New Trees Planted at Coldwater

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

                           BUREAU OF MINES
                    FACILITIES AT TWIN CITIES

                                 A HISTORY

  The spring first served the water needs of military personnel and settlers over a century and a   half ago. It is located about 1,2-mile northwest of historic Fort Snelling between Highway 55   and the Mississippi River, and just south of the Camp Coidwater site. After the winter of   1819-1820, Lt. Colonel Henry Leavenworth decided to move his command to higher ground,   away from the mosquito-infested cantonment along the river bottomland known as New   Hope. Many troops had perished from scurvy at this site. He selected a healthier site farther   north on a small oak savannah plateau overlooking the river; this became known as Camp   Coidwater.

  Leavenworth’s men occupied the site in May 1820, quartered in tents and a few log barracks   that were eventually built. A small brook known as Coidwater Creek, emanating from a spring   at the edge of the pEairie ran through the encampment. This brook gave the site its name and   was used as a water source for both the camp and the proposed fort erected nearby. The camp   was used for three consecutive summers until all-weather barracks were completed at Fort   Snelling in 1822. Selkirk colonists and other squatters occupied the site beginning in the   early 1820s, as well as the B. F. Baker fur trading post and later the St. Louis Hotel, built in   1853.

  The Selkirk squatters were removed from this site in 1838 ,by Major Joseph.Plympton.
  Some moved immediately across the river to the present Highland sector of St. Paul, and   were again removed from the military reservation in 1840, settling finally in the present   downtown St. Paul vicinity.

  Due to various razings since the 1820s and 1830s, the camp site has long since lost its early   historic structures. Although still maintaining an oak savannah appearance, portions of the   area became inundated with low vegetation, and the creek was altered with the construction   of a railroad bed bisecting the plateau late in the 1860s. The railroad bed is now a Minnesota   Department of Natural Resources (DNR) nature trail known as the “Minnehaha Trail”. The   spring was walled in prior to the 1890s and the camp’s periphery occupied a half century   later by the U.S. Bureau of Mines facilities, thus precluding any easy access from Highway   55. Acquisition of the portions of Coidwater fronting the Mississippi River was made in the   1960s by the DNR, which now maintains trails and footbridges there.

Early Activities--Bureau of Mines 1915-1960

  Bureau of Mines’ activities in the Twin Cities area began before World War I with a
  Metallurgical Station on the University of Minnesota main campus. Known also as the Lake   Superior Station, it was authorized by Congress in 1915 and activated in 1917 to conduct   iron ore research and research on other minerals in the region. In 1920, its name was changed   to the North Central Experiment Station, also known as the Mines Experiment Station. Carl   Wood was the Station Director.

  Shortly after World War II other activities (e.g., mineral production statistics) were brought   into the area and probably housed in the downtown Minneapolis area: they were moved later   into the Buzza Building in uptown Minneapolis. The building still exists and is on the north   side of Lake Street between Colfax and Dupont Avenues.

  At about this time, the Bureau of Mines acquired 43 acres of land around the Cold- water   Spring site from the Veterans Administration (VA). The transfer was agreed upon in 1949   after the VA decided the land was in excess of its foreseeable needs. The transfer was   authorized by the 81st Congress in its 1951 General Appropriation Act. The original intent of   this acquisition was to erect a new storage facility for core drilled by the Bureau and private   companies in their assessments of mineral deposits, primarily in the north central part of the   country. The facility was erected about the. time of the acquisition, and core was accepted   for over 20 years. Core is rock material of cylindrical shape—the contents of a hollow steel   pipe bored deep into the ground through underlying rock strata. The contents Ere a sample of   the rocks and any mineralized deposits they might contain.

  In the early 1950s, some personnel moved from the Buzza Building and Experiment Station   to the Fort Snelling area. They occupied the early buildings on site such as the “Old Pilot   Plant” (now Bldg. 4 next to the duck pond and also known as the “Transite” building because   its walls are lined witha fireproof fiberboard marketed under the trade name Transite) and the   “Red Brick House” (the -old farm house) on the grassy area south of Bldg. 4.

  The Red Brick House contained offices and the Old Pilot Plant housed the initial
  metallurgical research performed on site. The main entrance to the propertywas a dirt road   that began near what is now the State Highway Department Building (across from the Ft.   Snelling Army Reserve Base) and ended near the Red Brick House. Both this house and   another nearby structure, a historic stone “mystery” tower, were removed in the mid fifties.   The Tower may have been built as a lookout post outside the old Fort Snelling enclosure in   the Camp Coidwater area, or perhaps was used as the foundation for a large wooden tank to   store water from a nearby spring (that now feeds the duck pond), or as a structure to produce   lead shot. Its actual use is not clear however, and hence it has a “mysterious” background. It   was located on the terrace now occupied by Bldg. 11, the “New Storage Building.”

Efforts were made in the 1950s to consolidate activities on the Fort Snelling acreage, and as   the result, Congress appropriated funds in 1957 for architectural and engineering plans for   construction of a building. A year later Congress appropriated construction funds, and the   building was erected in 1958-1959 under the overall direction of A. Needham, the first   Mining Research Director to occupy the building. Two other smaller buildings (Nos. 2 and 3,   the “Crusher Building” and “Vehicle Storage,” respectively) were erected nearby at the same   time.

  Occupation of the building began in 1959, as people were moved in from the Buzza Building,   the Mines Experiment Station, and those who were already on the property in the Red Brick   House and the Old Pilot Plant. The moving-in process involved somewhere between 75 and   100 people, including professional and support staff. Thu is an estimate, since records show   103 employees:were on board at the time of the Dedication, and 114 employees were   present in 1962. The current Center has over 200 employees, so the total is nearly double   that of 30 years ago. In addition, the total budget at the time of dedication was $1.1   million,and it has grown, with some ups and downs, to $12.2 million now, reflecting an   expanding spectrum of research activities.

  The Dedication - 1961

  Dedication ceremonies for the new Center were held on June 10, 1961. Photographs of the   event reveal a sunny, pleasant late-spring day. The ceremony was held at the front entrance to   the new Main Building, and was hosted by Marling J. Ankeny, then Director of the Bureau of   Mines. Other leading dignitaries in attendance included the Hon. E. Andersen, Governor of   Minnesota, Dr. A. Spilhaus, Dean of the Technology Institute at the University of Minnesota,   and the Hon. J. Kelly, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Mineral Resources. The   ceremony consisted of a concert, the National Anthem, and speeches. The Hon. J. Kelly gave   the dedication address, and a dedication plaque was unveiled at the end of the ceremony.
  Attached is a list of attending Bureau supervisors and employees, some of whom are still   employed at the Center. Also attached is a copy of the Washington staff scroIl..~.

          THREE DECADES OF PROGRESS - 1961 TO 1991
  Changes in Center Names

  Since the 1961 Dedication, the Center has housed as many as three major groups
  simultaneously: The Twin Cities Mining Research Center, the Twin Cities Metallurgy
  Research Center, and the Area III Mineral Resource Office. Each of these groups was under a   different director, and each evolved in a different manner.

  The Twin Cities Mining Research and Metallurgy Research Centers were in operation as   separate entities through 1978 when they were combined into the Twin Cities Research   Center in 1979, with a reduction in metallurgical research and transfer of
those functions to other Centers. A small amount of metallurgy research continued at the   consolidated Center.

  The Area ifi Mineral Resource Office was renamed the Twin Cities Mineral Supply Office   in 1967, and continued under that name until it was phased out in 1970 with the beginning   of the Bureau’s Liaison Program. Its activities then were finally consolidated in   Washington in 1972. It went through a couple more name changes and reorganizations   before it became the current Twin Cities Regional Office of State Activities in 1985. It is   located on the third floor of the main building, but during the 1960s it was Located on the   second floor of the main building’s north wing in space currently Dccupied by personnel   and other administrative functions.

  Changes in Leadership

  Do you remember all the research directors and chiefs (as the case may be) since the

  Dedication? In case your memory  is a bit rusty, here they are:

 
 

 

  k.
    Needham            1961-64

  W.
     Lewis               1964-70

  r.
    Atchison           1970-74

  E.
       Palowich’       1974  

  ~.
   Waddell           1974-79

  .
  Kenahan2         1979

  F.
    Olson’             1980

  [.Corwine        1981-83
  1.
    Breslin’             1984

  Wade             1985-present
 
 
 
 
 
             
 

 Metallurgy Research Directors
                           N.
                              Meicher            1961-72

                           W.
                              Mahan’                    1972-73

                           W.
                              McKewan           1973-79

                           C.
                              Kenahan2        1979

 
 
 
 

 1 Acting
  2Combined Directorship responsibilities

 
 

Mineral Suiply Chiefs

  0. Bishop
                 1961-66
  W. Grosh
                 1967-70
  R. Holliday (Act)
                 1970-72 replaced
                 by

  M. Sikich (Act)
  Liaison Office (MN)
                               W. Grosh
                                        1970
                               R. Briggs
                                        1970-79
  State Mineral Information Office
                               J. Aase
                                        1979-82
  State Liaison Office
                               J. Aase
                                        1982-85

  Twin Cities Regional Office
  of State Activities
                  J. Hill*
                         1985-90

                              L Esparza* 1987-Present
  *Shared responsibilities

  Building Acquisitions

  What about the major structures that house our research and support facilities?

  The “Old Pilot Plant” or “Transite Building” (Bldg. 4) was an early structure. Research   personnel were conducting metallurgical experiments in it in the early 1950s.

  Another early structure is the quonset-style core warehouse (Bldg. 5) for which the original   land acquisition was made in 1949 for a drill-core repository. The “Black Shed” (Bldg. 7)   adjacent to the core warehouse probably was constructed about the same time. It was used   for storage of miscellaneous equipment. The building is now Covered with aluminum   sheeting, but in its early years its only protective cover was black tarpaper, hence its name the   “Black Shed.”

  The Main Building (Bldg. 1), the “Crusher” Building (Bldg. 2) and the “Vehicle Storage”   (Bldg. 3) were constructed about the same time (late 1950s).

  As research activities expanded in the 1960s, space needs also grew, so the Bureau
  acquired a large brick building in the main area of Fort Snelling. This was Building
  212, and mining research personnel started operations there in 1966 under an agreement   with the Veterans Administration (VA). Use of the building lasted into the early   1980s.

  Space needs continued to grow, and in 1969-70 the Bureau acquired and occupied Building   201 and a test site in Farmington, MN for use in high-pressure water-jet
research. Building 201 is a hippodrome-like structure that was used to house equestrian
  shows. for.the military around World War I. It houses large-scale test facilities for such
  research activities as rock cutting and splitting, thermal fragmentation, microwave drying and   sample preparation.

  The Farmington site was constructed by the military as a Nike missile site during the Cold   War era. Building 201 is the oldest structure at the Twin Cities Research Center. According   to the Fort Snelling Historical Society, construction was completed in 1907, although   blueprints for the building are dated 1895. Them some 60 years laterthe Bureau acquired it. 

  It has been designated as a historic building and is listed in the National Monument Register,   the National Register of Historic Places, and the State (MN) Register of Historic Places.
  Additional acquisitions included two small brick buildings (205 and 2071 for laboratory   space~ and several storage buildings (202, 203, 207).

  Space was also acquired in the new Federal Building at Fort Snelling to serve the office   needs of several dozen personnel. This space, in Suite G-23 on the ground floor, housed both   mining and mineral supply personnel.

  In the 1960s, the Bureau dismantled its Iron Range Demonstration Plant-Administration   Building in Keewatin, MN and transferred it to Fort Snelling where its components were   stored temporarily north of the Core Storage Building. The building was erected in 1964-65   at Keewatin, but by 1970 it was dismantled for the move to Fort Snelling due to the   consolidation of iron ore processing work in the Twin Cities facility. The original structure   had a rectangular central atrium open to the outdoors. When the components were   reassembled, the atrium was eliminated to provide more indoor work space. This   reconstruction, just north of the Main Building, and completed in 1975-76, was named   Building 9.

  Thus, from the late 1960s into the mid 1970s, the Twin Cities facility made dramatic strides   in expanding its physical plant to meet th~ needs of more personnel-~and research activities.
  At the end of this brief period of expansion certain activities began vacating office space in   the Federal Building. By the mid 1970s, the personnel had been moved to Building 212 and   the Main Building. The last function to leave was the State Liaison Office in 1976, which   returned to the Main Building (Bldg. 1). By this time the reconstructed Administrative   Building (Bldg. 9) was in place, and support services personnel were moved in.

  In the early 1980s, laboratory facilities and personnel were gradually moved from
  Building 212 to the Main Building. The last group to leave was in 1982. The personnel
  were engaged in mining research activities, and they returned to occupy space left in the   Main Building from the transfer of most metallurgy functions to other Centers.
  Building 212 was razed in 1986 as part of a sale of Federal land.

Lastly, in the late 1980s, buildings 202-207 were taken over by the General Services
  Administration (GSA). In. exchange, GSA provided funds to construct a new storage building   on the terrace above the duck pond. The structure, known as Building 11, was completed in   1989. Subsequently, much of the equipment stored in the five buildings was transferred to   the new storage facility.

  The Main Building remained structurally unchanged for over 20 years, but in 1981-82, a   large annex was constructed on the southeast side of the “Pilot Plant” wing. The annex   became the location of several support activities: the machine shop on the ground floor and   drafting and facility services on the upper level. The construction was necessitated by space   needs of research personnel returning to the Main Building, as mentioned above, plus the   requirements for environmental safeguards.

                   THREE DECADES OF RESEARCH
  This history surveys only the major trends and activities that influenced research life at the   Center. Since the history spans three decades, this recap is conveniently titled “The 1960s,”   “The 1970s,” and “The 1980s.” The present Center research program is covered in another   brochure.

  The 1960s

  With the opening of the Main Building in 1959, mining, metallurgy and mineral resource   functions moved ahead with their appointed goals. Since the mining function was charged   with research on a new topic, fundamentals of rock behavior, research and expertise had to be   transferred in from other Centers: for example, the “Crystal Bond” project from the Spokane   Center formed some of the basis for the various fragmentation laboratories and the Rock   Physics Laboratory; and blasting research evolved from the work conducted at the old   College Park Center. Metallurgy research continued its work on improving processing of   Lake Superior iron ores; and Mineral Resource activities focussed on regional mineral   production statistics in the upper MIdwest, as well as mineral property assessments.

  Mining research of the 1960s emphasized fundamental behavioral characteristics of rock   materials under different kinds of applied energy. Rocks were fragmented and/or deformed   by mechanical, explosive, chemical, thermal, and hydraulic means. The physical behavior of   rock was also examined to explain why and how rock deformation or disintegration occurs,   and to better understand its underlying behavioral mechanisms and internal constitution.

  These activities continued into the mid 1960s when the Bureau developed a working
  relationship with the National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) in support of   its Apollo Program. The goal of Apollo was to put men on the Moon. Mining personnel   acquired a suite of simulated lunar rocks from Oregon and California and tested them in the   laboratory under simulated lunar conditions (e.g., extreme vacuum) to provide NASA with insight about the lunar surface for the Apollo Mission and for
  future mining of the Moon. NASA work was conducted under the program “Utilization of   Extraterrestrial Resources.” One of its achievements was development of a lunar drill   (NASA--Huntsville).

  Other research was conducted to support outside agencies from the mid 1960s well into the   next decade. The research included drilling studies for the U.S. Army and the Office of Naval   Research. In the late 1960s, the Center collaborated with the U.S. Army under a Heavy   Metals Program to test disintegration systems on frozen placers in Alaska in order to   develop an economically feasible mining system. In another study under the same program,   the Center became involved in testing and evaluating disintegration processes in California   Tertiary channel gravel deposits. All these areas of research activity were carried out using a   “total systems approach” to develop new and improved rock disintegration techniques as part   of new and improved mining systems. Rock mechanics research, in particular, reeached   international prominence by providing consultation and rock property data for mining and   construction projects in various parts of the World.

  Finally, in the last half of this decade, two important pieces of legislation were passed by   Congress--acts that would come to have a major impact on Bureau research and activities at   the Center. These acts are the Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act of 1966 and the Coal   Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. They dealt specifically with the development of safe   working conditions and a healthful working environment for those engaged in the mining   industry.

  Metallurgy research had its beginnings in processing research on Lake Superior iron ores   well before the decade of the 1960s. The ores, called magnetic taconites, have been used as a   source of iron since 1956, but large reserves of nonmagnetic taconites were bypassed for   lack of an acceptable beneficiation process. Much of the metallurgy research effort focussed   on developing innovative technology to make flotation of the nonmagnetic taconites an   acceptable process. In this regard, a major accomplishment of the metallurgy research was   the development of.a patented method for beneficiating “oxidized” iron ores by selective   flocculation-desliming and flotation. In 1972, after several years of cooperative research   with metallurgy personnel, the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. constructed the first iron-ore   processing plant of its kind to employ the Bureau’s selective flocculation-flotation process   for the treatment of fine grained “oxidized” taconites on Michigan’s Marquette Range. The   Tilden plant began production in 1974 with 4 million annual tons of high-grade iron ore   pellets and doubled its production to 8 million tons in 1979. The total investment in the   Tilden Plant was nearly $600 million. Other efforts in processing research focussed on iron
  pellet production for steelmaking, recovery of iron-manganese from Cuyuna Range iron ore,   and removal of impurities from processed iron ore. All these efforts continued throughout   the decade, but with some change in emphasis and some added areas of research. Briefly, the   major research activities in processing research included flotation, adsorption-filtration,   grinding, and magnetizing roasting. Added activities included processing of noninagnetic crude iron ore, processing of scrapped autos and steelinaking using basic   oxygen and electric arc furnace processes. Prereduced (Metallized) iron ore pellets were   studied in terms of their performance as an improved blast furnace feed stock. Other studies   included copper smelting and acid leaching of manganese ores. Work was added on some   fundamental ideas in metallurgical reaction kinetics and mechanics. In the later sixties,   because of its processing expertise in iron ore, Metallurgy Research became internationally
  involved when it conducted beneficiation research on an oxidized iron ore from Saudi
  Arabia. It also became involved in support work for NASA along with Mining Research,   when investigations were conducted on rock volcanism, ore genesis, and silicate ore
  reduction in conjunction with the plasma arc furnace.

  The decade of the 1960s was very active for:Metallurgy Research. The “Pilot Plant” wug of   the Main Building, laboratories on the second and third floors of the Main Building, and   Building 2 (the Crusher Bldg.) housed the research. Iron ore research facilities expanded in   the mid 1960s when operation began at the Iron Ore Demonstration Plant in Keewatin, MN.
  Plant work focused on reduction roasting of taconite using scrap as the reductant, and
  continued through the end of the decade. By this time, Metallurgy Research had diversified   from processing research on iron ores to a variety of program areas including solid waste,   mineral science and engineering, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and recycling of ferrous   scrap.

  Although the Area ifi Mineral Resource Office (a.k.a. Twin Cities Mineral Supply Office)   was smaller than the mining and metallurgy groups, it nevertheless served an important   function in the 1960s. Mineral production data for the upper midwest were:
  collected for statistical analysis. Other studies were concerned with the collection of
  information about specific mineral resource properties such as equipment, kind of
  operations, reserves, and extent of property. Personnel occupied the north end of the second   floor in the Main Building, a location presently held by personnel and other
  administrative functions.
                        -

  The 1970s

  Mining Research entered the decade in an expansion mode, spurred on by the
  Metal/Nonmetal and Coal Health and Safety Acts. The large infusions of funds supporting   these Acts exceeded the capacity of in-house research to handle them effectively, so an era   of outside contract research began in the late 1960s and grew rapidly in the 1970s. For   example, by 1971 about $7.5 million was committed to Health and Safety research. 

  Technology transfer expanded at the same time in response to products from contract
  research, as well as in-house research. The NASA support work on utilization of
  extraterrestrial materials, however, began to decrease with the completion of the Apollo   Program, and was essentially over before the mid 1970s. The mainstay of in-house Mining   Research, Rock Disintegration, gave way to Improved Extraction Systems. Health and Safety   Coal, Metal/Nonmetal Fragmentation, and Advancing Mining Technology for Marginal   Resources (e.g., low-grade copper deposits) were added to research activities. These activities were further classified into fundamental rock failure,   improved extraction and advanced fragmentation for Improved Extraction Systems, into   health and safety aspects of coal and metal/nonmetal mining, and into advanced mining   concepts for marginal deposits. Oil shale was included with coal in conceptual studies.
  Generic areas of expertise supporting the program areas included fragmentation, blasting,   surface mine equipment safety, in situ and borehole mining, dust minimization, and mine fire   protection. Functional laboratory areas active by the mid to late 1970s included in situ   mining, underground mining, surface mining, advance mining and dust control. Research in   advanced mining systems was effective in providing the mining industry, particularly the coal   sector, with new developments in mining equipment that today are making mines more   productive and efficient. Examples are the borehole miner and the auger drill.

  Impetus for much of the research in the mid 1970s came from the OPEC oil crisis in
  1973-74, after which the Bureau in general, and specifically the Mining Research Centers,   acquired additional funding as the result of energy legislation in 1974. Contract funding  alone approached $10 million by mid-decade, and increased again by a third in the late   1970s. Meanwhile, staffing held in the range of 80 to 90 people, and in-house funding rose   from just over $2 million to over $3.5 million towards the end of the decade. Mining   Research further expanded its activities through an agreement with the U.S. Army’s   Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) early in the decade for management of the   Rapid Excavation and Rock Mechanics Program. The five energy- application laboratory   groups and the Rock Physics group at TCRC together with the Mining Research Centers at   Pittsburgh, Spokane and Denver, applied their expertise to the new or expanded areas in   “matrix management” fashion--an approach firmly - established by the mid 1970s. By the mid   1970s there were about 50 contracts totaling $6 million. This comprehenisve program  involved rock disintegration, ground support, and geologic prediction, an aid to help military   planners evaluate the feasibility of deep- based weapons and communication systems.

  Research on in situ mining grew rapidly in the 1970s. Beginning in 1970, t~iis approach was   a response to developing low-grade or unmmeable metal deposits, such as copper, through   the use of remote mining methods. Solutions injected into a fragmented ore body dissolve   mineral values which are pumped to the surface for processing. Environmental controls on   mining also rose to prominence in the late 1970s. A new Mining Environmental Technology   Program provided funds for research topics such as premine planning to comply with   Federal regulation and reclamation in mined and abandoned mine lands. Energy research   funds were reduced when coal productivity research was transferred to the Department of   Energy. Residual funds were reallocated to in-house research. By the end of the 1970s,   generic in-house research focused on in situ mining, hydrologic analysis, continuous   drill-blast, rock cutting, and dust generation. Other research involved mine fire control and   detection, airbiast and ground vibrations, rock/oil shale properties, explosives, advance
  mining, water jet mining, and borehole mining.

Metallurgy Research entered the decade of the 1970s with a wide variety of research
  activities already underway in the previous decade. These activities included solid waste   studies of recycled blast furnace flue dust; work on iron and ferro-alloy metals such as   beneficiation of non.magnetic taconites, pellet agglomeration, leaching, scrap and recyclable   resources and processing of manganese ore, and work on copper and base metals such as   nickel in Duluth Gabbro, sulfur recovery and roasting. About 1974, research began on the   Alternate Fuel Program in an effort to reduce energy consumption of fuels, as the result of   the 1973-74 OPEC oil embargo. A pilot plant grate-kiln pelletizing system was erected to   evaluate the use of pulverized coal (as a substitute for natural gas) to indurate taconite   pellets. In 1978, this research was expanded to include the use of low-Btu coal gas for this   application. A commercial fixed-bed gasifler, loaned to the Bureau by the M. A. Hanna Co.,  was erected as an annex to Bldg. 2 (Crusher Building). This research was a multi-million   dollar givernment-industry cooperative effort involving the Bureau, the U.S. Department of
  Energy (DOE), and 25 private sector firms with interests in iron ore, coal, gas, and process   design, and demonstrated that coal gas could be used to indurate iron ore pellets. About the   time of the gasifier program, other research was being conducted with magnetic fluids, wet   high-intensity magnetic separation, selective flocculation-flotation and reduction roasting   and desulfurization of blast furnace iron.

  The Twin Cities Mineral Supply Office (formerly the Area III Mineral Resource Office)
  underwent dramatic changes in the early 1970s. Its mineral statistics function was
  transferred to Washington Headquarters while the remaining special studies on mineral   properties were transferred to the regional office in Denver. The Office was superseded by   the Bureau’s State Liaison Program beginning in 1970, and a new Liaison Officer for   Minnesota was appointed (see section on Changes in Leadership) whose mandate was to   monitor the State’s mineral industry and serve as the interface between the Bureau and state   and local governments and the various segments of the minerals industiy. The liaison   function, in turn, was superseded by the state Minerals Information Office in the   late 1970s.
            -

  The 1980s

  Research activities entered a new era with the beginning of this decade, as the mining and   metallurgy activities were combined into one Center rather than the two Centers as in the   past. The names mining and metallurgy were abandoned and the new title became the Twin   Cities Research Center. Combined personnel numbered 170 to 180, with a total in-house   budget in the range of $7 to $8 million. Contract research continued on an active level   across mining-research oriented areas. In-house and contract research rose to over $12   million, of which perhaps 10 pct was committed to metallurgy research. With rises in the   costs of conducting research, and leveling of budgets, funds were shifted away from   contracting to support in-house capabilities.

  The Center entered the decade of the 1980s with seven functional laboratory groups,
  representing combined mining and metallurgy functions from the 1970s. They included
advanced systems for fire and equipment safety, blasting technology and in situ mining, dust   and. emissions, environmental assessment and ground control, fragmentation and
  comminution, leach processes and water pollution, and minerals recovery and plant safety.   The low-Btu gasification program was in full operation in the early 1980s, and pilot plant   beneficiation studies were conducted on western Mesabi oxidized taconites. Other studies   included cupola work, direct reduction of iron ore, agglomeration and organic binders, and   selective floculation-flotation tests on Saudi Arabian ores similar to the western Mesabi   oxidized taconites. Certain areas of research achieved prominence by the mid 1980s, as they   addressed resources that were uneconomical to mine, and that needed to be mined in   environmentally acceptable ways. They included in situ mining and solution mining. Other   areas were also important, particularly in Health and Safety: mine chemistry and fires, diesel   emissions and dust control, and workplace conditions. Subsidence effects of mining   increased in importance in the Environmental Mining Program.

  From the mid 1980s, in-house funding and personnel increased steadily for the rest of the   decade, rising from about 145 to about 155 for full-time people with budgets increasing   from $7 million to well over $9 million. Contract activities were reduced.
  Metallurgy-oriented areas active in this period included wet, high-intensity magnetic
  separation, high-temperature properties of pellets, pelletization of primary ores, use of
  Minnesota clays for taconite pellets, iron ore comminution and in situ direct reduction, and   recycling of basic oxygen furnace dust.

  The functional areas at the Center had, by the late 1980s, been restructured into rock mass   behavior, health, fragmentation, advanced mining, and safety. Programmatic areas included   Health, Safety, and Mining Technology; Environmental Technology; and Minerals and   Materials Science. Generic activities supporting the program areas follow in general those   areas of expertise built up in the 1970s and later. The principal areas included blasting;   geotechnology and subsidence; diesel emissions and dust characterization; geochemistry,   hydrology and in situ mining; mine equipment; fires; mechanical fragmentation; novel   fragmentation; iron ore processing; coal cutting; and human factors. The research in the   Environmental Technology Program had increased in prominence due to public concerns   over environmental effects of mining, and additional funding supporting abandoned mine   land reclamation activities has come in. Solid waste management and mine drainage and   waste are two issues of research interest. With the expansion of the Natioanl Space   Program, NASA re-established interagency research with the Bureau, and notably TCRC, to   develop lunar mining technology and Mars surface sampling methodology.

  Finally, as the 1980s drew to a close, the Center had established a strong and diversified   research program. This was based in part to stability and determination in top management to   improve use of the wide variety of available expertise to seek solutions to the various   mining, processing, and environmental problems.

 
 

A.
    13. Needharn, Research Director, Mining

  N.
    B. Meicher, Research Director, Metallurgy

  S. A. Gustavson, Chief, Office of Mineral Resources
  W.
    A. Grosh, Supervisory Mining Engineer

           K. D. Saber, Superintendent

                    *

  Eugene R. Anderson
  Agnes N. Anshus
  Robert N. Austin
  0.
    G. Ayers

  Lloyal 0. Bacon, WAE
  Frank IL. Barlage
  Marguerite If. I3eahan
  William A. Beck
  Helen I3eystrom
  Albert L. flirt
  Richard J. Bishop
  *R L. Blake
  A.
    G. Breitbach

  Dorothy 11. Bucko
  E.
    I3ukolzer

  Clement N. Burling
  A.
    F. Colombo

  A.
    F. Constant

  S.
    R. B. Cooke, WAE

  William M. Coon
  Clayton E. Cunning
  Patricia K. Daire
  Francis X. R. Deizer
  Doris Dickson
  E.
    N. Ely

  Morris M. Fine
  Richard L. Fischer
  John W. Freund
  D.
    W. Frommer

  J ulian Garcia
  J.
    C. Gay

  Carmelita L. Gollinger
  Vardon L. Gordon
                    Robert G. Gospeter
                    J.
                      P. Hansen

                    Walter E. Hanson
                    Leonard F. [Leising
                    R.
                      E. liessevick

                    Robert W. Ifickey
                    Raymond L. lull
                    Ronald P. Ilollenbeck
                    G.
                      P. Howard

                    A.
                      J. llumenansky

                    Ella R. llumenansky
                    L.
                      M. Irwin

                    G.
                      C. Jacobsen

                    J.
                      Burlin Johnson, Jr.

                    William W. Johnson
                    F.
                      E. Joyce

                    *E. Karlstad
                    ~4I. W. .Xilau
                    Donald F. Klyce
                    Eugene M. Lafferty
                    C.
                      T. Larson

                    Gene M. Larson
                    Robert E. Lubker
                    Lawrence Lund
                    J eromeLyman
                    Robert L. Marovelli
                    Lawrence G. Mar~haII
                    R.
                      A. Marsyla

                    Edward L. McClure
                    Rosema tie A. McGowan
                    John R. McWilliams
                    Ruth C. Meihy
                    Edward F. Miller
                                       George Myre
                                       *Theodore A. Myren
                                       R.
                                          M. Nierenhausen

                                       James Paone
                                       Charles Prasky
                                       Estelle K. Rand
                                       Lenox IL. Rand
                                       Francis R. Raymond
                                       Donald R. Reichmuth
                                       *G N. Reimers
                                       T.
                                          N. Rushton

                                       Katherine V. Schacher
                                       Matthew G. Sikich
                                       Viola M. Sjoberg
                                       R.
                                          T. Sorensen, Jr.

                                       Charles J. Stehlik
                                       Frank E. Straka
                                       W.
                                          S. Swanson

                                       J.
                                          E. Sweeney

                                       * Michael Sweeney
                                       0kg Terichow
                                       Hazel J. Tuseth
                                       Byron L. Vickers
                                       Raymond A. Voet
                                       P.
                                          A. Wasson

                                       Don N. West
                                       *Wanda J. West
                                       * w. r. West brook
                                       James Whelan
                                       Archie L. Whiting
                                       Wanda L. Wood
                                       T.
                                          Z. Zoltai, WAE
 

  WAE——When Actually Employed

  *
   Still employed at the Twin Cities Research Center
 
 Minneapolis Tribune June 4 1961