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By R. D. Mollison

"Ecstall Mining Limited was formed to operate the Kidd Creek mine, discovered by Texasgulf Incorporated in 1961 the orebody is geologically very complex, containing rich values of zinc, copper, silver and lead. The first phase of the operation involved an open pit, railroad and concentrator complex, which was under construction in 1965 and began operations in late 1966. The open pit, with rim dimensions of 2,000 by 1,000 feet, was computer-designed and highlights excellent wall control and efficient ore extraction and grade control. The railroad was built over the worst type of muskeg country, but it has been well maintained, resulting in an uninterrupted supply of ore in the trains. The 10,000-tpd concentrator, located 17 miles from the mine, is highly instrumented and automated. It features computer control of reagents and, in addition to the copper, zinc and lead flotation circuits, has a modern gravity tin plant. The concentrator is large, because very fine grinding is required for good metallurgy and nearly 2,500 tons per day of concentrates are produced. In 1969, work was started on the underground mine to take over from the open pit; it began partial production in mid-1973. The mine is highly instrumented, has a ramp from surface, a high-production shaft, an underground gyratory crusher and an efficient orehandling system, and employs the latest mining techniques. The electrolytic zine plant, rated at 120,000 tons of slab zinc per year, started operation in April, 1972, with batch leaching and purification circuits. It has been converted to continuous leaching and is now in the process of converting to continuous purification. Further modernization and automation will be carried out in the next few years. Five service departments support the five operating departments. These are maintenance, engineering and technical services, geology, administration and employee relations. How these ten departments function and work together using the most advanced technology to produce an efficient operation is the main theme of the Ecstall Story."

Jan 1, 1974

By Silvana Costa

In the last two decades, there have been nearly no new mining towns built in Canada. Governments and mining companies have viewed long distance commuting (LDC), commonly known as fly-in-flyout or fly-in mines, as a way to avoid problems associated with building a new community and providing for its sustainability after mine closure. LDC is also considered more cost-effective than building a mine town. The intensification of the use of LDC in the Canadian mining sector has been quite rapid, particularly in northern regions. However, LDC has implications to employees, their families and communities, which deserve further examination, particularly considering the significant expansion in Northern mining and Aboriginal participation in this sector. This paper presents a review of the major issues in long distance commuting, both from an industry and community perspectives. It is a result of preliminary investigation for a PhD research project that will be pursued by a Bridge Fellow and UBC Mining Sustainability Working Group member, and guided by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Bridge Fellowship Program is research-training program linking the UBC?s Faculties of Medicine, Engineering and Graduate Studies. Its mission is to develop creative evidence-based prevention measures for public, environmental and occupational health problems. The SWG is an interdisciplinary student group based in the UBC Department of Mining Engineering, committed to respond to the complex sustainability-related challenges currently faced by the mining industry. In other to pursue this project, it is paramount that industry and local communities alike participate in the development and clarification of research questions as well as in the research design. It is hoped that this paper will function as an invitation for industrial and community partners for such study. The main themes identified for this research are occupational health and safety of LDC employees, family life impacts and community health impacts of this model of resource development.

May 1, 2004

By D. C. Rance

"The Quintette Coal Limited property is located in the northeast coal area of British Columbia.A basic agreement with the Japanese steel industry was executed on January 27, 1981 for the sale of 69.5 million tonnes of Quintette metallurgical coal over a 14.5-year period. This contract period can be extended by five years by mutual agreement. Sale agreements have also been signed for the sale of 19.4 million tonnes of oxidized coal over a 15-year period.Work started on site development in the late summer of 1981, and at present, two of the four eventual pits-the McConkey and Frame-are under development.The pits are currently in a prestripping phase. These pits are notable for the stripping volumes that have to be removed from relatively small pit areas. In order to provide for the required detailed rapid short-range planning of these pits, engineering will be computerized, as will the truck dispatch system.The mining area lies 21.1 km from the plant site by road and the transport of raw coal to the plant is by means of a high-speed conveyor system which has a total length of 13.4 km with a vertical drop of 740 m.The surface plant facility was designed on a modularized basis to facilitate maintenance, and is designed to enable the use of gravity f low of raw coal and heavy media in the plant to minimize the use of pumps.The construction of the plant and mine site facilities is ongoing, and the first coal production is scheduled for early December 1983.IntroductionQuintett e Coal Limited is a Canadian company incorporated in the province of British Columbia in 1971. Denison Mine s Limited is the manager of Quintette's activities. Equity in Quintette Coal Limited is held by several shareholders, with interests as follows: Denison Mines Limited, 50%; Charbonnages de France International S.A., 12%; and Japanese interest, 38%."

Jan 1, 1983

By A. Azad

SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) is an in-situ oil recovery technique for heavy oil reservoirs. The technique has been successfully applied to many projects in the past 25 years and the process has been, now, well understood. It is now believed that geomechanics plays an important role in SAGD and should be considered in numerical or analytical modeling. Currently, geomechanics is numerically modeled through combining a multi-phase flow and a geomechanical simulator. Numerical modeling is, however, time consuming, need lots of input data, and could not be used for quick decision-making purposes. To decrease the modeling time, this study based on a new version of the Reis drainage model, proposes coupled mathematical model and reserves the effect of geomechanics in the process. Results showed a perfect match with the past experimental and numerical data.

May 1, 2009

By G. C. Hodgson

Specification and Tests of Rope Wire Chemical Analysis: The range in composition of steel used in the manufacture of wire rope is as follows: Carbon 0 4 to 0.9 per cent Manganese 0 4 to 0.8 Sulphur Not above 0.04 Phosphorus Not above 0.04 The carbon and manganese content are varied according to the gauge of wire to be drawn and the tensile strength required. Generally speaking, best results are obtained from heats where the melt is not of too large a tonnage. The amount of reduction and patenting of the wire is left to the wire maker, who thus has a free hand in meeting the balance of the specification.

Jan 1, 1931

By D. J. Bowen

"Abstract -The Great Dyke extends for 540 km along strike, to unknown depth, and varies in width from 3 km to 11 km. Rb/Sr age determinations gives values of approximately 2470 Ma.The Dyke consists of a variety of mafic and ultramafic rocks, many altered to serpentinites. These include, from top to bottom, successions of gabbro/norites, pyroxenites, peridotites/harzburgites, and dunites/picrites.The layers dip in from either margin, steepest at the edges (20°) and flattening toward the central sections. Four separate complexes are present. From north to south these are termed the Musengezi, Hartley, Selukwe and Wedza Complexes, and are described as 'boat-shaped' or 'pig-troughed'. All are similar in petrological sequences. Physiographically, the Dyke is spectacular in the north, where as a mountain range it meets the Zambezi Escarpment. Elsewhere in the central parts there is little surface expression and wide open treeless vleis. Dyke rocks cut through granite and schist belt terrain and are termed 'The Magnesia Belt'.Vast mineral resources exist. These include chrome, asbestos, platinoids, nickel, copper and gold. Up to eleven chrome seams numbered from top to bottom occur in the lower ultramafic sequences. Seams are narrow at 10 cm to 30 cm but of high grade. The platinum occurs 10 m to 40 m below the norite/pyroxenite contact.A 60 m wide zone of Light Sulfide Mineralization (LSM) of Jess than 1% sulfides extends from the lower gabbronorites into the upper pyroxenites. In this LSM, four enriched zones carry up to 5% sulfides. The most widespread is termed the Main Sulfide Zone (MSZ), below which is No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Sulfide Zones. The MSZ carrying pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite is a multi­ element ore with components of PGE (Pt-Pd-Rh), nickel, copper and cobalt, and gold and silver.Extensive exploration programs have been carried out and the intention is to begin large-scale mining. However, with Russia supplying metals to the western markets, South Africa's cutback on production, and an end to the Cold War, delays have arisen."

Jan 1, 1994

By F. R. Joubin

MR. CHAIRMAN, Members of the C.I.M., and Friends -particularly friends, because I am not entirely a stranger in your city. I was last here some five years ago and it has given me a great deal of pleasure this evening to be able to say "Hello" again to those I had met at that time, when Bourlamaque and V al d'Or were very busy centres of intensive and successful gold exploration. My remarks this evening have to .do with Canada's Place in the Atomic Age. They will be of a general nature but I hope to tell you ?enough to whet your appetite so that you may be provoked into per-.suing the subject further. Now, atomic developments have become quite commonplace. Words like radioactivity, reactors, nuclear fission, and so on are known to everyone, even the youngsters. I re-member two or three years ago one of my office boys came to me and said "Mr. Joubin, I would like a raise." I gave the request a few seconds of serious thought and finally said "Alright, Jimmy, we'll give you a raise." However, he made no effort to leave, so after a -couple of seconds more I said, "Is there something else ?" and he said "Yes, Mr. Joubin, could you make that raise 'radioactive' to the first .of the year ?"

Jan 1, 1958

By M. Massinaei, S. Abasi, M. Oliazadeh

Reliable measurement and control of the pulp-froth interface (froth depth) in the flotation columns is critical to achieve the desired metallurgical performance. Shallow froths result in a reduction of grade because of particle entrainment and deep froths reduce recovery because of the drop back of entrained and weak hydrophobic particles to the pulp zone. The cleaner circuit at Miduk copper concentrator consists of three parallel MicrocelTM flotation columns 4 m in diameter and 12 m in height. The interface level of the flotation columns is measured by two pressure sensors located at 1.4 and 2.4 m from the cell lip (in the collection zone). In this study the performance of the level detection system at different operating conditions was evaluated. A calibrated float-ultrasonic location system was used for measuring the actual froth depth. The results indicated that the existing level control system was subject to considerable error. The absolute error was found to be 33.27 cm. This was mainly attributed to the constant set-point value assigned to the froth density (ρf=0.3 g/cm3), which actually varies with the operating conditions. The actual froth density at different conditions was calculated and its average value (ρf=0.12 g/cm3) was re-set in the control system. This resulted in substantial reduction in the level-detecting error. Recommendations for more accurate measurement of the interface level were presented. INTRODUCTION Froth flotation is a complicated process because of many involved variables. One of the most significant controlled variables in the flotation process is the pulp-froth interface (froth depth). The froth depth has a profound influence on the metallurgical performance parameters (i.e. grade and recovery). Shallow froths result in grade reduction because of particle entrainment and deep froths reduce recovery resulted from the drop back of entrained and weak hydrophobic particles to the pulp zone (Finch and Dobby, 1990). Various techniques have been developed for measuring the interface level of the flotation cells in the last few decades. These techniques can be classified as: Techniques based on hydrostatic pressure measurements (Finch & Dobby, 1990), Techniques based on the density gradient (float) (Moys & Finch, 1988), Techniques based on conductivity measurements (Uribe-Salas, 1991), Techniques based on temperature measurements (Moys & Finch, 1989).

Jan 1, 2019

ONE of the morning sessions at the recent Annual Meeting was devoted to a Symposium on ways and means to expedite geological investigation, and also to promote greater prospecting activity, in Canada. It will be recalled that at the 1940 Annual Meeting, held in Winnipeg, a paper(l) prepared by Dr. G. A. Young, Chief Geologist of the Geological Survey, was presented, and was followed by a Symposium on Geological Investigations in Canada(2). On that occasion, the participants were in the main geologists, and they included the directors or other officials of each of the Provincial departments or bureaus of mines. At the Montreal meeting, the subject was discussed mainly from the point of view of the mining industry. The following pages present, in somewhat summarized form, the several contributions to that discussion.-ED. DR. J. J. O'NEILL(3), who was to have opened the Symposium, was unfortunately prevented through illness from attending the meeting. He had intended outlining the main features of his paper on The Exploitation and Conservation of Mineral Resources in a Balanced Development of Canada, presented at the last annual meeting of the Royal Society of Canada( 4). In his absence, DR.J. A. DRESSER presented a summary of the paper.

Jan 1, 1941

By Reno Pressacco

Abstract- Agrium Inc. is a world leader in the production, distribution, and marketing of agricultural products and services in both North America and Argentina. The new phosphate mine and mill complex located southwest of Kapuskasing, Ontario, was constructed to replace an offshore supply of phosphate rock, and produces a high-grade phosphate concentrate. The Cargill Township Carbonatite Complex is one of a series of carbonatite complexes in the region that are hosted by the 1.9 Ga aged Kapuskasing Structural Zone. The carbonatites in the mine area have intruded Archean gneissic granodiorite rocks of the Wawa Subprovince, and metasedimentary rocks of the Quetico Subprovince. The Cargill Carbonatite Complex displays a typical concentric zonation pattern from an outer ring of alkalic pyroxenites, through an inner ring of sövite-carbonatite, to a central core of rauhaugite-carbonatite. The initial carbonatite intrusion and subsequent residual orebody have been modified by faulting such that the northwestern third of the complex has been displaced approximately 2.5 km northeast. The phosphate ores are composed principally of residual apatite sands that were formed by the weathering and dissolution of the soluble minerals of the carbonatite protolith. These ores are subdivided by their iron content into high grade (A ores) and lower grade (B1 and B2) ores. They are separated from the primary unweathered carbonatite by a layer of saprolite, whose thickness varies depending upon the composition of the underlying carbonatite. Cretaceous waste materials consisting of well-sorted silica/kaolinite sand and peat deposits are typically found to stratigraphically overlie the ores. A minor amount of the ore feed comes from cemented phosphate ores. All rock types are covered by Pleistocene glacial tills and clays.

Jan 1, 2001

By D. F. Sangster

"Eight volcanogenic massive sulphide districts in Canada and Japan, ranging in age from Archean to Miocene, were selected for analysis. The study revealed that: {I) each district has an average diameter of 32 km; (2) the districts contain 4 to 20 deposits each, with an average of /2 deposits; (3) the average total base metal content per district is 4.6 million tonnes, with a coefficient of variation of32%; (4) ranked in order of size, the largest deposit in each district contains, on average, 67% of the total metal and the second largest about 13 %. The remaining deposits range downward in decreasing proportions. Empirical observations such as these may be used f or evaluating the undiscovered potential of new districts as well as contributing to a better understanding of the distribution and genesis of this important class of base metal deposits. Previous WorkThe characteristic geological features o f volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits have been described by numerous authors over the past fifteen years and it is now widely accepted that these deposits comprise a major ""deposit-type."" In addition to these geological parameters, however, it is now becoming apparent that volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits show several distinctive grade-tonnage relationships. For example, Singer et al. (1975) demonstrated a slight negative correlation between copper grade and ore tonnage in their sampling of 146 volcanogenic deposits. In a study of 110 Canadian Precambrian deposits of this type, Boldy (1977) showed that the size of the modal deposit is 0.39 million tons, that of the median deposit is 1.40 million tons and the arithmetic average is 6.85 million tons. Moreover, Boldy's data show that the average grade of combined base metals (Cu + Zn + Pb) for each of the se three deposit-sizes is, respectively, 6.25%, 5.35% and 6.47%. Because the lead content of Canadian Precambrian volcanogeni c deposits is most frequently less than 1%, the total metal grade is effectively Cu + Zn . From Figure 2 in Bold y (1977), it can be seen that 83% of the deposits fall in the range of 0.l to 10 million tons ."

Jan 1, 1980

By Marc Arpin

La Bolivie possède tout pour réussir. Son vaste territoire de plus d'un million de km2 et qui occupe une position stratégique au coeur du continent sud-américain recèle des ressources naturelles (forêts, minéraux, gaz naturel, etc) variées et abondantes. Elle a une frontière avec pas moins de 5 pays dont le géant que constitue le Brésil ainsi qu'avec l'Argentine, l'autre puissance régionale. Pourtant, malgré tous ces atouts, la Bolivie demeure l'un des pays les plus pauvres du continent. Ce paradoxe n'est nulle part mieux reflété que dans le secteur minier. Celui-ci fait face à une situation de crise en dépit d'une tradition minière de plus de quatre siècles et d'un potentiel géologique indiscutable ayant conduit à la découverte et à l'exploitation de fabuleux gisements d'argent et d'étain. Les habitants des districts miniers vivent dans des conditions de pauvreté extrême et les indicateurs de développement humain de ces régions sont parmi les plus bas en Amérique du Sud. La Bolivie réussit difficilement à attirer les compagnies minières alors que, chez les voisins, et particulièrement en Argentine, qui n'a pas de tradition minière, les investissements miniers majeurs affluent. Dans cette conférence, nous chercherons à expliquer les causes de cette situation et proposerons des solutions possibles.

May 1, 2001

By Richard Jundis

At the Vale Inco Ontario Operations, the working environment is rapidly evolving with organizational changes, new business systems and software tools. These changes are required in order to meet today?s challenging business environment. Mining professionals are focusing on the development of safe and achievable mine plans to maximize mining value while reducing the potential of project delays and production shortfalls. This paper explores how new design tools, techniques and system designs in mine planning are being developed to optimize the value of every ton of ore mined and processed. To differentiate from other papers on long-term planning, this paper focuses on the concept of business planning at the mines. Business planning is the understanding and optimization of the relationship between mine plans and the value it adds in the overall process. The management and key stakeholders of Vale Inco have recognized that the development of a robust mine planning system and programs are essential for the long-term sustainability of the operations.

May 1, 2009

By Mathieu Dubé

Good mechanical strength of green iron ore pellets is required to avoid breakage and excessive deformation during their handling and further processing. However, green balls with good resistance to handling are often too plastic, which impacts the bed permeability in induration furnaces. Measurements of plasticity, bed void fraction and green ball sphericity as well as bed permeability were carried out on various samples of green iron ore pellets having different mechanical strength. Results show that bed void fraction, sphericity and permeability all depend, to some extent, upon green ball mechanical strength (plasticity). Understanding and controlling the mechanical strength of green iron ore pellets would then help to maximize both the productivity of the induration process as well as the quality of fired pellets through a more stable firing process. Results of research work carried out at COREM, with the objective of improving green ball characterization methods, are presented in this paper.

May 1, 2007

By Youngjib Ham

Understanding energy performance of existing buildings is vital to increasing their efficiency and reducing the overall energy consumptions. This entails facility managers to systematically monitor building energy performance and reliably identify and analyze potential problems. Currently, infrared thermography is widely used as a primary diagnostic tool for the detection of building performance problems. Nonetheless, applications of thermal images for building inspection are mainly restricted to manual and labor-intensive identification and qualitative assessment of heating or cooling loss. Automated identification of potential problems and reliable cost analysis of the associated energy loss can help homeowners to minimize financial risk of retrofits and maximize energy savings. To that end, this paper presents a new automated method for calculating the cost of energy loss for building diagnostics. In the proposed method, first, using a hand-held thermal camera, the auditors collect digital and thermal imagery from the buildings under inspection. Then, using a recently proposed method for Energy Performance Augmented Reality (EPAR) modeling, an actual 3D spatio-thermal model is generated and superimposed with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based expected energy performance model. The resulting EPAR model is placed into the method proposed in this paper for cost analysis of the energy loss. Through a new 3D thermal mesh modeling using k-d tree structure and nearest neighborhood searching, performance deviations between these models are automatically calculated. Using a temperature threshold, the areas associated with potential performance problems are detected in the EPAR model and are visualized using a metaphor based on traffic light colors. Then, the actual R-values of the detected areas are measured at the level of 3D points. Based on the measured R-values and the estimated air change rate for the detected air leaks, (1) the heat loss or gain caused either by poor insulation or air infiltration/exfiltration and (2) the associated energy costs are automatically calculated. The proposed method is validated on several locations of existing residential buildings. The preliminary results show the potential of the proposed method for minimizing the inspection time as well as the risk associated with the cost analysis of retrofitting potential building performance problems.

Aug 1, 2013

By Lang Tao, Jun Wang, Wei Xiao, Wenqing Qin, Pan Cao, Guanzhou Qiu, Key Lab of Biohydrometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Central South University

"The effect of metal cations on the rutile flotation using styryl phosphoric acid (SPA) as the collector was investigated by micro-flotation test, bench scale flotation test, zeta-potential measurements and adsorption measurements. The micro-flotation results indicated that Fe (?) and Al (?) ions in low concentrations had obvious activation on the rutile flotation, and Pb (?) ions in low concentrations had smaller activation of rutile, but Fe (?), Al (?), Pb (?), Ca (?) and Mg (?) have strong inhibition of rutile flotation in high concentrations. The bench scale flotation results indicated ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), boracic acid, and sodium hexametaphospate can decrease the metal ions concentrations, and increase the recovery of rutile flotation. Adsorption measurements and zeta-potential measurements revealed that Fe (?), Al (?) and Pb (?) ions were adsorbed on the rutile surface, and had interaction with SPA. But when these ions concentration were over the largest adsorption capacity, residual metal ions could occur chemical reaction with SPA.INTRODUCTIONRutile is one of the favored minerals for production of titanium dioxide white pigment, primarily through the chloride manufacturing process (Stanaway 1994; Hou et al., 2013) However, the majority of rutile ores belong to refractory ores, while flotation is one of the most efficient methods to separate fine rutile from gangue (Dolbear et al., 1937). With the flotation development, many effective collectors were successfully applied in the oxide ore. Many reviews have indicated that organic phosphonic acid collectors showed good selectivity on oxide ores such as ilmenite and rutile (Bulatovic & Wyslouzil 1999; Liu & Peng 1999).It is inevitable that many types of metal cations are present in ore pulp. These metal cations significantly influence the flotation of minerals. Liu et al. (2015) showed that Ca2+ and Mg2+ could improve the floatability of spodumene at pH 12.5 and 10.0, respectively. The authors proposed that Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions readily form hydroxy complexes (CaOH(l) and MgOH(l)) and precipitates as (Ca(OH)2 and Mg(OH)2) in strongly alkaline solutions. Fan and Rowson (2000) investigated the effect of Pb(NO3)2 addition as an activator on ilmenite flotation and showed that it could improve ilmenite floatability. The addition of Pb(NO3)2 resulted in an increase of ilmenite zeta potential in both weakly alkaline and acidic aqueous solutions. Mehdilo, Irannajad, and Rezai (2015) studied three kinds of ilmenite of different origins and discovered that both Mg and V had a negative correlation with ilmenite flotation, while the Mn content seemed to correlate positively with flotation efficiency. A number of studies have also showed that Fe3+ can improve the floatability of ilmenite (Fan et al., 2009; Nuri, Mehdilo, & Irannajad, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2016

By Steve Lalancette

Centre Jardin Lac Pelletier (CJLP) has been a leading actor in the revitalisation of closed mining sites in northern Québec for over 20 years. Over that period, CJLP developed a cost-efficient technique that transforms sterile mining residue into a substrate able to support a resilient ecosystem. Using a unique mix of organic matter, fertilisers and selected plant species, this technique rapidly builds a microorganic fauna and a layer of humus that will sustain the creation of vegetation coverage. The coverage is composed of over 13 different plant species, each having a unique role in the development of a resilient ecosystem, from soil stabilisation to nitrogen fixing. Considerably less expensive than traditional methods using civil engineering techniques, it does not require the use of heavy machinery or the spread of topsoil. This technique has been successfully used to restore over 20 sites in Québec such as Joutel, Yvan Vézina and Louvicourt. It is a proven technique that has passed the test of actual implementation. The presentation will review the biological, production and economic aspects of the technique through the revitalisation of the Joutel site.

May 1, 2011

By Jason J. Ballentine

This paper presents a case study of how an asset strategy and zero based budget was developed for an existing crushing plant that had been purchased from the contract service provider by an Australian Iron Ore miner. The goal was to directly align the strategies and budget to the business goals. This however was not a simple task due to poor historical records and a general lack of information. These challenges were overcome and the benefits of a documented maintenance strategy, a justifiable zero based budget and employee engagement were realized.

May 1, 2007

By D. J. Bowen

"The Great Dyke extends for 540 krn along strike, to unknown depth, and varies in width from 3 krn to 11 krn. Rb/Sr age determinations gives values of approximately 2470 Ma.The Dyke consists of a variety of mafic and ultramafic rocks, many altered to serpentinites. These include, from top to bottom, successions of gabbro/norites, pyroxenites, peridotiteslharzburgites, and dunites/picrites.The layers dip in from either margin, steepest at the edges (20°) and flattening toward the central sections. Four separate complexes are present. From north to south these are termed the Musengezi, Hartley, Selukwe and Wedza Complexes, and are described as 'boat-shaped' or 'pig-troughed'. All are similar in petrological sequences. Physiographically, the Dyke is spectacular in the north, where as a mountain range it meets the Zarnbezi Escarpment. Elsewhere in the central parts there is little surface expression and wide open treeless vleis. Dyke rocks cut through granite and schist belt terrain and are termed 'The Magnesia Belt'.Vast mineral resources exist. These include chrome, asbestos, platinoids, nickel, copper and gold. Up to eleven chrome seams numbered from top to bottom occur in the lower ultramafic sequences. Seams are narrow at 10 em to 30 em but of high grade. The platinum occurs 10 m to 40 m below the norite/pyroxenite contact.A 60 m wide zone of Light Sulfide Mineralization (LSM) of less than 1070 sulfides extends from the lower gabbronorites into the upper pyroxenites. In this LSM, four enriched zones carry up to 5% sulfides. The most widespread is termed the Main Sulfide Zone (MSZ), below which is No. 2, No.3 and No.4 Sulfide Zones. The MSZ carrying pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite is a multielement ore with components of PGE (pt-Pd-Rh), nickel, copper and cobalt, and gold and silver.Extensive exploration programs have been carried out and the intention is to begin large-scale mining. However, with Russia supplying metals to the western markets, South Africa's cutback on production, and an end to the Cold War, delays have arisen."

Jan 1, 1994

By G. B. Hobbs, S. Saimoto, L. Collins

"Plastic yielding and flow in metals is dependent on the microscopic process of simple shear along crystallographic planes and directions known as slip. Thus, by altering the crystallographic direction of the stress axis or placing constraints in the direction of plastic flow, anisotropy of yield strength for the same material is observed. This phenomenon is called texture strengthening. The application of this concept to highly anisotropic crystal structures such as the hexagonal group of titanium and zirconium alloys, the former in missile casing and the latter in nuclear reactor fuel tubing, seems obvious. The outstanding example in cubic structures is the case of deep-drawing steel. The R value, the width strain over the thickness strain during a tensile test, is taken as a measure of texture strengthening. In face-centred cubic structures, texture strengthening has been completely ignored on the basis that materials with R less than one are not amenable to this beneficiation. This study will review two aspects of texture which will lead to strengthening, first the thermal stability of the deformed microstructure, which is dependent on the stress axis, and second, the texture strengthening aspect of fcc metals.A review of recovery and recrystallization in textured aluminum wires, copper and cupro-nickel sheet will be presented with the view of extending these concepts to the manufacture of heat-exchanger tubing. The superior creep properties of specially processed commercial products such as TD-Ni, TD-NiCr and MAR-M200 will be shown to be a manifestation of the same physical phenomena."

Jan 1, 1981