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Information and links on a variety of technical aspects of mining & mineral exploration.
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 Manitoba spending $42M to clean up old minesThursday, October 29, 2009The Manitoba government is spending $42 million to clean up 18 orphaned and abandoned mine sites in the province, using a time of recession as the perfect opportunity to rehabilitate contaminated land and water. read more » To leach or not to leach?Wednesday, September 30, 2009In-situ leaching (ISL) or in-situ recovery was developed in the mid 1970s as a method for extracting uranium from typical roll-front type deposits located in water saturated permeable rocks that were not suitable for conventional mining. It was conceived independently in both the (former) USSR and the USA using similar approaches in engineering and technology. read more » Forest restorationWednesday, September 30, 2009Mining and conservation are often considered to be incompatible land uses. Yet, economically important mineral deposits often occur in areas with high biodiversity and therefore, high conservation value. read more » Planning for the futureWednesday, September 30, 2009In the introduction to ICMM's Planning for Integrated Mine Closure: Toolkit, the authors describe planning for closure as being "about how to design a mine operation in order to facilitate closure. When a project is designed,there is a lot of scope to do so with closure in mind..." read more » The road to GrasbergWednesday, September 30, 2009Until Bechtel built the first road in the early 1970s, and Freeport Indonesia subsequently developed the area, subrivers were the only access inland to the foothills of the Jayawijaya mountain range on Irian Jaya that hosts what is arguably the greatest ore complex discovered in the world to date, the Grasberg and Ertsberg copper gold deposits. read more » Nevada Heap Leach Pad Gets Geosynthetic CoverTuesday, September 15, 2009Here is a story about the old Wood Gulch mine in Nevada where Barrick has installed a "synthetic liner" over the heap leach pad. read more » The Arid DeviceThursday, July 09, 2009Industry and governmental agencies have known for years that the water quality in the Powder River Basin coals is quite good. In fact, CBM produced water has greatly enhanced livestock operations, through the development of watering areas in previously unused or under-used pastures. read more » Frack Attack - Drilling Technique Under ScrutinyThursday, June 25, 2009Four years after a widely used but controversial oil and gas production technology was exempted from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Congress is taking another look at the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. read more » Geomorphic Reclamation of Uranium Mill TailingsTuesday, April 21, 2009Review of a paper on the use of a computer code to design and construct reclamation works for abondoned uranium mill tailings piles in Wyoming. read more » Carlson Natural Regrade For Sustainable ReclamationThursday, February 12, 2009The state of New Mexico's Abandoned Mine Land Program recently announced that they awarded a state contract to Water and Earth Technologies Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., to identify methods to protect the public and environment from hazards posed by abandoned coal mines at Vermejo Park Ranch. read more » ERCB Oil Sands Tailings RegulationsFriday, February 20, 2009Comments on the new Alberta ERCB regulations pertaining to oil sands tailings impoundment closure and reclamation. read more » Northwest Community College School of Exploration & MiningWednesday, January 28, 2009Discussions with staff and students from the Northwest Community College on learning for and working in the BC mining industry read more » Gord McKenna on Oil Sands Tailings ReclamationFriday, January 09, 2009One final triumph from the First International Oil Sands Tailings Conference: a link to the presentation by Gord McKenna of BGC Engineering on Landscape Design for Oil Sands Tailings. read more » Uranium Mining the Grand CanyonFriday, December 12, 2008The Grand Canyon is uranium country. It is also great vacation country. A move by the Bush administration to limit Congress’s power to prevent mining on public land makes me wonder if soon-to-be out-of-work Republicans are not more interested in vacation property than mining property. read more » Tailings Conference PresentationsMonday, November 17, 2008In October 2008 in Vail, Colorado, I attended the conference Tailings & Mine Waste ’08. Thanks to the organizers of the conference and the presenters, we can make available here on TechnoMine many of the PowerPoint presentations. read more » Heap Leach QuestionsFriday, November 14, 2008Here are ten good questions that could be asked about decommissioning any heap leach pad. read more » Nuclear Energy and MiningThursday, November 13, 2008Intuitively I believe nuclear energy is the way of the future as the only clean, abundant source of energy. As a professional, I have worked many years stabilizing old uranium mill tailings impoundments and know it can be done. read more » The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) ProjectWednesday, October 29, 2008Here is the best summary of UMTRA I have come across: The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 gave the U.S. Department of Energy the responsibility of stabilizing, disposing, and controlling uranium mill tailings read more » IDRC 2005 Papers on Mine ClosureFriday, October 03, 2008The International Development Research Center (IDRC) is a Canadian Crown corporation that "works in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world read more » Land Reclamation Symposium in MontanaTuesday, September 16, 2008The 26th Annual Amerian Society of Mining and Reclamation Meeting and 11th Billings Land Reclamation Symposium is going to take place in Billing, Montana, May 30 to June 5, 2009. read more » WVU Receives $550,000 EPA Award for Sustainable Energy Parks ProjectFriday, September 12, 2008West Virginia University researchers have a plan to turn abandoned mine property into fields capable of growing switchgrass and other biofuels. read more » Mine Closure HandbookFriday, August 15, 2008This is not quite the definitive handbook on mine closure, but it comes pretty close. I refer to Environmental Techniques for the Extractive Industries: Mine Closure Handbook. read more » ICMM on Mine ClosureTuesday, August 12, 2008The International Council on Mining and Metals published Planning for Integrated Mine Closure: Toolkit (August 2008).
If you have not hitherto read about or thought about planning for mine closure, this new volume is an excellent place to start. read more » The Meaning of Long Term?Monday, July 21, 2008These terms are often carelessly bandied about in the mining industry: long term; on-going; foreseeable future; several centuries; perpetuity; forever; sustained. What really do they mean? read more » Mine Closure Costs As They Affect Investment DecisionsMonday, July 21, 2008A significant issue when deciding to invest in a mine is the closure plan. Similarly, a significant issue when deciding to invest in a mining company is the extent of its liability for closure of one or more of its mine properties. read more » Mine Mound ArchaeologyFriday, July 11, 2008What evidence is there in the archaeological record for the very-long-term performance of mine waste disposal facilities? A paper from twenty-five years ago gives some interesting answers. read more » Gilt Edge Mine Superfund SiteThursday, June 12, 2008The proceedings of Tailings & Mine Waste ’03 contains papers on the Gilt Edge Mine. There is an abstract on the water balance of the site proposed for the ’08 conference. read more » Alaska Mine PermittingMonday, May 26, 2008What is involved in permitting a mine? The answer varies depending on the type and location of your mine. read more » Erosion Control EducationWednesday, May 07, 2008The International Erosion Control Association is a source of On-Demand education opportunities. read more » ARD PermittingFriday, April 25, 2008The Environmental Literacy Council write on the topic of mine permitting and acid mine drainage: “Since the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act mining operators are required to present a plan for minimizing or mitigating acid mine drainage before they receive a permit to begin mining.” read more » The Berkeley PitWednesday, April 16, 2008The Mine Waste Technology Program at Montana Tech understandably enough focuses on the Berkeley Pit. Here are the reports they have produced on the pit read more » WetlandsWednesday, April 09, 2008More on Wetlands for stormwater protection from the Center for Watershed Protection. read more » Tahltan Restoration PlanTuesday, November 13, 2007This news release from the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum: The Province and the Tahltan Nation have developed a restoration plan to assess and address the impacts of past mineral exploration and development activity read more » Performance Based CodesTuesday, September 11, 2007There has been much criticism of the draft Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines for Mining recently published by the World Bank. read more » Blue Hills and GlencairnThursday, September 06, 2007Here is a story of what happens when you take over a mine and forget to do due diligence. And even if you did good due diligence, you may still get caught in the jaws of the United States environmental liability laws. read more » Teck Cominco Donates for Peru Earthquake ReliefMonday, August 27, 2007Teck Cominco has given $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to assist victims of the recent Peru earthquake. read more » SpookWednesday, April 04, 2007Filling old open pit mines with mining wastes has many advantages. I recognize there are many disadvantages too, mostly to do with the cost. read more » MEND MonitorWednesday, March 28, 2007We have just received the MEND Monitor for March 2007. It outlines recent MEND publications, events and information. read more » Adams Mine LandfillFriday, March 09, 2007The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is intended to facilitate trade between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Parts of the Preamble state that the governments of the three nations resolve via the agreement to read more » GIS Ten PercentThursday, February 15, 2007Before the mine, a forest. With a bit of luck, after the mine, a forest. We need trees aplenty to counteract global warming. read more » Closure Costs in NevadaFriday, February 09, 2007A useful checklist of items to consider when estimating the cost of closure of a mine is provided by Nevada at this link. The document is the Mine Plan of Operations Reclamation Bond Checklist read more » Rawhide Mine Community Relations PlanThursday, February 08, 2007A good example of a community relations plan as any I have come across is that for the Rawhide Mine in Nevada. This plan sets out what will be done from 2006 to 2010 at the now closed mine read more » I Think Mining BlogWednesday, January 31, 2007Some paper magazines will never die. They are the ones with high quality, thoughtful, well-written articles. The rest are doomed to fade and wither. Part of their problem is the competition of Blogs read more » Midnite Mine Record of DecisionFriday, January 26, 2007Now there is only one document you need to read to get most of the story about the Midnite Mine in Washington State. read more » GeomorphologyFriday, January 12, 2007A paper on the impact of mining in Pakistan is a welcome change from the normal. It appears that quarry operations to supply Islamabad are affecting the aesthetics of a range of hills. read more » New Hampshire GeomorphologyFriday, January 12, 2007There are no mines in New Hampshire that I know of; except surely some aggregate mines and gravel pits? Regardless, the volume I refer you to does not address the impact of mining at all. read more » Risk-Based Probabilistic Cover PerformanceMonday, January 08, 2007Little on the web impresses me; but this site does. I am not sure why. There is nothing new. There is nothing particularly profound. All the news and views are readily available elsewhere. read more » Indiana Reclamation AwardFriday, December 22, 2006“What other abandoned mined land site can boast of being an operating landfill, a growing community recreational center, the site of a world championship racing event, and the site of an NCAA Championship event? read more » Wisconsin Mine ReclamationFriday, December 15, 2006“Successful reclamation means the restoration of all areas disturbed by mining activities including aspects of the mine itself, waste disposal areas, buildings, and roads and utility corridors read more » Mining For ClosureMonday, December 11, 2006It seems such a simple idea, that you must at first wonder why anybody would write or read over 100 pages on the topic of designing a mine for closure, particularly when the document, Mining for Closure read more » Utah Abandoned Mines ProgramFriday, December 08, 2006This is a valuable reference if you mine in Utah. It is also valuable if you are simply interested in the story of mining in Utah, the abandoned mines in Utah read more » Utah Mine ReclamationFriday, December 08, 2006This volume is the best primer on Mine Reclamation I have yet come across: The Practical Guide to Reclamation in Utah. It should be your first stop on a tour of mine reclamation reading, even if your mine is not in Utah. read more » Vatukoula Mine, FijiWednesday, December 06, 2006There must be a story about the failure of mining technology lurking in this press release—or is it a story of human nature—or maybe a story of prudent business/politics? read more » BLM Mined Land ReclamationMonday, December 04, 2006A comprehensive manual on mine reclamation is probably a pipe dream. The topic is too large and multi-disciplinary to get all the information in one volume. read more » Colorado Mine ReclamationFriday, December 01, 2006A recent report (June 2006) makes fascinating reading and instructive reporting. I refer to the Reclamation Feasibility Report Henson Creek Watershed read more » Malartic Project, QuebecTuesday, November 28, 2006The performance of covers on tailings piles to limit oxygen migration to the acid generating materials beneath are the topic of an abstract in the latest CIM magazine. read more » Ringwood MineFriday, November 24, 2006If ever proof were needed that a mine closure plan is needed and that this plan should include some form of post-closure care, the following story provides it. read more » Meridian GoldThursday, November 23, 2006A good story with a happy ending; a testimony to what can be achieved; congratulations. These positive thoughts came to mind when I saw this piece on the wire this morning. I quote: “Meridian Gold Inc is pleased to announce read more » Oil Sands ReclamationFriday, November 17, 2006Can we reclaim the oil sands operations? A pretty obvious question. Many, many answers. I surveyed 350 Google hits from the key words “oil sands reclamation.” read more » How Do We Reclaim Oilsands?Thursday, November 02, 2006Oilsands are touted as the cure-all solution to the world’s energy woes. Massive deposits in Canada contain 174 billion barrels of oil that are deemed recoverable with current technology. read more » |
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