The mine closure conference is underway in one of those tourist towns in the Rockies of Alberta. I am not there; somehow the event snuck up on me and I just could not bring myself to go to another conference where I would snooze unceasingly through dull talks in hushed and dark rooms.

A major report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce is entitled What’s It Worth?  The Economic Value of College Majors.   The report is long, over 180 pages and covers degrees ranging from Agriculture to Social Sciences.  Engineering is dealt with from page 110 to page 123.   The data come from the [...]

The news this week has been mainly bad: more crashing stock markets, more idiotic statements from Republican hopefuls, more countries seizing the mines of the country.   The saddest part is that the only idea Republican hopefuls have about resuscitating mining in the US is to abolish the EPA and treat companies like individuals. 

I have been busy at the job of mining.  Instead of writing something original, I post as follows an email I received which give numbers to prove what I have previously written:  mining is good for the US economy and more mining is essential if we are to pull out of current economic slumping. 

With everything related to mining and the economy in general seemingly falling–except the price of gold—let us delay a little and bask in the heady news of what Canadian major mining company executives take home—and presumably spend to keep the economy buoyant.   These following numbers are from the CostMine 2011 Survey Results of Canadian Mine Salaries, Wages and Benefits.

Wild swings in the stock markets and economic woes are in the air.  I wondered how these affect mining.  Obviously gold will go up and up.  Maybe oil sands products will go down and down.  What of the demand for copper, platinum, uranium and other mined products that go into things people consume?  Nobody can tell.

Postings on this blog elicit many reactions.  Two postings in the past week on sites that help you find jobs in the mining industry have stirred the pot and I have received many comments privately, both commending and condemning me for my “innocent” opinions. I reply to very few of the comments.  I would  go [...]

Let us return to the CostMine 2011 Survey results of Canadian mine salaries, wages and benefits. Let us take a look at some salaries of those who work in Canadian mines.

A professor from far away came today to ask why Vancouver has so many junior mining companies. I had not hitherto pondered this question. We ate, walked, and talked; and here are some of the possible answers we formulated.

From the CostMine 2011 Survey of Canadian Mine Salaries, Wages, and Benefits, here are some average hourly wages.  For selected job categories, I provide three numbers.  The first is the average on Canadian metal mines; the second on industrial mineral mines; and the third is on fossil fuel mines.  I suppose the coal mines and [...]

The diamond sparkled in the soft light of a restaurant candle, its allure accentuated by the heady aroma of deep red wine. Yet […]

As we write, oil continues to gush from the sea floor and newspapers speculate on the fate of BP: Will or won’t it go […]