BUREAU OF MINES 



Mission of the Bureau of Mines 



The Bureau of Mines statement of mission is as 

 follows: To ensure the continued viability of the 

 domestic minerals and materials economy and the 

 maintenance of an adequate minerals base so that 

 the Nation's economic, social, strategic, and envi- 

 ronmental needs can be better served. 



Metallurgy's mission is to provide, through R& 

 D, the scientific and technical information neces- 

 sary to encourage and stimulate the nonfuel miner- 

 als industry to make advancements in technology 

 that will result in an adequate and continuing sup- 

 ply of mineral raw materials at acceptable costs 

 and with a minimum of waste and environmental 

 degradation. 



Definition of Basic Research 



The research activities of the Bureau relate to 

 mission-oriented basic research where the investi- 

 gators are concerned primarily with gaining a fuller 

 knowledge or understanding of the subject under 

 study for the purpose of solving problems con- 

 cerned with advancing technology that will result 

 in sufficient mineral raw materials at acceptable 

 costs and with minimal waste and environmental 

 harm. 



Role of Basic Research 



The Bureau believes the role of its basic re- 

 search is to conduct such programs of inquiry as 

 are necessary to stimulate adequately the private 

 sector in the production of minerals and to supply 

 an appropriate and substantial share of the national 

 needs in a manner that is acceptable and in the 

 public interest. It is of special interest that meth- 

 ods used to accommodate the material needs be 

 such that waste of material is minimized, and that 

 mineral raw materials are supplied and mineral- 

 based products are used and disposed of without 

 objectionable social and environmental costs. The 

 Bureau's concern is directed to the best method by 

 which current and emerging demands may be met, 

 the real cost of such achievements, and the assess- 

 ment of related socioeconomic factors. 



Examples of Basic Research 



Below is a list of the 10 most significant projects 

 involving basic research (intramural and/or extra- 



124 INTERIOR 



mural) carried out by Metallurgy in the past 10 

 years: 



• Iron from nonmagnetic taconites. This pro- 

 ject resulted in the production of four million 

 annual tons of high-grade iron oxide pellets, 

 the first large-scale commercial venture in 

 processing nonmagnetic taconite. The plant, 

 located at Tilden. Michigan, represents an 

 industrial investment of $200 million. 



• Electrooxidation for gold extraction. This 

 new method for processing carbonaceous 

 ores constitutes the biggest breakthrough in 

 gold technology since the turn of the century. 



• Blast furnace research. Research on blast 

 furnace technology conducted with a consor- 

 tium of 22 major American steel companies 

 resulted in reduction in cost for the produc- 

 tion of pig iron by an estimated $500 million 

 per year. 



• Raw refuse reclamation plant. The raw ref- 

 use process incorporates conventional miner- 

 al processing operations to separate and re- 

 cover metal and mineral values from raw, 

 unburned urban refuse. 



• Thermodynamic properties of selected inor- 

 ganic compounds. Critical evaluation of 

 worldwide thermodynamic literature on cop- 

 per and nickel, and their compounds, was 

 completed. 



• Rare-earth recovery. Methods were devel- 

 oped for recovering rare-earth elements from 

 complex rare-earth mixtures. 



• Microgrinding industrial minerals. Research 

 was conducted on development of an attrition 

 grinder capable of grinding mica and other 

 tough minerals. 



• Uranium recovery from mine waters. Meth- 

 ods of recovering uranium from waste mine 

 waters were researched. 



• Reactive and refractory metal casting. Bu- 

 reau research conducted during the past de- 

 cade has been a major contributor to industri- 

 al development of reactive and refractory 

 metal casting technology. 



• Smokeless auto incinerator. Research was 

 conducted on development of a pollution-free 

 auto incinerator for use by small processors 

 of junk cars. 



The most significant projects involving basic 

 research carried out in the past 10 years by the 

 Mining Office include: 



• Suppression of coal dust explosions 



• Inhibition of methane-air flamer 



• Coal dust ignition 



