Category: Features

Brain drain within the minerals sector spells trouble for other ‘critical’ industries

James Tworek

With a growing demand for critical minerals, the mining industry is looking for possible solutions that can access additional sources notwithstanding a limited workforce.  By James Tworek, CEO, Element79 Gold  The “metals of the future” are deeply reliant on a robust mining sector. Everything from space travel and transportation to electronics and power storage, even communications and medical applications rely…

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PUTTING COPPER TO WORK

Jay Schlosar

Call it a fight against the rise in superbugs: how antimicrobial copper is helping eliminate bacteria on high-touch surfaces in hospitals across British Columbia. By Jay Schlosar End uses for copper are growing exponentially. Now, in a fight for the more than 220,000 hospital patients in Canada that will contract healthcare-acquired infections this year comes the growing emergence of antimicrobial…

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Digital Transformation in the Golden Age of Mining Technology 

NAM Staff

The mining industry is between 30% to 40% less technologically mature than comparable industries. Alarmed? Read more in this first of a three-part series about the opportunities surrounding digital transformations and mining for the future. By Marc Poualion, senior industry marketing manager, Aspen Technology Never before has there been more companies designing and developing new software solutions empowered by the…

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Birmingham chosen for Southeast Mine Safety and Health Conference

Donna Schmidt

Hundreds expected to convene in Birmingham in November for short courses, tech talks and more. By Donna Schmidt A southern setting has been selected for the annual Southeast Mine Safety and Health Conference, scheduled to be held November 1-4 at the Ross Bridge Hotel and Convention Center in nearby Hoover, Ala. Organizers from the nonprofit Southeast Mine Safety and Health…

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Taking control: collision avoidance in surface mining

Jonathan Rowland

Collision avoidance systems are touted as a critical pathway to safer mines. But they are now also a significant enabling technology of the wider digital, automated mine ecosystem. By Jonathan Rowland Collision avoidance: a market snapshotMore mines will invest in collision avoidance systems (CAS; also known as proximity detection systems) over the next two years than any other technology bar…

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Lubricant and Grease Tips for Surface Mining Pros

NAM Staff

Cost, environmental considerations, specific application – all are key to the decisions being made at surface mines when it comes to lubricants and greases. However, these decisions needn’t be complicated. By Thomas McClary, Director of Lubricants and Specialty Products, Ridgeline Lubricants You are likely familiar with specialty lubricants and greases if you operate scrapers, draglines, dozers, loaders, hydraulic shovels or…

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Dig smarter

Jonathan Rowland

New technologies are supporting improved shovel maintenance practices, allowing mines to extend maintenance intervals without endangering the machine.  By Jonathan Rowland Shovel breakdownThere are 5,500 hydraulic and 1,900 electric shovels with payloads above 20 metric tonnes currently active, according to the mining equipment trackers at The Parker Bay Company. These are large and complex pieces of machinery that operate in…

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Women in Mining Spotlight: Sarah de Blois

Donna Schmidt

Canadian PhD candidate Sarah de Blois, over the course of her research work at Laurentian University, has uncovered some thought-provoking statistics on the state of women in the mining industry. Edited by Donna Schmidt For the progress women in the mining industry have made over the years, it may be surprising to learn that there is actually much more still…

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SPEAKING OUT FOR COAL

NAM Staff

How the University of Wyoming is changing the commodity’s narrative. By Scott Quillinan, senior director of research, School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming The state of Wyoming is a significant energy producer with its Powder River Basin (PRB) providing more than 40% of the coal produced in the United States. In 2021, the Wyoming coal industry mined roughly 239…

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Budge the Sludge

Francesca Mills

Ore mine uses air cannons to unclog chutes. By Mike Moody, business development manager, Martin Engineering No matter what type of ore is being extracted from a mine, mucking with front loaders can be accompanied by wet fines that cling to every surface. Once loaded into a hopper or conveyer transfer chute, viscous material can quickly build up on the…

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