Wyoming DEQ bestows reclamation award to Antelope Coal

In July, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality awarded its 2021 Excellence in Mining Reclamation award to Antelope Coal for its reclamation work to reconstruct Spring Creek, which neighbors the mine site near Douglas. The Antelope team, the agency said, reconstructed over 18,000 linear feet of Spring Creek, a tributary of Antelope Creek, to reconnect the two creeks. The work…

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Virtual reality hazard awareness training program developed

Underground and surface mines can be hazardous places, so when it comes to safety training in the mining profession, the old saying “practice makes perfect” holds true. To improve hazard safety instruction, a team at South Dakota Mines has spent the past year developing a virtual reality (VR) training module that mimics a mining environment.

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UArizona adds School of Mining and Mineral Resources

In June, the University of Arizona announced its new School of Mining and Mineral Resources, which will be jointly housed in the university’s College of Engineering and College of Science. Citing statistics from the World Bank, which estimated demand for copper could grow 200% by 2050 (Arizona produces 74% of the nation’s copper and is the sixth-largest copper producer in…

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Rio, BYU partner for reclamation research

Rio Tinto’s Kennecott and one of the state’s schools, Brigham Young University, are collaborating together to look for ways to establish more sustainable reclamation techniques at the miner’s Bingham Canyon operation outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. In June 2020, students and professors from the BYU Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry broke…

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