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Jan 1, 1978

Jan 1, 1958

The ninth annual Mine Rescue Evaluation was held in conjunction with the RMCMI 2000 convention at the Sheraton Tamarron Resort, Durango, Colorado June 25 thru 27. The purpose of the mine rescue evaluation program is to provide an opportunity for mine rescue teams to learn new skills and improve their existing ones in a non-competitive environment. Several staged "disaster" scenarios were [ ] held where the teams are called upon to exhibit their life saving abilities. The evaluators meanwhile are offering suggestions, both verbal and written, to help the teams better understand the situations presented them. This non-competitive environment allows the teams to work together and share their knowledge with fellow mine rescue teams providing everyone with a positive learning experience. Mine Rescue Chairman Bill Balaz was in charge of coordinating the events. Seven teams consisting of seven to ten members each (totaling 63 members) participated in the two-day event. Each team was required to respond to three different real-life scenarios plus a written general knowledge test daily. This year's four professional evaluators included Art Saenz (Hazardous Materials) of Western Envi¬ronmental Associates; Guy Horton (Ropes), Guy Horton Rope Rescue; Mary Bailey (Medical), MBA Training and Ron Lauer (Confined Space) also lassos Western Environmental Associates. They cash prov- [ ] ided three different challenging mock situations per day per team. The teams had no prior knowledge of what the scenarios would be as details were provided only as they arrived. Ten volunteer victims added much drama and excitement to the event. Their realistic enactments, complete with false blood makeup and severed limbs, made for some very tense scenarios. The Mine Rescue Teams participating this year were BHP LaPlata, BHP Navajo, BHP San Juan, all from Farmington, New Mexico; Bridger Coal Co., Rock Springs, Wyoming; Sabine Mining, Longview, Texas; Solvay Minerals, Green River, Wyoming and Western Energy Co., Colstrip, Montana. Many new [ ] friendships were made and much knowledge shared. A swap meet was held Saturday afternoon for the teams to exchange miscellaneous equipment, hats, shirts, etc. The teams were asked to evaluate the program and the evaluators. Then responded with many positive suggestions that will help improve the upcoming events in the years to come. Culmination of the Mine Rescue program was a Tuesday morning awards breakfast where the teams were presented with plaques. The participating victims and evaluators were also commended for their outstanding efforts. Sponsors for the Mine Rescue program were Big Sky Coal Company, CMC Rescue, Magnum Metals, Inc., and Rocky Mountain Electric. Many hours of volunteer time and effort from various family members of participants helped make the 2000 event a huge success.

Jan 1, 2000

By Hugh McLeod

To make the statement that coal mine operation has been entirely revolutionized within the last ten years is a mild statement. This has been entirely due, of course, to the almost universal introduction of mechanical loading in coal mines. Under the old system of contract loading too much was left to the individual miner's judgment and willingness to do the right thing. Each miner regarded the place in which he worked as "his place," and depending upon the judgment and ability of the miner, conditions as found in these places largely reflected that man's individuality or personality. Many men kept their places well timbered and in such condition that they were not only able to load their turn but were able to take advantage of any surplus cars that might be available in their particular entry. These men were often regarded as "coal hogs." However, these men's places were usually found to be well timbered and well maintained. Supervision under this old system in a strict sense of the word amounted to casual visits to the man's working place by the foreman or his assistant once each day as required by law.

Jan 1, 1938

Jan 1, 1975

By C. A. Allen

When the writers were asked to prepare a paper on this subject for this meeting of the Institute there was some question in our minds as to what to say that would be of interest to the members. You all know that Utah has some wonderful seams of good coal, on which have been opened some of the most modern mines in the United States, and that her coal operators have been putting forth many efforts to reduce losses due to accidents as well as disease. While I believe that the physical condition of Utah's mines is as good as in any other state we are not unaware of the fact that a great deal can still be done and we are always willing to frankly discuss the accident situation in the state. Dr. Murray has assembled some interesting figures showing the monetary loss due to accidents and disease which I will will proceed to give you to show the necessity of continued efforts in welfare work regardless of humane considerations.

Jan 1, 1922

Jan 1, 1991

A symposium concerning "The Image of the Coal Industry" was presented at 2:00 p.m. in the Conference center and chaired by Charles W. Margolf, RMCMl Program Chairman and Vice President, Western Coal Development, W. R. Grace & Co. MR. McKEEVER: I'd like to do one thing and that's to introduce our Program Chairman, Charlie Margolf, who will be handling this portion of the program. Charlie and I have been acquainted since late 1973. He has worked together with me on several projects at W. R. Grace here in the west; a dear friend and one that I just want to say thanks to again. I think I have a little token of that appreciation here for Charlie. Here you are Charlie. (present given) I turn the command over to you. Mr. Margolf, a native of State College, Pennsylvania, received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1950 and a Juris Doctor Degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1953. His professional experience has beem as an attorney in the Law Department of Reynolds Metals Company, Richmond, Virginia, where he served as legal counsel to the Geological Department the mining subsidiaries of the parent company both foreign and domestic, the Power Department and the Oil and Gas Division. He was closely associated with Reynolds Mining Corporation's project at Lake DeSmet, Wyoming, from its inception in 1954 and became Manager of the Wyoming Division of Reynolds Mining Corporation when it was established in 1966, holding that position until September 1972 when he joined Cameron Engineers, Inc. of Denver, Colorado as Vice President in charge of its coal, water and environmental activities. Mr. Margolf joined W. R. Grace & Co. in January 1974 as Director of Western Coal Operations. Memberships are held in the Virginia Bar Association, the Wyoming Bar Association, the American Bar Association and its Section of Natural Resources Law, the Wyoming Engineering Society, the Colorado Mining Association, the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute which he has served as vice president for Wyoming, the Society of Mining Engineers of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, the Minerals Information Committee of the Denver Chapter of AIME and the Denver Coal Club which he has served as Chairman of its Board of Directors. He has also been a member of the Montana Coal Council and served as a director, the Wyoming Water Development Association which he has served as a director for industry and as first vice president and the Wyoming Mining Association. He has been reappointed by Governor Lamm to the Governor's Scientific Advisory Council. He was appointed by the Federal Power Commission, Gas Policy Advisory Council, to its Supply- Technical Advisory Task Force - Synthesized Gaseous Hydrocarbon Fuels and served as Vice Chairman of that Task Force. He has been reappointed by the Secretary of the Interior to the Solid Fuels Unit, Department of the Interior, National Defense Executive Reserve. He also serves on the Advisory Council to the Industrial Ecology Institute of the Colorado School of Mines and was recently elected a member of the Board of Directors of ROMCOE (Center for Environmental Problem Solving). Chairman Margolf presented the symposium from the perspective of: ? A local government official - The Honorable Michael Enzi, Mayor of Gillette, Wyoming ? A former state government official - Harris D. Sherman, former Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources ? A representative of a national environmental. organization- Robert Golten, Senior Counsel, National Wildlife Federation ? A representative of the printed news media- Ralph Looney, Editor of The Rocky Mountain News in Denver

Jan 1, 1982

Jan 1, 1938

By James F. Howe

Modern civilization is centered around a small group of essential occupations, the three principal ones which are agriculture, mining and manufacturing. Agriculture might be called the most important of the three, as it has to do directly with the supply of food for the human race. Mining, however, is certainly next in importance, as it furnishes the supply of fuel and many of the raw materials used in manufacturing. Without mining, modern machinery and many industrial operations would be impossible. Mining takes advantage of the, natural resources in fuel and minerals that lie underneath the surface of mother earth, and while at times some of these metals are hard to find and mines come and go, mining must continue to increase. Mining is no longer a haphazard proposition but one calling for careful study and complete plans of operation for years to come. The shafts, power houses, rock dump crusher, concentrator, and other machinery must be located advantageously in order to enable owners to make a profit. Many tons of rock or mineral must be mined frequently to get one ton of concentrated metallic ore or metal itself. Economy in mining is just as essential as it is in manufacturing. The mining engineer of today is called upon to utilize every branch of engineering, and not only, is a wide: range of knowledge required, but ingenuity to meet the unusual conditions which are constantly arising from week to week. On account of the wide variety of information required by the mining engineer, some things with which he is in almost daily contact may be passed over with only a small amount of attention, provided everything is going well, in order that time and attention may be focused on what might be termed the more important features of mining operations. Because competition has become keener than ever, owing to overproduction at times of certain minerals, it becomes a matter of first, importance to understand as far as possible the factors which enter into the cost of production of any mineral which may be mined. In such times of overproduction, the high cost mine is forced to close down while the low cost mine may, if desired, be kept running constantly. In keeping a cost record, wire rope on account of its high first cost 19 coming into the lime light, and a comparison of records of one mine with another is now frequently made in order to see whether the rope service is satisfactory or not. Every rope maker, on the other hand, is interested in seeing that the rope which he produces gives the maximum possible return for the money invested. Modern mining owes much of its success to the use of wire rope for hoisting materials from beneath the surface of the ground. Deep mining would be impossible without the use of wire rope as a means of hoisting. A study, therefore, of rope problems in mining work and a discussion of the points which are beneficial to maximum life will enable the mining engineer, manager, or superintendent to keep his costs down to the minimum while at the same time he provides a suitable and sufficient safety factor for operations at all times. Mining might be defined as the extraction of coal, metallic ores, or minerals from below the surface of the ground. This definition does not cover what is known as, open pit operations or quarrying but covers the

Jan 1, 1922

PRESIDENT WETZEL: The meeting will come to order. We are pleased to see a few of the more hardy survived last night's-ordeal and are present this morning. The Secretary has some correspondence which he will read. SECRETARY WHITESIDE: Gentlemen, I have a couple of telegrams and a letter which I would like to read to you at this time. First, a telegram addressed to Mr. Wetzel: "Regret greatly necessity canceling my plans to be present at meeting. Appreciate your conveying my best wishes to members for successful and profitable session.

Jan 1, 1942

PRESIDENT WHITESIDE: I am sure we are very grateful indeed for this very interesting talk that Mr. McClure has given us. If anyone has any questions to ask Mr. McClure I am sure he will be glad to answer them at this time. MR. WEITZEL: I want to ask Mr. McClure whether in the instance he described by-passing the drier, whether there was any rest period between the crusher and the furnace, whether the powdered coal that was not dry was allowed to rest in the pipe or was blown directly into combustion chambers. MR. McCLURE: Yes, it moved directly; there might have been some difference had we given it an opportunity to rest. We just had to get in and get out so as not to interfere with operations. MR. WEITZEL: Your idea is, even though you did use a high moisture lignite, you could store it under water if you eliminated surface moisture later. That is a new idea to me; I always had thought that you had to reduce the moisture down under 2 per cent, and to try to store it with anything more than that, any higher moisture, you would have to break the stuff loose again, as it gets so hard it won't move. MR. McCLURE: It might develop I am absolutely wrong; I am just saying what I observed, and I may have had some unusual condition, which I did not detect; something may actually develop which will make my statement of drying lignite entirely wrong. It was quite a surprise to me, surprise to every-

Jan 1, 1923

By I. M. Charles

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: At the request of our Secretary, Mr. Shubart, I am pleased to present the following brief discussion of the Alamo Washery. In order to insure an excellent and uniform preparation of nut coal, the Alamo Coal Company erected last year a modern washery at a cost of about $50,000, in which, since the completion last December, all of the nut coal shipped from the Alamo Mine, has been washed. In part of the workings of the Alamo Mine, the coal is overlaid by a lenticular strata of slate, which invariably falls when the coal is shot down and breaks for the most part into fragments of such size as pass through three-inch round perforations, and are retained on plates having one and a fourth inch round holes with the nut coal. This "draw slate" comprises the principal impurity in the Alamo coal, and to remove it, some bone and a few small fragments of sandstone from the roof and floor, the washery was designed and erected. The few impurities contained in the lamp are readily re-

Jan 1, 1926

PRESIDENT LITTLEJOHN: Gentlemen, you have heard Mr. Dyer's paper. The meeting is now open for discussion. MR. NORMAN: I would like to ask the gentleman what is the distance between your crosscuts for the ventilation of rooms and entries in the state of Utah?

Jan 1, 1925

Jan 1, 1974

By R. Dawson Hall

*This paper was not read as it arrived too late. In the beginning of the last century "cottage industry" gave way to the factory system, and at present manufacturing that was once performed in homes is done wholly in factories. Division of labor came into being at the same time. In earlier years rarely more than a half-dozen men worked at the home of the master workman. Each group performed all the labor involved in changing crude material to the finished article, and many of the masters in a cottage industry themselves took the raw material and converted it by their own efforts into a highly specialized product ready for the market. Mining has in a degree moved in the same direction. But for the most part every man still has his own room. Pick miners in many places get their cars at the room neck, push them to the face, undercut their coal, drill their shot-holes, load and fire them, complete the breaking down of their coal, fill their cars, push them to the entry and also test their roof for weak spots, examine for gas, timber their rooms, bail them out and lay their own track. Mining is still in a way a "cottage" industry, only the cottage is a room in the mines instead- of a home. The men who gather the coal and take it to the tipple are in a measure like the middlemen who went from cottage to cottage and gathered the product of the owners or "masters", to use the term then prevalent. The change in ordinary industry from old methods to new came with machinery. The machines then introduced needed power for their operation, and distribution of power from house to house was too great a task for those times. Power could not readily be taken to machinery where water power only was available. It was necessary for the machinery and its workers to go to the power. Nor when steam was harnessed could every cottage have its steam engine. Compressed air and electricity had not arrived, and con-

Jan 1, 1922

By Steve Griles

Mr. Griles did not make his speech available for reprint. Looking Down the Road: The Environmental Side of the 1990s and Beyond Environmental Social Responsibility Love Canal, Buffalo Creek, Widow Combs, Bohpal and Three Mile Island are familiar names to all of us-names which evoke memories of environmental tragedies. These memories, as well as memories of other environmental disasters, lead us to pose this question: What is the nature of the environmental social contact between industry and society? The manner in which one answers this question will. in large measure, answer the question of where one thinks environmental issues will go, or should go, in the 1990s and beyond. The history of the evolution of the environmental movement will be helpful in defining and under- standing just what society's environmental responsibility is and, perhaps, what it will be. To Define the Future Start With the Past The common law, which most of the United States adopted from the English system of jurisprudence, traditionally considered pollution control and other environmental issues to be a matter of determining the relative rights of private property owners and of individuals. Legal and equitable theories, such as nuisance, negligence, trespass and the law of riparian rights, were utilized to allocate responsibilities between parties under the common law. The discharge of pollutants into streams and into the air was by and large considered acceptable, at least up to the point that another's "reasonable" use of the same air or waterway was significantly impeded. Further, the judicial decisions interpreting the applicability of the common law to the protection of the environment generally reflected the social and economic pressures of the age. During the Industrial Revolution, the decisions and policies had a marked tendency to favor industrial development. Jobs and industrial growth are deemed as important, and in some cases more important, than the protection of people and property. Additionally, the idea of a social responsibility, beyond that owed to a competing land or water user, was nearly alien to the early common law.' One could even go so far as to say that, had there been a social environmental contract under early common law (which, of course, there was not); but if there were, it would have been to promote actions which facilitated industrial development, even at the expense of the environment. Post-World War LI industrial expansion brought with it a growing awareness of limits on the environment's ability to absorb increasing levels of pollution. Thus evolved an era of social and political adjustment, as society began to shift away from supporting big business and industrial development and toward supporting domestic government programs and limits on industry. States gradually stepped in with efforts to address environmental issues. The Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law and the West Virginia Surface Mining Act of 1939, while lax in comparison to today's standards, nevertheless marked definitive efforts toward altering the balance between industrial development and environmental protection Pollution control continued to be viewed as a state responsibility through the 1950s, until Congress began, for the first time, to allocate funds for federal research on air and water pollution and to implement

Jan 1, 1988

By D. A. Stout

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute: Your Secretary has asked me to write upon a subject' which is a most interesting one, and which has a very wide scope. In view of the great need for further decreasing costs at its coal mines, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company began early in 1924 to experiment with methods of mining which had not previously been. tried out at its mines, and which were selected because of the greater possibilities for the concentration of the work, better grouping of workmen, and increased tonnage per workman, with a resultant increased efficiency, better supervision, and lowered costs. Because of the great competition of the day, means and methods must be provided by which fewer mines can be made to produce larger tonnages and at a lower cost. Western physical conditions are such as to make our problems far more complicated and not so easy of solution as compared to many of the eastern fields where conditions are more favorable for the operation of the mines. The dry condition of our Western mines on account of a relatively low humidity, and with additional gaseous conditions, makes the problem still more difficult to solve. A study of new methods was necessary before adoption, and this was particularly true of the method of extracting the coal. Where mechanical means are used, particularly in the coking coal mines of this state, due consideration must be given to the type, and machines or conveyors should not be installed solely on the basis of their performance elsewhere, without the knowledge of local influencing factors. In trying out the newer methods of extraction at our mines, very careful consideration has been given to the question of safety and the adoption of any new methods must provide adequate means of protection to employes, and be approved by' the State Coal Mine Inspector. In any large industry there are a few outstanding operating costs, and usually the leading ones in their order are labor cost, material cost, and power cost. The things which we, hope to accomplish: 1. Reduce labor costs. 2. Reduce material costs. 3. Reduce power costs by the con 4. Reduce the amount of powder used per ton of coal produced. 5. Increase the lump percentage (particularly at the domestic mines). 6. Reduce accidents and annual compensation payment. 7. Reduce haulage costs. 8. Reduce cost for track work. 9. Reduce cost for timber and timbering, and increase the recovery of timber at a considerable additional saving. 10. Reduce the brushing costs. 11. Reduce the amount of rock hauled to the outside. 12. Reduce the cost for drainage. 13. Reduce the cost for ventilating. 14. Reduce cost of inspection and supervision. 15. Reduce the cost for shot firing. 16. Reduction of number of working places. 17. Grouping of men with increased sociability. 18. Increased tonnage per man. 19. Reduction in total number men employed. In the consideration of the methods used and now working successfully, there were three points which were considered outstanding, to make them wholly successful: ventilation, roof control, and transportation. For making the experiments, those mines were selected where conditions

Jan 1, 1925

By Geo. A. Murphy

MR. ARTHUR E. GIBSON (General Manager, Consumers Mutual Coal Company of Utah) : I suppose the reason I was called upon to read this paper was because I was at the mine for several years, but I have not been there for the past four years and the installation has been put in since I left. This article has been written by my successor-it follows: At the very urgent solicitation of your Secretary I have consented to prepare this paper descriptive of the spiralizing plant which is a part of the new steel tipple recently erected by the Spring Canyon Coal Company to serve its mines at Spring Canyon, Utah. I have been reluctant in giving this consent for two reasons: one of which is an excellent one, and the other isn't any good at all. First,, I find that it takes a long time to become familiar with the eccentricities of spirals-to get wise to their whims and peculiarities, and while this plant has been in operation for a number of months, something new seems to crop up nearly every time I see it, and -it would be impossible to describe all of these things even if I remembered them. The second reason is, purely personal. Among the many things I have learned by attending the sessions of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute is that if a man is not pretty sure of the ground he attempts to cover, he had better keep his mouth shut, because if he isn't right, he is dead sure to be called down by someone. However, as I will not attend the session, this feature will not hurt much, but it will make it necessary for someone else to read the paper and this will make it much better for those who are obliged to listen to it because I don't read English very well. To begin with I will say that what is said in this paper applies only to the plant under discussion as I have had no experience with any other plant. While spirals have been in use for quite a number of years, and there are some large plants in the East, their use has not been general, and I believe the plant at Spring Canyon is the only one in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The details of the plant were worked out by Mr. Thos. R. Stockett, General Manager of the Spring Can= yon Coal Company; it was manufactured by the Anthracite Separation Company of Hazelton, Penn., incorporated in the design and erected by the Link-Belt Company of Chicago, in connection with the balance of the tipple. It consists of five units. Each unit consists of a vertical wood column about 6 inches in diameter, and 9 feet 6 inches in height, around which the spiral is built. It is something like a triple screw conveyor, set vertically, with flights down which the coal and refuse travel by gravity in the process of separation. There are three of these flights, forming a sort of nest but about 7 inches apart, and they make 21 turns around the column in its length. These flights dip toward the column about 27 degrees; they have a uniform pitch downward of 31 degrees; they are 19 inches wide at the top (measured from the column) and taper gradually until they are about 9 inches at the bottom. They are not made with one continuous plate from top to bottom, but are made up of a number of plates. Some of these plates are slightly waved, others have small corrugations in them and still others are perforated with small holes, all of which are intended to accelerate or. retard the movement of the coal and refuse as they pass down, At intervals there are adjustable plates in the flights for the purpose of decreasing the maximum outside;

Jan 1, 1926

[ ] Thomas B. Egan RMCMI PRESIDENT 1996-1997 on behalf of the RMCMI Board of Directors and Officers of The Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute cordially invites you and your family to attend the 93rd Regular Meeting and Convention to be held June 28 thru July 1, 1997 Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Jan 1, 1996