Journal articles on the topic 'Health aspects of Iron mines and mining'

Purpose. Substantiation of expediency and prospects for resuming the development of magnetite quartzites by underground method in Ukraine. Methodology. Analysis of literature sources, project documentation and practical data that contain information on the current state and conditions for the development of iron ore in Ukraine, as well as data on varieties and state of reserves of different types of these ores. Findings. The problem, faced by domestic iron ore mining enterprises in connection with reaching the large depths of mining operations and the emergence of a shortage of raw material resources, is described. The volumes of magnetite quartzites, which are contained in the dormant mines, operating mines, and those mines of Ukraine that are not currently in operation, are determined. The expediency and directions for resuming the development of these ores, as well as expanding the raw material base of the domestic iron ore mining industry, are justified. Originalty. The principal approaches to the implementation at a modern technological and technical level of the cyclic-flow underground mining technology for the development of magnetite quartzite reserves, which is capable of ensuring the economic efficiency of their extraction at depths where the open method of their development becomes unprofitable, are expanded. Practical value. Ensuring the economic efficiency of underground development of magnetite quartzite reserves in operating conditions of the iron ore mining enterprises of Ukraine leads to a significant expansion of their raw material base, which is currently constantly decreasing, as well as support of the production capacity of these enterprises for a long period of time, and allows Ukraine to remain one of the leaders in the iron ore mining industry in the world. Key words: prospects, underground mining, magnetite quartzites, mining, technological, economic aspects.

One of the world's largest iron-ore reserves lies in Brazil. The country is a major iron-ore producer and exporter due to modern mines, an efficient railway and port network and skilled mining personnel. A review of this reality is presented in this paper. This review considers the general aspects of iron ore, such as definitions, geology, world resources and reserves, ore size specifications, mining, ore treatment and transport. Moreover, it summarizes the worldwide iron ore market in the 1990's.

The role of Acidithiobacillus group of bacteria in acid generation and heavy metal dissolution was studied with relevance to some Indian mines. Microorganisms implicated in acid generation such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans were isolated from abandoned mines, waste rocks and tailing dumps. Arsenite oxidizing Thiomonas and Bacillus group of bacteria were isolated and their ability to oxidize As (III) to As (V) established. Mine isolated Sulfate reducing bacteria were used to remove dissolved copper, zinc, iron and arsenic from solutions.

Mining in general has become essential industry sector for the sustaining growth of any developing country. In India iron ore mining is mainly mechanised and well developed industry sector, using highly mechanised equipments and technology for excavation and processing of mined iron ore. It is due to this reason iron ore mining seen as a one of the major sector responsible for workplace occupational health hazard particularly for noise related health impacts on workers health. The objective of this study was to ascertain the job specific noise exposure among the Similar Exposure Groups (SEGs). Total 133 personal noise dosimeter samples were collected from different job category and working areas of iron ore mining and processing sector. It was observed that the participated workers in the crushing area were exposed to 81.64 dB (A), Heavy Earth Moving Machineries (HEMM) operators 86.10 dB (A), loading plant workers 83.76 dB (A), screening plant workers 87.62 dB (A) and mines operation and workshop workers 84.92 dB (A). During the study specifically HEMM operators were highly exposed to workplace noise, with 46% samples exceeding warning limit and 18% exceeding danger limit prescribed by Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Government of India. It was felt necessary to augment the awareness and safety training to the workers for proper implementation of preventive measure for workplace noise exposure.

ObjectivesMining is associated with exposures to various lung carcinogens such as diesel engine exhaust (DEE) and respirable crystalline silica (RCS). We aimed to determine if lung cancer incidence was higher in Western Australian (WA) miners than the general population and if risk varied within the cohort according to exposures and work or job types.MethodsExposure data for 1 72 398 miners living and working in WA between 1996 and 2013 was combined with administrative WA cancer and death data until June-2017. Causal Incidence Ratios (CIRs) were calculated for general population comparisons. Hazard Ratios (HRs) were derived from multivariable Cox regression models including sex, only-underground work, ore-type (gold, iron-ore, other metal, non-metal, unknown or multi-ore mines) and quantitative estimates of DEE (measured as elemental carbon) and RCS, after adjusting for ever-smoker status and entry-age. Additional analyses were done after lagging exposures by 15 years.ResultsMean DEE and RCS cumulative exposures were estimated as 0.15 mg/m3-years (std:0.37) and 0.09 mg/m3-years (std:0.18), respectively. Miners had lower lung cancer incidence than the general population (observed=382; expected=538.11; CIR:0.71, 95% CI:0.64–0.78). Within the mining cohort, higher lung cancer risks were observed for: females vs. males (HR:1.44, 95% CI:0.97–2.03); ever-smokers vs. never-smokers (HR:10.1, 95% CI:6.37–16.1); only-underground vs. only-surface miners (HR:1.72, 95% CI:1.02–2.90); only gold vs. multi-ore miners (HR:1.44, 95% CI:1.01–2.05); and only iron ore vs. multi-ore miners (HR:1.47, 95% CI:1.07–2.04). Neither DEE (HR:1.01, 95% CI:0.89–1.14) nor RCS (HR:0.89, 95% CI:0.61–1.3) was significantly associated with incidence. There was no significant difference in estimates after lagging exposures.ConclusionMiners had lower risk of lung cancer than the general population. Workers mining exclusively in underground, iron ore or gold mines had higher lung cancer risks than their peers, as did ever-smokers and females. Low levels of DEE and RCS exposures in WA mines may explain the lack of association between these exposures and lung cancer.

In order for the Bureau of Mines (BOM) to focus health and safety research on the human factor element of the mining operations, it is essential to quantify and characterize the composition of the entire mining workforce with respect to occupation, job experience, age, education, region, etc. The BOM in 1986 began conducting a probability sample survey to measure the population characteristics of the mining industry workforce. The demographics profile provides information to questions such as, “What is the socio-economic background of the population?”, “What are the differences between the various groups of workforce?”, etc. This paper will discuss the utilization of the population characteristics with respect to the analysis of the mining industry accident data which are being collected on a continuing basis. In particular, this paper will outline how the demographic data are used in identifying those sectors of the population that are exhibiting higher than average accident rates. This information will be used to improve and expand mine health and safety research, and to customize training and safety programs for specifically identified demographic sectors of the mining industry population.

In china, many mines lie around cities, lakes or scenic spots, which have important effects on regional landscape. Recently, most research of mine’s ecological restoration focuses on geological hazards prevention, soil improvement, vegetation restoration, heavy metal pollution etc. With the increasement of environment protection consciousness, restoration and construction of mine eco-environment has been an important part of eco-environment management. Therefore, it is significant to research mine’s ecological restoration from the aspect of landscape. This paper will take Daye Iron mine ecological restoration as an example to discuss landscape design in mine’s ecological environment restoration from the aspects of mine landscape elements, methods of landscape restoration, in order to provide scientific suggestion for mining ecological restoration.

The state evaluation of mining electromechanical equipment is important but complicated, for the complexity, nonlinearity and the ambiguity of the influence factors. In this paper, a novel indicator system to assess the state of mining equipment is constructed from three main aspects, namely the product quality of the equipment, their operating conditions and statistic data of historical states. The ambiguity-fuzzy method and grey-sum method are both employed to evaluate different influence factors, and are summed up together as the final evaluation result by dynamic weighting function, which is derived from a modified expert scoring mechanism we propose. We further implement the proposed evaluation system and verify the effectiveness of the evaluation system through real data set based experiments. The experimental results indicate that this system is of important guiding significance to the state evaluation of coal mine equipment and safe production in coal mines.

The author analyzes epigraphic evidence (fresh or based on documents the reading and/or interpretation of which has been revised in sections I-V) to show that Roman mining in Moesia Superior, under the Principate, was largely based on private - frequently senatorial - financial investment. I An unpublished inscription (IInd cent.?) from the Kosmaj argentariae discloses two Publii Fundanii, obviously members of the same family which was to produce P. Fundanius Eutyches, a colonus of the near-by Rudnik mines early in Septimius Severus' reign (IMS I 168). It is perhaps no simple coincidence that, long before, a P. Fundanius Hospes was active in the ferrariae of Noricum (CIL III 4915 a, Magdalensberg); as is well known, the involvement of wealthy Romans in the mining business tended to be hereditary. II The set of Dardanian lead-ingots found at the wreck site of Caesarea Palaestinae registers interesting stamps (Ann. ?p. 1999, 1683; Domitianic). Their testimony can be understood, on a number of points, more completely than has been done by previous editors (I shall discuss the ingots' epigraphic problems in a separate article). Here, let us note that the stamp (d) P.T.R., is best read P(ublius) T(arius) R(ufus) (the genitive construction being possible, too). Like several other families from Liburnia and Nedinum itself (e.g. the Quinti Gnorii), the Tarii Rufi (there seems to be independent evidence that they employed the praenomen Publius [CIL III 2877] among other praenomina) will have invested their money in the mining of Illyricum/Upper Moesia. This state of affairs probably went back to L. Tarius Rufus, cos. 16 BC. III As briefly noted by A. Evans (and more or less forgotten by later scholars), there was a Roman mining region in northwest Dardania (Mokra Gora - Suva Planina), which has left traces in the toponymy (the eloquent Serbian place-name "Rudnik"), archaeological material (including "traces of the ancient workings "), and inscriptions (the mining aspects of which remained unobserved). The presence of rich people/bearers of significant gentilicia should be pointed out here; it tends to be overlooked by the epigraphists. A Greek inscription from Rudnik (Spomenik 71 [1931] 92 no. 215) records a Fulcinius (line 1), who probably originated in Macedonia and may have been a distant successor to the Fulcinius figuring as quaestor in the province's Fasti for 148 BC. The economic expansion of the Fulcinii from Macedonia to the mining districts in the north obviously went via Scupi (IMS VI 121). Another inscription of the same provenance was erected by a Paconius (Spomenik 71[1931] 92 no. 213, with photograph), certainly connected with the city ?lite of S(plonum?) and Risinium, perhaps also with merchants from Delos and Thessalonice. IV The honorary base of Gamicus conductor an(nis) X, lib(ertus) Pont[io(rum)], found at Agio Pnevma not far from Siris (Ann. ?p. 1986, 629, slightly modified), is of double interest. On the one hand, it provides an instructive piece of evidence on iron-mines in the south of Macedonia. (A number of facts tend to indicate their role in the matter: Gamicus' title of conductor, his being a freedman of the Pontii [? to be identified with the senatorial family of the Pontii from Dardania, whose social success, it is generally assumed, must have owed much to the mines in the neighbourhood of Ulpiana], and the mineral wealth of the Strymon region) If Gamicus is really taken to have belonged to the Dardanian branch of the Pontii as their libertus, i.e. the prominent family owning i.a. the ferrariae in Macedonia, their interest in iron may be attributed to the intensity of their need for tools, typical of people possessing mines as well as latifundia. On the other hand, despite the silence of scholars on the subject, it seems that the Gamicus of Ann. ?p. 1986, 629, must be identified with the Gamicus of the Mursan dedication reading [I.]O.M./[pr]o salute/C. Iul. Agatho/pi c(onductoris)/ f(errariarum) Panno5/niar(um) itemq. provinciar(um) / transmarinar(um) / Gamicus ark(arius) / v.s.l.m. (Fitz Verwaltung Pannoniens, 740 f. no. 2; early Severan). Two circumstances favour the identification - the comparative rarity of the name Gamicus and the fact that the conductor as well as the arcarius served in ironmines (under the regime of conductoriate). Probably, Gamicus was a slave of Agathopus' Iulii first; after their being replaced by the Pontii at the head of a part (doubtless the south-eastern one) of the complex of the iron-mines formerly administered by Agathopus, he was taken over by the Pontii (? related to the Dardanian family of that name which has just been discussed) who manumitted him. Writing of the personnel of the portorium Illyrici (whose case naturally, was similar), P. ?rsted noted an analogous practice: "?new conductores bought the slaves of the departing conductor" (Roman Imperial Economy?340). If the foregoing deductions prove accurate, they can lead to a number of comments concerning the administrative and prosopographic history of the iron-mines in Illyricum. V In the last section of the article, the inscriptions from the Scupian dossier of the (senatorial) Libonii are discussed (IMS VI 27, 75, 167 ?now lost?, and 224 ?discovered at Lopate nr. Kumanovo?). New readings and interpretation of CIL III 8227 = IMS VI 167 (with R. Ardevan's suggestions) have been proposed. We are led to the conclusion that the Libonii constituted another senatorial family with estates in Moesia Superior (Dardania) that sought profit from mining. This would explain the two interesting features of the text of IMS VI 167 which have been overlooked/misinterpreted by previous editors. First, the gentile Libonii (not Sibonii or Sidonii) can be seen among the lettertraces of lines 1 and 6. Second, a mining title occurs in lines 4/5: (procurator, vilicus sim) arg(entariarum) (?) / [D]ar[d(anicarum)]. Palaeographical and onomastic considerations sustain the former point (note that IMS VI 27 and 167 share the cognomina Maxima /Maximus and Severus). The latter point recalls the fact that the Kumanovo territory, to the north of Scupi, is known for its Roman mines of argentiferous lead; for Lopate, where the Le/ibonian inscription IMS VI 224 was found, see TIR K 34,VIII d.

The mining production process is exposed to a series of different hazards. One of them is the accumulation of dust which can pose a serious threat to the life and health of mine workers. The analysis of dust hazard in hard coal mining should include two aspects. One is the risk of coal dust explosions, which poses a direct risk of injury or even loss of life, the second is the risk of harmful dust, associated with the possibility of negative health effects as a result of long-term exposure to dust in the worker’s body. The technologies currently applied in underground mining produce large amounts of coal and stone dust. Long-term exposure to dust and crystalline silica may cause chronic respiratory disease. The article presents the results of tests on the dust levels in the area of a fully-powered longwall. The tests were conducted for five longwalls from different hard coal mines. In each of them, the average values of inhalable and respirable dust as well as the percentage content of free silica in the dust were determined in ten selected working positions. Additionally, for the longwall with the highest dust concentration, the levels of dust were determined for the basic activities related to the phases of the technological cycle. The comparative analysis conducted and the results obtained demonstrate large variations in the dust levels in the different areas. The permissible values were significantly exceeded in a number of cases. This poses a great threat to the health of Polish miners. The results obtained indicate that it is necessary to undertake more effective measures in order to improve the working environment of the crew in hard coal mines.

Water is essential for life, agriculture, and industrialization; however, a rapid increase in population is constantly causing water scarcity and pollution in Pakistan. Mining activities produce the potential toxic element (PTE) accumulation, which lead to unnatural enrichment, ecological pollution, and environmental degradation. The ecological resources impeded by the PTEs cause serious abnormalities in the population through dermal contact, inhalation, and digestion. Mining induced anthropogenic activities are well-known causes of contamination of ecological resources. The produced effluents have drastic effects by changing the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the concerned resources. The Central Indus Basin is a well-known coal regime, where more than 160 mines are active at present. The samples that were collected from the mine water, groundwater, surface water, and the soil were analyzed by atomic absorption and elemental determination analysis (EDA) for an assessment of their quality and the presence of PTEs. The results were correlated with available quality standards, including the World Health Organization (WHO), National Standard of Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs). These analyses showed the noticeable anthropogenic concentration of PTEs, like iron, cadmium, sulphur, and copper, which can degrade the quality of resources in the Central Indus Basin and have adverse effects on human health. An excessive amount of acid mine drainage (AMD) draws attention to some suitable active or passive treatments for disposal from mines to avoid degradation of ecological resources in the Central Indus Basin of Pakistan.

Background. Pennsylvania, with thousands of abandoned coal mines and miles of streams polluted with acid mine drainage, has the largest domestic coal mining burden contributing to deterioration of communities. Objectives. To evaluate contextual aspects by examining associations between coal abandoned mine lands (AML) and community measures of socioeconomic deprivation, social disorganization, and physical disorder. Methods. AML exposure data from the Reclaimed Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System were used to create density, diversity, accessibility, and clustering metrics. The three community context outcome measures were comprised of 14 census variables. In community-level analyses, 10 AML variables were evaluated separately with each dimension of community context, adjusting for covariates, in communities with and without abandoned mines. Results. We observed consistent associations between higher AML burden and worse socioeconomic deprivation, negative relations with social disorganization, but no statistically significant associations with physical disorder. Six of 10 AML variables were associated with socioeconomic deprivation, many consistently exhibiting exposure-effect patterns of worse deprivation with greater AML. Conclusions. Higher AML was associated with higher socioeconomic deprivation. These results can help prioritize the use of Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act funds and inform decisions regarding Marcellus shale drilling to prevent analogous environmental degradation and public health impacts.

The Oriental region, in Morocco, is surrounded by the Algerian border to the East, the Atlas to the West, the Mediterranean to the North and the desert to the south. This region has benefited from the intense mining activity that has played an important role in the national economy. The intensification of mining activity in the Touissit and Sidi-Boubker mines has left behind the closure of tons of waste in the shelter without a plan of conservation. These mine waste storage sites still contain very high levels of metallic elements such as Iron (Fe), which, after a decade of shutdowns, are likely to pollute vulnerable receiving environments, posing a threat to wildlife ecosystems, flora, and to public health. The objective of this study was to assess Fe concentrations at several locations around these mine waste heaps. The results of physicochemical analyses of soils collected over two different periods (wet and dry seasons) showed maximum Fe element concentrations of 10596 mg/kg, with an average concentration of 8913 mg/kg. These Iron contents are found at concentrations exceeding tolerance standards for normal soil.

Mining is essential in the economic development of any country endowed with mineral resources. In Kenya, for instance, one block of coal in the Mui Basin has enough coal to bring in KES. 3.4 trillion into the economy. However, disasters such as the Monongah disaster in a coal mine in the United States have resulted in the loss of lives of numerous workers. It is therefore important to ensure the enactment of legislation safeguarding these workers. This article seeks to assess the extent to which the Occupation Safety and Health Act safeguards these concerns in Kenya. It also undertakes a brief comparative study of the best practices employed in Australia and South Africa in safeguarding the safety and health of workers in coal mines. Finally, the article makes recommendations on how Kenya can follow suit and adopt various aspects of the legislations from these jurisdictions.

Background: Given the complexity of the underground work system, the accidents at mining site and associated occupational diseases are dysfunctions that reduce the efficiency, productivity and profitability of workers. The present study provides a profile of selected morbidities among mining workers in Goa.Methods: Data was obtained from the records of a Occupational Health Service (OHS) centre in Ponda, Goa that conducted periodic health check ups of mining workers employed in 4 open cast iron ore mines from 4 Talukas, 2 each from North and South districts of Goa. Patient records of 199 workers representing different categories of work were obtained and analyzed. Data primarily focussed on visual acuity, audiometry findings, spirometry reports, ECG and basic laboratory blood investigations.Results: Upon analysis of data, it was observed that a high proportion of workers (43.21%) had defective vision. Assessment of audiometry reports revealed that 22.61% of workers had some form of hearing loss. As much as 19 (9.5%) workers were hypertensive, 26 (13.06%) were diabetic and 26 (13.06%) were dyslipidaemic. As high as 40 (20.1%) workers had ECG changes while 5 (2.51%) had pulmonary function impairment.Conclusions: Mining workers suffer from various health problems, notably, hearing loss, visual impairment, pulmonary function abnormalities and non-communicable diseases. This study emphasizes the importance of pre-employment and periodic medical check-ups in the mining industry for timely detection and appropriate treatment of these health conditions among the mining workers.

Mines, quarries, dumps, and tailings are the sources of air pollution. In the Dalnegorsk District (Primorsky Krai, Russia), there are 20 polymetallic deposits. This study aimed to evaluate the particle size and material composition of ambient particulate matter (PM) in Dalnegorsk town and verify the influence of mining and chemical industry facilities on the composition of PM. Ambient particulates were analyzed in samples of snow cover and washout from vegetation (conifer tree needles). According to particle size distribution data, the relative content of particles with a diameter up to 10 microns (PM10) reaches 40% in three snow samples taken in the central part of the town. Among ore minerals, pyrite and arsenopyrite predominated in the samples. In addition, sphalerite, galena, cassiterite, and iron–chromium–nickel formations of various shapes were found in the studied particles. The presence of these metals in airborne PM can negatively affect the incidence rate of PM-associated diseases and the determination of their levels are very useful for air pollution prevention strategies.

Abstract The paper aims to make a synthesis regarding the risks associated with the presence of industrial dust in the underground atmosphere of the coal mines. Thus, in the first part of it are presented relevant aspects regarding the health risk associated with the exposure to silica dust, as well as the flammability and explosiveness of the coal dust, in correlation with the mechanism of the explosion. The second part is dedicated to identifying and substantiating measures to combat the explosiveness of coal dust. In presenting the mentioned measures, the emphasis is placed on highlighting the scope and the specific advantages and disadvantages of each measure, with particular emphasis on the possibilities offered by the use of less employed techniques in mining operations in the Jiu Valley, such as it is, for example, the treatment of mining works with hygroscopic substances. The purpose of the authors is to offer the experts in the field of management of occupational safety and health in the mining industry an overview, in conjunction with specific information elements that facilitate the decision-making processes regarding the minimization of the hazards associated with the degree of coal dustiness in the Jiu Valley collieries.

The electronic industry is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry in the world. Electronic waste or E-waste is one of the emerging problems in developed and developing countries. Most of these e-wastes are ending up in dumping yards and recycling centers, posing a new challenge to the environment and policy makers as well. Toxic metals in the E-waste are usually non -biodegradable and they will create harmful long lasting negative consequences on the environment in general and our health particular. Currently E-waste is treated by chemical leaching, it gives more environmental issues due to usage of inorganic chemicals in treatment process. So that, the E-waste can be used for extraction of metals by the process of biological leaching. It is the process of extraction of metal from source by using biological organism. In this process involve numerous ferrous iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria, acidophilic bacteria which is grown in acid medium. The acid mine drainage (AMD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. AMD is recognized as one of the most serious environmental problem in the mining industry. It is also toxic and difficult to managing this water. Due to the presence of sulphide metal in the ore, which is released after the mining process, will react with atmosphere and water forms sulphuric acid which poses potential harm to the environment and eco system. This acid medium is most suitable for the development of acidophilic bacteria’s. In this project, the Acidophilic bacteria in AMD can be suggested for process of recycling in biological leaching of electronic waste. This process can be used for both bioleaching of E-waste and management of mining waste water. The process will suppress the harmfulness in both E-waste and waste mining water.

Among the various “natural laboratories” of high natural or technical enhanced natural radiation environments in the world such as Kerala (India), Brazil, Ramsar (Iran), etc., the areas in and around the Central European Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in the southern parts of former East Germany, but also including parts of Thuringia, northern Bohemia (now Czech Republic), and northeastern Bavaria, are still relatively little known internationally. Although this area played a central role in the history of radioactivity and radiation effects on humans over centuries, most of the valuable earlier results have not been published in English or quotable according to the current rules in the scientific literature and therefore are not generally known internationally. During the years 1945 to 1989, this area was one of the world's most important uranium mining areas, providing the former Soviet Union with 300,000 tons of uranium for its military programs. Most data related to health effects of radon and other carcinogenic agents on miners and residents became available only during the years after German reunification. Many of the studies are still unpublished, or more or less internal reports. By now, substantial studies have been performed on the previously unavailable data about the miners and the population, providing valuable insights that are, to a large degree, in disagreement with the opinion of various international bodies assuming an increase of lung cancer risk in the order of 10% for each 100 Bq/m3 (or doubling for 1000 Bq/m3), even for small residential radon concentrations. At the same time, other studies focusing on never-smokers show little or no effects of residential radon exposures. Experiments in medical clinics using radon on a large scale as a therapeutic against various rheumatic and arthritic disease demonstrated in randomized double-blind studies the effectiveness of such treatments. The main purpose of this review is to critically examine, including some historical references, recent results primarily in three areas, namely the possible effects of the inhalation of very high radon concentrations on miners; the effect of increased residential radon concentrations on the population; and the therapeutic use of radon. With many of the results still evolving and/or under intense discussion among the experts, more evidence is emerging that radon, which has been inhaled at extremely high concentrations in the multimillion Bq/m3 range by many of older miners (however, with substantial confounders, and large uncertainties in retrospective dosimetry), was perhaps an important but not the dominating factor for an increase in lung cancer rates. Other factors such as smoking, inhalation of quartz and mineral dust, arsenic, nitrous gases, etc. are likely to be more serious contributors to increased miner lung cancer rates. An extrapolation of miner data to indoor radon situations is not feasible. Concerning indoor radon studies, the by far dominating effect of smoking on the lung cancer incidence makes the results of some studies, apparently showing a positive dose-response relationship, questionable. According to recent studies in several countries, there are no, or beneficial, residential radon effects below about 600 to 1000 Bq/m3 (the extensive studies in the U.S., in particular by B. Cohen, and the discussions about these data, will not be part of this review, because they have already been discussed in detail in the U.S. literature). As a cause of lung cancer, radon seems to rank — behind active and passive smoking, and probably also air pollution in densely populated and/or industrial areas (diesel exhaust soot, etc.) — as a minor contributor in cases of extremely high residential radon levels, combined with heavy smoking of the residents. As demonstrated in an increasing number of randomized double-blind clinical studies for various painful inflammatory joint diseases such as rheumatism, arthritic problems, and Morbus Bechterew, radon treatments are beneficial, with the positive effect lasting until at least 6 months after the normally 3-week treatment by inhalation or bathes. Studies on the mechanism of these effects are progressing. In other cases of extensive use of radon treatment for a wide spectrum of various diseases, for example, in the former Soviet Union, the positive results are not so well established. However, according to a century of radon treatment experience (after millenniums of unknown radon therapy), in particular in Germany and Austria, the positive medical effects for some diseases far exceed any potential detrimental health effects. The total amount of available data in this field is too large to be covered in a brief review. Therefore, less known — in particular recent — work from Central Europe has been analyzed in an attempt to summarize new developments and trends. This includes cost/benefit aspects of radon reduction programs. As a test case for the LNT (linear non-threshold) hypothesis and possible biopositive effects of low radiation exposures, the data support a nonlinear human response to low and medium-level radon exposures.

AbstractObjectiveUnderground mining is associated with obvious risks that can lead to mass casualty incidents. Information about such incidents was analyzed in an integrated literature review.MethodsA literature search (1980-2015) identified 564 modern-era underground mining reports from countries sharing similar occupational health legislation. These reports were condensed to 31 reports after consideration of quality grading and appropriateness to the aim. The Haddon matrix was used for structure, separating human factors from technical and environmental details, and timing.ResultsMost of the reports were descriptive regarding injury-creating technical and environmental factors. The influence of rock characteristics was an important pre-event environmental factor. The organic nature of coal adds risks not shared in hard-rock mines. A sequence of mechanisms is commonly described, often initiated by a human factor in interaction with technology and step-wise escalation to involve environmental circumstances. Socioeconomic factors introduce heterogeneity. In the Haddon matrix, emergency medical services are mainly a post-event environmental issue, which were not well described in the available literature. The US Quecreek Coal Mine incident of 2002 stands out as a well-planned rescue mission.ConclusionEvaluation of the preparedness to handle underground mining incidents deserves further scientific attention. Preparedness must include the medical aspects of rescue operations. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:138–146)

A bibliographic review was carried out to establish the state of knowledge of a mining area with several centuries of exploitation and currently abandoned. The selected case study, the Sierra Minera de Cartagena-La Union (Spain), has a long history of mining activity, ending in 1990. The area is rich in metallic sulphide (lead, zinc and iron), with underground mines and quarries. The zone is very close to important populations and affects protected sites of special ecological value. It is also adjacent to areas dedicated to agriculture and important centres of tourist interest. It is a territory that meets the requirements to be classified as a critical area, as it is in a state of unstable physical and geochemical equilibrium, giving rise to possible risks to human health and ecosystems. A literature review was carried out according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology criteria, consulting a large number of related publications. The results obtained using the Source-Pathway-Receptor model make it possible to identify the main impacts caused by the contamination sources, the main routes of contamination, as well as the transfer to the biota and the influence on adjacent agricultural soils. In this study, lead, cadmium, zinc, arsenic, copper and manganese were considered as potential toxic elements (PTEs), and data were obtained on concentrations in soil, water and air as well as in fauna and flora. Finally, once the receptors and the associated risks to the ecosystem and human health were identified, a conceptual model of the contamination was drawn up to consider a management proposal to tackle the problems associated with this area, which would also be applicable to critical mining zones.

In spite of the growing global initiatives towards achieving clean energy, coal remains a dominant source of electricity generation, a fuel for iron and steel production, an important entity among road construction materials and a commodity for foreign exchange earnings for many nations. Coal mining from old and active sites remains a source of an environmental problem described as acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD is produced when sulfide present in waste rocks or tailings in coal mines reacts with air and water in a microbes facilitated oxidation to form solutions with high acidity. The acids formed by these chemical and biological conditions further release heavy metals present in the host rock in concentrations higher than are acceptable by environmental standards (pb;0.01, Zn;5, Cu;2, Fe;0.3 mg/l as prescribed by WHO and Encyclopedia of Environmental Science,2000) such that soils, surface and underground waters are contaminated. Consequently, the human population which derives her livelihood in the mine zones, in form of crop production and fishing/modern aquaculture is endangered by terminal health diseases. This article aims at bringing forth, the urgent need to work towards achieving goal six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 2030 (SDGs-6) which is clean water and sanitation while enriching the knowledge repository of the environmental problem for the purpose of teaching, research, community services and policy making. An overview of AMD menace, variables which influence its formation, selected areas that have been impacted, and a brief analysis of its treatment cost have been discussed with a list of concluding remarks in the paper. Keywords: Coal, Mining, Environmental , AMD

BackgroundThe Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) was established in Ontario, Canada by linking a cohort of workers with data created from Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims to administrative health databases. The aim of this study was to use ODSS to identify high-risk industry and occupation groups for lung cancer in Ontario.MethodsWorkers in the WSIB lost time claims database were linked to the Ontario Cancer Registry using subjects’ health insurance numbers, name, sex, birthdate and death date (if applicable). Several occupations and industries known to be at increased risk were outlined a priori to examine whether ODSS could replicate these associations. Age-adjusted, sex-stratified Cox proportional hazard models compared the risk of lung cancer within one industry/occupation versus all other groups in the cohort. Workers with a lung cancer diagnosis prior to cohort entry were excluded for analysis, leaving 2 187 762 workers for analysis.ResultsDuring the 1983 to 2014 follow-up, 34 661 workers in the cohort were diagnosed with lung cancer. Among expected high-risk industries, elevated risks were observed among workers in quarries/sand pits and construction industries for both sexes, and among males in metal mines, iron foundries, non-metallic mineral products industries and transportation industries. Excess risk was also observed among occupations in drilling/blasting, other mining/quarrying, mineral ore treating, excavating/grading/paving, truck driving, painting, bus driving and construction.ConclusionsThis current surveillance system identified several established high-risk groups for lung cancer and could be used for ongoing surveillance of occupational lung cancer in Ontario.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from abandoned coal mines can lead to serious environmental problems due to its low pH and high concentrations of potentially toxic elements. In this study, soil pH, sulfur (S) content, and arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and mercury (Hg) concentrations were measured in 27 surface soil samples from areas in which coal-mining activities ceased nine years previously in Youyu Catchment, Guizhou Province, China. The soil was acidic, with a mean pH of 5.28. Cadmium was the only element with a mean concentration higher than the national soil quality standard. As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cr, and Fe concentrations were all higher than the background values in Guizhou Province. This was especially true for the Cd, Cu, and Fe concentrations, which were 1.69, 1.95, and 12.18 times their respective background values. The geoaccumulation index of Cd and Fe was present at unpolluted to moderately polluted and heavily polluted levels, respectively, indicating higher pollution levels than for the other elements in the study area. Spatially, significantly high Fe and S concentrations, as well as extremely low pH values, were found in the soils of the AMD sites; however, sites where tributaries merged with the Youyu River (TM) had the highest Cd pollution level. Iron originated mainly from non-point sources (e.g., AMD and coal gangues), while AMD and agricultural activity were the predominant sources of Cd. The results of an eco-risk assessment indicated that Cd levels presented a moderate potential ecological risk, while the other elements all posed a low risk. For the TM sites, the highest eco-risk was for Cd, with levels that could be harmful for aquatic organisms in the wet season, and may endanger human health via the food chain.

Endüstriyel ve endüstriyel olmayan (okul, ofis, fotokopi merkezleri, restoran vb.) çalışma alanlarındaki hava kalitesi, çalışma ortamında bulunan personelin sadece konforu için değil, sağlığı için de büyük önem taşımaktadır. İç ortam hava kalitesi değerlendirmesi yapılırken genellikle sıcaklık, nem oranı, hava akım hızı, kükürtdioksit (SO2), karbondioksit (CO2), solunabilinir asılı partikül madde (PM), hidrojen sülfür (H2S), uçucu organik bileşikler (VOC), azot oksitler (NOx), karbonmonoksit (CO), ozon (O3), radon, hidrojenflorür, formaldehitler (HCHO), mikrobiyal kontrol gibi parametrelerin analizleri yapılmaktadır. Yapılan bu analizler sonucunda elde edilen veriler eşliğinde, çalışanların sağlığı hakkında daha doğru ve emin adımlar atılabilir. Bu durum çevresel analizlerin, işçi sağlığı ve iş güvenliği prensipleriyle birebir örtüştürülmesinin gerekliliğini gözler önüne sermektedir. Özellikle metal işleme, demir-çelik vb. imalat ortamlarında, diğer çalışma ortamlarına göre çok daha fazla kirletici parametre tanımlanabilir. Bu ortamlarda yapılacak ortam ölçümlerinin doğruluğu, çalışma bölgesinin temizlenmesi ve yeterli koruma önlemlerinin alınması konusunda işverenlere kolaylık tanımaktadır. Ülkemizde yalnızca imalat sektörleri değil maden ocakları da çevre ve insan sağlığı açısından ciddi riskler taşımaktadır. Maden ocaklarında çalışanların sağlıklarının korunması adına yapılması gerekli ortam ölçümlerinin yeterli düzeyde olmadığı bilinmektedir. Bu durum maden sektöründe çalışan kişilerin meslek hastalıklarına yakalanma riskini arttırmaktadır. Bu çalışmada ülkemizde iş sahası bakımından geniş bir alana sahip olan maden ve metal sektörlerindeki iç ortam hava kalitesini olumsuz yönde etkileyen parametreler irdelenerek, sözü edilen sektörlerde çalışanların sağlıklarının korunmasıyla ilgili alınabilecek tedbirler açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır. The Effects of Air Pollution on Workers’ Health In Different Work Places Air quality in industrial and non-industrial work places (such as school, office, photocopy center, restaurant) is very significant not only for workers’ comfort, but also for their health. Generally, parameters such as temperature, moisture, air exchange rate, sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), suspended particulate matter (PM), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), radon, hydrogen fluoride (HF), formaldehyde (HCHO) and microbial control are analyzed for indoor air quality assessment. With the help of these analyses some important foresights could be made for workers’ health. Lots of pollutant can be defined in production areas, especially metal processing and iron steel industry compared to other working places. In our country, not only production sector but also mining operations have lots of health risks for human and environment. Although occupational diseases have notable risks for employees working in mines, there are not adequate analyses. In this study, parameters which have adverse effects on indoor air quality in mining and metal sectors are investigated and some measures suggested to protect for employees’ health working in these sectors.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 mine workers on a Johannesburg gold mine, focusing on workers' perceptions of health, HIV/AIDS and sexuality. The paper seeks to highlight a range of factors which might predispose mine workers to high-risk sexual behaviour, despite the fact that they had all attended HIV-education programmes. These factors are presented within a framework that views the process of sexual decision making as a debating process - in which competing facts and beliefs are weighed up against one another - within the context of a range of normative and social parameters. Firstly, attention is given to a number of pre-existing perceptions and doubts which may blunt the force of the facts that HIV educational messages seek to impart to this particular group of people. These include a lack of perceived urgency regarding the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's), a commitment to ‘flesh-to-flesh’ sex, a dislike of condoms, and faith in the ability of traditional healers to cure a range of STD's and possibly also HIV/AIDS. Secondly, attention is given to the normative context of sexuality, and in particular the way in which norms of masculinity predispose people to high-risk sexual behaviour. Finally, the paper focuses on some aspects of social and occupational life on the mines as the context within which sexual relationships are conducted. These include the phenomenon of single sex hostels, an acceptance of high levels of disease and accidents as the norm, and the use of alcohol. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges these findngs pose for a peer education programme which is shortly to be implemented in the mining context.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dampak penambangan batubara terhadap kualitas air Sungai Batang Manggilang di Jorong Sebrang Kenagarian Manggilang Kabupaten 50 Kota. Jenis penelitian ini merupakan penelitian eksperimen di lapangan yang dilanjutkan dengan analisis di laboratorium. Populasi dan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah air Sungai Batang Manggilang yang diambil dengan cara sampling acak sederhana. Teknik pengambilan sampel adalah Sampel Komposit, Uji Coba Instrumen, Pengolahan Hasil Test. Hasil penelitian adalah (1) Kondisi Fisika (Warna, rasa, bau, kekeruhan, suhu) didaerah kenagarian manggilang yang berada dekat sungai batang manggilang sesuai dengan uji laboratorium bahwa air sungai ini tidak memenuhi syarat untuk dipergunakan oleh masyarakat yang berada di sekitar hulu sungai batang manggilang. Karena sudah tercemari oleh dengan keberadaan tambang batu bara. (2) Kondisi Kimia ( pH, Zat tersuspensi, Besi (Fe) di daerah kenagarian manggilang sebrang pasar manggilang kabupaten 50 kota tidak memenuhi syarat sesuai yang ditetapkan mentri kesehatan no 492/PER/IV/tahun 2010. Sehingga hal ini sangat membahayakan bagi masyarakat yang menggunakan langsung air Sungai Batang Manggilang untuk keperluan sehari-hari.Kata Kunci: Dampak, Pertambangan Batubara, Kualitas AirThe research aims to determine the impact of coal mining on the water quality of Batang Manggilang River in Jorong Sebrang Kenagarian Manggilang Kabupaten 50 Kota. This type of research is an experimental research in the field followed by laboratory analysis. The population and sample used are simple random sampling. Sampling technique is Composite Samples, Test Instruments, Processing Test Results. The results of the research are (1) Physical Condition (Color, taste, odor, turbidity, temperature) in manggilang kenagarian area near manggilang rod river in accordance with laboratory test that the river water is not eligible for use by people around the river upstream manggilang. Because it is contaminated by the presence of coal mines. (2) Chemical condition (pH, suspended substance, iron (Fe) in kenagarian area manggilang sebrang manggilang market 50 municipal districts do not meet the requirements stipulated health minister no 492 / menkes / Physical Condition (Color, taste, odor, turbidity, temperature) in the kenagarian manggilang area near the river manggilang rod in accordance with laboratory tests that the river water is not eligible for use by people who are in the upper river rod manggilang.Key word: Impacts, Coal Mining, Water Quality

The article examines the literary heritage of the Tomsk poet and fiction writer Valentin Vladimirovich Kuritsyn, the author of adventure novels, satirical works, and poems. Biographical information about Kuritsyn is very scarce. It is known that he was born in the city of Barnaul, Tomsk province on July 28, 1879, was educated at the Barnaul Mining School, then worked in private gold mines, due to health problems he moved to Tomsk for permanent residence, where he began to work in the management of the Siberian Iron roads. On January 18, 1911, he died of consumption at the age of just over 30. In Tomsk, Kuritsyn was published in local newspapers and magazines: “Sibirskii nablyudatel”, “Sibirskie otgoloski”, “Sibirskii Vestnik”, as well as in satirical magazines of the period of the First Russian Revolution. Fame and success brought him adventure novels, which he signed with the pseudonym “Ne-Krestovsky”. This pseudonym and the title of the first novel – “Tomskie trushchoby” – referred the reader to the famous novel “Peterburgskie trushchoby” by Vsevolod Krestovsky. But “Tomskie trushchoby” was not a parody or a continuation: it is an independent work that described the everyday life of the Tomsk criminal world, the life of swindlers, criminals, thieves, and fallen women. Kuritsyn’s novel was published in 1907–1908 in the newspaper “Sibirskie otgoloski”, and then was released as a separate book, the circulation of which was immediately sold out. After that, the same newspaper published novels in which all the same heroes acted: “Chelovek v maske” and “V pogone za millionami.” The novels of “Ne-Krestovsky” opened a new page in the history of Siberian literature. They represented a new kind of Siberian “newspaper novel” – criminal, adventure, adventurous, with elements of mysticism. These novels were extremely popular among the general public. At the same time, the novels were heavily criticized by leading Siberian writers and journalists. modern literary discourse allows one to take a fresh, unbiased look at the novels of Ne-Krestovsky, to open in them a connection with the world literary tradition of the adventure novel, with great success deployed on local Siberian material. Kuritsyn was not appreciated by his contemporaries, but after a century it becomes clear that he can rightfully be attributed to the large-scale literary figures of Siberia, worthy of research attention.

Abstract Objectives To use the recently developed Ontario Mining Exposure Database (OMED) to describe historical silica exposure in the Ontario metal mining industry and identify predictors of historical silica exposure. Methods Personal respirable crystalline silica (RCS) data for metal mines were extracted from OMED and included both individual and summary measures, where multiple exposure measurements (n > 1) were aggregated and entered as a single exposure value (n = 1). Data were stratified by sample location (underground/surface) for analysis. Monte Carlo simulation was used to simulate individual measures from the summary measures. A fixed effects multiple linear regression model was used to assess the effects of commodity (ore mined), sample year, source of exposure data, and occupational group on RCS concentration. Parameter estimates (β), standard errors, and 95% upper and lower confidence intervals were reported. Results The OMED contained 12 995 silica measurements. After limiting to RCS measurements in metal mines, and measures with sufficient information for analysis, 2883 RCS measurements collected from 1974 to 1991 remained, including 2816 individual and 67 summary measurements. In total, 321 individual RCS measurements were simulated from the 67 summary measures. The analysis database contained 2771 (12% simulated) underground measurements and 366 surface measurements (0% simulated). In the underground group, an overall geometric mean (GM) of 0.05 [geometric standard deviation (GSD) 3.09] mg m−3 was estimated with a 6% annual decrease over time. In this group, the commodity with the highest average RCS level was zinc mines (GM = 0.07 mg m−3) and the lowest was iron mines (GM = 0.01 mg m−3). In the surface group, an overall GM of 0.05 (GSD 3.70) mg m−3 was estimated with an 8% decreased over time. In this group, the commodity with the highest average RCS level was gold mines (GM = 0.07 mg m−3) and the lowest was zinc mines (GM = 0.03 mg m−3). In both groups, company collected data had lower estimated RCS compared with regulator collected data. Conclusions Historical RCS levels decreased over time. Mean measurements exceeded the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists current health-based threshold limit value (0.025 mg m−3). The main predictors of exposure were commodity, source of exposure data, and sample year. However, low R2 and high GSD values suggest additional predictors of RCS exposures in Ontario’s metal mines exist that were unavailable in OMED.

ABSTRACT Strong mining-induced earthquakes are often followed by aftershocks, similar to natural earthquakes. Although the magnitudes of such in-mine aftershocks are not high, they may pose a threat to mining infrastructure, production, and primarily, people working underground. The existing post-earthquake mining procedures usually do not consider any aspects of the physics of the mainshock. This work aims to estimate the rate and distribution of aftershocks following mining-induced seismic events by applying the rate-and-state model of fault friction, which is commonly used in natural earthquake studies. It was found that both the pre-mainshock level of seismicity and the coseismic stress change following the mainshock rupture have strong effects on the aftershock sequence. For mining-induced seismicity, however, we need to additionally account for the constantly changing stress state caused by the ongoing exploitation. Here, we attempt to model the aftershock sequence, its rate, and distribution of two M≈2 events in iron ore Kiruna mine, Sweden. We could appropriately estimate the aftershock sequence for one of the events because both the modeled rate and distribution of aftershocks matched the observed activity; however, the model underestimated the rate of aftershocks for the other event. The results of modeling showed that aftershocks following mining events occur in the areas of pre-mainshock activity influenced by the positive coulomb stress changes, according to the model’s assumptions. However, we also noted that some additional process not incorporated in the rate-and-state model may influence the aftershock sequence. Nevertheless, this type of modeling is a good tool for evaluating the risk areas in mines following a strong seismic event.

Explorations of the intersecting terrain between the resources (or mining) sector and gendered socialisation are gaining currency (Laplonge and Albury; Lahiri-Dutt). Some argue that mine workers and their families are particularly vulnerable to divorce, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, injury, violence and worksite conflict, mental health struggles, financial over-extension, isolation, and loss of familial and community connection (Ashby; Paddenburg 14). Others contradict anecdotal evidence to support these concerns (Clifford 58; BHP Billiton 11-5). Substantive research on the emotional cost of mining remains sparse and contested (Windsor 4). Of concern to some, however, is that mining companies may be placing pressure on employees to generate a profit (Brough 10), while failing to acknowledge the cost of “hypermasculinised” mechanisms of domination that characterise mining cultures (Laplonge, Roadshow). I refer to these characteristic mechanisms of domination throughout this paper as “malestream norms” (O’Brien 62). In this paper, I argue that mining cultures have become prime examples of unsustainable practices. They forfeit relationally and ecologically sensitive modes of production that would otherwise celebrate and indeed prioritise a holistic level of care for the Earth, mining cultures, work colleagues and the self. Here, the term “sustainable” refers to a broader spectrum of social, cultural, psychological and ecological needs of mine workers, mining culture, and the environment upon which mining profits depend. I posit that mining communities that tend to the psycho-social needs of mine workers beyond malestream norms are more likely to implement sustainable mining practices that are not only considerate of the broader needs of mine workers, not only profitable for mining companies, but care for the Earth as well. Granted, employee assistance mechanisms do include substantial support services (such as health and wellness programmes, on-site counselling and therapy, mining family support networks, shorter rosters, improved access to family contact from site, etc.). However, these support services—as they may be offered by individual mining companies—do not adequately address the broader psycho-social impact of mining on mine site communities, the relational integrity of mine workers with their families, or how mine workers are faring within themselves in light of the pressures that abound both on-swing and off (Lahiri-Dutt 201). Discussions of a “softer” approach to mining fail to critically analyse malestream norms (Laplonge, Roadshow). In other words, attempts to make mining more sustainable have at-best been superficial by, for example, seeking to increase numbers of women on-site but then “jamming” these new women into cultures of hypermasculinism in hopes that a “trickle-down affect” of softening mining communities of practice will ensue (Laplonge, "You Can't Rely"). A comprehensive approach to sustainable mining practices must begin with deeper psycho-social care for mine workers (both women and men), and shift mining culture towards environmental care as well—an approach to mining that reflects a holistic and integrated model for pursuing profitable company development that is more caring than is currently the norm throughout the corporate world (Anderson). To accomplish this, we must specifically challenge malestream norms as they manifest in mining (Laplonge, Roadshow). In response, I introduce ecological masculinism as a relational approach to softening the malestream norms that pervade mining. To begin, it is recognised that mining masculinities—like all practices of masculinity—are pluralised social constructions that are not fixed but learned (Connell). Ecological masculinism is explored as a path towards fresh systemic practices that can steer men in mining towards masculine identities that are relationally attuned, emotionally articulate, and environmentally aware. It is argued that the approach to mining masculinities introduced here can help the resources sector become more sustainable for men, more conducive to greater numbers of women, more profitable for mining companies over longer periods of time, and gentler on the Earth. Where Are All the Ecomasculinists in Mining? Ecology as a science of relationships can serve as a guide towards the order that emerges among complex systems such as those that pervade mining (Capra). I suggest that Ecology can assist us to better understand and redefine the intricacies of gender dynamics in mining. It would be easy to presume that Ecology is oppositional to mining. I argue that to the contrary, the relational focus of Ecology has much to teach us about how we might reconfigure malestream norms to make it possible for mining cultures to demonstrate deeper care for others and the self at work and at home. An ecological analysis of malestream norms (and their impacts on Earth, community, others and the self) is not new. Richard Twine initiated some of the earliest explorations of the intersecting terrain between men, masculinities and the Earth. This discourse on the need for an “ecologisation” of masculinities grew out of the “broad church” of ecological feminism that explored so called Logics of Dualism that malestream norms construct and maintain (Plumwood 55-59). For more than 40 years, ecological feminism has served as a specialised discourse interrogating the mutual oppression of women and Nature by the male-dominated world. In his contribution to the Essex Ecofem Listerv, Twine posted the following provocative statement: Where are all the ecomasculinists? … there does not seem to be any literature on how the environmental and feminist movements together form a strong critique of the dominant Western masculine tradition. Does anyone know of any critical examinations … of this position, particularly one that addresses masculinity rather than patriarchy? (Twine et al. 1) Twine highlighted the need for a new discourse about men and masculinities that built on the term “ecomasculinity.” This term was originally coined by Shepherd Bliss in his seminal paper Revisioning Masculinity: A Report on the Growing Men's Movement (1987). I suggest that this intersecting terrain between Ecology and masculinities can guide us beyond the constraints of malestream norms that are entrenched in mining and offer us alternatives to mining cultural practices that oppress women and men as well as the environment upon which mining depends. However, these early investigations into the need for more nurturing masculinities were conceptual more so than practical and failed to take hold in scholarly discourses on gender or the pluralised praxes of modern masculinities. Coupled with this, the dominating aspects of malestream norms have continued to characterise mining cultures resulting in, for example, higher than average injury rates that are indicators of some negative consequences of a hypermasculinised workplace (Department of Health, WA 18; Laplonge, Roadshow). Further, the homophobic elements of malestream norms can give many men cause to hesitate seeking out emotional support if and where needed for fear of peer-group ridicule. These are some of the ways that men are subject to “men’s oppression” (Smith; Irwin et al.; Jackins; Whyte; Rohr), a term used here not to posit men as victims but rather as individuals who suffer as a result of their own internalised sense of superiority that drives them to behave inequitably towards other men, women and the Earth. Men’s Oppression Men’s oppression is a term used to illuminate the impact of malestream norms on men’s lives. Richard Rohr noted that: Part of our oppression as men ... is that we are taught to oppress others who have less status than we do. It creates a pecking order and a sense of superiority. We especially oppress racial minorities, homosexuals, the poor and women. (28) Men’s oppression is harmful to men, women and the ways that we mine the Earth. It is consequently of great importance that we explore the impacts of men’s oppression on mining masculinities with an emphasis on deconstructing the ways that it shapes and maintains malestream norms in mining culture. Men’s oppression pressures men to behave in ways that can constrain the spectrum of permissible behaviours that they adopt. Men’s oppression is ego-driven, based in comparing and competing against each other and pressure them to work tirelessly towards being better, higher, stronger, more virile, smarter, richer, more powerful, outwardly composed and more adored by others through status and material wealth often acquired at the expense of others and indeed the compromising of their own capacities to care for others and the self. These products of malestream norms validate an inner sense of feeling good about oneself at the expense of relational connection with others, including the Earth. As mentioned previously, malestream norms enable men to acquire socioeconomic and political advantages. But this has occurred at what has proven to be a terrible cost for all others as well as men themselves. Many men, especially those most strongly immersed in malestream norms, don’t even know that they are subject to this internalise superiority nor do they recognise it as an oppression that afflicts them at the same time and through the same mechanisms that assures their primacy in a world.. Notably, the symptoms of men’s oppression are not unique to mining. However, this form of oppression is intensely experienced by miners precisely because of the isolated and hypermasculine nature of minthat men (and increasing numbers of women) find themselves immersed in when on-site. Unfortunately, perceiving and then countering men’s oppression can undermine men’s primacy (Smith 51-52). As a consequence many men have little reason to want to take a stand against malestream norms that can come to dominate their lives at work and home. But to refuse to do so can erode their health and well-being and set them on a path of perpetration of oppressive thoughts, words and deeds towards others. Pathways to Ecological Masculinism The conceptual core of ecological masculinism is constructed on five precepts (that I refer to as the ADAMN model). These precepts help guide modern Western men towards greater care for others and the self in tangible ways (Pulé). Accompanying these precepts is the need for a plurality of caring behavioural possibilities for men to emerge. Men are encouraged to pursue inner congruency (aligning head with heart and intuition) as a pathway to their fuller humanness so that more integrated and mature masculinities can emerge. In this sense, ecological masculinism can be adapted to any work or home situation, providing a robust and versatile model that redresses gendered norms amongst mining men despite the diversity of individuals and resistances that might characterise some mining cultures. The ADAMN model draws on the vernacular encouragement for men to “give a damn” about all others and themselves. The five key instructions of masculine ecologisation are: A: Accept the central premise that you were born good and have an infinite capacity to care and be caring D: Don’t separate yourself from others; instead strengthen and rebuild your sense of connection with others and yourself A: Amend your own past hurts and any you have caused to others M: Model mature modern masculinity. Construct your masculine identity on caring thoughts, words and actions that nurture the relational space between yourself and others by seeking a life of service for the common good N: Normalise men’s care; support all men to show their care as central features of being a mature modern man Collectively, these key instructions of the ADAMN model are designed to raise men’s capacities to care for others and the self. They are aspects of ecological masculinism that are introduced to men through large group presentations, working with teams and at the level of one-on-one coaching in order to facilitate the recovering of the fuller human self that emerges through masculine ecologisation. This aspect of ecological masculinism offers tangible alternatives to malestream norms that dominate mining cultures by subverting the oppressive aspects of malestream norms in mining with more integrated levels of care for all others and the self. The ADAMN model is drawn as a nested diagram where each layer of this work forms the foundations of and is imbedded within the next, taking an individual man on a step-by-step journey that charts a course towards a heightened relational self and in so doing shifts the culture of masculinities within which he is immersed (see Figure 1). Trials of the ADAMN model over the past three years have applied ecological masculinism to groups of miners, at first in larger groups where hypermasculinised men can remain anonymous. From there masculine ecologisation drills down into the personal stories of individual men’s lives to uncover the sources of individual adherence to malestream norms—interrogating the pressures at play for them to have donned the “armour” that malestream norms demand of them. Stepping further towards the self, we then explore group and team dynamics for examples of hypermasculinism in the context of its benefits and costs to individual men’s lives in a support group type setting, and finally refine the transformational elements of this exploratory in one-on-one coaching of men across the spectrum from natural leaders to those in crises. At this final level of intensive personal reflection, an individual man is coached towards integrative alignment of his head, heart and intuition so that he can discover fresh perspectives for accessing his caring self. The project’s hope is that from this place of heightened “inner congruency” the ecologised man can more easily awaken and engage his care for others and himself not only as a man, but as an active and engaged citizen whose life of service to his employer, community, family, friends, and himself, becomes a central fixture of the ways he interacts with others at work and at home. Effectively, ecological masculinism reaches beyond the constraints of hypermasculinism as it commonly pervades mining by “peeling the onion” of malestream norms in a step-wise manner. It is hoped that, if the ADAMN model is successful, that the emerging “ecomen” become more sensitive to the needs, wants and intrinsic rights of others, develop rich emotional vocabularies, embrace the value of abstract thinking and a strong and engaged intuition concurrently, engage with others compassionately, educate themselves about their world at work and home, willingly assume leadership on the job, within their families and throughout their communities and grow proactively through the process. Such men embody a humanistic worldview towards all of life. They are flexible, responsive, and attentive to the value of others and themselves. Such is the ecoman I suggest might best benefit resource companies, mining cultures, mining families and miners.Figure 1 Conclusion Central to a more gender-aware future for men in mining is hope—hope that we will adapt to the challenges of mining culture swiftly by reaching beyond engineered solutions to the problems that many mine workers face; hope that our responses will be humanistic, creative and transgress malestream norms; hope that those responses are inclusive of softer and more caring approaches mining masculinities. This hope hinges on the willingness of resource companies to support such a shift in mining culture towards greater care for all others and the self. One path towards this fresh future for mining is through ecological masculinism as I have introduced it here. This new conversation for mining men and masculinities gives priority to the ending of men’s oppression for the benefit of individual mining men as well as all those with whom they share their lives at work and at home. In this paper, my intention has been to emphasise a more caring approach to mining. It is my earnest belief that through such work, mining will become more sustainable for men, women and the Earth. The ecologised mining man will have an important role to play in such a transformation.ReferencesAnderson, Ray. Our Sustainability Journey – Mission Zero. 2008. 29 April 2013 ‹http://www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability/Interface-Story.aspx›. Ashby, Nicole. The Need for FIFO Families. Personal Interview. 11 Dec 2012. BHP Billiton. Global Workplace, Unique Opportunities. 2013. 22 April 2013 ‹http://www.bhpbilliton.com/home/people/workplace/Pages/default.aspx› Bliss, Shepherd. “Revisioning Masculinity: A Report on the Growing Men's Movement.” In Context: A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture Spring (1987): 21. [First Published in Yoga Journal (Nov./Dec. 1986).] Brough, Paula. “FIFO Work Hits Families Hardest.” The Morning Bulletin [Rockhampton, Queensland] 12 Apr. 2013: 10. Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Anchor Books, 1996. Connell, Raewyn. Masculinities. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Clifford, Susan. The Effects of Fly-in/Fly-out Commute Arrangements and Extended Working Hours on the Stress, Lifestyle, Relationship and Health Characteristics of Western Australian Mining Employees and Their Partners (Research Report). School of Anatomy and Human Biology: University of Western Australia, 2009. Department of Health, WA. The Epidemiology of Injury in Western Australia, 2000-2008. Epidemiology Branch Public Health Division: Department of Health WA, 2011. Gent, Vanessa. "The Impact of Fly-In/Fly-Out Work on Well-Being and Work-Life Satisfaction." Honours thesis. School of Psychology: Murdoch University, 2004. Irwin, John, Harvey Jackins, and Charlie Kreiner. The Liberation of Men. Seattle: Rational Island Publishers, 2006. Jackins, Harvey. The Human Male: A Men's Liberation Draft Policy. Seattle: Rational Island Publishers, 1999. Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala. “Digging Women: Towards a New Agenda for Feminist Critiques of Mining.” Gender, Place and Culture 19.2 (2012): 193-212. Laplonge, Dean. Roadshow Report: Toughness in the Workplace. Department of Mines and Petroleum, 2011. ———. “You Can’t Rely on Women to Tame Men.” 2012. 3 May 2013 ‹http://www.factive.com.au/›. ———, and Kath Albury. “Practices of Gender in Mining.” AUSIMM (Feb. 2012): 80-84. News Limited. “Brutal Hours, Drug Issues and Family Pressures Force Miners to Abandon Industry in Droves, Inquiry Told.” The Sunday Times 14 Apr. 2012. O'Brien, Mary. The Politics of Reproduction. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. Paddenburg, Trevor. "Alcohol, Drugs, Poor Nutrition and a Dirt Floor: Life within Sight of the Boom Time." The Sunday Times [Perth, WA] 17 Mar. 2013: 14. Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. London: Routledge, 1993. Pulé, Paul. A Declaration of Caring: Towards Ecological Masculinism. Doctoral Dissertation. Murdoch University, 2013. Rohr, Richard. From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2005 [1990]. Smith, M.S.W. “Men's Liberation: The Oppression of Masculine Instincts in Western Society.” Canadian Family Physician 18.3 (1972): 51-52. Slote, Michael. The Ethics of Care and Empathy. London: Routledge, 2007. Twine, Richard, et al. “Ecofem Listserv: Where Are All the Ecomasculinists?” The Essex Ecofem Listserv, 10-21 Nov. 1995. 12 Dec. 2010 ‹http://www.mail-archive.com/ecofem@csf.colorado.edu/msg00852.html›. Windsor, Tony. “Fly-In Fly-Out Needs an Overhaul: Windsor MP.” The Morning Bulletin [Rockhampton, Queensland] 26 Mar. 2013: 4. Whyte, Paul. Introduction: The Human Male. 1998. 7 July 2010 ‹http://www.peerleadership.com.au/MENDOCUM.NSF/504ca249c786e20f85256284006da7ab/2d899401b7ee3708ca2566d8007c2960!OpenDocument›.

Introduction Many social media tools and services are free to use. This fact often leads users to the mistaken presumption that the associated data generated whilst utilising these tools and services is without value. Users often focus on the social and presumed ephemeral nature of communication – imagining something that happens but then has no further record or value, akin to a telephone call – while corporations behind these tools tend to focus on the media side, the lasting value of these traces which can be combined, mined and analysed for new insight and revenue generation. This paper seeks to explore this social media contradiction in two ways. Firstly, a cursory examination of Google and Facebook will demonstrate how data mining and analysis are core practices for these corporate giants, central to their functioning, development and expansion. Yet the public rhetoric of these companies is not about the exchange of personal information for services, but rather the more utopian notions of organising the world’s information, or bringing everyone together through sharing. The second section of this paper examines some of the core ramifications of death in terms of social media, asking what happens when a user suddenly exists only as recorded media fragments, at least in digital terms. Death, at first glance, renders users (or post-users) without agency or, implicitly, value to companies which data-mine ongoing social practices. Yet the emergence of digital legacy management highlights the value of the data generated using social media, a value which persists even after death. The question of a digital estate thus illustrates the cumulative value of social media as media, even on an individual level. The ways Facebook and Google approach digital death are examined, demonstrating policies which enshrine the agency and rights of living users, but become far less coherent posthumously. Finally, along with digital legacy management, I will examine the potential for posthumous digital legacies which may, in some macabre ways, actually reanimate some aspects of a deceased user’s presence, such as the Lives On service which touts the slogan “when your heart stops beating, you'll keep tweeting”. Cumulatively, mapping digital legacy management by large online corporations, and the affordances of more focussed services dealing with digital death, illustrates the value of data generated by social media users, and the continued importance of the data even beyond the grave. Google While Google is universally synonymous with search, and is the world’s dominant search engine, it is less widely understood that one of the core elements keeping Google’s search results relevant is a complex operation mining user data. Different tools in Google’s array of services mine data in different ways (Zimmer, “Gaze”). Gmail, for example, uses algorithms to analyse an individual’s email in order to display the most relevant related advertising. This form of data mining is comparatively well known, with most Gmail users knowingly and willingly accepting more personalised advertising in order to use Google’s email service. However, the majority of people using Google’s search engine are unaware that search, too, is increasingly driven by the tracking, analysis and refining of results on the basis of user activity (Zimmer, “Externalities”). As Alexander Halavais (160–180) quite rightly argues, recent focus on the idea of social search – the deeper integration of social network information in gauging search results – is oxymoronic; all search, at least for Google, is driven by deep analysis of personal and aggregated social data. Indeed, the success of Google’s mining of user data has led to concerns that often invisible processes of customisation and personalisation will mean that the supposedly independent or objective algorithms producing Google’s search results will actually yield a different result for every person. As Siva Vaidhyanathan laments: “as users in a diverse array of countries train Google’s algorithms to respond to specialized queries with localised results, each place in the world will have a different list of what is important, true, or ‘relevant’ in response to any query” (138). Personalisation and customisation are not inherently problematic, and frequently do enhance the relevance of search results, but the main objection raised by critics is not Google’s data mining, but the lack of transparency in the way data are recorded, stored and utilised. Eli Pariser, for example, laments the development of a ubiquitous “filter bubble” wherein all search results are personalised and subjective but are hidden behind the rhetoric of computer-driven algorithmic objectivity (Pariser). While data mining informs and drives many of Google’s tools and services, the cumulative value of these captured fragments of information is best demonstrated by the new service Google Now. Google Now is a mobile app which delivers an ongoing stream of search results but without the need for user input. Google Now extrapolates the rhythms of a person’s life, their interests and their routines in order to algorithmically determine what information will be needed next, and automatically displays it on a user’s mobile device. Clearly Google Now is an extremely valuable and clever tool, and the more information a user shares, the better the ongoing customised results will be, demonstrating the direct exchange value of personal data: total personalisation requires total transparency. Each individual user will need to judge whether they wish to share with Google the considerable amount of personal information needed to make Google Now work. The pressing ethical question that remains is whether Google will ensure that users are sufficiently aware of the amount of data and personal privacy they are exchanging in order to utilise such a service. Facebook Facebook began as a closed network, open only to students at American universities, but has transformed over time to a much wider and more open network, with over a billion registered users. Facebook has continually reinvented their interface, protocols and design, often altering both privacy policies and users’ experience of privacy, and often meeting significant and vocal resistance in the process (boyd). The data mining performed by social networking service Facebook is also extensive, although primarily aimed at refining the way that targeted advertising appears on the platform. In 2007 Facebook partnered with various retail loyalty services and combined these records with Facebook’s user data. This information was used to power Facebook’s Beacon service, which added details of users’ retail history to their Facebook news feed (for example, “Tama just purchased a HTC One”). The impact of all of these seemingly unrelated purchases turning up in many people’s feeds suddenly revealed the complex surveillance, data mining and sharing of these data that was taking place (Doyle and Fraser). However, as Beacon was turned on, without consultation, for all Facebook users, there was a sizable backlash that meant that Facebook had to initially switch the service to opt-in, and then discontinue it altogether. While Beacon has been long since erased, it is notable that in early 2013 Facebook announced that they have strengthened partnerships with data mining and profiling companies, including Datalogix, Epsilon, Acxiom, and BlueKai, which harness customer information from a range of loyalty cards, to further refine the targeting ability offered to advertisers using Facebook (Hof). Facebook’s data mining, surveillance and integration across companies is thus still going on, but no longer directly visible to Facebook users, except in terms of the targeted advertisements which appear on the service. Facebook is also a platform, providing a scaffolding and gateway to many other tools and services. In order to use social games such as Zynga’s Farmville, Facebook users agree to allow Zynga to access their profile information, and use Facebook to authenticate their identity. Zynga has been unashamedly at the forefront of user analytics and data mining, attempting to algorithmically determine the best way to make virtual goods within their games attractive enough for users to pay for them with real money. Indeed, during a conference presentation, Zynga Vice President Ken Rudin stated outright that Zynga is “an analytics company masquerading as a games company” (Rudin). I would contend that this masquerade succeeds, as few Farmville players are likely to consider how their every choice and activity is being algorithmically scrutinised in order to determine what virtual goods they might actually buy. As an instance of what is widely being called ‘big data’, the data miing operations of Facebook, Zynga and similar services lead to a range of ethical questions (boyd and Crawford). While users may have ostensibly agreed to this data mining after clicking on Facebook’s Terms of Use agreement, the fact that almost no one reads these agreements when signing up for a service is the Internet’s worst kept secret. Similarly, the extension of these terms when Facebook operates as a platform for other applications is a far from transparent process. While examining the recording of user data leads to questions of privacy and surveillance, it is important to note that many users are often aware of the exchange to which they have agreed. Anders Albrechtslund deploys the term ‘social surveillance’ to usefully emphasise the knowing, playful and at times subversive approach some users take to the surveillance and data mining practices of online service providers. Similarly, E.J. Westlake notes that performances of self online are often not only knowing but deliberately false or misleading with the aim of exploiting the ways online activities are tracked. However, even users well aware of Facebook’s data mining on the site itself may be less informed about the social networking company’s mining of offsite activity. The introduction of ‘like’ buttons on many other Websites extends Facebook’s reach considerably. The various social plugins and ‘like’ buttons expand both active recording of user activity (where the like button is actually clicked) and passive data mining (since a cookie is installed or updated regardless of whether a button is actually pressed) (Gerlitz and Helmond). Indeed, because cookies – tiny packets of data exchanged and updated invisibly in browsers – assign each user a unique identifier, Facebook can either combine these data with an existing user’s profile or create profiles about non-users. If that person even joins Facebook, their account is connected with the existing, data-mined record of their Web activities (Roosendaal). As with Google, the significant issue here is not users knowingly sharing their data with Facebook, but the often complete lack of transparency in terms of the ways Facebook extracts and mines user data, both on Facebook itself and increasingly across applications using Facebook as a platform and across the Web through social plugins. Google after Death While data mining is clearly a core element in the operation of Facebook and Google, the ability to scrutinise the activities of users depends on those users being active; when someone dies, the question of the value and ownership of their digital assets becomes complicated, as does the way companies manage posthumous user information. For Google, the Gmail account of a deceased person becomes inactive; the stored email still takes up space on Google’s servers, but with no one using the account, no advertising is displayed and thus Google can earn no revenue from the account. However, the process of accessing the Gmail account of a deceased relative is an incredibly laborious one. In order to even begin the process, Google asks that someone physically mails a series of documents including a photocopy of a government-issued ID, the death certificate of the deceased person, evidence of an email the requester received from the deceased, along with other personal information. After Google have received and verified this information, they state that they might proceed to a second stage where further documents are required. Moreover, if at any stage Google decide that they cannot proceed in releasing a deceased relative’s Gmail account, they will not reveal their rationale. As their support documentation states: “because of our concerns for user privacy, if we determine that we cannot provide the Gmail content, we will not be able to share further details about the account or discuss our decision” (Google, “Accessing”). Thus, Google appears to enshrine the rights and privacy of individual users, even posthumously; the ownership or transfer of individual digital assets after death is neither a given, nor enshrined in Google’s policies. Yet, ironically, the economic value of that email to Google is likely zero, but the value of the email history of a loved one or business partner may be of substantial financial and emotional value, probably more so than when that person was alive. For those left behind, the value of email accounts as media, as a lasting record of social communication, is heightened. The question of how Google manages posthumous user data has been further complicated by the company’s March 2012 rationalisation of over seventy separate privacy policies for various tools and services they operate under the umbrella of a single privacy policy accessed using a single unified Google account. While this move was ostensibly to make privacy more understandable and transparent at Google, it had other impacts. For example, one of the side effects of a singular privacy policy and single Google identity is that deleting one of a recently deceased person’s services may inadvertently delete them all. Given that Google’s services include Gmail, YouTube and Picasa, this means that deleting an email account inadvertently erases all of the Google-hosted videos and photographs that individual posted during their lifetime. As Google warns, for example: “if you delete the Google Account to which your YouTube account is linked, you will delete both the Google Account AND your YouTube account, including all videos and account data” (Google, “What Happens”). A relative having gained access to a deceased person’s Gmail might sensibly delete the email account once the desired information is exported. However, it seems less likely that this executor would realise that in doing so all of the private and public videos that person had posted on YouTube would also permanently disappear. While material possessions can be carefully dispersed to specific individuals following the instructions in someone’s will, such affordances are not yet available for Google users. While it is entirely understandable that the ramification of policy changes are aimed at living users, as more and more online users pass away, the question of their digital assets becomes increasingly important. Google, for example, might allow a deceased person’s executor to elect which of their Google services should be kept online (perhaps their YouTube videos), which traces can be exported (perhaps their email), and which services can be deleted. At present, the lack of fine-grained controls over a user’s digital estate at Google makes this almost impossible. While it violates Google’s policies to transfer ownership of an account to another person, if someone does leave their passwords behind, this provides their loved ones with the best options in managing their digital legacy with Google. When someone dies and their online legacy is a collection of media fragments, the value of those media is far more apparent to the loved ones left behind rather than the companies housing those media. Facebook Memorialisation In response to users complaining that Facebook was suggesting they reconnect with deceased friends who had left Facebook profiles behind, in 2009 the company instituted an official policy of turning the Facebook profiles of departed users into memorial pages (Kelly). Technically, loved ones can choose between memorialisation and erasing an account altogether, but memorialisation is the default. This entails setting the account so that no one can log into it, and that no new friends (connections) can be made. Existing friends can access the page in line with the user’s final privacy settings, meaning that most friends will be able to post on the memorialised profile to remember that person in various ways (Facebook). Memorialised profiles (now Timelines, after Facebook’s redesign) thus become potential mourning spaces for existing connections. Since memorialised pages cannot make new connections, public memorial pages are increasingly popular on Facebook, frequently set up after a high-profile death, often involving young people, accidents or murder. Recent studies suggest that both of these Facebook spaces are allowing new online forms of mourning to emerge (Marwick and Ellison; Carroll and Landry; Kern, Forman, and Gil-Egui), although public pages have the downside of potentially inappropriate commentary and outright trolling (Phillips). Given Facebook has over a billion registered users, estimates already suggest that the platform houses 30 million profiles of deceased people, and this number will, of course, continue to grow (Kaleem). For Facebook, while posthumous users do not generate data themselves, the fact that they were part of a network means that their connections may interact with a memorialised account, or memorial page, and this activity, like all Facebook activities, allows the platform to display advertising and further track user interactions. However, at present Facebook’s options – to memorialise or delete accounts of deceased people – are fairly blunt. Once Facebook is aware that a user has died, no one is allowed to edit that person’s Facebook account or Timeline, so Facebook literally offers an all (memorialisation) or nothing (deletion) option. Given that Facebook is essentially a platform for performing identities, it seems a little short-sighted that executors cannot clean up or otherwise edit the final, lasting profile of a deceased Facebook user. As social networking services and social media become more ingrained in contemporary mourning practices, it may be that Facebook will allow more fine-grained control, positioning a digital executor also as a posthumous curator, making the final decision about what does and does not get kept in the memorialisation process. Since Facebook is continually mining user activity, the popularity of mourning as an activity on Facebook will likely mean that more attention is paid to the question of digital legacies. While the user themselves can no longer be social, the social practices of mourning, and the recording of a user as a media entity highlights the fact that social media can be about interactions which in significant ways include deceased users. Digital Legacy Services While the largest online corporations have fairly blunt tools for addressing digital death, there are a number of new tools and niche services emerging in this area which are attempting to offer nuanced control over digital legacies. Legacy Locker, for example, offers to store the passwords to all of a user’s online services and accounts, from Facebook to Paypal, and to store important documents and other digital material. Users designate beneficiaries who will receive this information after the account holder passes away, and this is confirmed by preselected “verifiers” who can attest to the account holder’s death. Death Switch similarly provides the ability to store and send information to users after the account holder dies, but tests whether someone is alive by sending verification emails; fail to respond to several prompts and Death Switch will determine a user has died, or is incapacitated, and executes the user’s final instructions. Perpetu goes a step further and offers the same tools as Legacy Locker but also automates existing options from social media services, allowing users to specify, for example, that their Facebook, Twitter or Gmail data should be downloaded and this archive should be sent to a designated recipient when the Perpetu user dies. These tools attempt to provide a more complex array of choices in terms of managing a user’s digital legacy, providing similar choices to those currently available when addressing material possessions in a formal will. At a broader level, the growing demand for these services attests to the ongoing value of online accounts and social media traces after a user’s death. Bequeathing passwords may not strictly follow the Terms of Use of the online services in question, but it is extremely hard to track or intervene when a user has the legitimate password, even if used by someone else. More to the point, this finely-grained legacy management allows far more flexibility in the utilisation and curation of digital assets posthumously. In the process of signing up for one of these services, or digital legacy management more broadly, the ongoing value and longevity of social media traces becomes more obvious to both the user planning their estate and those who ultimately have to manage it. The Social Media Afterlife The value of social media beyond the grave is also evident in the range of services which allow users to communicate in some fashion after they have passed away. Dead Social, for example, allows users to schedule posthumous social media activity, including the posting of tweets, sending of email, Facebook messages, or the release of online photos and videos. The service relies on a trusted executor confirming someone’s death, and after that releases these final messages effectively from beyond the grave. If I Die is a similar service, which also has an integrated Facebook application which ensures a user’s final message is directly displayed on their Timeline. In a bizarre promotional campaign around a service called If I Die First, the company is promising that the first user of the service to pass away will have their posthumous message delivered to a huge online audience, via popular blogs and mainstream press coverage. While this is not likely to appeal to everyone, the notion of a popular posthumous performance of self further complicates that question of what social media can mean after death. Illustrating the value of social media legacies in a quite different but equally powerful way, the Lives On service purports to algorithmically learn how a person uses Twitter while they are live, and then continue to tweet in their name after death. Internet critic Evgeny Morozov argues that Lives On is part of a Silicon Valley ideology of ‘solutionism’ which casts every facet of society as a problem in need of a digital solution (Morozov). In this instance, Lives On provides some semblance of a solution to the problem of death. While far from defeating death, the very fact that it might be possible to produce any meaningful approximation of a living person’s social media after they die is powerful testimony to the value of data mining and the importance of recognising that value. While Lives On is an experimental service in its infancy, it is worth wondering what sort of posthumous approximation might be built using the robust data profiles held by Facebook or Google. If Google Now can extrapolate what a user wants to see without any additional input, how hard would it be to retool this service to post what a user would have wanted after their death? Could there, in effect, be a Google After(life)? Conclusion Users of social media services have differing levels of awareness regarding the exchange they are agreeing to when signing up for services provided by Google or Facebook, and often value the social affordances without necessarily considering the ongoing media they are creating. Online corporations, by contrast, recognise and harness the informatic traces users generate through complex data mining and analysis. However, the death of a social media user provides a moment of rupture which highlights the significant value of the media traces a user leaves behind. More to the point, the value of these media becomes most evident to those left behind precisely because that individual can no longer be social. While beginning to address the issue of posthumous user data, Google and Facebook both have very blunt tools; Google might offer executors access while Facebook provides the option of locking a deceased user’s account as a memorial or removing it altogether. Neither of these responses do justice to the value that these media traces hold for the living, but emerging digital legacy management tools are increasingly providing a richer set of options for digital executors. While the differences between material and digital assets provoke an array of legal, spiritual and moral issues, digital traces nevertheless clearly hold significant and demonstrable value. For social media users, the death of someone they know is often the moment where the media side of social media – their lasting, infinitely replicable nature – becomes more important, more visible, and casts the value of the social media accounts of the living in a new light. For the larger online corporations and service providers, the inevitable increase in deceased users will likely provoke more fine-grained controls and responses to the question of digital legacies and posthumous profiles. It is likely, too, that the increase in online social practices of mourning will open new spaces and arenas for those same corporate giants to analyse and data-mine. References Albrechtslund, Anders. “Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance.” First Monday 13.3 (2008). 21 Apr. 2013 ‹http://firstmonday.org/article/view/2142/1949›. boyd, danah. “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure, Invasion, and Social Convergence.” Convergence 14.1 (2008): 13–20. ———, and Kate Crawford. “Critical Questions for Big Data.” Information, Communication & Society 15.5 (2012): 662–679. Carroll, Brian, and Katie Landry. “Logging On and Letting Out: Using Online Social Networks to Grieve and to Mourn.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 341–349. Doyle, Warwick, and Matthew Fraser. “Facebook, Surveillance and Power.” Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on Your Mind? Ed. D.E. Wittkower. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2010. 215–230. 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Introduction: How Do We Learn What We Know? “Deaf.” How do we learn what we know about being deaf and about deafness? What’s the difference between “being deaf” and “deafness” as a particular kind of (non) hearing? Which would you rather be, deaf or blind: children commonly ask this question as they make their early forays into imagining the lives of people different from them. Hearing people cannot know what it is like to be deaf, just as deaf people cannot know what it is like to hear ... or can they? Finally, how can we tell fresh and authentic stories of “being deaf” and the state of “deafness” that disrupt our familiar—perhaps even caricatured—patterns of understanding? In this special “deaf” edition of M/C Journal we wanted to create a body of work in which deaf writers and thinkers would have their say. Mindful that "Deaf history may be characterized as a struggle for Deaf individuals to 'speak' for themselves rather than to be spoken about in medical and educational discourses" (Bauman 47), we were particularly keen to place the contributions of deaf writers and thinkers alongside the mainstream hearing culture. This is why we have chosen not to identify each writer in this edition as deaf or hearing, preferring to leave that biographical auditory detail to the writers themselves. We already knew that "there isn't a large body of literature about the deaf by the deaf" (Henry Kisor 3). Thomas Couser writes that "this should not be surprising, for a number of factors militate against deaf autobiography ... making them unlikely and rare entities" (226). And so we welcomed the diversity of topics and range of genres to this edition: they included a playful ficto-critical exploration of deafness; personal reflections on deafness (ranging from regarding it as a condition of hearing loss to a state of being); poetry; a filmography; and several fresh analyses of representations of deafness, hearing technology and deaf people’s lives in theatre, film and television (this was a particularly popular theme); the poetics of embodiment (indeed, embodiment was a recurring theme across many of the submissions); a commentary on the role of interpreters in deaf-hearing relationships; and an analysis of the role of the Web 2.0 and other technology in deaf people’s communications. However, we noted that most of the uncommissioned submissions in response to our call for papers came from hearing people. We had to seek out contributions from deaf writers and thinkers and wondered why this was so. Mainstream publication avenues for writing by deaf people on the topic of deafness are rare in Australia: perhaps deaf writers lack the necessary confidence or belief that they would be read? In this edition, they certainly reveal that they have much to say ... and inspire us to lean in and think carefully about their words. A Deaf Knowingness In writing her poem “The Triton”, Sandra Hoopman was inspired by her frequent visits to her deaf grandmother at her old Lambert Street, Kangaroo Point home, where she had a huge triton on her wrought iron veranda. Her grandmother would put the triton up to her ear and show Sandra how to 'listen' to it so that she could ‘hear’ the sea. Her poetry recalls to mind Robert Panara's most-quoted poem, “On His Deafness”, in which he imagined that he might even hear 'the rustle of a star!' Following Sandra Hoopman’s poem, we are pleased to feature the essay “Body Language” by Jessica White, shortlisted for the ABR 2010 Calibre Prize, and Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist for 2008 for her first novel A Curious Intimacy (Penguin 2008). In her essay, Jessica playfully explores the idea of not having a singular fixed identity by traversing a dialogue between the imagination and the character of Jessica, showing different selves at play and in conversation, and again in conversation with others at the ficto-critical room and with the ideas articulated by different authors. As with post-structuralist explorations, the essay emphasises the active and formative nature of language, story and ideas, which help us to deconstruct and reformulate versions of our lives and its possibilities. Play is a device that enables people to move beyond the confines of the social world. The joyful spirit of White’s essay is signalled when she writes: For example, there are still immense possibilities thrown up by theorising a jouissance, or pleasure, in the disabled body. As Susan Wendell points out, “paraplegics and quadriplegics have revolutionary things to teach us about the possibilities of sexuality which contradict patriarchal culture’s obsessions with the genitals” (120). Thus if there were more of a focus on the positive aspects of disability and on promoting the understanding that disability is not about lack, people could see how it fosters creativity and imagination. White’s essay is a ‘picaresque’, following a traveller who narrates her adventures and encounters. It is a wonderful model for narratives of difference as it departs, refreshingly, from mainstream Hollywood-style plot conventions, i.e of progress through conflict towards a climax and resolution. Instead, the picaresque allows for a variety of roles, settings and pathways for the wanderer, multiple characters and illuminating dialogues. It demonstrates literally as well as figuratively, productive encounters with the Other, jolting us into new understandings, ways of knowing and possibilities of being. In this way, White’s essay “Body Language” sets a thematically rich tone for this special “deaf” issue of M/C Journal. Through her essay and the following narratives, commentaries, articles and essays, we are immersed in the theme of the importance (and liberating possibilities) of contesting fixed and limited images, disrupting the representations and labels that are so readily assigned to the deaf or deafness. Different strategies and styles are employed, from figurative creative writing or life narrative to the critical essay or media analysis. Yet all contributions emphasise shifting perceptions, commence from a position of not being comfortable with the given representations or ideas that surround deaf identity. The personal narratives and essays assert a strong sense of disjuncture between deaf reality and common representations and ideas of deafness. Reading these contributions, we gain an acute sense of not being at one with the image or idea of a deaf person, not being at one with the social world, not being any one thing but rather many different and varying things and roles. The conditions of possibility are touched upon in the personal reflective pieces, resonating with the critical essays in their exploration of the possibilities of destabilizing hegemonic representations. For example, in “Becoming Deaf”, Karen McQuigg’s personal reflective essay, she describes several stages of the deaf experience. Her description of her son’s responses and adaptations is moving, and Karen mines a range of emotional responses to deafness. She shares with the reader the advice and support she received from other people: some readers will remember with affection the role of Elizabeth Hastings and John Lovett in the Australian Deaf community. McQuigg’s reflections sharply highlight the fluid nature of our individual experience and understanding of deafness. She (and we do too) shifts from what was experienced and understood initially as a blank, a not-comprehending—a ‘blank’ that is linked with loss and constraints, grief, suffering and isolation—to a discovery of how those views and experiences can change, along with changing environment and opportunities. This comes across also in Christy L Reid’s piece “Journey of a Deaf-Blind Woman”: possibilities are linked with where the narrator is living, with life events as varied as training and job opportunities, changes in health, marriage, the birth and development of children, child rearing, and of personal triumphs. Michael Uniacke’s personal essay “Fluid Identities: A Journey of Terminology” has much in common with Jessica White’s essay as he too engages playfully with his ideas. He uses language and figurative play to challenge the reader’s understandings of deaf identity, and to demonstrate the fluid and multiple nature of identity. For example, his opening anecdote about the Hearing Impaired Businessman plays to an embodiment of the idea that many people have, through categories and labels, of a deaf person, as Other, a caricature figure with no interiority or humour or nuanced life. Uniacke engages with this figure in a kind of dialogue, making him surreal, highlighting his typecast nature. By the end of his essay, Michael has shown us how identity can be context-specific and composed of many parts. In “Interpreters in Our Midst”, Breda Carty takes us on a jaunty, personal and engaging commentary that provokes the reader into taking a fresh look at the role of interpreters in mediating/translating relationships between deaf and hearing people. She asks, ‘When interpreters are in our midst, whose interests are they representing? And why are those interests not always clear to the observer?’ Originally written as a short piece for the Australian Sign Language Interpreters' Association (ASLIA), the article is informed by Breda’s immersion in particular professional and personal communities and experiences. While the tone of her commentary is light-hearted, using film screen representations of interpreters to illustrate her points, Breda nevertheless succeeds in politicizing the subject of interpretation and interpreters. She makes us aware of the social assumptions and hierarchies that structure our understanding of interpreting, which, if left unexamined, might seem a neutral and apolitical practice. Rebecca Sánchez makes an exciting contribution to the field of poetry. In her paper “Hart Crane's Speaking Bodies: New Perspectives on Modernism and Deafness”, Rebecca writes about looking for ideas about deafness in unexpected places, namely the poetry of hearing modernist Hart Crane. Taking up the theme of embodiment, evident in several other papers in this edition, Rebecca offers an interesting connection between a poetics of embodiment—Crane was influenced by Walt Whitman, a trail-blazer in embodied language in American poetry—and the more literal embodiment of manual languages. Although Hart Crane was not writing about deafness per se, his work explores the potential of embodied languages to alter the ways in which we interact with one another. When asked to define deafness, most people’s first response is to think of levels of hearing loss, of deficiency, or disability. By contrast, Crane’s non-literal approach provides a more constructive understanding of what communicative difference can mean, and how it can affect our und,erstanding of language itself. Rebecca’s essay's strength arises from its demonstration of Crane's desire to imagine the possibility of a language that lives within the body as rich and enabling, as are manual languages. Miriam Nathan Lerner’s professional training as a librarian is evident in her filmography “The Narrative Function of Deafness and Deaf Characters in Film”. During 2010, she is collaborating with a technical support faculty member at the Rochester National Technical Institute of the Deaf to design a website with quick-time windows so that the reader can click on and watch film clips of the works she references in her filmography. A lively, chatty introduction to some forty-three films with deaf characters and deafness, in which she provides her admittedly quirky approach to categorisation, Miriam Lerner’s filmography will one day be recognised in the same breath as Jonathon Miller’s “Rustle of a Star: An Annotated Bibliography of Deaf Characters in Fiction.” (Miller was also a librarian: they obviously possess the requisite skills of categorisation!) Pamela Kincheloe’s article “Do Androids Dream of Electric Speech? The Construction of Cochlear Implant Identity on American Television and the ‘New Deaf Cyborg’” offers an important analysis of popular (mis)conceptions of deafness and ‘assistive technologies’ as is evident from American television representations of deaf people with Cochlear Implants. She notes the prevalence of cochlear implants in television drama, identifies a couple of very limited narrative frames that dominate such representations, and discusses their implications. In her discussion of the ‘abject’ horror associated in television series with the cochlear implant recipient (often already a corpse) Kincheloe asserts that the Cochlear Implant technology is increasingly used in such narratives to convey intensified anxieties, not only about the deaf Other, but also about technology and the emergent ‘cyborgs’, humans modified by technology. Sharon Pajka-West’s well-researched article “Deaf Characters in Adolescent Fiction”, excerpted from her doctorate thesis, originated in a request from a young deaf reader for a book with which she could connect. Pajka-West takes us on her pursuit to fulfil this request, giving us many fascinating insights along the way. Her blog is essential reading not only for anyone interested in the field of adolescent literature, but also for those who understand the significance of providing young deaf readers access to literature in which the multiple possibilities for deaf lives, deaf identities, and deafness are canvassed. In her article “Marginalising the Mainstream: A Signed Performance of The Miracle Worker”, Caroline Heim places deaf issues centre-stage. Her thesis is that a way needs to be found to increase access to theatrical events for the deaf. She tackles this by viewing a Crossbow Production performance of The Miracle Worker (the story of the teaching relationship between Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan from different perspectives: accessibility, funding, plot construction and actors’ interpretation, the detail of production design (sound, colour and tactile) and the use of theatrical device, and post performance discussion. Arguably, Heim’s article might have benefited from more focus on the concept of inclusion, rather than exclusion. The claim that not enough money is given to providing ‘access’ for the deaf to mainstream productions may be difficult to uphold as a stand-alone argument when the budget of the majority of Australian theatre companies would highlight the fiscal difficulty they have just getting productions on the stage. All the same, Heim’s article provokes us, the reader, into investigating the many layered meanings of ‘access’ and also reminds us, yet again, of theatre’s potential magic in engaging audiences across all spheres of life. In her essay “Looking across the Hearing Line”, Nicole Matthews has written a stimulating paper on youth, Deaf people, and new media. Her paper is especially interesting as an exploration of the intersection between disability and Web 2.0 technologies. In particular, Matthews picks up a thread of Web 2.0 technologies relating to visual communication and expression to provide some insights into the emerging, complex nature of Deaf users’ engagement with digital media in contrast with the continuing problems of inaccessibility and exclusion in the mainstream world. Conclusion: Learning Our Knowingness from What We Don’t Know This special “deaf” issue of M/C Journal is not a “project”, in the Modern sense of that word, i.e. a unified collective effort to define identity, in this case deaf identity, or to consolidate and express a unique world view. Nor does it seek to enlighten the public about what it is to be deaf. Such a totalising project would inevitably suppress heterogeneity and the specificities of people’s lives. Rather, this collection offers many different particular and localised accounts - some personal and poetic, some analytical, some working through critique - which explore the conditions of possibility for human subjects, and in particular, people who are deaf. The contributions highlight in very different ways the complex and shifting fields within which people’s lives and experiences are formed. These works give us insight into the varied and changing social and environmental conditions that not only shape our lives but are in turn shaped by who we are and by our practices and choices. The constraints and possibilities of people’s lives change significantly and differ widely. They are linked inextricably with where people are, in terms of geography or location, and with the circumstances they find themselves in or create for themselves: circumstances of gender, family, social networks, economics, education, work, lifestyle, health or illness, physical abilities, differences and limitations. These works stress the highly contingent nature of human social development and the fluidity of deaf experience rather than identity. Identity shifts and takes on meaning in relation to others and situations; we come to know who we are through a process of differentiating ourselves from others and from identities that we do not feel comfortable with. In almost all of these accounts here experiences of deafness are not the same those conjured up by labels or stereotypes. This act of disassociation from the usual notions of deafness, highlights that our received language and labels do not give us knowledge. Disavowal reminds us that we do not know, except through some disruptive encounter with the Other, whether that is the otherness of our own deafness or the deafness of others. These writings that demonstrate the particularity and detail of deaf people’s experiences, enable us to know the limits and inaccuracies of the labels and identities so commonly assigned to deafness and the deaf. Thus, we come back to the beginning and find our equivocal, tentative answers to the question, ‘how do we learn what we know about being deaf and deafness?’ We learn what we know in various ways, yet hearing or deaf, we are exposed to particular ideas of deafness, limiting labels and assumptions that reinforce ‘ableist’ values. These writings have demonstrated the proliferation of limited stereotypes; they recur in narratives, news stories, television and films, and have power regardless of their disconnection from the real, and from the lived experience of deafness. It is a significant starting point to recognise the limitations of what we think we already know, through our media and social institutions, of deafness. These essays and writings represent a different epistemology; they explore not what deafness is or how it can be defined, but different ways of knowing deafness. References Couser, G. Thomas. “Signs of Life: Deafness and Personal Narrative” Ch. 6 in Recovering Bodies: Illness, Disability, and Life Writing. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997. Bauman, H-Dirksen L. “Voicing Deaf Identity: Through the ‘I’s’ and Ears of an Other.” In S. Smith, and J. Watson, eds., Getting a Life: Everyday Uses of Autobiography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989. 47-62. Kisor, Henry. What’s That Pig Outdoors? A Memoir of Deafness. New York: Hill and Wang, 1990.