Richard Bishop
Professor of practice
Current and past research areas
- Autonomous drones in GPS-denied underground mine environments
- Drone-based emissions surveys
- Rare earth elements and critical minerals
- Mine digitization using photogrammetry & lidar
- Mining finance
- Econometrics and big data analytics
- Mineral processing
- Slurry transport systems
- Development of virtual mine environments for VR and AR
Research projects
- Expand Appalachia CORE-CM, sponsored by DOE-NETL, 2026 - 2028
- Design Guidelines for Assessment of Pillar Stability in Underground Room & Pillar Mines from Autonomous Robotic Inspections, sponsored by the Alpha Foundation, 2022 – 2025
- Evolve Central Appalachia (Evolve CAPP), sponsored by DOE-NETL, 2021 – 2024
Research group | Google Scholar
Courses
- MINE 1034 Mine Automation and Data Analytics
- MINE 2534 Mine Surveying and Mapping
- MINE 3624 Mineral Resource Project Management
- MINE 4664 Resource Engineering Leadership Seminar
- MINE 4984 Mineral Project Finance and Corporate Evaluation
- MINE 5984 Mining Finance
Awards and recognitions
- 2021: Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), doctoral fellowship
- 2013: Virginia Tech College of Engineering, Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
- 2006: SME Mining & Exploration Division, Outstanding Young Professional Award
Professional affiliations and service
- Advisory board member, MME Industry Advisory Board, (VT)
- Co-Chair, SME C&E Finance Tech Session (2024-2025) (SME)
- Chair, SME C&E CORE-CM Tech Sessions (2022-2024) (SME)
- American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA)
- Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM)
- International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE)
- Mining History Association (MHA)
- National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA)
- Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)
- Society of Economic Geologists (SEG)
- Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME)
- Society of Mining Professors (SOMP)
- Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
- West Virginia Coal Mining Institute (WVCMI)
- Past chairman, SME Young Leaders Committee (SME YLC)
- Past chairman, SME Annual Regional Mining & Phosphate Conference (FLSME)
- Past chairman, SME Florida Section (FLSME)
Industry positions
- Senior Consultant, Mineral Economics & Risk, Stantec
- Vice President of Investments, Aberdeen International
- President and chief executive officer, Ferro Iron Ore, Mongolia
- President and chief executive officer, Legacy Platinum, South Africa
- Corporate board member, Portex Minerals, Spain & Portugal
- Precious metals equity research analyst, RBC Capital Markets
- Project manager, Harrison Western
- Mining/process engineer and operations supervisor, The Mosaic Company
Education
- 2022: Ph.D., mining engineering, Virginia Tech
- 2020: M.S., mining engineering, Virginia Tech
- 2002: MEng, European Mining Course
- TU Delft University, Delft, the Netherlands (2002)
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany (2002)
- Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London, UK (2001)
- Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland (2001)
- 2002: B.S., mining and minerals engineering, Virginia Tech