PrintModule 1 Overview
The majority of you are taking this course because you are preparing for a career in the mining industry. A few of you may have a career focus outside of mining engineering, but perhaps you have a desire to better understand mining and the minerals industry because you may want to give yourself an option to practice in this industry in the future. This latter group typically includes law students, business majors, and students from civil, chemical, and environmental systems engineering.
Learning Outcomes
At the successful completion of this module, you should be able to:
- describe the importance of mining in terms number of commodities mined, the number of mines, and the economic impact of mining;
- cite examples (at least 12) of nonfuel mineral commodities and the commercial use of these commodities;
- use the USGS Mineral Commodities Summary to obtain data on the commodities;
- describe, in general terms, the makeup of coal, the more important constituents or properties that affect its market value, and why those constituents or properties are of interest;
- define the rank of a coal and the four ranks of coal; and explain the chart commonly used to illustrate the classification of coals by rank;
- explain in general terms the location of the areas in which coal, metals, and industrial minerals are mined. Further, give examples of specific commodities and where they are mined;
- locate major coal basins in the U.S., and describe one or two characteristics that differentiate the coal regions (other than location);
- explain the relationships between an operating mine and the various public and private stakeholders. List three federal government agencies with a major role in mining and their primary function, two labor unions with significant interest in mining, three national trade associations for mining; and for each of these explain their role;
- cite an example of a state regulatory agency and a state trade association. Explain the relationship between the state and federal entity that has the same general role;
- explain how the U.S. Congress becomes involved in mining and how mining stakeholders interact with Congress;
- explain what is meant by an administrative agency;
- explain the positive benefits of mining in a community or region.