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By G. Shore

Radiation grafted structures my be fabricated to contain ion exchange groups selective to an ion complex. Proper choice of substrate and monomer will provide selective ion exchange with differing physico and chemical properties. Grafting a selected monomer to the proper polymer will provide selective ion exchange with assured chemical protection of the substrate. Ion exchange systems utilizing radiation grafted structures have been fabricated to ''capture'' gold, silver and palladium from dilute solutions. Other ion exchange systems can feasibly be produced to remove other precious metals. Rotating Cathode Technology is used to recover the metals from their regenerating solutions are pure metal foil.

Jan 1, 1985

By A. G. Eccles

Western Mines' milling circuit produces three concentrates (copper, lead and zinc), with the tailings being disposed of at the bottom of Buttle Lake. In view of the mine's location and the method of tailing disposal, a comprehensive pollution control program has been in effect since start-up. Changes -in the ore over the past few years have required the use of increasing quantities of sodium cyanide in order to effect a good copper-lead separation. This led to the use of alkaline chlorination for destruction of ?residual cyanide and precipitation of dissolved copper contained in the tailing effluent. The development of Western Mines' alkaline chlorination plant is discussed in detail, including initial test work and the evolution of procedures leading to the present operation. The current monitoring program is also reviewed.

Jan 1, 1977

By L. A. Ayres da Silva, J. P. G. Negri, A. L. M. Ayres da Silva

"Rock hardness is dependent on the type and quantity of the various mineral constituents of the rock and the bond strength that exists between the mineral grains. As the book “The Complete ISRM Suggested Methods For Rock Characterization, Testing and Monitoring:1974-2006” explains, hardness is a concept of material property. As such, the quantitative measure of hardness depends on the type of the test employed.Among the three types of tests that have been used to measure the hardness of rocks and minerals: 1) indentation tests; 2) dynamic and rebound tests; 3) scratch tests, the authors of this paper chose indentation tests, more specifically the Vickers test, and complementary verified the correlation between the results of the Schmidt sclerometer tests (rebound tests) and the Vickers microhardness tests in a set of the same 9 (nine) granite rocks.The objective of this research was to verif y the correlation of one created index, based on the Vickers test that can be able to represent the rock material hardness. We know that Vickers tests determine the microhardness of individual rock minerals. A pyramidal shaped diamond is applied to the surface with a specified force. The area of the permanent residual deformation divided by the applied force is a measure of the hardness. Using the relative participation of the mineral components of the rock, we established a hardness index denominated EVM (Equivalent Vickers Microhardness).The correlation of the EVM with others strength properties and application parameters like UCS (Uniaxial Compressive Strength) to study sawability of granite blocks have presented very good results. The association of equivalent microhardness with others strength parameters, allowed to find powerful algorithms for analyzes of the rock materials behavior under diversified circumstances, as the sawability of granite blocks, as we can see in Fig. 1.Other very interesting correlations were found as the EVM values and that were obtained by the use of the Schmidt impact hammer for the superficial hardness determination."

Jan 1, 2015

By Paul L. Broughton

"IntroductionThe coal deposits, all of lignite rank, of economic interest in Saskatchewan are associated with the Ravenscrag Formation (Paleocene). Several Cretaceous formations have less significant lignite accumulations (Broughton, Irvine and W'hitaker, 1974). The Swan River Group (lower Cretaceous) and Judith River Formation (upper Cretaceous) have the only coalbearing strata in the shallow subsurface of central Saskatchewan. The Swan River Group coalfield is relatively small and underlies only 15 sq km of the surface approximately 40 km south of La Ronge, Saskatchewan. An estimated 36 billion short tons are within 45 m of the surface. No reserve estimates are known to have been calculated for the coal-bearing Judith River Formation exposed at the surface in the vicinity of the South Saskatchewan River valley in west-central Saskatchewan. Although no coalfields have been delineated, lignite beds up to 1.8 m thick have been intersected in test holes. The coal-bearing upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary strata of the northern Williston Basin extends the full width of southern Saskatchewan for 650 km, and from the United States border 120 km north to 50° latitude (Fig. 1). Only the coalfields of the Ravenscrag Formation, because of their economic interest, will be considered further. There are four major coalfields. They are, from east to west: Estevan, Willow Bunch, Wood Mountain and Shaunavon (Cypress) coalfields. Cumulative lignite seam thickness for each basin is 10 -15 m (Figs. 2 and 3). The origin of each coal basin, resource calculations, seam stratigraphy, and mining activity are discussed. Regional Setting The Williston Basin is an ellipsoidal depression in the Precambrian basement, centered in western North Dakota and marginal to the exposed craton of northern Saskatchewan and central Manitoba (Fig. 1). The sediments of the basin range from Cambrian to Pleistocene in age and have a maximum known thickness of 4614 min western North Dakota. A maximum of 3200 m is recorded in southern Saskatchewan. Most structural deformation is late Cretaceous to early Tertiary (Paleocene) in age, coinciding with the Laramide Orogeny. The pre-Laramide Williston Basin, with a depocenter near Williston, North Dakota, began developing during the middle Ordovician, or possibly earlier."

Jan 1, 1985

By Stephen Hardcastle

Supplying ventilation in underground metal mines can be one of the most energy demanding services required to support production activities. Consequently, as energy, in the form of electricity or combustible fuels can be expensive and their unit cost is expected to increase, there is significant interest in reducing the overall demands of a mine?s ventilation system through such initiatives as controlling ventilation based upon demand and exploring other power alternatives to the current usage of the diesel engine in mobile mine vehicles. However, determining the benefit of any energy saving technology is complex and not universal applicable across the industry, consequently they have not been widely adopted. For these technologies to succeed they must be strategically applied based upon sound business cases. The intent of this paper is to provide information on some of the prospective control strategies and their potential impact on the power consumption related to supplying ventilation.

May 1, 2007

We describe a new method of characterising the effect of dissolved materials on the rate of coalescence of bubbles in aqueous media. Single bubbles were allowed to rise to meet the surface of an aqueous solution, and the time of persistence between arrival and bursting of bubble was measured as a function of solute concentration. A laser beam was placed just above the surface of the liquid, with a detector in the light path, so that any disturbance at the surface could be seen as a break in the beam. The arrival of a bubble at the surface could be detected from the behaviour of the trace on an oscilloscope, and when the bubble broke, another significant change in the signal could easily be seen. The time between disruptions was reported as the persistence time. The effect of a homologous series of n-alcohols (C1 to C8) on the persistence time was measured, in aqueous solution. It was found that with increasing concentration of a particular solute, the persistence time increased up to a point, and then declined. However the magnitude of the persistence time was found to increase with increasing numbers of carbon atoms in the molecule. Bubbles of 1, 2 and 3 mm diameter were used. Persistence time increased with increasing bubble diameter, the maximum values observed being of order 100 secs. For a given solute, the persistence (drainage) time increased with increasing bubble diameter. The concentration Cmax at which the maximum persistence time was observed, was found to be independent of the bubble size. It decreased uniformly as the carbon number increased, and was well correlated by the function y1/2 (dy /dc) -2 I dc)-2 . There was no apparent correlation with the surface excess at maximum persistence time.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. S. Diederichs, J. Oke

Surface limitations and a need for more direct transportation routes require serious consideration be given to the development of underground construction works in geotechnically unfavourable conditions. Due to geographical and logistical limitations, the construction of these underground works is restricted to difficult ground conditions that require temporary pre-support before excavation in order to avoid tunnel collapse or severe surface settlement. One type of pre-support is the umbrella arch system, which has been gaining popularity due to cost and time commitment in comparison with other pre-support systems (e.g., ground freezing). The umbrella arch system has been employed with significant frequency around the world, yet without a complete understanding about the mechanical response of the system. As such, literature has found the temporary support system to be both under and over designed with regard to safety and/or economical impact. The authors of this paper have made three major contributions to increase understanding of the umbrella arch system and to help optimize the design process. Firstly, the authors have developed nomenclature in order to categorize and define umbrella arch elements and systems, which also stimulated the creation of the empirically driven Umbrella Arch Selection Chart. Secondly, the authors have established a design methodology that is primarily based on advanced numerical modelling techniques to aid in the optimized design of the umbrella arch arrangement for site specific conditions. Thirdly, the authors have developed a semi-analytical model for umbrella arch systems employed in squeezing ground conditions by incorporating elastic foundation theory as well as convergence confinement theory. These three major contributions to such a widely employed tunnelling pre-support system will be introduced and explained in detail, and will include discussion of how each is incorporated in the complete tunnel support design process and throughout the construction and monitoring phase of a project.

Jan 1, 2015

By W. J. Bennett

WHEN Dr. Horace Fraser, your President, invited me to speak to you today I advised him in confidence that I was leaving my present positions on April 30th. In the circumstances it seemed to me that this audience might prefer to have as its speaker one who wo.uld J1ave a continuing association with the atomic energy programme. Dr. Fraser was kind enough to suggest that my re-marks might he of special interest to you, since I would be able to sum up my views on the atomic energy programme. I hope that I will not disappoint him or you on that score. I am particularly pleased that my last public appearance in my present positions should be at the Annual Convention of the C.I.M. since, as all of you know, a very important part of my work has been in the mining field. As it happens, my first public address on the subject of atomic energy and its raw material -uranium -was made at your Annual Convention in Montreal in April, 1949. It seems fitting that my final address should also be made at this convention -nine years later.

Jan 1, 1958

By A. McLean, X. Men

"With high quality sulphide ores diminishing, nickel production from low-grade oxide ores becomes increasingly important and a major concern is the high sulphur level in the resultant ferro-alloy. So, desulphurization of the ferronickel becomes an important consideration. Red mud is a waste product of alumina industry and causes adverse effects on environment. In the present study, experiments were conducted to determine feasibility of using red mud as a major ingredient of refining fluxes for ferronickel desulphurization. In view of their influence on slag-metal separation, contact angle measurements between ferronickel alloy and molten slag made from red mud were also determined. INTRODUCTIONNickel is a very important metal that finds a variety of applications including consumer products, building, automotive and electronics. There are two kinds of ores containing nickel, namely oxide and sulphide ores. Anthony and Flett [1] reported that about 55% of the world’s nickel production originates from sulphide ores while the balance of new nickel is derived from oxide ores. However, oxide ores count for about 70% of the worldwide reserves. Apparently, oxide ores will play a significant role in the production of nickel in the future. Most of nickel produced using oxide ores is from pyrometallurgical processes namely ferronickel smelting or matte smelting. So, we can draw such a conclusion that using nickel oxide ores to produce ferronickel will become more and more important .Before used to make stainless steel or other materials, the ferronickel need pretreatment to remove impurities especially sulphur and phosphorus that will cause negative influence on the properties of steel product. Red mud is a by-product during alumina production. Usually, about 1 to 1.5 tons of red mud will be produced when we get 1 ton of alumina. About 90 million tones of red mud are produced every year in the world [2].Red mud is deemed as a toxic industrial waste which needs treatment before discharge because of alkalinity and chemical and mineralogical properties. Until now, the main means to deal with red mud are to store it in impoundments or dump it in the sea depending on local environment. Nowadays, how to recycle red mud has become a pretty hot topic around the world. The last 40 years have witnessed a lot of patent applications concerning the ways of red mud utilization. However, a little amount of red mud is consumed until now due to the limitations of recycling red mud."

Jan 1, 2012

By W. M. Goodwin

The gold district of northwestern Quebec, though it has attracted such widespread attention during the past year, is still in the prospect stage throughout, and one must preface any remarks about it with the plain statement that its capacity to produce gold commercially is still subject to proof. However, this proof may be forthcoming any day, and from widely separated localities. Consequently it is of interest to note some of the features of the region and of the prospects now being developed. First I shall note the relation of this mining development to the province of Quebec and to the Dominion; then will follow a brief resume of the known geological facts; and finally I shall describe briefly some of the more advanced prospects developed during the past twelve-month. Those that have followed closely the fortunes of the new gold-field will find little that is new in what follows, but it may serve a useful purpose for others by bringing together scattered items of information and presenting them as a whole. GOLD MINING AND AGRICULTURE First let us consider the gold belt in its relation to the province of Quebec. Apart from the world-renowned asbestos camp south of the St. Lawrence, it is the only mineral development of major importance the province has experienced. It is the first important development in the province's vast area of Precambrian rocks, most of which remains as yet totally unexplored and unprospected. The relative importance of this first mining camp in northern Quebec cannot as yet be gauged, but it is bound to stimulate an active interest in the other mineral-bearing areas now known to exist, and in the vast unexplored spaces.

Jan 1, 1924

By W. Graham

"IntroductionEFFLORESCENCE is herein considered to be any deposit of salts on the surface of a masonry structure that is brought from within or through the structure by capillarity and deposited by evaporation. Usually, efflorescence is white although green, yellow, and brown efflorescence is sometimes observed.The common white efflorescence almost always consists of sulphates of the alkali and alkaline earth metals and calcium carbonate, although sodium chloride is frequently present in structures erected near the sea shore.The first and most obvious result of the presence of soluble salts in masonry is the unsightly accumulation of these salts on the surface. This is particularly noticeable early in its life and is frequently fugitive ( 1), as much of the salt is soluble and is gradually washed away by rain. This removal can usually be facilitated by scrubbing; the structure with dilute hydrochloric acid.A more serious effect is the continuous accumulation of soluble salts as a result of ingress of sulphur acids in rain water or water from the ground. This may eventually cause spalling and disintegration by crystallization of salts in the pores of brick and mortar. An example of this type of failure, resulting from the crystallization of calcium sulphate, is discussed by Hardesty (2). Butterworth (3) describes similar failure resulting from •crystallization of magnesium sulphate."

Jan 1, 1954

By M. M. C Jiménez, D. C. Buzzi, D. C. R. Espinosa, J. A. S Ténorio, G. F. R Oliveira

In this work the extractive and selective capacities of solvent extraction synergistic systems to recover nickel and cobalt were evaluated. The liquor used was from the high pressure acid leaching process (HPAL). Initially the industrial liquor, processed from lateritic ores, was analyzed to identify the concentrations of the metals. Experiments of synergistic solvent extraction were performed later. The extraction liquid-liquid was carried out with a mixture of Cyanex 272 (CY) and Ionquest 290 (IQ) extractants. The process was executed with the temperature of 65 ºC, pH of 5.2 and the ratio aqueousorganic 2:1. Systems of 80% kerosene and CY 20%, CY 16% - IQ 4%, CY 12% - IQ 8%, CY 8% - IQ 16%, CY 4% - IQ 16%, IQ 20% were studied during 20 minutes. The results of this paper showed that the mixture of these two extractants doesn’t improve significantly the recovery of nickel and cobalt from liquor.

Jan 1, 2014

By W. H. Fertl, S. J. Pirson

Well logging techniques, as used successfully in oil and gas exploration, can also be used to give a detailed evaluation of drill holes through industrial mineral deposits such as sulphur. This paper describes the logging tools used gives the theory behind the well-log interpretation and discusses the application of the method in sulphur-bearing limestone and m more complex sulphur deposits.

Jan 1, 1970

By R. H. McCorkell

Radon emanation rates. J. and compositions of materials from the Canadian Certified Reference Materials Project (CCRMP) indicate that the fraction of the Rn produced that escapes, E, is usually 1% to 8% and the 238U decay chain is nearly in secular equilibrium. For some Chinese ore standards, E values are higher than f or the CCRMP materials. Standard ore tailings have 2/oPb concentrations higher than expected from their 226Ra concentrations and Rn escape rates (12 - 34%) . Biological materials have E ˜100%, their ash E ˜0%. Pelletizing ore powders at 20 000 lb/in2 reduces J by only 20 - 40% but only 2% of Rn escapes from pressed Li2B4O7 pellets and 0.01 - 0.04% from fused Na2B4O7 or Li2B4O7 discs. Large, difficult-to-explain random variations in J are observed in some situations but several highly reproducible ways of measuring emanation rates have been found.

Jan 1, 1986

By A. A. Holland

Introduction The world's largest known deposits of natural sodium sulphate (Glauber salt), generally termed 'alkali ' throughout western Canada, are located in the Province of Saskatchewan: reserves are estimated to exceed 200,000,000 tons. These are surface deposits resulting from the recent or present-day natural evaporation of brines, in which respect they are similar to those occurring in certain other parts of the world, as in semi-arid sections of the United States, Russia, Germany and Austria. In some areas, underground deposits formed hundreds of thousands of years ago have been _encountered in drilling, and indications are that they also were formed under arid or semi-arid conditions. The master key to the formation of deposits of natural sodium sulphate, wherever they occur, is a climate, either past or present, under which evaporation exceeds precipitation over a considerable period of time. Commercial development of the Saskatchewan deposits began about thirty years ago. Previously, the demand for sodium sulphate had largely been met by salt cake produced as a by-product in the manufacture of hydrochloric acid from common salt. The rapid increase in the production of Kraft paper and, more recently, the development of synthetic detergent materials, have caused a marked increase in the market for sodium sulphate. This chemical gives the extra toughness to Kraft paper and is used in detergent compositions in proportions as high as 75 per cent. Saskatchewan now has six commercial plants producing natural sodium sulphate. Production from each in the fiscal years 1947 and 1948 is shown in Table I. The newest and latest plant is that of Saskatchewan Minerals, at Chaplin, which 1s designed to produce up to 150,000 tons of salt cake, 98.5 to 99.5 per cent pure, yearly. This is equivalent to about 24 percent of the total United States production of crude commercial salt cake for 1947.

Jan 1, 1949

By J. J. Barakso, C. Tarnocai

This paper outlines a method of testing for the mercury content of rocks, soils and plants. Techniques of sample collecting are described and the analytical procedures outlined. Examples are given of mercury determinations in two known mineralized areas in British Columbia - Copper Mountain Mines and Pacific Nickel Mines.

Jan 1, 1970

By Harry Wilton-Clark

Introduction Coal cleaning may be taken as meaning the separation of coal-as-mined into two or more fractions. Coal cleaning includes coal washing, together with any other means used in the ultimate preparation of coal prior to shipment (as coal) . The method of coal cleaning devised for any given mine must be one which is based entirely on the economic results obtainable. The installation of a high-cost and complex washing plant, designed to produce a low-ash dean coal, at the highest possible recovery, may be unsound practice. A crude 'roughing' washer may be the best result of sound engineering and operating consideration, and in some cases coal cleaning should be confined entirely to preparation at the face. Consideration of complete costs, to the point where the coal is actually sold, may show that certain seams are workable or not workable. Of the seams found workable, extraction of the whole or parts of the seam may be decided on. The portion to be extracted may contain rock or bone partings, which must be removed. It may be good practice to mine the extra portion and remove the objectionable materials by surface washing; or it may be that such materials should be removed underground, even at an increased mining cost. For instance, in some of the steeply pitching seams of the Alberta Crow's Nest Pass district, the removal of bone and rock at the face may be almost impossible under the usual 'up the pitch' or 'angle' mining methods, but possible by mining across the pitch so that the material to be rejected can be removed and gobbed. Again, if a complete seam is being extracted, investigation may show marked differences between top coal and bench coal, and if sufficient mine cars are being loaded from a chute at one time, the fact that such a place is working top or bench coal at the time may be reflected by peaks in ash content or size proportions at the ripple. It may be very effective coal preparation to smooth out such peaks.

Jan 1, 1934

By H. B. Lumsden

This paper is intended to deal merely with the commercial development of some of the principal non-metallic mineral resources in the three prairie provinces- Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Coal is not included in this summary. Building Stone First and foremost, mention may be made of the building stone now being produced at Tyndall, Manitoba. This is a mottled limestone and is declared by experts to be one of the finest building stones in America, both as regards durability and appearance. It has been used very extensively both for exterior and interior work, not only in western Canada, but also in the principal cities as far east as Montreal. The stone is the "'Upper Mottled Limestone", which forms the summit of the Trenton (Ordovician) strata in the Lake Winnipeg basin. Quarries are at present being operated at Garson and Tyndall . The area where this stone is known to be available extends in a north and south direction for a distance of three miles, and the main productive ridge is probably about one half mile wide. The outlook for the future of the industry is extremely promising, as the stone is becoming increasingly popular in Eastern Canada, more particularly for interior work.

Jan 1, 1928

By W. E. Oching, M. M. Ghomshei

Attracting and retaining workers in mining industry has become an uphill battle to many mining companies. As workers with significant experience retire, it is getting more difficult to attract not only new workers but also top talent to the mining industry to replace professionals exiting the workforce. To make matters worse, students’ enrolment in the post-secondary mining programs in Canada and USA is continuously declining year after year for reasons not directly linked to job market. This raises a question of how can the future needs of mining be met? This paper focuses on avenues for collaboration of industry and educational institutions to meet the current and future needs of mining. It provides effective approaches that mining institutes can engage with program advisory committees, role of the mining industry in supporting both faculty and students, how to harness the benefits of diverse workforce in the country and use of innovative technologies to attract young workers in mining. This work presents Human Resources (HR) professionals with tools that they can use to hire and retain skilled workers with strong interest to work in the mining industry. It also provides HR professionals with an opportunity to re-evaluate their restructuring practices during economic downturns as they reduce number of employees on temporary or permanent basis. The paper stresses the need of working together of the mining stakeholders including mining industry, academic institutions, First Nations’ communities and provincial(state) and federal governments to meet the current and future demands of mining as the industry experiences shortage of labour and low students’ enrolment in post-secondary mining programs. It is shown that mining educational institutes can enhance their programs and recruitments through establishing a better communication with all stakeholders. This communication can be facilitated by creating a national advisory board, to work with all mining programs at the national level for sustainable mining.

Jan 1, 2023

By Adam Turcotte

Mining operations consume a considerable amount of energy, and while reduced energy consumption is desirable, it is not always clear how to achieve this goal. Understanding the opportunities to optimize energy consumption is crucial, and the key to understanding is visualization. One option is the Sankey diagram, which has been used for over 100 years to visualize the flow of energy, materials, or cost through various processes. However, there are drawbacks to this approach that must be addressed. In a Sankey diagram, each flow is represented by an arrow possessing a width proportional to the magnitude of the flow it represents. The diagrams show input flows, how energy is converted and into what form, and also output flows. As per the first law of thermodynamics, the total energy output is equivalent to the total energy input, so any energy that is not transferred to another process is considered to be wasted. These waste flows are depicted in Sankey diagrams and make it straightforward to associate energy sources, sinks and waste flows. Unfortunately, Sankey diagrams do not convey all information required to support practical decision making for redirecting individual energy flows. Based only on a Sankey diagram, it may become evident that a significant flow of waste heat is of the appropriate grade (temperature) and volume to meet an on-site heat demand currently being met with paid-for, possibly carbon intensive fuel. However without augmenting the Sankey diagram with 3D spatial, true geometric analysis, the practicalities of the concept or idea may not be fully appreciated. Another issue with a Sankey diagram is that the magnitude of the energy flowing between processes may have temporal fluctuation or variability on different timescales (diurnal, seasonal, interannual). Currently, Sankey diagrams only provide a static picture of energy conversion and consumption, so that, for example, 4 separate diagrams could have to be prepared for each season. A new energy flow visualization technique which we have called Sankey Trees has been developed. Process locations are defined within a 3D model of the site being studied, and the magnitude of the flow between each pair of processes considered is replaced with a time series. Branches of sustained and diminishing flows are represented through variation of the geometric properties of the branches of the trees. These branches are animated to indicate the direction of flow, and branch joints are used to indicate that a process is transporting one form of energy to multiple processes.

Aug 1, 2013