CHARLES KOCSIS

I am a professor in the Mining Engineering Department, College of Mines and Earth Sciences at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. I am also a licensed Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario (P.Eng.), Canada. I have over 25 years of mining industry-focused experience working for consulting firms in Europe and Canada. In addition, I have 13 years of academic experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate-level mining engineering courses, while conducting research in a wide range of specialties at the Mining Engineering Department, University of Utah (2021 - Present), and at the Mining Engineering Department, University of Nevada, Reno (2012 - 2020).

On January 1, 2021, I was hired at the rank of Professor in the Mining Engineering Department, University of Utah. After one year, on January 1 2022, I was appointed department chair. From that time on, in addition to teaching and administrative duties, I was the Principal Investigator (PI) of a $460,000 research project founded by the Alpha Foundation. The objective of the project was to develop a control system to minimize spontaneous combustion in the gob, while minimizing the inflow of methane gas from the gob into the production areas. While being challenged by Covid-19 restrictions, this project was successfully completed in November 2023.

While serving as department chair, on September 30, 2024, I was also awarded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) a highly competitive 5-year and $1.25 million research project “Building Capacity in Heat Stress Management to Protect Mining Personnel Working in Deep, Hot, and Humid Underground Mines in the US”. The objective of this research project is to engage undergraduate and graduate students in the development of innovative methods and systems, which can help reduce the heat load in deep and highly mechanized mines, while protecting mining personnel working in hot and humid underground environments. This study will be completed on August 30, 2029, and it is expected that three Ph.D. and four MS students will be graduating with advanced degrees and gaining hands-on experience in mine ventilation, mine cooling systems, mine climate modeling, and heat management in hot and humid underground mines.

With regard to grant activities, since entering academia on June 1, 2012, I have secured grants and research projects funded by both the federal government and the mining industry that total $5.0 million. Through these projects, I involved graduate and undergraduate students in mine-site data collection and analysis, encouraging them to develop advanced data-analysis algorithms and predictive mine models. These models leverage mine data to identify patterns that enhance productivity and forecast adverse or hazardous conditions in surface and underground mines.

In March 2023, I was instrumental in launching a new interdisciplinary Mining Safety program in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational Environmental Health (RMCOEH) that will bring new perspectives in tackling tough safety and health problems in the mining industry. Classes in the Mining Safety program will be taught by faculty members from the mining engineering department, but unlike standard engineering courses, these will be geared towards a broad spectrum of students within the State of Utah with backgrounds ranging from industrial hygiene, to psychology, and public health. The program is expected to begin accepting students in August 2024. Funding for the Mine Safety program is provided by the Utah Legislature with research and development costs at $2.4M over the next 10 years ($240,000/year).

As service to the mining industry, I would like to mention that on February 1, 2023, I was appointed by the management of Rio Tinto as independent reviewer of the Resolution Copper project located in Superior, Arizona. My responsibility is to review the design and construction of surface and underground structures and systems by providing a high-level, multidisciplinary engineering and scientific expertise as well as confirmatory analyses of engineering calculations for the mine’s cooling system. I am also assisting the mine design team to proactively reduce risks, identify potential design flaws, while providing alternative solutions to final designs. I strongly believe that this effort is further strengthening the current relationship between the Department of Mining Engineering with the management team at Rio Tinto.

With the mining industry in positions such as Mining Consultant, Project Leader, and Senior Research Engineer, I was involved in mine feasibility level studies, detailed mining engineering projects, and research projects in areas such as: (1) mine planning, (2) mine design, (3) ventilation system design, (4) ventilation- on-demand control systems, (5) dust control in underground mines, (6) atmospheric monitoring, (7) mine climate modeling, (8) heat stress evaluation and reduction of heat-related illnesses, (9) mine cooling systems.