ROCKY LEDGE MINING SUPPLY - Key Persons
Paul M. Jones, founder and owner of Rocky Ledge Mining Supply, is a veteran mining engineer in all kinds of hard rock mining products having been in 73 different countries since 1963. Paul formerly was the director of international research and development for what he likes to call "a small mid-western mining concern" - 3M. "3M" used to mean Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, now it means Scotch tape, but they have to make that sticky paper out of something you know! Paul started in their equipment maintenance area. As you know, 3M believes in education. Besides mining school, Paul has several advanced degrees in engineering as well as accounting and much to my consternation, computer science.
Paul is an intuitive and thorough process engineer and as such designs and builds processes that work in every aspect. My favorite project was the garbage mining project. In the days when recycling was a big thing, people were building mechanical recycling facilities. Paul was hired to build one in Canton, OH. Unlike all the people who built hand sorting stations, Paul decided to mine the garbage. There was very little human to garbage interaction. Paul simply mined the material like it was ore - grizzly, crusher, trommel and all. Then he separated it out into different products. It was extremely cost effective and at certain points the products made as much as the trucking. It was so amazing and so effective that the large waste companies bought the plant. It seems our landfill space isn't as filled up as we had been led to believe.
What was especially interesting to me was how Paul addressed every possible issue in the construction. He made certain the height of the weigh station window was ergonomically correct to give the weigh master a position of authority over the truckers. At the same time he developed several uses for all of the carbon material that had no real recyclable value. He made compost from it and he made a clean burning fuel using the carbon products and the waste and high sulfur coal effective enough to run Pittsburgh's electrical plant for two days.
It is this complete understanding of the whole process that makes Paul such a good engineer. Someone can trot out a lot of degrees and licenses and still know nothing. I think this is why Paul won't talk about education degrees and qualifications. As a miner, you have to have been out in the field and actually do it. As an international miner, you have to be out in the field and build the mine, the processing plant, the shipping process and train the indigenous people without any support.
Experience includes 18 months in the Andes building a mine on the top of a mountain, 3 months in an igloo (not on purpose), 2 years recovering materials from the hazardous waste and slag piles of Poland, mining garbage in Canton, OH and hot briquetting steel fines in Dayton, OH, mining and processing salt in the Dominican Republic and in the Port of New York.
Permits and the EPA are often a problem in many mining and processing situations. For Paul, this procedure is not difficult. The agencies know him and have approved some of his sites on his word alone. They know his designs anticipate the usual problems in mining and that zero discharge is our goal. We don't consider leaving waste piles or ponds about. In one project, Paul designed that the waste rock be made into patio paving blocks, eliminating a huge remediation cost. The CDE leach is reusable and all of the other products are either reusable or recyclable in some way. Knowing how to start off with a complete environmental plan before you ask for a permit, this is a very valuable skill.
Paul can design and build a complete processing plant or just sell you designs depending on your needs. We also offer advanced testing and process development at prearranged costs. Most importantly, we encourage you to test your ores yourself. You need to completely understand your process and know for yourself that the values are there.