UMR uses an experimental
to train the next generation of miners
by Jim McCarty
Manager Jim Taylor enters the old section of the experimental mine
operated by the University of Missouri-Rolla. The timbers are just
for show. This section of the mine is used for haunted mine tours
The students in Jerry
Tien’s class look bored. The University of Missouri-Rolla associate
professor is doing his best, but the material is tough and dry.
He talks about how
elevation causes changes to air pressure. He explains oxygen concentration
levels. He shows how to use instruments like an altimeter.
The dozen students
in his mine atmosphere class take careful notes. But their minds are on
the second half of the class when they will leave the classroom for a
unique laboratory used by UMR’s mining students.
They will head underground,
armed with hard hats and battery-operated head lamps, to record data in
the university’s experimental mine. Located just a mile or so off
the Rolla campus, the mine is one of only a few such facilities located
on university campuses in the United States.
This class splits
into groups of three and heads to various positions deep inside the mine.
As they leave the light behind, a strong draft of cold air chills their
faces and hands. A powerful fan pumps the air into the mine. The air flow
is there for ventilation, and if this were a real mine it would be there
to save their lives.
Methane and other
gases can collect in underground mines. Someday these students might have
the job of maintaining air flow in commercial mines. Their task on this
day is to conduct a pressure survey to ensure the mine is safe for workers.
Later the data will
be assembled and plotted on a computer to create a picture of the mine
ventilation. Then the students can play “what if” scenarios.
For example, if a new shaft was bored in the rock how would that affect
the air flow? Or if the mine was enlarged would more air need to be moved?
in Jerry Tien’s class take airflow readings inside the mine.
Classes like this one give UMR students real-world experience.
kind of unique,” says Tien, who came to UMR in 1985. “You
look at other college mining programs. A couple of them have mines but
they are not as close to the campus. Penn State uses the basement of one
of their buildings. The Colorado School of Mines has one but it’s
30-40 miles from campus. That’s a day-long trip at best. We are
very blessed to have this mine.”
UMR was founded in
1870 as the Missouri School of Mines. The college was created to serve
the state’s booming mineral industry. Missouri’s mineral wealth
is so vast that it was responsible for much of the early settlement of
the state. In fact mining has been a part of the state’s economy
for 275 years.
As early as 1804 those
involved in the industry were petitioning the Civil Commandant of the
Upper Louisiana Territory for advanced training in mining. But the first
official proposal for such a school came in 1865 at the request of Gov.
While other disciplines
were added to the mining program, it wasn’t until 1964 that the
School of Mines name was dropped in favor of the University of Missouri-Rolla
designation. Today UMR is the state’s leading engineer training
program, and mining engineering is still a major part of the curriculum.
It seems logical that
the state’s School of Mines would have its own mine. But it wasn’t
until 1914 that one was created.
Land for the mine
was purchased on the outskirts of Rolla on Bridge School Road. In 1921
a horizontal opening was made into limestone bedrock to begin the mine.
Several structures were also started, including buildings to house a steam
boiler, air compressor, blacksmith shop and a mine hoist.
Most of the mine’s
pillars and rooms were completed by 1945. Three vertical shafts were sunk.
An adjacent quarry offered practice in surface mining. The original buildings
were refurbished during the next four years and a new mine office and
warehouse was built in 1949.
its early days the mine had rails for ore cars.
By now the mine was
getting so much use that more land was required both above and below ground.
An additional 12 acres of land was purchased in 1949, bringing the mine
site to 19 acres.
Two years later work
started on the west section of the mine. The ventilation fans were added
in 1956 and a second quarry was opened.
Students and faculty
members conducting research shared time at the site. Their research included
rock mechanics, drilling, blasting and explosives testing. As the mine’s
use continued to grow, work on extending the mine to the east began. In
time a second mine would be opened and a fourth shaft bored.
A classroom was built
on site and an extensive collection of mining equipment donated by manufacturers
provided additional opportunity for hands-on education. Today every aspect
of mining technology takes place at the experimental mine, guaranteeing
UMR students leave the university ready to enter the workforce.
On any given day students
might engage in surveying to lay out expansion for the mine. They might
practice drilling into the dolomite walls of the mine. Some classes learn
to use explosives while others gain experience quarrying crushed stone.
Experiments are carried out to determine just what happens to rock under
welcomes visitors to UMR's underground classroom.
“This is something
that distinguishes us from the other mining students out there,”
says Peter DuBois, a UMR student from St. Charles. “We get hands-on
experience. We drill through real rock, not concrete blocks like at other
universities. That dilutes the experience.”
While the latest high-tech
mining practices are put into place and often invented here, students
also have an opportunity to experience mining as it was practiced in the
days when Moses Austin opened the first lead veins at Potosi in 1798.
The college’s mucking team challenges other universities to see
who is best at traditonal skills ranging from sawing railroad ties to
filling ore carts by hand to drilling holes with a sledge hammer and a
UMR also boasts the
only college-based mine rescue team in the nation. The team competes against
professional teams organized by commercial mines around the world.
The rescue team works
with self-contained breathing apparatus that can extend the time underground
by cleaning and recycling exhaled air. In their competitions the teams
must solve rescue scenarios that might include going through flooded areas
of a mine.
Training like this
can be invaluable in the real world where mine disasters do happen.
Another unusual aspect
of the mining program is the Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center.
Important research into the use of explosives sponsored by the government
and industry offer more valuable experience to graduate and undergraduate
of the UMR Mine Rescue team use high-tech equipment like this breathing
apparatus to learn rescue skills. Adam Kresler tests the equipment
before a team event.
The university also
offers a pyrotechnics course, which is taught at Richland. In this course
UMR students learn to build and set off firework displays. Students have
put together shows for Missouri towns like Richland and Blue Springs.
But the mine isn’t just for students and faculty. It also serves
a vital role in educating the public about the important role mining plays
in the state. “If it can’t be grown it has to be mined”
is the slogan of the state’s mining industry.
realize all the mining-derived products out there,” Tien laments.
“When you think of cars you think of Ford, GM, Toyota. You don’t
think about mining and all the steel and aluminum it takes to make them.
We are very glad to be providing things people need.”
And the many tour
groups that visit the experimental mine learn first hand how true that
motto is. Visitors, ranging from school groups to tourists who wander
off I-44 and find the Rolla Visitor’s Center, watch a movie and
then don hard hats for a trip through the mine led by Jim Taylor, the
In October the mine
is the setting for a scary haunted mine tour that raises money for student
field trips and food donations for the Russell House, a local crisis center
for women and their children. In its first year the haunted mine tour
brought in $5,500 and it has been a tradition ever since.
While no valuable
mineral deposits other than fool’s gold have been found at the mine,
its value comes from something else. It’s creating the next generation
of miners and giving them a leg up on the competition when it comes to
landing a job in the shrinking market for mining industry employees.
“We have fewer
and fewer people but they are becoming more efficient,” says Tien.
“I was in the coal industry in the ’70s. Average tons per
shift was 350 to 400. Now it’s 4,000 to 5,000. In a way we are working
our way out of a job.”
The mine is open
to the public for tours by special arrangement made at least two weeks
in advance. For more information call (573) 341-4753.