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By John C. Machisak

The National Safety Competition is sponsored and conducted annually by the Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, to give greater impetus to the building of programs safeguarding the employees of the mineral industries from disabling work injuries. The results of the 1960 National Safety Competition are presented in this publication. Mines and quarries that were awarded the Sentinels of Safety trophy for the best safety record in their competitive group and those mineral operations that ranked second, third, fourth, and fifth in the competition are listed with a summary of their achievements in preventing disabling work injuries. In addition, this publication presents statistical data on disabling work-injury experience in all other mines and quarries participating in the annual competitions.

Jan 1, 1962

By D. B. Taliaferro

[Recovery of core specimens from subsurface formations and their subsequent analysis are important aids in efficient development and operation of oil and gas fields. Core specimen first were obtained mainly for the geologic information they revealed; now they are on analyzed to determine many of the physical characteristics and conditions of the subsurface formations as well. Cores recovered from the producing formations may be analyzed for porosity, permeability, oil content, "connate" water content, and other physical and chemical properties of the formation, all to the end of furnishing enough data for making reliable estimates of the quantity and availability of oil and gas within reservoir and in devising efficient means for their withdrawal.]

Jan 1, 1939

By Natesa I. Jayaraman

A field study was conducted by the Bureau of Mines to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a secondary ventilation system retrofitted onto an Eickhoff EDW 340L double-drum shearer as a technique for controlling respirable dust generated during a longwall mining operation. An airflow duct was formed by enclosing the bottom of the undercarriage with steel plate and cutting air channels through the ends of the undercarriage frame. Air intakes were provided behind each cutting drum and at several locations along the undercarriage. Grills were installed at the intakes to prevent the broken coal from entering the ducting. A dust collector consisting of 5,000-ft3/min fan, water sprays, and a minicyclone panel was installed on the shearer at the tailgate end. Field results indicated that the secondary ventilation system reduced respirable dust more than 60% along the face. Reduction was less near the intake airway and when secondary dust sources occurred.

Jan 1, 1977

By Oliver Bowles

Marble is one of tile most beautiful and enduring materials employed in the construction industries. Because of its diverse colors, decorative patterns, and varying textures, it has furnished material for artistic architectural design for many centuries. The marble industry is described in some detail in Bureau of Mines Bulletin 106, The Technology of Marble Quarrying, which, unfortunately, is now out of print but may be consul ted at most large libraries. Onyx marble and travertine are discussed in Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6751. The purpose of this paper is to describe the main features of a distinctive group of ornamental marbles known as the serpentine marbles or verde antiques.

Jan 1, 1938

The development of an onboard contaminant diagnostic monitor to continuously measure contaminant level in a mining machine was advanced to a prototype stage in this contract. Several concepts were investigated and it was found that a static spool type sensor was the most reliable and accurate. Laboratory and field tests showed that an instrument based on this concept is capable of measuring contaminant levels and/or size distribution, depending on the configuration of the sensor. Moreover, this instrument can function on emulsions or homogeneous fluids. Current laboratory equipment can operate on homogeneous fluids only.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. C. Babcock

This report covers Phase V of .a continuing program to apply a new liquid membrane process called coupled transport to the recovery pf metals from hydrometallurgical leach solutions. During this phase of the program, a membrane system of moderate scale was constructed and field-tested at the Exxon Highlands Mine and Mill Co. site near Douglas, Wyoming. The test unit contained four hollow-fiber membrane modules, each with 100 ft2 of membrane area. In the field tests, about 1000 gallons per day of leach solution was processed. The unit was operated on the leach solution for about 50 days. Leach solution entering the unit contained 100 ppm uranium. This concentration was reduced to about 5 ppm by coupled-transport treatment, and the uranium was concentrated to about 2 wt% as a uranyl carbonate product. Under these conditions, a transmembrane uranium flux of about 2.5 lb/ft2-year was obtained. An economic analysis showed that the cost of recovering uranium from this leach solution via coupled trans-port is about $1.20/lb. At higher concentrations of uranium in the leach solution this cost is reduced. For example, at 1000 ppm the cost of uranium recovery is about $0.30/lb.

Jan 1, 1983

By L. F. Heising

This report is a general summary of pertinent data on the manufacture and use of synthetic ammonia products. It provides a condensed summary of the potentialities of a synthetic ammonia industry in North Dakota for Federal, State, and private organizations that may be interested in helping to develop an integrates synthetic ammonia and fertilizer industry. The report contains discussions of: (1) Materials used in the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizers, nitric acid, and urea; (2) National production, imports, exports, and consumption; (3) the ammonia industry, location, capacity of plants; (4) processes used in manufacturing synthetic ammonia, nitric acid, and urea; (5) other potential industries; and (6) analyses of manufaturing and plant cosh;. Additional information on industrial compounds from ammonia and plant nutrients removed by crops is given in Appendixes 1 and 2. Synthetic ammonia is one of the primary ingredients in fertilizers. Resources required in synthetic ammonia manufacture are available in North Dakota. Hydrogen is available from the petroleum and natural gas resources, particularly in the Williston Basin, and from the large lignite resources in the State. Hydrogen can be produced from lignite by a gasification process developed by the Bureau of Mines at Grand Forks, N. Dak.

Jan 1, 1954

By J. Douglas Causey

A U.S. Bureau of Mines study indicates over 200 million yd3 (153 million m3) of cinder resources occur in the Mount Washington Wilderness. No future demand for the deposits is anticipated. Based upon the geologic environment, the area is considered favorable for discovery of geothermal resources. INTRODUCTION The Mount Washington Wilderness, located about 32 mi (51 km) west of Bend, Oregon, contains 46,655 acres (18,881 ha) (fig. 1). A 6,300-acre (2,550-ha) addition on the northeast and east boundaries has been proposed by the Forest Service under RARE II. The U.S. Geological Survey made regional geological, geophysical, and geochemical surveys, and the U.S. Bureau of Mines examined, analyzed, and evaluated the economic potential of prospects and commercially important mineral resources.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. L. Howell, D. E. Pollock, A. B. Cecala, A. D. O’Brien

Dust from worker,s clothes has been shown to be a problematic source of personal dust exposure. A recently completed effort between NIOSH and the Unimin Corporation has resulted in a quick and effective way to clean worker clothing. The process involves a booth under negative pressure with an air spray manifold to supply compressed air to blow off the dust from the clothing. The overall system is designed to meet MSHA and OSHA requirements. Results of field testing indicated that the manifold cleaned the clothes 10 times faster and removed 50% more dust than cleaning methods used by workers today.

By R. R. Sayers

The contemplated use of dichloro-difluorco methane in domestic and commercial refrigerating appliances and in air-conditioning equipment for public buildings and possibly homes, brims attention to the health hazards involved in a wide potential exposure of the public to vapors of another new product, and for the first time to vapors of an organic fluorino compound. The objective in the development of this new refrigerant, however, has been the mitigation of health and explosion hazards in automatic refrigeration, and accordingly these factors have been given primary attention. Early in the development, the Bureau of Mines as requested to make a laboratory study of the toxicity and potential hazard, and it was ca the oasis of the results is of this work and the results of a preliminary investigation made in another laboratory6 that the compound has been selected for commercial use. The investigation conducted by the Bureau of Mines is still in progress, enough information has been obtained to indicate the order of the toxicity and the magnitude of the health hazards involved in the use of dichloro-difluoro methane as a refrigerant. The following is a summarized report of the work completed to date:

Jan 1, 1930

By Erle C. Donaldson

A study of subsurface waste disposal in the United States shows that in eight States a wide variety of industrial wastes are being injected into formations ranging in age from Precambrian to Recent. More than 30 wells ranging in depth from 300 to 12,000 feet are used for waste disposal into subsurface formations which include unconsolidated sand, sandstone, vugular limestone, and fractured gneiss.

Jan 1, 1964

By Erle C. Donaldson

A study of subsurface waste disposal in the United States shows that in eight States a wide variety of industrial wastes are being injected into formations ranging in age from Precambrian to Recent. More than 30 wells ranging in depth from 300 to 12,000 feet are used for waste disposal into subsurface formations which include unconsolidated sand, sandstone, vugular limestone, and fractured gneiss.

Jan 1, 1964

By M. O. Serbousek

To further investigate the potential of precast concrete sets as a support medium for underground mines, the Bureau of Mines designed an eight-piece precast reinforced concrete drift set for a small opening. Twenty-two sets of three different member sizes were tested to destruction under two loading conditions. A discussion of the test results and typical failure patterns is presented.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. L. Holman

The Federal Bureau of Mines has conducted research to delineate factors affecting relative fabricability of electrowon and electrorefined copper. The Bureau's Rolla Metallurgy Research Center coordinated and participated in a statistical round-robin chemical analysis and performed impact tests on lead-doped copper specimens. In a series of round-robin analyses, cathode, bar, or rod from a domestic lot of electrorefined copper and electrowon copper from a domestic and a Peruvian source were analyzed for Pb, Fe, Bi, Se, Ag, O, S, Sb, and seven other elements. The electrowon cathode from both sources surpassed requirements for electrolytic cathode, although lead in the Peruvian lot exceeded specification for oxygen-free electronic grade. The least interlaboratory agreement was for oxygen analysis, Copper specimens, doped with up to ~300 ppm Pb and consisting of as-cast material (fine-grained or coarse-grained) and hot-rolled material, were impact-tested at temperatures to 871° C (1,600° F). Impact energy of fine-grained material dropped 26 pct with increased Pb up to 20 ppm and more gradually thereafter. Coarse-grained specimens fractured at lower energy with little dependence on lead. Hot rolling raised impact energy substantially. Grain structure is evidently as significant as lead in influencing workability. Some discussion is given of possible effects of oxygen, sulfur, and porosity.

Jan 1, 1978

By H. C. Miller

"Introduction**The progress of the ""Safety First"" movement in the oil fields of California during the past few years has been remarkably rapid. It has been generally concede by those who have learned to value the life and limbs of their employees, that safety is essential to efficiency and no company that has a high accident rate can be considered an efficient organization. Accidents have a destructive effect on the morale of any body of workers and cause disorganization and delays.The increasing danger to life and limb involved in the drilling for and the production of oil and gas, has become so great that it is clearly evident that everything possible must be done to keep it within the narrowest possible limits.There is a tendency toward carelessness, especially by men who are employed in hazardous occupations. This is brought about by the familiarity of the risk under which they are working and in no industry is this more forcibly exemplified than in the oil fields. Men have performed the same or similar duties for many years and have worked around similar hazards and unprotected machinery until many have can entire disregard for the dangers surrounding then. Very often familiarity with a hazard occasions a contempt for that hazard which only too often results disastrously."

Dec 1, 1923

By James C. Barker

The U. S. Bureau of Mines made a reconnaissance In the western Crazy Mountains for cobalt and associated metals as part of the Alaska-wide critical and strategic metals program. The area, located about 75 miles north of Fairbanks in central Alaska, is underlain by complexly faulted, predominantly clastic sedimentary rocks bordering the Tintina Fault system. Above background metal concentrations were found to occur in altered fault zones, tectonic breccias, soils, and ground water seeps and precipitates that either cut or are derived from the faulted clastic sedimentary rocks. Up to 0.115 pct cobalt and more than 2.0 pct zinc were detected in soil samples. Spring precipitates contained up to 1.3 pct zinc, 0.037 pct tungsten, and other metals. Some localities lacked cobalt but contained anomalous amounts of copper, lead, zinc, silver, and other metals. No outcropping of primary metallic minerals was located because of Colluvium and vegetation cover and extensive deep leaching. Therefore, whether the metal values encountered are due to primary deposits with economic development potential or are the results of concentration by ground water from low-grade sources is unknown. The presence of cobalt, nickel and zinc, and the identification of minor tin and tungsten indicate that further investigation is warranted.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. D. Bensema

Two different techniques were used to make measurements of the absolute value of electromagnetic noise in an operating coal mine, Itmann No. 3 Mine, located near Mullens, West Virginia. The electromagnetic environment created by 250-volt-dc and 550-and 950-volt-ac machinery in two longwall panels was measured and is reported. One technique measures noise over the entire electromagnetic spectrum of interest for brief time periods. It is recorded using broadband analog magnetic tape, and the noise data is later transformed to give spectral plots. The other technique records noise amplitudes at several discrete frequencies for a sufficient amount of time to provide amplitude probability distributions. The specific, measured results are given in a number of spectral plots and amplitude probability distribution plots.

Jan 1, 1974

By R. S. Dean

[Methods s of preparing the manganese metal that has been used in chemical and metallurgical investigations have passed through a cycle. Most of the investigations made e before the turn of the century, used Moissan's pyrophoric man manganese.3/ This material was made b; electrolysis into a mercury cathode and distillation in vacuo. The material was essentially pure, and investigations in which it was employed (with proper precautions against oxidation) led to accurate results on tie intrinsic behavior of metallic manganese.]

Jan 1, 1941

By James R. Cosby

This report describes work performed for the Bureau of Mines to evaluate available portable instruments for their effectiveness in detecting and locating damaged metallic shields in Types SHD and SHC cables. A second phase of the program is also covered wherein several instruments of a type which show promise are purchased for modification and testing to verify their performance.

Jan 1, 1980

By T. N. Williamson

Most U.S. coal production is bituminous coal. Some 90% of current production comes from a geographical area enclosed in a circle with a 300 mile radius and its center at about Huntington, West Virginia. There are important underground coal production areas in the western parts of the United States as well. Most U.S. coal production comes from fairly level seams, many of which pitch rather uniformly only a few feet per mile. Usually there will be several overlying seams of varying thicknesses, separated by several tens of feet. Fig. 1. 1. Seams have minor local undulations but these? are small enough not to be a major consideration in a horizontal drilling research program.

Jan 1, 1970