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By John E. Hamak

The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimates the identified helium resources of the United States at 630 Bcf as of December 31, 1990. This includes 295 Bcf of demonstrated reserves, 87 Bcf of demonstrated marginal reserves, and 42 Bcf of demonstrated subeconomic resources. The identified resources include 161 Bcf of helium in inferred and marginal reserves and 45 Bcf in inferred subeconomic resources. The identified helium resources contained on Federal lands are approximately 170 Bcf, including 32 Bcf in underground storage in the Cliffside Gasfield near Amarillo, TX. In addition to the identified helium resources, undiscovered helium resources in the United States are estimated at a most likely volume of 103 Bcf, with a maximum volume of 259 Bcf and a minimum volume of 41 Bcf. Also reported are 43 Bcf of helium in nonconventional and low-helium-content natural gases. Current extraction of helium in the United States occurs mostly from natural gases produced from the Hugoton gas area in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and the Riley Ridge area in southwest Wyoming. Helium extracted from natural gas in the United States in 1990 was 2.5 Bef. If current trends continue, some shortfalls in helium supply may occur in about 5 to 10 years.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. B. Zadra

During the investigations of the occurrence of manganese in the western United States, the Bureau of Mines received a 100-pound sample of manganese ore from the Doyle-Smith property, Yuma County, Ariz. Laboratory tests were made to determine the amenability of this ore to standard ore-dressing methods of concentration to produce a marketable-grade product. The Doyle-Smith claims are in northern Yuma County, within 15 miles of the Artillery Peak deposit. The lot of ore used in the test work was taken from the outcrop of a large, massive, irregular bed of oxide manganese ore found on the claims.

Jan 1, 1952

By N. S. Dalal, X. Shi

While it is known that vanadate and related compounds of pentavalent vanadium ( V (V)) exert potent toxic effects on a wide variety of biological systems, the underlying biochemical mechanism is still not fully understood ( 1- 3). One of the pathways is thought to involve the oxidation of NAD ( P) H. Thus, considerable effort has been devoted to finding the mechanism of NAD ( P) H oxidation by Vcvi (1-15). Erdmann et al. (5) first noted that vanadate stimulated the oxidation of NADH by plasma membranes and attributed this effect to a membrane containing NAD(P)H-dependent V(V) reductase. Later studies by Liochev and Fridovich indicated that endogenous superoxide ( 02 ) plays a central role in this reaction ( 4, 12, 13) . They proposed that NAD ( P) H dehydrogenases or oxidases produce 02, which causes VCV ) to stimulate NAD ( P) H oxidation via the following free radical chain mechanism ( 4, 12, 13) :

Mar 1, 1992

By Anthony T. Iannacchione

The Bureau of Mines developed data on the methane content of the Hartshorne coalbed, Haskell and Le Flore Counties, Okla. The methane content is calculated to be between 1.1 and 1.5 trillion cubic feet, based on an estimate of total coal in place of 2.4 to 3.2 billion short tons. Methane increases with depth, but the rate of increase decreases with greater depths. Degasification in advance of mining is recommended for all mines operating at depths greater than 500 feet to reduce hazards and methane explosions, decrease mine ventilation costs, and conserve the natural gas that would be otherwise wasted.

Jan 1, 1979

By W. K. Kleysteuber

This report covers the design and testing of a novel bulk materials conveying device by the Bureau of Mines. The transport concept of the device is to create a traveling wave with a steep front so that the bulk material slides and cascades down the front of the wave with some horizontal motion. Ideally, the front should act like a continuous chute. The concept of moving bulk materials along a belt without any forward movement of the belt itself was demonstrated. The conclusions reached were that the mechanism as designed could not overcome the inherent major disadvantages that would make the undulatory conveyor suitable for practical applications.

Jan 1, 1974

By R. F. Tenney

No detailed information has been published heretofore on the performance of small industrial-type anthracite stokers in building-heating service, apparently because of the difficulty of comparing the performance of one unit with that of another over an entire season's operation. Studies of competitive heating fuels have been similarly handicapped, and attempts to compare fuels are seldom technically sound in this investigation, the performance of a 60-in. Losch4 stoker burning rice-size anthracite in a standard commercial boiler was observed during a 4-month winter-spring season. It was used to heat two buildings at the Bureau of Mines' Anthracite Research Center at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., with the customary type of automatic pressure-range control. Attendance was limited to inspecting, fuel weighing, data recording, and ash removal. Results were computed daily and grouped by weekly periods to minimize daily irregularities. The same stoker-boiler unit had already been tested in a series of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) test code runs, with the stoker running continuously and with other conditions well stabilized A comparison of results from the code test and the building-heating tests provided information not available in the past for a single stoker unit, assisted in analyzing heat losses not computable in a cyclic operation, and established a basis for evaluating stoker performance in heating service.

Jan 1, 1963

By Fred D. DeVaney

The Mesabi iron district of Minnesota has a potential production of over 50 million tons of iron are annually. The large shipments of ore each year are gradually depleting the reserves, and if the present rate of production is to be maintained there must be a growth in the present available ore supply. Growth is a natural course. The growth of a city may be affected by the addition of city blocks or by the improvement of utilities necessary for its betterment. These may go on in the order named or concurrently. The city-block type of growth of the Mesabi has been tremendous, and the "betterment" type has followed in due course. Probably the former has reached its limit, and if so, more time will be allotted to the latter. It is not the in¬tent of this paper to present either a eulogy of the wonderful mining methods or a history of the milling, but it is pertinent to say that if the lean-ore area continues to produce, the continuance will be more the result of further improvement of milling methods non well under way than of extension of boundaries by the city block plan of growth.

Jan 1, 1932

By William O. Vanderburg

This paper describing the practice at the Wolf Pongee concentrator at Federland, Colo., is one of a series on similar subjects being published by the United States Bureau of Mines. The author acknowledges the assistance of Loach, manager of the Wolf Tongue Mining Co., and of W. G. Roseborough, superintendent of the golf Tongue mill, in the preparation of this paper.

Jan 1, 1933

By Charles L. Harness

Fifty years ago, the belief that "fillers" were added to paints for the sole purpose of diluting and cheapening the pigment may have been justified; but paint technology has made tremendous progress since that time, and today both the manufacturer and the consumer know that the judicious use of fillers may add desirable properties to a paint that cannot be introduced in any other way. A growing respect for these accessory materials has led to the use of the more euphemistic term "extender." The names "extender" and "filler" are to a considerable degree synonymous. The newer term, "extender," is adopted in this paper, though it is actually no more descriptive than the older name. Stewart's3/ definition of extender is: "A cheap pigment, usually of an inert type, used to extend or increase the bulk of a paint, thus reducing its unit cost. Extenders are also used to adjust the consistency of a paint and to let down colored pigments of great tinting strength. The use of an extender in a paint does not necessarily mean the resultant product will be inferior. In fact, extenders sometimes, improve -certain characteristics of a film." All extenders are not cheap, as, for example, wet-ground mica and diatomite. Research in the, use of extenders (also sometimes called "inerts") has been one of the host active branches of study in the paint field; and many thousands of dollars have been spent in establishing the physical and chemical characteristics required of various natural mineral extenders for numerous paint formulas

Jan 1, 1943

By William J. Campbell

One of the principal objectives of the Bureau of Mines program for developing super refractory materials is to obtain fundamental data on the physical properties of refractory oxides. This particular investigation obtained accurate thermal expansion coefficients for alpha alumina and evaluated, critically, those coefficients with other published values. High-temperature X-ray diffractometer measurements, by the Bureau, showed that alpha alumina expands anisotropically with expansion parallel to the c axis approximately 10 percent greater than parallel to the a axis. Thermal expansion characteristics of four different alumina samples were determined up to 1,200° C.; the results are presented in both tabular and graphical form. The combined random and systematic errors in the measurements are considered less than 3 percent above 500° C, and approximately 2 percent at 1,000° C. No differences in expansion were observed between the samples or between the heating or cooling cycles.

Jan 1, 1961

By J. E. Zeilinger

This Bureau of Mines report describes the preparation characteristics of the significant coalbeds of the Ohio coalfield. Washability analyses were made on 39 coalbed samples collected from a 14-county area. None of the samples were of metallurgical quality as received. Nine of the samples could be sufficiently upgraded to produce metallurgical-grade products, and the remaining 30 samples could not be upgraded to this quality because their sulfur contents could not be lowered to meet the standard. For steam or power generation, 10 of the samples were of medium sulfur content as received and one could be upgraded to a low sulfur content. Of the 29 samples having a high sulfur content as received, 18 could be upgraded to a medium sulfur content. The original sulfur content of the other 11 samples having a high sulfur content as received can be appreciably reduced by removal of the sink 1.58 specific gravity material; however, these coals would be classified as high sulfur coals both before and after removal of the sink 1.58 specific gravity material.

Jan 1, 1972

By BUREAU OF MINES

In 1948 the United States became a net importer of oil. Coupled with an unpre- cedented domestic production of 5,900,000 barrels daily, imports approximating 500,000 barrels made available a total supply of 6,400,000 barrels a day. Thus, by herculean effort, the oil industry was able to meet an extraordinary demand at home and, in addition, to ship abroad almost 400,00 barrels daily of petroleum and products. The country's oil position now differs greatly from that prevailing at the be- ginning of World War II. Then, actual oil production averaged about 4 million bar- rels a day, and productive capacity probably was greater than 5 million barrels a day. As the demand of the military and industrial machine grew with the rising tempo of the drive toward victory, the United States not only met its own needs but pro- duced about two-thirds of the total oil requirements of the Allied Nations, excluding Russia. As a people, we can be deeply grateful that the Nation's petroleum resources were adequate and sufficiently developed to support such a tremendous effort. Even in those critical hours when immediate needs were the paramount issues, a prudent Congress paused to contemplate the importance of an assured long-term supply of liquid fuels. From these deliberations came the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of 1944, which authorized research and development work on new sources of oil coal, oil shale, and agricultural and forestry products. ce World War II, a civilian demand for 6 million barrels of petroleum prod- ucts has become the order of the day every day. By drilling as many as 39,000 new wells a year, the production rate has been increased enough to meet domestic require- ments by a bare margin. Some imports were necessary, however, to fill both domestic and foreign demands, and these doubtless will increase. Is this policy of exploration within the United States and the development of oil in foreign countries adequate insurance for the fulfillment of our future national needs? This question has two aspects one purely civilian and economic in character and the other significant from the standpoint of our national defense. There are now approximately 4,000 producing oil fields in this country. At first thought, it would appear that production could decline in a considerable number of these fields without materially affecting the over-all daily output. However, 48 percent of the oil comes from only 111 major fields which contain 50 percent of the total proved domestic reserves. It is apparent, then, that the flow from large fields - having proved reserves of 100 million barrels or more each must be sustained if daily production is to be kept at the present levels. Essentially, this means that new major fields must be discovered about as rapidly or perhaps more rapidly than the older ones lose productive capacity. From 1940 through 1947, only eight major fields with estimated reserves of more than 100 million barrels each, were discovered and proved - an average of one such field a year. The total estimated reserve of these eight fields was less than 1 year's supply at the present rate of use. As drilling continues, some existing fields ultimately will prove reserves larger than those now known. Without a pronounced increase in the num- ber of major discoveries, however, the prospects for increasing our present productive level are not encouraging. Any gap that appears between domestic productive capacity and demand could be filled with supplies from proved oil resources abroad. Assuming cheap pipe-line and tanker transportation to the United States, freedom from exorbitant taxes and charges

Jan 1, 1949

By J. O. Lewis

"The significant facts in the problem of the relation between the production of crude petroleum, and the ever-increasing demand for petroleum products are that in spite of continually increasing production, improvements in methods of refining and utilization, and heavy increases in imports, demands grow still more rapidly and we seem always faced with a shortage at hand or lust ahead. On the other hand, our foremost authorities warn um of entirely inadequate domestic reserves. Looking abroad we find some large fields and many of speculative promise, 'tut the situation is complicated by international relations and demands by other countries which promise to be even more insistent than oars. This is the situation, then. We can not rely upon our own Crude Petroleum to meet the Ever Increasing Demand for Petroleum Products.I wish to follow this somewhat alarming statement by saying at once that the Bureau of Mines is not pessimistic in facing this situation. To my mind those who discuss the oil situation may be placed in three categories; the pessimists, the optimists, and the super-optimists. The pessimists I call those who see darkly and will concede no possibility of solution. According to them a few years will see the automobiles piled in windrows of 'dilapidated junk, I have no sympathy with this point of view and deem it vicious and entirely unwarranted.The optimists I term those who believe that there is a solution and that we shall be able to meet all of our reasonable requirements for as far into the future as can be foreseen, yet who recognizes that this desired end can not be attained without prevision and energetic effort.The super-optimists are those who will say to you, ""There is nothing to this talk of shortage, whenever we have needed oil we have always found it and always will."" To these gentlemen the possibility of an inadequate supply of oil is as incomprehensible as the possibility of the extinction of the passenger pigeon was to the early settlers who saw flocks that hid the sun for days during their passage. The passenger pigeon disappeared within two generations thereafter, and I deem this point of view as being perhaps more vicious than that of the extreme pessimist. It seems to me it is nothing less than improvidence lulling us into a false sense of security. There is an old proverb to the effect that ""The Lord helps him who helps himself."" I believe that we shall solve the oil problem, but I do not think it will be solved by vague optimism. It is going to call for our most energetic efforts and I believe we shall have to do a lot of ""helping ourselves."""

Oct 1, 1920

By Robert H. Ridgway

Chromite has been produced commercially for slightly more than a century. Developed, at one time, chiefly as a chemical pigment raw material, it has subsequently found extensive application in other chemical industries - as a refractory material for furnace linings and as the sole source of the metal chromium. For some years prior to 1914, its use as a refractory predominated; but post-war development in alloy steels, principally stainless steels, enhanced the metallurgical demand in the form of ferrochrome with a consequent increase in the demand for chromite. More recently direct reduction of chromite in alloy-steel manufacture has been applied to a limited extent. Alloy steels containing varying amounts of chromium, with or without other alloying elements, now find extensive use in a ride variety of ways - in structural material, machines, industrial equipment transportation by land, sea, and air, sanitary equipment, food preservation, and a multitude of other uses. In recent years chromium plating has had wide application and has become important. industrially, but the amount of raw material consumed

Jan 1, 1936

By Gertrude N. Greenspoon

Legislation and Government Programs.-The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) held public hearings in early 1975 on proposed standards for exposure to inorganic arsenic. The findings obtained at the hearings will be considered to promulgate emission standards. Domestic Production.-Arsenic trioxide (As203) was produced domestically only at the Tacoma, Wash. copper smelter of ASARCO Incorporated. Production data cannot be published. Output rose 9% over that of 1974, shipments were less than half those of 1974, and stocks rose 31 %. Production of arsenic metal, begun by ASARCO in August 1974, continued in 1975.

Jan 1, 1977

By Earl L. Hastings

Although the principal market for diatomite in the United States is in the East,4 production of the material is presently restricted to the West, because the deposits are larger, mining costs are cheaper, and the quality of product is better than that obtained from other domestic deposits. However, Tallahatta diatomite, occurring in Choctaw and Clarke Counties, Ala., has a freight rate advantage, which should encourage competition for those market that are now being supplied with the purer diatomites from the western deposits. For this reason, diatomite occurrences in the Tallahatta formation were examined by the Bureau of Mines and physical properties of samples from the deposit were determined to obtain additional data for use by any potential producer who wished to evaluate the material for its commercial possibilities. In 1894 K. M. Cunningham5 found that the buhrstone formation (now known as the Tallahatta formation) contained "siliceous shells of marine diatoms, radiolaria and foraminifera, thus being rather of the nature of tripoli or diatomaceous earth than of a true clay." Cooke6 and Semmes7 also reported the Tallahatta formation to be composed principally of diatomaceous earth with accompanying beds of sand, clay, and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1963

By John B. Umhau

[This !m-i~!.al survey giver, statistice.1 data res;?~dirf ~:rimay ard ?eco~- dqr or scmn tin used in thL: United St,ztas by industries an? incluclcz d;ta on stop&apos;ics, ~urchares, ard plnrt losr.c.5. It is :i ml:anwe of consq~tion in terms of fir.is1icd -prcd.~cts nz6.e iry initid ti11 Sabric:,.torc,, that is, aon- cerns that purchzse virc,in zni s~col~d&apos;l~y i.i.5 ti:; 01&apos; tin c;cra.. rav materi,als ar,d co:lrrert them into !ror?ucts such F!: ti:i plz.te, ~lloyr;, and. c?hemic?ls; comy~nias ;~urchn.&apos;.ii~; alloys, ch:rr.ic,~l::, or tin vl?.tc fcr furthcr a:mflzc- ture ?rc: ~-.f>t i~ci~~dcd. Tilit r~lqe:;tionrr::ire submit tod to consunern ar,nt:incd no dofinition of rnr.oncl.:ryr me$.-i; but, ovrirq to ti~i-: a~counti~ procedure used s.l~o~c-:t 1&apos; thu scrnn hac i~-.rtergol:e ch?rri?~ of ovinerzhip or titlo, thc rc!coverod t! n !its b~en i-c<;,r(it.!rj L.S r,e~3r;d:q met.1. Tbv tin content ~f ]

Jan 1, 1938

By Van H. Manning

"Under the organic act establishing it, the Bureau of Mines is authorized to conduct investigations designed to improve health and safety conditions in the mineral industry and to promote efficient development and utilization of our mineral resources. The field of the Bureau's activity, therefore, begins with the commercial development of mineral deposits and ends with the production and utilization of the final marketable product.In order to serve more efficiently the various sections of the country, the Bureau has established, in addition to its main offices at Washington, D. C., eleven field experiment stations, three field offices and several mine rescue cars and mina rescue stations. These field branches are so distributed as to cover most of the mining districts of this country, including Alaska. The field service in general deals with specific experimental problems, cooperative work with non-governmental institutions, and mina rescue work, while the Washington office is the administrative head and is responsible for the distribution of general information, the chiefs of the technical and administrative divisions of the Bureau being stationed there.The Bureau is prohibited by law from doing work exclusively for the benefit of any private company or individual. Generally speaking, the Bureau does no assaying, ore testing, or similar service work for the benefit of private companies or individuals. In response to requests for work of this sort a list of assay and ore testing laboratories is supplied. In referring inquiries to com-mercial laboratories or consulting engineers, care is taken to mention several names so as to avoid designating any one establishment or engineer."

Apr 1, 1920

By Richard D. Hagni

The character of phosphorous-bearing minerals in the Birmingham red Iron ores and iron-bearing minerals in the Eufaula bauxite deposits in Alabama has been Intensively studied by petrographic, ore microscopic, luminescent microscopic, scanning electron microscopic, electron microprobe, and x-ray diffraction techniques. A total of 15 types of phosphorous-bearing mineral grains have been recognized in Birmingham iron ores by their characteristic sizes, shapes, and distributions. Size measurements, modal analyses, and texture analyses have permitted an estimate of potential liberation of phosphorous from the iron ores by beneficiation to be 27% In areas of previous mining and 60% in areas of current iron reserves. Fine grinding, selective flocculation, and flotation may constitute the best beneficiation technique for future research. Hematite and goethite are the most important iron minerals in Eufaula ferruginous bauxites, but pyrite, marcasite, and siderite are Important iron minerals in some varieties of ferruginous bauxite, and lepidocrocite and ilmenite occur locally in minor quantities. Although simple screening will remove the coarsest iron-bearing grains, research on the utilization of high gradient magnetic separation to reduce the amounts of iron-bearing grains is recommended.

Jan 1, 1981

By R. H. Dickson

This paper, which describes the milling practice of the Verde Central Mines, Inc., is one of a series on milling methods and costs being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines. GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Verde Central concentrator is located in Walnut Gulch, about 1 mile west of Jerome, Ariz., and on the Jerome-Prescott highway. It is about 1,000 feet distant from the main shaft of the Verde Central mine and treats ore from this mine only. The mill is connected with the main shaft of the mine by a 24-inch gave railway, over which the ore is hauled in 5-cubic yard capacity, rocker, side-dump cars, by a 3-ton Brookville gasoline locomotive.

Jan 1, 1931