Doe Run Employee Named Driller of the Year

Doe Run employee Todd Mead has been awarded Driller of the Year by the Heartland and Mississippi Valley chapters of the International Society of Explosive Engineers (ISEE).
Mead, a resident of Bunker, has been responsible for drilling and blasting work as an underground miner at Doe Run for more than 12 years. He currently works as part of a two-person crew developing ore at Fletcher Mine.
Clay McNail, mine superintendent for Fletcher and Sweetwater Mines, nominated Mead for Driller of the Year. “Todd has always been a hard worker, and he’s very knowledgeable and professional,” said McNail. “He has an impeccable safety record, and he always makes himself available to train and mentor new miners. We’re very lucky to have him.”
Todd and his mining partner had great success this past year: together, they broke more than 87,000 tons of rock to make significant progress towards expanding Fletcher Mine.
“I am honored to receive this recognition from ISEE,” said Mead. “I’m proud of the work we drillers do to unearth valuable minerals that help meet the world’s demand for lead, copper and zinc.”
Mead received his Driller of the Year award at the Mid-America Blasting Conference in Osage Beach, Missouri, this fall – an industry event for drilling and blasting experts, regulators and other mining professionals from ISEE chapters throughout Missouri.
Drilling is the first major step of mining ore underground. Miners operate large equipment to mine rock faces that contain lead, zinc and copper minerals. Approximately 5 million tons of ore are mined annually at Doe Run’s six underground mines in the Viburnum Trend.