Academic literature on the topic 'Alf Gold Mining Company'

Ravenswood is approximately 125 kilometres inland from Townsville. In the early 1900s, it was among the top gold producers in North Queensland. Now, in the 1990s, after several decades of limited activity, Ravenswood gold mining has undergone a revival. This paper will explore the history of Ravenswood from its inception to the present day, emphasising the importance of technology to the progress of the goldfield. Special attention will be drawn to the New Ravenswood Ltd. Company (1899–1917), which combined innovative technology with an effective management, thereby creating an unprecedented level of prosperity in the town of Ravenswood.

Mining, specifically, large-scale gold mining has become one of the primary economic activities that play a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of one country. But there is no consensus among scholars whether gold mining companies maintain mutual benefits with local communities. The main objective of this research is to scrutinize the mechanism to be employed in reopening Lega Dambi large-scale gold mining by maintaining mutual benefits between the company and the local community. The researcher employed a qualitative method and a case study research design. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the local community, elders, religious leaders, Abbaa Gadaas, Guji Zone, and Odo Shakiso Woreda investment office, land management office, social and labor affair, mineral, and energy office administrators, and Odo Shakiso Woreda health station and Adola hospital. Secondary sources and regulatory frameworks such as FDRE Constitution and Mining Operations Proclamation No. 678/2010 were used to triangulate with primary data. The finding shows that Lega Dambi's large-scale gold mining company failed to maintain mutual benefits between itself and the local community. Basic tenets such as national and regional corporate social responsibility, community development agreement, impact and benefit agreements, social and labor plan, and social license were not implemented properly to balance the mutual benefit between the company and the local community. The researcher concluded that Lega Dambi large-scale gold mining company disregarded the role of the local community during commencement time albeit it had a strong relationship with the central government. Consequently, the company was terminated because of a bad relationship it had with the local community. It is recommended that national and regional corporate social responsibility that shows the company’s specific joint administration of the central and Oromia region governments should be designed and implemented fully. It is also recommended that discussions should be held with local communities and arrived at a consensus concerning the reopening of the company.

Using historiography, online information and the stakeholders’ theory, this study focuses on the interested parties involved in a highly controversial gold mining project in Romania’s Roșia Montană area. The study documents the emergence and influence of different stakeholders (and the relationships between them). The research result suggests that company management and project investors (in this case involving the State as minority owner and regulator and a Canadian company as the majority owner) need to be aware of the objectives of a range of stakeholders including the general public, environmental campaigners and cultural agencies. They should identify shared stakeholder objectives and take these objectives into account when assessing the prospects of a mining project. Ultimately, these findings could be a lesson in political conduct for stakeholders involved in similar projects in other East European countries.

Abstract. Illegal gold mining has disturbed the operation of a mining company (Indo Muro Kencana) in Central Kalimantan since the early 1990s. Several disputes have happened, including two serious conflicts, causing financial losses, damage to facilities, and fatalities, forcing the company to stop operations in 2002 and 2013. Eventually, the original investors abandoned the site. Various countermeasures were taken, including harsh law enforcement involving police and military forces’ deployment, yet the illegal mining activities continued. Since 2015, the new management has implemented new approaches; within five years, the number of illegal miners has decreased considerably. This study aims to identify the reasons behind the disputes and how the new management reduces illegal mining within its concession without triggering further conflict. This research is a case study using in-depth interviews, complemented by a study of corporate and media documents. Five factors were identified behind the previous conflicts. The new management’s integrated strategy to manage social issues, including illegal mining, started with social mapping, then an integrated team to deal with social issues was established, and finally, an integrated plan was introduced with four agendas: engagement, presence, respect and inclusiveness, and cohesiveness. This study contributes to company-community model building in similar circumstances and, in practice, offers a solution to curtail illegal gold mining, particularly in Indonesia. Keywords: Conflict, illegal gold mining, illegal miners, integrated, Kalimantan.

At present time,Mozambiqueis called the “Rising Star of South Africa” mainly due to the rapid development of its mining industry. Mineral resources sector ofMozambiqueis one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the country’s economy.China,BrazilandIndiahave recently become the main partners forMozambique. Recently, a number of projects is being implemented in the country, for example, Auroch Minerals Manica Gold in gold production. Increasing coal production is connected with commissioning of the Moatize open pit, which is being developed by Brazilian Vale Company, as well as Benga mining company owned by Indian ICVL consortium. The analysis of the extraction of certain mineral types inMozambiquepresented in the paper demonstrates general picture of mining industry development in the country. The analysis findings allow identifying the causes of negative phenomena in the industry, manifesting themselves in decreasing production of certain types of minerals. For instance, the main reasons for the decline in coal production were dropping labor productivity, deterioration of mining conditions, and depletion of the most accessible coal reserves, extractable by open pit mining. In this regard, development of underground mining methods providing for opening of deep deposits by vertical shaft sets is highly relevant. The experience of the neighboringRepublicofSouth Africashows that, in the mining and geological conditions of the south of the African continent, highspeed shaft sinking methods accelerating deposit development can be successfully applied.

The task of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union is to look for effective technologies to recover gold from refractory ores while reducing the environmental hazard of the operations. In order to solve this problem, the Jin Xing reactant (a salt complex) was developed in the Kyrgyz Republic in the course of studying alternative highly effective agents for gold recovery from gold-bearing ores of different genesis. Joint studies of the Full Gold Mining Company, the Institute of Comprehensive Exploitation of Mineral Resources of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Tae Jin Xing Science and Environmental Technology Company justified the application efficiency of the developed Jin Xing reactant. The paper presents the results of testing the new agent at a real mining operation.

Gold mining in south-east Sulawesi Bombana is one of the potential natural resources in Indonesia. But nowadays the condition is due to lack of responsibility of the mining business to conduct post-mining reclamation in Bombana area, even though the mining activity has been carrying out mining business license. Post-mining activities are very important and must be done by the mining company, because it can minimize the destruction of natural environment in the mining site. The purpose of this research is to find out the mining conditions in the Bombana area as well as arrangements related to post-mine reclamation in the Bombana area. This study was written using the normative from data obtained by library research. Then related to the implementation of post-mining reclamation in Bombana is currently not carried out maximally, it is due to the uncertainty of regulations related to the post-mine reclamation obligations and the sanctioned rules that will be applied in the future still depend on local government regulations but the implementation is still not able to work effectively. So the steps that need to be taken in this case to avoid damage to the environment surrounding the mining site is necessary cooperation between the Government, the mining business actors and the community using soil conservation technology such as post-mining reclamation, which is regulated in a clear, transparent, accountable legislation.

This article focuses on the sustainable, equilibrium development of Russian enterprises engaged in the extraction and processing of gold. The conditions for the effective activity of companies in the field of gold mining were considered. The main factors causing crisis situations and problems in the strategic management of gold mining enterprises of the Russian Federation were highlighted. The main objective of the study was to develop proposals for improving the model and mechanism of the strategic management of the gold mining company. The study analyzed a wide range of theoretical sources, identified gaps in scientific works in contact with the topic of this work. These gaps were associated primarily with the inadequate reflection in the existing models of industrial enterprise management of the specifics of the activities of gold companies and the lack of key components of the model, affecting sustainable business development. The methodological basis of the study was: Systems theory and systems approach, economic and mathematical models of firm management, investment design, theoretical studies in the field of business valuation. In connection with the growing risks, socio-economic instability, the fall in the growth rate of gold mining, the problems presented in the study are relevant. Maintaining competitiveness and improving performance indicators requires the improvement of the process of the strategic management of mining companies. This article discusses the fundamental components of an improved model of strategic management of gold mining enterprises proposed by the authors, presents a graphical model, suggests directions for describing an improved management mechanism for a gold mining company using mathematical modeling methods designed to link the most problematic components and gold mining business processes: investment, technology intelligence and gold mining, capital investment, timing of the project Comrade, the profitability of production. The dynamic simulation model of strategic management presented in this study and strategy assessment tools based on the concept of the organization’s life cycle take into account the specifics of the activities of gold companies in Russia; were introduced into the practice of the enterprises of Siberia, Sakha-Yakutia, which led to increased economic sustainability and improved financial performance of these companies.

There are numerous histories of the Victorian goldfields, individual digger�s experiences, and the digging community as a whole. By contrast, very little has been written about the early gold mining companies. This thesis seeks to address this dearth in part, with a longitudinal study of one of the leading gold mining companies in nineteenth-century Victoria. The Port Phillip and Colonial Gold Mining Company (�Port Phillip Company�) was one of many �gold bubble� companies formed in England during 1851-3 to undertake gold mining in Australia. Within a few years it was the only survivor of this episode of British corporate gold-fever. The thesis argues that the influence of Rivett Henry Bland, the company�s managing director, was instrumental in its success, particularly in its early years when faced with anti-company sentiment and unfavourable mining legislation. The company established a large-scale operation at Clunes in 1857, rapidly assuming a pre-eminent position in colonial gold mining with its superior technology and mining practices. Historians generally portray Australian gold mining operations as small, locally funded and inefficient, prior to British capital investment in the late 1880s. While true of the larger picture, this simply emphasises the uniqueness of the British-owned and funded Port Phillip Company, the largest and most efficient gold mining operation in Australia from 1857 until the early 1880s. The company and its investment offshoot, the Victoria (London) Mining Company, invested in over thirty Victorian gold mining companies during the 1860s. Again, this runs counter to the general view that British investment in Australian gold mining began only in the late 1880s. Although the two companies� investments equalled only a fraction of the later wave of British capital in absolute monetary terms, their contribution to the growth of the Victorian gold mining industry at the time was significant.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Gold mining in South Africa is an industry that is more than a century old. The impact of gold mines on communities and the environment are enormous. This thesis is a case study based in one of the major gold producers in South Africa that has been in operation for more than 50 years and has more than 30 years of life still left. Exploring the impact mining has had on communities and the environment, this thesis is a call for leadership action towards sustainable futures. This call is made through a suggested sustainable development leadership framework. Georgius Agricola gave a warning regarding the devastating environmental impacts of mining as early as 1556, however mining still has the same negative impacts to the environment and people. The argument in this thesis is that, it is only through genuine leadership that the impacts of mining can be mitigated. However leadership is looked at not from the position of the leader or the leadership style but from the belief system of the leader when it comes to environmental management and community development. The motivation for the study was based in observing how leadership at our Gold mine rallied behind prevention of mine closure when the mine was faced with electricity crisis in 2008. The electricity crisis demonstrated that it is through genuine and committed leadership that all challenges can be overcome including sustainable development crisis. The call for leadership at our mine is to demonstrate the same leadership commitment in addressing environmental and community development challenges. The literature review begins by highlighting sustainable development global challenges and initiatives to address them. This is followed by impacts of gold mining on society and the environment around the various regions of the world. Leadership belief systems are then discussed, highlighting, how belief systems influence the way a leader responds to environmental issues. In developing the sustainable development leadership framework findings from observations, conversations, interviews and focus group discussion that were conducted throughout the mine are presented. The aim of the research was to determine the understanding of employees on the impact of our company on communities, environment and themselves and also the employees’ opinions of leadership. The findings were that the majority of employees believe that leadership is not genuine in addressing community, employee safety and health, and environmental issues at our company and through interviews with leadership, the findings are that, environment and community issues are done for compliance and reputation purposes with no genuine belief that they should be done. To address this understanding a call to leadership is made through a suggested sustainable development leadership framework that takes into consideration the findings from the case study. The thesis ends by proposing that this suggested framework should be tested further within our company.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Goud mynbou in Suid-Afrika is 'n bedryf wat meer as 'n eeu oud is. Die impak van goudmyne op gemeenskappe en die omgewing is enorm. Hierdie proefskrif is 'n gevallestudie wat gebaseer is op een van die groot goudprodusente in Suid-Afrika wat al vir meer as 50 jaar reeds in werking is en wat 'n veredere lewensverwagting van meer as 30 jaar het. Hierdie tesis is 'n ondersoek na die impak wat mynbou op die omliggende gemeenskappe en omgewing het asook 'n beroep om leieskap optrede vir volhoubare ontwikkeling. Hierdie beroep vir volhoubare ontwikkeling word gemaak deur middel van 'n volhoubare ontwikkeling leierskap raamwerk. Georgius Agricola het alreeds in 1556 gewaarsku teen die impak wat mynbou op die omgewing en mense sou hê. Vandag het mynbou het egter nog steeds dieselfde negatiewe impak op die omgewing en die mense. Die argument in hierdie tesis is dat dit slegs deur ware leierskap is dat die impak van mynbou versag kan word. Leierskap word egter nie bekyk uit die posisie van die leier of die leierskap-styl nie, maar eerder uit die gewetens oortuiging oogpunt van die leier wanneer dit kom by omgewingsbestuur en ontwikkeling van die gemeenskap. Die motivering vir hierdie studie is gebaseer op die waarneming van hoe leierskap by ons goudmyn mynsluiting voorkom het gedurende die 2008 elektrisiteitskrisis. Die elektrisiteitskrisis het getoon dat uitdagings sowel as volhoubare ontwikkelings krisisse wel deur ware en toegewyde leierskap oorkom kan word. Die versoek is nou vir ons myn om dieselfde leierskap toewyding toe te pas waar omgewing en gemeenskap ontwikkelings uitdagings aangepak word. Die literatuur oorsig begin deur die globale uitdagings op volhoubare ontwikkeling onder die vergrootglas te plaas en wys hoe om die uitdagings te addresseer. Dan volg die impak wat die goudmynbedryf het op die omgewing en samelewing van verskeie streke in die wêreld. Leierskap geloof oortuiging word dan bespreek met die klem op hoe geloofsoortuiging 'n invloed het op die manier wat 'n leier reageer op omgewings kwessies. Die ontwikkeling van die volhoubare ontwikkelings raamwerk is gebasser op obserwasies, gesprekke, onderhoude en fokusgroepsbesprekings van regoor die myn. Die doel van die navorsing was om die begrip van die werknemers te bepaal aangaande die impak wat ons maatskappy het op die gemeenskap, omgewing en hulself en ook om die werknemers se opinies van leierskap te bepaal. Die bevindinge was dat die meerderheid van die werknemers van mening is dat leierskap by ons maatskappy nie opreg is wanneer dit kom by aanspreek van gemeenskap kwessies, werknemer veiligheid en gesondheid, en omgewingskwessies nie. Deur middel van onderhoude met die leiers van ons maatskappy is ook bevind dat die omgewing en die gemeenskaps kwessies slegs aandag geniet aangesien dit vir die nakoming van vereistes en reputasiedoeleindes verys word en nie as gevolg van 'n werklike oortuiging dat dit gedoen moet word nie. Om hierdie begrip aan te spreek word 'n beroep gemaak tot leierskap deur middel van hierdie voorgestelde volhoubare ontwikkeling leierskap raamwerk wat die bevindings van die gevallestudie in ag neem. Die tesis eindig deur voor te stel dat hierdie voorgestelde raamwerk verder getoets moet word in ons maatskappy.

Integrating social and environmental sustainability into the operations of a multinational mining company is increasingly important to its long term viability. Yet, the boundaries of what constitutes responsible social and environmental sustainability practices are contested with stakeholder governance expectations continuing to evolve, grow, and at times conflict. AngloGold Ashanti needs to navigate the complex terrain between its commitment to maximise returns delivered to shareholders, juxtaposed with those of respecting the environment, and communities being better off for the company having been there. The dissertation includes a meta-synthesis of primary research undertaken over some five years and examines AngloGold Ashanti's social and environmental sustainability integration efforts from the perspective of a head office role, a critical realist ontology and grounded theory epistemology. A mid-range grounded theory and CIMO design proposition argue for interventions that trigger mechanisms fostering mutual meaning between stakeholders regarding social and environmental sustainability and its integration, through a process of continual improvement, into company strategy, management structures (incorporating role clarity and functional capability), systems and processes. Out of which come locally rooted, internationally defensible operational practices with the intended outcomes of internalising costs and externalising benefits arising from exploration and mining, therein seeking to meet stakeholder governance expectations.

Corporate Social Environmental Reporting is a process through which companies and organisations can inform the societies within which they operate about their performance on non-economic issues including environmental performance. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an internationally recognised organisation which has frameworks and guidelines organisations can use to standardise the reports which they issue to the society. Data gathering for reporting on environmental performance can be done in several ways, including by means of the data required for an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on the ISO 14001 “plan – do – check - act” commonly known as the Demming cycle, aimed at continual improvement of environmental performance by an organisation. The clauses in an EMS allow for an organisation to measure its performance and hence the generation of data which can be used for interpretation on environmental performance. The utility of data generated from an EMS is optimised for input towards the generation of a Corporate Social Environmental Report by the level of alignment between the reporting process and the system used for data generation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of such an alignment between the two processes for AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), a multinational gold mining company which issues its reports according to GRI guidelines and also has an ISO 14001 EMS in place. The method used entailed a desktop documentary analysis, a questionnaire answered by individuals responsible for implementation of the EMS and an interview posed at corporate level. It was found that despite corporate commitment to continually improve CSER, there is a relative weak alignment between the two systems, with consequent duplication of effort and sub optimal use of human resources. Recommendations for improved alignment include focused education and training of staff on the relationship between CSER and EMS, and improvements in EMS monitoring and measuring procedures.
Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This dissertation covers the strategy applied in extracting Gold ore from geologically disturbed areas with dips ranging from flat through to ±60°. A further complicating factor was that the reef thickness varied from around 1 meter up to 3,5 meters wide. This project covers the aspects from system planning and investigation of mining methods, the computer simulations of pillar dimensions and the predicted stress patterns. The project then proceeds to explain the mining methods applied aiid some reasons for having chosen these particular methods. The results of these mining operations are evaluated and comments are made on relevant matters. Some of the problems encountered are explained and finally some of the lessons learned are enumerated so as to assist ether persons who are faced with similar type of problems.

Although the mining industry contributed to the development of the country by providing infrastructure and employment, it left a negative impact on the environment. To this end, various pieces of law were promulgated to limit environmental damage and hold those who pollute (Mining Companies / licensees) accountable. This research focused on two study sites namely Blyvooruitzicht and Grootvlei gold mines. Both mines underwent forced mine closure and their environmental liabilities remained unresolved. This study focused on important laws governing the South African gold mining sector, to form an understanding of these laws and to establish if these laws protect the environment sufficiently or not. The study included an overview of the current relevant legislative framework regarding mines, with the aim of identifying if there were gaps between Mining law, Company law, B-BBEE law (Equity Law) and Environmental law. This included an exploration of the interrelationships between the various pieces of legislation and the challenges relating to compliance and enforcement of these mentioned laws. Further to this, the research study investigated the requirements and responsibilities of the South African State, and directors of mining companies. The finding was that South African law with respect to mining companies needs minor adjustments, but the crux of the problem is a lack of effective implementation and enforcement by the State. There is ineffective administration of environmental quality control by the various designated National Government Departments. Recommendations made include the need for clear monitoring of compliance and enforcement of the environmental regulatory framework if there is to be successful mine closure in South Africa. In addition, the South African State Government could consider incentivizing compliance, that is, reward mining companies who uphold environmental law. Further to this the thesis suggest the elimination of any contradictions between the various legislations within the mining industry and stipulates that legislation must be read in conjunction with one-another if a robust legislative framework is to exist.
Environmental Sciences
M.Sc. (Environmental Science)

Ce mémoire de maîtrise traite d’un phénomène qui a gagné en importance dans les études sur l’Amérique latine : l’exploitation des ressources naturelles par des compagnies étrangères et l’augmentation des mouvements de résistance des populations locales contre l’implantation de ces compagnies. Délaissant l’accent généralement placé sur la naissance de ces mouvements, les impacts du temps sur les transformations du phénomène de résistance sont mesurés et analysés. Le cas de la compagnie minière canadienne Goldcorp Inc., exploitant de l’or dans la vallée de Siria, au Honduras, illustre à merveille les diverses techniques utilisées lors d’une lutte de longue haleine par une population rurale désirant résister à une compagnie transnationale au capital économique, politique et scientifique plus important. Ainsi, les dynamiques du mouvement de résistance soulignent des changements dans sa forme première à la suite de l’intrusion de nouveaux acteurs locaux et internationaux. Des identités, construites avec l’arrivée de la mine, sont aussi en jeu chez les groupes qui s’affrontent dans la région. L’étude d’un mouvement vers la fin de sa vie indique, de plus, le besoin de redéfinir la résistance et de sortir d’un schème purement actif vers un qui inclut aussi l’aspect discursif et moral dans sa définition.
This research deals with a phenomenon growing in interest in Latin American studies: natural resources exploitation from foreign companies and the growth of local resistance movements against the implementation of these companies. Going away from the general emphasis put on the birth of these movements, transformations due to the impact of time are instead measured and analyzed. The specific case of Goldcorp Inc. a Canadian mining company exploiting gold in the Siria Valley, Honduras, illustrates perfectly many tactics used by a rural population in an extensive battle and who wishes to resist to a multinational company that have more social, economic and politic power. Therefore, the resistance movement’s dynamics illustrate the changes in its primary form after the arrival of new local and international actors. Identities, build with the beginning of the mining exploitation, are also in play within the groups that are clashing in the region. Moreover, the study of a movement close to the end of its life demonstrate the need to redefine the notion of resistance in order to move away from the purely active form of it and include as well the discursive and moral aspects in its definition.

This chapter describes how the involvement in mining is seen as a fundamentally different and incompatible way of life rather than a complementary option to nomadic pastoralism. It also examines how the invisible dust known as the power of gold (altny chadvar), which emerges during the extraction of heavy and dangerous gold, draws people—sometimes against their own will—to the mining camps. This invisible dust can be transferred onto others through physical contact or reputedly manipulated through cursing rituals. Eventually, ever since the first mining company broke the soil and initiated large-scale gold mining, the gold rush has evolved into an unstoppable force that even national activists feel unable to bring to a halt.

This chapter, by Erik Eklund, focuses on the gold-mining industry from the middle of the nineteenth century through to the 1930s, with a focus on the role of company formation, working conditions, and state intervention. Utilizing case studies from Canada, South Africa, Ghana, Fiji, and the Australian colony of Victoria, it explores the rise of “industrial mining” over this period. Industrial mining involved larger, more heavily capitalized enterprises, in which workers became wage laborers and owners became shareholders. Industrial mining gendered and racialized the workforce in different ways according to local circumstances, which are explored in each case study. State intervention either underpinned the rise of industrial mining or worked to create uneasy accommodations between industrial work and older traditional patterns of subsistence.

This chapter provides an insight into the differences and similarities between the mining and mariner trades and follows Salter to the Rockland Gold Mining Company in Waverly 1864. The chapter also examines Salter’s attempt to purchase and sustain land in Porto Bello, Nova Scotia in 1862. It concludes with Salter’s departure from the Rockland Gold Mining Company.

This chapter, by Ian Phimister, examines the global financial dynamics of the southern African and “Westralian” gold-mining share manias of the 1890s. Examination of both mining share markets suggests that, contrary to the conventional portrait painted of gold rushes, the defining picture is less one of prospectors rushing to pan for gold or peg claims than it is one of company promoters scurrying to fleece investors. The most frenzied activity was on the floor of the London Stock Exchange, not on the South African Highveld or the dry, dusty plains of Western Australia. More minted gold was found in London and the Home Counties than mined gold was located in Southern Africa or Western Australia. It is an exercise that once again questions the efficiency of late Victorian capital markets, even as it points to the consequences of the “portal of globalization” opened by finance.

Data modelling languages are used in today’s information systems engineering environments. Many have a degree of hype surrounding their quality and applicability with narrow and specific justification often given in support of one over another. We want to more deeply understand the fundamental nature of data modelling languages. We thus propose a theory, based on ontology, that should allow us to understand, compare, evaluate, and strengthen data modelling languages. In this paper we present a method (conceptual evaluation) and its extension (conceptual comparison), as part of our theory. Our methods are largely independent of a specific ontology. We introduce Chisholm’s ontology and apply our methods to analyse some data modelling languages using it. We find a good degree of overlap between all of the data modelling languages analysed and the core concepts of Chisholm’s ontology, and conclude that the data modelling languages investigated reflect an ontology of commonsense-realism.

ABSTRACT Two construction aggregate companies, Cemex and Hanson Aggregates, operate respective crushed stone quarries on the east and west slopes of Mount Zion in Clayton, California. These sidehill quarries utilize a single highwall and mine Jurassic diabase of the Coast Range ophiolite that formed as a sheeted dike complex. Hydrothermal veins, some containing 20%–30% disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite, cut the diabase. The east quarry, operated by Cemex, was started by the Harrison-Birdwell Company in 1947. The west quarry, operated by Hanson, was started by the Henry J. Kaiser Sand and Gravel Company in 1954. The Cemex quarry highwall is visible as you come into the city of Clayton on Marsh Creek Road, with a height of ~280 m (920 ft). The height of the highwall at the Hanson quarry is ~215 m (700 ft). Both operations remove weathered diabase overburden to expose fresh diabase, which is drilled, blasted, and hauled to the plant for processing. To ensure aggregate is suitable for construction, quality assurance testing is conducted in accordance with the specifications of various agencies. These quarries supply the surrounding area with aggregate for hospitals, schools, highways, dams, and other buildings. Noteworthy projects supplied by the Clayton quarries include the Concord BART Station, Interstate-680, Interstate-580, Calaveras Dam, Sherman Island Levee, Highway 4, Highway 24, and Bay Bridge epoxy asphalt. Before aggregate was mined, Mount Zion was the site of a copper rush from 1862 to 1864. Gold and silver were also reported in various assays from the Clayton district. Although prospecting created excitement around Clayton, no productive orebodies were ever discovered.

Credit scoring is a tool commonly employed by lenders in credit risk management. However credit scoring methods are prone to error. Failures from credit scoring result in granting loans to high risk customers, thus significantly increasing the incidence of overdue payments, or in the worst case, customers defaulting on the loan altogether. In this research the authors use a machine learning approach to improve the identification of such customers. However, identifying such bad customers is not a trivial task as they form the minority of customers and standard machine learning algorithms have difficulty in learning accurate models on such imbalanced datasets. They propose a novel approach based on a data segmentation strategy that progressively partitions the original data set into segments where bad customers form the majority. These segments, known as Majority Bad Payment Segments (MBPS) are then used to train machine learning classifiers such as Logistic Regression, C4.5, and Bayesian Network to identify high risk customers in advance. The authors compare their approach to the traditional approach of under sampling the majority class of good customers using a variety of metrics such as Hit Rate, Coverage and the Area under the Curve (AUC) metrics which have been designed to evaluate classification performance on imbalanced data sets. The results of our experimentation showed that the MBPS generally outperformed the under sampling method on all of these measures. Although MBPS has been used in this research in the context of a financial credit application, the technique is a generic one and can be used in any application domain that involves imbalanced data.

Pattern mining is an important task in AI for eliciting hypotheses from the data. When it comes to spatial data, the geo-coordinates are often considered independently as two different attributes. Consequently, rectangular patterns are searched for. Such an arbitrary form is not able to capture interesting regions in general. We thus introduce convex polygons, a good trade-off for capturing high density areas in any pattern mining task. Our contribution is threefold: (i) We formally introduce such patterns in Formal Concept Analysis (FCA), (ii) we give all the basic bricks for mining polygons with exhaustive search and pattern sampling, and (iii) we design several algorithms that we compare experimentally.

In this exploratory study, we use a web mining technique to source data in order to create innovation indicators of Canadian nanotechnology and advanced materials firms. 79 websites were extracted and analysed based on keywords related to the concepts of R&D and intellectual property. To understand what our web mining indicators actually measure, we compare them with those from a classic questionnaire-based survey. Formative indices from the surveys variables were built to better represent all the possibilities resulting from the web mining indicators. A MTMM matrix lead us to conclude that the formative indices are a good representation of the web mining indicators. As a consequence, the data extracted via our web mining technique can be used as proxies for the relative importance of R&D and the importance of IP, which would have previously only been measured using conventional methods such as government administrative data or questionnaire-based surveys.

Following the trend of oil and gas production in deep waters, ore mining is about to start in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. If the first system will most probably be installed in the quiet though deep waters of Papua New Guinea, other prospects lie in the more turbulent areas of New Zealand and the Tongas. The ore accumulations to be mined are high grade hydrothermal mineral deposits rich in copper, gold, zinc, lead and silver located directly on the seabed. However, the excavation techniques need to be quite different from what had been envisaged for manganese nodules due to the morphology of the deposits. Based on its deep water construction experience, Genesis France, a company of the Technip Group has been contracted to perform a screening study of the various technologies to be applied to cut, crush, lift to the surface and pre-process the massive seabed sulphide deposits in a safe, efficient and profitable manner while minimizing the environmental impact of such work. This paper presents the conceptual screening study, the systems that have been evaluated, the selection criteria and the resulting operating system.

In the recent past, clinical procedures underwent huge modifications. Among them, mini-invasive surgery has modified the clinical practice and the quality of life of patients. All these evolutions are strictly correlated to the advancement in materials science. Shape Memory Polymers (SMPs), a novel class of stimuli-responsive materials, can be considered ideal candidates for the design of devices for mini-invasive surgery. Such devices can be inserted in a compact temporary shape and subsequently expanded at body temperature: a bone defect, e.g., could be filled by a filler made of SMPs. With the aim of promoting tissue integration and healing, these structures should present a suitable porosity. In this work two different processing techniques to obtain shape memory polymer scaffolds from Calo·MER™, a SMP, are presented. Porous structures were obtained by micro-extrusion, with different chemical expanding agents or by particulate leaching with salt. Morphology, thermo-mechanical and shape recovery properties of the SMP porous samples were investigated. The obtained foams show a well interconnected morphology, with a pore size in the range suitable for bone applications. Shape memory properties were not significantly affected by the transformation processes: a good ability of recovering the original shape was verified. Therefore, foams obtained from these materials could be used to fabricate devices for mini-invasive surgical procedures.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.