Annual Meeting Preliminary Program - Full Brochure (PDF) - SME

2:25 PM
Black Thunder Mine — Helping to Meet America’s Energy Needs
K. Cochran; Thunder Basin Coal Company, Wright, WY
Arch Coal’s Black Thunder Mine, located in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin,
is one of the world’s largest coal mines, producing approximately 90 million
tons annually and supplying coal for approximately 9% of the U.S. electric
generation. Black Thunder Mine utilizes a combination of dragline, truck -
shovel and blast casting operations to remove overburden. The mine employs
a state of the art truck dispatch system as well as numerous technology advancements
as part of normal mining activities. Success at Black Thunder is
judged by the ability to meet energy needs in a safe, environmentally responsible
and profitable manner.
2:45 PM
Overview of the Grasberg Open-Pit Operations
D. Cornette; Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, Phoenix, AZ
In 1972, people of Freeport (now Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold or
FCX) opened the Ertsberg open-pit mine in what is now Papua Indonesia on
the island of New Guinea. The Grasberg deposit was discovered in the 1980’s
and a world-class open-pit mine was opened in 1989. The Ertsberg District is
now the world’s premier mining and mineral district and contains the largest
single copper reserve and the largest single gold reserve of any mining district
in the world. Mining is presently conducted in the Grasberg open-pit and
DOZ underground block cave mines to feed a central concentrator. Copper,
gold and silver concentrate is shipped to smelters located in Indonesia and
throughout the world. Grasberg is one of the safest and largest open-pit mines
in the world. Grasberg has one of the world’s largest equipment fleets and all
support facilities necessary for safely producing about 700,000 metric tons of
material per day. The dedicated people of Grasberg face significant challenges
regarding the size of the operation, remote location, difficult logistics,
large amounts of rain and fog, and the depth of the pit to safely and productively
operate every day.
Chair:
Mining & Exploration: Underground Mines:
New Mines & Expansions
2:00 PM • Monday, February 25
D. Ward, Revett Minerals Inc, Spokane Valley, WA
2:05 PM
Development of the RCWF Ore Bodies at Doe Run’s Fletcher Mine
G. Sutton; Doe Run Company, Viburnum, MO
The Doe Run Company operates six underground room and pillar mines in
Southeastern Missouri. The primary product mined is lead with byproducts of
zinc and copper. These metals occur in the forms of galena, sphalerite, and
chalcopyrite. During late 2004 a decision was made to develop several ore
bodies approximately 3000 feet south of the then current Fletcher Mine. This
presentation will discuss the background of the decision, the scope of the
project, the trials and tribulations of mine expansion in the current boom
cycle, and the results to date.
2:25 PM
Contractor/Owner Partnering – “The Pleasures and Perils”
R. Guill; Small Mine Development, Boise, ID
In this era of high metals prices and new and/or expanding projects, when
everybody wants it all and “wants it all right now”, a contractor would seem
to present solutions, but things always are “never what they seem”. Some
thoughts on this subject after 25 years of trying.
2:45 PM
Troy Mine – Reopening a Past Producer
L. Erickson; Revett Silver Company, Troy, MT
ASARCO Inc. opened the Troy Mine, located in Lincoln County, Montana in
1980 as an 8,500 ton per day underground room-and-pillar operation. This
copper and silver producer operated until April 1993 when, due to low metals
prices, the mine was placed on “temporary” care-and maintenance.
“Temporary” turned into 12 years. Revett Silver Company purchased the
mine in 1999 from ASARCO and kept the facility on a high level of care-andmaintenance
in anticipation of improved prices. By the end of 2003, prices finally
began to move and Revett initiated engineering to restart the mine in
2004. As the mine, process facilities and infrastructure had been kept in good
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condition, the restart should have been straight forward. Then reality struck –
no equipment, no people, no supplies… were easily available. This is a case
study of how the mine reopened in these conditions.
Geology: Marketing and Mining of Uranium/New
Projects/Forecasts
3:00 PM • Monday, February 25
Chair:
J. Cash, Ur-Energy USA, Casper, WY
3:05 PM
Development of the Inkai Uranium Project
S. Magnuson; Cameco US, Lakewood, CO
Inkai is an in situ recovery (ISR) uranium project under development in
southern Kazakhstan near the small village of Taikonur. The project is operated
by JV Inkai and owned 60% by Cameco Corporation and 40% by the
Kazatomprom, the Kazakhstan national atomic company. Test plant operations
have been ongoing since 2002 and commercial construction of the main
processing plant and commercial well field started in 2005. The project will
have an annual capacity of 2,000 tonnes U (5.2mm lbs U3O8) at full production
and plans are underway to double that level to 4,000 tonnes U (10.4 mm
lbs U3O8).
3:25 PM
Fast-Track Advancement Of the Lost Creek ISR Project
W. Heili and S. Hatten; Lost Creek ISR, LLC, Ur-Energy USA, Inc.,
Casper, WY
Ur-Energy’s Lost Creek In-Situ Recovery Uranium Project was discovered in
the early 1970’s. Over 2,800 drill holes were completed on the site during that
decade. The project and the drill data was set aside during the prolonged uranium
market depression that lasted until the renaissance that began in earnest
in 2005. Ur-Energy (URE) acquired the project along with the historic drill
data in June of 2005 and immediately started the permitting process. As a
start-up Junior mining company with great ambitions, URE faced many challenges
in attempting to fast-track it’s first mining project. This paper reviews
aspects from assembling a technically competent and experienced team of
employees and consultants, to converting historic data intended for conventional
mining techniques into data useful for ISR mining techniques. The
complex State and Federal Permitting requirements for ISR Uranium extraction
will be reviewed in the context of how the detailed permitting schedule
was resolved. The challenges of preparing engineering feasibility studies
concurrently with detailed mine planning and design for the permit applications
are reviewed as well.
3:45 PM
In Situ Uranium Recovery
M. Pelizza; Corporate, Uranium Resources, Inc., Lewisville, TX
In situ uranium recovery involves the circulation of ground water, fortified
with oxygen, through a uranium ore body. This oxygenated water is pumped
into injection wells, through the mineralized sandstone were the uranium is
oxidized and solubilized, continuing through the sandstone to the extraction
wells where the uranium-bearing ground water is pumped to the surface to
ion exchange for uranium removal. This re-circulation of the same ground
water continues over and over, until the uranium in the sandstone is depleted.
Loaded ion exchange resin is processing into yellowcake, which is dried, and
drummed for shipment.
4:05 PM
Energy Metals Corporation: Growth with a Purpose
D. Stover; Uranium One - Americas, Edmond, OK
Energy Metals Corporation was formed in July, 2004. During the next three
years, a directed program was undertaken that sequentially focused on acquisition
of historical uranium data bases from major mining companies, known
mineral properties, and experienced personnel. By mid-2007, EMC has
amassed uranium resources exceeding 250 M pounds, assembled an experienced
ISR production team of 60+ employees, and filed license applications
for new production centers in Texas and Wyoming. From its modest beginnings,
EMC’s market capitalization had reach $1.7 billion US when its business
combination with Uranium One was announced. The successor company
is now the second largest publicly traded uranium company, exceeded in
value only by Cameco. The path taken by EMC to rapidly move through
growth phases of exploration, development and now production is presented.