You are currently browsing the daily archive for January 4, 2007.
Seldom does reading the news lift my spirits and make me feel warm inside. A happy exception is this announcement, edited and shortened by me: Read the rest of this entry »
I stood in the foyer on the twenty-something floor of one of the tall buildings in Vancouver and peered through the floor to ceiling glass of the north wall to the mountains, the sea, and the multi-activity facets of human nature spread before me. I had come to this palace of glass and chrome, fine wood, and polished leather to meet a lawyer working for the mining industry. The hush of thick carpet and a truly professional receptionist put me in my place and cowed me to quiet submission as I waited and wondered what truly goes on in these hallowed halls. Read the rest of this entry »
Subsidence on underground mine workings can disrupt surface water flow and impact groundwater. This simple fact is brought home simply and starkly by a fine brochure from Hatch Mott MacDonald in a brochure Stream Undermining: Technology Update. Obviously the brochure tells you that if you need to avoid impacting surface water and groundwater due to subsidence, you should contact them. And why not? If they can put out this informative brochure, maybe they can help you too. Read the rest of this entry »
This manual is as good a summary of all the relevant theory and practice of unsaturated cover design as any I have come across. Everything in the manual has been said before—whole conferences have been held on the topics. But I refer you to this manual, in case, like me, you have not previously come across it. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are some quotable quotes from Issue 2 2006 of Reclamation Matters, the journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation. This issue somehow found me on a remote farm in Iowa, and I read the magazine as I recovered from a weekend with ten kids, their parents, and celebration of Guy Fawkes day. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the story of a waste rock dump success/failure? The story is in a new paper from BiTech Publishers and their premier magazine Geo
technical News. The story is summarized in the conclusion section of the paper, Why Waste Rock Piles Will Seep for Many Years after Being Covered by D.J.Williams. I copy the text for your quick review: Read the rest of this entry »
There must be a story about the failure of mining technology lurking in this press release—or is it a story of human nature—or maybe a story of prudent business/politics? Read the rest of this entry »
Chicken curry and two beers at a fancy restaurant in Vancouver paid for by the mining industry. I discussed with my co-diner: education of mining engineers; shutting down university departments of mining engineering; the ethics of mining, blogs on mining (none that I know of); and the concept and practice of sustainable mining. Read the rest of this entry »
The December issue of The Atlantic notes that the Pentagon ranks Africa’s AIDS crisis as a leading security threat. AIDS threatens to “stress the social fabric” and even collapse civil society: desperate, disenfranchised AIDS orphans are vulnerable to radicalization—a breeding ground for terrorists; and AIDS death amongst the military hamper effective peace keeping actions. Read the rest of this entry »
Depending on your aesthetic sensitivities it is the most beautiful site in all the world or the ugliest. I refer to a large wind farm. Read the rest of this entry »
