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By J. B. Janus

This Bureau of Mines publication updates a series of reports on the quality of coal purchased under specifications for Government use. Listed are analytical data on the composition and quality of tipple and delivered samples of coal collected during the period July 1975 through September 1976.

Jan 1, 1977

By Donald O. Capstick

In 1981, U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel conducted a survey of claims and prospects in the Wheeler Ridge RARE II area to determine if mineral resources or potential for resources exists at deposits in the area. Results of Bureau of Mines investigations indicate the area contains no identified mineral deposits. However, the geologic setting at the Round Valley Peak Prospect near the center of the study area is considered to be favorable for the discovery of tungsten resources with associated molybdenum and copper. Tungsten deposits, should they be present, would be expected to occur at depth in tactite at or near the calcareous rock-granite intrusive contact. Sand, gravel, and stone deposits in the area are not considered to be resources because equal or better quality material is available closer to major markets. INTRODUCTION The 16,200-acre (6,560 ha) Wheeler Ridge study area is 11 mi (18 km) northwest of Bishop, California, on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada range. The John Muir Wilderness adjoins the study area's western boundary (fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1983

By R. V. Ramani, V. T. Burgos, J. A. McClay

This report was prepared by The Pennsylvania State University under USBM Contract No. G0111808. The contract was initiated under the Coal Mine Health and Safety Program. It was administered under the technical direction of DMSE, with Mr. G. R. Schottler acting as the technical project officer. Mr. J. A. Herlckes was the contract administrator for the Bureau of Mines. This report is a summary of the work recently completed as part of this contract during the period June, 1971 to September, 1974. Thls report was submitted by the authors on February 13, 1975.

Jan 1, 1975

By Lucia Kuizon

Results of the U.S. Bureau of Mines' survey of mineral resources in the Cuyama RARE II study area indicate there is no potential for metallic minerals and low potential for the development of gypsum resources. There are no producing or developing mines within the study area. The Santa Barbara Canyon Prospect contains 30,000 tons (27,000 t) of subeconmic gyspum resources, the Wagon Road Prospect 276,000 tons (250,000 t), and the Brush Fence Canyon 61,000 tons (55,000 t). Most of the resource in the Brush Fence Canyon Prospect is outside the area. Gypsum was not observed at the Cuyama River deposit. Present gypsum and gypsite requirements are being met by larger deposits closer to major markets. INTRODUCTION Location (USGS) Present and Previous Studies (to be combined with USGS section) The Bureau of Mines reviewed literature and mining claim records for the study area. A field examination of known mineral properties was made in October 1980; it included mapping and sampling of prospects to evaluate the economic potential of mineral resources.

Jan 1, 1981

By P. R. Bremner

In keeping with its mission to maximize mineral and metal recovery from domestic sources, the Bureau of Mines investigated a method to extract silver from tailings not amenable to cyanidation. Results of a laboratory study on the recovery of silver from cyanide tailings containing 1.7 ounces of silver per ton by leaching with an acidic ferrous chloride-sodium chloride solution are presented. The effects of reagent concentration and reaction time on the leaching of silver were investigated. A leaching solution containing 5 wt-pct NaCI, 2.5 wt-pct FeCI2, and 1.2 wt-pct HCI (for acidity) extracted 82 pct of the silver from the tailings during a 24-hour leach. The amount of HCI consumed during the leach was 46 pounds of HCI per ton of feed. Only 23 pct of the silver was extracted by conventional cyanidation. Ninety-nine percent of the silver was recovered from the pregnant solution by cementation onto iron powder.

Jan 1, 1982

By Thomas V. Falkie, R. Venkataramani

The purpose of this work was to Investigate the rate at which coal is delivered from the underground working face by gathering arm type loaders as employed on continuous mining machines, to identify the factors - geometrical , geological, mechanical, or procedural - which affect the delivery rate, and to develop quantitative rate-descriptive equations for the loading function. The mathematical techniques employed were factor analysis and multiple linear regression. It was determined that the coal-cutting function of the continuous mining machine is the factor that primarily Influences the loading function The geometrical factors -the dimensions of the work area In relation to the dimensions of the mining machine -were the factors of secondary influence. Fifty-five percent of the experimental variation in the loading function was explained in terms of the six most prominent Independent variables. It is expected that this work will be useful In operations-research studies as applied to underground coal mining, and with refinement will enable mine planners to select equipment based on the operating characteristics of the equipment and the mining conditions.

Sep 1, 1972

By Foster Fraas

In this Bureau of Mines report, use of the photoemission of electrons to produce electric charges for the electrostatic separation of sonic dispersed minerals, which had previously been ground to pass a 43µ-opening sieve, is demonstrated. It appears that many of the oxides, carbonates, sulfides, and arsenides will respond to photoemission. Minerals least responsive are the oxides of silicon, the oxides of aluminum, and minerals that have a high concentration of these oxides. Although several synthetic ore mixtures did not yield to complete separation in a one-stage operation, it is probable that preliminary neutralization of the initial electric charges produced by powder dispersion will provide complete separation. That the separation can be carried out in air and without the use of reagents or heating, which are required in the present practice of electrostatically separating coarse granular feeds, is of special significance.

Jan 1, 1972

By W. W. Adams

"Fatal accidents at coal mines throughout the United States killed 234 employees during January 1924, according to reports from State mine inspectors to the Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior, Included in the number of fatalities are 68 deaths caused by two explosions during the month, one explosion occurring in a mine at Johnson City, Ill., and causing 32 deaths, and the other in a mine at Shanktown, Pa., and causing 36 deaths. The fatality rate for the month was 3.94 per million tons, based on a production of 59,435,000 tons of coals In January 1923 the fatality rate was 3.52, based on 206 deaths and an output of 58,458,000 tons.Bituminous mines in all States reported 202 fatal accidents, the production being 51,170,000 tons., and the fatality rate being 3.92, as compared with 3.28 for January last year, For the anthracite mines in Pennsylvania, the reports covered 32 fatalities, which, on the month's output of 7,955,000 tons, indicated a fatality rate of 4.02 per million tons, as against 4.89 for January 1923.As compared with January 1923, the reports for January of the present year indicated lower fatality rates per million tons for all of the main causes of accidents except explosions. For falls of roof and coal, the fatality rate per million tons declined from 1.85 in January 1923 to 1,68 in January 1924; for haulage accidents the rate declined from 0.62 to 0.42; for explosives, from 0.19 to 0.12; for electricity, from 0.12 to 0.07. The rate for explosions increased from 0.21 to 1,31 per million tons. -- Reports of Investigations, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines."

Feb 1, 1924

Eliminate the occurrence of false fire detection alarms caused by the operation of diesel-powered vehicles in underground coal mines. Approach Fire detection systems used in underground mines are based on measurements of airborne combustion products such as carbon monoxide or smoke particles. The effectiveness and credibility of these systems can be reduced by the occurrence of false alarms that result from the operation of diesel-powered equipment, which produces the same combustion products. False alarms end up being very costly to the mine operation in terms of downtime and labor needed for verification. To improve upon current fire detection systems used in the presence of internal combustion engine products, the U.S. Bureau of Mines developed a fire detector that can discriminate between the occurrence of real mine fires and the presence of engine smoke.

Jan 1, 1989

By A. Wahab Khair

"Geologic materials emit transient noises when stressed /1/. The rate and pattern of these transient noises or acoustic emissions (A.E. hereafter) depend on the stages of deformation of the material /2/. It has been demonstrated that rock/coal fracture processes under stress consist of three distinctive stages--crack initiation, propagation and ultimate fracture--and that coalescence of numerous cracks leads to ultimate failure rather than the propagation of a single crack /2,3/. This paper presents an analysis of fracture formation in rock/coal specimens subjected to straight wedge indentors using A.E. technique.The effect of specimen geometry, wedge indentor angle, confining pressure, and material anisotropy on fracture type (tension, extension, and shear crack), fracture length, and fracture intensity were studied. Two types of material mainly Berea sandstone and Coal Berg No. 2 coal were used in this study. Prior to the experiment the mechanical properties of both sandstone and coal were determined using rectangular specimen (Figures 1 a) in standard compression tests and are given in Table 1. In this study cylindrical and rectangular specimens were first prepared to proper dimensions of 2 in. x 1.5 in. and 3 in. x 1.5 in. x 1.5 in. (5.08 cm x 3.81 cm and 7.62 cm x 3.81 cm x 3.81 cm), respectively and then instrumented with SR-4 strain gages as shown in Figure 1. The instrumented specimens were then tested under four distinct load boundary conditions as illustrated in Figure 2. During a typical experiment the instrumented specimen was placed in a specially designed loading jig (Figure 3) where a predetermined lateral pressure was applied mechanically to the specimen by adjusting the inner plate of the confining chamber via screw while monitoring strains in the specimen. Using rock/coal elastic constants and measured strains, a predeter¬mined lateral pressure was applied to the specimen. Then a vertical load was applied by the straight edge of a wedge indentor attached to the upper platen of the universal loading machine via ball and socket arrangement (Figure 4). The arrangement allowed uniform application of load in a straight line manner on the surface of the specimen. During the test a number of parameters namely strains, load and A.E. rates were recorded (Figures 5a-b)."

Jun 1, 1988

The notion of wayfinding, as conceptualized by planners, geographers, and psychologists, denotes the ability of an individual to move from one point to another through physical space. In order to achieve this movement, a person relies on a cognitive map of spatial representations [Passini 1984]. Which features of this cognitive mapping will be stressed depend, in part, on the researcher's perspective. A planner, for instance, would tend to emphasize the effect of physical structures on mobility. A psychologist, on the other hand, might focus on individual differences in how human minds encompass and represent physical space [Evans et al. 1984]. There is yet another dimension to wayfinding that needs consideration, and it rests upon the idea that reality, as experienced by human beings, is mediated: "[People] have preselected and preinterpreted this world by a series of commonsense constructs ... which help them find their bearings in their natural and socio-cultural environment and to come to terms with it" [Schutz 1967]. These "common sense constructs" are arrived at socially and constitute the agreed-upon schemas that guide people's everyday activities. According to this principle, cognition is governed by some nonlogical factors that reflect not only individual procedures but collective ones as well. These group strategies, which are shaped by shared rules and values, influence "the information gathered, the ways it is processed, the inferences that are drawn, the options that are being considered, and those that are finally chosen" [Etzioni 1992]. From this perspective, cognitive maps, rather than being individual-centered templates of environmental images [Rovine and Weisman 1989] or representations of spatial relationships [Evans 1980], are partially group-centered schematic processes. As such, they are subject to reinterpretation, revision, and outside intervention [Kaplan and Kaplan 1982]. As intermediaries between the environment and behavior, cognitive maps serve as bases for decision-making. Traditionally, it has been assumed that good maps facilitate correct decisions, which in turn leads to optimal performance during wayfinding [Hunt 1984]. Given the argument that there is a social (non¬cognitive) facet to cognitive mapping, however, this image of a cognitive map as some sort of static reference construct that motivates individual action is too narrow and mechanistic. If cognition involves less a knowledge of the environ¬ment than it does the process of "giving it meaning through imposing an order on it" [Rapoport 1976], then wayfinding behavior is not j ust a function of setting and individual differences, but is also a function of one's "normative-affective" structure [Etzioni 1992]. Rapoport [1976] used such an assumption as the base for a set of hypotheses about the connection between "external demands" and "organismic factors." One significant assertion deriving from Rapoport's ideas is that environmental

Jan 1, 2000

By H. J. Sloman

"INTRODUCTION Industry, including coal mining, has come to realize that to prevent accidents the human element must be given more consideration than was customary in the past. In formulating safety rules and regulations and in the enactment of laws governing mining, too often enforcement is emphasized rather than the means of gaining willing compliance.' The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the human side of accident prevention, and the approach to this important and much-discussed subject will deviate somewhat from the usual discussions.The human being is a complex mechanism, both physically and mentally. It is difficult to establish a common denominator for the actions of humans, except in general. In establishing mining laws, rules, regulations, and standards, the ultimate objective should be to gain the best possible response of workmen, so that optimum results in accident prevention may be obtained. The complexity of human beings is apparent when the many ways 1n which they differ are considered. Some of these differences are manifested in emotional and phlegmatic types, degrees of intellect or native intelligence; and in hopes, desires, aspirations, and philosophies of life. How much simpler ac¬cident prevention would be if the response to laws, rules, regulations, or standards were equivalent to the definite movements of puppets responding to pulls on strings. Each time, the strings are pulled in exactly the same way, the puppets will respond in exactly the same manner. Human beings, although having many similar characteristics, do not respond uniformly to identical ""string-pulling""; therefore, much study is necessary before the desired re¬sponses can be obtained. To achieve the ultimate in accident prevention, it must be ""worked at"" constantly. Regardless of the adequacy of safety laws, rules, regulations, or standards, good accident records will not ""roll in"" if dude consideration is not given to the personal traits of those most likely to be involved in accidents."

May 1, 1948

By George S. Rice

"The successful use of the gas mask by the American Army it France in combatting the poisonous gases of German .shells caused many Army men to feel that the as masks were proof against any kind of gas which might be encountered. The result has been that from time to time there have been reported in the press, deaths of former army men through using their masks to enter various kinds of gases such as illuminating gas, gasoline vapor, and the gaseous atmospheres produced by mine fire. Such a case has just been reported from a mine, in Copperopolis, California, where a former Army man lost his life in descending a mine shaft filled with the fumes of a mine fire. Another man who, in attempting to rescue him, merely used a dust respirator, lost his life also.While the American type of the Army gas mask was developed by the Bureau of Mines for the War Department, and since the war a section of the Bureau's in¬vestigative force has been developing industrial gas masks for certain specificgases, the Bureau has repeatedly called to the attention of the public the fact that such masks have serious limitations and in no case should a gas mask be used in underground workings for the reason that there may be an insufficient amount of oxygen to breathe, (and the gas mask does not supply oxygen) or there may be present carbon monoxide, which the Army mask will not remove, and there always is some carbon monoxide produced by a mine fire or by a coal-mine explosion, or by a blast of dynamite or other explosive.It is true that the Bureau has been developing a mask which may take care of a small percentage of carbon monoxide, that is, one per cent and under, but in mine fires and after explosions, there may be, and frequently is, a much larger percentage of carbon monoxide in the mine atmosphere. Masks such as these, for small percentages of carbon monoxide and associated gases are for use in connection with industrial surface plants, as for example, on the top of a blast furnace or around gas producers in the open air."

Oct 1, 1920

By L. C. IlsLey

Figure 1 is a reproduction of a chart recently prepared by the Bureau of Mines at its Pittsburgh Laboratory to show the Bureau's approval work in connection with electrically operated mining equipment. Nearly 27 years of approval work, covering 346 approved units, are shown on this chart. These approvals are arranged according to year of approval and the manufacturer to whom approval was granted. Forty-five manufacturers are represented, and a scheme of using various colored tabs permits the following subdivision of the equipment: Cutting machines, loading machines, conveyors, battery-operated locomotives, battery-operated power trucks, drills and drilling machines, rock-lusting machines, pumps, room hoists, air compressors,, and miscellaneous, The greatest number of approvals granted to a single manufacturer is 80; the next highest is 65, and the third is 49. Several manufacturers have been granted only a single approval. The chart shows all approvals granted for, motored equipment. Some of these units have since become obsolete, and a few are used to a very limited, extent if at all.

Jan 1, 1941

This book has employed miners' narratives to illustrate basic concepts about the escape process. One of the most powerful means by which people make sense of their experiences is through the telling and internalization of stories [Bruner 1990]. By couching one's own and others' motives and actions in terms of a coherent narrative, a person is able to learn from mistakes and plan future behaviors that may help ensure survival. A growing body of research suggests that decision-making skills used to deal with emergency situations can be taught and assessed by simulations based on narratives from the real world [Bransford et al. 1986; Brecke 1982; Brener 1984; Connolly et al. 1989; Halff et al. 1986; Jones and Keith 1983; Lacefield and Cole 1986]. Such techniques have been used to address the decision-making of medical personnel, civil and military flight crews, and even people involved in broader life events such as political and military situations [Babbott and Halter 1983; Dugdale et al. 1982; Farrand et al. 1982; Gilbert 1975; McGuire 1985; McGuire et al. 1976; Flathers et al. 1982; Giffin and Rockwell 1984; Jensen 1982; Janis and Mann 1987]. Given the validity of this method of study and the promise it holds for helping people improve the quality of their responses to nonroutine occurrences, it is perhaps surprising that there have been no studies of emergency decision-making among blue-collar workers prior to those conducted by the present authors and their colleagues. The purpose of this chapter is to describe underground coal miners' decision-making performance on a table-top simulation whose problem structure is derived from interviews with a group of eight miners who escaped from the 5 Left section at Brownfield Mine. The exercise was constructed by a panel of domain experts (mine safety and rescue personnel) with the assistance of an educational psychologist. The simulation includes actual predicaments with wise and unwise decision alternatives that, in the opinion of these domain experts, are characteristic of such escapes. Results reported in this chapter are the scores of a sample of experienced mine workers who completed the simulation. Because the exercise is a series of objective performance tasks coupled with detailed and immediate feedback, this simulation can be used to teach and refresh critical escape skills, as well as to provide data concerning the proficiency of miners at the time of exercise administration.

Jan 1, 2000

By Willard L. Hunter

The Bureau of Mines smelted samples of chromite ore and concentrate from the General Services Administration (GSA) purchasing depot at Grants Pass, Oreg., in a submerged-arc furnace to establish smelting conditions and the energy requirement to produce high-carbon ferrochromium. Raw material, in the form of ore, flux, and reductant, and electrical energy are available on the Pacific coast to smelt the chromite. The concentrate can be smelted without prior agglomeration by employing hogged wood (wood chips) as a major portion of the reductant. The energy requirement is relatively low, about 3,960 kw.-hr. per ton of alloy. The ferrochromium produced will contain about 60 percent chromium. In addition to the smelting data, a statistical summary of the grade and amount of chromite purchased during the stockpile program and estimated chromite reserves and production volume are given. It is estimated that 632,000 tons of Cr203 contained in chromite of all grades is available in the western coastal States. Of this total there appears to be sufficient metallurgical-grade and beneficiable ore to sustain a smelting operation for 25 years at a consuming rate of 25,000 tons a year, utilizing material comparable to that delivered to the Government stockpile.

Jan 1, 1961

Provide low-cost fire protection for big bulldozers. Approach A fire protection system, previously used on mobile logging equipment and adapted to surface coal augers, has now been adapted for use on large mining bulldozers. How It Works Heat sensors mounted in the engine compartment and hydraulic hose areas detect the fire, usually before the operator does. This causes the system to automatically discharge A-B-C class dry chemical extinguisher through a fixed piping system. The system can also be manually activated from either the opera-tor's cab or ground level. Location of the principal components of the system are shown in the drawing The heat sensors of the sys-tem consist of bimetallic strip switches which operate at about 10000F temperature. Switch operation results in release of compressed gas from a small storage cylinder. The gas expands to blow the dry chemicals out of the nozzles, in a spray that lasts about 15 seconds. The compressed gas used is usually nitrogen, although carbon dioxide is also used.

Jan 1, 1978

By George S. Rice

There have appeared, from time to time, comparisons of various features of coal mining practice in the United States and Great Britain. A recent, article, appearing in a British journal, points out that the American miner produces 3 1/2 times as much coal per shift as the miner, at one-half the cost, and proceeds to explain the natural industrial, and engineering causes which lead to this result. Amon« he reasons advanced. is that the American coal miner enjoys the advantage of more easily worked seams of coal, due to the fact that the coal mining industry in the United States is of more recent date than in Great Britain. The latter qualification is not correct, because where these advantages exist, they will persist. The coal beds of the United States are not buried deeply, except in the remote parts of the country, as in the Uinta Basin of Utah. The article referred to states that many of our miners are still employed on out seams reached by "adits", (which we term entries), or by vertical shafts of moderate depth. It is probable in fact that the great bulk of the coal of the United States is taken out from a depth of less than 400 feet.

Mar 1, 1920

Work on this program was supervised by R. C. Streeter, Project Scientist, R. K. Young, Principal Investigator, and R. A Glenn, Project Director Technicians involved in the conduct of the experimental work were J R. Allender, D. R. Wolber, G. L Maclay, and A. C Rupert The assistance of Project Scientists C. T. Ford in the electrokinetic studies, and R. R. Care in the spectrographic analyses, is also acknowl- edged. The valued advice and guidance during the course of this program from R. D Hill, EPA Project Officer, and Dr. D R. Maneval, Director of Planning and Coal Research for the Department of Environmental Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is sincerely appreciated.

Jan 1, 1971

Reduce potential for steering errors during tramming of articulated vehicles, particularly when the operator is seated to the rear of the machine pivot point and is tramming in reverse. Approach Position-sensing and feedback cylinders were applied to the steering cylinders of two S&S cleanup tractors to cause the steering-control lever to match the orientation of the vehicle sections. The vehicles were tested in two working mines. How It Works A position-sensing cylinder (see Figure 1, Item A) is attached to one of the steering cylinders in the cleanup tractor steering system. As the steering cylinder piston rod is actuated by movement of the control lever, hydraulic oil flows from the position sensing cylinder to the feedbck-cylinder (B), causing the feedback-cylinder piston and rod to move. The outside end of the rod repositions the the steering-control lever until its angular position corresponds to the orientation of the vehicle sections.

Jan 1, 1978