More than 95 explosives industry professionals and eight exhibitors filled the Birmingham Marriott Hotel in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday, May 12 and Friday, May 13 for the second Southeast Blasting Workshop.

Held by the ISEE and supported by the Alabama Chapter, the popular event included a networking reception Wednesday evening. The workshop included a full day of presentations covering best drilling practices; interpreting seismograph data; transportation; electronic detonators; and updates from ATF and MSHA.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced the publication of a proposed rule to enhance the quality of workplace examinations in metal and nonmetal mines around the country.

From January 2010 through mid-December 2015, 122 miners died at metal and nonmetal mines. More than 60 percent of those deaths were linked to the "Rules to Live By" standards, violations of which are known to most frequently cause mining deaths. Sixty miners have died just since October 2013.

Recovery operations in Copiah County, Miss., have ended now that the bodies of two men have been recovered June 11. The men were in a gravel pit when a dam breached over a week ago and buried them under sludge. Lee Smithson, the Executive Director for MEMA said at a briefing Saturday that the accident has been a learning and growing experience.

"This truly shows in Mississippi it’s a whole of community approach to disaster operations. While this was a great tragedy the positive thing to come out of it is this community is better and stronger than it ever has been," said Smithson.

The last time coal production in the United States was this low, Donald Trump was just beginning to build his real estate empire, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president, and Ordinary People won an Academy Award for best picture. According to the Energy Information Administration, only 173 million tons were produced in the first three months of 2016. The last time that amount of coal was produced, in 1981, there was a good reason for it: the country was in the midst of a major coal strike. Now, culpability for the low numbers comes mostly from a lack of demand, namely, a mild winter that has severely crimped the need to burn the fossil fuel.

"Above-normal temperatures during the winter of 2015–2016 were a key reason for the large decrease in coal production during the first three months of 2016. Throughout the fourth quarter of 2015, electric power plants received more coal than they consumed, leading to a net increase of 34 MMst (million short tons) in coal stockpiles, the highest fourth-quarter net increase on record," the EIA states in a June 10 press release.

The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is shooting for the moon with its latest competition. The Moonrockers placed in the top 10 out of 45 college teams competing in the 7th annual NASA Robotic Mining Competition. Their lunar robot was a student-created piece that was designed and tweaked over the past six years. This year, the competition held in early May added a new element, with the need for an autonomous or independently-moving robot.

A Brazilian judge on Tuesday dismissed a civil lawsuit for 20 billion reais (roughly $5.8 billion) against Vale (NYSE:VALE) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) for a fatal spill at their Samarco joint venture iron ore operation in November. Reuters reports the The National Humanitarian Society (Sohumana) filed the lawsuit seeking environmental and property damages before a federal judge in Rio de Janeiro in December.

Another civil lawsuit brought by Brazilian prosecutors for 155 billion reais (around $45 billion today) against the two companies and the 50-50 percent owned mine operator Samarco Mineracao, Brazil’s federal government along with the Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo state governments is still being considered. Demands include an upfront payment of $2.2 billion.

All improvements in mine safety laws have resulted from tragic accidents. In 2006, after three separate tragedies at the Sago, Aracoma and Darby mines claimed the lives of 19 miners. As a result, a bipartisan group in Congress came together with the mining industry and labor representatives of our nation’s miners to craft the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER Act). It was the most significant mine safety legislation enacted in nearly 30 years and represented the first revisions to federal mine safety laws since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act became law in 1977.

The Blasters’ E-Handbook is now available for purchase exclusively at the ISEE online store. This e-book is a complete, mobile version of the Blasters' Handbook 18th Edition, second printing, which is home to more than 1,000 pages of explosives knowledge written and designed by experienced industry professionals.

E-book readers can search the entire Blasters’ Handbook for keywords with ease, make in-book notations, highlight important text and bookmark sections where they left off. The mobile format is perfect for working in the field and for students looking to lighten their backpacks.

The e-book is compatible with most iPads, iPhones, Android devices, Windows PCs and Macs, and only available at our online store.

June 19-24, 2016
Rolla, Mo.

July 16, 2016
Contact mchiurato@alphaexplosives.com or (916) 645-3377 for more information.

July 21, 2016
Countryside, Ill.

July 26-28,2016
Tulsa, Okla.
Contact tom.gersbeck@okstate.edu for more information.