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Bringing value to projects and operations

Bringing value to projects and operations is a goal that many pursue. Today we will discuss reliability enhancements as a possible way to add value. What is reliability? Engineers generally define Reliability as the quality of being trustworthy or of performing consistently well. Example: “the conveyor performance history gives me every confidence in its reliability” which basically means “I am not expecting a major failure”. So, in other words, if you get in your car, turn the ignition and the…

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Sapiezoic geo-ethics demands new tools for slopes’ management

Sapiezoic geo-ethics demands new tools for slopes’ management. Landslides of natural and man-made slopes are well-known hazardous geo-morphological processes. Rather high frequencies and extremely variable consequences, hence highly variable risks are usual characteristics of landslides. Consequences are often multidimensional, insofar lives, infrastructures, environmental and cultural assets may be damaged. Important geoethical issues cover the actions needed to prioritizing and mitigating slopes’ risks in a sustainable way. Thus Sapiezoic geo-ethics demands new tools for slopes’ management. The root cause of slopes’ failures…

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Catastrophic dam failures path forward at Tailings and Mine Waste

The keynote lecture Catastrophic dam failures path forward at Tailings and Mine Waste Conference was an enlightening speech. Henry Brehaut corroborated the views Riskope have expressed over the last decade. The validity of our methodological developments is confirmed once again. We are pleased to comment and express some impressions from the keynote lecture. The message Henry Brehaut delivered includes looking at: getting things right, looking at details, identifying gaps and hidden flaws. Finally, reactive catastrophic failure analysis is not the optimum…

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Hacking Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Hacking Cryptocurrency Exchanges does not necessarily include heists. However it may use “good-old” techniques. One day an old Swiss farmer told me: “Son, if you want to stop the milk industry, unplug the electric milking machines”. Likewise, governments can declare exchanges illegal. Hacking Cryptocurrency Exchanges becomes then a political act. It’s as efficient as unplugging a milking machine. Hacking Cryptocurrency Exchanges Governments’ hacks are not the only ones, though, in a pretty open and deregulated realm. Never mind if cryptocurrences seemingly…

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UNEP Tailings Dams report and residual risk assessment

UNEP Tailings Dams report and residual risk assessment discusses the joint UNEP-GRID Arendal assessment entitled “Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident” from a risk assessment point of view. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the report in October 2017 in Geneva. The report urges States and the industry to “end deadly and damaging mining waste spills by enforcing a zero-failure objective”. We believe that this objective requires some additional definitions and details. That is to make it truly…

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