Mine Seal Design

MM&A has worked with Minova USA, Inc. to design seals made of Minova Tekseal ® cementious material to satisfy the requirements of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA’s) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued under Section 101(b) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. The Act was a result of mine explosions in 2006 that resulted in more than thirteen fatalities. To date, MM&A has assisted Minova in obtaining eight different seal approvals.

Currently, we are working with clients to install the Minova plug-type seal in difficult mining conditions, such as where the immediate roof of entries has caved, filling the entry and often leaving an irregular opening atop the cave. MM&A addresses these conditions by designing programs to stabilize the fill allowing the seal to be constructed atop the cave. The Minova plug-type seal is easily modified to irregularly shaped openings. MM&A’s engineers verify the application of the seals to specific locations in the mine, and act as the P.E. on behalf of the company, supervising the construction and installation of the seals, and completing the necessary verification documents..