Henry Krumb Lecture Series SME announces the 2014-2015

The Henry Krumb Lecture Series was established in 1966 so that local SME sections could hear prominent minerals professionals speak on subjects in which they had recognized expertise. Henry Krumb, a 1897 graduate of the Columbia School of Mines, had an interest in engineering education and improving the status of the mining profession. He anonymously established an endowment fund "for any purpose that is for the benefit of the Institute (AIME).

The 2014-2015 Henry Krumb lecturers are profiled below. To request a lecturer to speak at one of your local section meetings, visit www.smenet.org, click sections, click Krumb Lecture Series and fill out the lecture request form,

If you have any questions, please contact Tessa Baxter at 303-948-4208 or [email protected].

ZACHARY J. BLACK

A Comparison of Traditional Geostatistical Estimation Methods to Implicit Modeling Methods

As technology in the mining industry continues to evolve, it is important to incorporate what is considered industry best practice. Many mining software packages have recently implemented implicit modeling functionality capable of rapidly modeling surfaces, grade and lithologic boundaries, faults and veins with radial basis functions. This presentation is a study comparing the traditional geostatistical methods largely accepted as best practice to the implicit functionality being used by many large-market mining software packages.

Zachary Black is a resource geologist with Hard Rock Consulting in Littleton, CO. He has more than 12 years of experience in geological exploration projects, consulting, database management, geotechnical engineering, project management and project engineering. He is an SME Registered Member and is recognized as a competent person for exploration and estimation according to the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (NI43101). Black has participated in mineral resource projects at many levels of project development, from early exploration through bankable feasibility studies and has assisted in the preparation of numerous NI 43-101 compliant technical reports. He has conducted site investigations, geologic field mapping and sampling and data verification as an independent Qualified Person for a variety of gold, silver and multiple commodity projects throughout the world.

EBRAHIM KARIMI-TARSHIZI

Using a discrete system simulation and animation model of a coal mine to increase equipment efficiency and reduce environmental impact

This project demonstrates the application of a mine system simulation and animation model in enhancing the efficiency of a truck-shovel operation and reducing the haulage environmental impact in an opencut coal mine.

Mining engineers need to take into consideration many uncertainties when designing, operating and managing a mine. Considering the magnitudes of capital and operating costs of mining equipment, simulating a proposed plan before it is implemented will lead to the better use of capital and operational budgets.

In any mine, a key objective is to have enough equipment for production but not to have excess to where it is counterproductive. Due to the advent of responsible mining, environmental regulations and eco-friendly practices, these factors must also be considered in the analysis. The over-trucked situation at a mine will be discussed - that is when the number of trucks exceeds the optimum number of trucks a mine should have for the most productive/ profitable mining operation. When the system has an excess number of trucks, truck utilization is reduced, which impacts mine operations, capital costs and the environment through unnecessary truck purchases, energy use and air pollution. GPSS/H and Proof Professional were the software programs used for the mine simulation project.

Ebrahim Karimi-Tarshizi is a Ph.D. candidate in geo-engineering/mining engineering specializing in mine simulation and animation at the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He will join Michigan Technological University (MTU) as an assistant professor of mining engineering in the spring of 2015. He received an M.S. in mining engineering with a minor in business administration from Mackay and an M.B.A. from the UNR College of Business. He earned his bachelor's degree in mining explora- tion engineering in 2004 in Iran.

During his Ph.D. research, Karimi-Tarshizi worked part time at Barrick Gold'sCortez Hills surface operation to complete a mine simulation project. During his postgraduate studies in mining, he focused on mine systems optimization using simulation and animation techniques. Prior to starting his graduate studies, he worked in the mining and petroleum industries for almost five years. He is a member of the SME Young Leaders Committee and is currently the vice chair of its selection subcommittee.

JESSICA ELZEA KOGEL

Workforce development challenges - managing through boom and bust cycles for the long term

The global mining industry faces a number of emerging workforce trends, some of which are related to management practices adopted in response to boom and bust cycles. In the long-term, these management practices have led to a smaller pool of qualified industry professionals. For example, a significant shortage of mining engineers and geologists is expected over the next 10 years. This shortage is due, in part, to the mining workforce reductions in the 1980s downturn. Another trend is that today's workforce is increasingly dominated by younger, less experienced workers. A third is that the workforce is increasingly weighted toward contractors versus permanent employees. Industrial minerals companies are generally less sensitive to the boom and bust cycles that drive employment practices for much of the mining industry. However, the sector is not entirely immune to them. Aggregates companies recently experienced significant layoffs due to the poor U.S. economy. The industry recognizes the importance of investing in future workers and is adopting work force management strategies focused on developing a stable and well-trained talent pool that can be sustained through industry downturns.

Jessica Elzea Kogel has more than 20-years of experience in the mining industry. She currently leads the geology and mining group for Imery's North American kaolin operations and is responsible for exploration, mineral resource development, mine planning and reclamation. She has written more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and field guides and holds four U.S. patents. Kogel is past president of the Clay Minerals Society and served as the 2013 president of SME. She earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Indiana University after completing bachelor's degrees in earth science and paleontology at the University of California Berkeley. She is a certified professional geologist.

HAMID MALEKI

Geotechnical analyses of mining-induced seismicity

Mining in some of the western U.S. coal mines, including those in the Book Cliffs coal field in Utah, has historically been associated with seismicity because of high-stress environments and the presence of stiff, competent rocks. To control seismicity, three practical approaches are used in U.S. hardrock and coal mines, most notably mine layout designs that include the use of panel-barrier designs MALEKI where caving is not favorable. The successful use of panel-barrier designs in Book Cliff Mine 1 is analyzed. This leads into the evaluation of optimal mine designs for another potential longwall mine located in close proximity to a regional reservoir.

The specific objectives of this paper include a site-specific evaluation of seismicity at the well-documented Mine 1 where panel-barrier designs were used, together with comprehensive geotechnical monitoring, improvements in the mine layout design that would identify seismically lessactive panel, and barrier dimensions to be considered for mining near Mine 2 located near the reservoir.

For this purpose, an engineering approach was implemented to estimate potential seismicity for a comparative assessment of the risk of damage using three-dimensional stress analyses and excess shear stress criteria. Rider suggested a single term called excess shear stress, which could express the relative likelihood of a seismic event along preexisting geological discontinuities.

Model calibration was achieved by studying seismic events during the extraction of two seams in the study Mine 1 using side-by-side and panel-barrier designs. Based on similar simulations for geologic conditions of the study Mine 2 and available measurements in the study mines in Utah, the model shows a low degree of seismicity if a 245-m- (800ft-) wide face and a 245-m- (800-ft-) wide barrier are used in Mine 2. Similarly, low seismic risk is expected using another layout with a 220-m- (730-ft-) face width and a 220-m- (730ft-) barrier pillar width.

Hamid Maleki, RE., is a principal with Maleki Technologies. He received graduate degrees from the Colorado School of Mines in 1981 specializing in applied rock mechanics. He also took civil engineering and ground water courses from Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University during 1993-1994 while serving as the techni- cal advisor and principal investigator for the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Spokane Research Center. In addition, he completed numerical modeling training using FLAC2D, 3D, PFC, Utah2 and plasticity. Maleki has more than 30 years of experience in applied ground control, stress analyses, mine design and geotechnical instrumentation in soft and hard rocks.

KAL SASTRY

Mineral process engineering through the 20th century and beyond

The presentation begins with an overview of what constitutes mineral process engineering, then reviews its evolution through the early and later parts of the 20th century to the present times. Subsequently, it highlights newer tools, technologies and a more techsavvy, younger workforce that is being brought in this new millennium. At this point, the presentation introduces a formal framework for learning and practicing mineral process engineering in the 21st century and illustrates it with case studies on comminution, flotation and agglomeration.

Finally, the author concludes the presentation by projecting the exciting opportunities provided by mineral process engineering during this rapidly changing technology century. This presentation will be made interactively, enabling the audience to fully participate, comprehend and take away the exciting concepts of mineral process engineering and putting them into everyday practice.

Kal Sastry is a professor emeritus of metallurgy at the University of California Berkeley. His primary teaching and research interests are in the areas of pelletization, flotation, filtration, mathematical modeling and simulation of mineral processing operations. He has published extensively on these topics and, more specifically, in the area of balling of iron ore concentrates.

During the last 20 years, Sastry has provided customized training for operators and engineers in the minerals industry. Most recently, he introduced and propagated mineral process engineering as a formal field of learning and the practice of mineral processing in the 21st century. Currently, he is working as the primary author on a book entitled Introduction to Mineral Process Engineering. It is to be used as a text for mineral processing undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a reference book for practicing mineral process engineers. Sastry did his undergraduate studies in chemical engineering in India and his doctoral work in mineral processing at the University of California Berkeley. He is a Distinguished Member of SME.

STEVEN SCHAFRIK

Underground coal mine tracking and communication system reliability and availability methodology

Every underground coal mine in the United States must deploy and operate a wireless communication system, as well as an electronic tracking system. This presentation addresses the reliability and availability of an installed tracking system and the communications infrastructure that supports it. One assumes that the tracking system uses the communication system to perform its operation. Of particular interest are the requirements for the systems to operate continuously without failure after a mine disaster for 24 hours and the requirements in the Miner Act for the tracking systems to be "functional, reliable and calculated to be serviceable," and the communications systems' redundancy. These requirements imply a certain reliability and availability.

The presentation describes a quantitative way to assess these systems' requirements using the tools that are available and commonly used by the reliability, maintainability and availability community. The methodology described can be applied to all aspects of mining systems that require an understanding of their reliability and availability.

Steven Schafrik has been a research assistant professor at the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research (VCCER) since 2013 and has worked for the VCCER in numerous roles since 1997. He has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mining and minerals engineering from Virginia Tech. Schafrik currently conducts research on wireless communication systems, ventilation systems and risk management. He is acknowledged for his ability to transfer technologies from other industries to mining. He has conducted and managed research for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Office of Surface Mining and for corporations and foundations. These projects have involved academic departments, graduate and undergraduate students, public institutions and private corporations.

Schafrik is also involved in the development of custom software and information systems for the VCCER. Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties licenses several software applications developed by Schafrik. He frequently represents the VCCER at meetings and conferences and is responsible for responding to requests from the public for energy data and mining information.

GORDON M. STEVENS

Innovative environmental and management education programs that educate, rather than just train, employees have big payoffs

In an era of aging workforces, shortages of qualified professionals, increases in environmental scrutiny and demands for sustainable development, it is imperative that industrial minerals, aggregate and related heavy construction companies develop innovative programs to educate their employees by providing them with the management skills and environmental awareness indispensable to the financial and sustainable success of the company. This presentation will focus primarily on the efforts of OMG Midwest (an Oldcastle company) to educate its employees to be better prepared as managers and environmental stewards. The education programs used by OMG Midwest have a demonstrated track record of successfully cultivating management skills, boosting employee retention, fostering environmental awareness, increasing regulatory compliance and financially improving the bottom line.

Gordon M. Stevens has more than 35 years of experience in geologic and hydrogeologic investigations, with nearly 30 years as a consultant for aggregates, silica sand and cement producers. He has a masters degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta and a bachelors degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, both in geology. He is a licensed professional geologist in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, and certified professional geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists.

During the initial years working with the mining industry, Stevens focused on hydrogeologic impacts from existing or proposed mines. His focus has expanded to managing multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists through the design and permitting process for greenfield mine developments and expansions of existing facilities. He has experience in numerous mining operations, landfill and contaminated site characterizations, and water supply investigations. He worked as a site development specialist while serving in the U.S. Air Force.

Stevens is currently chair of the Industrial Minerals & Aggregates Division, served as chair of the Chicago Section of SME for six annual terms and was formerly a SME Henry Krumb Lecturer. He is currently a senior project manager for Patrick Engineering.