Search Documents

By J. Kruttschnitt

This paper, describing the mining operations at Mount Isa Mines, is one of a series covering mining methods and costs being published by the United States Bureau of Mines. The Mount Isa property has been in operation since June 1931; during this period operations have changed from the production and treatment of carbonate ores to the mining, milling, and smelting of sulphide ores. This change involved revision of ore-extraction methods. Stoping methods have been designed to apply to parallel lodes ranging from 10 to over 100 feet in width and dipping at 50° to 60°. The hardness and strength of the ore and enclosing wall rocks, together with the strength and thickness of the country rock between lodes, have permitted the selection of a sublevel stoping method for mining the sulphide ores.

Jan 1, 1937

By Jack Wright

The analysis of water produced with crude petroleum has interested oil producers since inception of the industry. Records of the first analysis of mineralized water produced from an oil-productive formation are obscure, and references to the first use of brine analyses to assist in solving problems of petroleum production are not available in the technical literature. However, many early reports of the Federal Bureau of Mines5-8 and Federal Geological Survey,9-11/ as well as articles in engineer and geological journals12-14/ placed special emphasis on the importance, interpretation, and application of water analyses. One of the earliest applications of water analyses, and still a major one today, is for identification of intrusive waters in oil wells. This may be done by comparing the chemical constituents of a sample of water indigenous to the oil-productive formation with those of samples from upper, water-bearing formations within the same general area. Some earlier investigators recognized the need for Analyzing samples of all waters encountered in drilling operations. Ambrose15/ stated, in part, "In wells being drilled, the engineer should grasp every opportunity to get a true sample of water from each sand. . .," and, "The waters of each oil field are chemically different from those of another field." The validity of the latter observation and the importance of the former one have been borne out by comparing the results of analyses of many samples and noting the differences in relative concentrations of like constituents of waters from the a geological formation in different localities or oil pools.

Jan 1, 1957

By Jacqueline V. Rich

The relationship between surface and ground water quality and copper mining in the Globe-Miami area is investigated in this three-year study. Methods to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or treat polluted waters are identified and evaluated. Best Management Practices are incorporated in a recommended plan to manage the area's water quality.

Jan 1, 1983

The revised inspection standards or recommendations herein have been prepared for use in Federal inspection of bituminous-coal and lignite mines. They succeed a compilation of similar standards published as Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7268 in December 1943 and employed as a guide in Federal inspections since that time. Important alterations and additions have been made because of changes in mining, practice and temporary shortages of some safety equipment; moreover, several previous standards have been found not generally applicable and have accordingly been deleted. Mining methods and equipment continue to change, and new hazards and new safeguards are introduced. Consequently, these standards are subject to revision from time to time. Questions from the coal-mining industry regarding these standards and suggestions as to changes and additions thereto will be welcomed and considered carefully when the next revision is made. Many constructive criticisms from the mining industry have been considered in preparing this edition.

Jan 1, 1945

By G. F. Kuncir

The analysis described herein evaluates the Bureau of Mines Program for Advancing Mining Technology - Oil Shale in terms of the economic benefits which may be derived for the Nation as a result of its successful research and development efforts. On the basis of postulated oil shale production scenarios, benefit-cost ratio indicators are computed for the program elements as they apply to surface, underground, and modified in situ oil shale mining systems. Eight value indicators are used to measure the Program's beneficial impact on the future oil shale industry in relation to planned research and development costs. These are: capital cost savings, operating cost savings, labor savings environmental quality maintenance cost reduction, reduction in production costs, byproduct production benefits, total production benefits, and additions to recoverable reserves. Program costs are aggregated from 1974 through 1987 and major benefits are accrued from 1982 through 2040. Both cost and benefit streams are discounted to mid-1975 present value.

Jan 1, 1977

By David R. Peterson

This report presents a deep ocean mining operational simulation which is capable of describing the response of the bottom collection unit to specified mining ship maneuvers and the corresponding operation of the mining ship maneuvering system. Bathymetry, obstacles, collector and pipe dynamics and ship maneuvering capabilities are included in the simulation. The simulation is capable of evaluating the technical requirements and operating costs for specified mine plans, Results are useful in assessing mine size requirements and provide operating 'cost 'estimates useful as inputs to deep ocean mining economic feasibility assessments, The simulation is used to determine the consequences of obstacles to mining system operations in terms of impact on mine size requirements and reduced production arising from obstacle avoidance maneuvers of a towed (unsteered) collector.

Jan 1, 1979

By C. M. Harrer

This paper describes the location and general features of iron occurrences in Colorado. Most of the deposits were examined; many are in forested and mountainous areas at altitudes of 5,000 to 13,700 feet. Iron is known to occur in 30 counties of western Colorado. Transporting the ore to market is a handicapping economic factor involving long truck and railroad hauls; the nearest purchaser of smelting ores is the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp., at Pueblo, Colo. When the ore can be sold locally for special purposes and at higher prices than can be obtained at iron smelters, small-scale operations can supply that market.

Jan 1, 1959

By David C. Grant

In situ uranium mining offers the advantages of minimal environmental disturbance, low capital and operating costs, and reduced mining development time. It is becoming an increasingly attractive mining method for the recovery of uranium from secondary ore deposits. In order to better understand the process, a laboratory technique was developed and used to study and simulate both the chemical and physical phenomena occurring in ore bodies during in situ leaching. The laboratory simulation technique has been used to determine effects of leaching variables on permeability uranium recovery, and post-leach aquifer restoration. This report describes the simulation system and testing procedure in sufficient detail to allow the construction of the system, and to perform the desired leaching tests. With construction of such a system, in situ leaching of a given ore using various leach conditions can be evaluated relatively rapidly in the laboratory. Not only could optimum leach conditions be selected for existing ore bodies, but also exploitation of new ore bodies could be accelerated.

Jan 1, 1985

By Dale R. Spangenberg

This Bureau of Mines Information Circular on phosphate is one of a series of minerals availability commodity directories. Nonconfidential information from the Minerals Availability Program data base covering 148 domestic and 103 foreign phosphate properties and deposits has been abstracted for use in this directory. Abstracts include applicable data on location, published reserves and resources, geology, mine and beneficiation systems, and operational information.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. W. Thompson

This work is a codification and annotation of the Congressional enactments relating to minerals, mineral lands, and mining. It covers every enactment of Congress from the original ordinance of 1785 to the present time, as well as all sections of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to these subjects. These laws are grouped according to their general subject matter, and are arranged thereunder in numerical or chronological order. Many of the mining statutes include matter not pertinent to the subject, and only those parts of such acts are quoted as will properly show their relation to minerals and mineral lands and indicate how they should be construed. Some mining acts have been repealed or have become obsolete, and others have become incorporated substantially in sections of the Re- vised Statutes; but these are retained in order to show the changes made, and the constructions placed thereon by the courts are given as aids in construing the new or repealing acts. The annotations consist of legal propositions abstracted from the decisions of the various courts and executive officers of the Govern- ment that have interpreted the sections and statutes so codified. These legal propositions are arranged under the different sections and acts with appropriate headings, titles, and subtitles, in logical order, exhibiting the present status of each particular section or act and its application to the subject of mines and mineral lands. The annotations do not purport to be abstracts of decisions on the sub- stantive law of mines and mining generally, but are limited strictly to the interpretation placed on a given section or act definitely re- ferred to by a court or executive officer by the number of the section of the Revised Statutes or the volume and page of the Statutes at Large in which the Congressional enactment is found. It may be observed that the legal propositions stated are not always pertinent to the particular section or act under which they are classed and of which they purport to give a construction. The arrangement, however, is not an arbitrary one, but is so made for the reason that the courts or officers in the construction of a particular section or act definitely referred to by number or volume and page incorporated in the decision matter not strictly pertinent to the par- ticular section or act so designated. This statement applies especially to the interpretations placed on the sections of the Revised Statutes. The decisions abstracted for the purpose of this work are those of the United States Supreme Court, 234 volumes; the various Federal courts, 214 volumes; the decisions of the Department of the Interior

Jan 1, 1915

The first metal-mine accident-prevention course was prepared and published 1942-45 as a series of seven miners' circulars (Nos. 51-57). The course has been broadened, revised, and brought up to date and is being published as a similar series of seven miners' circulars on accident prevention at metal and nonmetallic mines. These circulars are: 1. Accident Statistics (Miners' Circular 51), dealing with general statistics on accidents and injuries at metal and nonmetallic mines, including causes, costs, and the uses of investigations and reports of all accidents.

Jan 1, 1957

By D. Harrington

Although the explosion-fatality record for the fiscal year 1944 showed considerable improvement over those of the preceding 4 years, it is still fur from creditable, and the coal-mining industry and agencies interested in the prevention of coal-mine accidents should not be satisfied until accidents from explosions and fires are eliminated. In view of present knowledge of the methods of preventing explosions and fires, such disasters are inexcusable and discredit the mining industry. Despite this knowledge, far too many coal¬mine operators and employees continue to follow procedures that have resulted in disasters in the past. Included in the appendix to this circular are a number of safety measures designed to prevent coal-mine explosions and fires and metal-mine fires. Their adoption is essential if explosions and fires are to be prevented, as certainly they should be. An epidemic of disastrous mine fires of electrical origin during the past 2 years emphasizes the need for better methods of protection of underground electrical circuits. At present, committees of mining-electrical engineers, electrical-equipment manufacturers' representatives, and others are cooperating with the Bureau of Mines seeking means to solve this problem.

Jan 1, 1945

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

A major highlight of Fiscal Year 1993 is the completion of a new research facility dedicated to the advancement of robotics research and development. This new facility brings to the U.S. Bureau of Mines one of the largest and most unique facilities of its kind in the world. Located at the Bureau's Pittsburgh Research Center, the facility consolidates under one roof, all of the resource requirements of a first class automation and robotics research program. The Mining Robotics Development Center (MRDC) is the result of a major renovation of a large under-utilized warehouse-type structure and brings together the laboratories and offices previously housed in five separate buildings scattered throughout the Pittsburgh Research Center's 238-acre site. This new facility will support the computer-assisted mining research program, a high priority, multi-million dollar program that is expected to have a high impact on the health and safety of miners and coal productivity.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. P. Powell

The importance of recovering more oil from known petroleum reserves has placed increasing emphasis on the application of secondary producing methods. One of the most successful of these has been the injection of water into depleted oil reservoirs. Water flooding is now recognized as a valuable conservation measure that not only prevents the premature abandonment of stripper leases but also is credited with reviving operations in many oil-producing areas previously abandoned. The injection of water into an oil-producing zone as a method of stimulating oil production was legalized in Kansas in 1935. Although water flooding had been attempted previously in other parts of the State, 1935 marked its introduction into the shallow stripper area of eastern Kansas. Two years later flooding was begun in the five-county area that is described in this report. Figure 1 is a map showing the water-flood areas in Allen, Bourbon, Crawford, Labette, and Neosho Counties, Kans. To July 1, 1955, the 77 projects in the oil fields of these 5 counties are credited with recovering an estimated 12.3 million barrels of oil that would not have been produced by methods used previously. These projects are expected ultimately to cover 10,700 acres, of which only 5,400 has been flooded to date.

Jan 1, 1957

By Henry P. Cole

A series of studies are described that identify critical health and safety skills needed by underground coal miners for coping with mine emergencies. First aid and self-rescue and escape were selected as two broad performance domains that include many subordinate skills needed for preventing, recognizing, and coping with mine emergencies. The performance domains and their objectives were used to direct the development of simulation exercises that permit miners to experience mine emergencies in the safety of a training room. The exercises are based upon research with similar simulations for the training of flight crews and medical personnel in information gathering, judgment, and decision making skills. Exercise content is drawn from actual mine accident and disaster case studies. The exercises incorporate recent principles of cognitive psychology and instructional design. Initial studies in annual refresher training classes suggest the exercises are stimulating for miners and their instructors, easy to use and read, sufficiently complex and authentic to challenge experienced miners, and useful devices for both teaching and testing critical problem solving skills required for preventing and minimizing emergencies.

Jan 1, 1988

By Keith D. Rosbury

The basic objective of this project was to determine the cost-effectiveness of dust control used on unpaved mine haul roads. Field testing was conducted at three surface coal mines (two in Wyoming, one in southern Illinois) for a total of 20 weeks. The highest control efficiency measured for a chemical dust suppressant, 82 percent, was for calcium chloride two weeks after application. Generally, however, the control efficiencies hovered in the 40 to 60 percent range over the first two weeks since application, and then decreased with time. After the fifth week, the limited number of data points suggest a control efficiency of less than 20 percent. Composite watering data were fairly uniform. Watering once per hour resulted in a TSP control efficiency of approximately 40 percent. Doubling that application rate increased the control effectiveness by about 15 percent to 55 percent. Chemical dust suppressants (primarily salts and lignons) can be shown to be more cost-effective than watering under some conditions. Data summaries and the analysis of data are contained in Volume I. Volume II contains basic data.

Jan 1, 1983

By H. A. Doerner

"The following report is submitted, in compliance with the request made by the Honorable W. H. Sproule, Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining, to the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, that the bureau investigate the most modern processes for the production of radium from its ores. A thorough search of technical publications and patent office files was made. Outstanding authorities on the subject as well as persons claiming novel or secret methods were interviewed.Unlike most other elements, it is not possible for radium to occur naturally in a pure or concentrated form. This is because radium is one of a series of unstable elements which, by a constant, spontaneous, atomic disintegration, change from one element to the next in the series. Uranium is the ""grandparent"" of radium. The rates at which radium atoms are ""born"" and ""die"" are so related that only one part of radium can exist in equilibrium with three million parts of uranium. Consequently radium is only found associated with uranium minerals, and the ratio of radium to uranium is never more than one to three million. Since uranium is a rather rare element, the scarcity of radium is almost beyond comprehension. Nevertheless minute traces of radium can be detected in nearly all rocks.The carnotite ores of Colorado and Utah were the chief source of radium for many years.In the fall of 1922 news of the very rich deposits of radium ore discovered in the Belgian Congo caused most complete cessation of domestic production. The Congo ore contains pitchblende and a number of alteration products, including the new minerals bequerelite, curite, krasolite, stasite, and dewindite. Reports indicate that a considerable amount of ore containing over 50 per cent uranium oxide has been produced. It seemed certain that radium could be extracted from the Conga ore at a much lower cost than from the relatively low-grade carnotite; and in order to preserve their elaborate marketing organizations, the larger American producers made agreements with the Belgian syndicate to market the foreign product in this country. The retail price of radium has been held at $70 per milligram, but large orders are filled as low as $50. Extraction of radium from carnotite by the usual methods does not appear to be profitable at that price with one exception, all American firms ceased production after their accumulated stocks of ore had been treated. The United States Radium Co., which continued to treat carnotite for several years, finally shut down its plant."

Dec 1, 1930

By Christopher J. Bise

Volume II of this collection of research reports, entitled "Model Training Program," provides the framework and details for developing a tailored training program for a specific mine based upon documented human-performance deficiencies. To do this, several steps must be followed prior to program implementation: 1) background information must be gathered (database analysis), 2) direct observation of indicated problem areas should be conducted (safety sampling), and 3) separation of those deficiencies to be addressed through training from those which would be better addressed by workplace or equipment redesign (trainability assessment). Once training is determined to be the appropriate strategy for addressing the noted deficiencies, several approaches can be taken, depending upon whether the problem is related to repetitive work procedures in a predictable, a variable, or a dynamic workplace with a substantial amount of interaction between workers, equipment, and the environment. Although this volume and the subsequent seven volumes provide examples of how the training information was field tested using various strategies (for example, loss control, task training, etc.) and techniques (for example, microcomputer-based exercises, lectures, etc.), the ultimate selection of the delivery method is based on cost/benefit analysis. Therefore, the Model Training Program has incorporated a Training Cost Model as a desirable component.

Jan 1, 1993

By Boyd Wise

A jet pump injector was developed and successfully tested, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of a jet injector for introducing coarse coal into an operating slurry face haulage system: In Phase I a variety of injection concepts were evaluated, and the jet pump was identified as best, due to its simplicity, compactness and performance potential. In Phase IIA subscale jet pump injector tests were conducted, and a computer model of a jet pump injector was developed whose performance predictions correlated well with subscale test results. In Phase IIB various system configurations were defined for integrating a jet pump injector into a fully operational underground coarse slurry face haulage system, further highlighting the feasibility and practicality of such a system. In Phase III a full-scale mobile haulage vehicle embodying a jet pump injector and coal sizing equipment was detail designed into a practical vehicle with attractive performance characteristics. More importantly, fully operational full scale jet pump injector -and feeder/breaker subassemblies were tested and proven successful in their ability to down-size coal to 3" in all 3 dimensions and to consistantly provide slurry of 4217 weight concentration at 6.4 TPM throughput under a wide range of operating conditions including zero to maximum feed rate within 5 seconds.

Jan 1, 1985