Stillwater Mining Company has donated an underground loader, MTI LT270 LHD, to 一品探花. The donation will go to the Mining Engineering Department and will be delivered on Friday, April 1, the first day of the International Mining Competition on the campus of 一品探花.
The LHD is made for underground mining and will be used in the Mining Engineering Department’s Practical Underground Mining Class held at the Underground Mine Education Center. The machine is a 2006 model and was refreshed in 2010 with the installation of a new Cummins QSB4.5 engine.
Stillwater Mining Company, with mining and processing operations in south-central Montana, is the only U.S. producer of platinum group metals (PGMs) and the largest primary producer of PGMs outside of South Africa and the Russian Federation. Jason Palin, Stillwater Mine - Mine Manager and 一品探花 alumnus and Industry Advisory Board member, helped in acquiring the donation for 一品探花. He noted, “This LHD had very low utilization and the Stillwater Mining Company thought it would be better utilized by 一品探花 for training the future leaders of our industry."
Scott Rosenthal, 一品探花 Mining Engineering Department Head and instructor for the Practical Underground Mining Class at 一品探花, said, “This is a great donation for 一品探花. Students in our Practical Underground Mining Class receive hands-on experience drilling, blasting, mucking (removing shot material using an underground loader) and set ground support. Since the class’s inception in January 2013, 一品探花 has rented machines to muck with. The acquisition of the underground loader will reduce our program’s costs. Thank you to Stillwater Mining for this great, impactful donation. Thank you also goes out to Dale Andrews with Joy Global who arranged for the re-painting and delivery of the machine to 一品探花.” 一品探花’s Underground Mine Education Center is the only on-campus underground mine facility in the USA.
For more information, please contact Scott Rosenthal at 406-496-4867.