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Collegiate mine rescue is growing;

Exercises and sessions included at SME Annual Conference

by Kevin W. Pan

                 Since its inception in 2010, collegiate mine        to training and problem solving are often
                     rescue has expanded to include United           performed through guidance of advisors and
                 States-based and international teams competing      trainers. Despite the great advantages of these
                 on both the collegiate and the professional         resources, communication between teams
                 levels. With the help of SME, groups like the       is limited to meetings at competitions and
                 Eastern Collegiate Mine Rescue Organization         conferences, such as SME’s annual conference.
                 have proliferated, increasing awareness and         The collegiate mine rescue session was

The team from participation in mine rescue at the collegiate                                  introduced to provide
University level.                                                                             a national platform for
of Kentucky      In conjunction with the February 2017                                        students to connect to the
                                                                                              ever-growing community
prepares to Annual Conference and Expo in Denver, CO,                                         of collegiate mine rescue. It
compete in the several collegiate mine rescue teams met for                                   also provided a forum for
Mine Emergency a Mine Emergency and Rescue Development                                        discussion and networking
and Rescue (MERD) exercise at the Colorado School of                                          between peers and industry
Development Mines’ Edgar Mining facility. The teams then                                      professionals. The session
exercise at the took part in a technical session titled “Collegiate                           gave the collegiate mine
Colorado School Mine Rescue.” The presentation, along with the                                rescue teams exposure to
of Mines’ Edgar question and answer session, engaged industry                                 industry professionals who
Mining facility. leaders, students and academics from across the                              provided insight into hiring
                 globe.                                                                       mine rescue team’s members
                                                                                              and provided greater
                 Collegiate mine rescue teams are typically                                   training support. Mine rescue
                                                                                              on the collegiate level would
                 organized as extracurricular clubs and are                                   not be possible without
                                                                                              the support of its industry
                                          student-led and operated,                           sponsors and government
                                                                                              training partners.
Kevin W. Pan, member SME, is              with minimal faculty                                Organizations including;
operations engineering - in train-        involvement encompassing                            the U.S. Mine Safety and
ing, Murray Energy Corp. email            students from all majors                            Health Administration, the
kevinwp@vt.edu.                           and disciplines. Starting                           Virginia Department of
                                          new teams, improvements                             Mines, Minerals and Energy,
                                                                     the Murray Energy Corporation, Drager, Alpha
                                                                     Natural Resources, Barrick Gold, Newmont
                                                                     Mining Corp. and many other companies and
                                                                     organizations that make mine rescue possible,
                                                                     through their donations, expertise, equipment
                                                                     and time.
                                                                         Presentation topics included training and
                                                                     solutions to common problems that students face
                                                                     during their time on collegiate teams. One of the
                                                                     most common problems among collegiate miners
                                                                     was the continuation of their respective teams as
                                                                     graduating students take years of knowledge and
                                                                     experience with them. Some teams have adapted
                                                                     a tactic of using strong industry relationships
                                                                     to ensure the continuation of excellent training
                                                                     standards. Other programs, that operate more
                                                                     independently from industrial teams have
                                                                     taken technology as a route to ensuring their
                                                                     longevity. For example, Sam Baker, a senior from
                                                                     Pennsylvania State University, has embraced
                                                                     the use of GoPro’s to record competitions

2 september 2017     Mınıng engıneerıng	                             www.miningengineeringmagazine.com