Coal Geology » Mine

Mine rescuers prepare to test their skills in simulated mine emergency

Editor — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:29:24 +0000

RENO, Nev. (Coal Geology)- In the event of a mine fire, roof collapse or explosion, mine rescue teams may be tapped to search for colleagues disoriented by toxic gas, trapped beneath layers of rock or severely injured. The teams undergo rigorous training to develop skills that often save lives. Those skills will be put to the test July 27 through 29 at the 2010 Metal/Nonmetal National Mine Rescue Contest, held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada. The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration and will feature 38 teams from 16 states, including eight teams from Nevada.

“Mine rescue teams are essential to the safety and health of our nation’s miners,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for MSHA. “They spend countless hours preparing for an emergency they hope never happens and they hold themselves to the highest standards, even in competition.”

The contest consists of several events. In the field competition, teams must navigate through a simulated mine emergency while judges rate them on how well they adhere to mine rescue procedures and how quickly they complete specific tasks. In the first aid contest, emergency medical technicians tackle real-life scenarios. The technician team must make necessary checks of equipment to see that it works properly, including multi-gas instruments, self-contained breathing apparatuses, portable communication systems, and other available mine rescue equipment and supplies.

At the conclusion of the three-day event, an awards banquet will be held Thursday evening at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno.

Following this release is a complete list of competing mine rescue teams.

To see photographs and contest winners, go to http://www.msha.gov/MEDIA/PRESS/2010/NR100726.asp

North American Gem Inc. Receives Complete Approval to Mine at the North American Gem #2 Mine

Editor — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:11:28 +0000

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Coal Geology) — 07/27/10 — North American Gem Inc. (NAG) (TSX VENTURE: NAG) through its subsidiary, North American Gem US, Inc. is pleased to announce that the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources (KDNR) has fully approved the mining application (Mine permit number #861-0513) which allows for immediate production to begin at North American Gem #2 Mine in Knox County, Kentucky.

North American Gem #2 Mine contains Blue Gem and Jellico coal seams and will be North American Gem’s first opportunity to produce highly-valued Blue Gem Coal.

“Blue Gem Coal is a rare and increasingly valuable seam of coal used in the production of silicon metals,” explained Charles Desjardins, President of North American Gem. “Producing Blue Gem Coal has been our primary strategic business focus; this new mine is a significant step forward for the company and we are aiming to achieve our goal of becoming a long-term Blue Gem Coal producer.”

Blue Gem Coal commands a price as much as 200% higher than high-quality steam coal and is typically the highest priced grade of coal produced in the United States.

Kentucky Mine Partners LLC (KMP) has all of the equipment to perform the mining operations prepared and staged at the North American Gem #2 Mine. Initial production of the Blue Gem and Jellico coal is planned for a combined production rate of approximately 8,000 – 10,000 tons per month. The North American Gem #2 Mine will be a surface mining and augering operation. NAG has a buyer in place to purchase all of the coal produced from the North American Gem #2 Mine.

All of NAG’s potential mining operations will incorporate sediment control methods that will keep ahead of the increased regulations and restrictions. Furthermore, in anticipation of increased regulations, NAG has, in all of its permitting applications, begun the sampling of receiving streams and groundwater wells utilizing the most stringent and extensive sampling parameters. This will allow NAG to comply with the regulatory requirements and will also result in a much shorter and smoother permitting application process.

The North American Gem Processing Facility (Mine Permit #861-8012) will serve as the central operation and distribution point for coal produced by NAG’s mining operations. The facility has equipment in place that is capable of crushing, screening, and washing coal. This gives North American Gem Inc. the added dimension to service a variety of customers by preparing coal to meet their specific requirements. North American Gem Inc. will also have the ability to purchase outside coal to produce custom blended products which will increase market potential. Specifically, plans are to service the industrial stoker markets, silicon metal producers, and electricity generators.

NAG has also completed production at the North American Gem Mine #1 site in Whitley County, Kentucky. The Jellico coal which averaged in quality less than 12% ash, less than 1.1% sulphur and greater than 12,200 Btu was sold to four buyers over the course of the mine’s operations. Since North American Gem Mine #1 was opened for the primary purpose of initiating and streamlining NAG’s Kentucky mining operations, the decision to conclude mining at the North American Gem Mine #1 was based on profitability analysis of the remaining coal at the mine and the need to dedicate assets to more profitable mining operations.

Mr. Dean Schafer is acting as operations manager of all the Company’s Kentucky coal leases and is currently implementing an overall mine plan.

Ms. Deborah Moses, PEng, PLS, REM, of Engineering Consulting Services Inc. (ECSI) is the qualified person for the Company’s coal operations in Kentucky.

North American Gem Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NAG) is a junior resource company in Western Canada. The company’s major focus is expanding its coal mining operations at its flagship properties in Kentucky. In addition, the company has interests in coal, copper, molybdenum, and other base metals in Canada.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

NORTH AMERICAN GEM INC.

Charles Desjardins, President and Director

Cautionary note:

This report contains forward looking statements. Resource estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative. Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in nature, and should not be relied upon. The production rate and mine-life projections have been made without support of a feasibility study, there is no certainty the proposed operations will be economically viable. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing, currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic factors. Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain terms, such as “reserves” unless such figures are based upon actual production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.

“Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.”

29 Dead In West Virginia Mine Because Of Chamber Policies

Editor — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:37:20 +0000

WASHINGTON, April 12 /Coal Geology Press Release/ — StopTheChamber.com, a coalition of NGOs dedicated to corporate and government accountability, has been warning for months about the devastating effect of U.S. Chamber of Commerce policies on the well being of Americans. Specifically, the Chamber has spent hundreds of millions to fight any regulation of its dues paying members and any regulation of pollution caused by those members. These actions have been led by Chamber CEO Tom Donohue and Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, the latter who runs vast coal mining operations in West Virginia, including the serial offending Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners were killed last week.

Congress Members Must Order Halt To Contact With Chamber Lobbyists.
Call for Criminal Charges Against U.S. Chamber of Commerce Director Don Blankenship for Homicide

“The convergence of the Chamber’s policies against regulation of workplace safety and the disaster of mining coal without regard for the environmental impact resulted in the death of 29 hard working West Virginian miners,” said attorney and StopTheChamber.com spokesman Kevin Zeese. “This was not an accident, but rather the result of deliberate and intentional decisions and actions of Don Blankenship, a director of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Blankenship and Chamber CEO Tom Donohue must be held accountable for these deaths. What is it going to take for Congress and the President to stop coddling criminals, masquerading as legitimate businessmen, who cause the death of our loved ones? Blankenship, with the lobbying army of the Chamber to back him up, has thumbed his nose at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, ignoring or appealing every violation, including the scores that resulted in coal mine evacuations and the hundreds of other serious violations. As the Washington Post pointed out in a Saturday editorial, these 29 deaths would not have occurred absent this intentional conduct of Blankenship. He is just as criminally culpable as any mass murderer.”

StopTheChamber.com calls for the immediate arrest of Don Blankenship for homicide, and a complete criminal investigation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its CEO Tom Donohue to determine what policies and practices led to the death of these miners, whether Chamber lobbyists and lawyers were used to cover-up or avoid compliance with safety regulations, whether Massey Energy, the Chamber and others conspired to create the conditions that caused the deaths, and whether the Chamber is being used to pressure those in various political branches to stop a criminal investigation. Criminal prosecution of the perpetrators of this terrible crime will ensure accountability, expose the Chamber’s criminal conduct and pave the way for real worker safety across the nation.

StopTheChamber.com also calls on all Congress Members to immediately issue a standing order to their staff to cease all communication and contact with U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyists. The Chamber and its directors have now been directly implicated in the homicide of 29 workers. There can be no more business as usual. Congress Members must stand up for working people by refusing to meet with and do the bidding of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an organization whose directors, policies and practices have killed and will kill again if they are not stopped.

Source: StopTheChamber

CONTACT: Ilene Proctor PR, +1-310-858-6643, for StopTheChamber

Web Site: http://stopthechamber.com/

Coal Mine Directory in USA and CANADA

Editor — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:18:59 +0000

April 1 (Coal Geology): “Coal Mine Directory” is an yearly magazine published by Lobos Services Inc Indy Blaney. The directory describes all US and Canadian coal mines and plants. It describes coal geology of the US coal fields. It includes an index of industry executors, index of companies, directory of coal preparation plants and industry statistics. A n extremely valuable magazine for anybody related to the coal industry.

Subscribe to Coal Mine Directory Online

[ReviewAZON asin="B00006K98Z" display="fullpost"]

China Coal Mine Blast Killed Scores

Editor — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:15:33 +0000

Please check the video. May take few seconds to load.

Pine Ridge Deep Coal Mine – Best Maintained Coal Mine I have Seen

Editor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:24:36 +0000

Pine Ridge Deep Coal Mine – Best Maintained Coal Mine I have Seen
Note: I am only using few images for the article. To look at the full gallery of Pine Ridge Coal Mine Visit HERE

I always get excited visiting another deep coal mine. All coal mines are different, but still they all look almost the same. Well, my recent visit to Pine Ridge Coal Mine in west Virginia was an wonderful experience. Pine Ridge Coal mine is truly the best maintained deep mine I have been so far. The best part is their safety training. We spent more than an hour going over numerous safety issues, escape ways, how to use self rescuers, where to find rescuers in case of an accident and so on. They also have a very nice video that tells you all about the mine, their operations, preparation plant and more. Thick and nice Coalburg seam is good and flat with some minor undulations in the mine. In most of the places I have not noticed any wet floor problem. Only in the south section they have some wet and muddy floor. The mine is nicely covered with white rock dust. You will not feel like entering a dark, black coal mine at all. Also, I must say, this mine is the most well maintained and clean of all mines I have visited so far. Another great thing about the mine is that we have good mining height. I never had to bend down and crawl! Below are some of pictures of the mine, I put the link to the complete gallery above. Have a look and enjoy.

The Man Trips are entirely fancy and bigger than usual man-trips. It was the fastest among all man trips I have ever been inside a mine!

Stockpile Generation at Pine Ridge Coal Mine.

Fancy Man Trip

Fancy Man trip – with self rescuers.

If you are lost inside, follow the nicely marked escape ways to find your way out.

Iron leaching from coal seam. Many coal seams contain pyrite. Pyrite is specially bad and in many cases a source of iron laden water in the seeps coming out from deep Mine.

Notice the orange reflectors hanging from the roof of the underground coal mine. They are denoting a potential bad roof condition. Avoid such areas inside a deep mine to avoid accidents.

This is one of the underground power station. Notice thick power cables and always be careful about them while you are underground.

Notice how the power cables are connected to various sections of the deep coal mine.

Rock Dust covering Coal inside Underground Coal Mine.

Always make sure that you know where to find self rescuers while visiting underground mine.

Shuttle Car – a type of Coal Haulage Machinary stull used in deep coal mines.

Underground coal mine loader – must be a very new one!

Wet floor condition inside deep coal mine.

Conventional Coal Mine visit in Kentucky – quite an experience!

Editor — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:14:10 +0000

Conventional Coal Mine visit in Kentucky – quite an experience!

I have been visiting underground coal mines quite frequently for last few months. Most of the deep mines I have visited so far are in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Till my last visit, I only experienced deep mines with continuous miner. They usually have pretty good miming height to move the equipments. I am glad that all previous mines had more than 6 feet mining height and I never had to crawl. Last week I visited two conventional deep coal mine and one mine with continuous miner in Kentucky. All three of the mines are in Upper Elkhorn Coal seam. Upper Elk Coal seam is very consistent in this area but but very thick. In those conventional mines the average coal thickness was only about 3 feet. Sometimes you see places even less than 3 feet. I was there to check for rock partings in the coal seam and distinguish between good coal and boney coal within the seam. In the conventional coal mines they were mining just the coal seam and coal seam only!! No roof and No floor! So, the mining height was always remained equal to the coal seam thickness! We had to lie down in our little railroad cart (you can not even sit). We were glad that the mines did not have any “wet floor” conditions. However, we had pretty bad neck pain for next two days after we came back home. Here are the mines I visited last week:

TRC Mine in Kentucky – conventional coal mine
Lexie Mine – conventional coal mine
Clas4 Mine – Continuous miner equipped (minimum mining height 52 inches).

All of the mines had good roof and floor conditions with minimum problems of rolls. Now it is time to show some cute pictures.

This picture is taken at the “current” portal to go to the working face of TRC conventional coal mine. You can probably see how narrow is the height of the portal is.

This picture is taken at the same mine but represents an old portal now sealed and possibly used for air circulation.

Here is one picture of old portal at Lexie conventional coal mine.

This picture was taken at the Clas4 mine, KY. You can see the portals – old and current as well as the roof and floor strata. I love this picture as it shows a shale strata right above the coal seam up to a rider coal seam (possibly Upper Elkhorn-3 Rider) and then you have beautiful light brown hard sandstone.

This is just another picture to show you the great looking sandstone and the rider seam closely. Things I learned:

All 3 of the mines are “drift” mine ( Overburden thickness is too much for surface mine, but not too deep that will require a shaft).
There are still some conventional mines present in United States where we have “ZERO” out of seam dilution (as they do not mine any roof or floor)!
Expect very low mining heights in conventional coal mines. In our case mining height = coal seam thickness.
Remember to take your KNEE PAD!! You will have to crawl …so, don’t forget your knee protection.
For the Clas4 mine, the minimum mining height was 52 inches (what a relief) as they use continuous miner.

Bonus: A small video clip of stockpile generation at TRC Mine, KY

Stockpile Generation at TRC Mine, KY – These bloopers are hilarious

Inside America’s Gold Mine – Nice video!

Editor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:08:39 +0000

Check out the nice video in a Gold Mine northeastern Nevada.

Mine Water and the Environment – Journal in pdf download – 1982 to 2000!

Editor — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:11:04 +0000

Mine Water and the Environment – Journal in pdf download – 1982 to 2000!
I am just a big fan of Mine water and the Environment journal since I started working in various projects related to coal mine. I can almost always find some good reference / guidance for my work within this journal. For the most part, the articles are easy to read and very much applied to “real world”. Just few days back I was reading a technical article by Robert S. Hedin : “The use of measured and calculated acidity values to improve the quality of mine drainage datasets”. I felt like I finally finally found a way evaluate the quality of the lab data with limited amount of parameters analysed.

This journal was formerly known as “International Journal of Mine Water”. Newer publications are available online from SpringerLink. You need subscription to get access any publication from 2000 onward! I was just checking their website and I found that the old publications are FREE to DOWNLOAD from their site which include 19 volumes of great journals!! Unfortunately, Volume 15 and 16 are not avaible at this time.

To get access to first 19 volumes of Mine Water and Environment, visit: http://www.imwa.info/journal/

List of Volumes available for download from Mine Water and Environment website.

Volume 19, Number 2-4, December 2000 (Berlin, Germany)
Volume 19, Number 1, April 2000 (Loveland, CO/USA)
Volume 18, Number 1-4, April 1999 (Loveland, CO/USA)
Volume 17, Number 1-4, August 1998 (Denver, CO/USA)
Volume 16, n.a.
Volume 15, n.a.
Volume 14, Number 1-4, 1995 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 13, Number 3-4, July – December 1994 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 13, Number 2, June 1994 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 13, Number 1, March 1994 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 12, Number 1-4, 1993 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 11, Number 4, December 1992 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 11, Number 3, September 1992 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 11, Number 2, June 1992 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 11, Number 1, March 1992 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 10, Number 1-4, 1991 (Wollongong, NSW/Australia)
Volume 9, Number 1-4, 1990 (Castro Verde/Portugal)
Volume 8, n.a.
Volume 7, Number 4, December 1988 (Nottingham/UK)
Volume 7, Number 3, September 1988 (Nottingham/UK)
Volume 7, Number 2, June 1988 Nottingham/UK)
Volume 7, Number 1, March 1988 (Nottingham/UK)
Volume 6, Number 4, December 1987 (Nottingham/UK)
Volume 6, Number 3, September 1987 (Budapest/Hungary)
Volume 6, Number 2, June 1987 (Budapest/Hungary)
Volume 6, Number 1, March 1987 (Budapest/Hungary)
Volume 5, Number 4, December 1986 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 5, Number 3, September 1986 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 5, Number 2, June 1986 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 5, Number 1, March 1986 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 4, Number 4, December 1985 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 4, Number 3, September 1985 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 4, Number 2, June 1985 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 4, Number 1, March 1985 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 3, Number 4, December 1984 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 3, Number 3, September 1984 (Madrid/Spain)
Volume 3, Number 2, June 1984 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 3, Number 1, March 1984 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 2, Number 4, December 1983 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 2, Number 3, September 1983 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 2, Number 2, June 1983 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 2, Number 1, March 1983 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 1, Number 4, December 1982 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 1, Number 3, September 1982 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 1, Number 2, June 1982 (Granada/Spain)
Volume 1, Number 1, March 1982 (Granada/Spain)

When you go to te download page Click on the Volume to see publications inside. For example, to access publications for Volume 17, Number 1-4, August 1998 (Denver, CO/USA), click on it, and it will open the list of publications that you can easily download in pdf format as below with a “pdf” icon at the end. Click on pdf icon to download your favorite one.
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Diz, H. R. (1998): The Selective Oxide System: Acid Drainage Treatment that avoids the Formation of Sludge. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 1-7, 3 fig.; Colorado.

Hammack, R. W., de Vegt, A. L. & Schoeneman, A. L. (1998): The Removal of Sulfate and Metals from Mine Waters using Bacterial Sulfate Reduction: Pilot Plant Results. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 8-27, 7 fig., 5 tab.; Colorado.

Hellier, W. W. (1998): Abatement of Acid Mine Draiage by capping a reclamed Surface Mine with fluidized Combustion Ash. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 28-40, 13 fig., 3 tab.; Colorado.

Helling, C., Nietzsche, O., Ullrich, B. & Merkel, B. (1998): The Influence of municipal Waste on Uranium Mill Tailings: A hydrogeochemical Study on a mixed Tailings Site. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 41-51, 3 fig.; 7 tab.; Colorado.

Iwanoff, A. (1998): Environmental Impacts of deep opencast Limestone Mines in Laegerdorf, Northern Germany. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 52-61, 2 fig.; 2 tab.; Colorado.

Osiensky, J. L., Williams, R. E., Ralston, D. R., Johnson, G. S. & Mink, L. L. (1998): Simulation of electrical Potential Differences near a contaminant Plume excited by a Point Source of Current. – Mine Water and the Environment, 17: 62-71; Colorado.

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It is simply a great resource for all working in mining industry.

So, have good time reading exciting articles and let me know if you know other great sourece of free journals.

Harmony Gold Mine Accident.

Editor — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:38:25 +0000

More than 3000 miners were trapped in a mice accident in South Africa. Thousands of miners were stuck in the Elandsrand gold mine near Johannesburg on Wednesday when a pressurized air pipe fell down a shaft, causing extensive damage to an elevator. So far, at least 1,700 workers have been rescued. The accident will impact the financial situation of the mine for weeks. Harmony gold mine is the 3rd largest gold mine in South Africa and produce about 500 KG of gold every month.

To read more about the story try the links below: