SME Mining Engineering Handbook, 2 Volume Set (Hardcover)

This third edition of the SME Mining Engineering Handbook reaffirms its international reputation as “the handbook of choice” for today’s practicing mining engineer. It distills the body of knowledge that characterizes mining engineering as a disciplinary field and has subsequently helped to inspire and inform generations of mining professionals.

Virtually all of the information is original content, representing the latest information from more than 250 internationally recognized mining industry experts.

Within the handbook’s 115 thought-provoking chapters are current topics relevant to today’s mining professional:

• Analyzing how the mining and minerals industry will develop over the medium and long term—why such changes are inevitable, what this will mean in terms of challenges, and how they could be managed
• Explaining the mechanics associated with the multifaceted world of mine and mineral economics, from the decisions associated with how best to finance a single piece of high-value equipment to the long-term cash-flow issues associated with mine planning at a mature operation
• Describing the recent and ongoing technical initiatives and engineering developments in relation to robotics, automation, acid rock drainage, block caving optimization, or process dewatering methods
• Examining in detail the methods and equipment available to achieve efficient, predictable, and safe rock breaking
• Identifying the salient points that dictate which is the safest, most efficient, and most versatile extraction method to employ, as well as describing in detail how each alternative is engineered
• Discussing the impacts that social and environmental issues have on mining from the pre-exploration phase to end-of-mine issues and beyond, and how to manage these two increasingly important factors to the benefit of both the mining companies and other stakeholders

The handbook devotes attention to all branches of mining--metal, coal, and nonmetal--and to all locates of mining--surface, underground, and hybrid. Although the main emphasis is US mining, numerous references are made to international practice. --Publisher Comments

Practical rather than theoretical, international in approach and examples, expansive in scope yet not encyclopedic -- this reference continues the legacy of its predecessors as the handbook of choice among mining engineers. The original reference was published in 1918, by John Wiley & Sons, which, after a couple of editions, ceded publication to the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. First and second editions were published by SME in 1973 and 1992. This third edition occupies two volumes and covers market economics, exploration, deposit assessment, mining method selection, ground mechanics, surface extraction, underground development, and health and safety, among other topics; concluding chapters cover (for the first time) social and environmental issues, including how to mitigate and manage negative impact. UK-based editor Peter Darling has had a 30-year career first as a mining engineer and then as a technical writer specializing in mining issues. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR) --Book News Inc. Portland, OR