Mining Engineering
MIN 101 (3 Credits) Fall
Minerals, Man and the Environment (3+0)
A general survey of the impact of the mineral industries on man's economic, political, and environmental systems. Course fee: $20.00.
MIN 103 (1 Credits) Fall
Introduction to Mining Engineering (1+0)
Concepts and methods utilized in mining engineering and mining unit operations.
MIN 104 (1 Credit) Fall
Mining Safety and Operations Laboratory (0+3)
Practical training at the Silver Fox Mine in mining operations and safety. Course complies with Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 40 Hour New Miner Training. Course fee: $50.00.
MIN 202 (3 Credits) Fall
Mine Surveying (2+3)
Surveying principles for surface and underground control of mining properties. Field and office procedures for preparation of maps and engineering data. (Prerequisites: MATH 107X, 108.)
MIN 301 (3 Credits) Spring
Mine Plant Design (3+0)
Quantitative study and design of various systems and equipment used in haulage, hoisting, drainage, pumping and power (compressed air and electricity). Importance of the natural conditions and production level in the equipment selection procedure emphasized. (Prerequisites: ES 208, 307, 341.)
MIN 302 (3 Credits) Spring
Underground Mine Environmental Engineering (2+3)
Analysis of underground mine ventilation systems, ventilation planning, design and engineering control, mine ventilation network. (Prerequisite: MIN 103.)
MIN 304 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Introduction to Metallurgy (3+0)
Overview of the extractive metallurgy of gold, silver, and platinum group metals; from gravity concentration to cyanidation and smelting. (Prerequisites: CHEM 211, PHYS 212. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 313 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Introduction to Mineral Preparation (2+3)
Elementary theory and principles of unit processes of liberation, concentration, and solid-fluid separation as applied to mineral beneficiations. Materials fee: $20.00. (Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 370 (3 Credits) Spring
Rock Mechanics (2+3)
Physical and mechanical properties of rock; rock mass classification systems; stress distribution in the vicinity of mining openings, design criteria and support for structures in rock mass, instrumentation and monitoring of opening's stability as well as strata control and surface subsidence. (Prerequisites: ES 331 and STAT 451 or equivalent.)
MIN 407W (3 Credits) Spring
Mine Reclamation and Environmental Management (3+0)
Principles and practices of mine reclamation and waste disposal Pre-mining assessments and plans. Design of settling and tailings ponds and waste impoundments. Stream bed restoration and revegetation. Course fee: $20.00. (Prerequisite: ES 341.)
MIN 408O (3 Credits) Spring
Mineral Valuation and Economics (3+0)
Introduction to engineering economics, ore sampling and reserve calculations, and mine feasibility studies. (Prerequisites: GEOS 332, GE 372 or MIN 301.)
MIN 409 (3 Credits) Spring
Operations Research and Computer Applications
in Mineral Industry (3+0)
Use of operations research and computer techniques for understanding, analysis, forecasting and optimization of mining operations and systems. (Prerequisites: MIN 301 or concurrent registration, ES 201, and STAT 301 or 451.)
MIN 415 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Coal Preparation (2+3)
Unit operations, flowsheets, washability characteristics, and control by sink-float methods for coal preparation plants. Market requirements and economics of preparation. (Prerequisite: MIN 313. Next offered: 2000-01.)
MIN 433 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Mining Access, Safety and Environmental Law
History of mining law. Laws and regulations governing access to property, safety and environmental control as they pertain to mining. (Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 443 (3 Credits) Fall
Principles and Applications of Industrial Explosives (3+0)
Types and properties of industrial explosives; systems of initiation; theories of blasting; designs of open pit bench blasting; designs of underground blasting/rounds; applications in mining, civil construction, and other fields; blasting vibration, structural damages and their control; overbreak control; safe practices; safety regulations; blast hole drilling and drilling equipment. (Prerequisite: MIN 370 or Permission of instructor.)
MIN 447 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Placer Mining (3+0)
Placer formation and identification, reserve estimation, mine and wash plant design. Includes surface and underground mining methods, equipment specification, environmental compliance and reclamation. Course fee: $20.00. (Prerequisites: MIN 301 and 313. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 454 (2 Credits) Fall
Mining Method I (2+0)
Design of surface mining for coal, unit operations, mining systems, planning parameters, legal requirement, rainfall, runoff control and sedimentation pond design. Underground coal mine design, the study of the various extraction techniques and auxiliary operation as they relate to mining methods. (Prerequisites: MIN 301, 302, 370.)
MIN 464 (2 Credits) Fall
Mining Method II (2+0)
Design layout of mining for non-coal deposits. Planning parameters, selection of mining methods, open and supported stopes and caving systems. Underground mining of frozen placers. Mine planning process. (Prerequisites: MIN 301, 302, 370)
MIN 472 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Ground Control (3+0)
Stability and design for ground control of surface and underground mining excavations; reinforcement and monitoring systems for openings constructed in rock mass. Construction in swelling rock and frozen ground, underground hazards (bursts and water inflow), monitoring of deformation and stresses associated with the opening's presence. (Prerequisites: MIN 370, 443. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 481 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Computer Aided Mine Design I (2+3)
Familiarization with TECHBASE to store, manage, model and display exploration data. Includes creating a database; loading, editing and reporting data; calculating summary statistics; and constructing base and contour maps. Use of TECHBASE tools for two- and three-dimensional estimation methods, mine design and scheduling, production grade-tonnage curve using a range of cutoff grades and generation of outlines for pit design. (Prerequisites: Junior, senior or graduate standing in Mining Engineering, Geological Engineering, or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 482 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Computer Aided Mine Design II (2+3)
Familiarization with VULCAN Mine design software to store, manage, model and display exploration data. Estimate volume, tonnage and quality of reserve, design declines and development drives in underground coal and hardrock mines, design underground coal mine plans and design of underground stopes, perform underground grade control. (Prerequisites: Junior, senior or graduate standing in Mining Engineering, Geological Engineering, or permission of instructor. Next offered: 1999 - 2000.)
MIN 484 (2 Credits) Spring
Mining Method III (2+0)
Modern methods of open pit design, pit optimization techniques. Production planning and scheduling. Use of mine design software. (Prerequisites: Senior standing, concurrent enrollment in MIN 409 or permission of instructor.)
MIN 490W (3 Credits) Spring
Mining Design Project (1+6)
Design of mine layout including extraction and beneficiation and economic evaluation of a mining project. A comprehensive written report of the design and analysis is required. (Prerequisites: MIN 408, 445, 446, and 447; MIN 408 can be taken concurrently.)
MIN 621 (3 Credits) Fall
Advanced Mineral Economics (3+0)
Economics of mineral exploitation and utilization. International trade, state and federal policies; financial control, and research methods. (Admission by arrangement.)
MIN 631 (4 Credits) Alternate Fall
Research Methods in Mineral Engineering (3+3)
Research methods including problem definition and statement, designing experiments, collecting data and interpreting them. Methods of theoretical and experimental analysis will be reviewed and examples given. (Prerequisites: MATH 302 or equivalent, MIN. 370 or CE 435 or permission of instructor. )
MIN 635 (3 Credits) Spring
Geostatistical Ore Reserve Estimation (2+3)
(Cross-listed with GE 635)
Introduction to the theory and application of geostatistics in the mining industry. Review of conventional methods of ore reserve estimation, sampling design and computer applications. Review of classical statistics, log normal distributions and global estimation. Presentation of fundamental geostatistical concepts including: variogram, estimation variance, block variance, kriging, geostatistical simulation. Emphasis on the practical application to mining. (Prerequisites: MIN 408 or equivalent, STAT 400 or equivalent.)
MIN 637 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Mine Systems Simulation (2+3)
Application of computer simulation to the analysis of static and dynamic mine systems and the development of useful programs for mine operators. Design of simulation experiments in mining engineering. (Prerequisites: MIN 409; or ESM 621 and a course in computer programming; or equivalent. )
MIN 646 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Mining Engineering in the Arctic (3+0)
An in-depth treatment of mining engineering problems encountered in arctic conditions. Design and construction of mine openings in frozen ground, mechanical and thermal properties of rocks at subfreezing temperatures, fragmentation and excavation of frozen ground, surface mining problems in the arctic climate, equipment maintenance, mined-land reclamation and economic evaluation of mineral properties in arctic regions. Case studies also are presented. (Prerequisites: MIN 301, 302, 370, 445 or equivalent or permission of instructor.)
MIN 647 (2 Credits) Alternate Fall
Advanced Underground Mine Design (1+3)
Design of underground mining methods based upon the geological and physical descriptions of mineral deposits. Design and layout of underground mines. Design of room and pillar, sublevel caving, block caving and open stopping systems. Equipment selection, production scheduling, ventilation design and mining costs. Engineering drawings. (Prerequisites: MIN 301 or equivalent, MIN 302 or equivalent, MIN 370 or equivalent.)
MIN 652 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Numerical Methods in Mine Ventilation (2+3)
Differencing schemes for the partial differential equations of flow in mine networks, typical boundary conditions for mine ventilation systems, computer-aided solution techniques. Application to flow of fluids through porous media is covered. (Prerequisites: MIN 302 or equivalent, a course in computer science and a course in differential equations.)
MIN 670 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Optimization Models in the Mineral Industry (3+0)
Study of concepts and methods in analysis of systems involving single and multiple objectives, with applications to mining engineering and mine environmental systems. (Prerequisites: MIN 409 or equivalent, permission of the instructor.)
MIN 673 (3 Credits) Alternate Fall
Advanced Rock Mechanics (2+3)
The study of theoretical and experimental methods in rock mechanics. State of stress and potential failure zone around two and three dimensional structures in rock based on theoretical, numerical, experimental techniques, and failure criteria are presented. (Prerequisite: MIN 370 or equivalent.)
MIN 674 (3 Credits) Alternate Spring
Advanced Ground Control (2+3)
A study of current rock mechanic problems which are related to advances in mining and construction technologies, with particular emphasis on the importance of rock and frozen ground properties and stress evaluation in designing and monitoring stability of structures for gas, oil and radioactive materials storage, geothermal energy recovery, solution mining, and those exposed to rock outbursts and earthquakes. Rock and frozen ground properties related to other dynamic loading conditions, such as in blasting, are also discussed. (Prerequisites: MIN 370 or equivalent, MIN 673 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.)
MIN 688 (1 Credit) Fall
Graduate Seminar I (1+0)
(Cross-listed with MPR 688)
Preparation and presentation of research outlines by graduate students and participation in regularly organized Mineral Engineering Department seminars. (Prerequisite: Admission to graduate program.)
MIN 689 (1 Credit) Spring
Graduate Seminar II (1+0)
Presentation of graduate research by graduate students and participation in regularly organized Mineral Engineering Department seminars. (Prerequisite: Admission to graduate program.)