Report describing the results of experiments to test for radon and uranium in ground water from samples taken near Hylas, Virginia.

A report about the Slumgullion slide and landslides. It discusses climate changed and how landslides are measured.

Report outlining magnetic and gravity data pertaining to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri.

A report that used isotopic, mineralogic, and oil-yield data to delineate major hydrologic states, establish the origin of carbonate mineral phases, and determine the controls on the geochemical cycles of carbon and oxygen.

This following report discusses the study of Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian sandstones of the Illinois Basin examined for evidence of regional diagenetic and fluid-flow patterns.

A report about erosion, deposition, soil formation, and water flow. It discusses hazards such as landslides, dust storms, floods, topsoil loss, ecosystem change, water contamination, and soil contamination.

A report about gold mineralization at the Golden Sunlight breccia pipe, southwestern Montana, is related to emplacement of Late Cretaceous alkali-calcic rhyolite and subsequent collapse of the Belt Supergroup wallrock and rhyolite in the pipe.

A report about the fluid inclusions in the upper Mississippi valley zinc-lead district. It discusses the consequences of fluid flow.

A report about metal necessary for economic or industrial development and how the metals are toxic to plants, animals, and humans.

A report about studying volcanic rocks. It discusses faults, thermal, and chemical problems.

This report presents an overview of an analysis to calculate both stresses in the geosynthetic and geometry of the tubes capable of encapsulating slurry.

From abstract: This is a report on the burial and thermal history of the Paradox basin in Utah and Colorado, and the petroleum potential of the middle Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation.

From introduction: This report focuses on the placer geology of individual creeks; mining, history of the area, high terrace gravels, and the gold source of the Fortymile River area in Alaska.

From introduction: The purpose of this study is to establish a stratigraphic framework of the Bisbee Group in the Tombstone Hills, and to use this stratigraphy to unravel the complex history of folding, faulting, intrusion, and mineralization.

The purpose of this study was to determine mine workers' state of fire-fighting preparedness and the technology being used to detect and respond to underground coal mine fires. To investigate this problem, 214 underground coal miners were interviewed by U.S. Bureau of Mines researchers. Frequency distributions of workers' responses are presented in this report, along with segments of narrative accounts, to profile miners' fire-fighting capabilities. The data indicated that much variability exists from mine to mine and that there are several important changes operators may undertake in order to make miners better prepared to deal with fire underground: select appropriate sensors, establish and test a warning and communication protocol, construct a system capable of delivering hundreds of gallons of water per minute for sustained periods, institute formal fire preparedness audits, develop case studies of events that occur at an operation to use as teaching and assessment tools, and provide structured practice that can be incorporated into fire drills.

Abstract: Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines have developed personal-computer-based data acquisition, instrumentation, and mine visualization and modeling techniques to evaluate a mine accessway in a deep hard-rock mine in northern Idaho. These techniques were applied to a mine shaft in a large silver mine that has been in operation for many years. A very deep, rectangular, timber-supported shaft extending to depths exceeding 2.3 km (7,500 ft) had been deforming continuously as a result of nearby mining, resulting in operational problems. Preliminary visual observations and rock and support monitoring confirmed that severe diagonal distortion was occurring. Extensive field measurements and data analysis confirmed initial observations, provided insights into the cause of deformation, and defined a general approach to structural modeling. Computer analysis of the problem was initiated by developing a three-dimensional model of the terrain. This represented a volume of rock approximately 80 km3 (40 x 1010 ft) and an area on the surface surrounding the mine 9 km2 (3 square miles). Based on this model, a three-dimensional, finiteelement analysis was conducted to establish boundary conditions for sequentially more detailed two- and three-dimensional submodels of the shaft area. Results from the computer study are being used to develop new …

The Midni'e Mine is an inactive, hard-rock uranium mine in Stevens County, WA. Oxidation of sulfide-containing minerals in the ore body produces large quantities of acidic water. The U.S. Bureau of Mines was directed by Congress in Fiscal Year 1994 to perform technological research on the treatment of radioactive water and disposal of treatment residues at the Midnite Mine and en overall site reclamation. This Report of Investigations summarizes the studies that were completed on: 1) treatment alternatives for uranium contaminated acid mine drainage, and 2) overall site reclamation, including: ground water flowpaths in the bedrock, radiation, and waste rock reactivity. As an aid to site reclamation, a Geographic Information System database was also produced that contains available current and historic data and information on the Midnite Mine. This report explains the scope of the Bureau's study and summarizes the results of its investigations.

The U.S. Bureau of Mines reviewed and evaluated options for treatment of the approximately 500 million gallons of contaminated water in flooded pits at the Midnite Mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation. While current lime treatment produces discharge quality water, the resultant sludges are radioactive, presenting a disposal problem. Of the 24 commercial processes and seven emerging technologies evaluated, none demonstrated a significant advantage over ion exchange using a strong base anion exchange resin in either laboratory or field tests. Uranium was lowered from 22 ppm to 0.2 ppb in treated water. Radium was lowered from 44 pCi/L to <1 pCi/L using a modified precipitation with BaCl2 . The natural zeolite, clinoptilolite, lowered radium to 6-8 pCi/L when used as an ion exchanger.

The Midnite Mine is an inactive uranium mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Oxidation of sulfide-containing minerals, primarily pyrite, produces acidic water. Uranium and other radioactive constituents are chemically leached and dissolved in ground and surface waters. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) has worked closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians to address data needs for remediation of the disturbed area. As part of this effort, USBM personnel initiated research to determine water quality and define groundwater flow characteristics. Preliminary results of hydraulic stress tests performed in the bedrock at the site are described. Slug tests and pumping tests were conducted using preexisting USBM monitoring wells. Slug test results were used to generate hydraulic conductivity estimates for fractured and unfractured intrusives. The pumping tests demonstrated varying degrees of spatial continuity. Hydraulically continuous fractured zones along north-south planes were demonstrated in two cases for distances of 90 and 116 m (300 and 380 ft). The short-term pumping tests provided no evidence of east-west hydraulic continuity in fractured zones.

Abstract: The Midnite Mine is an inactive, hard-rock uranium mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Oxidation of sulfide-containing minerals, primarily pyrite, produces large quantities of acidic water. Uranium and other radioactive constituents are chemically leached and dissolved in ground and surface waters. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) has worked closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians to address data needs for remediation of the disturbed area. As part of this effort, USBM personnel initiated research to determine water quality and define groundwater flow characteristics. Long-term changes in water quality and the results of slug tests and two geophysical surveys are described. Of the locations monitored, only two exhibited water quality degradation over time. Hydraulic conductivity measurements from slug tests are reported for five additional locations in the bedrock. Relative values of hydraulic conductivity from slug tests agreed well with ranked specific capacity data. A geophysical survey identified buried constructed features that channel subsurface water to a contaminated seep. Historic aerial photos corroborated the results of the geophysical study. A new geophysical technique was successfully used to monitor hydraulic and geochemical responses to a pumping test …

This Report of Investigations (RI) is one of several describing work that has been completed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines at the Midnite uranium mine, Wellpinit, WA. Dean (in preparation) describes the entire project history. Four diskettes containing three archives compressed using WINZIP (or PKZIP) accompany the current RI. The ultimate purpose of this research effort was to develop a groundwater flow model (GWFM) for the Midnite Mine that can be utilized by the contractor preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and by other interested parties. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a shell model of the geology at the site, (2) develop the basis for a GWFM that will meet criteria described elsewhere in this RI and that can be updated with new information generated during the EIS process, and (3) present the results of two steady-state simulations of groundwater flow within the bedrock units. The current GWFM generates nonunique solutions because flow data for the bedrock units currently do not exist. However, the model provides useful results with respect to direction of flow. More data are required to model the bedrock aquifer system accurately. Volmnetric flow rates of the bedrock units should be measured …

The Midnite Mine is an inactive open-pit uranium mine located on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Drill samples from two large waste rock dumps on the site, known as South Spoils and Hillside Dump, were collected with a Becker hammer drill and evaluated to determine potential of the rock to generate acid mine drainage (AMD). Waste rock at this mine contains both pyrite and uranium, and AMD effects are more complicated on this site than most in that uranium is soluble in both acidic and neutral aqueous solutions. Although AMD protocols identified 26% of the South Spoils samples as potentially acid, under 7% of the spoil samples were actually producing acid. Considerable calcite exists in the South Spoils, and weathering feldspars further contribute to acid neutralization. The Hillside Dump has low concentrations of pyrite and calcite that acid-base accounting protocols would predict to be non-acidic. Accumulation of sulfate in rocks with concentrations of less than 0.3% S causes some of those normally non-acid producing rocks to produce acid in the Hillside Dump.

Abstract: During the week of September 4, 1995, personnel from the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a Ra-226 survey at the Midnite Mine. One hundred thirty measurements were made on a rectangular grid with 150-m spacings. Concurrently, Shepherd Miller, Inc., took gross gamma readings in gR/h at the same grid points. In addition, the USBM collected 17 soil samples to be analyzed for radium, thorium, and potassium. The results of this survey are summarized in this report.

Abstract: A geographic information system (GIS) database has been developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) for the Midnite Mine and surroundings in northeastern Washington State (Stevens County) on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The mine is an open pit uranium mine which has been inactive since 1981. The GIS database was compiled to serve as a repository and source of historical and research information on the mine site. The database supported USBM hydrological and reclamation research on the mine site. The database also will be used by the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (as well as others) for environmental assessment and reclamation planning for future remediation and reclamation of the site. This report describes the data in the GIS database and their characteristics. The report also discusses known backgrounds on the data sets and any special considerations encountered by the USBM in developing the database. Most of the database also is planned to be available to the public as a two-CD-ROM set, although separately from this report.