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By Y. A. Grinin, M. A. Liamina, V. A. Shumskij, Y. I. Sannikov, M. V. Radashin

"A brief history of the development of the Kivcet flash smelting process is presented. The broad scope of the process with an ability to treat high grade lead sulphide concentrates, as well as oxidized lead-zinc residues, is emphasized. Fine coal in the charge serves two purposes, one as auxiliary fuel and the other as a pre-reductant for ferric iron in residues. Current Kivcet operations incorporate a layer of coke or “coke checker” at the surface of the slag in the reaction shaft that acts as a reducing agent for flame products or slag that flow through it. Details of this invention, are given. IntroductionFor many years, the sinter-blast furnace lead smelting process has been the main internationally accepted method used for the production of primary lead metal. In recent times, this process has been unable to meet legislated environmental restrictions and it became clear in the mid-1960s that a new and cleaner process would have to be developed. The present level of Kivcet performance was developed in three main stages:1. flash smelting natural sulphide lead raw materials with the attached electric furnace for production of lead bullion and crude zinc;2. natural raw material smelting with lead and zinc separation in a “coke filter” or “coke checker” at the surface of the slag in the reaction shaft to produce lead bullion and ZnO-bearing slag that can be fed to conventional slag fuming; and3. processing of oxidized lead-bearing raw materials, such as low grade zinc plant residues, with the production of lead bullion and ZnO-bearing slag periodically directed to slag fuming."

Jan 1, 1998

By David Deglon, Martin Harris, Mehdi Safari

"This study investigates the effect of energy/power input on the flotation of a platinum ore in a pilot-scale oscillating grid flotation cell. Oscillating grids generate near ideal hydrodynamic environments, characterised by turbulence which is relatively homogeneous and isotropic. Secondary rougher feed and primary cleaner tail streams were floated in a pilot-scale oscillating grid flotation cell at power inputs from 0 to 2.5 W/kg, using 0.50 and 1.50 mm bubbles. From this study one may conclude that the effect of energy/power input on the flotation rate is strongly dependent on the particle and bubble size. Flotation rates generally increase with increasing particle size and decreasing bubble size. Increasing energy input generally leads to an increase in the flotation rate for finer particles and an optimum flotation rate for intermediate & coarse particles. Optimum conditions for intermediate/coarse platinum ore particles are using small bubbles at low energy inputs, or large bubbles at higher energy inputs. These results suggest that higher energy inputs are generally beneficial for the flotation of platinum ores as these consist predominantly of finer particles (-75 µm) and most industrial flotation applications operate with larger bubbles (1.0-2.0 mm).INTRODUCTIONThere is a considerable body of experimental and theoretical evidence to suggest that energy/power input plays an important role in flotation kinetics, particularly in the finer particle sizes where flotation efficiency is poor (Deglon, 2005). A number of excellent studies into the effect of energy on flotation kinetics have been carried out in impeller stirred cells (Ahmed and Jameson, 1985; Deglon, 2002; Pyke et al., 2003; Newell and Grano, 2006). Investigations using this type of cell have a number of limitations. The impeller influences particle suspension, bubble break-up and agitation in the cell. In addition, turbulence is highly inhomogeneous and anisotropic, with power intensities near the impeller orders of magnitude higher than those found elsewhere in the cell (Deglon, 1998; Koh and Schwarz, 2003; Schubert, 1999, 2008). These limitations have resulted in the development of novel cells for the investigation of energy input."

Jan 1, 2016

By O. S. Perry, D. F. Kidd

"BEAVERDELL IS IN the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, 25 miles east of Penticton, B.C. In 1897, small but rich silver-bearing veins were found on Wallace Mountain, 2 miles east of Beaverdell. Production from the camp, at first of a modest character, started in 1901 and has never ceased. Over 90 per cent of the values in the ores have been in silver. Remaining values present are in lead, gold, zinc, and cadmium.There have been four principal mines in the camp. A fifth is approaching production. The four mines lie within a northeasterly trending rectangle about 5,000 feet long and 2,000 feet wide, the fifth mine being at the northeast end. From southwest to northeast the mines, with their silver production to Sept. 30, l 955, are: -Wellington Mine - 1,463,948 oz.Sally Mine (includes Rob Roy claim) - 1,930,124 oz.Bell Mine - 3,460,815 oz.Lass Mine - 12,557,956 oz.Other production - 331,252 oz.Total, Beaverdell Camp - 19,744,095 oz.The camp is near the centre of an area geologically mapped in 19 l l by L. Reinecke for the Geological Survey of Canada (1). The rocks of the camp comprise:1. Beaverdell stock of porphyritic quartz monzonite;2. Westkettle batholith of quartz diorite;3. Wallace formation of tuffs and lavas.The Wallace formation borders the east edge of the camp, and has been intruded by the Westkettle batholith. The batholith is the host rock for the orebodies. The Wallace-batholith contact dips gently east. Some of the Beaverdell ores at depth, while in the batholith, are under Wallace formation mapped on the surface above.West of the camp, Reinecke mapped a stock one by one and one-half miles in size, of porphyritic quartz monzonite, which he considered much younger than the Westkettle quartz diorite (I). Recent petrographic work by White and Dolar-Mantuani (3) suggests that in the vicinity of the camp the Westkettle batholith is more quartz monzonite than quartz diorite, and little different in composition from the Beaverdell quartz monzonite. They suggest a consanguinity with the Westkettle batholith."

Jan 1, 1949

By Theo. Koulomzine

"The property of Consolidated Central Cadillac Mines, Limited, consists of 1,103 acres formerly held by Central Cadillac Mines, Limited, and Wood Cadillac Mines, Limited. Both mines have been partly developed to depths of 565 and 1,000 feet respectively, and from 1939 to 1943 they produced gold, with small amounts of silver and tungsten, having a total value of $2,208,528 from 377,489 tons of ore. The average grade of the ore was $5.85 a ton . Less than 10 per cent of the ore hoisted was discarded by sorting. New development work, carried out since the former Wood property has been purchased by Central Cadillac, has shown that the tonnage indicated by mine workings and diamond drilling exceeds 2,000 tons per vertical foot.The property lies between the claims of Kewagama Gold Mines, Limited, and Pandora Cadillac Gold Mines, Limited, and straddles the Cadillac 'break' for a length of nearly 1 ½ miles. The main workings are 1 3/4 miles east of the well-known O'Brien gold mine.GEOLOGYOutcrops are very scarce, with none at all of the most important horizons, so that the general geology shown in Fig. 1 is deduced mostly from underground workings and diamond drilling. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section through the ore zone.The ore lies within a belt of Blake River volcanics which is approximately 600 feet wide and is flanked on the north and south, respectively, by Cadillac and Kewagama sediments. All the formations have a nearly vertical attitude. The Blake River belt consists essentially of well sheared volcanic tulfs, but associated with these in the northern part are a number of bands of iron formation and the central part, to a width of 100 feet, is occupied by talc schists, making the Cadillac fault proper. Intruding the volcanics south of the Cadillac shear zone are dykes of two types- finegrained aplite or quartz albitite, and porphyry; both consist essentially of albite and quartz and are distinguishable only by the grain size. They have the general east-west trend of the formations they intrude."

Jan 1, 1954

By H. Somekawa

The fracture toughness and deformation structures an AZ31 magnesium alloy processed by equal-channel-angular extrusion (ECAE) were investigated. The average grain sizes of as-ECAE and annealed-ECAE alloys were 4.0 and 16.3 µm, respectively. The plane-strain fracture toughness, Kip, in as-ECAE and annealed-ECAE were estimated to be 27.3 and 23.5 MPam1/2, respectively, by stretched zone analysis. The fracture toughness indicated higher value with grain refinement. From optical microstructural observations in samples after fracture toughness tests, although deformation twins were observed in annealed-ECAE, no deformation twins were observed in as-ECAE. From TEM observations, the dislocations on basal and non-basal planes were activated in as-ECAE. With grain refinement, the activations of dislocations on both basal and non-basal planes were possibly related to the reduction in formation of deformation twins in as-ECAE. In addition, in comparison with direct extruded process, ECAE process was more effective method to improve the fracture toughness in magnesium alloys.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. E. Bou Serhal

Many miners are exposed to dangerously high levels of noise on a daily basis. Over the past 15 years, a continually increasing number of occupational hearing loss has been reported from the mining community in the United States, of which, more than 95% is attributed to prolonged noise exposure. Although the noise exposure levels may differ between coal miners and metal and non-metal miners, in the absence of noise control at the source, the solution is the same: use of personal hearing protection devices (HPD). While protecting the miners? hearing it is also essential to no longer hinder their ability to communicate. With access to an advanced HPD that is customized to the miners? ears we are able to combine these two requirements. Using an intra-aural instantly custom molded HPD miners are protected from high levels of noise. The HPD is equipped with wireless capabilities, and contains both a speaker and an In-Ear Microphone (IEM). Therefore, the miners? speech may be captured from inside the ear and transmitted to the remote listener. This IEM signal is relatively noise-free since it is isolated from the background noise. The IEM speech signal, however, is ?boomy? and is missing some high frequency content, making fricative consonants hard to understand. Nonetheless, the IEM speech signal is correlated with the natural speech signal and may be manipulated through statistical techniques to more closely resemble natural speech. By improving the intelligibility and quality of the IEM signal, numerous applications may be enabled. One use of the enhanced IEM signal will be for radio communication. Using wireless radio communication in a noisy mining environment is sometimes the only practical and affordable solution to allow communication between miners equipped with personal hearing protection devices. Traditionally, one of the weaknesses of such wireless radio communication lies in the lack of designating receivers: whether they are the intended receiver or not, all those carrying a radio receiver are subjected to the broadcasted signal. The current work will detail a new concept of a "radio-acoustical virtual environment" where the radio signal will only be received by miners within a given spatial range, such range depending on the user?s vocal effort as well as the ambient and perceived background noise levels.

Aug 1, 2013

By Mark Rantapaa

Measurable improvements in throughput have been documented at Barrick Goldstrike due to increased ore fragmentation through efficient drilling and blasting techniques. A decrease in throughput at the Autoclave, due to increasingly hard ore, was identified in early 2002. A team of individuals from the Open Pit and Process areas worked closely on the Drill-to-Mill (D2M) Continuous Improvement initiative to ensure that it would address the needs of both groups, with the target of actually improving throughput in future years, despite the projected harder ores. A series of tests were conducted to determine if adjustments to drilling and blasting could positively influence throughput. Better fragmentation and a subsequent increase in mill throughput were achieved through the use of: 1) Electronic caps for more precision and flexibility, as well as for allowing extremely fast shots. 2) Explosives with a higher velocity of detonation (VOD), to provide for improved shock energy. 3) Improved distribution of the explosives by decreasing pattern spacing. Early tests indicated a significant increase in throughput when processing identified harder ore. It is anticipated that the total process throughput (hard and soft ore) will increase by six tph in 2003 due to the improved fragmentation of the hard ore. Barrick Goldstrike?s D2M initiative includes roaster ?hard ore? (BWI >17), as well as autoclave ?hard ore? (BWI >15). Approximately six million tons of D2M material is expected be shot in 2003, a relatively small amount compared to the 150 million tons to be mined. The benefit of additional ounces produced should far outweigh the additional drilling and blasting costs.

May 1, 2003

By Roderick C. McDonald

Great Bear lake, the fourth largest body of water on this continent, comprises an area of approximately 12,000 square miles, and is set astride the Arctic circle, with a large portion of it witnessing both the Arctic winter night, and the Arctic summer day with its midnight sun. The very name itself, Great Bear, suggests an Arctic region. The seasonal contrasts at Great Bear lake are very marked by the cold and darkness of winter, and the warmth and brightness of summer. Signs of winter such as low clouds, snow, sleet, fog, and night frosts, generally appear the latter part of August, while ice forming on bays during the last two weeks in September ends boat travel on the lake about September 30th.Early in June the ice leaves the river mouths, during the last ten days of the month it disappears from small bays, and at some time during the last two weeks of July the main body of the lake becomes navigable. In 1916, the ice disappeared earlier than usual, and the lake was navigable on July 5th. Great Bear river generally breaks up about June 1st, but, on account of ice cliffs and floes, it is not navigable with safety until early in July. Even then, the traveller is confronted with the Charles rapids, but these might be overcome by a wagon or motor road, such as the one from Fitzgerald to Fort Smith: However, in 1931, Mr. A. W. Boland, Fort Norman, N.W.T., carried with scow and motorboat practically all freight between Fort Norman and LaBine point and Hunter bay, at the east end of the lake. During July and August, two types of clothing are required, for, although the days are mainly ones of warm sunshine, the nights are cloudy and cold. In the winter season, fur clothing is used exclusively. Considerable timber, mainly white spruce, suitable for fuel and building purposes, borders the lake and extends eastward to the Coppermine river. North of the lake, no timber is found except in the river valleys, but with oil and coal possibilities near Fort Norman, the fuel situation might be solved.

Jan 1, 1932

By Susan W. Campbell, Bruce Regensburg

"The CIM Careers Task Force has addressed industry's concern of a perceived shortage of skilled personnel over the coming decade. The industry is faced with a fundamental shift by young Canadians away from scientific and engineering careers, coupled with the fact that today 's students know little about the minerals industry and have a poor image of it.The responses to two questionnaires which were distributed to CIM members, government, professional associations, and educational institutions, formed the backbone of the Task Force position paper, which presents a shopping list of ideas and initiatives for consideration and to facilitation by the various organizations concerned.Tackling the image of the minerals industry is part of the answer to the careers crisis. On the positive side, the minerals industry provides the allure of a treasure hunt for young people and is seen as a significant contributor to the economy. It is understood to be well paying, provide good opportunities for advancement, individualism, and travel, and to be rich in esprit de corps. Enhancement of these positive aspects of the image can take place at all student age levels.Numerous initiatives tackle the negative aspects of the image. Young people perceive the industry to be environmentally damaging, which is the most crucial aspect that needs to be addressed. The industry is seen as still in the pick-and-shovel days and as a sunset industry that is running out of ore. Work in the minerals industry is perceived as dangerous and lacking glamour. And finally, the perceived remoteness of operations and exploration is seen as a drawback to a largely urbanized student group.Tackling young peoples' curiosity and interest in the minerals industry throughout grade school and encouraging postsecondary science and engineering students to enter the minerals industry by ensuring summer employment is the second part of the equation.The CIM Careers Task Force position paper develops strategy to attract and maintain interest of students in grade school, junior high, senior high school, and in post-secondary levels. The strategy outlines initiatives targetted at each of the educational levels and action plans to accomplish the objectives."

Jan 1, 1993

By R. D. Studer

"The Snow Lake massive sulphide deposits are hosted by Aphebian volcanic rocks of the Flin Flon - Snow Lake greenstone belt, which in this area were deformed and metamorphosed to the amphibolite facies during the Hudsonian orogeny. All the known deposits occur in felsic rocks a short distance below the contact with an overlying mafic rock unit.The Stall Lake copper deposit occurs close to the top of an explosive felsic volcanic sequence. Rocks stratigraphically underlying the deposit have been hydrothermally altered by the mineralizing fluids. The sulphides were probably deposited from submarine volcanic vent(s) on the flanks of a felsic dome. The ore has been tightly folded, flattened and elongated parallel to the northerly trending lineation of the surrounding rocks during the several periods of deformation. Strike lengths of the lenses range from 60 to 300 feet and plunge-to-strike ratios are as much as 15:1.Ore lenses I to 4 typically consist of massive coarse-grained pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite. A stratigraphically higher lens differs in that it contains fine-grained pyrite and chalcopyrite, with an increase in sphalerite toward its hanging wall. The No.4 orebody has a distinct footwall alteration zone characterized by brecciation and abundant chlorite-staurolite- garnet schist, with minor kyanite, anthophyllite, cordierite and anhydrite, as well as sulphide minerals. Chemically, the alteration zone is distinguished from the unaltered felsic rocks by Na20 depletion and Mg-Fe enrichment"

Jan 1, 1982

By Stuart McTavish

"The Brunswick Mining concentrator processes 10,000 D.S. T. per day of a complex sulphide ore. Four separate concentrates- zinc, lead, copper and bulk-are produced by selective flotation. Several major changes have been made to the Brunswick flotation circuit to improve the process and control. This paper will describe the present flotation practices at the Brunswick Concentrator. Special emphasis is given to the conversion of two of the primary circuits to an SO2-aeration flowsheet, and to the addition of a new secondary zinc flotation circuit that produces a zinc concentrate from the plant tailings. IntroductionBrunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation operates a zinclead- copper and silver mine and concentrator near Bathurst, New Brunswick. Since the start-up of operations in 1964, the flotation flowsheet has undergone major modifications to process the increased tonnages and to produce a greater number of concentrates. The flowsheet for the concentrator as it was in 1971 has been described by Neumann and Schnarru) and by Ersklneco. Since then, in 1971, the No.6 concentrator was converted from bulk flotation to selective flotation to produce a copper, lead and zinc concentrate. A separate zinc upgrading circuit was installed in 1972 and a bulk flotation or dezincing circuit, which reduced the zinc in the lead concentrate, was started in 1973. In 1976, the secondary zinc circuit was initiated.In addition to these new circuits, changes have been made to the existing circuits to simplify their operation."

Jan 1, 1980

By A. E. Gillis

"Some or all of the following benefits can be expected following application of automatic control to a grinding circuit:1. Maintenance of Optimum Mill Load Level2. Improved Uniformity of Grind3. Increased Productivity4. Decreased Power Costs per Unit of Product5, Reduced Ball Wear per Unit of Product6. Reduced Labour Costs per Unit of Product7. Reduced Operator SupervisionTo establish an indication of the benefits that could be expected through automation of the grinding circuit at East Malartic Mines Ltd. it was agreed that the Department of Mines and Milltronics Limited should jointly conduct a survey of the existing grinding circuit and operation.Aside from establishing feasibility, an important purpose of this survey was to determine costs of a suggested control system that East Malartic Mines Ltd. management might be in a position to assess the economics of the proposal and justification of the investment.The survey involved the taking of sound recordings of rod and ball mills during manual operations, locating circuit bottlenecks, establishing time constants and determining the number and location of sensors for good automatic control."

Jan 1, 1966

By J. Huh

Recently, there is growing trend to build the high-rise and install curtain walls. Following this trend, we developed robot for building wall cleaning work, which moves along Built-in guide rail of building. Because it moves attached at building wall for cleaning work, it can be seriously affected by potential threats, like earthquake, strong wind, malfunction, and construction error of built-in guide rail. In order to cope with those threats actively, this paper presents the Fail-Safety system. The building wall cleaning robot consists of two moving system: The Horizontal Moving System which mainly do maintenance work, and The Vertical Climbing System which transport the horizontal moving system floor by floor. We apply the Fail-Safety system to these systems. The Fail-Safety system consists of sensors to detect external situation, and, with information of sensors, give instruction for what to do. This robot system is installed with four kinds of sensors: shock sensor, infrared ray sensor, laser sensor, magnetic sensor. First, shock sensor detects external shock during cleaning work. When shock sensor detects big shock, the robot returns to starting point to inspect how damaged it is. Second, infrared ray sensor detects damage of built-in guide rail. It is to prevent destruction of robot caused by moving along damaged rail. Third, laser sensor gives notice about where obstacle is. It is for robot to avoid crash with obstacle and decrease damage. Fourth, magnetic sensor detects magnetic points, which are installed in rail at regular intervals, and helps robot to find its position, based on location of magnetic points detected. If robot is damaged by external shock and its encoder, which gives information of location to it, is not working, magnetic sensor will give information of robot?s location to robot. And then, robot regulates its velocity depending on position of it, and safely returns to starting point. The Fail-Safety system in this paper is for building wall cleaning robot to sense external threats, and prevent getting worse. Applied to this active protection system, making safe environment of maintenance work is possible for robot system.

Aug 1, 2013

By Amin Jafari

Macrosegregation has always been an important issue with the solidification processes, particularly in Direct-Chill Casting of Aluminum alloys, where uneven properties, surface and bulk defects and limitations in productivity can be arisen due to macrosegregation in the cast product. Following the global attempts to practically predict the macrosegregation, in the present work, a numerical model was developed based on an industrial scale DC casting process to simulate the solidification and macrosegregation in an Al-4.5%Cu billet. Interesting aspects of this investigation are concerned with an efficient numerical scheme to keep simplicity, consistency and desired physical resolution of the solidification phenomena together. In the mathematical model, coupled conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy and species were solved numerically using finite volume method. A different numerical scheme, called SIMTLE, was introduced to link the energy and species equations with the phase diagram of the alloy. Calculations were performed on an industrial case and obtained results were compared to available experimental data to assure the performance of the model. Different macrosegregation features were predicted and discussed on the solidifying Al-alloy billet.

Oct 1, 2011

By C. O. Aksoy

Operating the underground marble quarries effectively, it is important to evaluate the deposit blocks economically which are affected by the suitability of the topography and configuration of bedding. The joint sets within the deposit and the spacing between these discontinuties are also of great importance. In this study, the marble deposits that could be geomechanically eligible for underground excavation have been selected throughout Turkey and these selected reserves have been classified accordingly by Q-Rating System. These classified marble deposits that forms groups of 1,2, and 3 (groups were determined by evaluating the O-rating, topography, quarry situation, cracks, joints etc.) are convenient for this type of production. Nevertheless, when the auxiliary factors (topography, location, production method etc.) regarding the deposit have also been investigated, the most convenient sub-group of deposits (Afyon Tiger Skin, Burdur Beige, Diyarbakir Pink and Mugla White) have emerged. The sizing of the pillars have been performed utilising Bieniawski?s stress profile. The LAMODEL software, developed by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), USA and run under the laminated displacement discontinuity method, has been used to size the pillars. This work brings in a novel opportunity to Turkey, in which no underground marble quarry has been attempted up-to-date similar to its several examples in Italy, USA, etc. This study serves as a reference for the marble operators and for the pioneering application of laminated displacement discontinuity method in hard rocks.

Apr 1, 2005

By Charles A. Schacht

"Relining, lining maintenance, and ladle repair can represent a significant cost in steelmaking. Therefore, the objective of all steelmaking shops is to minimize this cost and to maximize the lining life. However, the thermomechanical behaviour of the ladle lining is highly complicated and sometimes misunderstood. The ladle design also has a significant influence on lining life. Other factors which have a direct influence on lining life are the shop lining installation practices and manner in which the ladle is used. The objective of this paper is to provide an understanding of the impact of these factors as related to improving the integrity of the lining and increasing lining life.Fundamentals of Steelmaking Ladle Lining Expansion ForcesNumerous studies have been conducted by the author on steelmaking ladles with molten metal capacities ranging from 110 ton s to 350 tons. The steelmaking ladle typically has a sidewall plate with a slight taper and for analytical purposes can be classified as a cylindrical vessel.A typical ladle is described in Figure I. The ladle sidewall lining usually consists of a working lining and a safety lining. Although the type of refractory used in the working lining varies based on the type of steel produced and other metallurgical requirements, the refractories typically used are: 70% alumina brick; direct bond mag-chrome brick; resin bond dolomite brick; and direct bond dolomite brick. Fireclay brick, high alumina brick, or a similar strength brick is used as the safety lining.Normally, the ladle lining is exposed to a through-thickness temperature gradient and restrained by the ladle sidewall plate, is described in Figure 2. The hot face side of the refractory lining develops a compressive thermal force and the ladle sidewall plate develops an equilibrating tensile force. The radial joints open on the cold side of the working lining as the lining joints have little or no tensile strength. A radial compressive load (P) develops between the working lining and the vessel shell due to the thermal restraint imposed on the lining by the shell. The radial compressive load is transferred from the working lining through the safety lining onto the ladle sidewall. Therefore, the safety lining must have the strength to accommodate the radial compressive load (P)."

Jan 1, 1991

By J. B. Heslop, D. S. Bubar

"The Gondor Zn-Ag-Pb-Cu deposit is a stratabound massive sulphide lens occurring within Archean volcaniclastic rocks of the Yellowknife Supergroup. The deposit is located in the west-central portion of the Slave Structural Province, approximately 350 km north of Yellowknife.Initial diamond drilling at Gondor has outlined a steeply dipping, L-shaped, folded, massive sulphide body, which may be traced over a strike length of approximately 800 m, and to a depth of 350 m. True widths of up to 40 m have been intersected in the thickest part of the deposit. Preliminary estimates suggest that the deposit contains a minimum of 7.5 million tonnes grading 6% Zn, 50 g/tonne Ag and less than I% combined Cu and Pb. In addition, significant gold, grading up to 2.8 g/tonne, occurs in some parts of the deposit. The mineralization is open both down-dip and along strike.The Gondor deposit lies conformably within a predominantly east-west striking, north-facing sequence of felsic to intermediate volcaniclastic rocks. Coarse fragmental rocks are abundant in the hanging wall, whereas ash and lapilli-tuffs predominate in the footwall. The main structural feature in the area is a large-scale, steeply northeast-plunging, Z-shaped fold. The sulphide mineralization lies within the synformal portion of this fold, with the thickest part of the deposit coinciding with its hinge zone. Several episodes of faulting have also affected the local stratigraphy.The wallrocks of the Gondor deposit were hydrothermally altered prior to the onset of medium-grade regional metamorphism. A halo of altered rocks surrounds the massive sulphide lens, with no apparent difference in the degree of alteration between the hanging wall and footwall strata. The alteration zone is characterized by the addition of MgO and K20 and by the depletion of Na20 and CaO. These changes are reflected in the mineralogy of the altered wallrocks by local enrichment in chlorite, biotite, muscovite and cordierite.The mineralized zone is medium- to coarse-grained, well-banded and is composed largely of pyrite, quartz, and sphalerite with subordinate galena and chalcopyrite. Preliminary studies of metal distribution indicate that a lateral zonation is present, with lead enrichment in the central part of the deposit, and copper enrichment toward both ends. Stringer-type copper mineralization has not yet been discovered in the footwall of the Gondor deposit."

Jan 1, 1985

By G. Vibert Douglas

IN a previous paper by Douglas and Gillies (1), a simple field test was given for gold. Later work by the present writers, and by others who have kindly written to us, shows that the test is not as satisfactory as it was hoped. In many cases, the gold mirror is completely obscured by a dense precipitate which, up to the present, it has been found impossible to remove. After many attempts, we have temporarily given up the iodine test and have been working on a simple pyridine reaction based on the work of Putnam, Roberts, and Selchow (2): The ore to be tested is ground to a fine flour. Place half a gram of this powdered ore (an amount that will cover a Canadian ten-cent piece, not heaped) in a six-inch test-tube and add 5 c.c. of aqua regia. The aqua regia. should be made up on each occasion, using four parts of hydrochloric acid and one part of nitric acid, both concentrated. Shake the solution in the test-tube for about one minute and allow to settle until dear. The rime to settle may be 30 to 60 minutes. When dear, a drop of the solution is with-drawn with a fine, dean eye-dropper or capillary tube and placed on à small glass plate. A slide such as is used for mounting rock sections is suitable. Now place an equal sized drop of pyridine solution on the plate beside that of the aqua regia solution to be tested. The pyridine solution, containing nine volumes of hydrogen bromide to one volume of pyridine, can be made up in advance and carried in a glass-stoppered bottle. Join the two drops with a glass thread or fine, dean stick, and allow the merged drops to stand undisturbed. I t is well to place the slide on a piece of white paper so that the presence of the crystals which may form can be easily seen. The time for their formation will vary with the amount of gold present, but the slide should be allowed to stand for at least 30 minutes before negative results are reported. A hand lens of at !east ten magnifications is essential. If gold is present, minute red crystals will form around the margin of the drops as these drops slowly evaporate.

Jan 1, 1938

By Eric Toh, Michel David

"Geo-statistics was born from mining problems: grades not being what was expected; more tons of waste than expected; in other words, dilution. Geo-statisticians now claim to have solved many of these problems, but the solutions seem to have a hard time being picked up by practitionners. One of the reasons may be the jargon which geo-statisticians are using. The reason for jargon is that obtaining solutions required a strict formulation in a statistical framework. Practicing mining engineers and geologists are not used to such a framework, and they are not familiar with the jargon. In this paper, the authors re-examine dilution in operating mines and answer two extremely practical problems, using practical language as much as possible. Can dilution be reduced by improving the quality of blast hole samples? How many samples are needed to obtain a good ore-waste discrimination, i.e. to reduce dilution to acceptable levels? Citing real situations, this paper will try to show how fairly simple concepts can be used to answer both problems. It will try to present the solut ions using a minimum of jargon, even if the theoretical solution could be obtained in a few precisely worded paragraphs.The two problems considered are the following: the first one was encountered in the Panguna deposit of Bougainville Copper Limited, P.N .G., but it occurs in every open pit operation where selective mining is required. As the cut-off is lowered, more and more mining occurs in marginal areas. Grade control is mostly based on the grades obtained from blast holes, hence, it is essential that the quality of the blast hole samples be as good as possible in order to reduce dilution, waste being sent to the mill and ore being sent to the waste dump.The second example stemmed from the grade control technique used in many gold open-pit operations in Western Australia: channels are cut on lines 5 m apart and assays are taken every metre. The pattern in the same regardless of rock type, whether one is in the oxidized zone or not. The number of samples to be treated is enormous, hence, the question arises how to find an acceptable sampling grid, and whether changing it can reduce dilution at an acceptable cost.A solution will be given to each problem separately, although in fact it could be seen that the formal framework is the same in both situations."

Jan 1, 1989

By Stephen Williams

This paper examines manning best practice in the Australian mining industry. In particular, the paper considers a range of mining operations and their manning levels as measured by operational benchmarking. The benchmarking results presented cover 15 open pit and 37 underground studies in Australia. The data was collected as part of AMC?s benchmarking and operational improvement studies conducted between 1999 and 2008. The results examine overall manning levels in mining, processing and administration functions. Manning levels for a range of mining methods, including open pit and underground methods, are segmented. Productivity measures such as ore tonnes per man day and metres developed per man day are presented and where direct relationships can be established, the relationships are described. Finally, the paper considers perspectives on best practice with regard to manning in the Australian mining industry and the limitations in application of this type of analysis in a global context.

May 1, 2009