Category: Features

The shaft under pressure: debottlenecking production hoisting

Francesca Mills
Two Jeto skips are loaded for delivery to an end user at the FKC – Lake Shore fabrication facility in Evansville, Indiana.

Production hoisting systems are increasingly being pushed to and beyond their design limits. But the biggest throughput losses are rarely mechanical; they’re operational. by Jonathan Rowland All the familiar pressures of modern mining – deeper orebodies, rising production targets, tighter margins – converge underground on the shaft. Any interruption here translates directly into lost output. “The shaft and hoisting equipment…

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Following the ore from face to feed

Francesca Mills
Effective material tracking connects operational data across the value chain, giving teams a shared picture from extraction through to processing. Photo: Eclipse Data Innovations

Mining operations invest heavily in understanding their orebodies and planning extraction,
yet value still leaks at multiple points between the resource model and the processing plant. 
Where does it go? by Jonathan Rowland Geological models, mine plans, expected feed characteristics: mining is a multi-billion-dollar business built on a series of presumptions. But reality is not one to be held to presumptions.…

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Increase yield with advanced analytics and AI platforms

Francesca Mills

Modern performance monitoring and automated optimization software platforms with AI are helping mining companies dramatically increase production while reducing operational costs. by Mariana Sandin As technology rapidly evolves, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central focus for leaders in the mining, metals, and materials (MMM) industry. Nearly 80% of executives across industrial sectors expect AI to significantly transform operations by…

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Making the right choice

Steve Sewerniuk
Figure 1: Gundlach Multi-Roll Crusher

Choosing the right equipment for crushing and grinding processing circuits is a 
multi-pronged process. by Steve Sewerniuk As demand for critical minerals and industrial materials continues to rise, operators in the lithium, fertilizer (potash, nitrogen, phosphates), gypsum, salt and other minerals industries are under increasing pressure to improve throughput, reduce energy consumption, and maximize yield. In soft rock applications, especially,…

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Can vertical roller mills find a home in North American mineral processing?

NAM Staff
The Metso Loesche VRM.

Metso and Loesche believe so, having recently partnered to launch the Metso Loesche VRM across a variety of mineral processing applications. North American Mining spoke with Tim Robinson and Christoph Hoetzel of Metso about the collaboration, the technology, and what comes next. Grinding accounts for a large share of energy consumption at most mineral processing operations – and, in many…

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Camera-based OSS measurement: the end of the foil ball?

Francesca Mills
An FLS gyratory crusher.

For decades, measuring a crusher’s open-side setting has been a manual job – imprecise, infrequent, and not without risk. North American Mining spoke with Ingo Neitemeier and Jayachandran Manoharan at FLS about a new technology that aims to change this. Open-side setting – or OSS. It is one of the most influential parameters in crusher performance, impacting the efficiency of…

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Software that digs deep: predictive maintenance for a new era

Francesca Mills
Figure 1: Condition monitoring technologies – such as the AMS Wireless Vibration Monitor and AMS Asset Monitor – paired with advanced interfacing software like AMS Machine Works, simplify data analysis, support decisive action, and enhance communication.

Using enterprise-wide continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance software, operators can spot issues early, deploy personnel more effectively, and uncover new levels of efficiency. by Ben Swisher Operations often take place in remote and dangerous locations; in addition, as critical resources become scarcer, mining organizations must continually push further out and dig deeper to find the minerals that manufacturers rely on…

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Elko Mining Expo marking 40 years

Francesca Mills

Show returning to its longtime home, the Elko Convention and Conference Center, from June 4-5 The ruby anniversary of the Elko Mining Expo is just weeks away, once again bringing together the mining industry for a week of activities, networking and, of course, hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees for its annual mining show. Events and Sales Manager Kimberlee…

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Look at it all in scale

Francesca Mills

NAM recently spoke with Tecweigh Division Manager Sheldon Shepherd about the impact of proper protocols, training and how overall technology changes through time, including automation, on the mining industry. by Donna Schmidt Belt scales, and scaling systems in general, are one of those crucial elements to mining, but also not one that is thought about as often and as intensely…

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2026 annual West Virginia Coal Show a great success

Francesca Mills

In excess of 2,200 total attendance, with over 500 high-level registrants for the West Virginia Coal Association Symposium by Donna Schmidt That’s a wrap once again. The third West Virginia Coal Show, co-located with the 52nd annual West Virginia Coal Association symposium, is now in the books and planning for the 2027 event is already under way. The two-day event…

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