Mining & Environmental
When: 8-10 p.m. EST Tuesday, March 2
What: From gold mining to blasting beaver dams, learn about how explosives are carefully used every day to produce the products we use and to minimize impacts and improve our environment.
Who: Alan Dolan, Brad Brown, Paul Sterk, Jerry Wallace, Kristen Kolden, Kyle Perry
How Much: Free
Hour 1: Mining
Mining Final Pit Walls and Road Cuts
Alan Dolan, Boliden Tara Mines
Alan discusses precision blasting, pre-split drilling and blasting close-to-finish walls. He also discusses two open pit mines with some information from a road extension.
Enjoy the Ride
Brad Brown, Dyno Nobel
From the early days of technology in the explosives industry - teaching users to run high speed cameras and handing out laptops - to using some of the most advanced tools, the explosives engineer has had to adapt. A few simple truths remain, though, and the aspiring engineer needs to enjoy the ride.
Blasting Can be Fun!
Paul Sterk, Austin Powder
As the Homestake Mine came to a close in the early 2000s, a decision was made to blast the remaining explosives in the mine rather than send them back to the surface. This is a story about one of those blasts.
Hour 2: Environmental
Blasting to Protect and Distribute Water Resources
Jerry Wallace, Wallace Technical Blasting, Inc.
Jerry discusses blasting at two dams and at two wells: One dam served as water reservoir for City of Denver. The other was storage for court-order, commerce-water for downriver states. Two wells were being decommissioned and plugged to protect groundwater from surface pollutants.
Blasting to Improve Fish Habitat
Kristen Kolden, Alaska Seismic
Kristen will describe how blasting projects are designed to minimize and mitigate impacts to fish, wildlife and their habitats. She will discuss projects that use explosives to enhance natural habitats.
Dam Beavers
Kyle Perry, Missouri S&T
Beavers were threatening the integrity of a levy of a several acre pond which was uphill of a residence. The pond spillway pipe was constantly being plugged by beavers leading to rising pond waters which were starting to overflow. Upon the beavers being removed from the pond, their den was destroyed to discourage a return.
