Department of Mining Engineering

Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering

College of Science

University of Nevada, Reno

Dr. Kathleen A. Altman, P.E.

Kathy joined the faculty of the Mining Engineering Department in November of 2005 after being selected as the Newmont Professor of Extractive Mineral Process Engineering.

After graduating from the Colorado School of Mines, she worked in operations and, later, during and after graduate school at the Mackay School of Mines, she worked as a consultant. She has had the opportunity to work at such legacy operations as the CF&I Steel Corporation in Pueblo, Colorado, the Climax Mine near Leadville, Colorado and Barrick Goldstrike Mines near Elko, Nevada. As a consultant she has traveled to five continents and served a variety of roles from Metallurgist to Project Manager. She has worked at the Kumtor Mine in Khyrghyzstan (at an elevation of 4,000 meters), the Yanacocha Mine in Peru (4,120 meters) and been underground at the Union Section of the Rustenburg Platinum Mines in South Africa (-3,000 meters), among others.

Associate Professor

Phone: (775) 784-1813

Fax: (775) 784-1833

Office: LME 406

E-mail: kaltman@mines.unr.edu

Education

B.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 1980
M.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno 1994
Ph.D. Metallurgical Engineering, Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno 1999

Research Interests

Hydrometallurgy;
Removal of metals from industrial waste water;
Multi-disciplinary approach to mine development and problem solving.

Selected Publications

K. A. Altman, Activated Alumina for the Removal of Selenium from Heap Leach Detoxification Solutions, Master’s Thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, 1993;
K. A. Altman, Model for Developing a Metallurgically Successful Project, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno, 1999;
K. A. Altman, K. Hegerle, Selenium Removal Processes Considered for the Heap Leach Detoxification Project – Paradise Peak Mine, FMC Gold Company, Randol Gold Forum, Beaver Creek, Colorado 1993;
K. A. Altman, S. McTavish, CIP/CIL/CIC Adsorption Circuit Equipment Selection and Design, Mineral Processing Plant Design, Control and Practice, A. L. Mular, D. N. Halbe, D. J. Barratt, Eds., Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., 2002;
K. A. Altman, M. Schaffner, S. McTavish, Agitated Tank Leaching Selection and Design, Mineral Processing Plant Design, Control and Practice, A. L. Mular, D. N. Halbe, D. J. Barratt, Eds., Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., 2002;
K. A. Altman, D. L. Taylor, R.W. Smith, How to develop an optimum metallurgical project; Transactions of Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., Volume 310, W. R. Yernberg, Ed., 2002
K. A. Altman, D. L. Taylor, R.W. Smith, Statistical Approach to Using Metallurgical Data to Improve the Accuracy and Information Obtained from Financial Analyses, Mining Engineering, January, 2002;
D. L. Taylor and K. A. Altman, Geological Data Analysis for Mineral Processing: Dragging Metallurgy into the Twenty-First Century, 29th APCOM, Beijing, China, 2001.