Work of the mining experiment stations-Continued. North Central station, Minneapolis, Minn.-Continued. Heat treatment of drill steels.. Miscellaneous metallographic work Mississippi Valley station, Rolla, Mo-‒‒‒‒ Rock-drilling and drill-steel investigation in the tri-State dis- Work of operations branch-Continued. Educational and informational work-Continued. Motion pictures and exhibits.. Field districts of mine-rescue cars and safety stations. Rescue and first-aid investigations and training work. International first-aid and mine-rescue meet, Denver, Colo-- TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF MINES. WASHINGTON, D. C., September 15, 1921. SIR: The year has been a noteworthy one for the Bureau of Mines, both in the extent of its investigative and administrative work, and in the importance of the ensuing results to the mining and metallurgical industries. The mine-rescue cars and stations trained a greater number of miners in rescue and first aid than in the previous year, although training work was hampered somewhat by the closing of many mines and curtailing of production at others. The effective service rendered at mine fires and disasters is attested by unsolicited commendations. The success of the Nation-wide first-aid and mine-rescue meet at Denver has been largely due to the bureau's efforts in endeavoring to make this annual feature the crowning event in safety activities. The operation of the Government fuel yard in the District of Columbia has not only effected a decided saving in the year's coal bill for the Government departments, but has been a great help to the work of the bureau in advising and providing the fuels best suited to the different boiler plants. The work of distributing upwards of 36,000,000 pounds of surplus explosives transferred to the Department of the Interior by the War Department was completed. In the helium investigations progress was made in the experimental development of the plant at Petrolia, Tex.; underground storage experiments were conducted. This work received the personal attention of Dr. F. G. Cottrell until his resignation as Director of the Bureau of Mines on January 1, 1921. The mining division, in addition to its regular work of advising and assisting both the coal and metal mining industries towards better and safer practices, inspected coal mines operating on coal-mining leases on Government lands under operating regulations prepared by the bureau's engineers, and prepared a preliminary draft of regulations for operations on oil-shale, phosphate, and sodium leases. Besides investigating fires, explosions, and accidents in mines and making recommendations to lessen disasters, the owners of pulverizedcoal equipment were informed as to safe methods of operation for preventing explosion hazards. In metal mining work was continued on the triple investigation of ventilation, dust, and humidity conditions in metal mines of the West and in underground mines of the Lake Superior region. As a result remedial measures for allaying dust have been adopted more widely, and efficient ventilation systems have been installed in mines having high temperatures and humidities, or having air containing harmful gases or deficient in oxygen. Few, if any, of the mines studied have not been benefited. The fuels division, in cooperation with three of the seaboard coal exchanges, has worked out and put into effect a method for the scientific classification of export coal, whereby the coals are logically divided on the basis of quality by systematic sampling and analysis conducted by bureau men. This division also inspects and analyzes fuel purchased for Government use and assists the Government departments with their fuel problems. Through investigations and tests of electrical and mechanical equipment for mines, the hazards of mining have been lessened. In investigative work on the preparation and utilization of fuels, tests have shown that coke breeze, a waste product at coke-oven plants, can be mixed with bituminous coal to form a smokeless fuel for domestic heating plants. The technique of the Trent process of cleaning coal has been studied and the results made public. The division of mineral technology has completed the preparation and analysis of an extensive series of zirconium and other alloy steels for test by the Navy Department, for their value in armor plate, and in cooperation with producers of molybdenum and cerium, prepared a similar series of alloy steels of these metals. The information obtained will add materially to the technical data available concerning these steels. In the study of aluminum alloys, valuable data have been obtained on the fundamental causes of melting and casting losses, and methods for reducing these losses have been pointed out. A bulletin representing eight year's study of electric brass furnaces has been completed that should be of immense value to the brassmelting industry. An investigation of the talc industry was completed, and improved methods of mining and preparation brought to the attention of producers. A report on the slate industry is being prepared that describes efficient methods of quarry operation, improved equipment for reducing waste, and means for utilizing waste slate. Attention was also given to feldspar and various other nonmetallic minerals, and helpful information disseminated. The metallurgical division has continued and broadened its researches on the utilization of low-grade iron ores and their smelting in the blast furnace, and has done effective work in improving or devising methods for treating low-grade ores of lead, zinc, silver, copper, and gold. The petroleum division in its work of assisting development and conservation of the Nation's petroleum resources has supervised drilling and producing operations on oil leases on Government land. Field engineers have studied underground conditions in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and assisted operators in drilling and production problems. Maps and peg models have been constructed showing the stratigraphic conditions, and the proper depths to which wells should be drilled, and the probable losses of oil and gas that would result from improper drilling and casing. Work has been continued in demonstrating losses that occur from evaporation of crude oil from the time it reaches the surface until delivered to the refinery, and in pointing out methods for reducing these losses. In the oil-shale investigations in cooperation with the States of Colorado and Utah, many fundamental data have been obtained on properties of the shales, methods of retorting, and probable yields. This information, essential to further progress in the development of the industry, has been disseminated for the benefit of other investigators and commercial projects. During the year the mining experiment stations distributed throughout the country continued their work on local and general mining and metallurgical problems. The petroleum station at Bartlesville, Okla., has completed an investigation of methods and equipment for recovering gasoline from still vapors at refineries, and pointed out the large savings possible to refineries that do not treat these vapors, with the result that more recovery plants are being installed. At the station an experimenal refinery has been installed and used in connection with studies of refinery problems. A method was devised for improving "sour" gasoline to pass the "doctor" tests for sulphur compounds, thus rendering such gasoline available for export. It was demonstrated that redistilled kerosene can be used in place of the naphtha commonly employed in blending with gasoline extracted from natural gas, thus permitting the gasoline producer an alternative choice when kerosene is cheaper than naphtha. The Pacific station at Berkeley, Calif., completed an extensive study of the manufacture of caustic magnesia, used for making oxychloride cement, demonstrated that grades of magnesite not hitherto employed can be used, and devised standard specifications and tests for caustic magnesia. Results of a study of the metallurgy of mercury extending over several years were compiled for publication. At the northwest station at Minneapolis, Minn., blast-furnace reactions in the smelting of low-grade manganese ore were studied in the experimental blast furnace, and fundamental data obtained for further work. Field investigations and sampling of low-grade ores for test were continued. With the establishment of the southern station at Birmingham, Ala., the work on iron ores has been greatly expanded to include a general study of the iron industry of the Birmingham district, with special regard to the utilization of the low-grade, highly siliceous ores of that district. The principal work of the ceramic station at Columbus, Ohio, has been on clays, graphite, and dolomite. Tests of samples of white clays collected from States east of the Mississippi River have demonstrated that some of them approach English china clay and that many of them are good pottery clays. Promising results have been obtained in the dead burning of dolomite as a substitute for the more expensive magnesite in refractory bricks. The Alaska station at Fairbanks, Alaska, has aided mine operators and prospectors with their special problems, and made marked progress in a general survey of the placer-mining industry, with special regard to increasing recoveries and decreasing costs. The station has also aided in the development of the use of lignite to conserve the rapidly diminishing supply of timber. At the Pittsburgh station some of the principal results have been the determination of properties of picric acid and other explosives; the preparation of a proposed safety code for installing mechanical and electrical equipment in mines; determination of combustion factors involved in burning powdered coal; completion of firing tests |