Welcome!

Since its inception in 1982, the U.S. Mine Ventilation Symposium has become a major venue for the presentation of technical papers in the mine and tunnel ventilation field. The biannual meetings bring together ventilation professionals from around the world. These symposia provide a forum for the exchange of information on technical and practical issues relevant to ventilation engineers and mine managers. In 2002 the symposium was expanded to include venues in Canada and was renamed the U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium.

For the first time, a university has partnered with a private firm to host this event. The University of Nevada, Reno, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Department of Mining Engineering is hosting the venue, exhibits, field trips and workshops while the consulting firm Mine Ventilation Services, Inc., is responsible for soliciting papers, editing and printing the proceedings.

The symposium will offer an excellent opportunity for ventilation engineers, professionals and students to gather for a valuable exchange of information and professional development.

From the Chair of the Department of Mining Engineering

The Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno welcomes all the participants of the 2008 U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium to Nevada.

The state’s first mining engineering course was taught in 1882 in Elko, Nevada, and in 1886 it moved to the University of Nevada, Reno campus under the federal land-grant program. In 1904, the Mackay School of Mines building was started, funded by the family of John Mackay, a noted mining entrepreneur from the Comstock silver mining district around Virginia City, a few miles south of Reno. In 1908, the Mackay School of Mines building opened and the department operated within this building until 1983 when it moved to the new Laxalt Mineral Engineering building, which was funded by a federal grant obtained by then-Senator Paul Laxalt.

The mission of the Department of Mining Engineering is to provide the state and region with relevant research and a workforce of outstanding professionals having superior knowledge, skills and problem-solving abilities to enhance the economic well-being, safety, and security of society, while producing the materials for a robust economy and maintaining environmental protection.

The department accomplishes this mission through an accredited undergraduate program as well as a graduate program supported by funded research. The curriculum includes a rigorous course in ventilation that is enhanced by an outstanding teaching laboratory. Students also participate in a field ventilation survey in one of the underground mines in Nevada. After graduation students join the gold, coal, aggregate, heavy construction and other mining-related industries.

Mine ventilation-related research has covered such topics as in-situ rock thermo-physical measurement, controlled recirculation, gas emission models for gob areas, DPM measurement, hydrogen fuel-cell powered LHD testing, and rock heat and moisture migration model development. In addition, the department has extensive multidisciplinary research programs in robotics, numerical modeling, rock mechanics, science and technology education, mine closure and sustainable development. 

The department maintains a close liaison with the mineral industry. Field excursions for students are arranged during the academic year, and students are required to work in the minerals industry during at least one summer vacation.  Faculty members are also very active in organizing workshops and other educational activities that involve the industry on a regular basis.

I hope you will enjoy your visit to Reno and can take time to visit the University campus. 

Dirk van Zyl, Ph.D., Professor/Chair

For more about the Department of Mining Engineering, visit www.unr.edu/mines/mine-eng

From the Director of the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering

Welcome to Mackay!
In 2008, Mackay will celebrate its Centennial. In Nevada, the “Silver State,” education in the mineral industry fields began in 1888 with the creation of a School of Mines at the University of Nevada located in Reno. The School developed only a few miles from the famous Comstock silver mining district of Virginia City. The family of John Mackay, one of the Comstock mining pioneers, founded the Mackay School of Mines in 1908. This followed in the tradition of mining schools worldwide, which has continued for several hundred years. Since its foundation, the School has grown to become one of the best-known schools of mines in the world.  

Schools of mines typically offer integrated programs of study in economic geology, mining engineering, and extractive mineral processing engineering. In addition to these disciplines, Mackay offers programs of study in geography, geological engineering, geophysics, geochemistry and hydrogeology. The School also has statewide public service agencies consisting of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Nevada Seismological Laboratory and the Nevada Climate Office. Mackay has major research centers and laboratories, notably in the mineral industry fields, including the Center for Research in Economic Geology, the Arthur Brant Laboratory for Exploration Geophysics, and the Mining Life-Cycle Center. 

Mining is still a major industry in the “Silver State.” Today, Nevada ranks 4th in the world in gold mining, behind South Africa, Australia and China, and produces a variety of other mineral products. 

I encourage all those attending the 12th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium to visit the University of Nevada, Reno campus and the original Mackay School of Mines building. Inside you will find the W. M. Keck Earth Science and Engineering Museum, which includes the famous Mackay Family Silver Collection, and the DeLaMare Earth Science and Engineering Library, with one of the largest collections of mining industry-related references in the western U.S.

Jim Taranik, Ph.D., Director

For more about the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, visit  www.unr.edu/mines/

From the Dean of the College of Science

Welcome!
The College of Science at the University of Nevada, Reno would like to add a welcome to the attendees of the 12th U.S./North American/Mine Ventilation Symposium. We hope that during the meeting you will be able to visit our beautiful campus, including the Quad, anchored to the south by Morrill Hall, the University’s oldest building, and to the north by the historic Mackay Mines building. The Mackay Mines building, and indeed the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, will be celebrating their 100th birthday in 2008.

The College of Science at the University of Nevada was established on January 1, 2004, as a result of an extensive strategic planning effort by faculty, staff and administration. The College consists of the natural sciences and mathematics departments from the former College of Arts and Sciences and the earth science and engineering programs of the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering. We believe this combination of the pure and applied physical sciences, earth science and engineering, life sciences and mathematics provides a very strong entity for the education of our students, for cutting-edge research and for reaching out to our surrounding community on matters of modern science and engineering.

We hope you enjoy your time at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., Interim Dean

For more about the College of Science, visit  www.unr.edu/cos/

Mine ventilation is alive and well at Mackay!

The mine ventilation student survey team 2007


Anemometer traverse underway


Measuring the flow through a fan