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By W. J. Fene

A comprehensive study of all bituminous coal-mine fatalities occurring in Pennsyl¬ vania during the 5-year period, 1926-1930, was made to try to determine the factors that in¬ fluence accidents which cause these fatalities. During this study some two thousand reports of fatalities were reviewed, and pertinent information as to causes and influencing factors were tabulated therefrom. These tabulations are discussed in detail, and in some instances recommendations are made with a view to reducing the hazards in certain classes of these accidents.

Sep 1, 1931

By Paul Hatmaker

Pumice and pumicite are siliceous volcanic substances quite similar in chemical composition , but somewhat different in physical properties , manner of formation , and mode of occurrence . Production in the United States has increased from 23,271 tons valued at $ 94,943 in 1910 , to 56,843 tons valued at $336,099 in 1930. Both pumice and pumicite are included in these figures as it has been impractical to collect statistical data on the separate commodities .

Mar 1, 1932

By H. D. BAILEY, John W. Cole

This paper is one of a series on mining methods and costs published by the Bureau of Mines .. Because of the role, played by the Federal Government in the discovery of the ore body, a description of the exploratory operations of the Bureau of Mines, is included ...

Apr 1, 1948

By George H. Holmes

This paper , which describes mining methods and milling and manufacturing operations at the gypsum property of the Blue Diamond Corp. , is one of a series on mining methods and practices being prepared by the Mining Division of the Bureau of Mines . The property comprises about 4,000 acres and is in secs . 30 , 31 , 32 , and 33 , T. 21 S. , R. 59 E. , and secs . 5 , 6, 7 , 8 , and 9 , T. 22 S. , R. 59 E. , M. D. B. and M. , Clark County , Nev . , approximately 23 miles by paved highway southwest of Las Vegas , Nev . ( fig . 1 ) . This circular summarizes the history of company operations , describes physical features , labor and living conditions , and the geology . The method of exploration is outlined , and the section on mining methods contains descriptions of open - pit and underground systems , including loading and transportation methods . The crushing plant and tramway are described , as well as plaster-mill and board -plant practices . The boiler plant and organization are described , and wage scales are contained in the concluding section of the circular .

Mar 1, 1950

By G. M. Kintz

In safety work a study of past accidents is of value in determining means of reducing future accidents of the same character. This is particularly true with reference to coal-mine explosions. Data from publications of the United States Bureau of Mines and from published reports of the State inspector of coal mines of Colorado are presented in this circular in the belief that they will be of value to operators by indicating methods of preventing future coal-mine explosions. The tables included are complete only with regard to major disasters. The Bureau of Mines considers as a major disaster one in which five 'or more men are killed. However, this circular also includes a considerable number of minor disasters, Various explosions in the coal mines of Colorado from 1883 to 1932, inclusive, are listed with information available as to their probable cause, number of men killed and measures which, if they had been in use at that time, might have prevented them. John McNeil, first Colorado State coal-mine inspector, on page 43 of his first report for the period ended July 31, 1884, made the following recommendations for the prevention of explosions in the coal industry: True causes could be traced either to insufficient ventilation, carelessness and lack of rigid discipline in carrying on energetic ventilation and other precautions needed to be enforced in a mine giving off explosive gases. *** When any quantity of fine coal dust is observed in an entry, air course, or room it should be made damp and be removed from the mine, and thus beep every place as free from dust as possible. *** A system of bratticing close up to the face of each and every place in the mine from crosscut last made (whether gas should just then show its presence or not) which should not be more than 50 or 75 feet according to the nature of the mine.

Jan 1, 1933

By Anthony Edey

This report describes work performed and results obtained for the technical and economic feasibility study of oil production by mining methods. The characteristics of oil fields which would make them amenable to mining techniques were identified. An inventory of known U.S. oil fields that offer this potential was collated. This was further divided into fields having potential for underground and surface mining systems development. Several candidate fields that fit particular underground and surface mining system types were then selected. Conceptual mining systems were designed for the selected fields. Five underground and four surface methods were chosen. Costs of oil production were estimated for these selections. The impact of oil mining an the environment was also considered.

Jan 1, 1978

The wealth of a nation may be measured in many ways, but one of the most important is its natural resources, particularly its minerals. Minerals create the wealth upon which economic prosperity and defense preparedness rest. Managing mineral resources for the benefit of all Americans continues to be an important national goal. In its 78-year history the U.S. Bureau of Mines has established itself as the world's premier mineral information and research agency. Its authoritative, comprehensive data and pioneering research have contributed significantly to a strong U. S. mineral position in the world.

Jan 1, 1988

By Jonathan Ludlow

This document is the final report of a study aimed at defining the relative contributions of various sources of respirable airborne dust on longwall faces. In order to define the contribution of various primary sources, continuous dust level data were recorded on five longwalls for an average of five shifts at each. By analysis of these data with records of face activity, it was possible to determine the overall contribution of each of the major elements of the longwall system to overall respirable dust exposure at various face locations. Average levels were determined for roof support generated dust, conveyor and intake dust and for dust levels during various shearer activities. When average levels are compared between mines, a significant degree of consistency is noted. The next phase of the study was aimed at differentiating the various dust sources associated with the shearer. To this end 'fly cuts' varying from 6 in. to 30 in. were closely monitored as were dust levels at operators' positions over the various segments of longwall cycle. These data indicated that the clearance ring of the shearer drum as a disproportionately heavy contributor to shearer dust make. A statistical analysis of the effect of shearer haulage speed on dust make revealed that high haulage speeds are associated with low specific dust make.

Jan 1, 1983

By Mark S. Sanders

The present study was designed to explore the contribution of organizational climate and management practices to the injury experience in underground coal mines. A cross-lagged panel design was used in which miners from 22 mines completed questionnaires assessing 27 organizational climate, structure, and function dimensions on two occasions, The results strongly support the hypothesis that climate and management practice have casual effect on the incidence of disabling injuries.

Jan 1, 1976

By Jeffery L. Kohler

This final report on Bureau of Mines Contract J0338028 presents the results of a research effort to predict incipient failure in electric-power-system components. The development of continuous monitoring techniques to detect an incipient failure would represent a significant improvement in system maintainability, availability and safety, This report describes the analytical and experimental aspects of the project. Mathematical models have been developed to study the behavior of cables and motors which are undergoing a deterioration process. These models allow a detailed study of the effect of deterioration on the component's terminal characteristics and performance. The efficacy of using negative-sequence monitoring is a reliable indication of deterioration has been established. Techniques for assessing the sensitivity of the prediction algorithm to component deterioration have been presented. An approach for modelling electrically-excited vibrations, and including these in the algorithm, has been presented.

Jan 1, 1987

By C. W. Elder

"INTRODUCTION This report describes a method of horizontal drilling in an oil-producing formation underlying a 400-acre, approximately square plot of land in the Franklin Heavy oil field in Sugar Creek Township, Venango County, Pa. The method, which was developed on two previous projects in Ohio, 3/ consists of sinking a shaft to the bottom of a shallow oil sand and drilling holes in a general horizontal plane outward from the chamber in a pattern similar to that of the spokes of a wheel. The project was undertaken by the Venango Development Corporation in an attempt to find an efficient method of recovering oil from partly depleted sand formations.The Venango Development Corporation is composed of the following oil-producing and oil-refining companies and individuals: South Penn Oil Co., Forest Oil Corporation, Kendall Refining Co., Minard Run Oil Co., Quaker State Oil Refining Co., The Pennzoil Co., Alliance Oil Corpo¬ration, United Refining Co., Franklin Creek Refining Corporation, Canfield Oil Co., Pennsylvania Refining Co., Page Oil Co., Freedom Oil Co., D. W. and D. S. Grant, and J. P. Herrick, C. M. Davison and N. V. V. Franchot. Engineering features of the project were supervised by a committee off three engineers A. J. Saxe, chairman, W. M. Shoemaker, and C. N. Pfohl, who supervised the excavation of the shaft and the drilling of the first two holes by alternately spending a week at a. time at the project. The drilling method was under patent license from Leo Ranney, who served as technical advisor to the Venango Development Corporation; in addition, he furnished the design for the shaft and work chamber."

Sep 1, 1944

By H. E. Heide

"Before the war, the United States was the world’s leading consumer of tin, the industrial applications of which had become widespread. Domestic production was negligible, and requirements were met almost entirely by imports, principally from British Malaya, United Kingdom and China. Average annual imports for the years 1925-1929 amounted to 78,009 long tons.With the advent of war in Europe and signing of the Japanese-German pact, it was realized that foreign sources of supplies were threatened, and steps were taken by Congress to forestall critical shortages of tin and other minerals. These steps in regard to tin included stock-piling, improving reclamation and conservation, increasing South American production, constructing a smelter in the United States for treatment of tin, ores, and intensifying the search for domestic tin deposits. Annual imports were raised to 140,873 long tons by 1941. On 1945, annual imports had shrunk to 37,675 long tons and consumption had been reduced to 52,100 tons of primary and secondary tin but not tin content of scrap alloy.The Strategic Minerals Act, passed by the Congress in 1939, authorized the investigation of domestic tin deposits.As Alaska had supplied virtually all of the domestic output of tin, an investigation of Alaska deposits was undertaken in 1940 and 1941 by J. B. Mertie, Jr., and Robert R. Coats of the Geological Survey.The Lost River lode tin mine on the Seward Peninsula was examined by H. E. Heide of the Bureau of Mines in 1942. Possibilities for developing a significant amount of tin appeared favorable, and exploration of the ore bodies was started in August 1942."

Jul 1, 1946

By J. A. Woolf, A. P. Towne

"INTRODUCTION A considerable part of the metallurgical work of the Precious Metals Section comprises ore-testing experiments on ores selected as representative of various mining districts on areas. Projects authorized by the Bureau and assigned to the Precious Metals Section generally include only those ores or tailings in which the precious metals are the main valuable constituents; however, there are also included ores that contain strategic or critical metals in addition to the precious metals. The recovery of strategic and critical minerals is the most important phase of the treatment of this latter class of ores. However, if a considerable percentage of the precious-metal content of such ores can be recovered without complicating the flow sheet too much, it may be possible to treat an ore for the recovery of strategic or critical metals that could not otherwise be treated at a profit.Standard testing procedure involving cyanidation, amalgamation, gravity concentration, and flotation, or a combination of these methods, is employed in the greater part of this work. However, as the complexity of the ores furnished for this work has increased, it has been necessary to include special applications of standard procedures in many instances, Standard methods of conducting tests and the purposes of the work as a whole have been discussed in previous reports 4/ of ore-testing studies. In the present report, whenever it has been necessary to apply some special phase of standard treatment, this has boon explained in detail in that particular section of the report."

Aug 1, 1944

By A. W. Frolli

This paper, describing the open-cut mining milling, and cyaniding methods and costs at the Yellow Aster gold mine, is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on similar practices in the United States. It is presented primarily to show methods and costs of mining and treating low-grade gold ore on a large scale.

Jan 1, 1940

By Theron A. Klinefelter, Sidney Speil, Sidney Gottlied

"INTRODUCTION The investigation of domestic talcs by the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines, was initiated in December 1941 at the request Gen. Charles Hines of the United States Army. The urgency for such study was expressed by General Hines as follows:The radio-manufacturing industry has recently been expanded by the Army to provide sufficient, capacity for defense needs, and considerable concern has been expressed by the supply Arms and Services over maintaining continued availability of supplies of the necessary raw material. These ceramic products are used by the Signal Cores in all Army radio equipment, and to a greater degree in the new special ultra-high-frequency equipment. The Air Corps has recently become a user large amounts of radio-grade ceramics for aircraft spark-plug covers required for high-altitude operations. In addition, the use of this material is essential to the proper functioning of the radio-navigation aids of the Civil Aeronautics Board.Progress in the Bureau of Mines studies on talc was made available to representatives of the Army and Navy through frequent interim reports. Through the efforts of the several war agencies concerned with raw-materials supply and the domestic talc producers, the condition of scarcity that developed in 1942 passed to one of ease in 1943, and has so continued to date. Tentative estimate of reserves delineated indicates a supply of high-grade steatite sufficient to meet military war requirements for at least 4 or 5 years."

Apr 1, 1945

This information circular describes research the Bureau of fines has conducted to improve technology for recovering precious metals from low-grade resources. Many of the reported findings are recent, and some of the work described is ongoing. Topics discussed include cyanidation of carbonaceous gold ores to enhance gold recovery, a new method for precipitating mercury during cyanide leaching of gold ores, a staged heap leaching process to generate suitable solutions for direct electrowinning of gold, the use of anion-exchange resins to recover gold from cyanide solutions, and precious metals recovery from electronic scrap.

Jan 1, 1986

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 W. W. Adams

This bulletin covers all mines in the United States that were operated in 1936 to produce metallic ores and all mines that were operated to produce nonmetallic minerals other than coal, stone, sand, gravel, or their products. Reports from mine operators revealed a better safety record for fatal accidents in 1936 than in any other year except 1934 during the 26 years for which annual surveys of accidents in the mineral industries of the United States have been conducted by the Bureau of Mines. On the other hand, the record for nonfatal injuries, although better in 1936 than in any year prior to 1930, was not as good as it was from 1930 to 1935, inclusive.

Jan 1, 1939

By Kenneth G. Skinner

Diatomite, also known as diatomaceous earth, diatomaceous silica, kieselguhr, and moler, has been used extensively for many years, but only during the past two decades has it become an important industrial mineral. United States sales for 1.936-38 totaled almost 280,010 tons,7 but relatively little (with the exception of that sold by an Oregon company affiliated with a larger California company) was sold by Pacific Northwest producers. In attempting to develop some of the many Pacific Northwest diatomite deposits, these producers have been handicapped by lack of published technical information regarding processing methods and the suitability of different deposits for specific uses. To determine some of the physical and chemical properties of known Pacific Northwest diatomites, the present investigation was started in 1938 by the Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the College of Mines, University of Washington. Figure 1 shows the location of deposits sampled. Because most relatively pure diatomites can be used as concrete admixtures or as inert fillers in rubber, paints, and plastics, this investigation concentrated upon determining some filter-aid characteristics and their relationship to other physical properties. A filter-aid is a powdered material that, when added to solutions to be filtered, improves flow rate, filtrate clarity, or both. Some chemical analyses also were made.

Jan 1, 1944

Ground-water and tailings pond monitoring in the Upper Santa Cruz Basin Mines Task Force's Special Studies Area has been performed to determine the nature and extent of aquifer contamination from copper tailings pond's recharge in the basin. A monitoring program for each of three mining areas (Mines A, B, and D) was developed. Analysis of data shows that recharge from Mine A's ponds has caused increased hardness, sulfate and total dissolved solids in local ground water. However, pumpage in the area has controlled most of the water's movement. Pond recharge from Mine B has led to similar conditions, and the degraded water is moving towards a local public-supply well. Pumpage from Mine D's interceptor wells is controlling some, but not all, of the movement of recharge seepage from Mine D's ponds. Recommendations include the need for enhanced monitoring programs at each current mine site, development of a monitoring program for Mine C's area, development of water budgets for all mines, investigation of tailings pond compaction and sliming, establishment of mine closure plans for containment of recharged pond water, and the need for additional interceptor wells in several locations.

Jan 1, 1983