The mining industry through the prism of the publications that littered the tables of the exhibition hall at the SME meeting in St Louis, March 2006. I confess that my interest in scanning and writing about these publications is mining-related technology as covered in this section of InfoMine. I ignore the significant coverage of mine openings, operations, and closure that is the bulk of these publications. I succumb to some pieces that illustrate the range of opinions that swirl around the mining industry.

Miners News. Billed as news & articles for the hard rock, coal, heavy equipment, aggregate & mining industry, this publication comes from Boise, Idaho. The opinions in the issue I picked up are radical; I quote:

“The next myth to debunk is that 'Indians lived in harmony with nature, while we don’t.' Wrong! The fact is that archaeologists are learning that Native Americans had a greater impact on wildlife than a poorly built cyanide leaching operation. When Native Americans found a tasty species of wildlife, they didn’t sit down and decide how many they should kill and how long the hunting season should be. No, they hunted them until there weren’t any more around.”

“One of the most interesting discoveries about Indians on Black Mesa was that they were mining coal long before the Europeans. Archaeologist uncovered large villages occupied by the Anasazi where coal ash was found in trash heaps and hearths. On the south side of Black Mesa, where the coal seams are exposed, prehistoric Indians mined the coal with wood, stone, and antlers, often removing tones of sandstone overburden in order to expose the seam. Near the village of Awatove, geologists found evidence that Indians mined 27,000 tons of coal, enough to provide half a ton of coal per day for the three hundred years that the village was occupied.”

“Interestingly enough, the environmental movement is graying. Less than a third of the population that ranks environmentalism important is under the age of 35. Most of them are over 45. As a rule, younger people have more important things to worry about… People more likely too (sic) involved in environmental activity don’t just drive Volvos. In fact their choice of cars seems pretty upscale. Cadillac de Villes, Lincoln Town Cars, Ford F-Super Duty trucks are more likely to be found than a Volvo or an environmentally friendly hybrid.”

The Mining Record. Billed as the industry’s leading newspaper since 1889. The contents are reports on exploration and mining activities, similar to those that stream across the web derived from stock exchange listings. There are no views or opinion pieces and only one short technical article by Mark Smith of Vector Engineering on the use of geoelectric surveys to detect holes in geomembranes beneath heap leach pads.

The Northern Miner. Billed as the Global Mining Newspaper. The only technically-oriented content is praise for the nominee for Interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne who: “time and again has showed an ability to understand the complexity of land issues and find the right balance between the preservation of nature and the development of natural resources. In particular, he has worked hard to revise the deeply flawed Endangered Species Act, in part, by shifting power from the federal government to the state and local levels.”

International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment. As noted in the editor’s page: “The first issue was distributed at the World Mining Congress held in Sweden in 1987. Scientific and technical journals in the discipline the readers of the journal represent have limited circulation. Three years ago this journal was acquired by Sets & Zeitlinger of the Netherlands. Circumstances changed again. This journal is now published by Taylor and Francis Ltd of U.K.” This quote is from a paper I found interesting in the September 2004 issue that was available free at their booth.

“Intensive mining and metallurgical activities that took place in the broader area [in Greece] for the last 3,000 years have caused soil pollution, particularly metals and metalloids. Results [of a risk assessment] indicated an excessive risk with respect to arsenic, mainly through the ingestion route, meaning that covering the top soil with the appropriate material (limed sand and gravel) will exclude the particular “pathway” and eliminate hazards for a considerable amount of time.”

Mine Water and the Environment. For my money the best there is. I was particularly fascinated by the article in the December 2005 issue on numerical modeling of flow and capillary barrier effects in unsaturated waste rock piles. Using HYDRUS, the author showed the effectiveness of a shallow downward slope of fine-grained layers that retain and divert moisture due to capillary barrier effects in potentially reducing the amount and mobility of acid rock drainage.

International Council on Mining & Metals Newsletter. From London, this newsletter comes from the “industry’s CEO-led organization in support of sustainable developments.” The February 2006 issue focuses on material stewardship—defined as working together with others to understand more about the materials demanded by today’s society, recognizing their values while also appreciating that there may be associated risks in certain instance, and acting together to minimize and manage the risks and impacts where we have influence. An example of this is the new copper roof of the education center of the Eden Project in Cornwall: “Once the decision had been made to go for a copper roof, there were three possible sources of supply: the open market, 10% recycled material, or virgin copper from a single mine with high environmental and social standards.” The decision was to use new copper from the Bingham Canyon copper mine in the US. Good!

Industrial Minerals. I spent hours reading the April 2006 issue that truly reminds us of the positive role of mining in our every-day lives. Articles on mining pumice to mining salt, on the use of Europe’s inland waterways to transport mine products, and Indian potash feldspar, amongst others grace the pages of this well-written, well laid-out journal. Get a copy and distribute a copy to support the mining-benefits story.