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By Kosta Fytas, Nour-Eddine Chaouai

"Selection of the appropriate kriging plan during indicator kriging estimations is of a paramount importance to the precision of ore reserve estimation. However, very little is known on the sensitivy of indicator kriging results when changing the kriging plan parameters (mainly search distance and number of samples). This paper evaluates the effect of the search distance and number of samples on indicator kriging results using a gold deposit as a case study.IntroductionBlock estimation using kriging is based on the autocorrelation function (variogram) on one hand and on the kriging plan on the other. As far as the variogram is concerned it is more or less subjectively adjusted and this is reflected on its parameters (range, sill, nugget effect and anisotropy). The effect of a poor estimation of these parameters on the kriging variance of ordinary kriging has been proven very important (Brooker, 1986). Choosing a kriging plan is generally a difficult matter depending on the estimation type (global or local). Generally there is not a unique kriging plan be cause there is not a unique structural analysis (variogram). There are no rules or dogmas in choosing a kriging plan but it is rather a function of the sampling pattern (David, 1982).Structural analysis requires the hypothesis of quasistationarity but very often either the data available within the zone of quasi-stationarity are too many so that the search distance is reduced during kriging or the data are too few to satisfy a stationary kriging system (Journel and Huijbregts 1978). As a rule, the larger the neighbourhood, the more precise the estimates should be , but for large neighbourhoods the hypothesis of stationarity does not always hold (Rivoirard 1987; Armstrong and Champigny 1989)."

Jan 1, 1991

By Deni Lessard, Roger Demers, Noël R. Billette

"The Quebec Mining Association has for many years been supportive of the activities of the Centre de recherches minérales which were initiated to ensure regular production hoist and cable inspections to maintain safety and productivity standards in underground mines in Quebec. CRM and CANMET have agreed to fund a Quebec Mineral Development Agreement contract to capture this accumulated knowledge. Using VP-EXPERT to process the information and subdirectories to store regulations, the prototype access D-BASE III records on hoist information and LOTUS 123for simulating working conditions that meet local regulations and expert rules of thumb criteria. Objectives are to improve safety in emergency operating procedures, maximize hoist productivity and safety, and promote knowledge transfer to operators."

Jan 1, 1992

"The standards set out requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange for company’s providing information to investors, regulators and/or the media regarding their mineral properties. In addition, information contained in new releases, continuous disclosure documents [annual report], or other forms of communication [printed investor relations materials and electronic publications] are also subject to these standards.1.0 INTRODUCTIONThe disclosure of the results of exploration and development activity on mineral properties mustcomply with the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange Policy Statement on Timely Disclosure, theOntario Securities Act and all applicable policies and rules of the Ontario Securities Commission and anyother securities regulatory body having jurisdiction over an issuer listed on the Exchange. In particular,the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 must be followed.The purpose of the standards is to set out the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange when acompany provides information to investors, regulators and/or the media regarding its properties, whethersuch information is contained in a news release, a continuous disclosure document such as an annualreport, or other form of communication, including, but not limited to, printed investor relations material andelectronic publications such as Internet Web sites. These standards do not apply to prospectuses orlisting applications, the standards for which are contained in the policies and rules of the securitiescommissions and the Exchange. These standards are also not intended to establish requirements for thecontent of technical reports.Any information published by or on behalf of a company must comply with these standards. If acompany becomes aware of information published by others regarding its mineral properties which ismaterially misleading to investors, it should take appropriate action to correct such information orotherwise make it known that it is not responsible for publishing such information and does notnecessarily agree with such statements.Disclosure concerning mineral properties should identify the ""qualified person"" as defined in NI 43-101 who is responsible for the work conducted on the property and such person shall have read andapproved of the technical disclosure."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. Galibois, R. Singhal

"This paper highlights some of the potential application areas of knowledge-based systems in the mining industry. The basic theoretical principles associated with knowledge-based systems are discussed and the justification for mining applications is given. The paper concludes with a brief description of a prototype knowledge-based system applied to scraper selection that was developed at Université Laval on a LISP machine. IntroductionThe beginning of Artificial Intelligence coincided with the conception and development of the first computer systems some thirty years ago. At that time researchers were euphoric about the possibility of modelling the human reasoning process. Soon, however, they discovered that the combinatorial aspect of the set of possible solutions to a particular problem did not permit an in-depth evaluation.In the mid-60s researchers started to look at the heuristic approach because it was more suited to human behaviour with its congnitive abilities (i.e. representing, reasoning, problem solving and advising). The heuristic approach allows possible results rather than exact solutions and it is more rapid and cost effective than the exhaustive combinatorial analysis. The heuristic approach did allow some noticeable progress in the seventies with the development of the first expert system called MYCIN with the objective of diagnosing blood infection diseases."

Jan 1, 1988

By Lesley Hymers

First Nations Natural Resources Youth Employment Program PDAC Mining Matters ? Charitable organization ? Provide education to students, teachers, and the public about rocks, minerals, metals, and mining ? Provide current information and offer exceptional educational resources that meet provincial Earth science and geography curriculum expectations First Nations Natural Resources Youth Employment Program ? Provide instructional development workshops for educators who are teaching Earth science and geography ? Since 1994, reached more than 400,000 students, teachers, industry representatives, and members of the public

May 1, 2009

By T. Alan O'Hara

"The decision to invest capital in developing a mine and constructing a mineral processing plant and services is usually made after a feasibility study shows 'that the estimated future cash flow from mine operations will yield an adequate return on the estimated capital expenditures.The actual return on investment may differ substantially from that estimated in the feasibility study, because of the probabilities of errors in estimating capital costs, ore reserves, operating costs, mineral revenue and operating productivity. This paper outlines the R.S.S. (root sum of squares) risk analysis procedure of computing the overall probability of the actual project D.C.F. (rate of discounted cash flow), differing from that estimated in the feasibility study.Variation in Project D.C.F.It is assumed that a feasibility study of the project has been completed which has defined the estimated values for all the project parameters, such as ore reserve tons and grade, capital cost, concentrate recovery, metal revenue, daily milling capacity and operating costs.The financial analysis of the mining project will have determined that the cumulative cash flow will yield an expected D.C.F. on the capital cost if all project parameters attain the estimated values. If, however, the actual value of any parameter varies from that estimated, the actual project D.C.F. will vary from the estimated D.C.F. Risk analysis methods attempt to determine the overall effect of probable variations in the estimated values of all project parameters on the D.C.F. of the mining project. This overall effect is expressed as a probability profile, which shows the likelihood of actual D.C.F. values greater or less than that estimated.Thus, a completed risk analysis of a mine project, with an expected D.C.F. of 15.51%, would display the characteristics shown in the preceding diagram."

Jan 1, 1982

By N. Kacira

"Canada's largest known chromite deposit occurs in a layered intrusion in the Bird River area of Manitoba. However, numerically most of the chromite occurrences are in the Appalachians. Few, apparently minor, occurrences are also known in the Cordillera.In the Appalachians, chromite occurs as lenses and pods in dunite; they are of ""podiform"" type. The individual concentrations vary in size from a few pounds to tens of thousands of tons. Locally, chromite concentrations form discontinuous zones extending several hundred feet along strike and presumably down dip, therefore resembling boudinaged layers. Chromite layering and lineation are commonly concordant to those of the host rocks.The Appalachian chromite occurrences are thought to have been formed by fractional crystallization and perhaps also by liquid immiscibility. Their present shape and distribution are largely the result of deformation mostly prior to complete solidification of their host rocks. Therefore, the attitude of layering, foliation, lineation and other features related to deformation provide valuable guides in predicting the probable distribution of chromite, and hence are helpful in exploration.Chromites fulfilling the requirements for metallurgical, refractory and chemical grades occur in the Appalachians. Although the Appalachian deposits are similar in size and grade to some of the chromite deposits being mined elsewhere, they are unlikely to be economic, at present, in the higher wage Canadian environment. However, in case of shortages in chromite ore supply which may result, among other reasons, from increasing tendency to further processing in the producing countries, the Appalachian occurrences may become sources of ore. Such eventual shortages combined with relative abundance of electricity in Canada and recent innovations in oxide ore reduction technology may hasten the time when ferrochrome manufacture based on local chromite sources becomes economically viable."

Jan 1, 1982

By MaryAnn E. Crichton, David G. C. Clarry

"Environmental risk is becoming more important in debt and equity financing decisions in the mining industry worldwide. Demonstration of good environmental management practices and management systems has a direct impact on the ability of mine developers, operators and investors to raise financing. Based on experience in providing due diligence services, there are a number of factors that are important in assessing financial risks related to environmental issues in either new projects or existing facilities. A frame-work for understanding the importance and priorities of each element of environmental management is presented.IntroductionIn the context of lending money to a corporation, environmental issues represent another aspect of credit risk (Henry, 1989). These issues, because of their nature, represent the potential for large unforeseen expenditures if they are not known or acknowledged and are not being proactively managed. Lenders, other investors and their advisors, are becoming increasingly aware of the potential financial impact of environmental issues. Consequently, they are increasing their requirements for environmental audits to review the environmental issues, management practices and systems when they are considering financing mining and/or metallurgical processing operations worldwide.Many banks have signed the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Statement by Banks on Environment and Sustainable Development. Banks in this category include National Westminster Bank, the Union Bank of Switzerland, Deutsche Bank, and the Royal Bank of Canada."

Jan 1, 1997

By W. Yang, R. Rajasingam, K. Mohanarangam

"Copper Electrowinning (EW) is a complex electrochemical process that involves the production of LME grade copper from copper rich electrolyte. The process involves the deposition of the copper ions onto the cathode from copper rich electrolyte with the production of oxygen bubbles at the anode. The process setups up a complex flow pattern within the cell as it is subjected to varying density gradients due to the deposition process along with oxygen bubble driven flow. It is a necessity to understand and quantify the flow behaviour within these cells in order to maintain the production of highest grade copper. In fact, the oxygen bubbles originating from the process is responsible for the generation of acid mist which is a designated as a carcinogen a major health hazard around EW tank houses. Hydrodynamic assessment of the process has so far been restricted to simple mass balances and some limited numerical modelling. All the models are based on assumed boundary conditions which has not so far been verified by any real-time physical measurement. This apparent gap has led to models which could not be directly used to track process changes or troubleshoot problems in EW tank houses. In order to address this gap, CSIRO has established a full size (width and height) transparent cell capable of simulating plant operating conditions (across the range currently used). With the use of sophisticated diagnostic analytical tools and measurement techniques it was possible to study all the operating variables (current density, flow rate, temperature, etc.) independently and their effect of bubble size, bubble velocity, gas hold-up as well as acid mist generation and its size. In order to address safety concerns in tank houses around acid mist early results outlining the factors contributing to its generation as well as the effect of various barriers to mitigate acid mist is outlined below.INTRODUCTIONA significant part of today’s copper production is through hydrometallurgical route which predominantly involves leaching, Solvent eXtraction (SX) followed by ElectroWinning (EW). Producing copper using this approach have shown to be environmentally friendly (Dresher, 2001) compared to the traditional smelting process. EW is the final step in the production of LME grade copper using the hydrometallurgy route. The electro-chemical process involves the use of a lead anode (Pb-Sn-Ca) and a stainless steel cathode to produce copper sheets using the copper rich electrolyte from the SX process and with the applications of direct current to the electrodes. This electro-chemical reaction results in the deposition of copper ions on the cathode with oxygen released from the anode as a by-product. Hydrodynamically, the oxygen bubbles create a bubble driven flow within the EW tanks with the surrounding electrolyte. A direct result of this could be seen from the quality of the copper deposited on the cathode. Most of the copper plates produced from the traditional tank houses have a rough texture at its bottom one-third while the top two-thirds have a smooth finish with a finer grain structure."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. J. Reid, D. H. Stewart

"A diversity of structures and rock types in the Aft on pit has resulted in the occurrence of several different types of wall failure. Delivery of ore to the mill has not been affected and safety has not been compromised thanks to effective remedial 1V0rk and to a system of structural mapping, back analyses of failures, groundwater monitoring, and simple movement monitoring. Remedial measures have included artificial support, dewatering (including vacuum-assisted drainage), flattening of slopes and temporary buttressing. This paper describes six different wall failures at Afton and highlights the features of each. Examples given include rates of movement, extent and direction of movement, and piezometric responses. The practical, low-cost monitoring system was sufficient in one case to allow the prediction of date of failure. IntroductionThe Afton copper deposit is located 13 km west of Karnloops, British Columbia and has been mined for nine years out o f an expected eleven-year life. Open pit mining has reached 700 feet below sur face and is designed to proceed to 970 feet below surface by the time the pit is completed. The excavation is in a structurally and lithologically complex environment. Inevitably, some wall failures have occurred but these have been limited to small, manageable failures which have not compromised production or safety. To handle the failures it has been necessary to understand their nature. Of prim e concern has been the rate s of movement, but displacement vectors and hydrology have been monitored as well. The monitoring system is based on EDM surveys and on wire extensometers and plates set across cracks. Water levels have been read in standpipe piezometers. At Afton the emphasis has been on simple, practical, and inexpensive monitoring and because rock type s and structures play such a major role in any failure, detailed geologic al mapping is carried out."

Jan 1, 1988

By G. P. Demopoulos

"The recovery and separation of platinum-group metals (PGM) from primary and secondary materials currently attracts a lot of interest due to the high value of the metals and their increasing demand for high-tech applications. Thus, the traditional refining processes are gradually replaced by newer more efficient separation techniques such as solvent extraction and ion exchange. In this paper the classical and modern refining techniques are reviewed and the pertinent solution chemistry dictating proper processing strategies in each case is discussed. The technological advantages of the modern separation methods are emphasized and reference to the recovery of PGM from primary as well as secondary materials is given. INTRODUCTIONDue to their outstanding physicochemical properties, such as catalytic activity, conductivity and corrosion/oxidation resistance, precious metals now find extensive usage outside of the traditional jewellery and investment industries. The increasing use of precious metals in such areas as electronics and catalysis, as well as their increasing high value, has led to a growing interest in their recovery and separation from primary and secondary materials.Quantitatively the demand of platinum metals in the western world by area of application is described in Table I. Platinum and palladium represent 90% of the total demand, Rh and Ru 8% and the remaining is taken by Ir and Os. In terms of value the following were the average prices (US$/oz) of the metals in the second half of 1986: 500 Pt, 125 Pd, 1200 Rh, 650 Os, 400 Ir and 80 Ru. Due to these prices, exploration, mining, reclamation and refining activity were very high in South Africa, the biggest producer of Pt metals in the world, as well as in other areas: United States (Stilwater deposit), Canada (Sudbury, Marathon and Lac des Isles, Ontario; Kenly Lake, Quebec, etc.), Australia, Europe and elsewhere"

Jan 1, 1989

By E. J. Wade

The general location, climatic conditions and access of the Tasu mine are covered briefly, with comments on the Jack of conventional transportation and communication facilities. The Haïda story of Tasu and early at-tempts at production are presented, together with a discussion of the government legislation which throttled exploration and production in the late fifties. General and specific details of local geology, mineralogy and current ore reserves are also covered.

Jan 1, 1968

By Y. Champoux, N. Atalla, R. Oddo, C. Lesage

"Percussion drills are the source of the most serious noise problems in mining activities, due to their extremely high noise levels(114-122 dB(A)) and widespread use(Bartholomae and Stein, 1988). Percussion drills will continue to be widely used to drill small diameter holes in hard rock because no other method seems to be economically avail-able to replace them (Boillat et al., 1993).Many studies (Danière, 1991; Hawkes etal., 1977a; Jensen and Visnapuu, 1972;Leblond et al., 1976; Milette, 1989) were con-ducted to determine the major noise sources of percussion drills. The exhaust air of pneumatic drills, the hammer, the bit in contact with the rock and the drill rod have been identified as the major noise sources. A muffer can be used to reduce the exhaust noise and the hammer can be enclosed. The bit noise is considered to be of concern only at the beginning of holes. When all the available methods are used to reduce the noise of a percussion drill, the drill rod vibrations become the dominant noise source (Hawkes and Burks, 1979). However, the noise levels generated by this source remain high and future efforts should concentrate on reducing its radiation.Works by Hawkes and Burks (1979) and Hawkes et al. (1977b) for the U.S. Bureau of Mines provide the most complete description on the noise and vibration of percussion drill rods.The longitudinal and bending waves are the two most important types of elastic waves generated in drill rods. Among these, only the longitudinal waves contribute to the drilling rate. The bending waves are caused by non-centralized impacts, drill rod curvature and non-uniform bit/rock interface. Drill rod noise is generated by Poisson’s ratio expansions and contractions of the rod as the longitudinal waves travel up and down it and by transverse rod motions induced by bending waves. The radiation efficiency is much higher for bending waves than for longitudinal waves. Most of the impact energy is transformed into longitudinal waves, as expected for axial impacts. The evaluation of the relative contribution of longitudinal and bending waves to noise generation poses a very difficult problem for experimental, analytical and numerical approaches. It is, however, an important issue because the relative contribution of these two waves will guide future noise reduction efforts. It seems that very little can be done to reduce the noise radiation of the axial waves without affecting the drilling rate. The main difficulty that analytical and numerical approach-es face, in the evaluation of the relative contribution of the two waves, is that there is no adequate theory for predicting the bending vibrations from the factors that cause them. The experimental approach has, thus, been limited to test fixtures that do not adequately represent the boundary conditions, as well as by measurements obtained under real operating conditions from which it is difficult to establish the relative contribution of the two types of waves. For example, Hawkes and Burks (1979) and Hawkes et al. (1977b) used a test fixture with free-free boundary conditions and made no clear link with measurement under real operating conditions. Rather, they have based their discussion on a simple model. Many authors assume that fexural waves are the main noise source on drill rods. However, measurements have been somewhat contradictory and researchers are still unable to state with certainty that this is indeed the case (Lednik et al., 1988)."

Jan 1, 1997

By John Steele

The goal of this project is to detect the presence of objects behind haul trucks and to provide an alarm to the driver if such objects are detected. Objects of interest include people, pickups, other equipment, and large rocks. Another goal is to see if the system can identify the existence of a berm and determine the distance from the truck to that berm, so a safe backup distance can be computed and used as a reference. This paper presents results that demonstrate that such a system is feasible and includes results from work at a local quarry. Architecture of the system is provided and the various subsystems are discussed. Details of the algorthims are included and discussion of the issues involved in developing a fieldable system are also included.

May 1, 2003

By D. Mraz

"Under high pressure in a deep potash mine, the salt rock behaves in accordance with the concept of a generalized, perfectly plastic substance. The paper presents the evidence of this behaviour and engineering concepts f or room-and-pillar design. IntroductionThe mining and refining facilities at International Minerals &. Chemical Corporation (Canada) Limited are located near Esterhaz y at the southeastern edge of the Saskatchewan evaporites. Ore extraction began in 1962 and at the present time the annual mining capacity is in excess of eleven million tons of potash ore.A generalized geological section is shown in Figure I. The mining horizon is overlay in by 100 feet of rock salt followed by a thin bed of competent dry shale. The strata in the next 1,500 feet are generally competent and locally water bearing. The Blairmore formation contains strata of water-bearing unconsolidated sand. Below the mining horizon, rock salt is interbedded with anhydrite bands.The 8-foot mining bed is distinguished mainly by grade and clay content, as there is no definite bed boundary. The chief mineral s are halite, sylvite and, in some cases, carnallite, with up to 2 per cent disseminated clay. The ore is coarse grained, with crystals averaging one-half to three-quarters inch across.The major mining problem is related to the fact that the Dawson Bay formation, overlying the evaporites, contains areas and channels that are highly porous and permeable and are filled with unsaturated brine under high pressure. Consequently, all mining areas, with no exception, must be so designed that the overburden salt stratum remain s competently supported for the duration of the mine .This paper outlines a successful engineering method of determining the stability of the pillar s and designing a stable room -and-pillar mining system."

Jan 1, 1980

By R. A. McIvor, R. S. Rafuse

"INCO Limited purchased a custom designed mobile hoist rope winder/tensioner in 1988 from TimberLand Equipment Limited to handle Large hoist ropes and serve as an emergency hoist. This paper describes the operation of the winder/tensioner and some of the different applications that the machine has been used to handle large loads.IntroductionINCO Limited operates 24 mine hoists in the Ontario Division and has approximately 50 miles of mine hoist rope hanging in the shaft plus an equal amount on spare reels. The mine hoist ropes range in size from )( inch to 2.305 inches in diameter with the majority being 1 3/4 inches and above. Prior to the procurement of a new high powered winder/tensioner in 1988, the mine hoist ropes were handled with a variety of methods and equipment using hydraulic or pneumatic powered reel winders. The largest such reel winder has a pull rating of 8000 Ibs and travels approximately 40 ft/min. Head ropes for the tower mounted friction hoists were installed and removed using a magazine on the hoist drum to wind and unwind the rope because the loads were greater than the capacity of the existing machinery. It was recognized that a large high capacity machine would improve the productivity for handling the larger hoist ropes and a feasibility study was undertaken to determine the parameters for such a machine."

Jan 1, 1995

By William Petruk

Mineralogical investigations in connection with gold metallurgy are usually performed to find the reason for poor recoveries by cyanidation or by other leaching techniques. Poor recoveries most commonly are obtained when (I) native gold is encapsulated in an insoluble mineral as "invisible gold"; (2) native gold is coated with a precipitate; (3) gold-bearing products are insoluble in cyanide solutions; (4) carbonaceous material in the ore adsorbs gold; and (5) associated minerals decompose and consume cyanide. Samples of refractory material quite often have low gold tenors. It is difficult to find the gold-bearing minerals in such samples with an optical microscope because the probability of finding trace minerals in samples is small. The probability decreases with decreasing grain size of the gold-bearing mineral and with decreas¬ing gold tenor of the sample. Techniques have been developed to increase the success rate of finding gold grains; some are (1) concentrating heavy minerals; (2) preparing special polished sections; (3) searching with an image analyzer; and (4) dissolving associate silicate and sulphide minerals.

Jan 1, 1989

By C. Blawert

The corrosion properties of the skin and the bulk of semi-solid processed and high pressure die cast AZ91 alloy were studied in 5% NaCI solution by (a) analysing the corrosion morphology, (b) measuring electrochemical polarization curves, (c) performing electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements, and (d) immersion tests at constant pH-values. Using XRD, LM, SEM and EDX to evaluate the microstructure of skin and bulk specimens, the corrosion results were related to the microstructures of the particular alloys. However, microstructure and corrosion performance were found to be similar for both production processes, and only slight but distinct differences were found. Generally, the skin corrosion properties are inferior to those of the bulk, with the exception of the high pressure die cast AZ91 alloy, where the finer microstructure of the skin layer exhibits a better performance as showed by impedance studies and confirmed in long term immersion tests.

Jan 1, 2004

By H. Nouranian, M. Askari

GOLGOHAR Mining & Industrial Co., with annual production of 16 million tons, is one of the largest pelletizing and iron ore supplier in Iran that recently this year, because of using mineral processing techniques and extraction of ore body positioning between the metamorphic rocks, about 150 million tons of dry tailings has been created as a result of concentrate production. On the other hand, many environmental issues such as groundwater pollution have been developed by sulfide and silicate gangue minerals, which containing heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic. In this study, a new product with high added value has been introduced for the company by identification and extraction of industrial minerals in dry tailings. Also, by removing large masses of dry tailings, environmental pollution sources were gradually eliminated. This method can be used as a modern waste management approach in the world.

Jan 1, 2017

By G. C. Bateman

Canada is a very large country with a small population which is growing very slowly. We have great natural resources, but with our limited population we are continually looking afield for new capital to develop these resources. Our mining areas are among the most important fields offering opportunities for new capital and because of the wide-spread appeal which mining makes this industry commands a great deal of attention. While we are glad to see new capital from any source, we welcome it particularly from Great Britain, for, although we offer equal opportunities to the nationals of any country we would be glad to see the development of our natural resources financed as far as possible within the Empire. However, when we invite ne capital we must accept certain responsibilities, and while we have opportunities to offer, we should ask ourselves how these opportunities are taken advantage of and what sort of treatment the foreign investor receives.

Jan 1, 1925