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By Donald W. Stever

In 1995 I was asked to participate in a litigation matter between a corporation and its insurance carriers concerning insurance coverage for remedial costs at a large, environmentally contaminated closed-down former industrial facility. One of the buildings on this site became known to the lawyers representing the company as “the infamous Building 8”. This building housed millions of documents retrieved from various locations at the facility while it was being shut down. It became apparent that the facility management had no document destruction policy, and thus Building 8 contained internal memoranda, notes, copies of correspondence, permits, operating records, inventory records, and the like from fifty years of operation. Needless to say, some of these documents, all of which were subject to discovery by the insurance companies in the litigation, contained material that was less than helpful to the company’s case. Of course, there were also a few helpful documents, but the overall usefulness of these records was outweighed by the negative impact they had on the conduct of the litigation. A second example involves e-mail. Several years ago, acting on an anonymous complaint that we later discovered was made by a disgruntled former employee who had been fired, a small army of federal environmental investigators descended on a client’s operating facility and, armed with a search warrant, literally commandeered the facility’s EH&S department. The investigators impounded the computers of the EH&S personnel and extracted all of the data from the hard drives of those PCs, as well as all EH&S related files from the hard drives of several servers used by the facility. These computers contained many years’ worth of stored e-mails, draft letters and memoranda, and other documents that provided grist for a four and one-half year criminal grand jury investigation of the facility and its EH&S staff. Both of these companies would have benefited from following a rigorous, enforceable, corporate records policy. Here is a third problem. My client had, during the 1960s, made a brief, and unprofitable foray into the nuclear fuel processing business. It ultimately sold the subsidiary, and was forced to give the purchasing company a broad indemnity against future liability. As might be expected, years later the facility was found to have considerable soil and ground water contamination both by chlorinated solvents and low-level radioactive material. Several years into the remediation program, my client discovered a tractor-trailer load of files, apparently removed from the subject facility, sitting in a parked trailer in a company-owned lot 300 miles away from the facility, where they had been for nearly thirty years. These documents were not helpful to the client, but had to be reviewed, at considerable cost, by paralegals. Moreover, several of the boxes turned out to have been mildly radioactive, setting off a chain of health and safety issues that consumed tens of thousands of dollars of legal expenses before they were resolved. Today, formal, enforceable corporate records management programs have become an extremely important element of overall corporate management. What was for most of the last century little more than a low level warehousing function is now a critical, actively managed, operating function that affects every level of corporate management. The rapid assimilation into corporate culture of electronic document management and the prevalence of e-email as the primary means of internal communication have created records management complexities the likes of which were not even conceived of fifteen years ago. Record preservation and destruction are no longer matters that can be handled on an ad-hoc decision making basis. Because of regulatory requirements affecting various classes of documents and the litigation consequences of ad hoc retention and destruction of corporate business records, and the need to have the ability to quickly retrieve documents in either a litigation or business negotiation context, a set of records management norms have evolved over time that have become the core elements of virtually every corporate records program. However, notwithstanding the existence of a set of norms (which are the basic elements of a

Jan 1, 2005

By E. Giama, A. Macridis, A. M. Papadopoulos

ISO 14031 is an international standard that describes a process for measuring environmental performance evaluation by setting quantitative indicators and providing a structured approach for organizations to follow, independent of location, size, complexity and type of activity. It is not a standard for certification as ISO 14001 is, but it fits into the ISO 14000 series of standards and is intended to assist organizations to apply environmental management systems and obtain environmental evaluation. This case study’s main objective is to identify the interaction between ISO 14031 and ISO 14040-42. ISO 14040-42 is referring to Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology. More specific, LCA is applied (based on the ISO 14040-42 standard) to stone wool’s production, the market dominating thermal insulation material, produced by bauxite and amphibolite. LCA is used as a decision making tool for the development of environmental indicators (based on ISO 14031 guidelines) and for environmental performance evaluation.

Jan 1, 2005

By A. L. Anderson, J. T. Rybock

KEECO has developed the Silica Micro Encapsulation (SME) technology for the treatment of acidic, metal-laden waters. Utilizing a silica-based chemical formulation that entails chemisorption and micro-encapsulation of heavy metals in a permanent silica matrix, encapsulated particles settle quickly and are effectively isolated from the surrounding environment, producing a stable sludge that is characteristically non-hazardous. In a number of independently-verified pilot and full-scale applications (including the Bunker Hill Mine, Leviathan Mine, Wheal Jane Mine, and Meldon Quarry), SME has been proven highly effective. The technology has been featured in a number of mining publications and selected for innovative technology awards.

Jan 1, 2000

By Ronald R. Rose

Currently six economic heavy mineral deposits are known on the Penholoway Terrace. These are (from south to north) the Green Cove Springs Mine (GCS), Boulogne Mine, Folkston Mine, Mission, Lulaton, and Ludowici. The GCS deposit is located to the west of Highway 17 between the towns of Green Cove Springs and Palatka in the state of Florida and has been mined since 1972. To the north, the erosion created by Black Creek restricts the northern extension of the orebodies and to the south a karst depression and erosion by the St. Johns River restrict southern extensions. The deposit is 20 miles long and up to 4.5 miles wide. Deposit thickness is from 5 feet up to 45 feet. The deposit is a series of regressive barrier island sequences deposited during the Pleistocene along the ancient Penholoway and Wicomico shorelines. The initial transgression of the ocean up to the location of the western Henry orebody was an extensive sea-level still stand as evidenced by the unit thickness and stacked transgressive regressive sequences. This period was followed by sporadic regressing seas and still stands, progressing eastward and stranding the sand bodies which make up the East Extended, TE, and East TE Ridge orebodies. The orebodies are underlain by predominantly non-mineralized fluvial sands and occasional back barrier lagoonal deposited clays. There is a predominance of wetlands on the southern extents of the zone as the surface elevations decrease due to a large karst depression.

Jan 1, 2005

By Ian Farmer, Nigel Glossop, Philip Garritty

Performance of tunnel boring machines - usually expressed in terms of penetration per revolution - is determined by relations between machine thrust and torque, head diameter and rock strength. It can be shown that for a given machine power and head diameter there is only one rock strength at which the machine performs optimally. In weaker rocks the available torque limits performance and in stronger rocks, the available thrust. Performance data shows that, historically, machines have been designed to cut weaker rocks. Optimization of thrust is required to improve performance in stronger rocks.

Jan 1, 1987

Resolution Copper Mining LLC (RCML) is currently in a Pre-feasibility study evaluating a large and deep copper and molybdenum deposit in the historic mining district east of Superior, Arizona. Work scheduled for the next several years includes dewatering the existing shut-down mine (the Magma Mine) and sinking an exploratory shaft to 2,130 meters (7,000 feet) below the surface. To dewater the Magma Mine and sink the exploratory shaft, RCML must extract and manage about 2 billion gallons of accumulated mine water inventory, as well as about 300 million gallons per year of new inflow. In order to conserve a valuable water resource in a desert environment, RCML worked with the New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District (NMIDD) to provide treated mine water to blend with and supplement the NMIDD?s water supply to approximately 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of farmland located east of Phoenix. A 44 km (27-mile) pipeline was needed to convey the treated water. It was essential that a treatment system be used which could reliably meet irrigation water quality goals, produce a non-scaling effluent to maintain pipeline flow capacity, and generate a dense sludge minimizing disposal cost and volume. This paper describes the resulting mine water treatment and recovery system (MWTS) and how the system has performed against objectives.

Jan 1, 2011

By Dan Preston, Shane Yanagisawa, Robert Marshall, Don Deere

Geotechnical Baseline Reports often estimate the number of cobbles that will be encountered in terms of volume or weight. These estimates are practically impossible to verify in the field. ClaroVia Holdings in conjunction with Frontier Kemper Constructors Inc. developed Digital Geologist 2.0 to classify and count cobbles discharged from an EPB TBM at the RSC7 project in Burbank, CA. The system worked by using two stereoscopic laser sensors with a global shutter to scan and count cobbles at 12 frames per second. Results of the effort are revealed along with lessons learned and paths for improvement.

Jun 13, 2023

By S. J. Cohen

Changes in our energy, national security, and commerce needs have necessitated identification of new sources of minerals, such as rare earths, lithium, copper, silver, aluminum, titanium, and the minerals on the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) list of critical minerals (USGS, 2022). With the need to domestically produce these minerals, more mining will be required within the U.S. Some of these critical minerals deposit with naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), therefore, mining these minerals may concentrate NORM to the point that some states may require licensing and radiation protection programs. NORM is not regulated by the Federal government; it is regulated by the individual states. Consequently, overall national state of NORM regulation is chaotic with each individual state either choosing to regulate or not regulate NORM, and, if a state chooses to regulate NORM, then that state develops its own unique regulations. Further complicating the regulatory environment, states utilize a wide variety of strategies for regulating NORM, which sometimes results in inappropriate regulations, inconsistencies with specific radionuclides that are regulated, and inconsistencies with specific NORM types that are regulated. This paper will review the nature of NORM regulations, identify regulatory traps, and provide general guidance for identifying NORM and potentially avoiding regulatory jeopardy. Because of the chaotic nature of NORM regulations nationally, seeking guidance from qualified professionals with relevant expertise is recommended. Also, contacting the appropriate regulatory agency to gain a complete understanding of the NORM regulatory environment is useful for maintaining compliance.

Feb 1, 2023

Ground falls (roof and rib) have historically been responsible for about 50% of all fatalities in bituminous underground coal mines. In some recent years, the number of ground fall fatalities has approached zero, indicating that significant progress has been made. On the other hand, last year?s Crandall Canyon twin mine disasters, in which 9 miners perished in violent coal bumps, provided a stark reminder that complacency is premature. One important success has been a great reduction in the number of miners killed inby roof supports. Throughout the 1990?s these accounted for nearly half of all roof fall fatalities, but there have just been two inby incidents in the past 5 years. Progress has also been made in pillar recovery. Safer mining technologies have reduced the number of fatal incidents, but some recent failures have underlined the need for careful management of the retreat mining process. On the other hand, more than 400 miners continue to be injured each year by rock falling from between supports, and 100 more are injured by rib falls. Together, these two categories also account for a large percentage of recent ground fall fatalities. Available technologies such as roof screen, rib bolting, and inside control roof bolters could dramatically reduce injury and fatality rates if they were used more widely. Further advances in these areas will likely be the next big advance in ground control safety. Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report have not been formally disseminated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.

Jan 1, 2009

By K. H. McDaniel, D. M. Loring

The underground ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant provides unparalleled ability to ensure safety of the workers, public and environment. Although small spatially, it can vary the airflow from 66,000 acfm to 460,000 acfm. It can automatically incorporate HEPA filtration in the event of radioactive contamination. Remote-capable regulators individually control the four main splits, and can be adjusted from the surface if necessary. A ventilation remote monitoring and control system provides real-time information. Future areas of concern include DPM compliance, system psychrometry, logic-based-real-time mine ventilation simulation and automation using PLC technology. This paper discusses the evolution of this system.

Jan 1, 2002

By William G. Pariseau

Safety of mine ramps begins with an analysis of stress that almost certainly must be done numerically to take into account ramp geometry, route geology, rock properties, and pre-ramp stresses. The popular finite element method serves analysis purposes quite well. As a practical matter several obstacles to implementation need to be addressed including collection of rock and joint properties along the proposed ramp route, selection of ramp type, and specification of cross-section shape, size, and route grade. Additionally, stresses along the proposed route must be specified, preferably from in situ measurements. One need not be an expert in numerical methods to proceed to ramp design, although a background in mechanics of materials and rock mechanics is essential, and a first course in numerical methods is quite helpful. The necessary software is easily brought to the design task, more accurately, to the task of design evaluation. This software also addresses other important mine design problems including design of safe (1) main entries in stratified ground, (2) barrier pillars, (3) bleeder entries, (4) inter-panel barrier pillars, (5) room and pillar mines, (6) shafts, and (7) “tunnels” (Pariseau 2022).

Feb 1, 2024

By Ana Chiquini, Clayton V. Deutsch

The most common approach used in the mining industry for mineral resources modeling is to estimate the grades using ordinary kriging and report the recoverable resources based on this deterministic estimated model. Mineral resources calculated with kriging are a smooth representation of the actual distribution of grades and do not provide an assessment of uncertainty. Unlike kriging, simulation reproduces the variability of the grades in the mineral deposit and provides an assessment of uncertainty. Reporting mineral resources directly on high-resolution simulation results would assume perfect knowledge of the grade at the time of mining and selectivity at the scale of the data. There will always be uncertainty left at the time of mining, so assuming perfect knowledge of the grade in the future is incorrect. There are two concerns when geostatistical simulation is used for resources modeling: the information and the mining selectivity effects. A new framework for resource estimation is proposed with two separate modules to address those concerns. The information effect is accounted for by anticipating the additional production data that will be available at the time mining to guide the destination for the mined material. The mining selectivity effect is addressed by mimicking the grade control procedure to get mineable dig limits at a chosen selectivity, represented by a minimum mineable unit size. In addition to a prediction of recoverable resources that will be closer to the material mined in the future, the framework proposed provides an assessment of local and global uncertainty for risk management.

May 26, 2020

By K. F. Bailey

Naturally occurring asbestos in aggregate and other mineral deposits, and the release of asbestos fibers into the ambient environment, is a public health concern. Determining the presence of asbestos in an ore body also presents a considerable sampling and analytical challenge. Improper and inaccurate identification of asbestos can result in unwarranted public and worker panic leading to significant costs to mine operators both in terms of dollars and company image. Some companies have been forced out of business simply because they had the non-asbestiform, prismatic variety of one of the six asbestos minerals. In the late 70’s, asbestos was found as a contaminate in a trap rock quarry in Rockville, Maryland. This discovery led to a massive overreaction by federal, state and local governments. In 1986, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgated a final rule that regulated the common non-asbestiform mineral habits of actinolite, tremolite, and anthophyllite as if they were asbestos. The rule was reversed after a six-year struggle. Recently, the Libby, Montana, W. R. Grace vermiculite - asbestos, as well as the California chrysotile in serpentinite, and the New Jersey Southdown quarry – asbestos events have rekindled the entire issue of naturally occurring asbestos. It is time to get this concern addressed with sound science so that real asbestos is properly identified and controlled.

Jan 1, 2002

By Michael MacMillan

The mining industry has always operated under intense public scrutiny. Community expectations, investor pressures, regulatory obligations, and environmental oversight create a uniquely complex communications environment. In recent years, technological change, climate urgency, and geopolitics have reshaped how the industry communicates its role and value. The rise of artificial intelligence in the information ecosystem represents yet another fundamental shift. As AI evolves, an organization’s reputation will no longer be shaped solely through human interactions, media coverage, social activity, or corporate disclosure. Increasingly, public understanding depends on how AI systems interpret and represent company information. These systems influence search results, conversational tools, news aggregation, social discourse, and even investor intelligence platforms. As AI-generated summaries, answers, and narratives become the default interface for stakeholders, they also become authoritative in shaping trust. For mining companies, this creates both risk and opportunity. The organizations that recognize how AI reads, prioritizes, and amplifies information will be better positioned to build trust. Those that remain silent or rely on traditional communication methods may find their reputations being algorithmically defined without their participation. This paper explores how mining companies can proactively engineer their reputations in the age of AI.

Jan 1, 2026

By Colin Lawrence

The Port of New York and New Jersey is one of the most heavily used transportation arteries in the world, handling nearly 40 per-cent of the North Atlantic shipping trade and directly providing nearly 230,000 jobs to the local economy. In 2004, $100 billion worth of consumer goods moved through the port. To accommodate future cargo volumes in the port, which are expected to double over the next decade and possibly quadruple in 40 years, deeper shipping channels are needed to provide access for a new generation of cargo mega-ships with drafts exceeding 13.7-m (45-ft) when loaded. Current channels within the harbor range in depths up to 13.7-m (45-ft), thus preventing carriers from using these larger ships, or requiring significant reductions in cargo to achieve lesser drafts to operate safely within the harbor. As part of the Harbor Deepening Project, the Anchor-age Channel would be deepened to 15.2 m (50 ft) below mean low water (MLW), for a length of 5,790 m (19,000 ft). The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) owns, operates and maintains two existing water siphons in the harbor. Due to their shallow depth, both existing siphons must be relocated before dredging of the Anchorage Channel can be completed. Tom Costanzo, manager of capital programs for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), says that ?While the re-location of the existing siphons under the Anchorage Channel is vital to the success of the deepening program, it is also a story of cooperation among key agencies at different levels of government resulting in improvements that will benefit the people of this region greatly.?

Jun 1, 2010

By D. Sohn

Work accidents have an essential impact on the economy of a country and in final consequence on each company. The main purpose of industrial OHS is to maintain and promote the health of all employees. Healthy working conditions increase efficiency and motivation and safeguard the success of the business against the background of the extremely dynamic processes of change. Maintaining and promoting the health of all employees, weather in operation, administration or on the mining site, has become therefore not only an ethical requirement but also an economic must. Creating a suitable working environment for people today entails much more than just preventing accidents and work-related illnesses. It is important to be proactive in establishing an even better culture of prevention and to convince everyone, workers and managers alike, of its importance. Especially in the age of rapid changes and above all in view of global competition we are more dependent than ever on healthy, enthusiastic, competent and creative employees. OHS provides you with the necessary competitive edge.

Jan 1, 2007

By W. D. Mayercheck, A. G. Mayton, J. R. Bartels

Abstract-Since 1982, the US Bureau of Mines has inves¬tigated improvements in protection for operators of thin seam shuttle cars. Due to working height restrictions in thin seam mines (<_1.22 m or 48 in.). Federal mine regulations require that canopy protection on shuttle cars he provided only in mines >_1.07 m (42 in.). However, court obtained variances are granted to mines <_1.22 m (48 in). This paper presents ongoing research to design and evaluate a uniquely positioned, ergonomic compartment for a shuttle car that provides the operator with full canopy protection in working heights of 1.02 m (40 in.).

Jan 1, 1989

By Vinícius Resende Domingues, André Pacheco de Assis, Bernardo Cascão Pires e Albuquerque

"The increasing demand for underground works in urban centers, and in particular the need to build undercrossing tunnels, requires constant evolution in building techniques in order to achieve success and safety. In the case of Brasilia, capital of Brazil, in order to preserve an important avenue (Eixo Monumental), where are located many historical monuments, the construction of a tunnel was envisioned as an option to interconnect the National Stadium (on one side of the avenue) to the Convention Center Ulysses Guimarães (on the other side). The excavation design is comprised of a coverage smaller than one diameter, height of 7.5 m, width of 9.0 m and length of 25 m. In order to enable a negligible influence on the avenue’s usage, the structure is designed as a portico system composed of pipe canopy. In this context, this study presents the portico analytical solution computed with the aid of the software Mathematica and a numerical solution using the software ABAQUS. INTRODUCTION Undercrossing tunnels are increasingly common in urban centers as alternative roads or as access to underground works of large dimensions (stations and parking lots). The geomechanical conditions of the soil mass, not always favorable, and the low distance between tunnel’s ceiling and the surface require intense treatment of the soil massif and execution of a rigid support system. The importance of the road just above the undercrossing tunnel emphasizes the need for a highly competent monitoring system because existing structures require minimum allowable displacement and do not allow the interruption of traffic. The soils that are excavated for the construction of undercrossing tunnels are composed, in most cases, of layers of fill and / or soft soil or weak rock, showing stability problems when subjected to tunneling operations. The combination of low coverage and week ground is solved by soil improvement techniques and strengthening of the excavated cross-section with further advance with the so-called New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). Another option is to build structural frames that support the surface. In this research, and based on the context of a case study, we propose the study of the construction technique comprising a portico structure composed of pipe canopy. For this paper, the technical standards used are the Brazilian ones as the case study refers to this country."

Jan 1, 2016

By K. R. Long

Until it was defunded in 1995, the U.S. Bureau of Mines maintained a Cost Estimating System (CES) for prefeasibility-type economic evaluations of mineral deposits and estimating costs at producing and non-producing mines. This system had a significant role in mineral resource assessments to estimate costs of developing and operating known mineral deposits and predicted undiscovered deposits. For legal reasons, the U.S. Geological Survey cannot update and maintain CES. Instead, statistical tools are under development to estimate mining costs from basic properties of mineral deposits such as tonnage, grade, mineralogy, depth, strip ratio, distance from infrastructure, rock strength, and work index. The first step was to re-estimate ?Taylor?s Rule? which relates operating rate to available ore tonnage. The second step was to estimate statistical models of capital and operating costs for open pit porphyry copper mines with flotation concentrators. For a sample of 27 proposed porphyry copper projects, capital costs can be estimated from three variables: mineral processing rate, strip ratio, and distance from nearest railroad before mine construction began. Of all the variables tested, operating costs were found to be significantly correlated only with strip ratio.

Jan 1, 2011

Man’s search beneath the earth for minerals has always required light, and the devices used to provide illumination have been both innovative and unusual —from stone vessels holding fat and a wick of grass or fiber to a shower of sparks produced by a thin steel disc. While the date when lamps were first used in mines is unknown, Greek and Roman records from 3000 BC definitely mention their use in underground mines. Early Remans most likely used a lamp similar to the one depicted at right. Over the ages, various types of devicives and methods of illumination have been tried and used. One interesting scheme for underground light was to reflect sunlight down the shaft and along drifts using mirrors or other reflective materials. Bunches of resinous wood were also used for underground lighting in many parts of England. In the mid-18th century, the speding mill was developed in England. It worked by rapidly turning a thin steel disc against a flint, causing a shower of sparks to appear. The light produced was uncertain, highly variable, and unsafe in gaseous environments. In Europe, an open pan-type hanging oil lamp was developed and used in some operations in the 1700s. This type of lamp had one opening for a wick and a second opening for refilling the oil reservoir. The lamps were embellished with goad luck charms – a good luck rooster was used in many parts of Europe while a frog and “gluck-auf” were used in Germany. These lamps were introduced in Mexican mines, and a few have found their way into the southwest US. By 1850, a small wick lamp known as the lard-oil lamp, which resembled a tea pot, was invented in Scotland. These lamps were fueled with grease from a packing house –lard, bacon grease, or tallow. Whale oil was also used. Many improvements were made on these lamps, such as the use of windshields and the attachment of miners’ candle-holdm to support the lamp. While these lamps were handy and inexpensive to operate, they were dangerous because their large flame could ignite support timbers or other flammable materials. Miners from the United Kingdom brought this type of lamp into the US. Domestic producers of oil wick lamps were primarily located in Hazleton, PA; What Cheer, IA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Frostburg, IN. The first patent for an oil wick lamp was granted to W. Seybold of McKeesport, PA. Incidentally, these lamps were advertised in a 1903 Sears-Roebuck catalog for 10 cents apiece. Oil wick

Jan 7, 1980