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By Patricia Dillon

EHS Management Standards Communication and Reporting (8) ! Establish processes for internal and external communications ! Designate responsibilities for communication with COI ! Report as defined by senior management ! Report annually to employees, shareholders, COI on EHS and social performance Community Rights and Public Consultation (9) !Identify COI?s and establish process to hear concerns !Acknowledge and respond to complaints !Support local communities !Plan for closure and conduct public consultation !New projects include identification of COI?s, concerns to be considered in design

May 1, 2004

By G. D. Hibbard

New regions of material property space can be accessed by combining microstructural design at the nm-scale with architectural design at the µm- or mm-scale. In the first case, large strength increases associated with grain size reduction to below 50 nm have driven extensive research efforts into the development of nanocrystalline materials [e.g. 1-3]. For many potential structural applications, however, the density of a nanocrystalline material is just as important as its strength. In fact, reducing the density is more important than increasing the strength for certain weight specific materials performance indices, and it is especially critical for applying structural nanomaterials in the aerospace and automotive sectors. We have developed a new type of structural nanomaterial wherein the effective density of the parent metal is reduced by more than an order of magnitude by incorporating an internal periodic cellular architecture of open space. In one example a low density cellular nanocrystalline material was created by electroforming nanocrystalline Ni around a rapid-prototyped acrylic photopolymer microtruss, Figure 1 [4]. Microtruss materials have periodic cellular architectures that are specifically designed to undergo stretching-dominated deformation as opposed to the bending-dominated deformation in conventional open cell metal foams [5,6]. This new cellular nanocrystalline hybrid material combined the structural efficiency of microtruss architectures with the ultra-high strength that can be achieved by grain size reduction to the nm-scale. Although it played a critical role as a cathode support during the initial stages of nanocrystalline electrodeposition, the polymer core did not contribute significantly to the inelastic buckling resistance of the composite metal/polymer struts and it may therefore be desirable to remove it post deposition by means of chemical dissolution or thermal decomposition [4]. Nanocrystalline electrodeposition can also be used to reinforce conventional cellular metals (Figure 2), creating new types of cellular composites such as metal/metal microtruss hybrids [7-10] and metal/metal foam hybrids [11,12]. For example, nanocrystalline Ni-Fe alloy sleeve thicknesses of up to 400 µm were used to reinforce an aluminum alloy microtruss that had been fabricated using a stretch-bend approach; the nanocrystalline sleeves had the effect of increasing the microtruss strength by up to a factor of twelve and the specific strength by a factor of three [8]. Alternatively, much thinner sleeves can be electroplated to produce structural coatings. In one example, a nanocrystalline Ni coating was designed to provide both corrosion protection and inelastic buckling resistance [10]. Because the ultra-high strength material was optimally located at the furthest distance from the neutral bending axis, only a thin coating of 50 µm was needed to double the inelastic buckling resistance of the 1.13 mm x 0.63 mm cross-section plain carbon steel struts [10]. Overall, the mechanical performance increase that can be obtained through electrodeposition depends on a complex interaction between the starting cellular architecture and the nanocrystalline sleeves.

Jan 1, 2010

By G. R. Guillet

"Bricks made from local Paleozoic shales, and floor and wall tiles made from imported clays, both established record production volumes in 1985 and are the strongest segments of Ontario 's clay products industries. However, renewed interest in traditional materials also supports a good market for clay flower pots and flu e liners, and innovative processing studies are showing promise for possible new production of clay roofing tiles. This paper reviews the highlights of a comprehensive study of Ontario's clay products industries, completed in 1986. IntroductionFor some years now, Ontario' s clay products industries have been unspectacular in their attempt to cope with the recent recession and the impact of alternative materials. But a strong demand for bricks in recent years has done much to dispel the gloom.Bricks, drainage tiles, sewer pipes, flue liners, structural and partition tiles, and flower pots have been commonly referred to as ""heavy"" clay products, and they have been based largely on local clays and shales. To this list might be added expanded aggregate and mineral wool. Clay refractories, sanitary ware, electrical porcelain , art pottery, and floor and wall tiles are not considered heavy clay products, and are commonly made from a variety of ceramic materials, many of which are imported.Production facilities for heavy clay products often began in Ontario as small family enterprises, using whatever clay was available locally to supply the local market with building bricks and other clay products needed for construction. Improved road systems increased the market range for these plant s, and new technology and industry standards resulted in gradual"

Jan 1, 1988

By Laura Kelsey

Contaminant Robust In Situ Water Extractor CRIWE Nafion-based water clean-up Extract purified water from natural extraterrestrial sources In situ water processing for downstream electrolysis Chemically resistant to process contaminants such as acid

May 1, 2013

By George P. Demopoulos

In a departure from the traditional domain of hydrometallurgical extraction processes we consider new R&D opportunities for innovative application of solution processing into the advanced green energy and clean technology fields. It would not be an exaggeration if we state that protection of the environment via advancement of clean technologies on the one hand, and harvesting and utilizing renewable energy in a sustainable and cost-effective way on the other hand are clearly among the top pressing global priorities. When hydrometallurgy is approached on the basis of its aqueous chemistry and reactive processing fundamentals, it can indeed provide a highly fertile ground for innovation outside the "box". In this context therefore we will present highlights from our recent research that is directed towards the development of new generation HCl recycling, environmental, and solar energy conversion/storage technologies. In all systems the research is approached via the innovative integration of aqueous process engineering and material chemistry principles. The presentation will include discussion of (i) the development of crystallization-based HCl regeneration technologies; (ii) the supersaturation-controlled production and encapsulation of scorodite that was recently commercialized; (iii) the aqueous synthesis of nano-TiO2 and its electrophoretic deposition into solar cell electrodes; and (iv) the hydrothermal synthesis of nanostructured lithium titanate and lithium iron phosphate materials to make lithium-ion batteries destined for electric cars.

Jan 1, 2014

By Andrew Thrift

Overview ? Problem ? Research question ? Literature review ? Methodology ? Results ? Discussion and recommendations ? New developments Problem ? Increasingly higher expectations ? Inadequate consultation leads to conflict rather than collaboration ? Consultation practice is often weak on decision-making ? Influence of consultation on planning is Unclear Research question ? Are Structured Decision Processes (based on decision analysis) an effective methodology for involving stakeholders in consultative decisionmaking in the mining industry?

May 1, 2006

By Ronald G. Hamm

"With the advent in Canada of large open-pit equipment, the associated wire rope required must keep pace, especially in design and construction, along with the field that leads to increased rope life.This paper will first describe the various types of shovels and draglines in use today and also the unique characteristics of the wire rope required to efficiently service this equipment.Emphasis will be placed on the special equipment and techniques required in the wire rope manufacturing, along with the maintenance procedures required for a profitable operation.IntroductionOpen-pit and strip mining is increasingly playing an important role in the Canadian mining industry.An integral part of the surface mining industry is the excavation equipment used both to strip the overburden and remove the actual orebody. Two of the more prominent pieces of equipment are the electric power shovel and dragline. These two types of equipment have increased significantly both In size and number over the last decade.Wire rope plays a significant part in the operation of these machine s. Proper selection of the correct wire rope as well as proper maintenance procedures, can result in a major saving of a mine's wire rope consumption.The most prominent ropes for shovels are the hoist ropes. Some shovels also employ crowd and retract ropes. Boom pennants are manufactured from both wire rope or galvanized bridge strand.The most prominent ropes for dragline excavators are hoist, drag, and dump ropes. Some dragline excavators have boom hoist ropes, and most large dragline excavators have a boom suspension system using galvanized bridge strand."

Jan 1, 1983

By Jose A. Caceres

Mine planning and mineral processing optimization are usually treated as two unconnected problems, especially at open pit and panel caving mines where the cut-off grade is practically the only variable optimized and analyzed for in the planning proposes. Using existing planning tool, the output is a reserve consumption strategy privileging higher grades. With the earlier consumption of the highest grades, every year produces revenues which are closer to the cost and potentially even below cost. However, there are other ore characteristics that can also affect the profitability of the operation. A new methodology has been developed, incorporating the grinding and flotation relationship into the mining economic models for the simultaneous analysis and optimization of the throughput-work index-recovery relationship through changes in the mining limits, sequence and redefinition of the reserve consumption strategy. A mine-site that implements this new planning strategy, can expect to increase the NPV from 5 to 15% depending on the actual operational settings. Two case studies have been developed, showing how the inclusion of the work index in the economic model changes the phase and mining sequence in an open pit mine and the caving sequence and the optimum column height in a panel caving mine.

May 1, 2004

By S. M. Bulataovic, D. M. Wyslouzil

"The Martison Lake phosphate-niobium deposit is composed of unconsolidated residuum containing clay and silt-size particles of phosphate, niobium, iron and clay minerals. This paper deals with the laboratory and pilot plant development of the flowsheet and the reagent scheme to treat the Martison Lake ore. The ore, in addition to the complex gangue composition, contained several phosphate minerals including fluorapatite, francolite and florencite. The detailed laboratory and pilot plant evaluation resulted in the development of an effective flowsheet and reagent scheme for the selective flotation of phosphate minerals using a fatty acid circuit, followed by niobium flotation using amine collectors at acid pH. The developed flowsheet included des liming of ore, magnetic separation, and selective P 2 O 5 -Nb 2Os flotation. The main aspects discussed include characterization of the ore, step by step development of flowsheet and evaluation of dfferent modifiers and collectors for P20s and Nb20s flotation.INTRODUCTIONMartison Lake phosphate-niobium ore deposit, located 75 km north of Hearst, Ontario was discovered in the early 70's and has been the subject of extensive technical-economic evaluation in the late 70's and early 80's.The deposit is covered completely by 30 m to 90 m of glacial overburden and is composed entirely of unconso1idated material called residuum, that lies on top of a precambrian age carbonatite intrusive from which the residuum was derived by weathering and natural leaching in situ. The residuum is and irregularly-shaped horizontal lens, 2 km by 3 km in area, and up to 100 m thick, composed mostly of unconsolidated clay and silt-size particles of phosphate, niobium, iron, mica and clay minerals."

Jan 1, 1986

By G. W. Poling, J. R. Hoffert

"A common practice in preventing gravity-fed tailing pipeline from plugging due to sanding is to add lime at relatively high dosage rates. The lime affects the rheology of the slurry ""vehicle"" which transports the coarser particles in a heterogeneous flow-regime. This paper describes a study of the effect of lime on the critical deposition velocities and friction head losses of Highmont Mining Company's mill tailing. Testwork using an extrusion viscometer was related to the surface chemistry changes brought about by the high lime additions. Lime additions which typically increased the tailing pH from 8.4 to 11.5 reduced the critical deposition velocities from approximately 3.2 to 1.7 m/sec.IntroductionCommon practice, at least in base metal concentrators in British Columbia, is to use high lime additions in tailing slurries when the pipeline becomes partially plugged with sands. Some concentrators, such as the Highmont Mining Co. Ltd. plant, add lime on a continuous basis during low tonnage periods and during startup/shutdown transition s. Although such high lime additions often solve temporary plugging problems, the effect of lime on slurry rheology has not been well understood.Slurry pipelines are designed to transport solids in suspension with a minimum of wear and without particle deposition. These two objectives are in opposition because the velocities required to maintain solid suspension can sometimes cause high head losses in the pipeline, as well as wear problems. Thus, the optimum velocity for a long distance slurry pipeline is in the range that provides just enough turbulence to keep coarse particles in suspension."

Jan 1, 1985

By F. S. Hoseinian, M. Irannajad, M. Safari

In this study, the effect of chemical interactions of materials used in ion flotation on the removal of Ni(II) ions from low concentration synthetic wastewater was studied. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ethylhexadecyldimethylammonium bromide (EHDABr) as collectors and methyl isobutyl carbonyl (MIBC) and Dowfroth250 as frothers were used. To investigate the effective parameters and interactions of them, 16 experiments including 6 level variables were performed by supporting DX7 software and on the bases of 2-level factorial method. In the first step, the tests were conducted in a Hallimond tube. The result showed that collector of SDS and frother of Dowfroth 250 had appropriate interaction with each other at pH = 3. In the second step, optimal results from the first step were evaluated in a mechanical flotation cell. The removal of Ni(II) ions increased by increasing the time of flotation and they have a direct relation with the water removal. The kinetics study shows that the order and the rate of removal of the reaction do not follow any of the zero-order, first-order and second-order equations. The flotation rate curve on the removal of Ni(II) ions will divide the separation process to two stages, a fast flotation rate at the first stage and a slow flotation rate at the second stage. Ni(II) ions removal was obtained 88% at the best condition.This study showed that the use of ion flotation was a very effective method for Ni(II) ion removal from industrial wastewaters.

Jan 1, 2016

By Percy Coulter

"GeneralThe Malartic Gold Fields mill is presently treating ore from four different companies. The ore is delivered by truck, by the shipper, and dumped into the Malartic Gold Fields ore bin. This ore varies in size from 'Run of mine' to minus 8 11, All ore is crushed to pass a 3/ 8 11 x 4 11 cross slotted screen.Weighing and SamplingAfter crushing the ore passes over an adequate-weigher (250 T .P.H. capacity) on its way to the fine ore bins. This weigher has a remote counter at the sampling point.A 36” Vezin sampler cuts 15% from the ore stream as it enters the mill bins. This portion is elevated, by means of a short belt conveyor, to feed the No. 2 Vezin sampler. (This elevation is necessary to give headroom for the following machines). The ore on the conveyor is levelled to give a uniform stream to the second sample cutter. The second, third and fourth cutters are 2411 •The No. 2 Vezin sampler cuts 19% from its feed and this portion falls directly into a 1611 x 1011 Denver rolls crusher. This crusher reduces the ore to -1/ 8 11 , approximately. The discharge from the rolls crusher falls on a revolving circular plate with scraper, which gives a uniform stream to the No. 3 Vezin sampler.The No. 3 Vezin cuts 10% from its feed. This portion falls on another revolving plate to give a uniform stream to feed No. 4 Vezin."

Jan 1, 1966

By John L. Rich

A New Field for the Mining Industry A new field for the mining industry is in prospect. This is the recovery of the petroleum which has been left in the ground in the older oil fields whose yield has declined until they are no longer profitable to operate in the ordinary way. The fact that an oil field has reached the economic limit for operation by pumping does not necessarily 'mean that the oil has ? been exhausted. In many such cases not over one-fifth, or even one-tenth, of the total oil content of the field may have been taken out when this stage has been reached. This means that there exists a large reserve of oil which can be recovered by whatever process best takes advantage of the natural conditions under which the oil occurs. Mine drainage is one of the processes by which this oil may be recovered. Its relative importance will depend partly on the ingenuity and wide-awakeness of mining engineers, and on mining capital. The opportunity is undoubtedly at hand. In order that we may be in a position to judge the possible advantages of mining methods for the recovery of this oil, I have reviewed, on the following pages, the methods now in use, and have discussed the physical conditions of the reservoir rocks in which the oil is found, and the suitability of the various recovery processes, in use or proposed, in the light of these reservoir conditions.

Jan 1, 1927

By Christopher W. N. Anderson

Induced hyperaccumulation of gold by plants was first reported in 1998 by researchers from Massey University in New Zealand who proposed the idea of mining gold using plants (phytomining). Since that time research has been conducted to understand the conditions under which plants can be made to take up economic amounts of the metal. One key focus has been on the geochemistry of gold-rich soils, leading to a diagnostic test that can predict how suitable a particular soil might be to gold phytomining. Field trials have been conducted at several locations around the world in collaboration with industry partners. A Decision Support System has been developed to assist in the design and management of phytomining operations, and economic modeling has been carried out to set targets levels for phytomining technology. Novel studies are now examining the form of gold in plants. Research suggests that plants may store gold as discrete metallic nanoparticles in leaf and stem tissues, an observation that may lead to new ways to recover the metal from harvested biomass.

Oct 1, 2003

By Parsons. Robert B.

"Starting this year, corporations that conduct business in Ontario face a new tax a corporate minimum tax. This tax is in addition to the myriad of other taxes that make up a corporation's total tax burden including federal and provincial capital 1oXJ!S, payroll tax and sales taxes. Mining companies with gross revenues in excess of $10 million or total assets exceeding $5 million may be liable for this new tax. IntroductionOn December 8, 1993, the Ontario government introduced legislation to implement the corporate minimum tax (CMT promised in its May, 1993 budget. There are very few differences between the final legislation and the budget proposals.The CMT is effective for taxation years commencing after 1993. Subject to certain specific exemptions (detailed below), the tax applies to all corporations liable for Ontario Corporate Income Tax that have either gross revenues in excess of $10 million or total assets in excess of $5 million. These measurements apply to the aggregate gross revenues and total assets for all corporations in an associated group and a corporate partner's share of partnership assets and revenues must be included in the determination.In essence, the CMT is an income tax that is based on financial statement profit instead of an income amount that is determined separately under a statute. Accordingly mining companies (including so called ""junior"" exploration companies), which traditionally sheltered their taxable income by claiming generous exploration and development deductions, could find that they have a CMT liability."

Jan 1, 1994

By T. H. Adair

"IntroductionCONTINUOUS casting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals is not a new innovation. Patents describing machines for continuous casting are on file as far back as the year 1842. In the middle of the last century, Sir Henry Bessemer conceived and built a continuous casting• machine for the production of mild steel sheet.The production of billets and slabs of both non-ferrous and ferrous metals is being carried out by the continuous method on a fairly large scale on this continent and abroad. At present, the volume of production of •copper and aluminum and their alloys in billet and slab form is much greater than the continuous casting of steel products. The new installation of a continuous casting unit at Atlas Steels, Limited, is designed primarily for the casting of alloy steel billets and slabs.As an introduction to the art of continuous .casting of metals, it is interesting to examine a few of the many devices which have been developed. As previously mentioned, Sir Henry Bessemer constructed a machine for the direct casting of mild steel sheet. His discoveries and ideas of continuously casting steel formed the foundation for the work of other pioneers in this field, all of whom have contributed to the improvement of this art through the ensuing years. The machines which will be selected for examination are those of Bessemer, Poland-Lindner, Williams, Ennor, and Junghans. The last unit to be discussed will be a modification of the Junghans machine recently installed at Atlas Steels."

Jan 1, 1954

By Ferrin Prince

New Gold?s New Afton mine is an 11,000 tonne per day block caving mine, located 8 km west of the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. The reserve is estimated at 52.5Mt with grades of 0.65 g/t Au and 0.93% Cu. Block caving requires a considerable amount of infrastructure development before production can begin. Each excavation had its own challenges, often further complicated by interactions with the caving stresses and fault structures. The main areas of interest were: the production crusher complex, the surface to underground infrastructure, and the footprint interaction with the faults. The ore zone at New Afton is bounded by two very weak fault zones, with large fault affected areas and associated splays. The resulting rock mass rating (RMR) is 35-50, with some areas significantly weaker due to clay infill. These conditions created a unique and decidedly difficult environment in which to develop New Afton?s infrastructure. Despite these difficulties, the mine began production on schedule in July 2012. The main production crusher for the mine is a gyratory crusher that allows for direct truck dumping, with a smaller jaw crusher in series to facilitate the initial development and production. The crusher chamber was redesigned several times to minimize the chamber volume, resulting in a 40% decrease in volume without losing functionality. After drilling and geotechnical testing, the location of the crusher was changed to eliminate the threat of fault affected ground in the area; the entire complex moved a short time before mining began on the chamber. The mining techniques used enabled tight control of the crusher pocket excavation, while also allowing for the timely completion of the chamber. The locations of the surface to underground infrastructure were tightly constrained by geology, surface infrastructure, and an existing open pit. The VR5 raise was drilled and abandoned part way through the reaming process when the drill string became stuck in fault gouge material. It was relocated and successfully completed. The VR7 raise hit a region of poor rock strength and deviated more than 11 m. Poor ground conditions caused a 130m section of the raise walls to fail. An innovative rehabilitation program was undertaken to re-establish the raise for ventilation. A surface to underground slick line was also installed to ease the material movement underground. A layout of the Extraction level was changed from herring bone to straight through drawpoints that resulted in a net reduction of 1.3 km of development. The Apex level was added to aid in the breakage over the major apex pillar and allow for geological mapping. A portion of the caving footprint is located within the footwall fault. The low strength, high clay content, and small joint spacing of the material resulted in blast-hole cut-off and drift deformation. Drift rehabilitation was a key factor in the successful development of the cave footprint. Innovative drilling and loading techniques were used to keep the holes open and to impede movement along the joint structures.

Aug 1, 2013

"The last thirty years have seen enormous changes in all aspects of the gold industry, from the technologies of mining and extracting gold to the role it has played in the fiscal policies of nations. In this time, the market price of gold has increased ten fold and mine production has more than doubled. However, the cost of mining and extracting gold has also increased exponentially, and the industry has struggled with declining ore grades and increasingly refractory ore bodies.With the major economic powers of the world shrugging off the uncertainties of the post cold war era and moving into a period of unprecedented political stability, economic growth and low inflation, gold is also losing its lustre as a hedge against inflation and a backing for national currencies. Consequently, countries that had accumulated and hoarded gold for decades are now disposing of these non-performing assets, resulting in major swings in supply of the metal. Fortunately, this has coincided with the end of communism in many parts of the world and a tentative move to free market economies in most of the developing nations. As a result, people are becoming wealthier, and this is creating more demand for gold, principally in the form of jewelry.On balance, the shift in the role of gold, from one in which a significant portion of new gold production lay dormant in bank vaults as insurance against political or fiscal instability, to one in which most new gold is now freely traded as an industrial commodity, responding to normal market forces of supply and demand, has had a negative impact on the price of gold over the last fifteen years. In that time, the gold price has declined from a peak of $850/oz in 1980 to an average price of about $400 through the rest of the l 980's, to a price of -$320/oz today (1997). In large measure, this has been due to the enormous inventory of gold metal that was held by central government banks in vaults around the world, and which has been dumped on the market as soon as the price has started to trend upwards. Even today, after ten years of fairly steady selling by central banks, about 3 0, 000 tons of gold (or -8 years' supply at the present rate of consumption) is still retained in vaults (Murray et al., 1997).The downward pressure on the price of gold has created exciting opportunities for the development and implementation of new technology. Increasing the efficiency of gold recovery from more and more refractory ore bodies, whilst at the same time lowering production costs, have become critical to survival in this industry. These challenges have been met by the development and implementation of new technologies such as heap leaching, carbon in pulp, resin in pulp and the sulphide ore pre-treatment process of pressure leaching, bacterial leaching and fluid bed roasting. For an industry that saw very little technological change in the first seventy years of the twentieth century, the pace of change over the last thirty years must have seemed bewildering at times."

Jan 1, 1998

By F. Liu, S. Rezaei, M. Muinonen, M. Barati, V. L. Lakshmanan, S. Marcuson

Canadian nickel-copper ore deposits have been a major source of nickel, copper, cobalt and precious metals for more than 100 years. The two main minerals of interest, pentlandite (Pn, (Ni,Fe)9S8) and chalcopyrite (Cp, CuFeS2), are usually accompanied by large quantities of pyrrhotite (Po, Fe1-xS). Until the 1950s, Po containing small amounts of nickel was routinely smelted as part of the valuable Ni concentrate. The rapid growth in Ni demand following the Second World War created impetus to treat the Po separately. This action would liberate a valuable smelting capacity for higher value Pn, allow for recovery of Ni locked in Po, convert the Fe to iron oxide or metallic iron pellets, and recover S as sulphuric acid or elemental sulphur. The roasting process also has the potential to produce energy due to the highly exothermic oxidation of Po. The Ni industry would then have a “waste-free” process. Both Inco (now Vale) and Falconbridge (now Glencore) developed processes and built large industrial plants for this purpose that operated with some success. But technical issues and tenuous economics were continual challenges. By the early 1980s these industrial operations were closed. Sophisticated froth flotation methods of rejecting Po were developed, and Po containing up to 1% Ni became a waste material reporting to the tailings stream. As part of a major study on possible processing methods of Po for both value recovery and waste remediation, this paper presents a historical perspective on Canadian Po tailings with regards to their generation, inventory, value, and attempts to process them.

Jan 1, 2017

By C. A. Ingram

The Cigar Lake ore body is a high-grade uranium deposit situated within water-saturated sandstone. In order to extract the uranium ore remotely, ensuring minimal radiation dose to workers, and also to access the ore from stable ground, the Jet Boring System (JBS) was developed. This method of mining involves drilling a pilot hole up through a frozen ore body and utilizing a high-powered water jet to mine out cavities. During the mining process an ultrasonic sensor will be used to provide feedback to the operator, who is located beneath the ore body, as to the dimensions of the cavity. However, more precise data is required to determine final shape, volume, and location of the cavity for mine planning purposes. Selecting a device that will provide sufficient range data in the challenging environment will be vital to optimizing the mining process. Major issues include fog build up and flying debris during mining, and an environment that is wet, dark, and cold A test cavity has been designed and constructed at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) so that a study comparing three different technologies, as prospective candidates for the survey system, can be conducted. The devices being evaluated include a Senix ultrasonic sensor, an MDL Cavity Auto-Scanning Laser System (C-ALS), and a MESA Time of Flight (ToF) camera. The ultrasonic sensor is known to provide range data in foggy conditions but has low accuracy. The C-ALS has been developed for surveying remote cavities but is expensive and does not provide reliable data in fog. The ToF camera provides a high volume of data in a short time period, with potential to provide accurate information in extreme conditions, but has not been tested in a mine cavity application. Iterative closest point (ICP) registration is applied in an attempt to create a 3D point cloud from the scan data and to also compute rotation and translation of the ToF camera. This paper presents an overview of the challenges involved in conducting a survey within a JBS mined cavity, the analysis used to determine the suitability of each device, and the data collected from the test cavity.

Aug 1, 2013