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Allu Group names executive vice president
Allu Group Inc., which manufactures screening, crushing and compacting equipment, appointed Edgar J. Chavez as its executive vice president and general manager. In the new position, Chavez will assume the responsibility of analyzing Allu Group’s growth by developing its dealer network and increasing brand awareness and market share in the North American market. The past five years, Chavez worked for PACCAR Inc. in its winch division as a director of sales, marketing and product support. The past 20 years, he has also worked for Gradall Industries, CNH Industrial, Astec Industries, Mitsubishi International and Volvo Construction Equipment. Keep Reading
Superior announces equipment dealer for Kansas, Missouri
Superior Industries appointed the Victor L. Phillips Co. (VLP) as its conveying equipment dealer in Kansas and Missouri. VLP, based in Kansas City, Mo., has six branch locations to sell Superior equipment. The dealer plans to sell and service Superior’s full line of conveyors, including its portable and stationary stackers, transfer conveyors and overland conveyors. Keep Reading
Dodge Momentum Index jumps in September
The Dodge Momentum Index moved 5.8 percent higher in September to 133.5 from 126.2 in August. According to Dodge Data & Analytics, the driving force behind September’s gain was a 12 percent increase from the previous month in institutional building planning. State and local budgets, which finance many projects in this category, continue to recover from the recession. With this support, planning for new institutional buildings has trended upward the past year in a saw-tooth pattern. Commercial construction is at a more mature stage of its recovery, and planning has been relatively more stable. Planning in the commercial category increased 1.8 percent in September, according to Dodge Data. In addition, a total of eight projects entered planning in September, split equally between commercial and institutional projects. According to Dodge Data, a $330 million office building for Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C., and a $150 million alteration of an office complex in Plano, Texas, entered planning stages in the commercial building sector. A $400 million hospital in Rockford, Ill., and a… Keep Reading
Re:Con 2016 blasting education event registration open
GeoSonics/Vibra-Tech opened registration for its Re:Con 2016 conference, which will take place Jan. 17-20, 2016, at the Casa Marina in Key West, Fla. GeoSonics/Vibra-Tech provides blasting and vibration consulting services. Its upcoming Re:Con 2016 conference will feature presentations from experts in blasting and vibration fields on how to improve blasting efficiency and vibration control. The company says P. Michael Saint, founder, CEO and chairman of the Saint Consulting Group, will be the event’s keynote speaker. Saint will discuss how digital tools like video petitions and telephone town halls can be used in land-use conflicts to build stronger community relations and public support. Keep Reading
Scouting the future
Scouting and mining always seem to find their way into Frank McAllister’s life. McAllister, chairman of the board for the National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum, says his father was a scoutmaster when he was a kid. He recalls sitting at a campfire with his father and his Boy Scout troop when he was 4 years old. “I concluded there that Scouting was fun,” he says. “That’s when I decided I would be a Scout. And I stayed involved [with Boy Scouts] my whole life.” Mining also became a part of McAllister’s life when, halfway through college, he was offered a job at a mining controller’s office. Over the years, he worked his way up in the mining industry until he became CEO of Stillwater Mining Co. in Billings, Mont. Although McAllister retired from the mining industry in 2013, his interests in mining and Scouting have never waned. The past few years, he was one of several people who helped persuade Boy Scouts of America to release the Mining… Keep Reading
Sand quarry to become fossil dig site
Quarry workers and paleontologists have regularly found prehistoric fossils and dinosaur bones at the Inversand Quarry in Mantua, N.J. “We’ve been seeing fossils there since we started mining almost 80 years ago,” says Tom Carrocino, Inversand’s president. The Inversand Quarry mines greensand, which is used to clean well water. Over the years, Carrocino says paleontologists have discovered fossils at the site that have been placed in museums. This month, Inversand and Hungerford & Terry Inc., its parent company, announced plans to sell the 65-acre quarry property for $2 million to Rowan University based in Camden, N.J. The university plans to use the quarry for paleontological research. Carrocino says Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, a well-known paleontologist and geologist, joined the Rowan University staff this year to help develop the university’s new School of Earth and Environment, which will be launched as the university acquires the quarry property. According to the Asbury Park Press, Rowan University plans to rename the Mantua site the Rowan University Fossil Quarry and build a museum on the property.… Keep Reading
MSHA awards grants to states for safety training
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) awarded about $8.4 million in grant funding to 47 states and the Navajo Nation to reduce mining accidents, injuries and illnesses by supporting safety and health training courses and programs. Recipients of the grant will use the funds to provide miners with federally mandated training. The grants will cover training and retraining miners working at surface and underground coal, metal and nonmetal mines, as well as miners at surface stone, sand and gravel mining operations. “Training of our nation’s miners is critical to miners’ safety and health, and thousands of miners receive training through these state grants,” says Joe Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. According to MSHA, grants were awarded in 2015 based on applications from states, and they are administered by state mine inspectors’ offices, state departments of labor and state-supported colleges and universities. Each recipient tailors the program to the needs of its mines and miners, including mining conditions and hazards miners may encounter. In addition to… Keep Reading
Vulcan quarry transforms to natural environment
Few hiking trails pass through active quarry sites. Yet, a hiking trail that stretches about half a mile is available for visitors in the middle of Vulcan Materials Co.’s Azusa Rock Quarry in Azusa, Calif. According to Vulcan, the trail acts as the divide between the east and west sides of the quarry's operations. The east side of the quarry is currently being reclaimed while the west side remains active. Jeff Cameron, Vulcan’s special projects manager for Southern California, says dozens of hikers visit the trail each day since it opened to the public in June 2014. “You won’t find many quarries with a hiking trail in the middle of active operations and reclamation projects,” Cameron says. “We find it’s a good way to interact with people in the community.” Hikers have lauded Vulcan for reopening the trail, known as the Fish Canyon Falls Trail, between the two sides of the quarry's operations last year. In addition, people in the Azusa community have noticed the aesthetic changes Vulcan has made… Keep Reading
Cat announces several major cost reduction plans
Caterpillar Inc. announced several major cost reduction plans to lower Cat's operating costs by about $1.5 billion. Cost reduction plans include cutting jobs, creating a retirement enhancement plan and reorganizing several divisions. Cat says this year is the company’s third consecutive down year for sales and revenues. If this trend continues into 2016, it would mark the first time in the company’s 90-year history that sales and revenues have decreased four years in a row. “We are facing a convergence of challenging marketplace conditions in key regions and industry sectors, namely in mining and energy,” says Doug Oberhelman, Cat chairman and CEO. “While we’ve already made substantial adjustments as these market conditions have emerged, we are taking even more decisive actions now. We don’t make these decisions lightly, but I’m confident these additional steps will better position Caterpillar to deliver solid results when demand improves.” Given Cat's current marketplace conditions, Oberhelman wrote in an op-ed to the Peoria Journal Star newspaper that Cat's plans to build a new headquarters in Peoria,… Keep Reading
