Variables Affecting the Probability of Ignition by Explosives
The principal official test performed by the Bureau of Mines to determine the permissibility of coal-mine explosives, commonly referred to as the gallery test, has been in use at the Bruceton station for many years. In this test the explosive under study is loaded into the borehole of a steel cannon and fired into a […]
How to Recover Thermal Energy from Molten Salts
One objective of Project Gnome is to study the feasibility of a phase of the Plowshare program recovering thermal energy from an underground nuclear explosion. The test will be conducted in an underground salt deposit. It is anticipated that some of the energy thus released will be stored as thermal energy in molten salt. This […]
Uranium Mining
This report is one of a series published by the Federal Bureau of Mines to describe methods and costs of mining uranium on the Colorado Plateau. The Navajo Uranium Division of Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Inc., mines uranium from several deposits of carnotite-type ores, which lie buried in the Lukachukai Mountains on the Navajo Indian Reservation, […]
Bacterial Copper Leaching
Among several suggested new processes for treating marginal ores in the United States, none is more intriguing than the possibility of extracting metals from low-grade materials by the action of microorganisms. One phase of a Federal Bureau of Mines investigation toward developing such a procedure was to isolate and identify specific chemosynthetic iron- and sulfur-oxidizing […]
Dry Filter Cake using Radiant Heat – Reduce Moisture
This report stems from a study by the Bureau of Mines of the possibility of reducing coal filter-cake moisture by applying radiant heat directly to the filter cake while under vacuum during the drying phase of the filter cycle. One disk of a 4-foot-diameter vacuum filter was equipped with gas-fired radiant-heat generators and the effect […]
Titanium Gadolinium Phase Diagram
The results of this investigation indicate that the titanium-gadolinium phase diagram is composed of a single eutectic reaction and a peritectoid reaction at the alpha-beta transformation. The eutectic isotherm has been established at 1,240 ± 10° C. and extends from approximately 1 pct. gadolinium to beyond 99 pct. gadolinium at this temperature. The solid solubility […]
Extract Aluminum from Aluminum Silicon Alloys
The following conclusions are drawn from the results of these investigations: The reflux leaching method is an effective means for extracting aluminum from crude Al-Si alloy. Aluminum obtained by this method will contain from 1 to 6 percent silicon, 0.04 to 0.8 percent iron, and 0.01 to 0.9 percent titanium. With only minor changes in […]
How to Make Zirconium Diboride Directly from Zircon
Zirconium diboride of a quality comparable to that produced commercially from zirconium dioxide may be synthesized directly from zircon. The quantities of residual carbon and silica are not excessively high, but it is believed that some refinements in procedure may lower these percentages. The grain size of the final product has been demonstrated to be […]
Zirconium Gadolinium Equilibrium Diagram
The investigation of the zirconium-gadolinium equilibrium diagram revealed a eutectic system with limited terminal solubilities and one peritectoid reaction. The eutectic point occurs at about 82 percent gadolinium. The eutectic isotherm, at 1,220° C., extends from about 12 to 99+ percent gadolinium. The peritectoid isotherm, at 890° C., involving the alpha-beta transformation of zirconium, extends […]
Sulfide Oxide Lead Zinc Transitional Ore Treatment Processing Method
The mineral dressing research here reported is part of a continuing program by the Bureau of Mines to develop new or improved concentration processes for oxidized or partly oxidized lead and zinc ores. A sample of low-grade sulfide-oxide, lead-zinc ore from Jasper County., Mo., containing galena, cerussite, pyromorphite, hemimorphite, smithsonite, and sphalerite was concentrated by […]