Did you have a recent breakthrough on a project? Submit your findings for a chance to present your work at the world’s largest conference on explosives engineering.

Abstracts for the 45th Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique, to be held Jan. 27 - 30, 2019, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn., are now being accepted by the International Society of Explosives Engineers.

Papers addressing all explosives and blasting related topics will be considered. Accepted papers will be scheduled for one of the technical sessions or the Blasters Forum, a multimedia poster event with one-on-one interaction between the author and the audience.

The SEE Education Foundation will be awarding $81,000 in scholarships to students pursuing degrees related to the explosives industry. Each year, the Scholarship Committee reviews and scores applications from students in a wide range of disciplines and make awards ranging from $1,500 to a top award of $7,500 to one well-qualified student. The scholarship acceptance period will run from March 5 to May 4, 2018.

To be eligible for scholarship funding, students must be, or plan to be, pursuing a technical, undergraduate, master’s or doctorate degree in fields of study related to the commercial explosives industries. Students will be assessed on their academic and professional achievements, their goals related to the industry, personal challenges narrative and statement of financial need. The deadline to apply is May 4, 2018.

On March 24, 2018, two miners were using a man-lift to charge (load) blast holes with non-electric blasting caps, 8-grain boosters and ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) blasting agent. During the loading process, one of the non-electric shock-tubes became wedged on the man-lift basket. As the man-lift operator progressed across the face loading the blast holes, the wedged shock-tube stretched and broke (snapped) causing a pre-detonation of a blast hole. As a result of the pre-detonation, one miner received minor injuries and the other miner serious injuries.

Request for Information: Reopening of Rulemaking Record; Extension of Comment Period
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is reopening the rulemaking record for public comment and extending the comment period for the Agency’s Request for Information on Exposure of Underground Miners to Diesel Exhaust published on June 8, 2016 (81 FR 36826). The comment period on the RFI closed on November 30, 2016.

During the comment period, MSHA received requests from stakeholders for MSHA and NIOSH to convene a Diesel Exhaust Health Effects Partnership (Partnership) with the mining industry, including coal and metal and nonmetal mines, diesel engine manufacturers, and representatives of organized labor. In response, MSHA reopened the rulemaking record until January 9, 2018 (82 FR 2284).

Since the close of the comment period, MSHA received additional stakeholder requests to reopen the record and further extend the comment period on the RFI. This notice reopens the rulemaking record and extends the comment period for one year, until March 26, 2019.

The notice will be published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2018. The notice is available for viewing at the Office of the Federal Register, Public Inspection Desk.

Virginia hit a milestone in mine safety. While there are no trophies for first place, this prize cannot be valued. March marked three years since the Commonwealth’s coal industry had a fatality.

The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy’s (DMME) Division of Mines ensures the safety of all coal miners in the Commonwealth. Although they have nationally recognized safety programs, a staff with a combined over one hundred years in the industry and a mission of zero accidents, Virginia Mine Chief Randy Moore says the milestone is mainly due to those mining the coal.

Wednesday was an exciting, but bittersweet day in the Local 6 area. For 86 years, the old Lake Barkley Bridge connected Trigg County and Canton, but now it’s a thing of the past. Susan Holmes and June Ezell have been best friends for years. They say they’ve had 50 years of making memories together –including watching the bridge demolition Wednesday.

New for 2018: All ISEE members now have free access to the online research database OneMine. It’s home to more than 124,000 articles, technical papers, books in the explosives, mining, minerals and tunneling industries. Along with ISEE technical papers, members now have free access to papers from SME, NIOSH, AusIMM, CIM, SAIMM, TMS, IMPC, DFI and IIMP.

To access OneMine, ISEE members need to log in to the ISEE website first. Once in the members section, click on Research Papers and Proceedings. From there, members have two options to choose from. ISEE Explosives Reference Database Online contains only ISEE related papers and articles leading up to 2000. OneMine contains ISEE documents from 2001-2017 as well as all the 124,000 documents from other organizations.

If you have questions about your ISEE account or about any of our member benefits, please visit our website or contact us at isee@isee.org.

Did you know the ISEE has an online career center that offers discounts to members looking to post jobs? Whether you’re a student looking for an internship or a business looking for a seasoned professional in the explosives industry, the ISEE job board, located at the ISEE website, is a great way to get noticed.

And one of the best parts is that it’s free for job seekers. Upload your resume today to get the attention of job posters or browse the job board for the latest openings. Visit the career center now.

Registration is now open for FRAGBLAST 12. The symposium will be June 9-15, 2018, in Luleå, Sweden.

Sign up today to network with industry colleagues while learning the latest techniques and practices in rock blasting and explosives engineering.

April 18-20, 2018
Spearfish, S.D.

April 27, 2018
Rolla, Mo.

May 6-9, 2018
Vancouver, B.C.

May 11, 2018
Birmingham, Ala.

June 8-10, 2018
Lulea, Sweden

June 9-15, 2018
Luea, Sweden

June 10-15, 2018
Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.