Conceived and written by Mr. John de la Vergne, whose continuing 40 year mining industry career spans engineering, construction, and operation of mining projects worldwide, the Handbook was written to assist miners and engineers in the difficult world of hard rock mining and is Jack’s gift to the industry that continues to provide him with employment, challenges, and fascination.  Although the accent of the Handbook is on metal mining as indicated by the title, it is our hope and intention that much of the information may also be valuable to our friends mining soft, and other not-so-soft industrial mineral and energy resources.

Originally published in June 2000, the Hard Rock Miner's Handbook is a not-for-profit publication intended to be of service and value to the mining companies we serve and the entire mining community including students, teachers, consultants, contractors, manufacturers, sales persons, media representatives, financial institutions, mining associations and government officials. 

After publishing the original edition, mining industry response was incredible.  Our limited supply of hard copies became collectors’ items and we have averaged about five website download requests per day, every day, since the original publication (over 3,000 copies distributed worldwide).  We have received many new rules of thumb for inclusion in this update and we are quite thankful to the many individuals and organizations that have helped with review and editing. 

CD Version of the Hard Rock Miner's Handbook

CDs are available at all mining tradeshows where Stantec - Mining is a participant.  Visit us for a CD version!