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By Alistair James, Mo Shahsavari, Leon Botham

The 1889 Johnstown Flood, which killed 2,209 people, was a preventable disaster stemming from systemic decisionmaking failures. This paper applies modern Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM) frameworks to analyze the historical context and explore alternative outcomes through hypothetical multiverse scenarios. By reconstructing the risk landscape of the South Fork Dam, we demonstrate how structured hazard identification, risk assessment, and stakeholder communication could have mitigated or prevented the catastrophe. Three counterfactual scenarios—proactive maintenance, community engagement, and regulatory oversight—are evaluated to quantify potential lives saved and economic benefits. The study acknowledges historical barriers, including technological limitations, lack of governance, and socioeconomic disparities, which constrained risk-aware decisions in the 19th century. The analysis draws critical parallels to contemporary engineering challenges, particularly in tailings storage facility (TSF) management, where similar risk blind spots persist. The paper concludes that RIDM is not merely a technical tool but a governance imperative, essential for ethical and sustainable engineering practice. By learning from historical near-misses and failures, the modern engineering community can strengthen resilience and accountability. This work contributes to the growing body of retrospective risk analysis, offering a methodological framework for applying RIDM to historical disasters to inform future safety standards.

Feb 22, 2026

By İlknur Erol

The abstract highlights that hearing loss is an occupational disease caused by noise exposure in the workplace. The study investigates noise-induced hearing loss among miners in underground coal mines in Turkey, considering factors like occupation, age, and exposure time. The research employs logistic regression analysis to reveal the relationship between hearing loss and these factors. The findings suggest that occupational groups and duration of noise exposure significantly affect hearing loss. Miners in production groups and those exposed to noise for 10-14 years have a higher risk. The study concludes that age does not significantly increase the probability of hearing loss.

Mar 24, 2022

By J. Marsden

Lift height, overall heap height and climate all play an important role in determining precious metals leaching rates, recoveries, operating costs and capital cost requirements for heap leaching operations. The effects of these factors are not easy to predict from testwork, and this can result in unexpected delays in metal production, lower recoveries than expected and higher capital and operating costs than necessary. This paper investigates the economic impact of lift height, overall heap height and climate on heap leaching and provides criteria to assist in the design and operation of leaching facilities. Descriptions of three heap leach operations in the western USA are provided to support the discussions and conclusions.

Jan 1, 1995

By S. Natansohn

A prevalent technique for the recovery of silver from wastes generated in silver-tungsten electrical contact fabrication is electrowinning. Such scrap is placed in a permeable plastic basket which constitutes the anode compartment and this basket is suspended in a larger cell in which the cathode is mounted. A silver nitrate solution is used as the electrolyte and, upon application of an electric field, the silver migrates to the cathode where it deposits out. At times, there is tungsten migration to the cathode compartment and consequent co-deposition with the silver. This W contamination, which may amount to several thousand ppm, necessitates additional purification of the deposited Ag and its removal would therefore be advantageous. The elimination of the W impurity would also extend the operating period of the cell with corresponding increase in the Ag output and savings in labor costs.

Jan 1, 1982

The mining industry is an important economical factor in Vietnam. Mining is presently being conducted at about 60 locations and at over 1000 mines. Petroleum extraction and coal mining are the most important parts of industry though metals such as zinc, tin, chromites, iron are also extracted. Last year the sector produced 20 million tons of crude oil, 26 million tons of coal and 500,000 tons of apatite. In particular, Vietnam is one of the world?s largest producers of anthracite, and it is one of the top producers of ilmenite and zircon in the Asia-Pacific region. The government intends to increase the mining production on all levels, however, at present one can observe adverse impacts of the mining activities on the natural environment such as insufficient waste dump rehabilitation, occurrence of acid mine drainage, mining subsidence and emissions as well as lack of appropriate water treatment facilities. This paper describes the current mining situation, future perspectives, the major environmental challenges of the country and approaches to solve these problems. Particular emphasis will be given to the research project ?RAME ? Research Association on Mining and Environment in Vietnam?, a venture carried out by universities, research centres and industry. This project is worked out in collaboration with the national Vietnamese coal and industrial minerals company VINACOMIN.

Jan 1, 2006

By Raj K. Singhal

Canada is a world class producer and exporter of minerals and mineral products. Canadian open-pit mines are highly mechanized and use state-of-the-art equipment and support technology. During the past few years, productivity improvements at Canadian open-pit mines have been achieved by taking advantage of larger equipment, in-pit crushing and conveying, truck dispatch systems and electronic management tools. The most recent developments are related to hydraulic transportation and the application of global positioning systems (GPS). Mine planning has become computerized. Environmental issues are dealt with in all phases of planning. Equipment modifications are pursued with vigor to keep the equipment functioning in the hostile Canadian north. In 1997, the mining and mineral processing sector employed 370,000 Canadians, contributing $26.2 billion to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP). The value of production of the Canadian mineral industry, including coal, amounted to $19.1 billion in 1997. Gold remained Canada's leading mineral with production valued at $2.8 billion. This was followed by copper ($2 billion), coal ($1.9 billion), zinc ($1.6 billion) and nickel ($1.9 billion). [ ] Synthetic crude oil from oil-sands mining operations in Alberta represents an important part of Canada's petroleum production. In 1997, the value of synthetic oil production was $2.87 billion. Canadian oil-sands mining has contributed significant technology developments in Canada.

Jan 1, 1999

By D. A. Robbins

The application of remote sensing for environmental measurements is already being utilized. Aircraft mounted imaging spectroscopy has been utilized to evaluate areas of historical mining operations as well as active mine sites. To the extent that remote sensing can provide more sensitive, cost effective, and timely monitoring potential, the technology is of interest to the industry. Questions remain about the application and validation of the data and the availability of the technology in the private sector. This presentation will discuss some of the potential uses, benefits, and concerns related to remote sensing and efforts to monitor the technology's development.

Jan 1, 1999

By Jie Long, Zijie Liu, Pu Liu, Bo Li, Menghua Li, Qiang Wu

During coal mine operations, roadways may be located close to faults. When designing these roadways, it is important to determine the width of the rock mass between a roadway and a fault area to prevent water inrush. In this paper, the Xintian Coal Mine in the northern Guizhou Province of China is selected as a typical case. Through numerical simulation based on orthogonal tests, range analysis, and multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis, the process of water inrush from faults in excavation roadways is studied. The results show that the influencing factors of the safe width of a rock mass preventing water inrush (RMPWI) can be ranked according to the degree of influence from large to small as follows: the hydraulic pressure of the fault, the surrounding rock grade, the overburden depth of the roadway, the cross-section height, and the dip angle of the fault. Among them, the dip angle of the fault, the cross-section height, and the surrounding rock grade are negatively correlated with the safe width, while hydraulic pressure of fault and overburden depth of roadway are positively correlated with safety width. The predicted value for the safe width based on MLR is greater than the measured value of the width of the RMPWI when water inrush occurs, but less than the calculated value based on the empirical formula in the standard, which proves the accuracy and practicability of the prediction method. This research provides a certain basis and reference for the prevention and control of water inrushes in mines.

Jul 5, 2023

By Robert McIvor, Sami Makni, Andreia Rosa, Claude Gagnon

In response to the Natural Resources Canada “Crush It Challenge,” Corem partnered with the University of British Columbia and led a project to develop and demonstrate the use of high-pressure grinding to replace the workhorse of the industry, wet ball milling. Two plant case studies, a small tonnage gold recovery operation and a large tonnage copper recovery operation, were carried out. Plant circuit performances were compared to pilot plants operated on the same circuit feed setup to represent the novel equipment and flowsheet that was developed to produce separation circuit feed. Numerous obstacles to industrial implementation of high-pressure grinding in this role which were recognized at the outset of the work were successfully addressed. In both cases, comminution equipment energy savings alone and final stage total circuit energy savings exceeded 60% and 50%, respectively. Downstream mineral separation performance was the same or better.

Nov 28, 2023

By Inoka E. Perera, Robert Hildebrandt, Gerrit V. R. Goodman, Krzysztof Cybulski, Zdzisław Dyduch, Michael J. Sapko, Marcia L. Harris

To prevent coal dust explosion propagations, rock dust needs to be lifted and suspended in the air with the coal dust during an explosion. The addition of anti-caking agents prevents caking of rock dust in the presence of water. Mining and rock dusting processes can frequently create alternating layers of rock dust and float coal dust on mine surfaces. For this test series, a thin layer of coal dust was distributed on top of a layer of either treated or non-treated rock dust in the Experimental Mine Barbara, Poland. The experimental results compare the effectiveness of treated and non-treated rock dusts to attenuate a propagating coal dust explosion initiated with either strong or weak methane explosions. Experimental results indicate that the treated rock dust performs better than non-treated rock dust in arresting a propagating explosion, especially in the presence of moisture.

Jan 20, 2020

By William J. Almas

Operating uranium mill tailings containment and mill decommissioning activities are regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through numerous regulatory mechanisms. Reduction of radon emissions from tailings disposal areas, remedial actions to return groundwater to baseline constituent concentrations, and 200-to 1,000-year stabilization of tailings are major focus areas of regulation. The cumulative economic impact and uncertainty associated with regulation are very significant and will hinder future development of uranium milling facilities.

Jan 1, 1991

By I. H. Warren

The high temperature lubricant molybdenite, MoS2, is usually produced by a complex sequence of processes involving mineral dressing of molybdenite concentrates followed by leaching with hydrofluoric acid to remove abrasive impurities such as silica (1). Many attempts have been made, mostly by techniques involving, direct fusion of molybdenum compounds with sulphur, to produce synthetic molybdenite. However, apart from some experiments of geochemical interest (2) in which aqueous solutions of sodium sulphomolybdate, Nat MoS4, were decomposed under pressure at temperatures between 300°C and 700°C, no attempts to produce the mineral by hydrometallurgical procedures have been reported. Since molybdenite is nominally a compound of tetravalent molybdenum with sulphur, and the most common state of molybdenum is +6, production of molybdenite is likely to involve reduction and sulphidization. The present study, therefore, describes the reduction, with hydrogen and carbon monoxide, of molybdenum in the hexavalent state in alkaline aqueous solutions containing sulphide ion. In these

Jan 1, 1972

By J. R. Dyni

The lacustrine Green River Formation of Eocene age in the Green River Basin, southwest Wyoming, contains the world's large resource of natural sodium carbonate in bedded trona (Na2CO3? NaHCO3? 2H2O). In this study, 126 billion tons are estimated to be present in 22 beds, ranging from 4 to 36 feet in thickness. These 22 beds underlie areas of about 50 to more than 775 square miles at depths ranging from about 650 to more than 3,000 feet below the surface. The total resource of trona ore in the basin for which drilling information is available is estimated to be about 149 billion short tons. The undeveloped deeper trona beds in the southern part of the basin may be exploitable by solution mining. Additional unevaluated sodium carbonate resources are present in disseminated shortite in strata interbedded with the trona and in shallow sodium carbonate brines in the northeast part of the basin.

Jan 1, 1995

By D. F. Doerr, E. Blalock, D. R. Bush, K. D. Cohen

"BACKGROUND The design, development, fabrication, and test of a cryogenic supply for a refuge alternative is part of a larger effort funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and managed through a Space Act Agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Kennedy Space Center, FL to create cryogenically based life support equipment responsive to the needs of miners as required by the Miner Act of 2008. This work is done by a joint contractor/NASA team. In particular, the Cryogenic Refuge Alternative Supply System (CryoRASS) serves to provide a respirable air source to miners confined for 96 hours in a mine refuge alternative. This system stores liquid air in a zero-loss cryogenic reservoir (Dewar) until an emergency requires use. The system does not require electric power when in use by miners. Because of the very cold nature of the liquid air, considerable heat stress relief and reduction of humidity is provided in addition to the required replenishment of oxygen. Moderate dilution of CO2 also occurs.INTRODUCTION The design of this new cryogenic refuge alternative supply system (CryoRASS) uses NASA/Kennedy Space Center technology as a development baseline. The design stores cryogenic (liquid) air that is warmed in an air handler box and the resulting gaseous air is introduced to the chamber that not only causes air circulation, but relies upon environmental and human heat to expand the liquid air to a gaseous state. Therefore, the primary benefits of the liquid air source, besides atmosphere maintenance (oxygen), is refuge cooling and dehumidification. This results in reduction of human heat stress and this occurs without the need for electrical power in the refuge chamber. This reduction is a major factor in ""apparent heat"" and the human perception of comfort. Another benefit with introduction of ""air"" vs only ""oxygen"" is the dilution of carbon dioxide. The volume of new air will displace existing refuge air and this air laden with humidity/CO2/low O2 passes out of the refuge relief valves. These RVs should be strategically placed to vent stagnant air preferentially. An initial system test was conducted in our Florida facility in a production 10-person hard chamber for 96 hours. Last year (2014) the system was tested with a 23 person inflatable refuge alternative in Bruceton. For this test, the CryoRASS air handler was redesigned to offer superior characteristics when installed in a Built-in-Place refuge alternative. This report describes the results of the modified system being tested in the Pittsburgh Experimental Mine while attached to a 30 person refuge for 96 (+/-) hours."

Jan 1, 2016

By Y. C. Kim

The results from a retrospective study are described in this gaper in which she past development drilling activities were investigated using geostatistics. The purpose of the study was to determine the amount of savings in drilling cost that could have been realized through the optimal placement of sequential drill holes using geostatistics. Out of 144 DDH's that were in place within the study area, the results showed a possible elimination of 34 DDH's without any reduction on the confidence interval of the global reserve estimates. If the incremental savings from one drilling campaign to the next were considered, however, the amount of percentage savings were even greater. Other interesting results from this study were; 1) tangible demonstration of the importance of a proper geologic delineation within the study zone, and 2) the robustness of the obtained experimental variograms from the rather early stage in development drilling.

Jan 1, 1981

By Roger C. Wilmoth

The most common method of treating mine drainage to prevent water pollution consists of neutralization and aeration. This process removes the acidity, iron, aluminum, and some other heavy metals, but does not render a water suitable for domestic or industrial use because of the high dissolved solids, hardness, and sulfate in the treated water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been sponsoring and conducting research since 1966 on the use of reverse osmosis (R.O.) for the treatment of mine drainage. This process has been found to be highly effective in the removal of nearly all the dissolved solids. In addition, since R.O. is a concentrating process, potentials for recovery of valuable heavy metals are possible. This paper is a review of the state-of-the-art on the treatment of mine drainage by reverse osmosis.

Jan 1, 1972

By Verya Nasri, Jaeseoung Lee, Ashish Bhargava, Shashank Gupta

This paper presents the unique design and construction challenges for the Technoparc Station, located in downtown Montreal as a part of Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM), a light rail rapid transit system. The station is located 15 m below the street with rock-bearing secant pile wall as the primary structural system working as both the retaining and gravity structure. The paper highlights the challenges related to the support of excavation structure, invert slab resisting high hydrostatic forces, waterproofing tightness etc. It also focuses on the importance of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in underground tunneling projects for effective coordination, clash-free, optimized design and costs.

Jun 13, 2021

By J. H. Kelley

In this paper, we show that the methane emission and the dust generation in under-ground mining currently and in the future pose operational, health and safety conditions which adversely Impact face productivity and worker satisfaction. One solution is the use of a dual-aircourse system of ventilation. In this concept, one aircourse captures and exhausts to the surface the dust generated and the methane emitted in coal/mineral fragmentation while a second aircourse provides workers with cleaner air for breathing and comfort. Various dual-aircourse configurations adapted to the Variable Wall Miner are analyzed and compared with conventional mining in gassy seams, indicating a marked reduction in the required air quantity and the number of aircourses.

Jan 1, 1996

By Tania Schmid, Marco Portal Valdivia, Sandra Nowosad

Today’s mining industry faces rapid transformation driven by automation, climate responsibility, and ESG demands, requiring more than technical expertise. Future mining engineers must blend engineering excellence with key human skills such as communication, leadership, resilience, empathy, adaptation to change, curiosity and lifelong learning. Based on two recent surveys, one to senior leaders with over ten years of experience in the mining industry and a second, focused on understanding the perceptions of young professionals, this paper explores which skills become core competencies by 2030 for navigating complexity, leading responsibly, and enabling sustainable transformation. Furthermore, it also examines how educational institutions can adopt strategies to foster the development of these critical skills, preparing future mining talent for evolving challenges.

Feb 22, 2026

Satisfactory means of managing growth in boom towns is a concern in mineral, energy and other large industrial developments. This session will include examinations of socioeconomic impacts, major issues such as social disruption, case studies, methods of managing growth, and concerns involving Indian lands. Innovative methods will be offered to assist the public, government, and industry in finding solutions to managing growth in rapidly growing communities.

Jan 1, 1979