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PRESIDENT LITTLEJOHN: I have every reason to know Mr. Pryde was carrying out some experiment a while ago in some of his mines. He and I had a little correspondence on the question, and I think he may have a word or two to say about it. He has not been on his feet today at all. I will ask Mr. Pryde to tell us what he has to say. MR. PRYDE: I have not very much to say about shooting coal with permissible powder as far as slack is concerned because we are not in the commercial business. All of our coal goes to the railroad and a very large part of it is crushed for use in the stokers of the locomotives. We are on a 100 per cent permissible powder basis and as far as I am able to see, I do not believe that the percentage of slack is increasing with its use. We find it hard to convince our commercial neighbors of this fact because they are naturally very much against increasing their percentage of slack on ac- count of the low price received for this grade of coal. I, personally, believe that where a change is made from black powder to permissible powder the percentage of slack will be increased for a time because the miners have been accustomed to using black powder and they are rather suspicious about going to the permissible powder and I do not believe that we can blame them very much. So the tendency with them is to use too much powder. We have gradually overcome this, although, as I said before, we have not kept close track of the production of slack. However, we try to get as large an amount of lump coal as possible. Broadly speaking, I can say from observation that in my opinion there is very little difference in the percentage of slack with the use of the permissible powder that we have today than there was with the use of black powder. I also get this information from our mine superintendents. Mr. Peterson and the other explosive men have been very helpful to us in the use of permissible powder and I confess I have to take everything back that I said several years ago. At that time I was against permissible powder, particularly on account of the cost, but, with the newer permissible powder, we have gotten the cost down very well. I know today that the cost of permissible powder in the coal mines of the Union Pacific Coal Company is less than when we were using black powder. I know this because of the fact that we kept a record of the number of tons we got with black powder, and the number of tons we get with permissible powder compares very favorably in cost. I know this, too, because of the fact that our employes, except in the first few weeks of using permissible powder, have made no demand upon us for any in- crease ill pay to offset any added cost that might accrue in the use of permissible powder and the fact that they have asked for no increase is very conclusive proof to me that it is not

Jan 1, 1925

By V. O. Murray

Gentlemen: I'm glad to see the crowd that's here this morning, glad to renew acquaintances with many old friends, and if you'll look at the program you'll see a heading there which states that as President I have the honor and pleasure to be here to address the membership of this meeting of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, this being the 49th regular meeting. The tentative schedule of this gathering lists on the program the "President's Address," and I want to assure you that this will not be an address or a lengthy speech. It's said that a good speaker is one who arises to the occasion and then promptly sits clown, so please be at ease for I intend to sit clown very soon. There are other men here who have spent time writing and preparing papers on subjects that are to come up for discussion at this meeting, which will be, I'm sure, more interesting than what I have to say this morning; so again I'll say, we'll get this part of the program under way promptly.

Jan 1, 1953

By Bob King

Jan 1, 2005

Jan 1, 1994

Jan 1, 1996

MR. SHUBART: Mr. Miller's paper mentioned the two processes that seemed to be a success, the Smith process and the Piron process. I suppose the main difference is this, that Smith's process is to furnish domestic fuel and the by-products while the Piron process that Ford is installing is for fuel for power plants. I would like to ask Mr. Miller something about the commercial cost of the process. With the briquette you must make it cheap enough to sell. What are the commercial possibilities of Smith's briquette? MR. MILLER: It is pretty hard to say what the cost would be at this time, owing to the fact that slack has advanced double, or even more at the time I was in New York with the plant, but at that time it was costing $1.10 for the operation. You can add to that, of course, the cost of the coke. One dollar and ten cents was the entire cost of plant operation. It takes about one and one-half tons of coal to make a ton of briquettes. One dollar and ten cents takes care of all the material, cost, labor, handling, etc. Labor was much cheaper then. I would say it would cost about $2.20 now. The cost of coal is what you can buy it for on the market. I don't think, however, that the carbocoal process will ever meet with any great favor for the simple reason that it is really a prepared fancy fuel. It is going to be nice for people in offices where they want a grate or for families where they want a nice clean fuel. It leaves no stain on the fingers, no odor to it. It seems in carbonizing coal we change the carbon molecule. For instance, we are all familiar with the diamond. It is carbon, yet it requires a tremendous heat to burn a common little diamond. But you can set a piece of charcoal afire, which is also carbon, with a match. The molecular form has been changed in carbonizing coal, i. e., it is larger. Carbocoal will fire very readily, it can be started with a piece' of paper. I think the Piron process will be the process, i. e., to simply take out the tars and light oils, then fire direct-have the distillate plants right on the job. CHAIR: Can Mr. Shubart tell us something of the mechanical part of the Piron process? MR. SHUBART: The Piron process is of interest because Mr. Ford is taking it up. He has made so few mechanical mistakes it makes us feel that it is a success. Piron is a chemist of high accomplishment and reputation. The thing about the proces is its simplicity. Mr. Smith's is a very elaborate process, but Piron has gotten around all that. Piron feeds the raw coal in at about one-half inch mesh or smaller. He feeds it into a retort about 55 feet long, 16 feet wide over all. He has a hearth about 6 feet wide and the length of the retort. The base of the hearth that carries the coal is a conveyor, a flat cast iron conveyor, a very massive affair, very accurately made, so that there is no loss of coal. Between the upper and lower strands of the ' conveyor is a bath of molten lead which gives an accurate control of temperature. For best results he must have temperature of not under 800 F., not over 1,300 degrees F., about 1,100 or 1,200 F. seems to be ideal for getting greatest yield of oils and the best tars and other by-products. This lead bath has a system of flues running through it that

Jan 1, 1923

Jan 1, 1997

I have sketches of the radiators, and on this sketch up in here (indicating) we show the line from the fan-exhaust steam from the fan, and the trip spray at the mouth of the mine, which is usually near the tipple, the set of radiators on each side of the entry, exhaust steam exhausting in by the radiators, the small atomizers which I mentioned, and the man sprinkling at the hose. There are times, when at different times we have a man sprinkling during the day time, when he is out of the way, and during the night, sprinkling on the motor roads. I will leave that print up here and let you look at it and if you have any questions you wish answered, Mr. McAllister and myself will be glad to answer them. (Applause.) PRESIDENT PRYDE: . I am going to ask Mr. Hair to leave the sketch on the wall. From the back part of the hall, it is hard to see what is there. The figures are very important. I think one member of this association will be glad to know the cost of water, Friend Littlejohn. MR. LITTLEJOHN: I don't know as I want to ask any questions. The only thing I' would say about the cost there, it is very close to that cost that we tabulated for the Utah Fuel Company at the Utah mines here some time ago. We have not tabulated lately. It may be a little over that at the present time if you take the. labor costs and the material. costs. As I remember, some time ago we did get up some figures and it was, as near as I can remember, exactly two cents per, ton for the labor and material. We haven't got the radiators, etc., that the C. F. & I. have in their mines there, probably due to the fact that we have no shortage of water. We have plenty of that there, and our system is absolutely nothing more nor less than pipe lines, hose and nozzles and the man at the end of the nozzle. PRESIDENT PRYDE: I would like to ask Mr. Hair about the cost of the steam. MR. HAIR: That steam we use there in exhausting, of course, is from the fan, and we have a back pressure valve set right here (indicating), from three to four and sometimes five pounds, and the exhaust from the fan was a five or six inch exhaust, and our exhaust into the mine is nothing less than eight inches, and is practically low back pressure you might say, and all those large radiators, that I spoke of, are heated by live steam, and these probably take a little more coal, but as to just what that cost is I couldn't say. As far as the exhaust steam is concerned, you might as well use it in the mine as discharge it outside. MR. HARRINGTON: Mr. Hair, I would like to ask, is this installation on an intake haulage-main haulage course? MR. HAIR: Yes, sir. MR. HARRINGTON: In the winter time, when it is, say between five or ten degrees below zero, how far into that haulage road does the fogging go? MR. HAIR: Well, that goes in half a mile, sometimes in 3,000 feet. MR. HARRINGTON: Wouldn't that interfere pretty seriously with the motor? MR. HAIR: To some extent, but I wouldn't say seriously enough to interefere with the production of coal. We have one mine we are working in two and three-quarters miles. Our mines are all pretty deep, and we don't find it objectionable. I don't believe that it interferes in the production of coal. I don't believe it makes any more difference between a real cold day in winter time than it does in the summer time. MR. HARRINGTON: I was down at Dawson, and in their mines they have an installation very much like Mr. Hair describes, but we went in there one night and stayed all night, getting a certain amount of data, and the fog was intense for-a full half mile; so intense that you could hardly see your hand in front of your face-see your hand that far (indicating) dis-

Jan 1, 1924

By J. B. Forrester

In the operation of the coal mines in Utah few adverse conditions confront us. Physical conditions for the economical extraction of the coal are as near perfect as it is possible for them to be. Still several obstacles are encountered to keep up our interest and prevent us from getting in a rut. Of these I shall speak only of Burning, Wants, and Sluffing of Ribs. Should one travel the outcrop from Ivy Creek in Emery county to the Utah-Colorado line, there would be one outstanding feature indelible impressed upon one's mind. That feature is the omnipresent indications of burning in place. Viewing the eastern escarpment of the Wasatch Plateau from a distance, many splotches of dark red are plainly seen always lying above the coal floor. This stratum is a felspathic sandstone, appearing as a white line running the full length of the above escarpment and about midway between the floor of the valley and the top of the plateau. The coal bearing complex consists of shales, sandstones and coal. This complex varies from two hundred to eleven hundred feet in thickness. The number of coal seams are exceedingly variable. As a rule the argilutites form the bulk of this complex. This material is baked by the burning of the coal and the iron present is oxidized to the ferric state, coloring the shale to a dark red. This baked material forms a shingle tales that in places cover the entire complex. It is natural to expect that the most extensive burning is in the canyons facing to the south and east and on the south slopes of the ridges running to the east or west. Such, indeed, is the case. Still in this arid region many crop fires have existed upon the north slopes, especially in those canyons that face to the east. In fact today, instances are not rare where grassy north slopes, heavily timbered with balsam and fir that have attained a diameter of 14 to 24 inches, are found growing upon the disintegrated baked shingle and later development proves that the coal has been burned at least 500 feet back from the outcrop. Still these conditions are not normal. In this arid climate the south and east exposures are steep and barren, except for the scrub pine, cedar, mahogany and kindred semixerophytes. Bunch grass is also a lover of such exposures. There is very little soil found in such places; it is either blown away as fast as formed or washed away by the rare torrential rains, or the rapidly melting snow. Thus we see that the physical conditions are favorable for the starting and maintainence of outcrop fires. This brings us to the probable origin of this phenomenon. There are four probable ways' that such fires, could be started, namely:

Jan 1, 1921

Disclaimer ?You may hear something today that surprises you. If you are pregnant or have a heart condition, you may elect to stop hearing now. ?Some of what you are about to hear you may already know. ?Much of what you are about to hear and see is information that is from and can be found via other sources. ?If any of my statements during the course of this presentation are thought or found to be incorrect, I am not responsible for these comments.

Jan 1, 2006

By Ted Schwinden

It's my pleasure to welcome the Rocky Mountain Coal Institute to Montana. Now that you've ended a 74 year history of meeting outside our borders, I hope you'll be back more often. Even if I can't convince you to come back before 2060, when another 74 years will be up, I'm confident the Kalispell and Flathead Lake area will do the persuading for me. In recent weeks, I've made a number of speeches around the state pointing out just how wrong the revenue projections in Montana's state government made in April of '85 were when we came to April of '86. Since the middle of this month, Montana's legislators have been in Helena struggling to balance a state budget that, by the end of fiscal year '87, threatened to be some $88 million in the red. Other western states reliant on natural resource and agricultural economies have found themselves caught in the same deflationary spiral. The "window of opportunity" I proposed and the 1985 Montana Legislature passed, couldn't have been opened at a more difficult time. What was envisioned as an incentive to expand Montana's coal production, and our tax base, ran aground on low oil prices and excess hydroelectric power. De- spite the one-third severance tax rebate offered on new coal production, year-to-date figures published in the June 2nd Coal Week show that production in Montana is down almost 10 per- cent from last year. Again, we're not alone. Production in Wyoming is down 8 percent and in North Dakota, it has dropped 13 percent. An over- all 3 percent production decline in western states looks even worse when contrasted against a 12 percent increase for your eastern competitors. Montana's "window of opportunity" had the potential to be a significant signal to your industry. That potential was quickly tempered by the inability of Arab nations to stabilize world energy prices. If any of us had forgotten, the last twelve months have reminded western states that the well-being of our natural resource economies has a tremendous impact on the ability of all levels of government to provide services. The past year has also driven home that in the world of business and in the business of the world, risk-taking is still the name of the game. The Western Governors recognize the problems facing this industry - and our states - and we're prepared to fight for the future of western coal. In the past two decades, legitimate environmental concerns have created a vast body of new legislation affecting coal producers. The industry has been required to meet new reclamation standards - tough regulations relating to ground water, air quality and wildlife habitat. To the industry's credit, coal companies have hired professionals with the technical know-how to do it right. Rather than considering reclamation laws to be an unreasonable burden, today's coal company is more likely to view its reclamation efforts as a source of corporate pride. In a sense, the industry and the agencies which regulate it have matured together . . . although at times OSM is reluctant to admit that either of us capable of or willing to play by the rules. Certainly some abuses exist and OSM's oversight has been helpful in ensuring parity between those states willing to comply and those that would rather defy federal law. Nonetheless, penalizing the more modem and responsible western coal industry for abuses that occur elsewhere is both unfair and counterproductive. Federal penalties range from "cruel and unusual" reporting requirements to the proposed electricity tax that would effectively force utilities and ratepayers who have already met the sulphur emission standards to subsidize those who have dodged their cleanup responsibilities. As a member of the Alliance for Acid Rain Control, I have joined corporate leaders, academicians, environmental representa-

Jan 1, 1986

By Grainne A. Matthews

Jan 1, 2009

Jan 1, 1993

Jan 1, 1999

By John E. Willson

Typical of southwestern Wyoming are coal structures that dip from 4 degrees to 17 degrees. Those at the Reliance and Winton mines of the Union Pacific Coal Company average 9 1/2 degrees and 15 degrees, respectively, and dip almost directly to the west. By using a hoist for main haulage. a method of mining has been developed whereby four places are driven on the pitch of the seam. Slightly upgrade from the strike at intervals of 300 feet, a two-entry system is driven to the north and to the south. In both fields, which are non-gassy, an exhaust system of ventilation is used. Slope, manway, and lower or haulage entries are placed on the intake. Two air-courses and upper or breaking entries are placed on the return. A retreat system of mining is used exclusively. From the opening of its first coal mine, in the year 1868, until 1923, when the Joy Loader was introduced into the Union Pacific Coal Company's operations, slopes, aircourses and manways were driven by hand. Development work was conducted on the night shift or off shift, and the main hoist was used for haulage. The slope was driven down the pitch with crosscuts turned at intervals of 75 feet and entries at 230 feet. Connections to the workings above were made by driving up the pitch 75 feet. Mule haulage was used to furnish cars to the hand loaders driving planes up the pitch. A sheave was placed at the upper end of the plane with a 1 1/4¬ inch hemp rope doubling around it and having one end attached to the car and the other to the mule. The mule, pulling downhill, raised to the working face a small wooden car of one-ton capacity.

Jan 1, 1941

Jan 1, 1998

By Constance Holmes

President Lien presented Mrs. Holmes with the first of speaker appreciation gifts presented by his firm Amax Coal West, Inc. These were books by Rand-McNally entitled The Executive Golfer Guide. Following the coffee break, Clark Moseley presented the first annual Institute Safety Achievement Awards for the safest mines in the eight member state region. The awards were based on: 1. Total man-hours 2. Total number of lost time accidents 3. Incidence rate 4. Number of S&S violations 5. Description of safety program 6. Safety awards received 7. Health and safety training efforts 8. Safety Policies 9. Does the operation take employee suggestions and implement them? 10. Letter(s) of commendation from agencies individuals The awards were judged by the senior/graduate level class of Mine Safety & Health at the Colorado School of Mines under the supervision of professor Edward Hollop. The two handsome traveling trophies were awarded to and accepted by: Surface: Big Sky Mine. Colstrip, Montana Gordon Brannon, Manager of Safety Underground: Skyline Mine, Scofield, Utah Dave Hales. Safety Supervisor and Doug Johnson, General Production [ ]

Jan 1, 1998

BENEDICT SHUBART: I am rather surprised at one statement of Mr. McKeehan, that he found it satisfactory to bond only one track. It has always been my idea of good practice to bond both tracks and cross bond frequently, so that in case of any break in the bonding of one track, which frequently occurs, there will be no interruption in the circuit.

Jan 1, 1923

By Don Sakata

Jan 1, 2005

Jan 1, 1972