Engineering & Mining Journal

MAR 2017

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2 E&MJ; • MARCH 2017 FROM THE EDITOR To say the mood at this year's annual meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) was noticeably upbeat would be an understatement. The event opened with a keynote address from Doug Silver, portfolio manager for Orion Mine Finance. Readers might recall that Orion fi nanced the Stornaway diamond project in Canada. Silver was guardedly optimistic as many of the seasoned profes- sionals in the mining business are these days. He pondered the industry's ability to fi nd fi nancing and whether tradi- tional fi nanciers may already be too late for the next upward cycle. The annual SME meeting took place in Denver this year and the technical ses- sions were packed with engineers as they normally are, but the biggest difference was the demeanor among the delegates. For the last eight years, this has been a depressed group of beat down dogs, as the despair from regulatory overreach took its toll. This year, however, they were standing tall, proud and happy. Aside from the coal operators, I would not categorize all of the SME members that I spoke to as President Donald Trump fans, but they like the direction he is headed and his cabinet picks, and most said to give the guy a chance. They were not gloating over a major political victory, but they realize they have a huge oppor- tunity to advance a sensible mining agenda for the next four years at least. Much of the conversation revolved around the actions the new administration had taken and more importantly, the appointments being made. Just before the SME event kicked off, President Trump repealed the Stream Protection Rule (see This Month in Coal, p. 24) and named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And there was a lot of speculation as to what will happen with leadership at the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA). Before Pruitt had spoken publicly, environmental activists were blasting the de- cision as he was the top lawyer for one of 27 states suing the Obama administration and the EPA for regulatory overreach. His confi rmation was seen by many delegates as a dose of common sense for an agency that had been hijacked by environmental activists, fi xated on climate change and willing to impose massive costs to advance its agenda with little or no gain. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Pruitt explained that he thought the agency should enforce the laws on the books and it should not be promulgating new rules, and that much of the power should be returned to the states. As he begins the process of reorganizing the EPA to focus on practical environ- mental issues, Pruitt probably has 500 items on his "to-do list." But, we would like to add one more. He could score big points with the public and earn the respect of environmentalists by simply cleaning up some of the Superfund sites in the West. The new agency should consider a partnership with the mining industry where good Samaritan policies would protect mining companies, universities and engineering fi rms from liabilities as they help mitigate these problems. The industry has some of the brightest minds who want to work on these projects in their backyards, but they won't touch them for fear of litigation. Optimism Rises in the Mining Business To say the mood at this year's annual meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) was noticeably upbeat would be an understatement. The event opened with a keynote address from Doug Silver, portfolio manager for Orion Mine Finance. Readers might recall that Orion fi nanced the Stornaway diamond project in Canada. Silver Steve Fiscor Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Steve Fiscor, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief sfi scor@mining-media.com Mining Media International, Inc. 11655 Central Parkway, Suite 306; Jacksonville, Florida 32224 USA Phone: +1.904.721.2925 / Fax: +1.904.721.2930 Editorial Publisher & Editor-In-Chief—Steve Fiscor, sfi scor@mining-media.com Associate Editor—Jennifer Jensen, jjensen@mining-media.com Technical Writer—Jesse Morton, jmorton@mining-media.com Contributing Editor—Russ Carter, rcarter@mining-media.com European Editor—Simon Walker, simon.emj@btinternet.com Latin American Editor—Oscar Martinez, omartinez@mining-media.com South African Editor—Gavin du Venage, gavinduvenage@gmail.com Graphic Designer—Tad Seabrook, tseabrook@mining-media.com Sales Midwest/Eastern U.S. & Canada, Sales—Victor Matteucci, vmatteucci@mining-media.com Western U.S. & Canada, Sales—Mary Lu Buse, mlbuse@mining-media.com Scandinavia, UK & European Sales—Colm Barry, colm.barry@telia.com Germany, Austria & Switzerland Sales—Gerd Strasmann, info@strasmann-media.de Japan Sales—Masao Ishiguro, ma.ishiguro@w9.dion.ne.jp Production Manager—Dan Fitts, dfi tts@mining-media.com www.e-mj.com Engineering & Mining Journal, Volume 218, Issue 3, (ISSN 0095-8948) is published monthly by Mining Media International, Inc., 11655 Central Parkway, Suite 306, Jacksonville, FL 32224 (mining-media.com). Periodicals Postage paid at Jacksonville, FL, and additional mailing offi ces. Canada Post Publica- tions Mail Agreement No. 40845540. Canada return address: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5, Email: circulation@mining-media.com. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are available on the World Wide Web at www.e-mj.com. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualifi ed sub- scribers. Non-qualifi ed persons may subscribe at the following rates: USA and Canada, 1 year, $82.00, 2 year, $139.00. Outside the USA and Cana- da, 1 year, $134.00, 2 year, $249.00 surface mail (1 year, $191.00, 2 year, $352.00 airmail delivery). For subscriber services or to order single copies, write to E&MJ;, 11655 Central Parkway, Suite 306, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA; call +1.904.721.2925 (USA) or visit www.mining-media.com. 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EXECUTIVE OFFICE: Mining Media International, Inc., 11655 Central Park- way, Suite 306, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA phone: +1.904.721.2925, fax: +1.904.721.2930, www.mining-media.com COPYRIGHT 2017: Engineering & Mining Journal, incorporating World Mining Equipment, World Min- ing and Mining Equipment International. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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