ISEE News Update

ISEE election of Officers and Directors 2013

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

Cleveland, Ohio, USA - John Capers, International Society of Explosives Engineers President and Winston Forde, ISEE Executive Director, announce the opening of annual nominations for the Board of Directors election. ISEE is a professional association for the commercial explosives industry worldwide and the nominations are open from May 23 - June 25, 2012.

Each year in the second quarter of the year ISEE alerts its members to the opportunity to participate in the governance of the Society through the nomination process. The members of the Board take office at the end of the organization's Annual Meeting held as part of the ISEE Annual Conference Explosives and Blasting Technique.

Pilbara TAN joint ventures established

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

Yara has agreed with Orica and Apache to form joint ventures to build a 330,000 metric tons ammonium nitrate (TAN) plant on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia and distribute ammonium nitrate and other explosives products to mining customers in the Pilbara region.

Skills shortage threatens Queensland, Australia, mining growth

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

A new industry research report has warned that the Queensland resources industry would not achieve its growth potential without implementing new workforce growth and development strategies. A report by skills adviser Kinetic Group predicted that the resources industry workforce in Queensland would increase by some 30 000 new workers in the next five years, with employment demand expected to peak in 2014.

Beaconsfield, Tasmania, rescuer promotes work safety in Bondi, NSW

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

Six years on but still fighting back tears, it is clear the Beaconsfield mining disaster will haunt Darren Flanagan for the rest of his life. The explosives expert was instrumental in saving Todd Russell and Brant Webb from the mine which collapsed on April 25, 2006.

Tunnel blast kills 20 at Chinese construction site

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

A blast in a tunnel has killed 20 workers at a highway construction site in central China. The explosion in Hunan province also injured one person, said two officials from the provincial work safety bureau. They would only give their surnames, Li and Yang, a common practice among Chinese government employees.

Centralized blasting system receives accreditation

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

Mine safety products company Booyco Electronics has entered the centralized blasting systems (CBS) manufacturing arena and has become one of the first South African CBS makers to be granted an inspection authority (IA) number, which will soon be a legal requirement.

What does 'expansion' mean during frac sand mine moratorium?

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

The addition of new machinery at Biesanz Stone Quarry, formerly owned by the Biesanz family, has generated questions from neighbors of the sand and stone operation - in particular, whether the equipment constitutes an "expansion" as defined in city ordinances and Minnesota statute.

The Geological Survey and Mines Bureau keeps an eye on metal quarries

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

The Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) is concerned with the operational systems of metal quarries islandwide and said 60 percent have failed to provide adequate safety measures to its labor force. The GSMB statistics reveal that over 1000 large, medium and small scale quarries are currently in operation in all parts of the country, excluding in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

Atlas Copco Construction & Mining to exhibit at Hillhead 2012

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

On stand T1 in the outside exhibition area at Hillhead 2012, Atlas Copco Construction & Mining will be exhibiting a wide array of high performance, versatile and cost effective products that have been developed specifically for operators in the international quarrying and recycling sector. Visitors to the stand will also have the opportunity to "try out" Atlas Copco's hydraulic attachments using the company's specifically designed simulator.

Government to 'tag' ammonium nitrate bags

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

To prevent the usage of ammonium nitrate in making IEDs, the home ministry is working on tagging the industrially manufactured fertilizer with inert chemicals, so the source can be traced if the compound is used in future bomb blasts. A favorite of the Indian Mujahideen, ammonium nitrate has been used in a majority of the terror blasts in India since 2005, claiming nearly 500 victims. It was last used in the July 13, 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai.

Orivesi gold mine pollutes nearby waters

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

It is hot in the deep shafts of the mine in Orivesi in central southern Finland. Rivers of perspiration flow down the face of blaster Petri Kiviniemi as he attaches explosive charges on the wall of the tunnel. “At the end of my shift another 4.5 meters of this wall will go”, Kiviniemi points out. The gold ore at a depth of 870 meters can be seen on the mine wall as bluish grey stripes. About 180,000 tons of rock are extracted from the mine each year, but each ton of ore yields only 4-5 grams of gold.

Dammadahalli experiences tremors every day

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

Illegal quarrying by private individuals has been going on relentlessly right under the nose of the district administration and forest department, but yet the authorities have not taken any step to stop the exploitation and looting of the natural resource.

Synthetic scent hounds - Nanostructured sensor for the detection of very low concentrations of explosive

22 May 2012 15:13:23 CDT

To prevent terrorist attacks at airports, it would be helpful to detect extremely low concentrations of explosives easily and reliably. Despite the development of various sensor technologies, dogs continue to be the most efficient detectors. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a German and French team has now described a type of micromechanical sensor with a structure derived from the sense organs of butterflies.