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By Keith L. Harris

Surprisingly, real gross national product (GNP) surged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3% for the first quarter of 1987 according to preliminary estimates made by the Department of Commerce, the highest rate in 3 yr and significantly above the revised fourth quarter 1986 rate of 1.1% (table 1). The spurt, however, was caused by an unusual $59.5 billion rise in inventories, mostly cars and trucks, and there was little support from other sectors of the economy. Motor vehicle inventories rose as consumers continued to tighten their purse strings--consumer spending declined 0.4% for the second quarter in a row. Nonresidential and residential fixed investment and government purchases of goods and services were also down from the previous quarter. The increasing cost of energy was the major factor in the jump to 3.696 in the rate of inflation, as measured by the fixed-weighted price index for GNP, and rising inflation also helped put a damper on consumer spending. The underlying good news was that the trade deficit shrank for the second quarter in a row as imports declined at an annual rate of 11.1%. Also, profits in the manufacturing sector rose strongly in the fourth quarter, and for the first time in 9 quarters, the primary metal industries became profitable (table 1). If one discounts the anomalous inventory growth, the bottom line is that the economy continues to grow at close to the expected 2.5% level experienced over the past 2 yr. Of concern over the next several quarters, though, is the impact of the large over- hang of motor vehicles inventories on the economy. EMPLOYMENT The civilian unemployment rate declined to 6.636 in March after remaining at 6.7% for the previous 3 months. Employment continued to expand in February and March, although growth was significantly slower in March than in previous months. The manufacturing sector, however, lost 24,000 jobs in March after gaining 46,000 in February. Three-quarters of that gain came when striking workers at USX Corp. and Deere & CO. returned to their jobs. Employment in the manufacturing sectors of direct interest to the mineral industries has generally been increasing for at least the last quarter, while worker hours for these sectors have been on the upswing since April 1986 (figures 1 and 2).

Jan 1, 1987

By Shail J. Butani

In 1986 the Bureau of Mines conducted a probability sample survey, Mining Industry Population Survey, to measure such employee characteristics as occupation; principal equipment operated; work location at the mine; present job, present company, and total mining experience; job-related training during the last 2 years; age; sex; race; and education. The population estimates are necessary to properly analyze the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) injury (includes illness and fatality data) statistics; that is, to compare and contrast injury rates for various subpopulations in order to identify those groups that are exhibiting higher than average injury rates. This report uses the survey's results to characterize the U.S. stone mining workforce from March through September 1986. Similar reports have been published for the metallic, sand and gravel, and nonmetallic mining industries, as well as for the entire metal and nonmetal mining (includes metallic, stone, sand and gravel, and nonmetallic industries) sector and the coal mining sector.

Jan 1, 1988

By George K. Schenck

This Bureau of Mines publication describes and evaluates a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) based end-use data system for minerals that is designed to link the demand for minerals to economic activity in commercial uses. The new data system is two-dimensional. The first dimension of technical product classes (TPC's) measures the consumption of minerals in major primary intermediate products. The second dimension measures the consumption of these TPC's in SIC end-use sectors in sufficient detail to identify the major determinants of demand for each TPC. Intercomodity comparisons are achieved at the level of SIC two-digit major groups. The methodology was developed so that all available sources of information from Government and industry can be utilized at minimum cost. This information will be supplemented with additional data to be obtained by modifying existing Bureau of Mines canvasses so as to elicit additional quantitative responses from mineral producers. The new data system is expected to improve significantly the ability to forecast demand for minerals, and provide an information base that would, for the first time ever, permit resolution of such questions as trends in substitution among materials and the intensity-of-use of materials in end-use sectors. For the 42 TPC?s identified in the report, data are available for the new system from current sources or, except for three TPC?s that require new canvasses, can be obtained by modification of existing Bureau canvasses.

Jan 1, 1982

By A. C. Fieldner

"INTRODUCTION In a previous report3 prepared for the American Gas Association, the influence of washing coal on coke properties and on gas and by-product yields was discussed on the basis of answers to questionnaires sent to coke-oven superintendents and a review of the literature on the subject. This review indicated that the elimination of free impurities by cleaning coal improved coke quality by (a) reducing ash and sulphur, (b) decreasing clinker trouble in burning the coke, (c) diminishing cross fractures in the coke, resulting in greater resistance to breakage on handling, and less small coke and breeze, and (d) greater uniformity in chemical composition and physical properties of coke. Washing also reduced the sulphur in coke and gas and increased the yield of gas and by-products per ton of dry coal charged.This paper is supplementary to the previous report and presents some experimental data obtained with Pittsburgh bed coal from Pennsylvania and Mary Lee bed coal from Alabama.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSGrateful acknowledgment is made to F. J. Pfluke, of the Rochester Gas and Electric Cc., of Rochester, N. Y., for the plant test data on screened lump and washed coal; and to Ray W. Arms, Manager of the Coal Cleaning Department, of Roberts & Schaefer Co., of Chicago, for the data on effect of air cleaning."

May 1, 1931

By K. P. V. Lei

The Bureau of Mines investigated molten-salt electrorefining as a practical method for reclaiming vanadium from vanadium scrap. An electrolytic process utilizing a KC1-LiC1-VC12 electrolyte at 615° C was developed for producing ductile vanadium with a purity over 99.9 percent. The recovery of the vanadium in the cell feed ranged from 88 to 93 percent with a current efficiency from 83 to 95 percent.

Jan 1, 1967

By R. D. Joseph

This report deals exclusively with roof-fall accidents that occurred during 1955 and 1956 in both anthracite and bituminous-coal mines throughout the United States. The report stems from a cooperative study conducted by the Bureau of Mines and the Roof-Control Committee of the Coal-Mining Section, National Safety Council. The study includes an analysis of individual accident reports, sets forth the measurable factors, and compares such factors with a representative sample of average data from 39 anthracite mines and 117 bituminous mines (appendixes A and B). Particular emphasis is placed on fatal roof-fall accidents with respect to their causes, locations, and the methods of support used at the point of occurrence. INTRODUCTION The purpose of the report is to classify all measurable details of the occurrences of roof-fall fatalities so that the material presented will assist those promoting safety and will serve as a manual for those whose principal duty is inspection of mines.

Jan 1, 1958

By S. L. Gerhard

In the United States the performance characteristics of permissible explosives are controlled by routine tests, which include firing the explosive into a gallery filled with a methane-air mixture. These tests are made by the staff-of the Explosives Division of the Bureau of Mines and are similar, in general, to those employed in other countries. This control has helped to reduce the frequency of accidents involving the ignition of firedamp by explosives but has not clarified the basic causes of the ignition. To advance this control and to minimize potential hazards further, this fundamental knowledge is needed. Some of the results of recent research on the causes of the ignition are described herein. NATURE OF THE PROBLEM When an explosive ignites firedamp in the gallery tests, the source of the ignition must be one or more of the emissions from the steel borehole. It has been accepted generally that these emissions are (1) particles, (2) the shock wave, and (3) hot gases and flames. Photographs show that the shock wave emerges from the borehole first, followed closely by hot gases. At first the velocities of these are high and approximately equal, but the velocity of the gases decreases more rapidly than that of the shock wave, and by the time the reactions causing the flame are complete the shock wave travels in an otherwise undisturbed medium. The particles are originally enveloped in the hot gases but some soon begin to break through and eventually out-distance the shock wave. The approximate geometry of these emissions about 1 millisecond after the shot is fired is illustrated in figure

Jan 1, 1939

This Bureau of Mines report is devoted to descriptions of investigations pertaining to underground mine trailing cables, their handling, splicing, and the use of couplers.

Jan 1, 1979

By Pedro Lilienfeld

The objective of this program was the development, design, fabrication, and laboratory testing of a mine-worthy continuous respirable dust monitoring system (CRDMS). The operation of the sensor unit of this system is based on the light scattering intensity of the respirable fraction of airborne dust. The CRDMS is compatible with the typical environmental rigors that characterize coal mines and, in particular, the shock, vibration, impact, moisture and dust conditions prevailing at active training machines. The sampled area must be within the breathing zone of the mining machine's operator, whose dust exposure is to be monitored by the CRDMS sensor unit. Instantaneous, as well as shift-averaged dust concentrations, are displayed and recorded for later retrieval, Alarm indications and other diagnostic information are provided. The project was completed with the delivery of three sensor/display units (SDU), one data retrieval unit (DRU), two mining-machine-compatible power supplies, and two [auxilliary] battery packs.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. E. Andrews

The objective of this study was to investigate the environmental effects of slaking of surface mine spoils. To accomplish this, both field and laboratory programs were undertaken, supplemented by a thorough literature search. The field program consisted of drilling the highwall as well as test pitting in recent, two-, five, and ten- year-old spoil piles at four active mining sites in the eastern bituminous coal fields. Pertinent observations were made and samples collected for laboratory analyses which consisted of several standard geotechnical, agronomic, and geochemical tests. Durability tests utilized included jar slake, cyclic wet-dry, rate of slake, and slake durability tests. Correlation between field and laboratory portions was made- and results presented. The report is concluded with a discussion of the slaking process and associated environmental impacts, proposal of a preliminary classification system for use in premine planning, and presentation of management techniques to optimize the slaking process.

Jan 1, 1980

By V. T. Dow

Although the titaniferous iron occurrences at Iron Mountain have been known since 1850, exploitation of the deposits has been discouraged by the metallurgical difficulties encountered in treating the complex magnetite-ilmenite material. Because of the intimate association of magnetite and ilmenite, the material is not amenable to known ore-dressing practices. During World War II, industries started moving south and west from the industrial East; iron-ore reserves in the East were being depleted at a rapid rate; and titanium came into demand as a pigment. Imports of ilmenite from India, then the main source, were practically suspended because of lack of shipping space. These factors created interest in possible exploitation of the Iron Mountain deposits as a source of iron and titanium.

Jan 1, 1961

By J. H. Adkins

The purpose of this research is to identify hazards associated with roof bolting and to make recommendations for procedural and equipment design changes to reduce those hazards. To that end, the project reviewed Literature on related research, collected and analyzed roof bolting injury data, normalized the injury data be exposure time to each activity and identified problem areas within the root bolting tasks. In addition, field data collection forms were prepared and mines selected for field work. In the field, observations were made of eighty (80) different roof bolting crews bolting one hundred fifty-five (155) place;, on forty (40) sections spread among nine (9) mines. Task analysis forms were used to record unsafe behavior or conditions for each crew and each place. Informal discussions were held with the mine's safety and training officer, the maintenance officer, one section foremen and, when possible, the observed crew, concerning the training and experience of the miners. Unsafe acts were categorized and related to the "Activity While Injured" categories developed during the accident analysis. For each of these categories one or more recommendations for corrective measure, machine modification, procedural change or job training were developed. The study produced over fifty (50) specific recommendations involving machine design, procedural, safety training and supervisional issues that would lead to reduced roof bolter injuries in the near term. The authors concluded, however, that only the development of truly hands off/remote bolting can eliminate or reduce to an absolute minimum the hazards to which the roof bolter is subjected.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. K. Richmond

This is a progress report summarizing more than 5 years of a long-range Bureau of Mines research program. The purpose of this program has been to investigate the fire and explosion properties of Green River oil shale in the Bureau's Experimental Mine, in laboratories, and in the field. The lean limits of explosibility of oil shale dust, by small-and large-scale tests, are reported as a function of grade, ignition source, and particle size. A limited number of laboratory tests on the autoignition of oil shale dust layers and the spontaneous combustion tendencies of oil shale are described. Moderate-scale rubble fire tests were conducted to determine flame spread rates as a function of ventilation flow. With the aid of a system to continuously monitor methane emissions in a deep oil shale mine, the characteristics of the methane flow are reported as a function of ventilation and blasting procedures, and are compared with gas yields from core samples. Tentative predictions as to the emission of the methane to be expected in deep oil shale mines, far from the outcrop, are offered. Brief reference is made to a parallel investigation into the fire and explosion hazards of oil shale mining and processing by a Bureau contractor; detailed results of the latter investigation are to be found in the contractor's reports.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. E. Collom

The commercial development of petroleum and natural gas fields has reached its present status within 60 years and is still considered by some operators to be "100 per cent wildcatting." 1 A tendency to drill for gusher production, the production that yields big returns in spite of any mechanical defects in drilling methods, has frequently caused drillers to pass by oil-bearing strata of comparatively small yield and actually to overlook rich oil zones in proved fields; in addition, whole fields have been ruined by water because development methods were never carried beyond a hole-in-the-ground stage.2 Unfortunately, the petroleum industry has no mine dumps or tail. ing piles as at metal mines to yield fortunes through later and bette!' methods of treatment. The wasted oil and gas are gone, as are the time, money, and effort wasted in ill-advised or haphazard drilling. Probably as production costs increase less oil will be wasted, but the need to develop and produce from sands of low yield will become more urgent with the increase in consumption of oil and the decrease in supply. Hundreds of wells are producing steadily as the result of months and perhaps years of careful prospecting and of tests during drilling. The Bureau of Mines has studied the testing and drilling methods used at such wells, and presents in this paper a criticism of these methods and suggestions on future work. The term pr08- pecting here means correct identification and measurement of strata as they are exposed by the drill. The term testing means the determination of the kind and amount of fluid stored within the pores or crevices of any stratum exposed in the hole.

Jan 1, 1922

By Ernest J. Conway

This report presents engineering drawings for six material handling devices for underground coal mines. The devices were designed under a U.S. Bureau of Mines program to reduce injuries from material handling during mine and equipment maintenance. The six devices are (1) scoop-mounted 1411: boom, (2) swing-arm boom, (3) heavy-component lift-transport, (4) mine mud cart, (5) container-workstation vehicle, and (6) timber car. Each device is described briefly, and recommendations are made concerning the design of new devices.

Jan 1, 1989

By G. L. Gates

The waters used to waterflood the Wilmington oilfield were studied by the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the city of Long Beach, Calif. Increases in the pressure of the injection wells indicated that they were being plugged by materials suspended in the waters. This study was made to identify the suspended materials, determine their origin, and find methods of preventing their formation. The suspended oil-coated materials were iron sulfide, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, clay, and sand (or silica). Results indicated that the sulfide, which was as high as 90 milligrams per liter, was the product of sulfate-reducing bacteria. The injection of ocean water increased the sulfate content of the waters in the petroleum reservoirs from 3 to 250 milligrams per liter, thereby furnishing sulfate for growth of the bacteria. The waters were supersaturated with barium sulfate. Laboratory tests showed that sulfide could be removed from the waters by adding iron at a cost of 1 to 2 mills per barrel. The solubility of iron sulfide and calcium orthophosphate in the injection waters was also determined.

Jan 1, 1975

By D. S. Burgess

About 100 tests of flammability were carried out with H2, CH4, and CO in mixtures with air using the Federal Bureau of Mines 12-ft-diameter spherical pressure vessel as an explosion test chamber. The LeChatelier approximation gave slightly conservative estimates of the limits of downward flame propagation (onset of significant pressure rise) using the following measured values for the individual gases, in percent: H2, 8.5; CH4, 5.25; CO, 13.0. No justification could be offered for using the LeChatelier law for upward flame propagation limits and indeed reported data suggest that calculated values would not be conservative. The observed upward limit for methane-air mixtures (4.85 pct) was less than the widely accepted lean limit for this fuel; those for lean hydrogen-air mixtures and carbon monoxide-air mixtures did not differ from the lowest accepted values. Diffusional effects on the propagation of single, binary, and ternary fuel mixtures are discussed.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. L. Gerhard

In the United States the performance characteristics of permissible explosives are controlled by routine tests, which include firing the explosive into a gallery filled with a methane-air mixture. These tests are made by the staff of the Explosives Division of the Bureau of Mines and, are similar, in general, to those employed in other countries. This control has helped to reduce the frequency of accidents involving the ignition of firedamp by explosives but has not clarified the basic causes, of the ignition. To advance this control and to minimize potential hazards further, this fundamental knowledge is needed. Some of the results of recent research on the causes of the ignition are described herein. NATURE OF THE PROBLEM When an explosive ignites firedamp in the gallery tests, the source of the ignition must be one or more of the emissions from the steel borehole. It has been accepted generally that these emissions are (1) particles, (2) the shock wave, and (3) hot gases and flames. Photographs show that the shock wave emerges from the borehole first, followed closely by hot gases. At first the velocities of these are high and approximately equal, but the velocity of the gases decreases more' rapidly than that of the shock wave, and by the time the reactions causing the flame are complete the shock wave travels in an otherwise undisturbed medium. The particles are originally enveloped in the hot gases but some soon begin to break through and eventually out-distance the shock wave. The approximate geometry of these emissions about I millisecond after the shpt is fired is illustrated in figure

Jan 1, 1939

By E. K. Stanek

This research study was performed on a case study basis and can be divided into two parallel thrusts: electrical and thermal energy conservation. Energy consumed annually in mining and refining operations represents about 6% of the 80 quadrillion Btu's consumed nationally. In the electrical portion of the study, five areas were addressed: optimal dispatching of on-site generation, high-efficiency motors, conductor selection, power factor correction, and high efficacy lighting. In the case study mine which has a multiple unit on-site generation system, optimally dispatching units can save significant energy. The other four methods are difficult to justify on a retrofit basis due to capital costs. In the thermal portion of the study, a thermodynamic analysis was performed on the reverberatory smelting process possible areas of energy conservation were identified as radiation and convection heat losses from the furnace arch and the dumping of high energy content smelting slag. It has been shown that materials currently available can provide the means of reducing heat loss from the reverberatory furnace. It has also been shown that a significant amount of energy may be recovered from the slag. However, these are both subject to further study and validation.

Jan 1, 1982

By Wils L. Cooley

This report analyzes electrical accident data in the metal/non-metal mining industry. Accidents are categorized to determine their root causes. Special attention is given to accidents associated with inadequate or defective grounding of mine power systems. Recommendations are made concerning proper grounding practice, especially for dredges and for quarries in hard rock or sand. The costs of instituting the recommended practices are estimated for model mine power systems which are based on field data obtained from 37 mines and several electrical contractors. The expected benefits of various suggested safety practices are also estimated.

Jan 1, 1981