Mine Dewatering: Lessons from Historical Failures and 21st Century Solutions with Scott Johnson

- JUNE DINNER MEETING - 

Join us for our next SME Tucson Dinner Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 10th! Make sure to select your meal when making your reservation. Reservation deadline is Friday, June 5th.

Program: 

Mine Dewatering: Lessons from Historical Failures 

and 21st Century Solutions 

Mine dewatering is a critical but often overlooked part of mining. Without proper planning and pump selection, flooding can stop production at even the most successful operations.

A local example comes from Tombstone in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Water was first encountered at 520 feet below ground. Although pumping systems allowed mining to continue, repeated pump failures caused multiple shutdowns as workings advanced to 1,000 feet. The technical issues were eventually resolved, but the cost of dewatering ultimately made the mines economically unstable.

These challenges remain relevant today. In the first five months of this year, two mines contacted Miller for emergency dewatering support. In one case, inflows exceeded 30,000 gpm, and because pumps of the required size were not immediately available, part of the mine had to suspend operations.

In the second case, increased solids content led to premature pump failure. Because the installed pumps were not designed to handle solids, the mine has been forced to replace pumps repeatedly to avoid shutdown while a permanent solution is implemented.

This presentation will highlight several pump types used in mine dewatering and example applications for each. These cases illustrate how solutions must be tailored to site conditions to avoid the kinds of failures and disruptions described above.

Venue and Beverage Sponsor:

Meeting Sponsors:

TWO SPOTS AVAILABLE!
Reach out to Mark Adkins or Liliana Pinedo if you are interested.

Speaker: Scott Johnson, General Manager of Miller Sales & Engineering

Scott Johnson is currently acting as the General Manager of Miller Sales & Engineering Inc. in Tucson.  He has worked in mining and metals for 37 years, 28 of them as a licensed Professional Engineer.  He has worked on projects at surface mines and underground mines, from the cold of the Northwest Territories in Canada, to the heat of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.  This includes projects on five continents.  His experience has ranged from working on underground mine infrastructure, to plant design for metal extraction from geothermal brine, to just about every pumping application a mine or mill has to offer.  Scott has specialized in dewatering projects, ranging from single point pump stations, in the hundreds of gallons per minute, to multiple dewatering wells, with combined flows of 70,000 gallons per minute.

Agenda:

• 6:00pm - 7:00pm Social Hour
• 7:00pm - 7:45pm Dinner
• 7:45pm - 8:00pm Announcements
• 8:00pm - 8:30pm Program
• 8:30pm - 8:45pm Q&A

Location:
HEXAGON, 40 E Congress St #300, Tucson, AZ 85701. CLICK FOR MAP.

Costs:

• $55 for SME Tucson members
• $65 for non-members
• Free for UA SME Student Chapter members

Payable at the door by cash, credit card, or check payable to SME Tucson.

Cancellations and No Shows:

Please call or email by the registration deadline to cancel.  If you do not cancel your reservation by the deadline, SME is still required to pay for your dinner, and you will in turn be billed. Thank you. 

Thank you to all our 2025 Scholarship Fundraiser Sponsors: