DoE investing millions for domestic essential mineral production, recovery

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has confirmed an earmark of $17 million across 14 projects that will accelerate critical materials innovation while promoting safe, sustainable, economic, and efficient solutions to meet current and future supply chain needs. The projects, which span 11 states, are strengthening and streamlining manufacturing for high-impact components and technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, magnets…

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Metso to expand Arizona campus

Metso broke ground December 11 on a significant expansion to its service center and a new advanced training facility in Mesa, Ariz.  The enhancements, the company said, will serve the increasing demands of mining customers by offering a wider range of repair services, advanced competence development capabilities, and improved safety and sustainability. “Our expanded service center and innovative training facility…

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Imperial Metals, Mount Polley handed Fisheries Act charges

Imperial Metals and its Mount Polley Mining arm, which suffered a high-profile tailings storage facility failure in August 2014, has been served a notice of charges alleging violations of the Fisheries Act in Canada. Engineering firm Wood Canada was also named in the allegation notice involving the British Columbia operation. The charges are outlined in an indictment filed with the…

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Voisey’s Bay is now mining underground

Vale has completed construction and commissioning of the Voisey’s Bay mine expansion project, transitioning the Canadian nickel mine from open pit to underground mining.  The project involved the development of two underground mines – Reid Brook and Eastern Deeps – which will deliver ore for processing at the company’s Long Harbour, Newfoundland, refinery. Vale said full ramp-up is expected by…

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MSHA final rule promotes innovative, advanced technologies

On Dec. 10, MSHA published a final rule that allows the use of eight voluntary consensus standards approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for electric mining equipment approvals. This final rule allows product manufacturers and designers seeking MSHA approval to follow either the ANSI-approved voluntary consensus standards or the existing MSHA-specific technical requirements. This final rule updates MSHA’s…

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Cyberattacks and engineering-grade defenses

As fleets get newer and offer more advanced technology, the portion of these machines that are made of and operated by computers is growing exponentially. And this makes the entire unit susceptible to infiltration. How can mines make sense of it all – and protect themselves? by Andrew Ginter Mining machinery is increasingly automated; simple pick-up trucks contain over 300…

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Ramaco’s Brook mine deemed commercially, technically feasible

A newly released independent interim techno-economic report by Fluor has revealed that Ramaco Resources’ Brook mine in Wyoming – acquired as a coal operation but found to be prolific for rare earth elements – is both commercially and technically feasible. Ramaco is hoping to extract valuable rare earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals from unconventional coal and carbonaceous ore deposits…

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Michelin introduces mining’s ‘first-ever’ energy-efficient tire

Michelin introduced the Michelin XDR 4 SPEED ENERGY at MINExpo, the mining industry’s first-ever energy-efficient tire that is designed to reduce a mining vehicle’s fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions through an optimized, more flexible tread and new energy-saving rubber compound. The Michelin XDR 4 SPEED ENERGY tire achieves up to 3.6% better fuel efficiency compared to the Michelin XDR…

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