The skills gap has been a long-standing issue in mining. Generational employment has lessened over decades and has left the industry in a competition like never before to gain and retain safe and productive hires. Beyond mining’s front lines, the outlook doesn’t improve. Many industry experts in niche areas – think ventilation, ground control, modeling and planning, processing, and more…
Read MoreAuthor: Donna Schmidt
Virginia Tech researchers use autonomous technologies
to make mines safer
How do you use drones and robots to make underground mining less risky for workers? Virginia Tech researcher Richard Bishop and his West Virginia University collaborators are working to answer this question. A recent two-year, $569,149 Alpha Foundation grant will allow the team to study ways to use autonomous drones to predict and prevent roof collapses underground. It’s urgent work.…
Read MoreHeading Underground with J. H. Fletcher’s Ben Hardman
If you work in coal, especially at one of the country’s many underground coal mines, the name Ben Hardman is likely a familiar one. In this issue’s executive Q&A, we talk to the VP about his industry history, the outlook for automation and his views on the coal industry. Edited by Donna Schmidt NAM: How did you get your start…
Read MoreIs Remanufacturing Mining’s Best-Kept Secret?
Caterpillar, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Cat Reman Center in 2023, said that remanufacturing could be the ‘secret sauce’ that operations are seeking to keep total cost of ownership low and uptime high. As mines strive more and more for these goals, could this be a missing element of that journey? By Donna Schmidt Remanufacturing is a…
Read MoreSAFETY WORLD VIEW: EMERGENCY REFUGE CHAMBERS
Refuge chambers may not have been part of the underground safety view as little as two decades ago, but today they are commonplace – even if the regulatory outlines for their use still vary by location. NAM talked with Strata Worldwide about the aspects of these units that are shared (and vastly different) between the U.S. and other mining regions…
Read MoreCopper: the sickness antidote?
According to a new study – the first of its kind in North America – copper has proven its effectiveness for killing bacteria and viruses on public transit with a success rate of up to 99.9%. By Donna Schmidt Cars, power generation, plumbing and infrastructure – there’s a lot copper can do in this world once mined and processed. We…
Read MoreVentilation conversation is in the air
The North American Mine Ventilation Symposium is back in the Black Hills for its 19th annual gathering – with delegates getting to return to in-person networking and learning. By Donna Schmidt The North American Mine Ventilation Symposium, better known as NAVMS or Mine Vent, is returning to the South Dakota School of Mines from June 17-23, with hundreds headed to…
Read MoreSummer of safety
As we reach the year’s midway point, it is a good time to check in on the industry’s safety progress so far in 2023. In case you have not been following the statistics, I’m sorry to share the news is not as positive as we’d like to see at any point in the year, much less at the halfway point.…
Read MoreMSHA Secretary Appeals to Mining Community
On April 14, Christopher J. Williamson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, penned this letter to the mining community. Dear Members of the Mining Community: Forty-five years ago, Congress declared that the first priority and concern of everyone in the mining industry must be the safety and health of the nation’s miners. In the spirit of working…
Read MoreCoal’s headwinds – and future – close to mind in Charleston
The West Virginia Coal Association annual symposium bounced the balance of market, fossil fuels’ public perception and the industry’s plans to charge toward prosperity, environmental optimism and safety in Charleston April 18-19. By Donna Schmidt With a change of venue this year to the conference hall of the capital city’s Embassy Suites, the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA) brought together…
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