Twin Metals mine (Ely, MN)

Twin Metals LLC is seeking approval to create and operate a copper sulfide mine near Ely, Minnesota, on Superior National Forest land. There has been significant opposition to the proposed mine, most notably because of its proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, location within a watershed that drains into the BWCA, and the air, water, light and noise pollution and traffic effects of converting a forested area bordering the BWCA into a substantial industrial mining facility. Twin Metals is a subsidiary of the Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta, which is controlled by billionaire Andrónico Luksic. The original lease is a 1966 lease to the International Nickel Corporation. The leases were terminated under the Obama administration but renewed under the Trump administration. Critics have objected to and filed lawsuits against various aspects of the lease renewal and regulatory processes. In March 2021, President Joe Biden announced that the Interior and Agriculture departments would review Twin Metals' lease renewal and a judge ordered a pause until June 21, 2021, to review the Trump administration’s decision to renew the leases.
The facility would have an underground mining area accessed by two sloping tunnels, an above-ground processing factory, and a tailings dumping area that would use the dry-storage method. Twin Metals has estimated that the mine would provide 700 jobs and create 1,400 jobs in related industries and that it would operate for 25 years, mining 20,000 tons of ore per day retrieved from depths of between 400 and 4,500 feet.
Iron mining was a significant part of Ely's history but there have been no active mines nearby for 50 years and Ely's primary industry is now recreational business related to the BWCA and Superior National Forest. Proponents cite the economic benefits from projected jobs from the mine; opponents assert that those might not be as expected and would last only for 25 years, and that the mine could prove to be a net economic loss for the region because of its effects on other aspects of its economy.
Early history.
Superior National Forest was created in 1909. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is within it, is highly protected as wilderness and was created in stages, primarily between the 1930s and 1978. In the 1960s, during the Johnson administration, the International Nickel Company negotiated with federal officials to begin copper-nickel mining near Ely in St. Louis County, Minnesota. The proposed mine would be on land within the Superior National Forest, in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, between the Canada–U.S. border and Lake Superior's north shore. It is part of the greater Boundary Waters region along the Minnesota–Ontario border, a historic and important thoroughfare in the fur trading and exploring days of New France and British North America. The BWCA is popular for canoeing, fishing, and hiking, and is one of country's most visited wilderness areas. The proposed mine site is just outside of the BWCA, within the Rainy River watershed, which drains into BWCA lakes, leading some to object that a mining accident could lead to contamination of the lakes within the Wilderness Area.
Twin Metals obtained the leases and applied for reauthorization in 2013. In 2014, the leases expired and were up for renewal. On March 8, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Interior Solicitor determined and advised the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that there was no obligation to renew the leases. In June 2016 the U.S. Forest Service announced that it was considering withholding its consent for the leases' renewal. The announcement shocked many Iron Rangers; the first leases had been granted 50 years earlier and been renewed twice since. On July 14, the Forest Service held a "listening session" in Duluth to discuss Twin Metals's proposal. Nearly 500 people attended. A Regional Forester told those in attendance that the Forest Service was concerned about building a mine in the BWCA watershed. "We're concerned about water quality. And we're concerned about ... the ability within a wilderness area to be able to do adequate mitigation [should anything happen with a mine]." St. Louis County Commissioner Tom Rukavina said it seemed that the Forest Service had already made up its mind. "When you put out a press release that says you're deeply concerned about sulfide mining, you bias your own opinion." Lifelong Ely resident Becky Rom, who works with the organization Save the Boundary Waters, said, "This is the time for us to consider whether the watershed of the Boundary Waters is the right location for an industrial mining district. That decision must occur at the time leases are issued, because these issues grant the right to build a mine and extract minerals." National Public Radio reported that Daryl Spencer of Duluth summed up the views of the majority of speakers at the event when he told the Forest Service that he did not oppose mining but could not support building a mine in the BWCA watershed, and that while he wants jobs for Iron Rangers, "This is just a bad place for this type of mine, and it's not worth the risk."
On July 20, 2016, the last day for public comment on whether the mining leases should be renewed, the Forest Service held a meeting in Ely. Nearly 900 people attended. Speakers split about 50-50, with a narrow majority against the mine proposal. The meeting showed the deep divide between those who grew up in Ely with a long history as mine workers and those who settled in Ely because of the wilderness or connections to businesses that serve the BWCA-related tourist trade. Mike Syresvud, president of Iron Range Building Trades, supports the proposal and urged the Forest Service to allow the leases and evaluate the environmental impact once Twin Metals had submitted a mine plan. But opponents said this was the appropriate time for the government to decide whether copper-nickel mining should be allowed. Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters spokesperson Jeremy Drucker said,"If you look at the leases themselves, they explicitly grant the right to mine, and the right to build mining facilities, and so I think the question is 'Is this the right location to build a mine?' We don't think it is."
Citing the environmental risks that a sulfide-based copper-nickel mine posed to BWCA water quality, in December 2016 the Obama administration decided not to renew the leases. Copper-nickel mining can create acidic runoff known as acid mine drainage that can leach heavy metals into water. Thomas Tidwell, Forest Service Chief at the time, wrote that acid mine drainage could cause “serious and irreparable harm” to the BWCA by allowing drainage into Birch Lake and the Kawishiwi River. According to Tidwell, "acid drainage can be created in all phases of mining, from construction to storing waste rock and tailings." Since the federal leases were integral to its success, the decision all but ended the Twin Metals project.
Trump Administration renews leases.
In May 2018, in an unprecedented action, the Interior Department ordered the Twin Metals leases to be reinstated. The administration claimed that the Obama administration had committed a "legal error" by determining that the government had discretion over whether to renew the leases. It based its argument on a 2017 opinion by Daniel Jorjani, a former legal counsel for the Charles Koch Foundation now working for the Interior Department. Jorjani argued that the original lease's terms guaranteed Twin Metals one more 10-year renewal. On May 15, 2019, the Trump administration renewed the leases.
In June 2018, nine businesses plus various non-governmental organizations filed suit against the decision. The case is currently before a federal judge appointed by Trump. The St. Louis County "Timberjay" has obtained documents the government released to the plaintiffs as part of discovery, most of which are memoranda Minnesota officials wrote to the Interior Department in 1965 and 1966, when INCO still owned the leases. The memoranda show that by summer 1966 the lease had been finalized and the Interior Department had issued a press release announcing them. The press release says that the leases "grant mining rights to the company for 20 years, renewable for 30 years at 10-year intervals if the property is brought into production within the initial 20-year term." The "Timberjay" reported:
The discussions and agreements described in the memoranda suggest that the Trump administration may have a difficult time defending the validity of the legal opinion under which Interior officials made their decision. Nearly 53 years later, no copper-nickel has been produced from the leases, although the BLM and U.S. Forest Service did allow INCO and its successors to renew the leases in 1989 and 2004 despite the lack of production.
Related legal opinions by Reagan's and Obama's Interior Departments "concluded that renewal of the leases was discretionary on the part of the government, due in part to the company’s failure to begin production within the initial 20-year term." The "Timberjay" concluded:
Nothing in any of the memoranda produced by the government supports Jorjani’s novel claim. Instead, Jorjani’s argument runs directly counter to the discussions detailed in government memoranda as well as the 1966 government press release which clearly linked the company’s rights to future lease renewals to the beginning of production within the initial 20-year term.
The Forest Service initially said that the USDA would study the proposal for two years and then the Secretary of the Interior would make a decision based on its findings. But on September 6, 2018, the Forest Service canceled the deeper mineral withdrawal study the Obama administration had ordered. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the 15 months of review that had already been completed revealed no new scientific information. He added, "[The USDA can both] protect the integrity of the watershed and contribute to economic growth and stronger communities." Executive Director of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters Alex Falconer said, "The Trump administration broke its word to us, to Congress, and to the American people when it said it would finish the environmental assessment and base decisions on facts and science." In November 2018 U.S. House members requested information on the withdrawal study's cancellation.
On December 21, 2018, the BLM announced a ten-year extension of the leases' renewal for $1 per acre per year plus royalties. Twin Metals issued a 34-page environmental assessment of its proposal and the public was given until January 22 to comment on it. A Center For American Progress review of the environmental assessment said:
In December 2018, the BLM released a separate 34-page EA recommending that Twin Metals’ mineral leases be renewed. However, the lack of proper scientific assessment in the EA was clear. Analysis of all potential environmental effects—including those on water resources, cultural resources, recreation, wildlife, vegetation, and soil—were described in just seven pages. Equally concerning, the entire EA included just 10 references, and only a single study on potential acid mine drainage was cited. Moreover, that study was authored by Golder Associates Inc., a company hired by Twin Metals in 2014 to write a technical report on the proposed mining project.
The day after the release of Twin Metals' assessment, a partial government shutdown began, resulting in the shutdown of many government agencies. Several environmental groups that opposed Twin Metals' proposals asked for an extension until March 25 because they had been unable to assess information they needed to conduct a review. They also asked for public hearings to be held in Duluth, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington, D.C. In a letter to the BLM, the groups wrote, "A rushed process is insufficient to understand the impacts of lease renewal on one of our nation's most cherished public lands", and they urged the government to "proceed cautiously and take adequate time to fully engage the public, the Forest Service, the scientific community, Native American tribes and others who will be impacted by the decision." Minnesota's U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and U.S. Representatives Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar, and Dean Phillips also asked the BLM to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement about the mine's effects on the Boundary Waters' "sensitive ecosystem" and to agree to a 60-day extension. In April 2019 the House deadline passed for supply of documents related to the withdrawal study.
On November 22, 2019, Minnesota regulators announced that they would conduct their own review of the proposed mine. In December 2019 the judge heard oral arguments in the lease challenge lawsuit and Twin Metals submitted formal plans for the mine.
Twin Metals proposal.
The proposed mine is on public land in the Superior National Forest. The proposed development is by Twin Metals Minnesota LLC, a Delaware corporation and subsidiary of Antofagasta. Twin Metals Minnesota LLC was originally formed in 2010 as a joint venture controlled by Antofagasta. Antofagasta is a Chilean conglomerate controlled by billionaire Andrónico Luksic. Twin Metals' "operational headquarters" is in Ely and its corporate headquarters is in Saint Paul. Although the proposed mine is on Superior National Forest land, the mining is regulated by the Bureau of Land Management.
In December 2019 Twin Metals submitted its formal plans to state and federal officials. The documents lay out a detailed plan of the mining operation and an outline of how the company proposes to manage environmental impact. A Minnesota Public Radio report describes the operation as presented in the Twin Metals documents:
The mine would be accessed by two tunnels, 20 feet by 20 feet and 1.25 miles long, sloping downward to the ore body. Conveyor belts would carry crushed ore to the surface, where it would be processed into metal concentrates at a nearby processing plant. There would be lighting, ventilation, office space and places for employees to gather deep underground. [...] Most mining would occur from 400 feet down to a depth of potentially about 4,500 feet.
The company plans to use a system called "dry stacking" to dispose of tailings, which it says will avoid the use of water and any need for a wastewater treatment plant. Twin Metals says it can create and operate the mine safely and has submitted a plan of operations in its plan's main body, appendices, and worksheet data.
Minnesota has a long history with iron mines, but this would be one of its first copper mines. Another proposal remains under review: a mine proposed by PolyMet that would be an open-pit mine near Babbitt. It would be on the site of a closed iron mining operation, with plans to renovate and expand an old taconite facility to mine copper. Glencore, a British multinational commodity trading and mining company, is the majority stock owner of the PolyMet mining project.
Environmental review and permitting process.
With its formal plan submitted, Twin Metals announced it had received the Bureau of Land Management's Notice of Intent to scope and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed mine. The BLM notice initiates the scoping and environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act. Multiple federal agencies and tribal governments will take part in the process, and the public will have several opportunities to comment. The BLM, the Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Natural Resources will prepare a detailed EIS to thoroughly analyze the proposal's environmental impact. Regional Native American tribes, including the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa will also take part in the review. The results of the review will be compiled into the EIS, which can be expected to be thousands of pages long and take several years to complete.
In November 2019, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced it would conduct its own environmental review rather than collaborate with the federal government on a review. Upon completion of the independent reviews, the state will evaluate them both, but it will rely most heavily on the state review. Noting new regulations Trump has issued that have weakened the requirements for granting environmental approval status, the DNR concluded, "To ensure that transparent and predictable and credible state process, Minnesotans will be better served by doing our own independent process." DNR deputy commissioner Barb Naramore said, "[The] environmental review is really that process where we identify and evaluate and disclose to the public the potential environmental effects of a proposed project. We look not just at the project as proposed but at potential alternatives and the mitigations to those potential environmental impacts." The regulators will also analyze other impacts, such as effects on the regional economy, cultural resources and endangered species. Naramore will help lead the review. During a scoping period the regulators will determine exactly which topics will be studied. The public can weigh in at scheduled public meetings. Former regulator Peder Larson said that the review period is a time to learn and study before a final decision is made. "There is the time to learn, and there's the time to study. And that takes place before there's a time to decide." At the completion of the independent reviews the state will evaluate them both but ultimately they will rely most heavily on the one done by the state.
Throughout the review process state and federal agencies, along with Twin Metals, will work closely together. Naramore has said, "There's a lot of really important back-and-forth that takes place throughout the environmental review process, around potential refinements to the project, and to the mitigation approaches." When the review is completed, Minnesota state regulators will decide whether to grant a permit using the EIS. "MPR News" wrote, "But they’re not deciding on the merits of the project. It’s not up to regulators to determine whether the benefits of the Twin Metals mine—the jobs and economic impact and importance of the metals—outweigh the risks, like the potential for severe water pollution or whether a spot just outside the Boundary Waters is the right place for that kind of mine." David Zoll, a Minneapolis-based environmental attorney, said, "When you get to the ultimate decision on whether you issue a permit it's largely based on numbers. That is, the decision to issue a permit is based on things like the amount of specific pollutants a mine will discharge, and whether that level is allowable under the law. It’s about meeting state standards, following state guidelines, but not about making a value judgment about the mine." In November 2020, the Minnesota DNR and Ely-based Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness reached an agreement under which the DNR will consider possible changes to non-ferrous mining rules that could include a prohibition on non-ferrous mining in the Rainy River watershed (which includes the proposed mine).
Environmental concerns.
The proposed mine and processing facility is controversial because it is to be on the shores of Birch Lake and the South Kawishiwi River, which lie in the Rainy River watershed and flow into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, about five miles to the northeast. In 2016 the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, refused to extend two federal mineral leases to the Twin Metals mine plan and the Forest Service proposed a 20-year mineral withdrawal and launched a 24-month environmental review of the proposal. But the Trump administration reversed that decision and ended the environmental review, allowing the plans for the mine to proceed.
Tom Landwehr, who served five terms as the executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, does not oppose copper mining in Minnesota; in 2018 he worked to approve a proposed open-pit copper-nickel mine near Babbitt. But he believes that there are places where "we can't even consider mining" and when he looked at the plans for a mine so close to the Boundary Waters he said he was "just absolutely stunned." Landwehr noted that the Babbitt mine is in an existing mining area while the Ely site is not only within the BWCA watershed but is covered by forests, lakes and rivers. "It is just such a fragile site from the potential for human damages right on the edge of the Boundary Waters. They are two completely different sites, and this is one of those places where you have to say, 'Not this mine, not this site, not now, not ever.'"
Controversy over toxic waste storage.
Historically, mining waste has been stored in tailings ponds, resulting the release of toxic waste into nearby waters. In July 2019, saying "we heeded the evidence that is out there and we listened to the community concerns", Twin Metals put out a press release saying it would abandon the plan to use a storage pond, which was to be outside the BWCA watershed near Babbitt, and would instead use the dry stacking method of toxic waste storage. While generally more expensive than a conventional tailings dam, dry storage would not require the expensive construction and operation of a pipeline to ship tailings out of the BWCA watershed. Twin Metals’ chief regulatory officer Julie Padilla said, "The key is, it removes that tailings dam. It removes any potential for failure of a dam and spillage in that sense, which is obviously one of the big concerns about this project and others."
The state Department of Natural Resources has questioned whether the method can work in Minnesota’s climate. "MinnPost" wrote that documents show that when the DNR approved dam safety permits for the tailings pond to be used in the Babbitt PolyMet mine it had noted, "If dry stack material becomes wet—but isn’t fully submerged in a tailings pond—it can leach heavy metals that can wash into nearby soil and water. The agency also said dry stack tailings can create a toxic dust that also poses environmental risks." Padilla said that Twin Metals can deal with cold and wet weather by using the dry stack method only when weather allows and putting the tailings back into the underground mine, as has already been planned for about 50% of the tailings, during bad weather.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy said that dry stacking is generally better than a tailings basin and dam but the department needed to see more specifics on the plan. Save the Boundary Waters called the decision to store waste at the project site "going from bad to worse". Of the four mines that Twin Metals has pointed to as successfully using the dry staking system, it said, "All are still in operation. This is important because it sometimes takes a decade or two after mining has ended for the full scale of water pollution to become evident. Nonetheless, all mines have polluted and may continue to pollute surrounding surface water, groundwater, or both."
Political actions and legal challenges.
In December 2019, Landwehr and a group of environmentalists asked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to stop the Twin Metals mine, saying, "Minnesota shouldn’t even be considering a project that the Obama administration scuttled in 2016 as an unacceptable risk to the country’s most popular wilderness," A spokesperson for Walz responded, "The governor believes that no mining project should move forward unless it passes a strict environmental review process that includes meaningful opportunities for public comment." Landwehr also asked that state regulators find the Twin Metals application incomplete because it will not include the findings of the cancelled U.S. Forest Service study under the Obama administration that the Trump administration never released despite numerous requests from members of Congress and others. Landwehr has concluded that the review found that the Twin Metals project should not be allowed to proceed: "They wouldn't be withheld if they said the project should be approved."
In February 2020, Representative Betty McCollum introduced a bill that would ban new copper-nickel mining in about 365 square miles of the Superior National Forest within in the BWCA watershed (H.R. 5598). She said she believes the BWCA is designated as a federal wilderness that belongs to everyone, not just people who live nearby. She called the proposed type of mining new and untested and said she believed it is not worth what she sees as short-term economic gains. The Minnesota Chippewa (Ojibwe) strongly support McCollum's bill. In a letter to Congress, the tribe wrote, "It is unacceptable to trade this precious landscape and our way of life to enrich foreign mining companies that will leave a legacy of degradation that will last forever."
Legal actions.
After the reinstatement of Twin Metals' lease, in June 2018 two lawsuits were filed against the Interior Department, one by the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and one by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Wilderness Society, and the Izaak Walton League of America and Wilderness. They contend the proposed mine poses risks to the Boundary Waters and that the department did not have the authority to reinstate Twin Metals' leases.
Also in June 2018, nine northern Minnesota businesses filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department over its decision to reinstate Twin Metals' leases. The businesses, mostly canoe outfitters, contend that the proposed mine would hurt their business by polluting the Boundary Waters.
In May 2020, a large group of environmentalists and others filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. The suit alleges the Bureau of Land Management conducted only a limited review rather than an in-depth environmental impact statement as required by law. In August 2020 they filed an amended complaint alleging that there was improper interference to remove the stipulation that lease renewals be subject to Forest Service approval.
In June 2020, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness filed a lawsuit requesting that the Minnesota DNR ban copper mining in the Boundary Waters watershed. NMW contends that the nonferrous mining rules fail to protect the Boundary Waters as required by the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act. NMW wants a judge to order the DNR to review the rules and make changes, including a ban, "to prevent a uniquely toxic and accident-prone form of mining from occurring in the Rainy River-Headwaters, waters that flow into and are in the same watershed as the BWCAW, and threaten the water and land of these unique and vital natural resources."
Biden administration asks for review.
On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to review all actions taken during the Trump administration that might conflict with his administration's goal "to listen to the science, to improve public health and protect our environment and to ensure access to clean air and water." In March 2021 the Biden administration announced that the Interior and Agriculture departments would review Twin Metals' lease renewal and a federal judge approved a Justice Department request to pause a lawsuit filed in 2020 by a coalition of canoe outfitters and environmental groups that argued federal agencies had failed to conduct a thorough environmental review ahead of the renewal leases given to Twin Metals. The judge ordered a pause until June 21 to allow the Department of Interior and Department of Agriculture to review the Trump administration’s decision to renew the leases.
Opinions and concerns.
With the beginning of the closing of the Minnesota Iron Range mines in the 1960s, northern Minnesota fell into a decline from which it has never recovered. One worker laid off in 1981 said, "We lost our future, we lost our enthusiasm for living. We lost that vibrant group of young people that participated in the economy, [and] we’ve never really recovered, not in population and not in economy." As the principal gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, summers see an influx of tourists that supports numerous outdoor equipment outlets, canoe outfitters, and other establishments, but most of the tourist trade dries up in the winter.
Hoping to return to economic prosperity, many Ely residents support the proposed mine and support Trump's reelection because he supports the proposal. Ely mayor Chuck Novak supports the mine and has said, "The hope rested with Trump; that’s where the people went … it’s hope. People want hope for a better future. This is the old method of politics: you take care of your economy and your people." Ely resident Sue Schurke, who has established a small manufacturing business designing and marketing winter jackets, disagrees with those who say the tourism economy cannot sustain Ely, but has said, "The work ethic in this town is pretty amazing. And these are good people. So, you know, the issue is delicate, because I do have a lot of respect for the people in this community whose families are miners."
Local approval.
Local residents are deeply divided over the mine. Some see it as economic salvation and believe it can operate safely and provide hundreds of well-paying jobs. When the Minnesota Chippewa objected to the mine because it could pollute the Boundary Waters, Novak called on residents to stop hosting events at a nearby Native American casino, and the city council unanimously defended his action. One Ely resident said, "I do not want the city council kowtowing to these environmental bullies."
Many Ely residents still harbor anger over losing "their lake" when the area became protected from development by the 1964 Wilderness Act, followed by a federal law that officially designated it the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 1978. At that time the lakes were lined with hundreds of cottages and locally owned resorts. Power boats brought residents to distant lakes with ease. Longtime Ely resident Bill Erzar has said that Ely residents feel they didn’t receive fair compensation from the government: "It was devastating to this community. Lots of my friends’ families lost everything fighting the government to keep their property." Only one home and business were allowed to remain, that of Dorothy Molter, the "Root Beer Lady".
Former Ely Mayor Roger Skraba still resents the establishment of the BWCA and has said, "Is there a bad taste in my mouth? Absolutely. Will it go away? When I’m dead." He sees those opposing the mine as liberal environmentalists trying to impose their values on others. Skraba has said he met with Jean Paul Luksic, the Chilean billionaire whose family owns Antofagasta, and that Luksic made a good impression on him, leading him to believe the company will respect the Boundary Waters.
Former Twin Metals special projects manager David Oliver moved to Ely in 2007 to work on the project. Twin Metals claims its site contains 99% of U.S. nickel reserves, 88% of its cobalt reserves, and a third of the nation’s copper reserves. Oliver has said, "these materials are used by everyone, including critics of the mine, and are going to have to come from somewhere." Oliver, who was the chairman of the Ely area Republican caucus, has said of liberals, "They hate the country. They hate the flag. They hate the military. They hate God. They hate anything that has to do with resource extraction."
Local opposition.
Environmentalists oppose the proposal. Longtime Ely resident Paul Schurke, who along with Will Steger made the first unsupported dogsled trip to the North Pole, has said that local mine supporters are being “hoodwinked...if they score the permits, they'll sit on them until the market improves and until expensive mining manpower has been replaced by robotics.”
Ely resident Becky Rom has been leading wilderness trips and speaking out for the preservation of the Boundary Waters since she was a girl. She adamantly opposes the mining proposal, making her "the most reviled person in the room" when she attended a recent city council meeting. Rom and Landwehr believe that environmental reviews are inadequate to maintain the BWCA's integrity because existing regulations do not address the specific risks of Twin Metals' proposal and permit some degradation.
Ely resident Kris Hallberg, a retired World Bank economist, says there is a national trend of recreation replacing mining in driving economic growth and that Ely has hundreds of operating businesses, a renowned wolf center, art galleries, a museum, and a range of festivals held every year. Speaking to a small group of Ely residents, she reported the results of a Harvard University economics professor's analysis of Ely's projected future with and without the mine: "Twin Metals estimates it will bring at least 700 direct jobs and 1,400 spin-off ones, and the analysis found this would undeniably benefit the region. But the gains would be short-lived once the mine shut down after its projected 25-year lifespan and would undercut the outdoors-based economy that, along with tourists, has drawn entrepreneurs and professionals to live and work near the Boundary Waters."
State and national opinions.
In February 2020 a Star Tribune/MPR News poll found that 60% of Minnesotans oppose new mining near the BWCA and 22% support it. When asked whether providing jobs or protecting the environment was more important when it comes to mining, 66% said the environment was a higher priority and 19% said jobs were. The poll found slightly different results in northern Minnesota. There, 60% said the environment was more important, while 23% said jobs were. The poll did not name the mine specifically.
The Center for American Progress has listed numerous concerns about Twin Metals' plans:
The "Star Tribune" editorial board opposes copper mining so close to the Boundary Waters. It wrote that Congress recently decided that metal mining is too risky to be allowed on public lands near Yellowstone National Park and that a similar buffer zone should be established around the BWCA: "Minnesotans often think of the BWCA as a regional attraction. The reality is that it’s a world-class preserve offering an experience that the nation’s marquee parks in the arid American West cannot rival. Visitors come from across the nation and around the globe."
Tom Tidwell, who was chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 2009 to 2017, opposes the project and the cancellation of the more in-depth study, saying, "The vast network of waterways in the Boundary Waters region makes it particularly vulnerable to acid mine drainage. The increased acidity and heavy metal pollution could be catastrophic. It would be impossible to contain pollution given the interconnectedness of the waters. Compounding the problem is the absence of natural calcium carbonates, which means the water has virtually no capacity to buffer acid mine drainage."
In 2018, Representative Betty McCollum filed an objection with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to the mine and the process, detailing risks, impacts and criticism of process issues.
In 2021, President Biden selected Tom Vilsack, who was secretary of the Department of Agriculture under Obama, to return to the job. Vilsack has been highly critical of the mine proposal. Biden also chose Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior, the department that controls the mineral deposits in the forest. Haaland has criticized the Trump administration, saying in 2019, "In places like Minnesota, the Forest Service and [Bureau of Land Management] are jointly responsible for putting valuable freshwater resources at risk from mining pollution."
Other environmental concerns.
Surface water pollution is the most often cited pollution concern. Other concerns include light, noise, dust, air and groundwater pollution. Concern is about both the direct effects of these and the effect on property values and tourism and recreational industries due to the pristine environment of both the BWCA and the National Forest. Some studies found that pollution could be significant enough to make the mine a net economic loss for the area. Another concern is acidic drainage into groundwater from accumulated water in the mine.


Gumyoshevsky mine

The Gumyoshevsky mine (), also called Gumeshki, Gumeshevsky or Gumishevskoye mine is a copper mine located in the town of Polevskoy, in Sverdlovsk Oblast of Russia. It has estimated reserves of 48.5 million tonnes of ore grading 1.02% copper. It was called "The Copper Mountain" or simply "The Mountain" by the local populace.
Gumyoshevsky mine is one of the oldest mines of the Ural Mountains, from its early history at the Bronze Age. It was in use from the mid-2nd millennium BC and continued to be used for centuries.
In 1758 large deposits of oxidized copper were discovered there. In the 18th century Gumyoshevsky mine represented the largest copper reserve of the Ural Mountains, and gained fame as the major supplier of malachite. It produced 450-480 tons of copper annually. About 500 workers were employed at the mine.
The Gumyoshevsky malachite was popular because of its exceptional quality. It was used for decorating the Winter Palace, Saint Michael's Castle, the Palace of Versailles, the Saint Isaac's Cathedral. The samples of ores and minerals from the mine are now kept in the museums around the world, e.g. in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany.
For a long time it supplied ore for Polevskoy Copper Smelting Plant (1724–1870).


Armadale, West Lothian

Armadale (, ) is a town within the district of West Lothian in central Scotland.
Armadale, formerly known as Barbauchlaw, is an ex-mining town which was also known for its brick manufacturing. It is named after Armadale in Sutherland, this estate being owned by Sir William Honeyman who later acquired the land of Barbauchlaw.
Overview.
The town has a great number of different public places. There are eight public bars in the town - Coppies, The Corrie, The Cross Bar The Cavalier, The Bucks Head Tavern, The Highlander, The Regal, and The Goth, which provides the town clock at the front of the building and The Rowan Tree. There are local shops like Coia's Sweet Shop, Coia's Fish and Chip shop, John Dewar and Sons Butchers and more. There is also a small Scotmid supermarket on West Main Street.
Armadale (Woodend Farm) is officially the site of Ogilface Castle. Woodend Farm has another site nearer Blackridge, marked as 'Ogelface in ruins' on a 1773 map. These sites have been the subject of archaeological geophysics surveys by the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society and Dr Peter Morris and kite aerial photography by the West Lothian Archaeological Trust which now also manages the Armadale Community and Heritage Website.
History.
Before the building of a new turnpike road between Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1786 the village of Armadale was little more than a rural farm community but its location at a main highway junction brought additional traffic and a toll house was built where the new road intersected with an existing road in the east of the estate. The estate comprising the lands of Barbauchlaw was sold to Sir William Honeyman in 1790 and upon his elevation to the bench in 1797 he took the title of Lord Armadale (from his mother's estate in Sutherland) and this name was then applied to the township
The discovery of large coal deposits and also ironstone in the area attracted the attention of a number of companies and several pits were sunk in the area. A coal company was formed in 1819 and began to work the "Woodend Pit" to the north-west of the toll house. The resulting boost in prosperity brought railway companies onto the scene transporting an influx of workers requiring housing and all the usual attendant facilities such as shops, village halls, churches etc.. A school was first formed in the town also in this year, and it eventually became necessary to build a dedicated school house in 1839 to accommodate the growing number of students.
As with most mineral dependent communities, as the deposits were exhausted and the pits closed, many moved away but enough local industry remained for the township to survive and today it has also become a commuting hub for those employed in the major towns.
Transport.
The station at Armadale, first opened by the defunct Bathgate and Coatbridge Railway was constructed as part of the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link in the south end of Armadale and re-opened on 4 March 2011.
First Scotland East and Lothian Country Buses also run bus services into the village linking Armadale with Blackridge, Whitburn, Bathgate, Livingston, Broxburn and Edinburgh.
Culture and sport.
Armadale Stadium features speedway. It was also used in the past for stock car racing and, until 2016, for greyhound racing. Speedway started in 1997 when the Edinburgh Monarchs team moved here competing in the Premier League, which it won 5 times, until the 2016 season. Reorganisation of the sport the following year saw the team enter the SGB Championship. The town also has a long-established football team, Armadale Thistle, whose home, Volunteer Park, is located on North Street. Armadale Bowling Club located in South Street was established in 1867 and celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2017.
The Armadale Flute Band, established in 1983, has won competitions all over Scotland.
In May 2013, following the death of Trustee Rosie Wells, and her subsequent bequest, the Armadale registered Scottish Charity No SC043118 (The West Lothian Archaeological Trust) set up the Scottish National Aerial Photography Scheme for children and students. International recognition came in the same month, with the Trust being invited to become an Associated Partner of the ArchaeoLandscapes Europe Project, part of the European Union's Culture Programme, which is managed by Dr Axel Posluschny of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute.
Education.
The local high school Armadale Academy was originally built at the site that now plays host to Armadale Primary School. It was rebuilt and opened in 1967, at West Main Street, Armadale, and was again rebuilt and opened in August 2009, immediately behind the 1967 Academy building. The site of the old building will be used for new car parking facilities, and new playing fields. The current headmaster is Graham Paris. The old headmasters, Campbell Hornell, moved onto a larger school at the end of the 2015/16 term, and Graham Johnstone retired at the end of the 2009/10 term being headmaster there for nearly 14 years. Carol MacDonald left to return to student support at Christmas 2018.
Famous residents.
See


Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals-Springfield Mine Rescue Station

The Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals' Springfield Mine Rescue Station is a historic mine rescue station located at 609 Princeton Avenue in Springfield, Illinois. Built in 1910-11, the station was the first dedicated institution established by any state to help prevent and recover from mining disasters. It trained both miners and dedicated rescue workers in proper safety procedures and emergency preparedness. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1985.
History.
Illinois was a major coal-producing state at the turn of the 20th century, and the rapid growth of its mining industry came with increased safety risks for miners. The 1909 Cherry Mine disaster, which claimed the lives of 259 miners, drew attention and public sentiment to the need for mining safety provisions. In response to the disaster, the Illinois government passed legislation to authorize the establishment of three mine rescue stations, one in each region of the state. The Springfield station served Central Illinois, while stations in LaSalle and Benton served the northern and southern thirds respectively. Construction on the stations began in 1910; the Springfield station was completed in January 1911, shortly before the other two, making it the first dedicated mine rescue station in the United States. In 1914, the state supplemented its efforts with three new stations in Herrin, Harrisburg, and Du Quoin.
The station served two main purposes: to train miners in proper safety procedures and to train special teams of rescuers who could respond to future mining emergencies. Its facilities included classrooms for training, including a special room that could simulate a smoke-filled mine, and living space for the rescue workers. A garage was added to the station in 1948 to accommodate the state's first mobile rescue unit, which allowed rescue workers to respond much more quickly to emergencies. The station continues to train miners and rescue workers; it is the northernmost of the four stations still in operation.


Dhanbad (community development block)

Dhanbad is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand state, India.
Overview.
Dhanbad district forms a part of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, but it is more of an upland than a plateau. The district has two broad physical divisions – the southern part is a coal mining area with mining and industrial towns, and the northern part has villages scattered around hills. The landscape of the southern part is undulating and monotonous, with some scars of subsidence caused by underground mining. One of the many spurs of Parashnath Hills (1,365.50 m), in neighbouring Giridih district, passes through the Topchanchi and Tundi areas of the district. The spur attains a height of 457.29 m but there is no peak as such. The Dhangi Hills (highest peak 385.57 m) run from Pradhan Khunta to Gobindpur. While the main river Damodar flows along the southern boundary, its tributary, the Barakar, flows along the northern boundary. DVC has built two dams across the rivers. The Panchet Dam is across the Damodar and the Maithon Dam is across the Barakar.
Maoist activities.
Jharkhand is one of the states affected by Maoist activities. , Dhanbad was one of the highly/moderately affected districts in the state., Dhanbad was not identified as a focus area by the state police to check Maoist activities. However, there were some isolated Maoist activities in the Dhanbad area.
Geography.
Dhanbad is located at .
Dhanbad CD Block is bounded by Govindpur CD Block on the north, Baliapur CD Block on the east, Jharia CD Block and Chandankiyari CD Block, in Bokaro district, in the south and Baghmara CD Block on the west.
Dhanbad CD Block has a forest area of 776.1 hectares, covering 6.02% of the area of the CD Block.
Dhanbad CD Block has an area of . It has 67 gram panchayats and 85 villages. Dhanbad, Putki, Dhaunsar, Bank More, Saraidhela, Loyabad, Kenduadih and Jogta police stations serve this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Dhanbad.
Demographics.
Population.
As per the 2011 Census of India Dhanbad CD Block had a total population of 58,884, of which 33,421 were rural and 25,463 were urban. There were 31,040 (53%) males and 27,844 (47%) females. Population below 6 years was 7,699. Scheduled Castes numbered 13,909 (23.62%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 2,892 (4.91%).
Dhanbad CD Block has five census towns (2011 population figure in brackets): Pondar Kanali (6,611), Sialgudri (5,450), Aralgoria (4,647), Sansikhara (4,570) and Bardubhi (4,158).
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Dhanbad CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Damodarpur (4,030) and Dhokhra (5,100).
Literacy.
 census the total number of literates in Dhanbad CD Block was 40,166 (78.47% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 23,974 (88.63% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 16,192 (67.09% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 21.55%.
 census, literacy in Dhanbad district was 74.52%. Literacy in Jharkhand was 66.41% in 2011. Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.
See also – List of Jharkhand districts ranked by literacy rate
Language.
Hindi is the official language in Jharkhand and Urdu has been declared as an additional official language. Jharkhand legislature had passed a bill according the status of a second official language to several languages in 2011 but the same was turned down by the Governor.
In the 2011 census, Hindi was the mother-tongue (languages mentioned under Schedule 8 of the Constitution of India) of 62.5% of the population in Dhanbad district, followed by Bengali (19.3%) and Urdu (8.1%). The scheduled tribes constituted 8.4% of the total population of the district. Amongst the scheduled tribes those speaking Santali formed 77.2% of the ST population. Other tribes found in good numbers were: Munda, Mahli and Kora.
Economy.
Livelihood.
In Dhanbad CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 996 and formed 6.11%, agricultural labourers numbered 1,064 and formed 6.52%, household industry workers numbered 376 and formed 2.31% and other workers numbered 13,876 and formed 85.07%.
Infrastructure.
There are 26 inhabited villages in Dhanbad CD Block. In 2011, 23 villages had power supply. 8 villages had tap water (treated/ untreated), 26 villages had well water (covered/ uncovered), 25 villages had hand pumps, and all villages had drinking water facility. 2 villages had post offices, 3 villages had sub post offices, 5 villages had telephones (land lines), 26 villages had public call offices and 100% villages had mobile phone coverage. 25 villages had pucca (paved) village roads, 6 villages had bus service (public/ private), no village had railway station, 11 villages had autos/ modified autos, and 6 villages had tractors. No village had bank branch, no village had agricultural credit society, no village had cinema/ video hall, no village had public library and public reading room. 18 villages had public distribution system, 3 villages had weekly haat (market) and 14 villages had assembly polling stations.
Coal.
Jharia coalfield is the richest treasure house of metallurgical coal in India. The Sijua, Kusunda and P.B.Project Areas of BCCL are located in Dhabad CD Block.
The following collieries function under the Sijua Area: Bansdeopur, Mudidih, Kankanee, Loyabad, S/Bansjora, Nichitpur and Tetulmari. Collieries functioning in the Kusunda Area are: Basuriya, East Basuriya, Gondidih, Khas Kusunda, Kusunda, Industry, Godhur and Dhansar. Collieries functioning in the P.B.Project Area: Balihari K.B., Balihari S.B., P.B.Project, Gopalichak, Pootkee, Bhagaband and Gopalichak 5/6.
The Sijua Area has reserves of 499.685 million tonnes of coal. The Kusunda Area has reserves of 331.00 million tonnes of coal.
The P.B. Area has mineable reserve of 164.39 million tonnes of coal. Some portions of this area are affected by fire.
Agriculture.
Dhanbad district has infertile laterite soil, having a general tendency towards continuous deterioration. The soil can be classified in two broad categories – red sandy soil and red and yellow soil. There are patches of alluvium along the river banks. Limited water resources constitute a major constraint for cultivation. Paddy is the main crop. The soils for rice cultivation fall into three categories – "baad", "kanali" and "bahal". "Aghani", is the main winter crop, consisting primarily of winter rice. "Bhadai" is the autumn crop. Apart from paddy, less important grain crops such as marua and maize are grown. The "Rabi" crop includes such cold weather crops as wheat, barley, oats, gram and pulses.
Backward Regions Grant Fund.
Dhanbad district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the Backward Regions Grant Fund. The fund, created by the Government of India, is designed to redress regional imbalances in development. As of 2012, 272 districts across the country were listed under this scheme. The list includes 21 districts of Jharkhand.
Transport.
The Asansol-Gaya section, a part of the Grand Chord, Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line, passes through this block. Dhanbad Junction railway station is on this line.
Education.
In 2011, amongst the 26 inhabited villages in Dhanbad CD Block, 3 villages had no primary school, 18 villages had one primary school and 5 villages had more than one primary school. 12 villages had at least one primary school and one middle school. 4 villages had at least one middle school and one secondary school.
Healthcare.
In 2013, Dhanbad CD Block had 1 block primary health centre, 1 primary health centre, 2 medical units of Central Government/ Central PSU and 81 private nursing homes with total 6 beds and 11 doctors (excluding private bodies). 15,672 patients were treated indoor and 35,665 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block.
In 2011, amongst the 26 inhabited villages in Dhanbad CD Block, 1 village had primary health centre, 6 villages had primary health sub-centres, 3 villages had maternity and child welfare centres, no village had a TB Clinic, no village had an allopathic hospital, no village had an alternative medicine hospital, 1 village had a dispensary, no village had veterinary hospital, 2 villages had medicine shops and 17 villages had no medical facilities.


Sunstar (racehorse)

Sunstar (1908–1926) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from June 1910 to May 1911 he ran nine times and won six races. He won the 2000 Guineas Stakes and followed with a win in The Derby.
Background.
Sunstar was a medium-sized dark bay or brown horse bred by his owner Jack Joel. He was sired by Sundridge out of a mare named Doris. Sundridge had been a specialist sprinter, excelling over five and six furlongs which led some commentators to doubt his son's ability to stay middle distances. Sundridge had not made an impressive start to his stud career and had been sold to a French breeding syndicate in September 1910, before Sunstar's achievements made his potential evident. He was the Champion sire in 1911, and sired many other good winners, although most of them did better over shorter distances. Doris was a poor racehorse who never rose above selling company, but proved a highly successful broodmare: in the year of Sunstar's Derby win she produced a filly named Princess Dorrie who won the 1000 Guineas and The Oaks in 1914. Joel sent his colt to the stable of his private trainer Charles Morton at Wantage in Oxfordshire.
Racing career.
1910: two-year-old season.
Sunstar showed useful form in winning three of his six races as a two-year-old in 1910. He began his career at Royal Ascot in June when he ran fourth in the New Stakes, a race now known as the Norfolk Stakes. He recorded his first win in the Exeter Stakes at Newmarket and then finished second to St Nat in a race at Goodwood before winning the International Plate at Kempton. In the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster he finished third to Pietri. He returned to Newmarket for the Hopeful Stakes and produced his best performance of the season when dead-heating with Borrow, a colt who went on to win the Middle Park Stakes in October.
1911: three-year-old season.
In the winter and early spring of 1911, Sunstar began to make rapid progress and Morton decided to test the colt in a private trial race at Wantage. On the morning of Good Friday, 14 April, Sunstar was pitted against two good older horses The Story and Spanish Prince and won impressively. The form of the trial looked even better when both of the beaten horses won important handicap races in the subsequent weeks. News of the supposedly private trial soon became public, and when Sunstar appeared at Newmarket for the 2000 Guineas twelve days later, he started the 5/1 second favourite in a field of fourteen runners. Ridden by the French jockey George Stern, he won by two lengths from, Lord Derby's colt Stedfast in a race record time of 1:37.6. Two weeks after his win in the Guineas, Sunstar was moved up to ten furlongs to run in the Newmarket Stakes, despite the concerns of his trainer, who felt that the unusually hard ground presented a risk of injury to the colt's legs. He won the race from Beaurepaire and Persephone, showing that despite his pedigree, he had the stamina for middle distances and confirming his position as favourite for the Derby.
Nine days before the Derby Sunstar pulled up lame in his right foreleg after a training gallop. He had sustained an injury to the suspensory ligaments or the "back tendons" so painful that he was unable to put any weight on the injured leg, making his participation at Epsom extremely doubtful. Morton worked on the injury for the next week, with one treatment involving wrapping the affected leg in cabbage leaves. He was able to deal with the superficial lameness, but informed Joel that the underlying condition remained and that although Sunstar would be able to run in the Derby, any further aggravation of the injury would almost certainly end the horses career. Joel took the decision to run Sunstar, whatever the long-term consequences. In the build-up to the race there were rumours that Sunstar was the target of a plot to prevent his running, orchestrated either by Joel's personal enemies or by unscrupulous bookmakers who stood to lose heavily if the colt were successful. Joel responded by ensuring the Wantage stables were subject to strict security measures. It was later alleged that the source of the rumours was Joel himself, and that the whole affair was either a poorly judged practical joke or an attempt to obtain better odds.
At Epsom on 31 May, Sunstar, despite widespread rumours about his fitness, started the 13/8 favourite in a field of twenty-six runners. The race took place on a fine day and attracted the customary enormous crowd including the King and Queen. The field was considered weaker than usual, with several of the year's best colts missing the race, including the City and Suburban Handicap winner Mushroom, who had never been entered. The start was unsatisfactory, as Stedfast refused to line up with the other runners and was left several lengths behind when the race began. George Stern settled Sunstar in fourth or fifth place behind Bannockburn, Phryxus and Eton Boy, until the turn into the straight when he sent the favourite through a gap on the inside to take the lead. Sunstar went clear of the field, but Stedfast, who had made up a great deal of ground, emerged as his challenger and got to within a length of the leader a furlong from the finish. At this point Stern felt Sunstar falter as his suspect foreleg gave way, but despite his injury, the colt pulled ahead again and won by two lengths from Stedfast, with Royal Tudor four lengths back in third. His winning time of 3:36.8 equaled the second fastest time in the race's history. Sunstar's lameness returned as soon as he pulled up after the race and he was barely able to walk to the winner's circle. It was a first Derby win for Stern, after finishing second on Jardy in 1905 and Louviers in 1909. In addition to the winner's prize of £6,450, Joel reportedly took over £30,000 in winning bets. Initial reports stated that Sunstar was to be immediately taken out of training and retired. In reality, the colt showed some signs of recovery and was being prepared for the St Leger at Doncaster in September when he broke down again in training in August and was then retired to stud.
Assessment.
In their book "A Century of Champions", Tony Morris and John Randall rated Sunstar a "superior" winner of the 2000 Guineas and an average winner of the Derby. The premature ending of his career meant that he was never tested against Prince Palatine, who was probably the best horse of his generation.
Stud record.
Sunstar was retired to stud duty at Jack Joel's Childwick Bury Stud near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, at an initial fee of 300 guineas. He proved to be both a very influential sire and broodmare sire. He was also exceptionally fertile and covered such large books of mares that Joel was criticised by rival breeders. Among his progeny were:
Sunstar was the leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1930. He was notably the damsire of:
Sunstar died on 21 August 1926, and was buried alongside his sire Sundridge in the equine cemetery at Childwick Bury Stud where his monument still stands


Franklin-Creighton Mine

The Franklin-Creighton Mine was a Georgia Gold Rush gold mine located off what is now Yellow Creek Road in the town of Ball Ground in Cherokee County, Georgia. The mine, located along the Etowah River, was initially known as the Franklin Mine because it was started by a widow, Mrs. Mary G. Franklin, who obtained a lot in the Gold Lottery of 1832. Around 1883, the mine became known as the Creighton Mine or the Franklin-Creighton Mine. This mine was one of the most productive and continued to operate many years after other area mines had ceased operations. Some estimate that it was yielding $1000 per day in 1893 and others place its total production after 1880 at as much as $1,000,000. The mine was shut down in 1913 as a result of a collapsed shaft which caused the mine to flood.


Talysarn

Tal-y-sarn () is a village in the slate quarrying Nantlle Valley in Gwynedd, Wales, next to Penygroes. It is part of the community of Llanllyfni and includes some of Llandwrog. The ward had a population of 1,930 at the 2011 census, the built-up area having a population of 1,086.
The Welsh language poet Robert Williams Parry was born in 37, Station Road, Tal-y-sarn, where a plaque designed by R. L. Gapper commemorates the connection. Other persons connected with the village were Annant, quarryman, preacher and bard, Gwilym R. Jones, bard and journalist, and author of the Welsh-language radio series "SOS, Galw Gari Tryfan".
The 19th century methodist preacher John Jones, Tal-y-sarn, is also connected with the village, not by birth but because he settled here, becoming a shopkeeper and quarry owner as a sideline to his main vocation.
The song "Ciosg Talysarn" by the Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan was written after two secret agents were found bugging a public telephone in Tal-y-sarn in 1982.
Tal-y-sarn is covered by a Neighbourhood Policing Team based in the nearby village of Pen-y-groes.


Bissett, Manitoba

Bissett is a community in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Located two and a half hours northeast of Winnipeg on Manitoba Provincial Road 304, Bissett is an entry point to Nopiming Provincial Park. It is home to the True North Gold Mine (also called the Rice Lake Gold Mine), Wynne Drilling Corporation, Northern Wings Bed and Breakfast and the San Antonio Hotel. The township also hosts the base of operations for the Boy Scouts of America Northern Tier High Adventure Base, which operates canoeing expeditions in the nearby Atikaki Provincial Wilderness. There is a school which features a half day nursery/kindergarten and one of the last remaining Grade 1 - 9 classrooms in Canada.
History.
Situated on Rice Lake, the town was named after physician, surgeon and politician Edgar Douglas Richmond Bissett, a Member of Parliament from September 1926 until July 1930. Gold was discovered in the rural community in 1911 and was a steady industry for many years until closure of the mine in 1983. Mining executive John Draper Perrin helped finance the development of the town.
The community was recognized in 1972, and is represented by a mayor and council. The 1996 population was 159, and in 2012 it is approximately 125, although it rises significantly during the summer when the lake cabins fill up. A new mining project, San Gold, was started near the town in 2005 and ceased operations in June 2015.


Abu Tartur mine

The Abu Tartur mine is a large mine located in New Valley Governorate. Abu Tartur represents one of the largest phosphates reserve in Egypt having estimated reserves of 980 million tonnes of ore grading 30% P2O5.


Komsomolsky mine

The Komsomolsky mine is a large copper mine located in the center of Russia in Krasnoyarsk Krai. Komsomolsky represents one of the largest copper reserve in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 1.35 billion tonnes of ore grading 2.85% copper.


Colnic mine

The Colnic mine is a large open pit mine in the west of Romania in Hunedoara County, 30 km north of Deva and 400 km north of the capital, Bucharest. Colnic represents a large gold and copper deposit with estimated reserves of 2.15 million oz of gold and 135,000 tonnes of copper. The project is owned by the Toronto-based company Carpathian Gold.
The project will involve the mining and processing of 14.4 million tonnes of ore per annum over an open pit life of 19 years. The open pit is expected to yield approximately 113,000 oz of gold and 7,100 tonnes of copper per year in doré, reflecting an average total process recovery of 68% for gold and approximately 91% for copper.


Roan Antelope copper mine

Roan Antelope is a copper mine in Zambia. The deposits were discovered in 1902, but their full extent was not understood until 1926.
The mine site was developed between 1927 and 1931, at first experiencing many deaths from malaria due to poor drainage.
Production since then has experienced various slumps and booms.
The mine was nationalized in 1970 and returned to private ownership in 1997.
The new owners struggled to make it profitable, and it changed hands twice.
Location.
The Roan Antelope Copper Mine is in Luanshya District, Copperbelt Province, Zambia.
The Köppen climate classification is Cwa : Monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate.
Before being drained, the mine location was a swampy area within a horseshoe bend of the Luanshya River.
The Chamber of Mines "Yearbook" (1960) showed the Roan reserves as 3.04% copper, the poorest value in the Copperbelt.
In 1967 the reserves were said to average 2.86% copper.
The mine's name is said to have been given by William Collier, a prospector and explorer, who shot and killed a roan antelope in 1902 beside the Luanshya River.
When he went up to the animal he found its head was lying on a rock that contained a visible seam of copper ore.
The next day he shot a rietbok nearby, and found another source of copper which became the Rietbok claim.
On another expedition he found the Bwana Mkubwa claim after he shot a hippopotamus and found a copper bullet in its hide.
He persuaded the local Africans to tell him where the copper had come from.
These stories, given by A. Chester Beatty in a 1931 speech to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, may be taken for what they are worth.
Exploration.
The Rhodesia Copper Company worked the deposit between 1902 and 1907.
They cut 15 trenches and four inclined shafts at Roan Antelope and another 5 trenches at the Rietbok concession.
The surface ore was oxide ore, which is costly to refine.
Development of Roan Antelope, Rietbok and Bwana Mkubwa was abandoned when better quality ore was discovered nearby in Katanga and the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) began producing large volumes of copper at low prices.
There was renewed interest in Northern Rhodesian copper when prices rose in the 1920s.
A. Chester Beatty, founder and owner of Selection Trust, obtained the option of taking over the Roan and Rietbok concessions until 31 March 1926.
He engaged the engineer Russell J. Parker, who arrived in the area in September 1925, and inspected the former Rhodesia Copper Company workings.
Parker realized that the early miners had not noticed that the quality of the ore increased with depth, and the mineralized shale bed became wider at lower levels.
Parker claimed the land between the Roan Antelope and Rietbok claims on behalf of the Bwana Mkuba Copper Mining Company, naming the new claims the "Luanshia" claims, from which the town of Luanshya takes its name.
Parker sank two deeper center shafts, with additional cross-cuts, and his samples seemed to indicate a copper sulfide deposit.
A further program of shaft sinking and drilling started around the end of April 1926 and showed there was a belt of sulfide ore about thick, with 3.87% copper at a depth of .
The sulphides would be much cheaper to refine than the oxides found elsewhere.
Construction.
Roan Antelope Copper Mines was incorporated under the British Corporations Act in 1927 by Selection Trust to develop the mine, a concentrator and a smelter.
In 1927 there were 700 to 1,100 African workers.
By 1929 there were about 4,000 African workers and 300 Europeans.
Many of the Africans were migrants with experience in the mines of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.
The African laborers worked for an average of three months before leaving the site, which was very unhealthy.
The construction process created many places where pools of water could form, ideal places for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed.
The mine experienced a high death rate between 1927 and 1930, making it hard to hire both African and European miners.
The Europeans in South Africa heard of the high levels of malaria and blackwater fever, while the local Africans heard that the river and nearby land was home to a dangerous snake spirit.
In 1928 a surveyor's assistant named Joseph Zgambo drowned in the Luanshya River.
Word spread that the death was caused by a snake spirit living in the river.
Recruitment came to a halt and many Africans left the project.
In 1928 an exorcism ceremony was held to drive out the "funkwe" snake.
In 1929 the managers of the mining company in London arranged for the Ross Institute for Tropical Diseases to send an expedition led by William John Ritchie Simpson to find what was causing the deaths.
Despite some objections to the cost of the work, a project was undertaken to drain the mine works and housing areas, and a zone around them, which was thought to be the farthest distance most mosquitoes could fly.
The work included building culverts and road bridges, filling holes, draining marshes and making the channels of the Luanshya River and other streams deeper and straighter.
At the same time latrines were built, garbage removed, the hospital was cleaned regularly and a laboratory was established.
The result was a dramatic decline in deaths from 61.1 per 1,000 per month in the rainy season of 1929–1930 to 17.5 per 1,000 per month by 1931–1932.
The mining company did not wait for an official government survey, but started to build the planned town of Luanshya immediately.
They opened five shops and started a hospital.
Single African men were at first housed in mud brick rondavels with thatched roofs.
After 1929 they were moved to baked brick houses with corrugated iron roofs and concrete floors, supposedly mosquito-proof, while the rondavels were assigned to African married couples.
The company's compound manager and the black mine police had more authority than the government.
In 1931 the manager set up a Tribal Elders Council to settle disputes according to customary law, which had the side effect of making the miners feel independent of European authority.
Operations.
Production began in 1931.
The mine opened at the start of a copper slump.
At the peak of the copper boom in 1930 the Northern Rhodesian mines employed 31,941 people. By the end of 1932 the workforce had dropped to 6,677.
In late May 1935 a crowd of striking Bemba miners gathered outside the offices of the Roan Antelope copper mine.
The police fired at random into the miners and their supporters.
Six people were killed and 22 wounded.
The governor, Hubert Winthrop Young formed a commission led by William Alison Russell to report on the reason for the disturbances.
The conclusion was that it was due to a tax increase that had been announced to the miners abruptly and without explanation.
The commission did not question the tax increase itself, but reformers asked what the Africans received in return for the tax.
Roan Antelope was not able to declare a dividend until 1935.
Most profits were used to develop the mine, but in 1937 Roan Antelope was able to pay an 80% dividend, followed by 20% in 1938.
The African Mineworkers' Trade Union (AMWU) was formed in 1949.
The first serious strike was in 1952, with the union demanding wage hikes of 2s. 8d. per shift.
It lasted 21 days, until management accepted arbitration, through which the workers gained solid increases in pay.
The companies started a new policy of promoting Africans into low-level supervisory positions.
These men had to leave the AMWU and join the Mines African Staff Association (MASA), whose members could not strike.
There was a small strike at Roan in 1954.
The company stopped rations, but the strikers were able to survive on food from their gardens.
The mine was reorganized under the Northern Rhodesia Company Ordinance on 1 July 1954.
In 1955 and 1956 there were sustained strikes against the MASA members.
The 1956 strike was ended in September when an emergency was declared and the radical union leaders were banished.
In 1956 Roan Antelope paid dividends of 100%.
In 1957 the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visited the Roan Antelope Copper mine.
She wore a white coat and a miner's helmet with lamp as she watched mining activity and shook hands with longtime miners.
In 1960 production peaked at 105,000 tonnes of copper.
There was a strike in 1961 for African wages closer to those of Europeans, which ended only when the African nationalist leaders put pressure on the unions.
By 1964, when Zambia gained independence, Luanshya had a population of 62,000.
In 1966 there was another major strike protesting the dual wage structure set up at independence.
The copper industry in Zambia was nationalized in 1970, and in 1982 Roan Antelope became part of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines.
It was privatized in 1997 and became the property of the Roan Antelope Mining Corporation of Zambia, owned by a group based in India.
This company went bankrupt in late 2000.
The mine was flooded in 2001 when heavy rains caused the Luanshya dam to overflow, and was officially closed.
The mine was sold to a Swiss/Israeli joint venture in 2002, but this failed in 2008 and the mine's 2,500 workers were laid off.
In 2009 the China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group acquired the mine, and reopened it in 2010, but faced strong competition within Zambia and globally.
In 2015 the government proposed a steep increase in mineral taxes, leading to a stand-off with the mining companies and the loss of more than 10,000 mining jobs in Zambia.


Sonhat coalfield

The Sonhat is a large coal field located in the east of India in Chhattisgarh. Sonhat represents one of the largest coal reserve in India having estimated reserves of 2.67 billion tonnes of coal.


Walter Energy

Walter Energy, Inc. was a publicly traded "pure play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry. The company also produced natural gas, steam coal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, and coal bed methane gas. Corporate and U.S. headquarters were located in Birmingham, Alabama, and its Canadian & UK headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. Walter Energy filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and its assets were purchased by Warrior Met Coal.
Divisions.
U.S..
The company's U.S. underground mines produced high-quality coal from Alabama's Blue Creek seam. Jim Walter Resources, the Company's U.S. underground coal mining unit, has grown from a small producer of less than 1 million tons of coal per year, produced solely for use in its sister company's coke ovens, into one of the 25 largest coal metallurgical coal producers in the United States, with 2010 metallurgical coal sales of approximately 6.0 million metric tons and plans to expand sales to 8.5 million metric tons of metallurgical coal by 2013. Its metallurgical coal mines, No. 4 and No. 7, are two of the deepest vertical shaft coal mines in North America at nearly 2,000 feet deep. The mines also produce a significant quantity of coal bed methane gas. Jim Walter Resources also operates the North River steam coal mine.
The U.S. Division operates the Maple Coal and Gauley Eagle mines in West Virginia, and mines in South Wales in Britain. These mines were formerly owned by Western Coal Corp.
Walter Minerals, an Alabama-based surface coal producer with a capacity of nearly 1.5 million tons, which produces coal for the Alabama steam and industrial coal markets, also is included in the Company's U.S. operations.
Walter Coke, the company's fuel coke producer, manufactures coke for use in blast furnaces and foundries. The Birmingham, Alabama company was formerly known as Sloss Industries.
Canada and U.K..
Walter Energy's Canadian and European operations consist of three mines in British Columbia, Canada and a project in Wales at Aberpergwm, UK.
History.
The company was formerly known as Walter Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Walter Energy in April 2009. The predecessor company was founded by Tampa entrepreneur the late James W. Walter Sr. in 1946 as a builder of affordable, stick-built homes across the southeast. It spun off Mueller Water Products in 2006, closed Jim Walter Homes in 2009, also spinning off Walter Investment Management Corporation in 2009.
2001 mine disaster.
At approximately 5:15 p.m. on September 23, 2001, at the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 coal mine in Brookwood, 40 miles southwest of Birmingham, a cave-in caused a release of methane gas that sparked two major explosions, killing thirteen miners.


Urzarsaiskoye mine

The Urzarsaiskoye mine is a large open pit mine located in the eastern part of Russia in Siberia. Urzarsaiskoye represents one of the largest tungsten reserves in Russia having estimated reserves of 90.9 million tonnes of ore grading 0.11% tungsten.


West-Siberian Metal Plant

West-Siberian Metal Plant "(Russian: Западно-Сибирский металлургический комбинат)" is a metal plant in the city of Novokuznetsk in Kemerovo Oblast in southwestern Siberia, founded on 27 July 1964. The West-Siberian Metallurgical Plant is owned and operated by Evraz. The company's name is abbreviated to ZSMK "(Russian:ЗСМК)". It is one of the largest smelters in the Siberian region and the fifth-largest metallurgical plant in Russia. ZSMK's products are sold in over 30 different countries around the world.
In 2016, over 5.4 million tons of pig iron and over 6.9 million tons of steel were produced by the Metallurgical Plant.


Etykinskoye mine

The Etykinskoye mine is a large mine located in the southern part of Russia in Zabaykalsky Krai. Etykinskoye represents one of the largest tantalum reserves in Russia having estimated reserves of 97.7 million tonnes of ore grading 0.013% tantalum.


Makrana

Makrana is an urban city located at the centre of Rajasthan. It also served as a tehsil headquarters, with 136 villages under its jurisdiction thus making it the largest tehsil in Nagaur District. Makrana is west of Jaipur and north-east of Jodhpur. Makrana is known for the part it has played in building the Taj Mahal by supplying marble, craftsmen and stonemasons to build the iconic UNESCO world heritage centre. It is one of the developing cities in the state. The marble from the town Makrana which is known as Makrana Marble, gets the GHSR (Global Heritage Stone Resources) status from the IUGS.
Geography.
Makrana is located at , and has an average elevation of . It lies in the middle of the Aravalli Range, and these mountains are the source of its fame as a marble producer.
History.
Makrana was a part of Jodhpur State in British India. It is home to some of the world's most renowned white marble sites, from which the Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial of Kolkata, Birla Temple of Jaipur and Jain Temple of Dilwara in Southern Rajasthan were built. It is said that the 1800 artisans who settled Makrana originally came from a coastal strip in the south of Sindh and Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, also called Makrana. These artisans came to India to build the Taj Mahal.
Economy.
The town is served by railroads and other forms of transportation, serving as a key junction between Jaipur, Parbatsar and Jodhpur.
Makrana is a large town in Nagaur district, with a deposit of 56 million tonnes of marble and 40,000 labourers working in 900 mines in the several ranges of the Aravallis. Makrana is the main centres of marble in Rajasthan. Calcitic in nature, Makrana marble is regarded as the oldest, and finest in quality.
The present rate of marble production from Makrana is 19.20 million tonnes per year with an annual revenue of rupees (INR) 20036 crore. Per capita income is INR 50,000, which is much higher than national average of INR 46,000. It is the richest municipality in Rajasthan.
Makrana is source of employment to more than 100,000 people from about 200 surrounding villages. The Victoria Memorial of Kolkata, the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Raudat Tahera in Mumbai and the Jain Temple of Dilwara in southern Rajasthan are built from Makrana marble. Some other monuments where Makrana marble has been used are the Haji Ali Dargah of Mumbai, the Jain Temple of Mysore, and the Ambedkar Park of Lucknow.
Mining.
Makrana marble is a metamorphic rock. It is found in a single deposit in India. The Makrana marble has a range of about 90–98% Calcium Carbonate.
Makrana has various mines in the Aravallis range, popularly known as Doongri, Devi, Ulodi, Saabwali, Gulabi, Kumari, Neharkhan, Matabhar, Matabhar Kumari, Chuck Doongri, Chosira and Pahar Kua. The Pahar Kua range is thought to be the actual mine from which the marble for the Taj Mahal was extracted.
The Doongri, Devi, Sahabwali, Ulodi, Chosira and Neharkhan mines are famous for white marble, whereas Ulodi is famous for albeta marble (white marble with dark patterning). The Gulabi mine produces pink plain and pink adana marble, whereas almost all mines produce adanga marble with brown and grey shades. There are about 800 factories for marble cutting and processing. The factories use gang saws to cut the marble
References.
Makrana City papultion
Nagouri Silawat 75%


Gold Fields

Gold Fields Limited is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The firm was formed in 1998 with the amalgamation of the gold assets of Gold Fields of South Africa Limited and Gencor Limited. As of 2019, Gold Field was the world's eighth-largest producer of gold.
The company owns and operates mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. Growth efforts are focused mainly in the regions where it currently operates, and are mainly driven through brownfields exploration on its existing land positions and through mergers and acquisitions in the same regions.
Gold Fields' chairperson is Cheryl Carolus, and the CEO is Nick Holland.
Operations.
South Africa.
In 2012, Gold Fields Limited unbundled its subsidiary, GFI Mining South Africa Proprietary Limited ("GFIMSA"), which was then renamed Sibanye Gold Limited ("Sibanye Gold"), and consisted of the KDC (formerly Kloof) and Beatrix mines, as well as an array of support service entities in South Africa. The three mines transferred from Gold Fields to Sibanye, later Sibanye-Stillwater, were:
Environment.
In October 2001 a tailings dam ruptured at the company's Tarkwa Gold Mine in Ghana resulting in thousands of cubic metres of mine waste water spilling into the Asuman River and resulting in the death of significant marine life. While acknowledging the cyanide spill the company stated at the time that the spill did not affect human health or safety.
A further incident occurred in 2003 when water from an abandoned underground mine shaft, again at the company's Tarkwa Gold Mine, was identified as having seeped into the Asuman River sparking further fears of contamination.
In July 2012 the company was directed by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to halt a gold-recovery plant at the Tarkwa Gold Mine because water discharged from the site required additional treatment.


Brora

Brora () is a village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland.
Origin of the name.
The name "Brora" is derived from ancient Norse, meaning 'river with a bridge.'
History.
Brora is a small industrial village, having at one time a coal pit, boat building, salt pans, fish curing, lemonade factory, the new Clynelish Distillery (as well as the old Clynelish distillery which is now called the Brora distillery
), wool mill, bricks and a stone quarry. The white sandstone in the Clynelish quarry belongs to the Brora Formation, of the Callovian and Oxfordian stages (formerly Middle Oolite) of the Mid-Late Jurassic. Stone from the quarry was used in the construction of London Bridge, Liverpool Cathedral and Dunrobin Castle. When in operation, the coalmine was the most northerly coalmine in the UK. Brora was the first place in the north of Scotland to have electricity thanks to its wool industry. This distinction gave rise to the local nickname of "Electric City" at the time. Brora also houses a baronial style clock tower which is a war memorial.
Transport.
The village is situated where the A9 road and the Far North Line bridge the River Brora. The village is served by a railway station. Buses operate about every two hours Mondays-Saturdays and infrequently on Sundays from Brora to Golspie, Dornoch, Tain and Inverness in the south and Helmsdale, Dunbeath, Lybster, Wick, Castletown, Thurso and Scrabster in the north. These are on routes X98, and X99 and are operated by Stagecoach in the Highlands.
Education.
An education is available for primary school children in Brora Primary School in Johnstone Place. The building was formerly Brora High School, that included the primary department. Although the school opened in 1962, the secondary department closed in 1985. It includes a playgroup, nursery and Primaries 1 to 7. Older children are taken by school transportation to the nearby Golspie High School.
Sport.
Brora Rangers F.C. were founded in 1879 and have been members of the Highland Football League since 1962. They moved to their present stadium, Dudgeon Park, in 1922. Amongst the local amenities are an 18-hole links golf course designed by James Braid in 1923 for sum of £23, bowling and tennis facilities.
Government listening station.
To the south-east of the village is the former Brora Y Station which operated as a Government listening station between 1940 and 1986.


Pittsburgh coal seam

The Pittsburgh Coal Seam is the thickest and most extensive coal bed in the Appalachian Basin; hence, it is the most economically important coal bed in the eastern United States. The Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal bed of the Monongahela Group is extensive and continuous, extending over 11,000 mi2 through 53 counties. It extends from Allegany County, Maryland to Belmont County, Ohio and from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania southwest to Putnam County, West Virginia.
This coal seam is named for its outcrop high on the sheer north face of Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it is considered to form the base of the upper coal measures of the Allegheny Plateau, now known as the Monongahela Group. The first reference to the Pittsburgh coal bed, named by H.D. Rodgers of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, was on a 1751 map.
The section of the Pittsburgh seam under the Georges Creek Valley of Western Maryland is known as The Big Vein This is isolated from the rest of the Pittsburgh seam by Savage Mountain (part of the Deer Park anticline), the Negro Mountain anticline, the Laurel Hill anticline, and the Chestnut Ridge anticline. Between these anticlines, the strata containing the Pittsburgh coal have been almost obliterated by erosion. The exception is a small remnant in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the Berlin Syncline between Negro Mountain and Savage Mountain.
Formation.
The Pittsburgh coal is one of many minable coal beds that were deposited across the Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous) and Permian (330–265mya) eras in a subsiding foreland basin that was filled in with sediments eroded from an ancient landmass located to the east. The Monongahela Group and other northern and central Appalachian Basin (fig. 1) Pennsylvanian sediments were deposited on an aggrading and prograding coastal plain within a foreland basin adjacent to the Alleghanian fold and thrust belt.
The Pittsburgh coal bed formed during a hiatus in active clastic deposition that allowed for the development of a huge peat mire. The extensively thick peat deposit was destined to become one of the most valuable energy resources in the world. The distribution of some of the sediments, particularly the channel sands, may have been controlled in part by deep, Early Cambrian basement faults that were reactivated during the Alleghany orogeny (Root and Hoskins, 1977; Root, 1995).
Significant parts of the clay layer immediately below the Pittsburgh coal rest on an unconformity, that is, an old eroded surface. For this reason, the Pittsburgh seam is taken as the basal member of the Monongahela Group. The underlying erosion surface is considered the top of the Conemaugh Group, formerly known as the Lower barren measures because this formation contains few coal seams.
The Monongahela is composed mainly of sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and coal, and consists of a series of up to ten cyclothems. During each cyclothem, the land was flooded, allowing the accumulation of marine deposits such as shale, limestone and sandstone. When the sea level fell, coal formed from the remains of swampland. Some of the coal beds in the Monongahela group are erratic, sometimes little more than a black streak in the rock, while others are of commercial importance.
The Pittsburgh coal seam is laterally extensive. It commonly occurs in southwestern Pennsylvania in two benches, and the lower bench can be over six feet thick. The Pittsburgh rider coal bed, which overlies the lower bench, can range from 0 to 3 feet in thickness.
Exploitation.
In 1760, Captain Thomas Hutchins visited Fort Pitt and reported that there was a mine on Coal Hill, the original name given to Mount Washington across the Monongahela River from the fort. The coal was extracted from drift mine entries into the Pittsburgh coal seam at outcrop along the hillside about 200 feet above the river. The coal was poured into trenches dug into the hillside, rolled to the edge of the river, and transported by canoe and boats to the military garrison. Sometime around 1765, a fire broke out in this mine, which continued to burn for years, leading to collapse of part of the face of the hill. Mining rights were formally purchased from the chiefs of the Six Nations in 1768, and from this point on, coal fueled the explosive growth of industry in the Pittsburgh Region.
By 1796, coal mines extended along the face of Mount Washington for 300 fathoms (1800 feet), centered across the Monongahela from Wood Street. By 1814, there were at least 40 coal mines in the Pittsburgh region, worked from adits in the face of the coal seam using room and pillar methods. By 1830, the city of Pittsburgh consumed more than 400 tons per day of bituminous coal for domestic and light industrial use. In the early 19th century, Pittsburgh coal became the city's
primary fuel source: about 250,000 bushels (approximately 400 short tons) of coal were consumed daily for domestic and light industrial use. The primary reason for the switch from wood to coal was one of economics. In 1809, a cord of wood cost $2.00 and a bushel of coal cost $0.06, delivered. The coal was plentiful and laborers, working in mines within a mile of Pittsburgh, earned about $1.60 per week and could produce as many as 100 bushels of coal daily.
The Pittsburgh seam was America's principal seam of coal production during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Pittsburgh-seam coal was ideally suited to making coke, particularly for iron blast furnaces. It fostered the development of much of southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly a section of the Pittsburgh seam known as the Connellsville district.
Exploitation of the Pittsburgh-seam coal began slowly. Initially, blacksmiths and foundrymen made coal into coke to use in their hearths and small furnaces. During the early nineteenth century, entrepreneurs in western Pennsylvania adapted British coke-making practices to produce coke for local iron works. To make coke, coal is burned under controlled conditions to drive off volatile matter (gases expelled when coal is burned), leaving carbon and ash from the coal fused together in the form of coke. They made coke in turf-covered "mounds," in which coal burned slowly and without oxygen to drive off impurities. The adoption of beehive coke ovens in the 1830s spurred the use of Pittsburgh-seam coal in iron furnaces, and these ovens made better-quality coke than mounds.
Pittsburgh-seam coal, especially the highest-quality coal found in the Connellsville district, was the best coal in America for making coke. When converted into coke, it was sufficiently strong to withstand the weight of iron ore that was piled with coke inside iron furnaces. It has a high proportion of carbon, which accelerates combustion, and a low proportion of impurities, including ash and moisture, which retards combustion. Pittsburgh coal also has a low proportion of sulfur, which is critical to making high-quality iron. In addition, the Pittsburgh seam was located close to Pittsburgh, then the center of the growing American iron and steel industry. Coke had to be transported by water or rail to iron furnaces, and the Pittsburgh seam's proximity to iron furnaces gave the bed another competitive advantage over more distant coal seams that could produce coke.
The mining of Pittsburgh-seam coal boomed off after 1860 as the rapidly expanding iron and steel industry adopted coke. The output of the iron and steel industry burgeoned during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as demand for steel products surged. To meet the corresponding demand for coke, Pittsburgh-seam mines vastly increased their production from 4.3 million tons of coal in 1880 to a peak of forty million tons in 1916. Most of the pre-1900 growth in coal output occurred in the Connellsville district. However, the iron and steel industry's demand rose so rapidly that it became clear by 1900 that this district could not satisfy demand by itself. During the 1900s and 1910s, mine companies exploited the Lower Connellsville district of the Pittsburgh seam, adding greatly to total output. The growth of Pittsburgh-seam mining was so massive, and so intertwined with coke production for the iron and steel industry, that the late nineteenth and early twentieth century has been called the "Golden Age of King Coal, Queen Coke and Princess Steel."
Beginning in the 1910s, important technological and industrial changes spelled the end of the Pittsburgh seam's importance. By-product coke ovens, which yielded more coke per ton from coal, replaced most beehive coke ovens from 1910 to 1940. By-product ovens utilized coal that was lower quality than Pittsburgh-seam coal, greatly reducing demand for Pittsburgh-seam coal. The Great Depression also contributed significantly to the decline of production. Pittsburgh-seam output continued to fall after a World War II surge as steel mills adopted alternative fuels such as natural gas and oil and improved the energy efficiency of iron furnaces. Another major blow came during the late 1970s and 1980s as the American steel industry closed many steel mills in the Pittsburgh region and elsewhere. The decline of Pittsburgh-seam mining brought large-scale social and economic changes to southwestern Pennsylvania, as unemployment climbed, the region lost population due to out-migration, businesses dependent on coal miners' income folded, and municipalities had declining tax bases.
Despite two centuries of mining, about 16 billion short tons of resources remain, with the largest remaining block in southwestern Pennsylvania and adjacent areas of West Virginia. Much of the remaining resource to the south of Marion County, W. Va., and west through much of Ohio is high in ash and sulfur, and is not likely to be extensively mined in the near future given current economic trends.
The Big Vein.
The Big Vein was discovered in 1804, in an outcrop east of Frostburg, Maryland, but it was not until 1824 that small-scale shipment to Georgetown began. The first mine was the Neff mine, later known as the Eckhart mine . Initially, mining was seasonal, confined largely to winter time. Coal was hauled overland to Cumberland, Maryland and then loaded onto flatboats for shipment down the Potomac River during the spring floods. Eckhart Mines, Maryland began as a company town supporting this town, and this mine was merged with other later mines to become what is now Consol Energy.
In 1842, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland, followed in 1850 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. These allowed large-scale exploitation.


China University of Mining and Technology

China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT); (), colloquially 矿大, is a national key university under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education of China, and a Project 211 and Project 985 platform (in terms of mining) university of China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class Discipline University, with Double First Class status in certain disciplines. The university is ranked as the best mining university in China and has a worldwide reputation in coal mining technology and research. It has two parts: the main campus located in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province which is called China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT), and a second campus located in Beijing (China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, CUMTB). The latter used to be the Graduate School of CUMT. CUMT is a leading multi-disciplinary polytechnic university with mining features.
History.
The predecessor of CUMT was Jiaozuo School of Railroad and Mines founded in 1909. In 1950 the school was moved from Jiaozuo to Tianjin and renamed China Institute of Mining and Technology (CIMT). In 1952 during the nationwide restructuring of universities and colleges, the mining engineering departments of Tsinghua University, former Beiyang University and Tangshan Institute of Railroad were merged into CIMT. In 1953 CIMT was moved to Beijing and became Beijing Institute of Mining and Technology; in 1970 the institute was moved to Sichuan province and renamed Sichuan Institute of Mining and Technology. In 1978 the institute was moved to the present new location in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province and restored its original name, CIMT. In the same year, Beijing Graduate School of CIMT was founded and began to admit graduate students. In 1988 the institute was renamed China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT). In 1997, CUMT Beijing Branch was founded based on Beijing Graduate School of CUMT and began to admit undergraduate students. CUMT was approved as one of key universities in China by the government in 1960 and in 1978 respectively. In February 2000 CUMT was transferred to be under the administration of China Ministry of Education (CME) from the administration of China Ministry of Coal Mining and became one of the state universities directly supervised by CME.