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(Ore body modeling, drift and stope design, ventilation design, rock mechanics, roof support and pillar design.)
Today, successful mining operations require companies to embrace new technologies to keep their mining operations competitive. WSMC have completed designs for new and existing mining operations using new technologies to increase productivity and/or reduce operating costs while increasing profitability. Our staff has been trained to use a variety of software to help develop new plans with fast turnaround times while providing cost effective services.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Mine Planning and Design
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Southwest United States, Northern Mexico and Canada
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Asarco, Inc. Tucson, Arizona
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David H. Scriven was the Mine Planning Engineer in charge
of initial design of several base metal open pit mines in southwest
U.S., northern Mexico and Canada. These projects included reserve
evaluation, determination of ultimate mining limits, scheduling,
equipment selection, man power determination and economic evaluation.
Much of this work was done with the aid of mine planning software
using an in-house cone miner to determine ultimate pit limits and
ORE in developing the optimum mining schedule.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Lease Application; Antelope Coal Company
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Gillette, Wyoming
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Kennecott Energy
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The Antelope Mine had the desire to acquire additional
coal leases adjacent to their current lease. In support of bid preparation
for the LBA and the Bureau of Land Management evaluation, WSMC prepared
two life of mine plans and economic evaluations; one which includes
the additional lease and one which did not. Medsystems, by Minetech,
Inc. was utilized for all mine planning and sequence map preparation.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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In-Situ Uranium Ground Water Restoration Facility Design
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Casper, Wyoming
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Cogema Mining, Inc.
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WSMC was involved in the design of a ground water restoration
facility for Cogema Mining, Inc., Christensen Ranch Mine. Working
closely with Cogema process engineers, a facility was designed to
house the ion exchange columns, reverse osmosis filters, pumps and
piping to be used for cleanup of ground water from the in-situ mine
operations. The facility was to be located in difficult, unstable
soil conditions. WSMC was responsible for the piping layout and
design of a deep foundation system composed of a pier foundation
with slab and beam flooring to minimize concrete quantities trucked
to the remote site location.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Mine Ventilation Design and Surveys LAC Minerals
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Beatty, Nevada
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Bullfrog Mine
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Scott P. Carlisle was the senior engineer on a ventilation
design project for a new underground gold mine being established
in an existing pit. Stope layouts, ramps, and shafts were modeled
to determine main fan sizes. Later a field survey was conducted
and adjustments recommended to optimize fan settings, and maximize
air quantities to the stopes.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Tailings Facility Feasibility Study
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Sweetwater County, Wyoming
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General Chemical Corporation
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David H. Scriven was project manager and project engineer
on the feasibility of modifying the existing tailings facility from
a fill and excavate single discharge tailings disposal system to
a expandable, multi-point discharge system using upstream construction
techniques. The multi-point discharge system proved to be about
one third the cost of the present system.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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In-Pit Convey or Haulage Study; Caballo Rojo Mine
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Powder River Basin, Wyoming
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Mobil Coal Producing, Inc.
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David H. Scriven was mining engineer in charge of design
and economic feasibility of operating in-pit conveyors at the Caballo
Rojo Mine for coal haulage. The design included movable hoppers
at the shovel locations, in-pit crushers and conveyors to the load-out
facility. The study was completed for the life of mine reserves.
In addition to total conveyor haulage, an alternative case using
partial truck haulage to semi-permanent in-pit crushers was also
studied. In both cases, the overburden was handled by trucks and
shovels using a haulback method.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Synfuel Task Force Coal to Gasoline Project
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Denver, Colorado
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Mobil Oil Company
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In studying the feasibility of producing lead-free gasoline
from coal, Mobil Oil Company formed a task force to study each of
the individual components required for the project. The scope of
the project was designed to produce 100,000 barrels per day of high
octane lead free gasoline using subbituminous coal or lignite. David
H. Scriven was the engineer managing the design and economic feasibility
of five different mine sites in the Western United States; two in
Montana, two in Wyoming and one in Texas. Both mines in Montana
were designed using draglines for overburden stripping and trucks
and shovel for coal haulage. One of the mine sites in Wyoming was
all truck-shovel, the other was a combination dragline and bucket
wheel excavator design. The Texas site was an all bucket wheel excavator
design on a multi-seam coal deposit.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Bed 14 Feasibility Study
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Alchem Mine
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General Chemical Corporation
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WSMC performed the feasibility study to determine the
economics and mining method for mining Bed 14 which lies approximately
85 feet below the current mining in Bed 17. The study included rock
mechanics testing and modeling to determine the alignment of pillars
and main entry ways as well as the roof support requirements. Mining
costs were developed by adjusting current mining experience to differing
conditions anticipated in Bed 14. Preliminary designs were made
for two declines to access the new portion of the mine. Mine scheduling
and economic evaluations were conducted to determine overall feasibility
of the project.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Coal Blending Convey Project
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Glenrock, Wyoming
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Glenrock Coal Company
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WSMC was the design firm for the coal blending conveyor
project for Glenrock Coal Company. The project included site layout
and engineering for a feeder breaker, transfer conveyor and stockpile
system to be used for blending pit run coal. A geotechnical investigation
was conducted for the component sites. Designs were developed for
the foundations of the feeder breaker and conveyor towers. Dump
and stockpile retaining walls and a transfer tunnel escapeway were
also included in the design package. Design drawings, technical
specifications, and a bid package was prepared for purchase of the
conveyor and for site construction and erection of the conveyor.
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Project Name
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Project Location
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Client / Division
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Facility Piping Design; Smith Ranch ISL Operation
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Converse County, Wyoming
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Rio Algom Mining Company
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WSMC provided plan and isometric drawings for the piping
system of a satellite, uranium recovery plant at the Smith Ranch
In-situ Uranium operation. The project consisted of modifying the
piping plan of an existing plant to fit the new plant. The project
included over 300 hours of significant re-design of the pipe routing,
and isometric drawings needed for the pre-fabrication of steel piping.
The steel piping was pre-fabricated with specifications to the sixteenth
of one inch and tolerances of one quarter inch. The plant was constructed
below time and budgetary goals.
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