The Kamma Mountains are a mountain range in Pershing County and Humboldt County , Nevada . The ghost town and railroad siding at Sulphur, Nevada is on the west side of the Kamma Mountains at the eastern edge of the Black Rock Desert playa.
47-585: The Kamma Mountains are the site of Nevada's Sulphur Mining District. Allied Nevada Gold Corporation operates the Hycroft Gold Mine, a strip mine in the Kamma Mountains. Allied Nevada re-opened the mine in 2008 after acquiring it from Vista Gold Corporation. Jungo Road (State Route 49) connects east through the Kamma Mountains to Winnemucca and south to Gerlach via Sulphur. This Humboldt County , Nevada state location article
94-429: A "relatively new semi-surface and semi-underground coal mining method that evolved from auger mining". In highwall mining, the coal seam is penetrated by a continuous miner propelled by a hydraulic pushbeam transfer mechanism (PTM). A typical cycle includes sumping (launch-pushing forward) and shearing (raising and lowering the cutterhead boom to cut the entire height of the coal seam). As the coal recovery cycle continues,
141-433: A controlled water-inflow pump system and/or a gas (inert) venting system. Recovery with tunneling shape of drives used by highwall miners is much better than round augering holes, but the mapping of areas that have been developed by a highwall miner are not mapped as rigorously as deep mined areas. Very little soil is displaced in contrast with mountaintop removal; however, it is comparatively more expensive to own and operate
188-409: A correctional officer in the head, back, and arm with a prison-made weapon on October 21, 2008, causing the officer to suffer several injuries. Oliveri was convicted after a three-day trial in 2010 and sentenced to an additional 17 years in prison, extending his release date to 2029. Oliveri is now at FCI Schuylkill . On December 10, 2008, inmate Manuel Cardosa attacked a fellow inmate from behind as
235-519: A federal judge ordered him to serve consecutively to his original sentence. Eymard is now at USP Allenwood . In early 2008, inmate Steven Michael Reid (11728-018) threw scalding water on a prison unit manager's face and neck. As a result of Reid's assault, the unit manager suffered first and second degree burns to the face, neck, and chest. Reid was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison in February 2009. Inmate Adam Oliveri (50045-054) stabbed
282-548: A hearing in Federal District Court in Ashland, Kentucky, Eymard stabbed two correctional officers with a sharp weapon which he had shaped from plexiglas . As a result of Eymard's attack, one officer was left with cuts to his head and face and the other suffered a puncture wound under his left eye. Eymard subsequently pleaded guilty in connection with both incidents and was sentenced to 45 years in prison, which
329-437: A highwall miner. Mapping of the outcrop, as well as core hole data and samples taken during the bench-making process, are taken into account to best project the panels that the highwall miner will cut. Obstacles that could be potentially damaged by subsidence and the natural contour of the highwall mine are taken into account, and a surveyor points the highwall miner in a line (theoretical survey plot-line) mostly perpendicular to
376-556: A long strip of overlying soil and rock (the overburden ); this activity is also referred to as overburden removal . It is most commonly used to mine coal and lignite (brown coal) . Strip mining is only practical when the ore body to be excavated is relatively near the surface and/or is mostly horizontal. This type of mining uses some of the largest machines on earth, including bucket-wheel excavators which can move as much as 12,000 cubic meters (16,000 cu. yd.) of earth per hour. There are two forms of strip mining. The more common method
423-476: A number of effects on the local environment. The negative effects involve soil, water, air, and noise pollution as well as landscape alteration and various other negatives. However, new technology and proper management can make it easier to properly treat the local water supply and restore the local ecology which helps rebuild the environment. Each type of surface mining has its own environmental impact, as laid out below. Strip mining - Once operations have ended,
470-402: A once operational surface mine requires a large sum of money and extensive environmental remediation . These remediation projects can continue on for years after the mine is closed. In some cases, the mining companies go bankrupt leaving abandoned mines with no funding for remediation. In other cases, mining companies are unwilling to pay for remediation, meaning litigation or regulatory action
517-508: A prison-made ice pick before strangling him to death in January 2009. Court records are unclear as to what sparked the conflict between the two men, both from Washington, DC. Millner was already serving a life sentence for shooting and killing a person using a high-powered rifle on New Year's Eve 2002. The Department of Justice considered pursuing the death penalty, but Millner was ultimately sentenced to serve an additional life sentence. Millner
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#1732782703298564-569: A region of the United States with numerous endemic species . Erosion also increases, which can intensify flooding . In the eastern United States, the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative works to promote the use of trees in mining reclamation. Dredging is a method for mining below the water table. It is mostly associated with gold mining. Small dredges often use suction to bring
611-508: A region where flat land is rare. They also maintain that the new growth on reclaimed mountaintop mined areas is better able to support populations of game animals. Critics contend that mountaintop removal is a disastrous practice that benefits a small number of corporations at the expense of local communities and the environment . A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental impact statement finds that streams near valley fills sometimes may contain higher levels of minerals in
658-424: A variety of health risks caused by mining such as different cardiovascular diseases, food, and water contamination. Habitat destruction , alongside air, noise, and water pollution, are all significant negative environmental impacts caused by the side effects of surface mining. There are five main types of surface mining as detailed below. Strip mining is the practice of mining a seam of mineral, by first removing
705-401: Is area stripping , which is used on fairly flat terrain, to extract deposits over a large area. As each long strip is excavated, the overburden is placed in the excavation produced by the previous strip. Contour mining involves removing the overburden above the mineral seam near an outcrop in hilly terrain, where the mineral outcrop usually follows the contour of the land. Contour stripping
752-453: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Pershing County , Nevada state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Surface mining Surface mining , including strip mining , open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining , is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden ) are removed, in contrast to underground mining , in which
799-453: Is a health hazard. Although MTR sites are required to be reclaimed after mining is complete, reclamation has traditionally focused on stabilizing rock and controlling erosion, but not always on reforesting the area. Quick-growing, non-native grasses, planted to quickly provide vegetation on a site, compete with tree seedlings, and trees have difficulty establishing root systems in compacted backfill. Consequently, biodiversity suffers in
846-740: Is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in unincorporated Martin County, Kentucky , near the city of Inez . It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons , a division of the United States Department of Justice . The facility also has a satellite prison camp which houses minimum-security male inmates. USP Big Sandy is located in eastern Kentucky, approximately 133 miles (214 km) from Lexington, 140 miles (230 km) from Frankfort, and 320 miles (510 km) from Washington, DC . USP Big Sandy
893-416: Is located both on a mountaintop removal mining site and a former underground coal mine. Due to the underground mine, the federal government spent $ 40 million to remediate the site before construction and had to spend additional millions after construction began to fix further issues, making the project the most expensive federal prison project at the time. Harvard University owned the oil and gas rights to
940-610: Is necessary to compel the companies to commit funds to remediate. These legal issues often delay remediation and the environment is negatively affected. In the United States, when the company does not exist anymore or is otherwise unable to clean the site, special taxes on hazardous waste producers (i.e. the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund ) can be used to fund remediation projects. United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy The United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy ( USP Big Sandy )
987-421: Is now at ADX Florence . Steven Michael Reid, who had already been sentenced to 20 additional years in prison connection with a 2008 assault on staff (see above), stabbed a correctional officer in the stomach on June 24, 2010, with a two-foot-long (60 cm) spear-type object made of two rolled up magazines and a sharpened piece of plexiglas. Reid had coated the tip of the weapon with feces. In January 2011, Reid
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#17327827032981034-443: Is often followed by auger mining into the hillside, to remove more of the mineral. This method commonly leaves behind terraces in mountainsides. Open-pit mining refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth through their removal from an open pit or borrow . This process is done on the ground surface of the earth It is best suited for accessing mostly vertical deposits of minerals. Although open-pit mining
1081-458: Is regulated by state and local laws, which may vary widely. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and many more laws deal with the subject of surface mining. In some cases, even with proper legislation in place for surface mining some negative human health and environmental impacts remain. Surface mining can have
1128-458: Is sometimes mistakenly referred to as "strip mining", the two methods are different (see above). Mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is a form of coal mining that mines coal seams beneath mountaintops by first removing the mountaintop overlying the coal seam. Explosives are used to break up the overburden (rock layers above the seam), which is then removed. The overburden is then dumped by haul trucks into fills in nearby hollows or valleys. MTR involves
1175-485: Is very sensitive and vulnerable to drastic and harmful changes within their ecosystem. Highwall mining - Has a lower environmental impact than mountaintop removal because of the smaller external surface area present but there are still negative side effects. Air and noise pollution from blasting are common environmental effects along with the large tailing piles, which can leach into waterways and numerous ecosystems. Properly cleaning, restoring, and removing hazards from
1222-468: The Appalachian coal fields of West Virginia , Kentucky , Virginia , and Tennessee in the United States. The profound changes in topography and disturbance of pre-existing ecosystems have made mountaintop removal highly controversial. Advocates of mountaintop removal point out that once the areas are reclaimed as mandated by law, the technique provides premium flat land suitable for many uses in
1269-426: The coal mined in the United States . In most forms of surface mining, heavy equipment , such as earthmovers, first remove the overburden. Next, large machines, such as dragline excavators or bucket-wheel excavators , extract the mineral. Advantages of surface mining include lower cost and greater safety compared to underground mining. Disadvantages include hazards to human health and the environment. Humans face
1316-593: The tailings are placed back into the hole and covered up to make the site resemble the landscape before the mining operation. This process involves the removal of all ground vegetation in the area, which is a detriment to the environment. Topsoil may be placed over the tailing along with planting trees and other vegetation. Another reclamation method involves filling in the hole with water to create an artificial lake. Large tailing piles left behind may contain heavy metals which can leach out acids such as lead and copper and enter into water systems. Open-pit mining - One of
1363-533: The Florence Complex in Colorado. He is scheduled for release in 2035. On November 12, 2006, inmates Darryl Milburne (58478-066) and Dwaune Gravely (12867-050) beat and choked fellow inmate Shamoni Peterson to death. Milburne and Gravely were charged with murder, assault, and evidence tampering . Milburne pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to an additional 17.5 years, while Gravely
1410-696: The coal seam, and today's models are capable of going farther, with the support of gyro navigation and not limited anymore by the amount of cable stored on the machine. The maximum depth would be determined by the stress of further penetration and associated specific-power draw (torsion and tension in screw transporters string), but today's optimized screw-transporters conveying embodiments (called pushbeams) with visual product development and discrete element modeling (DEM) using flow simulation behavior software shows smart-drive extended penetrations are possible, even so under steep inclined angles from horizontal to more than 30 degree downhole. In case of significant steep mining
1457-568: The cutterhead is progressively launched into the coal seam for 19.72 feet (6.01 m). Then, the PTM automatically inserts a 19.72-foot-long (6.01 m) rectangular pushbeam (screw-conveyor segment) into the center section of the machine between the Powerhead and the cutterhead. The pushbeam system can penetrate nearly 1,200 feet (370 m) (proven in 2015 till today) into the coal seam. One patented highwall mining system uses augers enclosed inside
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1504-426: The environmental impacts are primarily found underwater. The method of extracting material from the seafloor or any water body leads to the harmful risk of marine life. Overall, the effect are far less compared to the other mining methods. The influx of sediment can bury flora and fauna, change water levels and can alter the oxygen content. Water and noise pollution is a concern that must be monitored because marine life
1551-503: The highwall. parallel lines represent the drive cut into the mountain (up to 1,200 feet (370 m) deep (2015 records), without heading or corrective steering actuation on a navigation azimuth during mining results in missing a portion of the coal seam and is a potential danger of cutting in pillars from previous mined drives due to horizontal drift (roll) of the pushbeam-cuttermodule string. Recently highwall miners have penetrated more than 1,200 feet (370 m) (2015 ongoing records into
1598-462: The inmate walked in a prison housing unit. Cardosa knocked the victim inmate to the floor and repeatedly jumped with both feet on his victim inmate's head, causing the victim inmate to suffer permanent and life-threatening injuries. Cardosa was sentenced to an additional eight years in prison on October 5, 2009. He was released from prison on April 8, 2019. John Travis Millner (32011-007) stabbed fellow inmate Vincent Earl Smith Jr. at USP Big Sandy with
1645-462: The loose sediment in a pond of its own making. Highwall mining is another form of mining sometimes conducted to recover additional coal adjacent to a surface-mined area. The method evolved from auger mining but does not meet the definition of surface mining since it does not involve the removal of overburden to expose the coal seam. CERB final report No. 2014-004 "Highwall Mining: Design Methodology, Safety, and Suitability" by Yi Luo characterizes it as
1692-959: The mass restructuring of earth in order to reach coal seams as deep as 400 feet (120 m) below the surface. Mountaintop removal replaces the original steep landscape with a much flatter topography. Economic development attempts on reclaimed mine sites include prisons such the Big Sandy Federal Penitentiary in Martin County, Kentucky , small-town airports, golf courses such as Twisted Gun in Mingo County, West Virginia and Stonecrest Golf Course in Floyd County, Kentucky , as well as industrial scrubber sludge disposal sites, solid waste landfills, trailer parks, explosive manufacturers, and storage rental lockers. This method has been increasingly used in recent years in
1739-439: The mined material up from the bottom of a water body. Historical large-scale dredging operations often used a floating dredge; a barge-like vessel that scoops material up through a conveyor belt on the bow, filters out the desired component on board, and returns the unwanted material to the water via another conveyor belt on the stern. In gravel-filled river valleys with shallow water tables, a floating dredge can work its way through
1786-449: The new mining method phrase should be "directional mining" (commonly used technologies as valuable synergy directional drilling and directional mining are categorized in "surface to in-seam" (SIS) techniques), dry or wet, dewatering is developed or cutting and dredging through screw transporters are proactive in developing a roadmap of the leading global highwall mining engineering company. Historically, moving materials out of surface mines
1833-417: The overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels. In North America, where the majority of surface coal mining occurs, this method began to be used in the mid-16th century and is practiced throughout the world in the mining of many different minerals. In North America, surface mining gained popularity throughout the 20th century, and surface mines now produce most of
1880-1013: The property and was leasing that property to Columbia Gas at the start of the prison construction. The prison is known for housing multiple high-profile inmates. The facility houses a large number of people who were convicted of crimes in Washington, D.C. due to the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 , which gave the Federal Bureau of Prisons custody of sentenced DC felons. As of 2013 up to about 33% had been convicted of DC crimes. Additionally, many federal inmates are sent there because they have been convicted of violent crimes and are now serving long sentences. Numerous violent incidents, mostly stabbings, have occurred at USP Big Sandy since it opened in 2003. In October 2006, USP Big Sandy inmate Terrell Johnson (16390-047), 33, who
1927-534: The pushbeam that prevent the mined coal from being contaminated by rock debris during the conveyance process. Using a video imaging and/or a gamma-ray sensor and/or other geo-radar systems like a coal-rock interface detection sensor (CID), the operator can see ahead projection of the seam-rock interface and guide the continuous miner's progress. Highwall mining can produce thousands of tons of coal in contour-strip operations with narrow benches, previously mined areas, trench mine applications, and steep-dip seams by utilizing
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1974-572: The waste rock of which is used to flatten out the surrounding land by infilling rivers and valleys. This is very destructive as it physically permanently alters the landscape and the associated ecosystem. Throughout the Appalachians in states such as Kentucky and Virginia, mountaintop removal is a common mining method where whole forests are cleared and the area becomes vulnerable to possible landslides, with restoration sometimes being too difficult/costly. Dredging - A form of surface mining where
2021-416: The water and decreased aquatic biodiversity . The statement also estimates that 724 miles (1,165 km) of Appalachian streams were buried by valley fills from 1985 to 2001. Blasting at a mountaintop removal mine expels dust and fly-rock into the air, which can then disturb or settle onto private property nearby. This dust may contain sulfur compounds, which some claim corrode structures and tombstones and
2068-405: The world's largest types of mine and the size of these operations leave behind massive landscape scars, destruction to environmental habitats, and substantial clean-up cost. An open-pit mine can yield an enormous quantity of waste rock, sinkholes can form down the road, flooding and similar negative impacts as strip mining. Mountaintop removal mining - Involves the removal of whole mountaintops,
2115-530: Was accomplished through manual labor, horse-drawn vehicles, and/or mining railways. Current practices tend to use haul trucks on haul roads designed into the features of the mine. Federal governments have imposed multiple laws and regulations which mining companies have to strictly follow. In the United States, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 mandates reclamation of surface coal mines. Reclamation for non-coal mines
2162-541: Was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Milburne was transferred to USP Hazelton and is scheduled for release on January 3, 2025. Gravely is at USP Atlanta . On November 4, 2007, USP Big Sandy inmate Eric Eymard (17628-045) repeatedly stabbed his cellmate in the neck with a shank . After the assault, Eymard told correctional officers that he had intended to kill his cellmate, who required surgery and hospitalization. On May 21, 2009, while being prepared for transportation from USP Big Sandy to
2209-508: Was serving a sentence for armed bank robbery, killed inmate Calvin Speight by stabbing him in the neck with a prison-made weapon known as a shank . Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge of second degree murder in August 2008 and was sentenced to 26 additional years in prison in 2009. Johnson is currently being held at USP Florence , the high security United States Penitentiary that is part of
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