22 mining engineering references, over 12,000 pages, searched from inside Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. Every answer quotes the passage and names the book and page.
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Also on this connection: MSHA safety data.
How answers come back
It quotes short passages and cites them. It never hands over whole chapters or books.
What it covers
Blast design, powder factor, burden and spacing, stemming, controlled blasting, and the ground vibration and airblast limits for nearby homes.
From SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook, Rock Mechanics for Underground Mining, USBM RI 8507 and RI 8485
Rock mass classification (RMR, GSI, RQD), pillar design, rock and cable bolting, mesh and shotcrete, dynamic support, rockbursts, slope stability and subsidence.
From Rock Mechanics for Underground Mining, Ground Support in Mining and Underground Construction, SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook
Ventilation planning, auxiliary ventilation, fans, diesel dilution and diesel particulate, mine gases, dust control, fires and explosions, cooling.
From Underground Ventilation (19th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium), SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook
Crushing and grinding, classification, flotation, physical separation, solid and liquid separation, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, and plants for selected metals.
From SME Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Handbook, SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook
Production estimates, job efficiency, rolling resistance, owning and operating cost, haul roads, matching loaders to trucks, hoisting and underground ore movement.
From Caterpillar Performance Handbook, SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook, Mine Planning and Equipment Selection
Open-pit planning, underground method selection, caving, longwall, room and pillar, feasibility studies, cost estimating and running the project.
From SME Mining Engineering Handbook, Mine Planning and Equipment Selection, Mine Design, Planning and Sustainable Exploitation in the Digital Age, Project Management for Mining
Deposit models, sampling and Gy's formula, and how resources and reserves are classed and converted.
From SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook, Mine Design, Planning and Sustainable Exploitation in the Digital Age
Dewatering and pumping, tailings dams, water management, waste disposal, mine closure and acid mine drainage, reclamation.
From SME Mining Engineering Handbook, SME Mining Reference Handbook, Mine Design, Planning and Sustainable Exploitation in the Digital Age, Mine Planning and Equipment Selection
How MSHA reads its standards and runs general and health inspections, the small mine guide, and miners' rights.
From MSHA Program Policy Manual, Volumes I to V, General and Health Inspection Procedures Handbooks, Small Mine E-Guide, Miners' Rights and Responsibilities
What you can ask
We ran every one of these against the live server on November 6, 2026. Under each is a short excerpt of what came back, quoted as the book prints it, with the citation the server returned.
Pattern, powder and vibration, from the books that set the rules.
The handbooksWhat peak particle velocity is safe for houses near a blast?
| Structure | Below 40 Hz, in/sec | Above 40 Hz, in/sec |
|---|---|---|
| Modern homes, Drywall interiors | 0.75 | 2.0 |
| Older homes, plaster on wood lath construction | .50 | 2.0 |
The handbooksWhat powder factor should I start from for surface blasting?
| Rock breakage | Powder factor, lb/yd³ |
|---|---|
| Low | 0.25-0.40 |
| Medium | 0.40-0.75 |
| High | 0.75-1.25 |
| Very high | 1.25-2.50 |
The handbooksBurden and spacing as a multiple of hole diameter, for a bench blast?
| ANFO | Blends and emulsions | |
|---|---|---|
| Burden | x 24 (2 ft/in.) | x 30 (2.5 ft/in.) |
| Spacing | x 36 (3 ft/in.) | x 42 (3 ft/in.) |
From the U.S. columns. The metric multipliers come back in the same table.
Rock mass, support and fill.
The handbooksHow does RMR class a rock mass?
| RMR | Class | Rock |
|---|---|---|
| 100 – 81 | I | Very good rock |
| 60 – 41 | III | Fair rock |
| <21 | V | Very poor rock |
Classes II and IV come back in the same table.
The handbooksWhat energy absorption should fibre shotcrete have where we expect strain bursts?
"In areas of anticipated significant deformation, seismicity, or potential strain burst, a minimum energy absorption capacity of 400 J should be used based on RDP40mm. In extreme cases, this should be increased to 540 J."
The handbooksHow much cement goes in paste fill for primary and secondary stopes?
"For the secondary stope fill, a minimum of 1% cement is required to minimize the potential for liquefaction."
The same passage gives 5% cement for primary stope fill.
Airflow rules from more than one country.
The handbooksWhat diesel airflow do mines design to per kW, country by country?
| Where | Diesel airflow |
|---|---|
| Western Australia | 0.05 m³/s per kW |
| Ontario, Canada | 0.06 m³/s per kW |
| Chile | 0.063 m³/s per kW |
| Indonesia | 0.067 m³/s per kW |
| United States | 0.032 to 0.094 m³/s per kW |
From Table 15.3-3, Diesel dilution requirements for selected locations.
Grinding, flotation and the plant.
The handbooksWhat percent of critical speed should a ball mill run at?
| Liner inside diameter, ft | Ball mills, % of critical |
|---|---|
| 6-9 | 78-75 |
| 9-12 | 75-72 |
| 12-15 | 72-69 |
| 15-18 | 69-66 |
Resources, reserves and what holds the tailings back.
The handbooksCan an Indicated Resource become a Proven Reserve?
"An Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to a Measured Mineral Resource and may only be converted to a Probable Ore Reserve."
The handbooksWhat are the main ways to build a tailings dam?
"The common methods include: • Conventional method • Downstream method • Upstream method • Centreline method"
Production factors and how far to trust an estimate.
The handbooksWhat job efficiency should I use for day and night shifts?
| Shift | Working hour | Efficiency factor |
|---|---|---|
| Day | 50 min/hr | 0.83 |
| Night | 45 min/hr | 0.75 |
The handbooksHow accurate is a scoping, prefeasibility or feasibility cost estimate?
| Study | Accuracy | Contingency |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual or Scoping Study | ±35% | 25% |
| Prefeasibility Study | ±25% | 15% |
| Feasibility Study | ±15% | 10% |
From Table 5.1-3, specifications for operating cost estimates in feasibility studies.
Quoted from published references for research. They are not engineering designs: decisions on a live operation belong to the competent person on site.
The 22 references
Same connection
MSHA accidents since 2000 and citations since 1994, with rates, narratives and charts, plus British Columbia and Quebec.
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One connection gives your AI both: MSHA safety data and the mining engineering handbooks. Connect once from either page.
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