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By J. F. Henderson

THIS paper relates to an area of more than 5,000 square miles in the Northwest Territories extending north from Great Slave lake and including-the Yellowknife, Beaulieu River and Gordon lake areas. Within the last three years much interest in the area has been created by the discovery of remarkably rich gold-bearing veins and the realization that thousands of square miles of unprospected ground are underlain by rocks like those in which the veins have been found. Probably there were more prospectors in this area in 1938 than in any other part of Canada. The area lies 650 miles north of Edmonton, and 425 miles north of the terminus of the Northern Alberta railway at Waterways, Alberta. The Athabaska and Slave rivers provide an excellent water route from Waterways to Great Slave lake for large oil and wood burning boats and barges which operate from the latter part of May to October. The only portage is around a 16-mile stretch of rapids on the Slave river between Fort Fitzgerald and Fort Smith. The town of Yellowknife, on the north side of Great Slave lake, has sprung into existence during the past year and is the centre for distribution of supplies for the Yellowknife-Beaulieu region. The Con-Rycon and Negus gold mines, which came into production in September, 1938, and February, 1939, respectively, lie about two miles south of the townsite. Excellent airplane service is available from Edmonton to Yellowknife and from Yellowknife to all parts of the area. The prospector and mining operator have come to rely almost entirely on the airplane for supplies and for the transportation of personnel, camp equipment, and canoes from Yellowknife to localities selected for intensive prospecting.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. R. Geer

The Bureau of Mines examined the washability data for 25 Appalachian coals requiring low-density washing to reduce sulfur content to 1 percent, using the distribution-curve method. The purpose was to estimate how closely theoretical sulfur values could be approached, what yields of washed coal could be expected, and the recovery efficiencies that might be achieved. Assuming that the run-of-mine coal would be crushed to 3/8 inch and cleaned in dense-medium cyclones, the calculations indicate that theoretical sulfur contents could be approached closely when cleaning at a specific gravity of separation as low as 1.30. With coals that have favorable specific gravity compositions the recovery efficiency anticipated for cleaning at 1.30 specific gravity is surprisingly high. Similar calculations for cleaning with concentrating tables at intermediate specific gravities indicated that theoretical sulfur contents at 1.50 specific gravity could be approached closely with some coals but not with others. The calculations suggest that operating a table at a specific gravity of separation much lower than about 1.50 probably would be unsatisfactory with most coals.

Jan 1, 1968

By J. E. Hawley

Abstract Spectrographic methods for the analysis of minor constituents such as platinum-group metals, gold, silver, and silica in palladium and platinum refinery sponge are described. These involve the conversion of the sponge metals to the black form by reduction with high purity aluminum filings in either acid or alkaline media. Standards of known composition are prepared in the same manner from either refinery or spectrographically standardized sponge metals. Samples of the black metals are mounted in pellet form and a multisource spark discharge used for excitation. The range of concentrations of impurities studied are those common to refinery samples. Excellent reproducibility of intensity ratios using major constituents as internal standards, is demonstrated and two methods have noted by which the accuracy of the procedures are shown to be of the order of 3 per cent, on the basis of synthetic preparations. Introduction During the past two years an investigation has been carried out in the Spectrographic Laboratory, Queen's University, to determine the suitability of modern spectrographic techniques for the precise analysis of the platinum-group metals palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium in the form of refinery sponge analyzing about 99 per cent of the major constituent.

Jan 1, 1951

By A R. Bullis

Metal Mines Limited (Bancroft Division) was incorporated m 1964 to take over the assets of Faraday Uranium Mines Ltd., including their uranium deposit near Bancroft. Ontario. This paper outlines the geology of the Bancroft area, and. then go on to describe the principle rock types m the mine workings, especially the pegmatite, which is the host rock for the uranium mineralization. The structure and mineralogy of the orebodies are thoroughly covered, and, after a summary of the production and ore re-serve figures, the paper concludes with suggestions for further exploration work. Location and History M ETAL Mines Limited, Bancroft Division, is located in Faraday township, Hastings county, Ontario. The main production shaft and concentrator are about: Y2 mile north of Highway 28 and about 5 miles west of the village of Bancroft (Figure 1). The presence of radioactive minerals in the Ban-croft-Wilberforce area has been known since the early 1920's. Uraninite was found at the Richardson deposit near Wilberforce in 1922, and some attempts were made to produce radium from the deposits of the area between 1929 and 1931.

Jan 1, 1965

By R. L. Brown, E. A. Swanson

THE Buchans ore bodies are located in central Newfoundland, three miles north of Red Indian lake. The townsite of Buchans was named after a Royal Navy Captain who, while attempting to make contact with the Beothuck Indians, camped in the area in 1820. Ore was first found at Buchans by a Mic Mac Indian, Matty Mitchell, who discovered one of the three small orebodies in the bed of the Buchans river. The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company, which holds mineral rights in the area, developed the orebody, but was forced to give up the venture because of difficulties encountered in separating the various sulphides. The American Smelting and Re-fining Company developed a flotation process which was capable of economically separating and concentrating the various sulphides, and, in 1926, they took a long-term lease on the property.

Jan 1, 1962

By P. T. Brooks

A process for extracting 69 percent of the vanadium from weathered Nevada dolomitic shale containing about 1 percent V205 was developed on a laboratory scale by the Bureau of Mines. The process essentially is comprised of salt roasting, leaching with dilute sulfuric acid, solvent extraction, and precipitation of vanadium as ammonium metavanadate. Carbonaceous unweathered shale was less amenable to treatment. A preliminary cost estimate for mining and processing 1,500 tons per day of weathered shale indicated a production cost of about 1 dollar per lb of V205. Considering recent sales at nearly $1. 75 per lb of contained V205, larger scale testing to obtain more definitive process design and evaluation data may be warranted.

Jan 1, 1974

By M. L. Rizzone

Since time immemorial, Mother Nature has been transporting slurries with both air and water serving as the carrier medium. Consider for example the formation of the continental shelves off our coast lines which are being formed by rivers emptying erroded land surface and depositing it into bays and gulfs. As the erosion processes take place, the fines are suspended in water which flows in streams and rivers and deposits where the velocity of the flow reduces sufficiently to allow the fines to settle out. The same process in some crude form is provided when one hoses his driveway or patio and moves dirt so as to provide a cleaning action. These examples illustrate rather crudely how the formation of slurries allows for the transport of solids. In recent years, this mechanism has become fairly well understood and slurry pipelining of many materials is now a vivid reality. The movement of liquids in pipelines necessarily occasions the use of pumps for the purpose. Those of us who have had some rub with the petroleum industry are familiar with the transport of solids through mud pumps and cementing and fracturing pumps where the movement of slurries is an everyday matter. In the drilling of an oil well the circulating fluid utilized to remove chips which are cut by a drill bit from holes drilled deep in the earth is called drilling mud. This substance contrary to what the name might imply is usually a fairly sophisticated material designed to develop certain characteristics which are desirable in the drilling process. The particles which have been cut by the drill bit are suspended in the moving column of fluid and brought to the surface and deposited. The separation of the cuttings from the drilling fluids is accomplished by the use of shaker screens and settling pits. However, it is impractical to remove the fines completely from the drilling fluid and as a result they are pumped through the mud pumps back into the circulatory stream.

Jan 1, 1969

By G. G. Oberfell

THOUGH the largest volume use of natural gas has been, is. and in all probability will continue to be as a fuel for domestic and industrial heating, it has various market outlets, both as a fuel and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Natural gas is a preferred type of fuel where ease of control, fuel uniformity, and freedom from ash are of primary importance. Other industrially important uses are as a source of carbon black and as a fuel in various low-cost heating operations. Many other uses are of varying importance and new potential uses are continually being uncovered, some being of economic importance to the gas indus¬try as a whole, but most of them involve such small volumes of gas that they are only of passing interest. Since various products extracted from natural gas and recovered as by-products from petroleum refining, such as liquefied petroleum gas and fuel oil, are being utilized in many industrial and domestic heating applications, some consideration will have to be given such materials in order to present a reasonably complete story of the importance of natural gas. Some of these materials may prove to be transient competitors and will not be available when more profitable uses are found for them. Meanwhile, however, the potential volumes of such materials available, the current volumes being marketed, and the nature of the utilization are considered as constituting an essential part of the over-all fuel picture.

Jan 1, 1946

By M. R. HULL

FOLLOWING the discovery of a body of ore that appears to have commercial possibilities there is a period of development work to determine its extent and grade and the most economical method of mining it. Laboratory tests are made in an effort to determine the most practicable and economical treatment for the extraction of the valuable constituents of the ore and these tests are carried farther and checked in a pilot or test mill. The rate at which the ore is to be mined and the daily capacity of the plants that are to treat it will depend on a number of important factors such as: The size of the orebody; the capital available for building the plants; the market or demand for the final product; the supply of skilled and common labor available for the construction, operation and maintenance of the plants; the quantity and quality of available water, and the amount and cost of power that can be purchased or that can be economically developed. Having decided on the treatment that is to be given to the ore and after full consideration of the above factors the management decides to erect a reduction plant of a given capacity.

Jan 1, 1926

By Earl R. Parker, Ralph Hultgren

DURING the past year publications in physical metallurgy have not been abundant when compared with the output of prewar years. Nevertheless, some noteworthy contributions have been made to the literature. Because of the necessity for war production, much of the metallurgical effort has been directed towards the solution of problems of production processes. The limited amount of time devoted to other problems is reflected in the small number of papers devoted to nonapplied research, though a few excellent contributions have been made to the fundamentals as will become evident in the following pages. Results of many of the government-sponsored research investigations have been released to the public and are being published in the technical journals. Many more of these papers may be expected to appear in the 1946 publications.. Public distribution of information obtained in the course of these investigations should be of great value to American industries in the postwar era. Continued activity in research of all kinds is apparently assured because of intense

Jan 1, 1946

By Manfred Krutein

Ocean mining has a number of problems which are critical to its development: ? Political hurdles on national and international stages ? The worldwide economic situation, with the possibliity of a recession ? Financial difficulties in funding further work ? Technical problems for the development of ocean mining and transport subsystems ? Demands for technology transfer This paper touches the last two points and provides some thoughts for discussion and creative objectification. The many technical problems of ocean mining will be identified and some proposed solutions will be investigated relative to the state-of-the-art technology of ocean mining and nodule transport. An outlook into the future attempts identification of the steps necessary to eventually develop components for workable systems that are not only technically but also economically feasible.

Jan 1, 1978

By Steve Brace

Electronic detonators have been commercially available to the mining industry worldwide for over ten years. It is estimated that total cumulative global sales will have reached 25 million units by the time of the Conference in February 2004. This is below 0.2% of all detonator types sold during this period. Perhaps 20 million will have been used underground in South African gold, diamond and platinum mines. These will have been produced by South African companies, in South Africa for South African customers. Here efforts have met with greater success and in 2003 fully 5 million, or 3% of local detonators sold, could be of an electronic type. However, it is estimated that about US$7.00 (R50.00) has been expended on R & D, manufacturing facilities and marketing, for each unit so far sold. Large sums of money continue to be spent. Despite the apparent success in South Africa, is it justified? Electronic initiation systems have not produced significant technical benefits to the end-user underground nor corporate profits to the supplier. Some doubt they ever will (even from the large surface operations where the price per unit is much higher). A conclusion might be that they have failed. In 1998 Smit and Pistorius wrote a paper titled “Implications of the Dominant Design in Electronic Initiation Systems in the South African Mining Industry”. This ISEE paper seeks to summarise and review the conclusions of the earlier work. These were: that a dominant design had not yet emerged; the type of connector and the way in which detonators are connected and programmed would be a strong determinant influencing the development of a “winning” product; technical aspects rarely solely determine which becomes the dominant design (marketing, social and economic factors often have a strong influence); electronic initiation systems were an emerging technology for the underground gold mining industry in South Africa and because it was under severe cost pressure the mines would look to them to raise productivity and hence profits; finally, as a dominant design begins to emerge, one could expect a number of players to exit from the industry.

Jan 1, 2004

By WILLIAM WATERS

L HISTORY. THE Pierrefitte mines, situated in the South of France, in the district of the Hautes-Pyrenees, owe their name to the fact that the first mining operations of any extent, and of comparatively recent date, were carried out in the neighborhood of the vil¬lage of Pierrefitte, which is a branch terminus of the Midi railway. The Pierrefitte mines, however, embrace a wide extent of country and several different concessions, on most of which comparatively little exploration-work has been done. The portion of the property presently to be described is a zone running roughly E-W., over a distance of about 5 miles from the valley of Cauterets to the valley of Estaing, the ridge dividing these valleys being a spur of the main chain of the Pyrenees, and running more or less at right angles to it. According to local tradition, which various indications tend to confirm, these mines are of ancient date, the first workings being attributed to the Romans, who are supposed to have sought not only the lead but also the silver which is contained in the ore. Old slags have been found in the neighborhood which might well have been produced from the cupellation of lead-ores. These old workings, while of considerable extent at times, do not seem to have extended beyond a depth of 100 ft., even this depth being somewhat exceptional. The old notarial records of the district show that mines were known to exist, and that they were even worked, in the sixteenth century, but since the mines were abandoned (by the Romans or others) considerably prior to this period, very little

Nov 1, 1908

By G. E. McElroy

This report discusses the construction and use of an all-pressure psy- chrometric chart in which the requirements of simplicity of appearance and absolute accuracy have been waived, to a certain extent, to provide for the rapid determination of psychrometric data and for the rapid solution of air- conditioning problems of major interest to the mining industry. Many mines in which air-conditioning problems are important are situated at elevations far above sea level and embrace great differences in elevation - in excess of 8,000 feet in certain mines → throughout their airflow circuits. Under these conditions, the effects of variations in the pressure of the at- mosphere upon the physical properties of the mixture of air and water vapor of which it is composed are considerable and should be taken into account in the solution of problems. The simple types of psychrometric charts in common use, such as the Carrier, Bulkeley, Hill, and Goff (American Society of Heat- ing and Ventilating Engineers Guide), are not generally suitable, in that they are drawn for a single barometric pressure 29,92 inches mercury.

Dec 1, 1947

By J. S. Webb

This is one of a series of papers dealing with mining methods, practice, and costs be¬ing published by the United States Bureau of Mires. In this paper a description of the mining practice in vogue at the Braden unit of the Kennecott Copper Corporation is undertaken. PRODUCTION At present (1931) the entire production of ore is being obtained from the Teniente mine. The miring method in use is an adaptation of block undercutting which has been a development of the stoping and pillar caving experience obtained at this property. Improvements in mining practice are constantly being made.

Jan 1, 1932

By Terry R. Neumann

In 1989, the Bureau of Mines conducted a mineral resource investigation of the 52,350-acre Jersey Jack study area, located in the Clearwater Mountains of north-central Idaho. Twenty-eight mines and prospects were examined, and 483 rock, placer, and petrographic samples were collected during the field study. Two properties contain gold resources; mining company data show the Robinson Dike mine contains an estimated 940,000 tons of "drill proven and probable reserves" averaging 0.041 oz/ton gold, and the Bureau of Mines investigation showed the Blacksand placer mine contains an estimated 64,000 cubic yards of identified placer resources averaging $8.13 in gold per cubic yard. Sample analyses from other properties indicate that gold resources are likely to exist; however the low tonnage, narrow, fissure-vein type deposits would require mining by relatively high-cost underground methods and would be subeconomic at a gold price of $400/oz.

Jan 1, 1991

By C. M. Diaz

The chemistry of the main unit processes in nickel extractive pyrometallurgy is reviewed. Key re1a ions between smelter feed composition and process selection are discussed, with particular reference to operating conditions, energy requirements and products. The paper a1 so includes a brief discussion of current nickel smelters, based on the results of a recent survey carried out by TMS.

Jan 1, 1988

By M. D. Scott

Lornex Mining Corporation operates an open pit porphyry copper mine in the Highland Valley southwest of Kamloops with a rated capacity of 43 500 TPD (48,000 TPD). It went into production in April 1972. Its concentrator consists of two grinding and flotation circuits in parallel each composed of a 6 000 KW (8,000 HP) 9,75 m (32 foot) diameter by 4,724 m (15'-6") semi-autogenous primary mill feeding two 3 000 KW (4,000 HP) 5,029 m (16.5 foot) diameter by 7,01 m (23 foot) secondary ball mills each feeding a bank of flotation cells. ,The original tailings system picked up the tailings from the flota¬tion circuits in a concrete collection box in the mill and carried the 36% solids density by weight slurry 488 m (1,600LF) through a 1100 mm (42 inch) diameter wood stave pipeline on a .46 percent slope to three 99,06 m (325 foot) diameter center drive thickeners. From the collection box under the thickeners the tailings line con¬sisted of three sections, carrying 50% solids density slurry. The first section consisted of 1460 m (4,800 LF) of 910 mm (36 inch) asbestos cement pipe for gravity flow from the thickener under flow elevation of 1252,4 m (4,109 feet) to the first pump station at elevation 1207,6 m (3,962 feet). Eight concrete drop boxes were used to limit the maximum slope on the pipeline to 0.5 percent.

Jan 1, 1976

By John A. Richards

This paper is one of a series being published by the Bureau of Mines on mining methods and costs. It describes briefly the manner in which slusher hoists and scrapers are used in connection with clock-caving methods at the Emma Nevada mine of the Consolidated Coppermines Corporation, Kimberly, Nev. Kimberly is in the Robinson mining district, White Pine County, 7 miles west of Ely. The district is served by the Nevada Northern -Railroad, which branches from the main line of the Southern Pacific at Wells, Nev., 140 miles north, Paved U. S. Highway 50 from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Reno, Nev., passes through Ely. The altitude at the collar of the Emma Nevada shaft is 7117 feet. The surrounding hills are covered with a sparse growth of juniper, pinon, and mountain mahogany.

Jan 1, 1940

These tentative inspection standards have been prepared as a guide for the Federal inspection of the anthracite mines of the United States. The Federal Coal Mine Inspection Division is not a mining-law-enforcement

Jan 1, 1943