The Mineral Industry Research Laboratory was established by the 1963 Alaska Legislature for the purpose of conducting basic and applied research to aid in the development of Alaska’s mineral and energy resources. MIRL, a research center in The Institute of Northern Engineering, conducts studies concerning beneficiation and hydrometallurgy of Alaskan ores, geology and mineral deposits of the state, placer mining and gold recovery, mining related problems in frozen ground, feasibility studies on mineral deposits, and environmental studies related to mining activities.
Research is conducted through MIRL by both MIRL faculty and faculty from the College of Engineering and Mines. Cooperative efforts are maintained with state and federal agencies, and, where applicable, a service function is supplied to individuals and industry. Publications pertinent to the industry are issued and made available to the general public
The faculty of MIRL are available to answer questions from the general public on Alaskan mining and mineral related subjects.
Faculty
Faculty of Mineral Industry Research Laboratory are:
Hsing K “Steve” Lin, Professor of Hydrometallurgy
Dan Walsh, Professor of Mineral Preparation Engineering
Publications
A list of MIRL books, papers and reports are available to the public.
Facilities
A well-equipped coal laboratory is devoted to research and service activities on the characterization, petrography, distribution, and preparation of Alaska’s coals.
The laboratory facilities at MIRL include:
- Mineral Processing Lab – Well equipped for research on grinding, crushing, gravity separation and flotation.
- Hydrometallurgy Lab – Equipped for research on leaching, precipitation and solvent extraction.
- Electrochemistry Lab – An EG&G Princeton potentiostat system is available for research on electrochemical dissolution, electrowinning, and other electrochemical processes.
- Analytical Lab – ICP/DCP, AA, and XRD are available for research and a variety of instrumentation including XRF, quantitative electron micro-probe analysis (EPMA), and electron microscopes is available at UAF’s Advanced Instrumentation Laboratory.
- Coal Lab – Well equipped for research in the following areas: spontaneous combustion, low-range coal thermal upgrading, coal processing, coal characterization, coal utilization, coal-water-fuel preparation and utilization, coal oxidation, and coal ash utilization.
