A Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources faculty member and six recent graduates from West Virginia University’s Department of Mining Engineering were honored this month at events co-hosted by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.
Vladislav Kecojevic, Massey Foundation Professor of Mining Engineering, received the Stephen McCann Award for Excellence in Education at the 68th annual joint meeting of the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America and SME’s Pittsburgh Section. The award is presented annually in recognition of the recipient’s contributions to minerals education.
“The opportunity to work with students and the coal mining industry is something that I cherish,” Kecojevic said. “It is a privilege to be the recipient of this award, and I am indeed overwhelmed to receive it.”
Also honored at the Pittsburgh event were 2013 graduates Jason Grimm, Mitchell Hankinson and Lance Kolbush for their pre-feasibility analysis on White Horse Mining’s Mustang Mine in the Herrin No. 6 Seam of Illinois. The trio captured the PCMIA/SME Student Design Award.
At the joint fall meeting of the Kentucky Coal Association and the Central Appalachian Section of SME, three other members of the 2013 class – Michael Corley, Mitch McBrayer and Zach Purdy – finished second for the 2013 Carlson Senior Design Award. The trio presented a pre-feasibility analysis on Kanawha Valley Energy’s Port Amherst No. 1 Mine in the No. 2 Gas Seam of southern West Virginia.
According to their adviser Keith Heasley, the Charles T. Holland Professor of Mining Engineering, the student design reports are the culmination of their two-term capstone projects.
“The students start with drillhole data of the geology of the deposit and ultimately develop a proposed mining plan,” Heasley said. “The final plan includes the engineering design of the major mine components: ground control, ventilation, equipment, electrical, water, environmental, etc. and ends with a full economic analysis of the potential profitability of the proposed mine.”
The six awardees are currently working in the industry at mines across the country.
-WVU-
mcd/10/29/13
CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
304.293.4086, Mary.Dillon@mail.wvu.edu
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