of 500, 1,000, and 1,500 psig, and a liquid hourly space velocity of 1.02 volumes of oil per volume of catalyst per hour (Vo/Vc/hr). At a temperature of 1,300° F and pressure of 1,500 psig, 94 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas containing 72 volume-percent methane. With two reactors in series at a temperature of 1,170° F in reactor 1 and 1,260° F in reactor 2 and a pressure of 1,500 psig, 97 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas with a methane content of 75 volume-percent. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was hydrogasified at operating temperatures ranging from 500° to 1,400° F at a pressure of 500 psig over a cobalt-molybdate-on-alumina catalyst. Similar experiments were made with an empty tubular reactor. The data indicate that gasification reactions in the presence of a cobalt-molybdate catalyst change from predominantly a catalytic (carbonium ion) reaction to predominantly a thermal (free radical) reaction at temperatures greater than 1,100° F. The data also indicate that a reaction temperature of 1,350° F is necessary at the space velocities used in this investigation to make a synthetic natural gas (methane content of 90 volume-percent) from in situ crude shale oil.

Jan 1, 1975

By Albert L. Toenges

A phase in strip mining of bituminous coal is the overturning of the surface of the land. The ;purpose of this report is to acquaint the operators and others interested in stripping with the work that has been done in certain States to reclaim the surface of land from which the coal has been removed by this method of mining. The preparation of this manuscript follows an extensive study of the subject in the field in the course of which a large number of strip mines were visited. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The information used in the report was obtained through the courtesy and cooperation of the operators of the mines visited, State officials and educational institutions, and others interested in the subject.

Jan 1, 1939

When the Organic Act of 1910 established the Bureau of Mines within the Department of the Interior, the Bureau's programs involved only health and safety research and education, and fuels testing. As the Federal Government's primary agency for research in minerals, the Bureau has expanded its scientific and technological investigations to mining, processing mineral substances, eliminating occupational health and safety hazards in the mineral industries, economic development, and resource conservation. Today, Bureau activities cover a broad spectrum of programs for meeting the diverse (and sometimes conflicting) needs of mineral industries, government, and the public. In the 1960's, the Bureau initiated programs to resolve environmental problems associated with past mining and mineral processing. Dependence on foreign sources of raw materials critical to our national economy and competition from other countries for these world supplies stimulated the need to conserve and use with intelligence the Nation's minerals, metals, and materials.

Jan 1, 1978

By Marilyn Biviano

(l)The direct economic costs to this nation resulting from a decision to embargo South African strategic and critical minerals imports are estimated at $1.85 billion per year.2,3 About 94 percent of these estimated costs are for two platinum-group metals (PGM's), platinum and rhodium. The estimated costs of a 5-year embargo beginning in 1988 for the strategic and critical minerals analyzed are presented in Table 1.4 (2)There are sufficient alternative world sources to South Africa for manganese, chromium, palladium, titanium, and vanadium to meet U.S. industrial demand in the event of an embargo. (3)Alternative world sources to South Africa for platinum and rhodium cannot meet U.S. industrial demand. Non-South African world supply sources can meet about 40 percent of domestic platinum consumption requirements and 50 percent of rhodium requirements. (4)As a result of the increase in prices for platinum and rhodium during the embargo, expansion of domestic platinum-group metals mining and secondary production is expected. During a five year embargo, domestic primary and secondary production expand and together satisfy about one-third of U.S. platinum requirements, one-third of U.S. rhodium requirements, and over one-half of domestic palladium requirements.

Jan 1, 1988

By Horace C. Porter

Much has been written of the changes undergone by coal in storage and the deterioration of coal through exposure to the weather. In order to obtain definite information for the benefit of the Government departments and of all who store coal in large quantities, a series of tests was begun in the fall of 1909 under the supervision of J. A. Holmes, then chief technologist of the United States Geological Survey, and was continued by the Bureau of Mines after its establishment in 1910. The tests were confined to determinations of the loss in heating value of the coals and did not include a study of other deterioration; for example, in coking quality or the yield of by-products in coking. The Bureau of Yards and Docks of the Navy Department cooperated in tests of New River (W. Va.) coal, a variety largely used by the Navy. A preliminary report presenting a brief account of the early results of these tests has been published by the Bureau of Mines as Technical Paper 16.a The detailed report is presented in this bulletin, which gives a full account of the tests and the analytical data covering a period of five years' storage. Data of somewhat similar experiments for shorter periods with gas coal from the Pittsburgh bed, with Pocahontas coal on the Isthmus of Panama, and with Sheridan, Wyo., subbituminous coal, which is used for railroad and other purposes in the West, are included.

Jan 1, 1917

By F. S. Kendorski

This report presents the results of a search for viable-self-drilling roof bolt concepts, detailed development, design, and manufacture of such bolts that drill their own holes, and testing in the laboratory and in the field in two different coal mines of three self-drilling roof bolts. Three new types of bolts were designed and tested, which drill their own holes and then anchor in continuous operation. These were a spring-actuated mechanical expansion shell, a slot and wedge, and a self-contained resin anchor bolt. Such bolts when fully developed for mine use would allow safer and remote installation of ground support and increase productivity. Recommendations are given for further work to improve drilling and anchorage performance.

Jan 1, 1979