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By J. M. Pugliese

The Bureau of Mines, in support of its overall goal of helping to meet future U.S. demand for minerals, undertook this study to aid the quarry entrepreneur and/or operator in developing quarries near urban areas. In response to increased environmental concerns, the quarry operator often must take steps beyond those required in the last decade toward gaining permits for quarrying near metropolitan areas. Following the steps suggested in this report should increase the chances to obtain the permits to open and develop a quarry. Each task and question in the general plan flow diagrams are described in detail, with the flow diagrams aimed at the goal of acquiring the necessary permits. The appendixes include (1) types of projects for which Environmental Impact Statements (EIS's) may be prepared and Federal agencies responsible for preparing them, (2) State contacts for information regarding environmental impact assessment requirements and mining and mineral land reclamation laws, (3) a checklist of environmental inventory factors, (4) a tabulation of different regulations that affect mining in Michigan and the number of townships and counties that have each of the listed regulations, and (5) environmental logic associated with site selection. A central recommendation is that the quarry entrepreneur and/or operator coordinate plans at the beginning with local government officials (such as township supervisors and/or city and county planning board members), State and Federal officials, and public groups that will be affected.

Jan 1, 1979

By R. L. Kidd, T. H. Miller

"INTRODUCTION This paper is the seventh of a series of yearly reviews started in 1921 and pre¬sents information gathered in a cooperative investigation undertaken by the United States Bureau of Mines and the University of Utah. It is the purpose of this report to make available flotation—reagent consumption data and other milling information in such a manner as to be of value to the milling industry and to the manufacturer of flotation reagents.These data have been compiled from a survey of about 300 concentration plants in the United States. Much additional information has been obtained from the various offices of the United States Bureau of Mines. Many of the plants covered in the survey made complete reports of their operations, but others were apparently unable to supply this information in sufficient detail to meet the requirements of this report. As a result, some sections of the report are more complete than others. In general, however, the mill reports were much more complete than in previous years, and for the first time it has been possible to calculate average mill recoveries in the treatment of certain classes of ores. As in the past, every effort has been made to conceal individual plant operations.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIt is realized that the publication of this information is possible only through the assistance of the mill operators, and the authors wish to express their appreciation of this cooperation. Thanks are also due the various field offices of the United States Bureau of Mines, division of mineral statistics, for assistance in collecting this information."

Aug 1, 1931

By S. H. Ash

THE INVESTIGATION of barrier pillars in the Southern field is part of the comprehensive study of the mine water problem in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania by the Federal Bureau of Mines (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18).4 Tim Southern field is in Carbon, Schuylkill, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties, in eastern Pennsylvania; has an area of 200 square miles; is 70 miles long from Mauch Chunk on the east to the Susquehanna River on the west; and is 1 to 6 miles wide. In the Southern field are 37 underground water pools containing 37312 billion gallons of water (5). Most of these pools overflow to the surface because the barrier pillars controlling them are effective under existent, conditions. Abandonment of mines in the Southern field has resulted in the hooding of 34 percent of the field. The largest tonnage of reserves of anthracite lies in this field, where mining conditions are most difficult. Large reserves of anthra¬cite underlie the abandoned mine workings, and before a great part of these reserves can be developed and extracted, the abandoned workings must be unwatered and kept drained (5).

Jan 1, 1953

By N. A. Pace

This is one of a series of papers being published by the Federal Bureau of Mines for the dissemination of information on methods and practices used in the mining and preparation of crushed stone for market requirements. Performance in terms of units of work or tons produced per machine and per operator man-hour are given whenever that information is available. Direct operating costs are useful for comparing different methods, and are, therefore, included if possible. In addition to the factual description of equipment and methods used, it is desirable to discuss the engineering reasons for the choices that have been made. This paper is particularly concerned with the opertions at the Columbia plant of Palmetto Quarries Co. of Columbia, S.C. The plant is about one-half mile east of the Congaree River and adjacent to the southwest corner of the city of Columbia. Rail access is by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and by a spur strack of the Seaboard Airline Railroad.

Jan 1, 1962

Research 83 highlights significant studies conducted during the past fiscal year at Bureau facilities and offices. Readers who want more information about the projects and studies summarized here can contact the researchers whose names and locations appear with each summary, General information on Bureau of Mines programs is available from the Office of Technical Information, 2401 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20241. A listing of principal officials, a location map of field facilities, and a selected bibliography of publications and patents issued on Bureau developments during the past 3 years are provided.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. A. Franks, G. F. Friel, J. C. Edwards, L. Yuan

The reversal of smoke products-of-combustion (POC) from a mine fire was determined in a mine section with the airway connectivity of an electrical Wheatstone bridge. Four diesel-fuel fire experiments with fire heat-release rates between 504 and 771 kW were conducted in the Safety Research Coal Mine (SRCM) located at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL). Smoke reversal propagated upwind from the fire with significant leakage into the upwind diagonal airway and without causing a complete reversal of airflow in the diagonal airway. A control measure consisting of a brattice suspended half entry height from the entry roof was determined to abate the smoke rollback. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the smoke movement agreed with the measurements.

By Richard Quirk

This report describes methods and techniques employed by The Glidden Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, in explorating an ilmenite-bearing sand deposit in Ocean County, New Jersey, during 1960 to determine ore reserve potential and the feasibility of mining and establishing a milling plant on the property for the production of ilmenite concentrate. The property covered approximately 1,250 acres. Comprehensive sampling by water-jet drilling indicated the deposit averaged 20 feet in thickness and contained 4.5 percent heavy minerals, of which 80 to 85 percent was ilmenite and leucoxene. Average depth of the water table as determined by auger boring was 16.8 feet. Pilot plant tests indicated that circular concentrators in combination with spiral concentrators would recover at least 80 percent of the heavy mineral content of the sands. It was estimated that sufficient ore reserve tonnage had been developed to supply the company's Baltimore chemicals division, pigments department, with a suitable grade ilmenite concentrate for a period of 20 years at the present rate of pigments production. The property was designated as Lakehurst mine and plans are in progress for mining development and plant construction.

Jan 1, 1963

By Stanley C. Rhoads

The Bureau of Mines investigated the complete ternary system K2 HfF6¬K2ZrF6-l.25 weight-percent HF at 40° C. In addition, solubility curves have been established at 25°, 30°, 500, 60°, and 70° C. These solubility data implemented a study of hafnium enrichment in feed solutions for liquid-liquid extraction processes.. Selected K2HfF6-K2 ZrF6-1.25 weight-percent HF mixtures were equilibrated in a constant temperature bath. Compositions of the equilibrated solutions and wet residues were established from combined hafnium and zirconium oxide and total fluorine analyses. All solubility curves were essentially parallel on triangular coordinates. At 40° C, the solid phase of the K2HfF6-K2ZrF6-1.25 percent HF system is a series of solid solution hydrates with K2HfF6-H20 and K2ZrF6.3H2O segments existing at the respective extremes. Since this system contains K2HfF6-H20 and K2ZrF6.3H20 segments, it is not ideal for simple separation of high-purity K2HfF6 from K2HfF6-K2ZrF6 mixtures by recrystallization. However, it would be useful for producing hafnium-enriched feed solutions from zircon concentrates for liquid-liquid extraction of hafnium from zirconium.

Jan 1, 1973

By C. A. Komar

The Bureau of Mines conducted oil-displacement tests in the laboratory with three water-in-oil and five oil-in-water emulsions that were created with ultrasonic energy at a frequency of 20 kHz and an acoustic intensity of approximately 100 watts per cm2. Emulsions of either crude oil or kerosine, brine, and 112 to 2 percent emulsifier were formed during 30 seconds of acoustic irradiation. Results indicate that ultrasonic energy induces greater and more uniform dispersion of one liquid in another in the presence of small amounts of chemi¬cal emulsifiers. When the emulsions were injected as a buffer slug before waterflooding, recovery of the oil-in-place was 8 to 22 percent greater than with conventional waterflooding in the test specimens, regardless of the con¬tinuous phase (oil or brine). The emulsions do not appear to be applicable to the Appalachian area; however, because the oilfields are too "tight," the clays in the formation remove the emulsifier from the displacing fluid, and not enough additional oil is produced, compared with recovery using conventional waterflooding, to warrant the increased operating costs.

Jan 1, 1969

By Gary A. Halvorson

Plots were established on regraded abandoned mine spoil to determine if nearby good quality spoil could be used in place of topsoil for the reclamation of these sites. Gypsum, calcium chloride, and power plant ash were also tested to determine the effectiveness of these materials in reclaiming these sites. Two sites were selected on which very little vegetation was growing on highly sodic spoil material. Gypsum, calcium chloride, and ash were added to the spoil at a rate designed to reduce the (sodium adsorption ratio) SAR in the surface 15 cm to 10 or less. The good quality spoil (replacement soil) was then laid on the swface at rates of 0, 5 or 15 cm of material. The plots were seeded to a mixture of smooth bromegrass (Bromus enennis Leyss.), crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. Ex Link) Schult.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). The addition of 5 or 15 cm of replacement spoil significantly improved vegetative growth on these sites. Chemical treatments had no effect on vegetative growth. Weathered ash showed no adverse effects on plant growth or soil properties.

Jan 1, 1991

By M. W. Von Bernewitz

Because the cutting and polishing of stones are parts of the work of the Bureau of Mines in its study of rocks and minerals and in the determination of specimens sent in for identification, it was decided that a circular covering the subject in a general way would be of practical interest. As several books and periodicals give details of the problems in cutting and polishing, this report will not duplicate their information more than necessary. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The manuscript for this circular was read by Oliver Bowles and Forrest Moyer, Building Materials unit, Bureau of Mines, who supplied some of the illustrations; several photographs were taken by Howard Carl, Optical Section, Bureau of Mines. Equipment firms that y contributed information and publishing houses whose books have been abstracted are mentioned in the text.

Jan 1, 1940

By Walter D. Holland

This is one of a series of instruction guides developed to help instructors present health and safety training courses to workers in the metal and nonmetal mining industry. This course is intended for training those, usually the safety officers, who perform surveys for inhalation contaminants in above ground work areas. The handbook entitled ?Handbook for Surveys of Inhalation Contaminants in Above Ground Metal and Nonmetal Mining and Processing Work Areas? is used as a manual for the course and as a prime reference when performing the actual surveys or interpreting the sampling results. There are six experiments for the students to perform during the course to familiarize them with the sampling devices routinely used during the surveys.

Jan 1, 2011

By William F. Keyes

Greensand, which is widely distributed in the Eastern United States, was produced in 1975 only by Inversand Co., a subsidiary of Hungerford & Terry, Inc., near Clayton, N.J. Production and sales information are not available for publication. Raw greensand produced by the company was sold for agricultural use as a soil conditioner. Processed greensand was used by manufacturers as filter media in equipment for the removal of manganese, iron and other elements from water. The University of Delaware received a grant of $17,051 from the Bureau of Mines early in 1976 to continue its studies of the effectiveness of greensand in removing metallic contaminants from waste waters.

Jan 1, 1977

By Robert H. Lambeth

There are no identified mineral resources in the Italian Peak RARE II areas, and there are no producing or developing mines within or adjacent to the study area. Several prospects are in RARE II area M-4945, Idaho, but none were found in the area I-1945, Montana. The Viola Mine (fig. 1, no. 15) vicinity and the Heart Mountain vicinity along the west and south borders, respectively, are being prospected. There has been no recorded production from mines within the study area, but between $2.5 million and $5.0 million worth of lead, silver, and zinc were produced in the adjacent Birch Creek district - dominantly from the Viola Mine - from 1882 to 1889 (Anderson and Wagner, 1944, p. 14). The Viola and other mines in that district are possibly, on basin-margin, carbonate-hosted, lead-silver-zinc deposits stratabound within the Devonian Jefferson Formation. Previous studies have considered them to be hydrothermal, replacement orebodies. Mineral occurrences in the Heart Mountain area are possibly black-shale hosted uranium-vanadium deposits in the Mississippian-Devonian McGowan Creek Formation or perhaps the underlying Devonian Three Forks Formation. The Jefferson and McGowan Creek Formations underlie many scattered segments of the study area. The deposits and occurrence; are not sufficiently exposed to determine tonnage and grade, but sampling indicated moderate resource potential at two properties just outside the study area, the Viola Mine and the Elkhorn Group (fig. 1, no. 33). Local residents indicated there are several thousand tons of zinc-bearing resource; at the Viola line. A 23-ft (70-m) drill hole intercept near Heart Mountain et the Elkhorn Group adjacent to the stuny area contained 0.15 percent uranium oxide

Jan 1, 1983

By J. L. Holman

The Bureau of Mines, at its Rolla Metallurgy Research Center, has devised methods for separating and reusing the major portion of waste plastics discarded in urban and industrial refuse. Waste plastic concentrates from a local collection drive, recycling center collections, urban refuse pilot plants, and the secondary metals industry were separated into three major thermoplastic families--polyolefins, styrenes, and vinyls--based on differences in density using a Bureau-designed sink-float-elutriation hydraulic separator. Other separation methods and systems such as air classification, jigging, liquid media, screening, and electrostatics were studied. Vinyl plastics contain up to 50 percent HC1. It was found that over 90 percent of the HC1 in vinyls can be recovered as usable hydrochloric acid by pyrolysis at 350° C. The remaining pyrolysis products which had heats of combustion in excess of 12,000 Btu/lb, could become valuable as a future source of energy. A characterization study conducted on eight chopped wire insulation wastes from secondary copper and aluminum processors showed that most wastes contained 2 to 7 percent residual metal and large percentages of vinyl. The residual metal content of some of these wastes was lowered to 0.1 percent and the vinyl portion segregated using various separation techniques. The research also suggests ways in which reclaimed thermoplastics may be fabricated into useful products.

Jan 1, 1974

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 Basil Dimitriades

The roles of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in smog formation were investigated by the Bureau of Mines. Samples of automobile exhaust with varying HC and NOx levels were irradiated in a smog chamber under conditions that resulted in smog levels similar to those observed in the atmosphere. Results were used to define the patterns that describe the dependence of a number of smog manifestations on HC and on NOx. Using these dependence data and some simplifying assumptions, estimates were made of the ranges within which HC and NOx must lie in order to obtain specified levels of air quality.

Jan 1, 1970

By W. H. Schiffbauer

NIOSH has developed an active proximity warning system called HASARD (Hazardous Area Signaling and Ranging Device) for warning workers as they approach known dangerous areas around heavy mining equipment and other dangerous work zones. HASARD is composed of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter generates a 60-kHz magnetic field using one or more wire loop antennas. Each antenna is adjusted to establish a magnetic field pattern for each hazardous area. The receiver, worn by the worker, is a magnetic field strength meter. The received signal is compared against preset levels which are calibrated to identify levels of danger. The receiver outputs can include visual, audible, and vibratory indicators and it can also be made to disable machine functions. HASARD was field tested on a Joy 12 continuous miner, a Komatsu 210 M Haulpak, and on a highwall launch vehicle. Slight modifications were made for each application. HASARD provided warnings as designed and proved to be rugged enough to withstand the harshest of production environments.

By W. K. Overbey

The Bureau of Mines conducted surface joint and stress measurements, airborne remote sensing imagery studies, compass-oriented borehole televiewer surveys, numerical simulation of fractured wells, and well productivity studies in a four-quadrangle study area of Ohio, to determine the effects of earth fracture systems on the deliverability of gas storage fields. The results of these studies indicate that much useful information about a gas storage reservoir can be obtained and put to practical use by studying--(1) oriented cores for fractures and directional permeability, (2) orientation of induced hydraulic fractures for alignment of well patterns, and (3) aerial photos and multispectral scanner imagery for general surface geology comparison and to determine if some, development patterns can be generated by such results. The absence of known tectonic elements associated with flat-lying sediments, such as faults or fracture zones that can be seen on the surface, indicates that the use of remote sensors such as radar or aerial photography is not likely to be useful in picking well locations for drilling. Studies similar to those discussed here should be conducted in gently folded and strongly folded sedimentary formation areas to determine if the increased knowledge of earth fracture systems under these conditions might be beneficial in gasfield and gas storage reservoir development.

Jan 1, 1974

By Kenneth H. Johnston

Records show that waterflooding was tried in Osage County as early as 1934, but it was not economically important until a large unitized flood in the North Burbank field was begun in 1950. Development was rapid and by the end of 1960, there were 70 active water flood projects and 16 active pressure-maintenance projects in the County. The locations and status of the water-flood and pressure-maintenance projects in Osage County on December 31, 1960 are shown in figure 1, and information pertaining to these projects as of July 1, 1960 is given in table 1. For the past several years, Bureau of Mines petroleum engineers have arranged tours of selected waterflooding projects for the spring meeting of the Kansas-Oklahoma Water flood Association. These tours are conducted to demonstrate unique operating methods and new field equipment and to provide additional opportunities for exchanging information. Each of these tours has been supplemented by a published report describing in detail the projects visited. This report has been prepared for distribution during the 1961 spring tour of three waterflooding projects and a pressure-maintenance project in Osage County, Okla. (fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1961