Just ask Joe Foreman....

So, Joe, just what kind of math goes into making decisions in the mining industry anyway?

Well, kid, it's like this....

EXPLORING ISSUES

Storing minerals retrieved from the earth is just one more step in the chain from discovery to delivery. Each mining site requires an appropriate method to store mined minerals waiting to be transported to destinations near or far.

MINING FOR INFORMATION

Before we get to work on the math I need to do to complete the first task on my list today, you'd better learn a little bit about coal silos.

See a picture of coal silo here in Wyoming and while you are at this site find out what a silo is make of.

www.borton.biz/converse_county_wyoming.htm

Then check out another coal silo at the link below.

ludb.clui.org/ex/i/AZ3215/

Now it's time to get to work. I have to figure out how many coal silos the company will need to be constructed to store coal at our new mining site. You can help me by taking the first mathematical step below.

	Thinking mathematically...
	A coal silo is twenty-eight (28) feet in diameter and two hundred eighty (280) feet high. How many tons of coal can be stored if the coal runs twenty-six (26) cubic feet per ton?

PROCESSING INFORMATION

Sometimes it’s hard to picture how big a structure like a coal silo really is. Imagine an average-sized bedroom which might measure 10 feet by 12 feet in a house with eight foot ceilings. Now assume that house has three such bedrooms and also includes a kitchen, living room and dining room each measuring 12 feet by 12 feet. Figure the total cubic feet of such a house. Could the house store more or less coal than the silo above?

FINDING AND CHECKING ANSWERS

Share the results of your mathematical thinking according to the directions of your teacher.

Moving on ...

Find resources on the web to discover how other minerals, such as trona and uranium are stored. Could you store uranium in coal silo? Why or why not?

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