The deadline to submit an abstract of your recent research or work for 43rd Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique has been extended to Friday, May 27. This is your chance to share your techniques, strategies and research with your peers and industry leaders at the world’s largest conference on explosives engineering.

Click the link below to read the requirements and upload your 200 to 400 word abstract online. If your abstract is selected, you will have the opportunity to present your findings at the 43rd Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique.

The Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique is the largest gathering of its kind involving field blasters, manufacturers of explosives-related products, educators and researchers. The conference provides a forum for the discussion of practical and technical information as well as presentation of the latest discoveries in the commercial explosives industry worldwide. ISEE members and non-members are invited to submit ideas for papers to be presented at the conference. Presented papers will be published in the proceedings of the conference.

A federal appeals court rejected a bid Thursday by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to remain free while the court considers an appeal of his conviction related to the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in four decades. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced the ruling in a brief statement the same day Blankenship was scheduled to report to start serving his one-year sentence.

Blankenship's attorneys filed an emergency motion with the appeals court Tuesday, noting that he was scheduled to head to an unspecified California prison.

A 2013 fertilizer plant blast in Texas that killed 15 people and wiped out hundreds of homes was caused by a "criminal act," federal officials said Wednesday. The findings were revealed in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation into the origin of the deadly fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. on April 17, 2013, in the rural town of West.

The explosion flattened the farming community of 2,800 people, just north of Waco, turning some 500 homes into rubble as residents tried desperately to flee the horrific scene. Over 200 people were injured.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has again made headlines regarding the regulation of silica. Upon reaching the conclusion that the existing standards for occupational exposure to silica resulted in significant health risks for workers, the agency set out once again to create stricter parameters for exposure.

In 2013, the agency published a proposed silica rule that promised significant change to the current regulation, including a large reduction in the silica exposure limit. Highly publicized and criticized extensively by the industry, this proposal sparked national attention. After a lengthy public comment period and weeks of public hearings, on March 25, OSHA issued its final rule on the matter. This regulation is comprised of two separate standards: one for the construction industry and another for general industry and maritime. Although evidence from both OSHA and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that silica-related mortality was virtually vanishing prior to the publication of the final rule, OSHA estimates that this rule will save more than 600 lives and prevent more than 900 new cases of silicosis each year.

After three years of not buying gold, Soros Fund Management, a company founded by legendary hedge fund billionaire George Soros, is not only back to acquiring the precious metal, but has grabbed a $264 million stake in Barrick Gold (TSX,NYSE:ABX).

The fund disclosed that it now owns 19.4 million shares in the world’s No. 1 gold miner, equivalent to a 1.7% stake in the company. That makes of Barrick the fund’s biggest US-listed holding.

EACH YEAR, CITIES throughout the US scatter 19.5 million tons of salt on icy, snowy roads. Few people give it any thought beyond complaining about the stuff turning their car into a rusty heap, or pause to wonder where it all comes from. A lot of that salt is mined in Ohio, pulled from the remains of massive inland sea that dried up more than 400 million years ago.

This vast deposit lies 2,000 feet below Lake Erie. Enormous machines drill into great veins of halite, extracting huge chunks that other enormous machines crush into bucketloads of salt that ascend on conveyors.

The Blasters’ E-Handbook is now available for purchase exclusively at the ISEE online store. This e-book is a complete, mobile version of the Blasters' Handbook 18th Edition, second printing, which is home to more than 1,000 pages of explosives knowledge written and designed by experienced industry professionals.

E-book readers can search the entire Blasters’ Handbook for keywords with ease, make in-book notations, highlight important text and bookmark sections where they left off. The mobile format is perfect for working in the field and for students looking to lighten their backpacks.

The e-book is compatible with most iPads, iPhones, Android devices, Windows PCs and Macs, and only available at our online store.

May 26, 2016
Grantville, Penn.

June 2, 2016
Latham, N.Y.

Email sshepley@geosonics.com for more information.

June 9, 2016
Charles Town, W. Va.

June 11, 2016

June 12-17, 2016
Rolla, Mo.

June 19-24, 2016
Rolla, Mo.