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The Mining Institute of Scotland

NewsletterVolume 8, Issue 2 June 2017

President’s MessageOnce again another Technical session has come toan end with just an industrial visit to Cononish GoldMine on the 23 June remaining. As usual we havehad a wide ranging and interesting selection of talkscovering education, corrosion, well technology, shalegas, geology, civil engineering and surveying.

Elsewhere in the Newsletter Steve Bedford highlightssome of the challenges we face in converting thelarge numbers of Student Members that we haverecruited in recent years into full membership. Thesenumbers are a great reflection of the efforts ofmembers of Council in recent years targetingUniversities and Colleges. As these students moveinto employment it falls to us in the wider membershipto ensure that the progression to full membership andChartered status is seen as an important part ofworking life.

Allan Thomson reports on the Young Persons’Lecture Competition and I thank him for the hugeeffort he has put in to arranging this in recent years.

A year ago in the wake of the EU Referendum result Ithought that we would be experiencing interestingtimes this year and I think we can all agree that thishas been the case. With all this it can be easy forother things to drop from the public’s attention butduring this time the Scottish Government Consultationon fracking has been progressing. The Secretary, onbehalf of Council, submitted a response to theconsultation (available on the new website) and wenow need to wait and see what happens next.

The last few months have seen an increasing numberof announcements of decisions to decommissionNorth Sea infrastructure. This is not a rapid processand will continue for decades to come alongsidecontinued development of production facilities. Wehave seen a major landmark in this with the groundbreaking lift of the Brent Delta topsides, the planningof which was the subject of a well-received TechnicalMeeting last year.

I hope to see you at the AGM or one of next year’sTechnical Meetings and in the meantime enjoy thesummer.

Jon Latimer jrwlatimer@btinternet.com

Oil & Gas DivisionThe Oil and Gas Division has recently refreshed theDivision 5-year plan to 2022 and agreed two prioritiesto 2019, namely: sustaining existing successfulactivities and increasing the retention of youngermembers while continuing to attract new members.Currently, around 7% of student members continuetheir IOM3 membership once they move intoemployment. Despite this level of retention beingcommensurate with other Institutes there is clearlysignificant scope for improvement. Actions that theDivision is taking in support of the priorities includethe following:

Working with the Institute and other Divisions todevelop and implement a mentoring programme.

Increasing the visibility and value of professionalqualifications – a presentation pack is availablefor any members who would like to use it.

Encouraging and supporting applicants for allgrades of membership.

Increasing available educational material – newmaterial covering aqueous corrosion andcorrosion control methods has recently beenuploaded to the Division microsite at<www.iom3.org/oil-gas-division>

Building activities in the London Area in line withthose already available in Scotland – the Boardmembership is now evenly split betweenAberdeen and London, with the new Londonbased members putting in place a programme ofseminars aligned with the seminars that will berun at Scottish Universities and Conferences thisyear. In addition a one-day seminar on theobligations and opportunities presented bydecommissioning on the UKCS will be held at theIOM3 London office on the 12 October 2017.This seminar will feature senior Industry leadersexploring this £50+ billion activity with a particularfocus on the opportunities such as the recyclingof removed platforms.

Cont’d on page 2

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Oil & Gas Division cont’d

In the UK oil and gas production continues toincrease with a number of Industry leading offshoreoil and gas developments ongoing. In May BPbrought on line the world’s largest harsh water FPSO(Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel),the Glen Lyon, and is currently ramping upproduction to 130,000 bbl/day. The intent is toproduce 450 to 600 million barrels of oil over the next20 plus years from the estimated 2.1 billion barrels inthe Scheihallion area west of Shetland. All theproduction is from subsea wells via the largestsubsea infrastructure in the world. The scale of thisproject and the technology being deployed illustratethe capability of the UK Oil and Gas industry and theefforts ongoing to maximise recovery of domestic oiland gas.

Steve Bedford bedfords2@bp.com

Mining TechnologyDivisionThe Mining Technology Division (MTD) Board holdfour meetings annually. At its January meeting theBoard discussed the webpage(www.iom3.org/mining-technology-division), thepublication of an MTD Brochure, the content of futureMTD Newsletters, and Conference 2017.

The May meeting of the Board continued thediscussion of the content of the Newsletters.Members of IOM3 who have selected the MTD astheir chosen Division should be receiving theNewsletters directly from IOM3. Agreement wasreached on the content of the MTD Brochure and theorganisation of Conference 2017 was furtherdiscussed.

Conference 2017 will be held on 4/5 October 2017 atIOM3 HQ, 297 Euston Road, London. Spread overtwo days the Conference will look at currentdevelopments in the UK mining industry. Speakerson 4 October come from the Health & SafetyExecutive, Sirius Minerals, Scotgold Resources,British Gypsum, Wolf Minerals, Irish Salt andMinerals Exploration, New Crofton Co-op CollieryLtd, and Strongbow Exploration Inc. On 5 October,the speakers are from Mines Rescue Service Ltd,British Fluorspar, Compass Minerals UK, DalradianGold Ltd, Cleveland Potash, West Cumbria Mining,Cornwall Resources Ltd, M-I SWACO Minerals, andCamborne School of Mines. The Conference will bechaired by Christine Blackmore, Wardell Armstrongand Chair of the MTD Board. A Thames River BoatDinner will be held on the evening of 4 October. Aconference brochure is being prepared.

Cost for 2-day conference including lunch andnetworking river boat dinner will be:

Member £250 + VATNon Members £300 + VATStudent Member £125 + VATStudent Non-Member £150 + VAT.

The MTD Board agreed to assist the North ofEngland Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers(NEIMME) with a 2/3-day environment conference.NEIMME has secured Heritage Lottery Funding torefurbish Neville Hall, Newcastle. However, thevenue will not be open until 2020 and it has beenagreed to postpone the conference until then.

Work continues to establish a video-conferencingfacility across all MTD local societies. Currently, theMidlands Institute of Mining Engineers havepurchased a new system that links Mansfield withKnottingley. This system is capable of expansion toScotland and arrangements are underway to test thesystem at MRS Training & Rescue, Crossgates.

Look out for the summer edition of the MTDNewsletter, which will be published this month. Ifdon’t receive a copy please inform the Secretary andhe will send you a copy.

Decommissioning in theUKCS: Opportunities andObligationsThe Oil & Gas Division is proud to announce that itwill be hosting a prestigious one-day seminar ondecommissioning at the IOM3 HQ, 297 Euston Road,London on 12 October 2017. The seminar willfeature speakers from Wood Mackenzie, HerbertSmith Freehills, UK Oil & Gas Authority, Shell, AbelUK, British Metals Recycling Association andGenesis Oil & Gas and is aimed at Senior Managers,Technical Professionals, Investors and Financierswho have a shared interest in how these issues willaffect the industry, companies, markets and the UKtaxpayer.

The offshore UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has beenproducing oil and gas for over 50 years and manyfacilities have come to the end of their useful life. Oiland Gas UK have estimated that 100 fixedstructures, 7,500km subsea pipeline andapproximately 1,800 wells will be decommissionedover the next decade. Whilst this places a hugeobligation on the Operators, it also presents amassive opportunity for those companies bestpositioned to provide the expertise, people,equipment and finance to complete the task, and inparticular the decontamination, recycling anddisposal of the materials used.

Cost: Members £90; Non-Members £120

For further details and to reserve a place on thisseminal event, please contactmelanie.boyce@iom3.org

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YPLC 2017For the sixth time, the School of Earth andEnvironmental Sciences, University of St Andrewshosted the Scottish Heat of the YPLC with thecompetition being held in ‘D’ Theatre, Bute Buildingand the awards in ‘Forbes Room’, Irvine Building.

There were six competitors this year from Heriot-Watt, Glasgow, St Andrews Universities and fromBP, Aberdeen proving how popular and widespreadthe competition is becoming, giving our judges,Graham Smith (Geology), Jim Wishart (Engineering)and Ed Wade (Oil & Gas) backed up by Rachel Long(Timekeeper), a difficult job in coming up with awinner. With the high quality of competition, any oneof the finalists would be worthy of going forward tothe National finals as there were only a few pointsbetween them all. Support came from an audienceof about twenty, consisting of members, retiredmembers, students and lecturers providing thecompetition with a real live atmosphere.

The competition was held on 4 April and the followingentries (in alphabetical order) were submitted:

Anthony Clark, University of St Andrews - A Canoethrough the Ordovician

David Currie, University of Glasgow - Determiningthe Paragenesis of Ore Mineralisation at Leadhills-Wanlockhead, SW Scotland

Marli De Jongh, University of Glasgow – Shockedsuevites from the Ries crater: insights into thedynamics of hypervelocity impacts

Chris Holdsworth, University of Glasgow – Fracturefilling dynamics of calcite in lava piles and theimplications for geothermal energy generation

Edris Joonaki, Heriot-Watt University – Asphaltenesenable us to do enhanced oil recovery and collectocean oil spills

Gabriella Thomas, BP – Transforming welloperations and unlocking North Sea hydrocarbonreserves in a $50/bbl environment

Cont’d on page 3

YPLC 2017 cont’d

All the competitors put up a great display ofpresentation and in-depth knowledge of their chosensubject, but in the end Marli De Jongh came first andwent on to represent Scotland at the National Finalheld at The Armourers’ Hall, London on 26 April. Thewinner of the National Final goes on to the WorldFinal in Perth, Australia. Marli was placed thirdoverall and so proved a worthy representative of boththe University of Glasgow and Scotland as a region.

Left to Right: David Currie, Anthony Clarke, Edris Joonaki, DavidSeath, Chris Holdsworth, Graham Smith, Ed Wade, GabriellaThomas, Jim Wishart, Marli de Jongh

The following words are taken from Marli’s abstract:

‘The Ries structure in Germany was first recognisedas an impact crater after the discovery of coesite andstishovite and is regarded a type locality for suevite.Suevite is a polymict impact breccia, which has beensubject to shock metamorphism. It is also the mostcontroversial impactite found and its genesis is poorlyunderstood. To determine how suevite forms it isessential to increase the current understanding ofhypervelocity impacts. Optical microscopy, scanningelectron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy wereused to assess the degree of shock across samples.Preliminary results suggest that the degree of shockis not homogeneous, implying suevite genesis islikely to be a variable, multistep process involvingcomplex modes of transportation from different partsof the crater.’

Allan Thomson thomson833@btinternet.comA N I N S T I T U T E E V E N T I S T H E

P L A C E T O M E E T F R I E N D S A N D

C O L L E A G U E S B O T H O L D A N D

N E W , W H Y N O T J O I N W I T H U S ?

C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S

SOME DATES FOR YOUR DIARY IN 2017 ARE:

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

25 October 2017 – 5.30 pm at Heriot-Watt University,Edinburgh & Aberdeen (via video-conferencing link)

TECHNICAL MEETING

28 November 2017 – 6.00 pm at Palm Court Hotel,Aberdeen. Joint Technical Meeting with ICorr.

Industrial VisitThis year, the Industrial Visit will be to Cononish GoldMine, Tyndrum. The visit has been arranged forFriday, 23 June 2017. As the visit entails anunderground journey attendees will have to bringappropriate PPE. Those planning to attend arerequested to contact Graham Smith(caplaw@hotmail.co.uk) to secure their place.Visitors will be asked to meet at The Green WellyStop, Tyndrum at the time intimated by Graham.

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GovernanceThe Articles of Association of The Mining Institute ofScotland plc were amended by resolution at theAnnual General Meeting (AGM) held on 18 October2015. The resolution proposed that there will be aminimum of four directors and a maximum of six(unless varied by an Ordinary Resolution of theCompany). Currently, there are four directors andtwo of these shall resign at the AGM in October2017. Any director who resigns at an AGM may offerthemselves for re-appointment by the members.

Nominations from any member wishing to beappointed as a director are sought. Election ofdirectors at the AGM will be by resolution but in orderfor a resolution to be adopted it is essential thatnominations are submitted to the Secretary by26 August 2017. There is no set format fornomination to take and so hard copy or electronic isacceptable. To comply with Section 167 of theCompanies Act 2006 it is necessary for anyone beingappointed as a director to complete CompaniesHouse form AP01: Appointment of director.

It is not necessary to complete AP01 until after theAGM. The form will be sent to you immediately afterthe resolution to appoint you as a director has beenadopted.

In addition to the election of directors, there areseveral vacancies on the Council of The MiningInstitute of Scotland. The Rules of The MiningInstitute of Scotland are being amended to simplifyelection to the Council. Any member wishing toserve on the Council is encouraged to get in touchwith the Secretary or other member of the Council.Younger Members are particularly sought after buteveryone can serve and contribute to the governanceof their local society.

Members will receive notification of the resolutionsbeing submitted to the AGM along with the agenda indue course.

David Seath, Company Secretary

The Mining Institute of Scotland is a private limited company registered in Scotland with Number 311798

Hidden RichesAll MIS members should have received acomplimentary copy of this book when attending anMIS event. We are now looking to reduce theremaining stock at a discounted price of £7.50 eachor 2 for £10. However, to reduce administration andpostage charges, these must be collected in personeither at an MIS meeting or from one of our localstockists (namely Craig Durham, Steve Bedford, AlexCrossland, David Seath, Ian Purdie, and Mark Friel).

Hidden Riches is also now available to buy onAmazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/099290580X?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0) at the RRP of £9.99. Copiesbought via Amazon will incur £2.80 P&P supplement.

S E C R E T A R Y ’ S A D D R E S S

Mr David Seath BSc(Hons) CEng FIMMM10 Woodhill Grove

CrossfordDunfermlineKY12 8YG

Tel: 01383 432856Email: D.Seath@btinternet.com

Members can receive all correspondence by email. Pleasecontact the Secretary if you wish to receive correspondenceelectronically but currently don’t.

New WebsiteThe Mining Institute of Scotland website is movingand we are in the process of building the new site at:www.iom3.org/mining-institute-scotland. LesleyCumberlege (lesley.cumberlege@uk.bp.com) is thewebmaster. Please have a look at the new website.We would like to canvas your thoughts andsuggestions. Do you have any photographs that wecould add to the gallery together with a couple ofsentences to describe each photograph?