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Index of ~12,000 US Bureau of Mines Publications

The AZGS just released a searchable index, Index of US Bureau of Mines Publications 1910 - 1996, that includes, at a minimum: the report series and number, title, year, author(s), alternate title, and keywords; many entries also include informative notes. Between 1910 and 1996, the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) published nearly 12,000 reports as part of their Bulletins, Circulars, and Research Investigations publication series’. 

US Bureau of Mines (USBM) publications focus on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral resources. Unfortunately, locating digital copies of USBM indexes and reports Bureau of Mines can be challenging. In 1996, the US Geological Survey took up certain functions of the USBM - such as the collection, analysis, and dissemination of minerals information. According to the USGS, the National Technical Reports Library (NTRL) contains a ‘legacy’ collection of USBM publications.

A search of the NTRL for ‘Bureau of Mines’ as the ‘Source Agency’ yielded 5,010 titles. Or approximately  41%, of all USBM published documents. Unfortunately, only a fraction (~ 15-25%) of the 5,010 titles are digitally linked to reports. The HathiTrust, ‘a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world’, is another possible source of digital USBM reports.

At its peak in 1968, the USBM employed 6,000 people and staffed 14 centers around the U.S.; its largest division provided for health and safety in mines nationwide. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 made the new Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA - https://www.msha.gov/) responsible for enforcing safety and health rules for all U.S. Mines.

Seven examples of USBM reports with an Arizona footprint: title, author(s), year, series & number.

         i.         Petrographic and Geochemical Analyses of Leach Samples From Artillery Peak, Mohave County, Az.  Brink , Susan E. , Rolland Blake, and Dianne Marozas, 1995  BM-RI-9554.

       ii.         Comparative Porphyry Copper Mining and Processing Costs - Alaska and Arizona Bottge, Robert G., 1974   BM-IC-8656.

     iii.          Nonpegmatitic Beryllium Occurrences in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Four Adjacent States, Meeves, Henry C., 1966  BM-RI-6828.

     iv.          Reconnaissance of Iron Resources in Arizona, Harrer, Clarence Michael, 1964  BM-IC-8236

       v.          Manganese Deposits of Eastern Arizona Farnham, Lloyd Lynn, 1961  BM-IC 7990.

     vi.          Christmas Copper Deposit, Gila County, Ariz. Tainter, Stanton L., 1948   BM-RI-4293

    vii.          Safety work at Calumet and Arizona Mines, Colburn, C.L., 1919   BM-RI.

Citation. Wakefield, K., 2020, Index of US Bureau of Mines Publications 1910 - 1996. Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Report, CR-20-B, excel spreadsheet, 4 sheets.

Acknowledgments. Former Arizona Dept. of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR) Nyal Niemuth was instrumental in initiating this work. In 2011, ADMMR closed their doors, transferring their library, documents, and work products to the AZGS.