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By George S. Martin, Michael D. Winship

"Placer Dome Inc. is the operator of the Musselwhite project located 100km north of Pickle Lake, Ontario. J.S. Redpath Limited was contracted to conduct an underground exploration program using shaft access.During the winter of1988, the shaft collar was established in 16 metres of water bearing sand and till overburden. This paper will illustrates the engineering techniques used to overcome the obstacles to installing a shaft collar in deep overburden. Specialized dewatering and piling procedures were employed.INTRODUCTIONHarold and Allan Musselwhite discovered gold in the Opapimiskan Lake area, north of Pickle Lake, in 1962. The prospectors were grubstaked by ten companies in 1973.A diamond drill program was initiated shortly thereafter.In 1983an underground ramp exploration program was carried out on the West Anticline portion of the property. The program was unsuccessful in establishing an ore reserve so surface exploration continued. In 1986the ""T"" zone was discovered. Further surface drilling was done and an over-all drill-indicated reserve of 6 million tonnes at 7 grams per tonne was outlined. The gold mineralization occurs in several vertical tabular deposits within the iron formation. In late 1987the joint venture partnership, now consisting of Placer Dome Inc., Inco Gold Co., Corona Corporation and Esso Minerals Canada, contracted J.S. Redpath Limited to conduct an underground exploration program on the ""T"" Zone.The scope of work for the project was to: 1. establish a 45 km winter road in 1988 and 1989;"

Jan 1, 1989

By G. J. Biefer

"Fatigue and corrosion fatigue measurements were carried out on five commercially available metals -four steels and an aluminum alloy -which are used as structural materials in mine shaft conveyances. In the corrosion fatigue measurements, drain waters collected in the shafts of three different Canadian mines were used as corrodents. The mine waters had been selected on the basis of their relatively large differences in acidity and/ or composition.It was found that the corrosion fatigue strengths of the four steels were similar, despite their differences in tensile properties, and that the type of water used in the tests had little effect on the results. Mild steel showed the highest and most consistent values of the damage ratio (ratio between the corrosion fatigue and the plain fatigue strengths at 107 cycles). The corrosion fatigue behaviour of the aluminum alloy (ASTM Type 6061-T6) was found to differ markedly in the three mine waters. A high damage ratio (i.e., superior performance) was shown in a mine water in which the corrosion attack was uniform; much lower damage ratios were shown in waters which produced localized corrosion attack. Corrosion rates were too low to be deter-mined conveniently by conventional weight-loss methods, but calculations from polarization curves provided a rapid demonstration that corrosion rates were distinctly lower in the mine water which produced high damage ratios."

Jan 1, 1967

By L. R. Wilkinson, W. J. Howarth, G. J. Wenk

Over a period of three years, a cooperative program in Australia has resulted in the development of radioisotope immersion probes for the on-stream analysis of mineral slurries. Two basic probe types are now available on a commercial basis - fluorescence and absorption probes - and within each type there are a number of variations so that optimum sensitivities can be obtained for elements with atomic number greater than titanium (22), thus covering most metals of interest to modern metallurgy.

Jan 1, 1973

By M. R. Coffin

Since the plant startup in 1972, the leaching and jarosite precipitation circuits at the zinc plant of the Kidd Metallurgical Division have been reconfigured several times to improve overall performance, and/or to respond to market conditions. For the most part, the circuit changes have been driven by two market factors: the price of zinc and the price of silver. Until recently, circuit modifications undertaken to improve zinc extraction and recovery came at the expense of silver recovery, and vice versa. In 2004, the plant was modified once again to produce a precious metals-bearing residue, but additional leaching circuits were added to ensure that zinc extraction and recovery did not suffer as a consequence. The development of the zinc plant of the Kidd Metallurgical Division is updated in this paper, with a focus on the recent circuit modifications and associated control strategies that were implemented to maximize zinc and precious metals recoveries, and control the quality of the jarosite residue.

Jan 1, 2006

By Juergen Antrekowitsch, Stefan Steinlechner

"Within the last decades, mainly the base metals, like zinc, copper and lead were recycled from different industrial residues without taking into account that accompanied minor side-elements are often also present. A high supply risk for critical raw materials derives mainly due to the high share of the worldwide production in a limited number of countries. Examples include indium and germanium in China, PGM in South Africa and Russia or cobalt and tungsten in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By taking the market of critical metals into account, the recycling of potential residues does not only contribute to an economic treatment but also to the European strategy to decrease the supply risk of certain metals. Depending on the metal discussed, political unrest, decreasing primary resources leading to supply risks in different countries or also simply economic interests moved these mentioned side elements and with this the residues where they are present in, into the focus of the recycling industry.Because of this, the typical routes of lead, zinc and copper production are evaluated concerning generated residues and their typical contents of contained minor elements. Finally, the paper tries to answer the questions how a possible treatment of these wastes could contribute to the overall supply of for example silver but also other minor elements."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. L. Palmer

"Abstract- ln 1986, anomalous sampling results for heavy minerals were obtained at various sites in Namaqualand on the west coast of the Cape Province. Drilling in 1987 at Graauwduinen penetrated up to 35 meters of heavy mineral-bearing Tertiary sands which extend several kilometers inland from the coast. The heavy mineral suite includes ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon and monazite, along with garnet, pyroxene and amphibole. Three deposits are recognized, two of which comprise the resource to be mined by Namakwa Sands Limited, a recently formed Anglo American Corporation subsidiary company.Mineable reserves in excess of 500 million tonnes have been delineated, sufficient to sustain mining for over 35 years at projected production rates. During the feasibility study, on-site investigations included test mining at various sites to assess mineability and to provide material for metallurgical testing in a pilot plant located at the site. Ilmenite produced at the mine will be smelted at a new facility to be built at Saldanha Bay . Saleable products comprise titania-rich slag, pig iron, zircon and rutile.During the exploration phase, company environmental guidelines were established and monitored. The feasibility study incorporated a Class 1 Environmental Impact Report, the contents of which were made public following the principles of the Integrated Environmental Management legislation."

Jan 1, 1994

By Hugh M. Roberts

DEVELOPMENT at Steep Rock lake has given rise to renewed interest in the geology of the iron ore deposits in the Lake Superior Region and has implications of no small moment bearing upon methods of exploration in the Precambrian Shield generally. Following upon the Regional Lake Superior meeting of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in August, 1941, the authors prepared a paper on the Steep Rock deposits, which appeared in the A.I.M.E. publication, Mining Technology, for January, 1943. Between Januar7 and April, 1943, exploration at Steep Rock was continued by means o vertical, Mesabi-type churn-drill holes put down from the ice. This drilling has enlarged the tonnage of ore previously known and has disclosed further facts relating to the origin of the ore. The added evidence, we believe, goes to support the hypothesis that the deposits were formed by a process of replacement due to upward-moving, iron-bearing solutions which came in as igneous after-effects. Accordingly, in presenting the subject to the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, it seems best not to change our first explanation, but to prefix the original paper with an interpretation of the results of the more recent explorations completed after its publication.

Jan 1, 1943

By Mike Fontaine

The success of a project is defined by meeting the financial performance objectives of the business case within a stipulated timeframe. Early in design, little information is normally available; the uncertainty introduces risk to the project outcome. Using a range of risk management tools and techniques, a project can be developed from front end loading phases 1 through 3 (FEL1–FEL3), and project implementation (FEL4) and then into operations with an optimized probability of success. For every project element, the risk management framework embodies: establishing a context; assessing risk (identify, analyze, and evaluate); and treating risk. Embedded within design activities, this process mitigates or eliminates risks. Monitoring and control, as well as extensive communication and consultation with stakeholders, is integral to the risk management process.

Jan 1, 2015

By Z. G. Tao, Y. Y. Peng, W. L. Gong, M. C. He

"This paper presents an overview of the major landslide hazards in open pit mines in China, the currently used landslide control and monitoring techniques, and development of a new slope control technique incorporating the reinforcement, sliding force monitoring, remote sensing and forecasting in one system in order to constrain the displacement of the sliding blocks in the landslide to minimized the influenced area and provide precise warnings timely for the imminent landslides. For implementation of the new technique, a novel rock cable with large deformation and high resistance (also known as HE cable) was developed, which can elongate as long as 2m. At the same time, the necessary and sufficient condition for initiating a landslide and energy balance equations are formulated. Based on the proposed mathematical models and Beidou satellite system, the software and data transmission hardware for remote sensing and forecasting were developed the new landslide control technique has been applied successfully in 245 landslide sites in 12 provinces across China. In this article, two practical application cases in the open pit mines are reported.INTRODUCTIONChina is one of the countries in the world with the most widely distributed landslides and suffering the heaviest damage. According to the incomplete statistics, landslide hazards have caused death of hundreds of people and direct economic losses of several hundred million RMB each year. The landslide hazards have a great impact on the life and property safety of the people, safety of the infrastructure, as well as the social stability. Thus development of new techniques for forecasting and prediction of the landslides is imperative and of great importance. In general, the forecasting and prediction of the landslides consists of three major aspects, i.e. sliding time forecasting, landslide activity intensity forecasting and landslide hazard degree forecasting. Since a considerable part of the landslide-suspected area are adjacent to the residential areas or important infrastructures, development of the advanced landslide control and monitoring techniques to cope with the sliding time forecasting problem is more important.Over the past one hundred years, the most widely used slope monitoring techniques are based on displacement monitoring (Xu, et al. 2007; Toshitaka, 1998). In the early days owing to the limitation of the technology and equipment, the ground surface displacement and underground water level change were inspected mainly by man power for inferring the possibility of a landslide. In recent several decades, more and more ground surface displacement monitoring devices were brought to the market, such as the automatic total station, theodolite, digital level, borehole inclinometer and GPS based instruments, etc. Based on these modern techniques, some advanced instruments have been developed and applied to the landslide monitoring, for example, the “landslides early warning monitoring system” (Leonardo, et al. 2002), the “In-SAR” technique (Reevea, et al. 2000), the GPS and satellite geodetic survey based technique (Reevea, et al. 2000), and real-time telemetry technology (Xu, et al. 2007). These monitoring approaches have made significant contributions to the landslide disaster monitoring and forecasting. The major limitations for the ground surface displacement monitoring techniques are lie in the inconsistence between the displacement in ground surface and that in the sliding surface for the sliding mass, resulting in low degree of forecasting accuracy."

Jan 1, 2015

By A. Poitras

The Cummings Complex consists of three superposed sills, exhibiting a differentiation pattern: the lowest sill being the most basic and the highest sill, the most acid. Each sill is also characterized by an internal petrographic and geochemical variation which is evidence of differentiation due to fractional crystallization. The REE concentrations in the different units of the complex indicates that the three sills are comagmatic. The interpretation of these results permits the formulation of an emplacement model not previously proposed for this complex.

Jan 1, 1984

By G. F. Doggett

In describing accounting methods at Lake Shore Mines, it is the intention of the writer to limit the discussion to the principal features of the system used in securing cost figures and other statistics. The subject can be conveniently treated under the following divisions: (1) Time-keeping and Labour Distribution (2) Supplies: Handling and Distribution (3) Method of Assembling Data for Cost Purposes (4) Details of Operating Costs Time-Keeping and Labour Distribution After a new employee has gone through the routine of being 'hired on', he is assigned an employment number corresponding with the group applying to his occupation. This is for identification purposes in the plant and time office. He is also given an individual serial number, the use of which will be refer-red to later. On entering and leaving the plant, each employee passes through the clock room adjoining the time office, where he registers the time in and out on time recorders, on the clock card (Figure 1) bearing his name and number. It is the duty each morning of the time clerk to extend the hours worked by each employee, as indicated by the clock for the previous day, and at the end of the half-month period the total hours are multiplied by the rate and entered in the space provided for total wages at the bottom of the card.

Jan 1, 1935

By V. S. Sastri, Elboujdaini. M.

"Economics of wear in mining industry and methods by which wear cost may be reduced will be discussed.IntroductionCanada loses more than $5 billion annually due to friction and wear (Table 1). It is estimated that about $1.3 billion, or about 25% of the losses, could be saved through better application of existing technology (Table 2). It should be noted that the costs given in Table 1 and 2 refer to 1986. The losses due to friction and wear and the savings would be much higher in 1996. Tribology combines the many branches and specialties in science and technology concerned with understanding and combatting friction and wear. Specifically, tribology is concerned with the design and manufacture of sliding and rolling bearings, piston rings, gears, cutting tools and other devices in which surfaces interact, in sliding or other relative motion. Tribology is concerned with the correct use of materials for interacting solid surfaces, with the interaction of the surfaces with the lubricants, with the chemistry, physics and use of lubricants. It is concerned with the reduction of friction and wear and the avoidance of associated failures in machinery. Similar tribological components such as bearings are used in different technologies and similar tribological problems such as abrasive wear occur in different industries. Thus, tribology is in itself a generic science and technology, concerned with the generation and dissemination of knowledge on friction, wear and lubrication, and the application of the knowledge, to a wide range of industrial products and equipment, from ploughs to space equipment, from prosthesis to engines, from washing machines to railways, from computers to power stations, from paper mills to mines. Avoidable losses due to friction and"

Jan 1, 1997

By D. J. Houlahan

ABSTRACT Sorting has the potential to massively improve the pro?tability of mining base metal, hard-rock ores. However, several barriers to the increased application of sorting have been identi?ed, including a lack of mineral-speci?c sensors available to the industry. This paper presents the outcomes of acollaborative project to develop an induction-balance sensor speci?cally for low-grade copper and nickelores. A review of the basic principles of induction-balance sensing and of the sensor-rock interaction is presented. Early development and testing of the sensor on ores from the Thompson nickel belt in northern Manitoba is discussed. Shortcomings of the prototype identi?ed in early testing have now been over-come, leading to improvements in design and construction, as well as sensor accuracy. The improve dsensor has now been tested on additional ores from the Sudbury Basin, with good results. A discussion of potential applications is presented and recommendations for future development are made.

Jan 1, 2010

By V. S. Gischig, G. Preisig

Hydraulic stimulation of deep reservoirs is an essential procedure for developing engineered/enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), but also in other Geo-energy contexts. The goal is enhancing permeability to such a degree that fluid flow rates within the reservoir are sufficiently high for an economically productive reservoir. Two fracture stimulation mechanisms are distinguished that may occur concurrently during the hydraulic treatment: 1) During hydro-fracturing (HF) new tensile fractures are propagated from the borehole by means of a fluid pressure overcoming the minimal principle stress d3 plus the tensile strength T0 of intact rock. In case of a pre-existing fracture oriented normal to d 3 , the fracture can be opened by exceeding d 3 only. Fluid injection is performed via small packed intervals for creating a stack of hydraulic fractures. 2) During hydro-shearing (HS), over-pressure induces slip along pre-existing fractures that are favourably oriented in the stress field for reactivation in shear. Such stimulation is usually performed in a large packed interval or in an open borehole. Which mechanism occurs predominantly during stimulation depends on the rock mass structure and in-situ stress field, but also on the orientation of discontinuities intersecting the open-hole section and thus being pressurized. Both mechanisms also differ in how they affect fracture permeability. While permeability gained by HS is mostly irreversible due to rearrangement of asperity contacts accompanied with shear dilation, permeability enhanced during HF reduces nearly reversible after pressurization unless proppant is used to ensure permanent apertures. In this contribution, we critically discuss the pros and cons of both mechanisms regarding efficiency of enhancing permeability and the associated hazard of induced earthquakes based on literature review and numerical modelling. We review literature that reports on how much permeability required for productive EGS reservoirs and how much permanent permeability can be gained by stimulation. We also compile information regarding the degree of seismicity induced during HFor HS-dominated stimulation procedures, together with conceptual studies that reveal characteristics of seismicity associated with the two mechanisms. Many observations and models indicate that HF may have a higher tendency of being aseismic, while felt seismic events are usually associated with HS. Further, we present a hydro-mechanically coupled fracture flow model that investigates, if and to what degree the stimulation strategy can be designed such that one of the two mechanisms is evoked and dominates over the other. It shows that HS may dominate in presence of larger persistent fractures nearly optimallyoriented in the stress field, even if HF is attempted in short packed intervals. The model further demonstrates that stress transfer during HS promotes the development of permeability across an anisotropic layer of the stimulated rock instead of a large volume. Hence, the study sheds light onto the feasibility of creating productive EGS reservoirs in crystalline rock at several kilometres depths.

Jan 1, 2015

By P. Hickey, G. Hubert, P. Healy

"J. S. Redpath Limited, an underground contractor with a worldwide presence, has implemented innovative techniques in various projects in Canada to shorten the development cycle. Conventional methods currently used for installing primary ground support are compared with the Australian technique of bolting and meshing with jumbos equipped with twin telescopic booms, in-cycle shotcreting, and the use of two jumbos and two scissor bolters set up side by side in wide headings. Recommendations and lessons learned are presented with the aim of providing realistic expectations with regard to development advance rates in a mining environment.RÉSUMÉ J. S. Redpath Limitée, un entrepreneur minier souterrain d’envergure mondiale, a complété plusieurs projets au Canada où des techniques novatrices ont été mises en oeuvre pour raccourcir le cycle de développement. Cet article présente une comparaison entre les méthodes conventionnelles fréquemment utilisées pour le support de terrain, la technique australienne de boulonnage et d’installation de grillage au moyen de jumbos équipés de flèches télescopiques doubles, du béton projeté appliqué durant le cycle de développement et de l’utilisation de deux jumbos et deux boulonneuses côtes-à-côtes dans des galeries de grandes dimensions. Les recommandations et les leçons apprises sont présentées dans le but de fournir au lecteur des attentes réalistes quant aux taux d’avancement du développement dans un environnement minier."

Jan 1, 2016

By E. H. Dudgeon

In order to make increased use of automation in copper smelting, it is evident that a useful first step .world be the accurate determination of the copper end point in the converter operation. After laboratory tests, the copper end points in a copper converter at Gaspe Copper Mmes Ltd. were determined without reference to melt samples or other observations. The results indicated that the rapid measurement of the S02 level in the gas released from the converter has potential as a new and independent method of determining the copper end point in converter operation.

Jan 1, 1966

By Maurice Lauzon

"Aerial surveys of the open pits have been conducted regularly at Lake Asbestos of Quebec, Ltd. -a subsidiary of American Smelting and Re-fining Company -since 1958. Ground controls are supplied by Lake Asbestos, and a topographic map of the pits at a scale of 1 in. to 50 ft., with 2-foot contour intervals, is obtained by aerial photography. The information from the topographic map is then transferred by the Lake Asbestos engineering staff to sections from which the volumes removed are calculated. Considering the size and complexity of the operation, this system has proved to be the cheapest, fastest and most accurate way of determining the quantities of rock and overburden removed. More than 11,000,000 tons of ore and waste are mined each year in three different pits. Further-more, the nature, shape and extent of the orebodies make it necessary to mine on many (up to eight) benches of a pit during a single year. In addition, there are sections of the pits where it is impossible or un-safe to survey the crest of some benches by standard ground methods. For these reasons, the tonnages obtained by truck count are checked and adjusted by aerial survey. These surveys are now taking place every six months. With this system, it is possible for a two-man surveying crew to look after all field work in the mine area."

Jan 1, 1967

By B. Kruger

The Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb Smelter has evolved over the last decade to meet the challenges and opportunities brought about by a changing copper concentrate market, technological advances, environmental legislation as well as social and political changes. The paper discusses some of the challenges, successes and lessons learnt through the expansion and modernization of its smelter complex. It considers the details and impact of the transition from slag granulation to that of slag slow cooling as well as the improvement program that was implemented to more than double the refractory campaign life of the Ausmelt furnace from around 6–9 months to 15–18 months. In addition, given the evolving world we live in, it considers the challenges that the smelter faces today, not the least of it being how to remain relevant in an age of digital and other 4th Industrial Revolution disruptions. INTRODUCTION Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb (DPMT) Smelter is located just outside the town of Tsumeb, in the Oshikoto region of Namibia. It is the largest town in the region with a population of approximately 45,000. The smelter was built in the early 1960s to treat concentrate from the nearby Tsumeb copper mines. Construction of the site was completed in 1962 and the smelter was officially commissioned in 1963 by Tsumeb Corporation Limited (TCL). At the time the smelter consisted of a lead section (including a refinery), a copper section and plants that produced cadmium, sodium antimonite and arsenic trioxide. Production commenced in early 1964, with 3,500 tonnes of copper and 6,000 tonnes of lead being produced per month. TCL was acquired by Gold Fields South Africa in 1988, and a few years later the lead section was shut down due to reduced lead content of the mined ore. In mid-1996, all mining and smelting operations were halted due to labour strikes. Ongopolo Mining and Processing Limited (OMPL) re-opened the mines and the smelter in 2000, only operating the copper section of the smelter. At the end of 2008, all mining operations were halted by the new owner of OMPL, Weatherly Mining International, while the smelter continued to operate. The closure of the Weatherly owned mines in Namibia, the primary feed source to the Tsumeb Smelter, meant that the smelter had to transition its business model from operating as a ‘captive smelter’ to that of a ‘toll smelter’. Its Ausmelt Top Submerged Lance (TSL) smelting technology and various ancillary plants made it especially suitable for accepting and treating complex concentrates that were available on the global market.

Jan 1, 2019

By Greg M. Hollyer

The search for minerals in the future will be dominated by deeper exploration and the need to accurately target ?blind? deposits as more and more of the ?easy? near surface targets are exhausted. In this context, key technologies are emerging for deep exploration both in grassroots and minesite exploration, including the Titan 24 Deep Penetrating geophysical technology. Introduced in 2001, this technology has grown rapidly into an accepted approach for exploration in a variety of geologic environments, including brownfield environments where discovering additional reserves would most quickly benefit companies. Titan 24 belongs to a new class of sophisticated Distributed Acquisition Systems (DAS) which record high-volume, high-quality data simultaneously at multiple receiver stations. This data is then processed digitally, modeled using specialized inverse modeling software, and interpreted according to geologic and other parameters. The result is a robust, high-quality, high-volume data sets which provide a basis for improved imaging to depth. In this paper, the Titan 24 distributed technology is discussed. Illustrations of the vast improvement to overall exploration are showcased through results in several case studies. These include examples from two gold deposits, a porphyry deposit and a minesite. These examples show the range of applicability of the technology and the ability to effectively image mineralization, lithology, structure and alteration to depth as an aid to understanding prospective mineral deposits and targeting drills more accurately.

May 1, 2008

By X. L. Song, G. W. Zhang, F. Y. He, X. Xiao, L. L. Huang

This paper presents the design of a model and process simulation of a vertical mill based on a population balance model. The simulator, Simulink, which is a systematic modeling tool within MATLAB, was used for the simulation. The model will simulate the real time variation trend of each size fraction in the feed material to the vertical mill, as well as, the size distribution of the batch grinding products. Breakage distribution and selection functions are calculated based on batch grinding laboratory experiments using Back-calculation method. The simulated size distributions correspond with those in the actual mill operation having a relative error of less than 0.50%. This work lays the foundation for future research on modelling and simulation of a closed circuit grinding operation consisting of a vertical mill with hydrocyclone classifier.

Jan 1, 2016