Before joining the Mining Engineering Department in August 1999 I had spent nine years at the Swedish mining company LKAB, which owns and operates two of the largest and most modern underground mines in the world today.
While employed within the Department of Mining Research and Development at LKAB, I had the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology used in large-scale sublevel caving including gravity-flow modeling, mine automation, underground communications networks, and state of the art computer systems for mine planning, modeling, and control. I later joined the Mine Planning department at the Kiruna mine where my primary duties were long and short term production planning and scheduling. During this time I developed and implemented a new computer system for production planning and follow-up which is currently being used at both the Kiruna and Malmberget mines. I was also actively involved in the ongoing project to implement remote controlled LHD's in the Kiruna mine.
I try to incorporate my ten years of practical industrial experience with one of the world’s largest and most modern mining companies into both my teaching and research activities.
Research Interests :
Henderson Underground Science and Engineering Project (HUSEP), the goal of which is to develop underground science at the Henderson Mine, Serve as the CSM Executive Committee representative, Chair the Mining and Engineering Committee
The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL)
Waterjet Scaling –Currently researching the use of waterjet scaling for the reduction of scaling accidents in underground mining, NIOSH supported
Blasting Optimization – Currently involved The Optimum Rock Excavation Project, a NIOSH sponsored initiative to develop careful blasting techniques to reduce fall of ground accidents in underground mining.
Mine Scheduling and Optimization –Developed and implemented a mixed integer mine production scheduling system for LKAB’s Kiruna Mine.
Courses Instructing :
MNGN210 Introductory Mining Engineering
MNGN314 Underground Mine Design
MNGN516 Advanced Underground Mine Design
MNGN515 Mine Mechanization and Automation
MNGN518 Advanced Bulk Underground Mining Techniques
MNGN499 Shotcrete as Ground Support
MNGN599 Blasting Principles for Open Pit Mining
MNGN599 Advanced Gravity Flow of Broken Rock
Selected Publications :
Open
Pit Mine Planning and Design, 2nd Edition,
"A
Review of Long and Short-Term Production Scheduling at LKAB's Kiruna
Mine", Newman, A., M. Martinez and M. Kuchta, in Handbook of
Production Scheduling, Herman, J., W., editor, Springer, 2006, pp
265-286
“Using
Aggregation to Optimize Long-term Production Planning at an Underground
Mine”, Newman, A., and Kuchta, M. European Journal of Operational
Research, Approved for publication, October, 2005
“The
Importance of Rock Surface Preparation in Shotcreting Operations”,
Kuchta, M., Hustrulid, W., and Lorig, L., in Surface
Support in Mining, Potvin, Y., Stacey, D., and Hadjigeorgiou, J.,
editors, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, September, 2004, pp 283-290
“The
Development and Implementation of a Mixed Integer Programming Model for
Production Scheduling at the Kiruna Mine”, Kuchta, M., MassMin 2004,
Karzulovic, A., Alfaro, M.,
editors, Instituto de Ingenieros de
“Implementing
a Production Schedule at LKAB’s Kiruna Mine”, Kuchta, M., Newman, A.,
and Topal, E., Interfaces,
Vol. 34, no 2, March-April 2004, pp 124-134
“Production Scheduling at LKAB’s Kiruna Mine Using Mixed-integer Programming”, Kuchta, M., Newman, A., and Topal, E., Mining Engineering, The Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., Vol. 55, No. 4, April 2003, pp 35-40
“The Area Between a One-dimensional Ordinary Brownian Curve and a Straight-line Approximation”, Kuchta, M., Mathematical Geology, Vol.34, No. 6, August 2002,
pp 631-645
“Quantifying the Increase in Adhesion Strength of Shotcrete Applied to Surfaces Treated with High-pressure Water”, Kuchta, M., Transactions of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, And Exploration, Inc., Vol. 312, 2002, pp 129-132
“Predicting
“A
Revised Form of the Bergmark-Roos Equation for Describing the Gravity Flow
of Broken Rock”, Kuchta, M., Mineral Resources Engineering Vol.
11, No. 4. December 2002, pp 349-360
Contact Information :
Office phone: (303) 273-3306
email: mkuchta@mines.edu
Web Page: