Posts from — April 2008

Here is a link to a report issued by the Ontario Mining Association called The Economic Impacts of a ‘Representative Mine’ in Ontario.   But first a picture of sunset over the Sifto Salt Mine–and you will need a grain of salt to read this report.

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One of the disadvantages of the modern mining health & safety imperative to keep your mine site clean is that we destroy evidence that might delight future archaeologists.  Proper mine closure is even worse: we remove all the delightful artifacts that provide evidence of current life-styles. 

Consider beer cans.  They were first introduced around 1935 and have been left lying around ever since.  A good archaeologist can tell lots about your prospective mine site if he/she finds an old beer can: the site is no valuable historic site for example, so you can proceed to excavate the big pit. 

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Here is a repeat of a long report from MineWeb.  I repeat it here in its entirety because I suspect this story is about events that will play out for a long time to come and which will have a profound impact on mining and society for even longer–regardless of how it turns out. 

If you do not like news reports, and you prefer the raw material, go to this link for the initiative in question.  It is all again about Pebble Mine and the future of Anglo American, the future of Alaska’s mining industry, and the power of the plebiscite. 

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As these two photos prove, time changes things.  Maybe we old men should put up and shut up.  Or at least retire to blog-heaven.   Not hang around hogging opportunities best reserved for the young.  

Let me explain.  In the February 2008 issue of the CIM Magazine (page 23) there are five photos of old men.   Five photos lined up across the top of the page: an unedifying sight if ever there was one.  Maybe, like above, there are historical archives where there are photos that would actually be worth the ink & paper. 

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Here is an example of confused reporting that pricks one’s interest and sets the canary alarm bells ringing: 

  

The shutdown [of the Tower Mine, Utah] came a day after University of Utah researchers presented findings about the dangers of deep coal mining at a conference at the federal Bureau of Land Management in Salt Lake City.

William Pariseau, a professor of mining engineering, determined the solid coal barriers at Tower were sufficiently large to support the mine, but his analysis did not take into account geologic conditions that could contribute to cave-ins.

“If these operators say they’re seeing things that trouble them, and they won’t continue their operation because its not safe, I believe them,” said Kim McCarter, chairman of the university’s Department of Mining Engineering.

UtahAmerican said Tower is the deepest operating coal mine in the United States. At that depth, the mountain is bearing down on the mine with a force of 3,025 pounds per square inch, McCarter said.

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Have you noticed that the quality of technical papers at engineering and mining conferences these days is just not what it used to be in the old days?

It is possible that these days I know more than I used to in the old days, and that now I am more able to identify the rubbish that passes for a conference paper and presentation. 

It may be that these days there are simply too many conferences.  Every day here in Vancouver there is another conference with an interesting-sounding title and hollow, insubstantial presentations.  There just are not enough talented paper writers to go around?

But maybe a more insidious and fundamental factor is at work? I suspect that the abysmal quality of papers at technical conferences these days is a direct outcome of the absurd insistence by conference organizers and their publishers on copyright. 

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My April 1 resolution:  never again read a magazine, blog, or newspaper bedecked with a picture of a drill rig, a big truck, or worse, a young lady in a hard hat in front of a mining truck.   Imagine my chagrin and rage on seeing this photo, which accompanies a gushing article from Australia.  I cannot resist breaking my April 1 resolution and copying it here.

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A silly and sad mining story, the end of which we know not.  It is all about blue jeans and pumice mines, environmentalists and miners, fashion and permits, and the ignorance of the public to the benefits of mining.

 First a picture of a rockwall of pumice and tuff.

It started when Levi Strauss made blue jeans for the miner.  Here is a longer rendition of the story:

In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, “You should have brought pants!,” saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last.   Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called “serge de Nimes.” The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans.

In the middle is the Copar Pumice Mine in New Mexico. 

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Waterbird’s Nest –Where we can learn and grow together in truth and respect.  That is the name of a beautiful blog site where there is a posting about the Buffalo Rock Mining Company. 

 Here are extracts from the posting on the mine:

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RUST BELT research blog is so polite.  You can almost hear the tea and scones bustle as you read their introduction:  “We stared this blog after so much frustration in our own research, trying to find information from suppliers, processors, and other jewelers about their materials and methods.”

In their posting for 31 March 2008, they record an interview with Mark Logsdon.  I knew and worked with him so long ago that I forget the details–and I forgive him if he cannot recall me.  All I recall is that he is a nice, technically competent person.  Now he is President and Principal Geochemist of Geochimica.  Here are some quotes from the interview:

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