Evoking images of the vanishing world of uranium, the author shares his adventures, misadventures and respect for his fellow miners through a unique blend of traditional and offbeat storytelling by way of a collection of character sketches, entertaining anecdotes, and glimpses into a time and place and way of working that are now gone. The author consistently conveys the sense that his younger self was learning from all these different experiences, providing a unifying thread, as did his awareness that the story builds up to the eventual major injury described in the prologue. It employs a self-deprecating brand of humor, which at time is pretty hilarious, but there is also a seriousness to the book. The idea that the life lessons learned were as important as any practical skills acquired comes through strongly, as does the respect, even reverence, conveyed for honest, hard work. Even though these people and these experiences could hardly be further removed from those of most readers it is not necessary to know anything about mining to enjoy reading about the life underground. There is a strong thread of humanity woven through this work giving it real resonance.

The inhabitants of Meadow Lake, California, dreamed as big as all the gold seekers of the far West, certain that their town, their mine was the "big bonanza"—a place of legendary wealth that most prospectors believed really existed somewhere. The dream took shape in 1865 when the Meadow Lake region of eastern California became the scene of one of the most feverish stampedes in the history of prospecting. Reports of gold-filled ledges five miles long brought miners, lumbermen, and speculators rushing into the area, and within a year a city of several thousand people sprang up. Their frenzied optimism was undiminished by disquieting news that the gold could not be removed from the surrounding granite. The following summer brought increasing crowds, but a profitable method of separating the gold from the rock was never discovered. Disenchanted miners began to leave, and within a few years only a lone hermit, the original inhabitant of Meadow Lake, remained in the dismal wreckage of the once-thriving town. Paul Fatout brings to life the colorful characters who figured in the history of Meadow Lake, telling the story at a sprightly pace and in fascinating detail.

Extractive Relations explores the nature of industrial power and its role in shaping what we understand to be the global mining sector. The authors examine issues at the forefront of contemporary debates: corporate obligations in safeguarding the rights of people displaced by mining, the recognition of community rights and interests in supporting or opposing mining developments, the handling of non-judicial grievances and workability of corporate remedy systems, and the logic of community relations departments in navigating these issues inside and outside of the typical modern mining establishment.The authors develop a unique theoretical approach that highlights the different types and uses of power in these settings. This perspective is supported by the authors' own sustained engagement with the mining sector over many years, drawing on cases from over twenty countries. The analysis of these issues from both 'inside' and 'outside' the sector is a key point of differentiation. For readers seeking to understand how mining companies interpret and interact with the communities and interests around their operations, this book provides invaluable insight and analysis.

Over the last several decades, many low-income mineral exporting countries have seen their per capita income decline or their standard of living stagnate. In this title, prominent analysts identify reasons behind the distressing economic performance of these countries including ineffective public policies, political misuse of mineral rents, and the deleterious effects of economic nationalism on the foreign investment climate in developing countries. Originally published in 1992, this title remains relevant for students interested in environmental studies and public policy.

The Coeur d'Alenes, a twenty-five by ten mile portion of the Idaho Panhandle, is home to one of the most productive mining districts in world history. Historically the globe's richest silver district and also one of the nation's biggest lead and zinc producers, the Coeur d'Alenes' legacy also includes environmental pollution on an epic scale. For decades local waters were fouled with tailings from the mining district's more than one hundred mines and mills and the air surrounding Kellogg, Idaho was laced with lead and other toxic heavy metals issuing from the Bunker Hill Company's smelter. The same industrial processes that damaged the environment and harmed human health, however, also provided economic sustenance to thousands of local residents and a string of proud, working-class communities. Living with Lead endeavors to untangle the costs and benefits of a century of mining, milling, and smelting in a small western city and the region that surrounds it.

No engineering structure can be built on the ground or within it without the influence of geology being experienced by the engineer. Yet geology is an ancillary subject to students of engineering and it is therefore essential that their training is supported by a concise, reliable and usable text on geology and its relationship to engineering. In this book all the fundamental aspects of geology are described and explained, but within the limits thought suitable for engineers. It describes the structure of the earth and the operation of its internal processes, together with the geological processes that shape the earth and produce its rocks and soils. It also details the commonly occurring types of rock and soil, and many types of geological structure and geological maps. Care has been taken to focus on the relationship between geology and geomechanics, so emphasis has been placed on the geological processes that bear directly upon the composition, structure and mechanics of soil and rocks, and on the movement of groundwater. The descriptions of geological processes and their products are used as the basis for explaining why it is important to investigate the ground, and to show how the investigations may be conducted at ground level and underground. Specific instruction is provided on the relationship between geology and many common activities undertaken when engineering in rock and soil.

Rock Slope Engineering covers the investigation, design, excavation and remediation of man-made rock cuts and natural slopes, primarily for civil engineering applications. It presents design information on structural geology, shear strength of rock and ground water, including weathered rock. Slope design methods are discussed for planar, wedge, circular and toppling failures, including seismic design and numerical analysis. Information is also provided on blasting, slope stabilization, movement monitoring and civil engineering applications.

This fifth edition has been extensively up-dated, with new chapters on weathered rock, including shear strength in relation to weathering grades, and seismic design of rock slopes for pseudo-static stability and Newmark displacement. It now includes the use of remote sensing techniques such as LiDAR to monitor slope movement and collect structural geology data. The chapter on numerical analysis has been revised with emphasis on civil applications.

The book is written for practitioners working in the fields of transportation, energy and industrial development, and undergraduate and graduate level courses in geological engineering.

Table of Contents

Principles of Rock Slope Design. Structural Geology and Data Interpretation. Weathered Rock and Slope Stability. Site Investigation and Geological Data Collection. Rock Strength Properties and Their Measurement. Groundwater. Plane Failure. Wedge Failure. Circular Failure. Toppling Failure. Seismic Analysis of Rock Slopes. Numerical Analysis. Blasting. Stabilization of Rock Slopes. Movement Monitoring. Civil Engineering Applications. Appendices: Stereonets For Hand Plotting of Structural Geology Data; Quantitative Description of Discontinuities in Rock Masses; Comprehensive Solution Wedge Stability; Conversion Factors.

In the years Bbetween the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the beginning of the war mobilization boom in 1930, collieries in Europe and America embraced new technologies and had long since been excluded women from working underground. In Japan, however, mining women witnessed no significant changes in working practices over this period. The availability of the cheap and abundant labor of these women allowed the captains of the coal industry in Japan to avoid expensive investments in new machinery and sophisticated mining methods;, instead, they continued to intensely exploit workers and markets intensively, making substantial profits without the burdens of extensive mechanization. This unique book explores the lives of the thousands of women who labored underground in Japan's coal mines in the years 1868 to 1930. It examines their working lives, their family lives, their aspirations, achievements and disappointments. Drawing heavily on interview material with the miners themselves, W. Donald Burton combines translations of their stories with features of Japanese society at the time and coal mining technology. In doing so, he presents a complex account of the women's lives, as well as providing a keen insight intoon gender relations and the industrial and labor history of Japan. Coal Mining Women in Japan will be welcomed by students and scholars of Japanese history, gender studies and industrial history.

Successful cost management and value engineering in construction is based on accurate and early estimations of cost, and this book is the quickest route to creating a cost plan from scratch. The budgeting system described in this book will help the reader to: document project scope at a level that provides excellent cost control at design stage establish the parameters of potential sites before selecting one determine the amount of financing needed before deciding to bid on a project make a detailed and robust building project budget determine the rental rate necessary to see if a building project will be marketable The technique used is a parametric cost system, not the square foot cost system used by most who quote an up-front building cost. To help calculate the parameter quantities and price them as quantified, this book comes with 5 electronic templates to calculate program scope; i.e. space, configuration, HVAC loads, plumbing and electrical. It also includes: the author s parametric cost database and cost template to prepare the construction estimate a soft cost template to price out all related program costs, convert them to a monthly cash flow, incorporate financing costs and then reveal the final budget an operation and maintenance annual cost template to calculate those variable and fixed costs necessary to run the building and then convert the result into the necessary rental rate to capitalize all costs The spreadsheets, data, advice, and templates, are all introduced through a detailed case study, placing everything in an easy to understand practical context. This will prove an invaluable guide not only for estimators and cost engineers, but also developers, clients, and architects.

It has been almost fifty years since the first papers on the application of reliability theory to mining problems were published in the United States. Developing rapidly in the late 1950s and 1960s, reliability theory quickly found a wide application in mining engineering. Ten years later "Terotechnology" became popular in the UK and at the same time its counterpart "Theory of Exploitation" was introduced in Central Europe. Similar to reliability theory, they both found wide application in mining. Since then a lot of articles have been published in many countries concerning these scopes of considerations but a wider elaboration on this topic was still lacking. This book gives an explanation of the mutual relationships between terotechnology and the theory of exploitation, and presents the fundamentals of the theory of exploitation and its role in relation to mining engineering where mine machines and machinery systems are concerned. Further, statistical diagnostics, exploitation processes of machines, reliability and its models, and the methods of modelling and analysis of the processes of changes of states are treated. A significant part of the book deals with cyclical systems that are in common use. A variety of models are considered supported by many case studies. The last chapter deals with combined systems operating in a mixed manner. Finally, an analyses of the influence of the inhomogeneity of a different nature in a shovel-truck type system is given. The examples presented in the book are based on the data coming from operation of pieces of equipment from different mines and different countries. This book will be of particular interest to students, academics and lecturers of mining faculties and schools of mining. Mining Engineers and other professionals in the mining industry will also find this book of interest. Finally, students in mathematics will find practical applications and problem solving in this book.

Around the world, on average, four coal miners die for each million tons of coal recovered. Improving the safety of mining work while responding to the need for increased coal production, however, is impossible without further development of the physics of mining processes. A relatively new branch of science, it tackles problems that arise during mineral products recovery, particularly safety issues such as rock failures, coal and gas outbursts, and methane explosions. The first book to present a unifying methodology for addressing problems such as outbursts and explosions of methane in coal mining, Physics of Coal and Mining Processes integrates theoretical and experimental research on coal and bearing rocks and examines the anthropogenic processes that occur during deep underground mining. The book summarizes the results of recent and established research, including studies conducted at the Institute of Physics of Mining Processes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, headed by the author. Key topics covered include rock mass in multi-component compressive stress fields and phase conditions of methane in coal. The book also examines state-of-the-art instrumentation and physical methods of analysis, among them x-ray analysis of coal structures combined with computer simulation and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy combined with gas chromatography. Bridging the gap between the academic theory and the practice of coal mining, the book proposes novel methods to predict rock mass condition, control gas-dynamic phenomena, and estimate safe mining loads. A useful reference for scientists, technicians, and engineers working in the coal industry, it also offers an overview of the physics of mining processes for students pursuing careers in the field.

Learn How to Implement Safety Codes and Regulations Effectively A number of electrical fatalities and injuries that occur each year can be overcome by a thorough understanding of electrical concepts. Yet due to the complexity of regulatory requirements, many safety professionals may not be fully equipped to handle the task. Electrical Safety: Systems, Sustainability, and Stewardship addresses the problem by simplifying the knowledge acquisition process, and arming safety professionals with the tools needed to successfully meet safety and efficacy goals. From power generation facility to electrical device, this text combines knowledge of industry standards, regulations, and real-world experience to provide a detailed explanation of electrical power generation, transmittal, and use. Explains the Concepts behind Electric Code The book introduces the basic sustainability and stewardship concepts inherent to reliability centered maintenance (RCM). It explains how these concepts apply to the components of an electrical system (the concepts can be used when auditing for electrical safety, training on electrical safety, and overseeing an upgrade or extension of a building's electrical system). In addition, it addresses general electrical safety, electromagnetic field shields, ohm/resistance study criteria, arc flash hazard analysis, and hazardous energy control. The authors outline OSHA requirements and the reasons for those requirements, and explain the implementation exigencies. This book: Describes power generation, transmittal, and usage Contains regulatory summaries from the OSHA electrical safety standards Presents the various types of electrical studies including arc flash, electromagnetic field, and ohm resistance investigations Discusses earthing grounds and overcurrent devices as over

The extractive sector is a particular area of expertise for Canada and more than half of Canada's mining assets abroad are located in Latin America, specifically in Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. The Canada-Colombia accord was the first free-trade agreement in the world to include annual Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIA), and also includes a labour side accord where abuse complaints can be formally registered. Using Colombia as a case study, James Rochlin and his international and multidisciplinary line up of Canadian and Colombian scholars, and activists working in the area of human rights, and the judiciary explore: What is the best way to identify and operationalize for mutual benefit the concentric space between the interests of extractive corporations in profit and security, on the one hand, and the interests of the host communities in the promotion of human rights and human security, on the other? What can the four emblematic and diverse cases in Colombia (Meta, Sergovia, Marmato, and Bolivar/La Guajira) tell us about how to fine tune and improve a newly implemented governmental HRIA to render it an increasingly useful global instrument to promote simultaneously corporate security and human security for host communities? What is the most efficient and effective way to design and implement Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in a manner that promotes simultaneously corporate security and community human security? Written in a clear and accessible style, Profits, Security, and Human Rights presents practical lessons on how to promote both corporate security and human security in communities where the extractive sector operates in the Global South.

A guide for students and professionals, this introductory course book covers the basic principles of remote sensing and its applications in mine environment monitoring. Building from a reader's basic knowledge of mine monitoring, it teaches how to implement remote sensing techniques and how to interpret the acquired data for different purposes. Following a general introduction to remote sensing principles and image analysis, mine subsidence monitoring, slope stability monitoring, reclamation planning and implementation, and post-closure mine and land use analysis are explained and illustrated. With the help of case studies, the techniques and tools presented are demonstrated. With an increasing importance of sustainable mining, this accurate text is intended for the education of university students in mining, civil, geological and environmental engineering. Researchers and professionals in these disciplines may find it beneficial as well to guide their professional monitoring investigations.

The primary aim of this book is to stimulate exchange of experience, transfer of new progressive technologies and developments of scientific trends in mining engineering.

Extractive Relations explores the nature of industrial power and its role in shaping what we understand to be the global mining sector. The authors examine issues at the forefront of contemporary debates: corporate obligations in safeguarding the rights of people displaced by mining, the recognition of community rights and interests in supporting or opposing mining developments, the handling of non-judicial grievances and workability of corporate remedy systems, and the logic of community relations departments in navigating these issues inside and outside of the typical modern mining establishment.The authors develop a unique theoretical approach that highlights the different types and uses of power in these settings. This perspective is supported by the authors' own sustained engagement with the mining sector over many years, drawing on cases from over twenty countries. The analysis of these issues from both 'inside' and 'outside' the sector is a key point of differentiation. For readers seeking to understand how mining companies interpret and interact with the communities and interests around their operations, this book provides invaluable insight and analysis.

The study of fracture mechanics of concrete has developed in recent years to the point where it can be used for assessing the durability of concrete structures and for the development of new concrete materials. The last decade has seen a gradual shift of interest toward fracture studies at increasingly smaller sizes and scales. Concrete Fracture: A Multiscale Approach explores fracture properties of cement and concrete based on their actual material structure. Concrete is a complex hierarchical material, containing material structural elements spanning scales from the nano- to micro- and meso-level. Therefore, multi-scale approaches are essential for a better understanding of mechanical properties and fracture in particular. This volume includes various examples of fracture analyses at the micro- and meso-level. The book presents models accompanied by reliable experiments and explains how these experiments are performed. It also provides numerous examples of test methods and requirements for evaluating quasi-brittle materials. More importantly, it proposes a new modeling approach based on multiscale interaction potential and examines the related experimental challenges facing research engineers and building professionals. The book's comprehensive coverage is poised to encourage new initiatives for overcoming the difficulties encountered when performing fracture experiments on cement at the micro-size/scale and smaller. The author demonstrates how the obtained results can fit into the larger picture of the material science of concrete-particularly the design of new high-performance concrete materials which can be put to good use in the development of efficient and durable structures.

Supplementary cementing materials (SCMs), such as fly ash, slag, silica fume, and natural pozzolans, make a significant difference to the properties of concrete but are rarely understood in any detail. SCMs can influence the mechanical properties of concrete and improve its durability in aggressive environments. Supplementary Cementing Materials in Concrete covers the chemical, physical, and mineralogical properties of SCMs; their chemical reactions; and the resulting changes in the microstructure of concrete. The author links the properties of the material at the microstructural level with its behavior in laboratory tests, and, in turn, to the performance of the material in concrete structures under field exposure. He explains how SCMs influence the mechanical properties of concrete and improve its durability and also covers how various SCMs influence hydration reactions and the evolution of the pore structure and pore-solution composition. However, SCMs are not a panacea for concrete and improper use may be injurious to certain properties. Achieving the maximum benefit from SCMs requires an understanding of the materials and how they impact concrete properties under various conditions. Drawing on the author's 30 years of experience, this book helps engineers and practitioners to optimize the use of supplementary cementing materials to improve concrete performance.

Many areas of mining engineering gather and use statistical information, provided by observing the actual operation of equipment, their systems, the development of mining works, surface subsidence that accompanies underground mining, displacement of rocks surrounding surface pits and underground drives and longwalls, amongst others. In addition, the actual modern machines used in surface mining are equipped with diagnostic systems that automatically trace all important machine parameters and send this information to the main producer's computer. Such data not only provide information on the technical properties of the machine but they also have a statistical character. Furthermore, all information gathered during stand and lab investigations where parts, assemblies and whole devices are tested in order to prove their usefulness, have a stochastic character. All of these materials need to be developed statistically and, more importantly, based on these results mining engineers must make decisions whether to undertake actions, connected with the further operation of the machines, the further development of the works, etc. For these reasons, knowledge of modern statistics is necessary for mining engineers; not only as to how statistical analysis of data should be conducted and statistical synthesis should be done, but also as to understanding the results obtained and how to use them to make appropriate decisions in relation to the mining operation. This book on statistical analysis and synthesis starts with a short repetition of probability theory and also includes a special section on statistical prediction. The text is illustrated with many examples taken from mining practice; moreover the tables required to conduct statistical inference are included.

The strong community ties of mining villages are the central concern of this book, which deals with the social history and sociology of mining in County Durham in the twentieth century. Focusing on the country as a whole, this title, first published in 1978, asks what is most distinctive about the area in the past and how it is changing in the present. The personal documents presented in the first chapters of the book bring to life the local mining community with an evocative picture of village life at the turn of the century. These first-hand accounts are integrated with the results of social research carried out at Durham University over a number of years. Mining and Social Change will be of interest to students of history and sociology.

The mining sector is of major importance to the economy of Chile. Although dominated by copper - Chile is the world's leading producer - its production of potassium and sodium nitrate, gold, silver, rhenium, lithium iodine, molybdenum, boron and selenium, for example, is significant. Prominent representatives of the international minerals industry have contributed the papers that appear in Mining Latin America/Mineria Latinoamericana, the volume that lends its name to the conference organized by the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, in association with the Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas de Chile, the Sociedad Nacional de Mineria Chilena and Latinomineria being held in Santiago de Chile in May, 1994. This book should be of interest to mining engineers, geotechnical engineers, geologists, and mineralogists.

The demand for coal use (for electricity generation) and coal products, particularly liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks, is increasing throughout the world. Traditional markets such as North America and Europe are experiencing a steady increase in demand whereas emerging Asian markets, such as India and China, are witnessing a rapid surge in demand for clean liquid fuels. A detailed and comprehensive overview of the chemistry and technology of coal in the twenty-first century, The Chemistry and Technology of Coal, Third Edition also covers the relationship of coal industry processes with environmental regulations as well as the effects of combustion products on the atmosphere. Maintaining and enhancing the clarity of presentation that made the previous editions so popular, this book: Examines the effects of combustion products on the atmosphere Details practical elements of coal evaluation procedures Clarifies misconceptions concerning the organic structure of coal Discusses the physical, thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of coal Analyzes the development and current status of combustion and gasification techniques In addition to two new chapters, Coal Use and the Environment and Coal and Energy Security, much of the material in this edition been rewritten to incorporate the latest developments in the coal industry. Citations from review articles, patents, other books, and technical articles with substantial introductory material are incorporated into the text for further reference. The Chemistry and Technology of Coal, Third Edition maintains its initial premise: to introduce the science of coal, beginning with its formation in the ground to the production of a wide variety of products and petrochemical intermediates in the twenty-first century. The book will prove useful for scientists and engineers already engaged in the coal and/or catalyst manufacturing industry looking for a general overview or update on the clean coal technology as well as professional researchers and students in chemistry and engineering.

The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic expansion and intensification of mineral resource exploitation and development across the global south, especially in Latin America. This shift has brought mining more visibly into global public debates and spurred a great deal of controversy and conflict. This volume assembles new scholarship that provides critical perspectives on these issues. The book marshals original, empirical work from leading social scientists in a variety of disciplines to address a range of questions about the practices of mining companies on the ground, the impacts of mining on host communities, and the responses to mining from communities, civil society and states. The book further explores the global and international causes, consequences and innovations of this new era of mining activity in Latin America. Key issues include the role of Canadian mining companies and their investment in the region, and, to a lesser extent, the role of Chinese mining capital. Several chapters take a regional perspective, while others are based on empirical data from specific countries including Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru.

In Unearthing Conflict Fabiana Li analyzes the aggressive expansion and modernization of mining in Peru since the 1990s to tease out the dynamics of mining-based protests. Issues of water scarcity and pollution, the loss of farmland, and the degradation of sacred land are especially contentious. She traces the emergence of the conflicts by discussing the smelter-town of La Oroya-where people have lived with toxic emissions for almost a century-before focusing her analysis on the relatively new Yanacocha gold mega-mine. Debates about what kinds of knowledge count as legitimate, Li argues, lie at the core of activist and corporate mining campaigns. Li pushes against the concept of "equivalence"-or methods with which to quantify and compare things such as pollution-to explain how opposing groups interpret environmental regulations, assess a project's potential impacts, and negotiate monetary compensation for damages. This politics of equivalence is central to these mining controversies, and Li uncovers the mechanisms through which competing parties create knowledge, assign value, arrive at contrasting definitions of pollution, and construct the Peruvian mountains as spaces under constant negotiation.

Given the design component it involves, financial engineering should be considered equal to conventional engineering. By adopting this complementary approach, financial models can be used to identify how and why timing is critical in optimizing return on investment and to demonstrate how financial engineering can enhance returns to investors. Metals and Energy Finance capitalizes on this approach, and identifies and examines the investment opportunities offered across the extractive industry's cycle, from exploration through evaluation, pre-production development, development and production. The textbook also addresses the similarities of a range of natural resource projects, whether minerals or petroleum, while at the same time identifying their key differences.This innovative textbook is clear and concise in its approach, and is illustrated throughout with case studies and exercises used at professional training sessions. As the sum of 45 years' international experience in industry and teaching mining geology, mineral exploration and mineral project appraisal, Metals and Energy Finance will be invaluable to both professionals and graduate students working in the field of mineral and petroleum business management.