About us
We are a small family run company servicing
the needs of precious metals miners. We are particularly interested in maintaining a clean
environment while mining and processing ore.
To do that we have developed a unique set of
non-cyanide leaches that are very safe to organics but really great on breaking down
metallics. We call the leaches "CDE" after the names of our children.
This CDE leaching system is not only safer,
but it is also more effective than the cyanide leaches currently in use.
We haven’t yet been presented with an ore
that we cannot break. That’s an astounding thing to say, but in this company, at this
test bench, there hasn’t been a single ore, industrial waste, tailing material or
black sand that doesn’t finally succumb to CDE leaching and deliver the telltale
color of precious metals if present.
We think that’s incredulous too!
One reason we do free amenability testing of
your ore with our leach is to test that every day. And every day we find values in the
ores sent. Often it is not the huge amount a spectrometer promised, but it generally is
more than anyone else could get. Someday, I suppose, a bearing ore will come in here that
CDE can’t break. Then Paul will settle down to it and figure that one out too. He
thrives on the challenge and in since his Army Ranger code says he cannot fail though he
be the last survivor, I am confident he’ll get it.
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. |
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