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By C. Steve Albrecht

The primary objective of this study is to "evaluate the influences of different equipment systems on prime farmland subsoil compaction due to surface mining in the Midwest." The study is centered on four mine sites each utilizing a different combination of equipment for soil removal and replacement. Subsoil compaction is the primary focus of this research effort. Primarily owing to physical location, it is difficult to alleviate the increased compaction directly below the topsoil in reclaimed soils. Different equipment combinations cause varied effects when soils are replaced during surface mining activities. By collecting field data within a statistical framework, the effects of different equipment combinations on subsoil compaction can be evaluated and conclusions drawn. This research effort evaluates a comparison of natural and replaced soils by moist bulk density data. This comparison centers on changes in bulk density and texture to a depth of 48 inches. For each study site a complete case study is provided for use in data correlation and interpretation. Basis for this research effort centers on four (4) major experiment designs: o Comparison of soil bulk density values for three distinct equipment systems evaluated on the same general soil types (i.e. scrapers, bucket-wheel excavators and end-dump haulback); o Evaluation of the effects of soil replacement in repeated lifts using scrapers; o Presentation of bulk density values representing soil compaction for four (4) equipment systems (i.e. bucket-wheel excavators, draglines, scrapers and end-dump haul back) on four separate mine sites in the midwest; o A prediction analysis model is developed for subsoil bulk density following reclamation based on equipment characteristics and a statistical evaluation of texture. The soil data base of information includes data from the 1982 Bureau of Mines study entitled, "Impact of Surface Mining on Soil Compaction in the Midwest" as well as data from this research project. The final report is synthesized through an analysis of field data, statistical analysis and literature review. The final report focuses on the interpretation of results for practical application by government and industry.

Jan 1, 1984

The STATE MINERAL SUMMARIES publication provides estimated data and summaries of mineral activities at the State level for 1991. Most of the estimates are based on nine months data. Individual State summaries are published separately as State Mineral Industry Surveys and copies can be obtained from the appropriate State mineral officer or Bureau field office specified in each State summary.

Jan 1, 1992

By K. E. Robinson

Appendix A is an abridged extract of the report prepared by the Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Society of Idaho, and presents the results of their one-year study to evaluate the feasibility of disposing mill tailings by landfill construction. Appendix B describes the field and laboratory testing program completed by RDM to assess the effectiveness of a soil (slimes) liner as a means of seepage control to reduce the introduction of contaminants into the local ground water regime. Appendix C presents a summary of a thesis by Lawrence Martin on the analysis of the acid production potential of mill tailings, and the results of geotechnical testing of mill tailings completed by ROM. Appendix D describes potential landfill sites identified within the study area, the development of these sites to meet the present needs of the mining industry and the future requirements of the community is described. Appendix E summarizes the main legislation impacting on tailings disposal. Appendix F discusses the environmental and socio-economic factors that should be considered.

Jan 1, 1981

By R. A. Meister

The study on improving surface coat refuse disposal site inspections included surface inspections of 15 refuse disposal sites. Monthly aerial photos were taken of the sites and computer methods were used to determine elevation changes. Photogrammetric techniques that were used are described in detail. A comparison of the results of each of these inspection techniques is included. A detailed evaluation of the photogrammetric techniques was made and conclusions were drawn concerning the advantages and disadvantages of using aerial photography and photogrammetry as part of the inspection procedure. Operators' opinions of the aerial photography methods are included.

Jan 1, 1980

By M. B. Boyer, C. H. Herty, F. A. Hartgen, G. L. Frear

"DEFINITION OF VISCOSITYViscosity has been defined as the resistance experienced by one portion of a liquid moving over another portion, such as one molecular plane moving over an adjacent plane. A measure of viscosity is the force required to keep one plane in motion at Unit velocity, the other plane being considered stationary. Figure 1 illustrates the general idea that the surface friction between two adjacent areas will be greater the larger the molecules. Therefore it may be assumed that viscosity will be increased by molecular association or agglomeration, and likewise dissociation rill decrease viscosity. According to Maxwell (1)6 the unit of viscosity, the poise, is the tangential force per square centimeter of area of either of two horizontal planes 1 centimeter apart, one of which is fixed while the other moves with unit velocity, the space between being filled with viscous liquid of unit viscosity.The need for a satisfactory apparatus and experimental procedure for the determination of viscosity of high-melting materials at temperatures corresponding to those in pig-iron and steel making has been recognized during the past few decades. The condition of the slag during the smelting and refining periods in the iron- and steel-making processes exerts an important influence on the metal product obtained, this slag condition really meaning the state of viscosity or, vice versa, fluidity, which the slag attains under certain conditions."

Jun 1, 1934

By L. P. Purtell

The performance of ten anemometers of several types has been measured at low air speeds. Multiple calibration runs provided sufficient data for measuring random error about the mean calibration curve in addition to the difference between indicated and true speeds. Measurements were also performed of the minimum operating speeds of the anemometers.

Jan 1, 1979

By Frank B. Fulkerson

Mining began in Pend Oreille and Stevens Counties about 1885, Lead and zinc have been the principal products, and the area has supplied nearly all the output of these metals in the State. Fend Oreille County's output of lead and zinc from 1902 to 1956 was 110,700 and 229,600 tons, respectively. The Stevens County total was 54,100 tons of lead and 87,600 tons of zinc. Copper ore was produced mainly from the United Copper mine, Chewelah district, from 1912 to 1920; the principal gold mine was the First Thought, Orient district, which was active from 1904 to 1942. Approximately 225 mines and prospects produced; most of the ventures were on a small scale. The total value of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc produced from 1902 to 1956 was $75.2 million in Pend Oreille County and $39.4 million in Stevens County. INTRODUCTION In compiling the figures for this report, use was made of Bureau of Mines permanent records of nine production, the annual tabulations of producing mines, and the Minerals Yearbook. Requests to publish individual data, obtained from the annual production canvass, were made to the latest recorded operators of all mines in the area. Response to this request was good; therefore, it was possible to make the tables nearly complete. In a few instances the producer requested that the production data remain confidential, and in others it was not possible to reach the mine operator at his last known address. The district and county tables combine statistics for all mines, including those mines whose output could not be published separately.

Jan 1, 1958

By F. G. Scott

This document is a proposed program plan for mining environmental research to be conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in support of industrial oil shale mining and processing. This program plan is one of three research alternatives being considered by the Bureau, each based on a different level of anticipated funding. This report documents the high funding level program plan.

Jan 1, 1980

By John Nagy

To facilitate increase in the rate of coal production the Bureau of Mines conducted a study several years ago, on the basis of which the allowable charge limit for permissible explosives in single-hole blasting was raised from 1.5 to 3.0 pounds. Further demands for accelerated production led to consideration of multiple blasting in coal, a practice that is deemed hazardous and is not permitted by most States in this country. In multiple blasting, 10 to 20 pounds of explosive or more may be detonated in a coal face within a fraction of a second, which might result in blown-out or blown-through shots with possible ignition of gas or coal dust. As experimental evidence was lacking, in January 1949 an investigation was undertaken in the Experimental coal mine at Bruceton, Pa., principally to study and compare with single blasting the condi-tions under which simultaneous multiple blasting and particularly multiple short-delay blasting may be practiced without danger of igniting gas or coal dust in mines. The first report on this subject was presented at the last international conference of mine safety research. Since that time numerous additional experiments have been made; because of other pressing problems the work has been brought temporarily at least to a conclusion. This paper is the second report on the problem. It does not contain a detailed description of all test conditions and test arrangements, many of which were described 2 years ago in part 1 (now available as Report of Investigations 4868), but the conclusions are based on the entire study. A more complete review, which will incorporate data from the entire investigation, is being prepared as a Bureau of Mines bulletin. Up to the present time, short-delay blasting of coal in commercial mines has been introduced only experimentally in Washington and in a few mines elsewhere. If the system is adopted more generally, new problems may arise, and the study may have to be reopened.

Jan 1, 1952

By Phillip R. Moyle

A mineral survey of 19,350 acres of the Gooding City of Rocks Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) in the north-central Snake River Plain was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1984. No formal mining districts are known in or near the study area. Forty-two placer claims within and adjacent to the study areas cover the Clover Creek diatomite deposit. Minor production from four pits was reported by the owners. The diatomaceous sediments are underlain by dacitic welded tuff and capped with basalt. Five exposures or blocks totaling 416 million tons of the diatomaceous material comprise the Clover Creek deposit; four of the blocks are in the study areas, out are predominantly covered by basalt. The North Clover block, just west of the areas, is only partially capped, and could be mined by open pit methods on the western flank of the exposure. The minable wedge contains an inferred marginal reserve of 35 million tons of diatomite possibly suitable for filter aid, filler, insulation, and other applications. At a production rate of 150,000 tons/year, total mining and milling costs for high-grade filter aid diatomite would be about $100/ton. The deposit is classed as marginal because products from this deposit may be inferior to currently marketed diatomite products. The market is well supplied by developed sources.

Jan 1, 1985

By W. S. Wright, A. W. Tolonen

"INTRODUCTION The Mount Andrew iron deposit on Kasaan Peninsula, Prince of Wales Island, Southeastern Alaska, was examined in August 1942 by an engineer 4/ of the Bureau of Mines accompanied by geologists 5/ of the Federal Geological Survey. From October 20 to 27, 1942, two engineers 6/ of the Bureau of Mines made a further preliminary examination and took three large samples of magnetite and magnetite-copper ore for metallurgical testing. During the stunner of 1942 an investigation of the Mount Andrew-Stevenson-Mamie area, including topographic and geologic mapping and a magnetic survey, was made by geologist 7/ the Federal Geologically Survey. On May 31 and June 2, 1943, two Bureau of Mines engineers 8/ conducted a preliminary examination in which special attention was directed to trails, camp, and drill sites. They were accompanied on May 31 by L. A. Warner of the Geological Survey.During the period from September 1943 through September 1944 Bureau of Mines engineers 9/ completed a thorough investigation which included trenching, core drilling, and sampling. A Federal Geological Survey representative 10/ examined all trenches and cores for geological data.LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITYThe deposit is situated at latitude 55º 31' N. and longitude 132º 18' W. on the north side of Kasaan Bay on Prince of Wales Island, Southeastern Alaska. The general location is shown on figures 1 and 2. The deposit is 5 miles southwest of the village of Kasaan and by water, 27 miles northwest of Ketchikan; the main tunnel portal is 7/8 mile north of the Mount Andrew landing on Kassan Bay."

Nov 1, 1947

By C. V. Jude

This U. S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) report presents results of stress analyses and field observations to investigate the effects of elevated trench drifts on the structural stability of rock mass zones surrounding a production draw drift in a mine utilizing a mechanized load-haul-dump (LHD) trench undercut panel caving system. A two-dimensional boundary-element mine stress model was developed to predict the locations and extent of damaged rock mass zones surrounding draw drifts where adjacent, parallel trench drifts are either elevated or not elevated above the LHD production draw drift level. A Mohr-Coulomb shear-failure criterion was obtained directly from in situ borehole shear test data. Hock-Brown shear-failure parameter values were computed from borehole-shear and triaxial test data. A procedure is described to estimate these parameters when a rock mass rating (RMR) value and triaxial data on intact samples exist, and no borehole shear test data exist Results indicate that trench drifts, elevated to the level equal to the height of the LHD production draw drift, would not minimize material damage nor significantly enhance the stability of rib and crown pillar zones surrounding production draw drifts in the mechanized LHD trench undercut caving panel investigated at this mine.

Jan 1, 2010

By F. A. Rutledge

"The chromite deposits of Red Mountain, 10,miles southeast of Seldovia, Alaska, are in an intrusive of ultramafic rocks. The earliest reference to the deposits was made by U.S. Grant3/; J.B. Mertic, Jr. 4/ made a brief examination in 1917; and A.C. Gill5/ spent 7 weeks studying the ore bodies and geology of the region in 1918. The Federal Geological Survey had a field party in the region from July until September 1940 and the Red Mountain area was mapped and geological data were assembled by P.W. Guild.6/A preliminary investigation of the Kenai chromite deposits was made in July 1941 by R. S. Sanford,7/district engineer of the Bureau of Mines, accompanied by P. W. Guild, assistant geologist of the Geologi¬cal Survey. This was followed by surface sampling and core drilling, which were completed in September 1942 under the direction of John W. Cole,8 associate engineer of the Bureau of Mines. G. O. Gates, associate geologist, and A, B. Unkelsbay, junior geologist, of the Geological Survey, logged cores and interpreted geologic features revealed by Bureau of Mines drilling and trenching.9/J. C. Roehm, associate engineer of the Territorial Department of Mines; examined the Red Mountain area in august 1941.10/Additional exploration of other deposits in. the Red Mountain area was completed during the summer of 194. Work consisted of surface sampling, core drilling, and mapping. G. O. Gates, associate geologist of the Geological Survey, spent 4 days in August investigating results of the Bureau of Mines program.Throughout the exploratory work conducted by the Bureau of Mines the cooperation of Red Mountain Chromite, Inc., and especially of John Blodgett, Jr., and Collis 2, Druley, president and superintendent, respectively, was greatly appreciated. Use of their camp in the Windy River cirque and shops at Kasitsna Bay facilitated the Bureau of Mines program."

Apr 1, 1946

By J. D. Davis

The Bureau of Mines Coal Carbonization Laboratory has been interested for the past 20 years in the quality of coke in connection with the selection of coals for the manufacture of coke. The principal experimental. method of carbonization, whereby 100- to 200-pound charges are carbonized in sheet-steel cylindrical retorts with recovery and determination of the properties of coke, gas, and products, was developed in cooperation with the American Gas Association,4 5 and it is known as the BM-AGA method. Results of the investigations of 90 coals included in the BM-AGA Survey of the Carbonizing Prop¬erties of American Coals have been published; 6 and, in addition to these, about 200 coals have been carbonized over limited temperature ranges. Because coke from cylindrical retorts differs in shape from that made in rectangular ovens, the BM-AGA method has been criticized, although those who developed it have always believed that it served well as a means of measuring the relative strengths of cokes from different coals. It is recognized that no laboratory-method carbonization, even on a large twit, can yield results that exactly duplicate those obtained in commercial ovens and retorts. However, with the completion and satisfactory performance of an experimental vertical slot oven of 500-pound capacity at the University of Illinois Geological Survey Laboratory,' the opportunity to directly compare BM-AGA coke with coke made by two-sided heating became available and the necessary test apparatus was installed. The Bureau of Mines slot oven, which is similar to that designed by the University of Illinois Geological Survey, has been used to carbonize 11 coals (or blends) tested by the BM-AGA method. This report compares the results obtained by the two methods.

Jan 1, 1950

By Walter G. Dupree

When the original version of this study was published in 1972 it was evident that a problem was developing on the energy scene. The ability of the United States to find the energy supplies it needed within its own boundaries--at least in the forms desired--was declining. Production of crude oil in the United States had peaked in 1970 and was declining slowly; environmental restrictions had begun to hamper the production and consumption of high sulfur coal; natural gas reserves were beginning to dwindle; and the development of nuclear power was proceeding more slowly than originally planned. Shortfalls in energy supply were being met through the importation of increasingly larger quantities of petroleum, but supplies were adequate and the price of the imports was below that of domestic production. The energy problem was more prospective than current. In October of 1973 the prospective problem became the "Energy Crisis' when the Arab petroleum exporting countries reduced crude oil production, imposed an embargo on the shipment of crude oil to the United States, and then raised the price of crude oil in a series of large steps. This crisis was a clear demonstration of the dangers of the dependence of the United States on imported petroleum, and of the Nation's vulnerability to the actions of the oil exporting countries. After the embargo was lifted, attention shifted to the immediate hardships resulting from the higher prices for gasoline, fuel, and electricity,

Jan 1, 1975

By J. B. Gayle

Oven widths for experimental and commercial slot-type ovens differ appreably in most instances; the experimental ovens usually ranging from 10 to 14 inches and the commercial units from 14 to 21 inches. Application of results obtained with experimental ovens to commercial practice thus requires major extrapolations. A critical survey of the literature indicated that sufficient information about the effects of variations in oven width on the carbonizing process is not available to permit such extrapolations to be made with any considerable degree of confidence.

Jan 1, 1960

By C. B. Kenahan

A summary of Bureau of Mines research on recycling, reuse, and disposal of mineral-, metal-, and energy-based wastes is presented, accompanied by an extensive bibliography of related publications. The Bureau's waste recycling and disposal program is directed toward the following four main areas of research and development: (1) extraction of mineral, metal, and energy values from urban refuse; (2) upgrading and recycling of automotive and related ferrous and nonferrous scrap; (3) recovery, utilization, and stabilization of mine and mill processing wastes, and (4) recovery and reuse of values from industrial waste products. This publication updates Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8529, which was issued August 1971.

Jan 1, 1973

By Donald S. Colby

This Bureau of Mines report is essentially a handbook, or manual, for making the type of mineral resource valuation commonly required for such public policy problems as mineral leasing. The principle of resource valuation through the capitalization of cash flow is well established. A mathematical procedure, based on a simplified accounting system, is detailed for calculating cash flow from revenue, plant costs, and operating expense. Variations of procedure cover cost depletion, percentage depletion, and depletion limited to 50 percent of net income. The influence of the depletion provisions of the tax regulations on the value of a resource to an owner and to an operator is analyzed. The relationship of royalty, bonus payments, and sales price to resource value is also described, and methods for approximating resource values using these payments as input data are developed.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. H. Field

Synthesis of hydrocarbons by the Fischer-Tropsch reaction in a hot-gas- recycle system was demonstrated to be technically feasible. This project was undertaken, by the Bureau of Mines, to determine if the system was operable and to ascertain the optimum conditions for the production of gasoline. Carbon steel turnings packed with a void volume from 88 to 90 pct. were satisfactory catalysts, but steel catalysts with greater void volume, either turnings or steel wool, were not as active. Good temperature control with a pressure drop of less than 0.5 pounds per square inch (p.s,i,) per foot of catalyst bed of turnings was obtained by operating with a recycle to fresh feed ratio of 20 and by splitting the total gas flaw and injecting portions into the reactor at different entry ports.

Jan 1, 1961

By Oliver C. Ralston

The Nonmetals Division studies problems relating to the use of minerals, many of which are important to national defence for purposes other than the extraction of metals. In fact, virtually all of the work of the division has been diverted to investigations pertaining to better use of the Nation's natural nonmetallic is resources as weapons of defense. The experiment stations of the division are at Norris, Tenn.; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Seattle, Wash.; and College Park, Md. Studies involving the application of electric power to the nonmetallic minerals are conducted at the Electrotechnical Laboratory at Norris, and investigations on mineral-dressing treatment are conducted mainly at the Southern Experiment Station at Tuscaloosa. The cleaning and preparation of coal are studied at both Tuscaloosa and the Northwest Experiment Station Lit Seattle (other projects relating to utilization of coal are conducted by the Coal Division of the Bureau of Mines). Problems covering the use of minerals and fundamental problems as to their properties are studied at College Park.

Jan 1, 1941