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By John B. Phillips

The mine is entered by a central vertical shaft, strongly timbered, and containing two compartments-one for the passenger cage, the other for the large skips bringing the ore to the surface. A man-way, for emergencies, is also provided, parallel to the shaft. The cage is a single-deck steel box, carrying about thirty persons; by means of arrangements above and below, it can also hoist and lower materials needed in the workings. Levels are run at intervals of 100 feet. In special cases, where the ore conditions warrant, sub-levels are operated, such as those at 1,113 feet and 1,123 feet (Fig. 7), which are connected by winzes with the 11 th level. One of these was pushed for 40 feet, and then abandoned because it was unprofitable to take up ore of the grade encountered. The ore between levels is removed by stoping. The drifts follow the course of the veins as much as possible, with numerous cross-cuts. Winzes, raises, connections, etc., are blasted out where needed. The main drifts are at least 8 ft. high by about 9 ft. wide. All former narrow drifts had to be widened some time ago, by ruling of the Ontario Department of Mines, to lessen the danger of accidents with cars in the small passages. Accurate plans of the under-ground workings are kept in the office, and extensive surveying is always being done underground to keep the maps up to date, measure the cubical contents of stopes, and so forth. Timber is extensively used in the construction of supports and chutes, and in the sinking of the shaft. Steel and concrete are too ex pensive to compete with timber, which 1s abundant in such sections as have escaped forest tires.

Jan 1, 1926

By Philippe Caudal

This paper presents a case study in which a slope failure was observed on the west wall of the LAB Chrysotile mine in the vicinity of the main ramp in January 2010. Airborne LiDAR results were used to evaluate slope geometry before and after the failure occurred. Back analysis of the failure was performed to assess rock mass properties at the slope scale using various numerical techniques: limit equilibrium, finite elements and fracture networks. The various approaches correlated well with field observations.

Aug 1, 2013

By John G. Henning

The Hoyle Pond underground mine is located in the Porcupine Gold Camp, 18 km east of downtown Timmins. Since the initiation of production in 1985, the operation has produced in excess of 1.9 million ounces of gold at a grade of 15 grams per tonne. Currently, Hoyle Pond ranks 8th in total ounce production for all past and present producing mines in the camp, with the highest head grade of any of the significant past, or present producing mines in Timmins. Cut and fill, shrinkage, longhole and panel mining methods are employed to excavate the narrow gold bearing structures. Using illustrative examples, this paper provides an overview of factors, such as geologic setting, rock mechanics challenges and mine infrastructure, which influence mine design at Hoyle Pond.

Oct 1, 2004

By R. E. Eyre, L. P. Landucci

C URRENT practice in the zinc concentrate roasting plant of The Consolidated Mining arid Smelting Company of Canada Limited, at Trail, B.C., involves passing the furnace effluent gases through an electrostatic precipitator for the recovery of dust. After removal of the dust the gas is treated for recovery of sulphur dioxide by conversion into sulphuric acid ( 1). However. as roasting techniques improved, and furnace productivity in-creased, the rated capacity of the precipitator was exceeded and it was necessary to consider various means of improving the dust recovery. A study of methods indicated that a baghouse using silicone-treated glass fabric, might be suitable for this particular application. Glass fabric was chosen because the temperature of the roaster effluent gases would range from 450°F to 500°F and tempering air was undesirable to avoid dilution of the sulphur dioxide gas.

Jan 1, 1962

By Lyne Côté, Jose Adante

"The Caribou underground mine, 50 km west of Bathurst, the Restigouche open-pit mine, another 30 km west and the concentrator located at the Caribou mine site resumed operations in July 2007 after a nine year shutdown. The Caribou operations achieved commercial production on Jan 1. By June, 2008, all metallurgical targets had been achieved or surpassed with the production of lead and zinc concentrates assaying approximately 50% Zn and 45% Pb respectively with recoveries exceeding 80% for Zn and 70% for Pb.The deposit features very fine-grained massive sulphide mineralization, which in the past has proven difficult to process. ISA Mill Ultra Fine Grinding Technology in combination with conventional flotation technology is used to process these complex oresSeveral modifications arising from experience gained from past operations, an extensive research project at Lakefield Research and post startup flow sheet and reagent alterations have been employed to achieve this break through performanceThis paper describes the design, start up and optimization of the Caribou operations including the many challenges faced including the flotation of mineral particles with K80s ranging from 35µm to 8µm.HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDThe Caribou massive sulphide deposit was discovered by Anaconda geologist Cam Cheriton in 1959. Anaconda initiated an extensive underground exploration and discovered a super gene copper blanket which was developed into a small open-pit mine-mill operation that ran from 1970 until the depletion of the copper ore in 1974. East West Minerals, an Australian public company, purchased the mine in 1986 and operated for only seven months producing a single bulk lead-zinc concentrate. In 1995, Breakwater acquired the Restigouche Open pit and Caribou underground deposits. Breakwater began milling operations in July 1997 but Caribou Mine failed to commercialize production, and the company decided to shut it down in August 1998, because of declining metal prices. The mill was plagued by mechanical and design problems, but deficiencies in metal recoveries prevented the operation from reaching desired levels."

Jan 1, 2009

By Ken Dyck Sr.

"Construction of the Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan is well under way. Production is anticipated to begin in the first half of 2007. When in full production, the mine is projected to produce a net 18,000,000 pounds of U3O8 per annum from a high grade ore averaging approximately 20% U3O8.Water management was a major issue that required substantial effort in the Cigar Lake design. Not only is effluent quality controlled, a tight water balance to minimize effluent volume is also designed into processes in order to minimize environmental impact. This paper focuses on the water treatment process and water handling equipment, as well as the operating philosophies that will reduce fresh water consumption to a minimum. An overview of the mining and ore handling systems, as well as aspects of controlling water production from the ore formation and the mine development areas will also be discussed.INTRODUCTIONThe Cigar Lake ore body has proven and probable reserves that total 232 million pounds U3O8. Cigar Lake is the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade deposit. It is the second largest highgrade deposit surpassed only by the McArthur River deposit another Cameco - operated mine in the Saskatchewan Athabasca Basin. Cigar Lake is owned 50% by Cameco Corporation, 37% by AREVA (COGEMA Resources Inc.), 8% by Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada Ltd. and 5% by TEPCO Resources Inc. When production starts in 2007, ground ore slurry from Cigar Lake will be shipped to the McClean Lake mill (owned by AREVA) some 80 km away. All of the Cigar Lake uranium will be leached from the ore at McClean Lake. During initial production ramp up, all uranium will be processed at McClean Lake to yellow cake (uranium oxide). After the average production has exceeded a 10 million pound per year rate, Cigar Lake uranium will begin to flow from the McClean Lake Mill to the Rabbit Lake Mill. At this point, subject to regulatory approval, 57% of the Cigar Lake uranium, in a uranium rich solution, will be transported to Rabbit Lake mill (owned by Cameco) for purification to yellow cake. A complete summary of the flow of uranium from the Cigar Lake ore body through to product at both McClean Lake and Rabbit Lake can be found in a recent paper titled “The Cigar Lake Project – Mining, Ore Handling and Milling” in the March 2004 issue of the CIM Bulletin. The paper was written by C.R. Edwards."

Jan 1, 2006

By Barara Rose

Presentation Outline ?Introduction of BMS ?Resource Integration Process ?Methodologies ?Tools ?Case Studies ?Zone 01 : 725 SOZ ?Zone 16/17 : 1000 NRP ?Conclusions

Oct 1, 2010

By D. Harrington

Ventilation of underground workings consists in establishment of such control of air currents that the underground workers may work in safety, with maximum comfort and efficiency, and without impairment of health; and requires that the mine openings may be made subject to such control of air flow as to remove from these workings at ordinary times harmful gases and dusts, and that, at time of emergency, such as fire or explosion, there may be maintained as much or as little air flow as may be desired covering portions of the mine or the mine in its entirety. Control of air flow is the keystone of any ventilating structure, and this very essential feature is obtainable only by the installation of mechanically-operated fans, together with other;. ventilating devices such as doors, over-casts, regulators, etc. Every mine, large or small, coal or metal, should from the outset be equipped with a fan. While much has been written about natural ventilation and many claims made that in specific mines there is sufficient natural air flow, there are few if any mines, coal or metal, where natural ventilation supplies anything like adequately safe or healthful conditions for underground workers even at ordinary times; and at a time of mine fire or explosion, mines depending upon natural ventilation are practically helpless, and certainly are decidedly dangerous to those unfortunates forced to be in them. While ventilation has practically always been deemed an integral part of coal mining, metal mines have rarely paid much, if any, attention to air circulation until forced to do so by occurrence of some untoward condition or accident. Yet metal mines actually have as great need of efficient circulation of air as have coal mines. The coal mine must remove the dangerous explosive gas, methane, also fumes from explosives and, in occasional places, other gases such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen.

Jan 1, 1933

By K. L. Murphy, G. Multamaki, P. M. Huck

"A preliminary evaluation, based on existing data, has been made of the implications of placing radium-barium sludge in tailings areas. The study was restricted to a consideration of possible increases in the quantities of radionuclides escaping to the environment through either groundwater or surf ace water, considering the types of tailings treated and the effluent treatment systems currently operating in Canada.IntroductionIn the recovery of uranium from ore deposits, the tailings produced by mine/mill complexes are conveyed to impoundment areas in slurry form. After settling, the supernatant is discharged to the environment together with runoff from precipitation on the tailings bas in. Currently, all operating uranium mines in Canada employ barium chloride treatment to control the release of dissolved radium to the aquatic environment. The dissolved radium in the tailings decant is precipitated with barium chloride, forming (Ra,Ba)SO4, and allowed to settle in ponds or lakes. In some instances, settling tanks have replaced ponds and flocculants have been added to aid settling. Because the Atomic Energy Control Board does not consider the precipitation ponds to be suitable for final disposal of these sludges, acceptable sites must be found. Options which have been suggested for sludge management include underground placement either in worked-out mine areas or in special chambers, or placement in the tailings areas. Conceptually, the latter alternative is attractive and probably would minimize sludge handling. This alternative would be subject to the AECB policy which requires that upon abandonment, radioactive releases from a tailings area must be within present regulatory limits and that treatment to meet these limits should not be required in perpetuity.No quantitative data exist concerning either the effect of physical and chemical conditions in the tailings on resolubilization of radium from precipitated sludges or the fraction of this additional radium which would be released."

Jan 1, 1982

By J M. Gibbs

Craigmont Mines Limited mine 50,000 tons of ore and waste per day from the open pit at Merritt, British Columbia. An electric-powered "down-the-hole" drill, a diesel-powered rotary drill and two electric-powered rotary drills have been used. All primary drilling, as a result of cost and operating experience, is now performed with two electric-powered rotary drills. Trials with various loading techniques have increased the amount of AN-FO and decreased the amount of commercially prepared slurries used for primary blasting. Approximately 95 per cent of the primary blasting is accomplished with AN -FO, mixed at the hole. Introduction THE Craigmont mine is located near the village of Merritt, B.C., 240 miles northeast of Vancouver. The concentrator has been in production since September of 1961. Craigmont is a combined open-pit and underground operation. To date, slightly more than 95 per cent of the mill feed has been mined from the open pit. As underground development proceeds, the ore requirements from the open pit will decrease. The average milling rate from September, 1961, to April, 1964, was approximately 4,900 tons per day.

Jan 1, 1965

By T. Adamcewicz

The province's lignite resources lie mainly in the south, extensions of the much larger deposits in Montana and North Dakota. Because of planned additional capacity, conventional steam power generation will probably remain as the dominant resource usage for many decades. Conversion of coal to other energy forms is receiving emphasis and in the future will compete with steam power generation in terms of quantities used.Economic deposits, minable by present-day technology, have been generally defined. Because a large percentage of the total lignite resource is in seams containing multiple partings, future extraction will become much more difficult and capital intensive.Increased public involvement will ensure that the impacts of future coal mining and usage operations are compatible with environmental and social objectives.

Jan 1, 1982

By D Reddy Chinnasane

Outline Location of BirchtreeMine and Layout of 124 OB Cut and Fill Mining Background Purpose of the Studies Methodology Results and Analysis Conclusions and Recommendations

Oct 1, 2010

By P. Kordi, L. Egorova, R. J. Bowell, D. Gurevich, V. Sedov, A. Mikhailov, D. A. Holwell

ABSTRACT Reconnaissance exploration in the Kuene region Namibia has included geological mapping, soil and stream sediment geochemistry, and ground geophysical methods. Copper mineralization occurs within a well-defined belt with north-northwest to south-southeast trend, parallel to the regional strike of the sedimentary rocks. The occurrences vary in size but are generally stratabound. The mineralization is centred on the transition from calcareous shale and interbedded limestone, through carbonate rocks, to quartzite. Geochemical anomalies have been identified correlating to induced polarization (IP) and magnetic anomalies. The anomalies identify one potential metallogenic zone more than 17 km in strike length.

Jan 1, 2012

"Horizontal grinding mills have been used in the mining industry for more than a century, and due to their operational and maintenance simplicity they remain a widely used technology for various stages of comminution. The relative ‘efficiency’ of horizontal grinding mills compared to other comminution equipment is often debated, and efforts to improve the energy efficiency of these mills is an on-going area of attention for process engineers.The discharge arrangement design affects the material transport characteristics within a horizontal grinding mill. Material transport plays a significant role on efficiency of horizontal grinding mills. The magnitude of benefits that can be achieved with efficient material transport in AG/SAG mills has been demonstrated in a Greenfield milling operation at Mirabela Mineração’s SantaRita Nickel operation in Brazil. This grinding circuit was commissioned in October 2009, which was designed as a typical SABC circuit to grind 4.6 mtpa (575tph) to produce a P80 of 125um with 10-12% ball charge in SAG mill. The nameplate design capacity has been achieved in few days in ABC circuit without grinding media in SAG mill, and has been operating in ABC mode. The through has gradually increased to an average of 800 tph and recently 7% ball charge has been introduced to increase the throughput to +900tph.This paper investigates improved material transport using Outotec’s TPL™ (Turbo Pulp Lifter) technology and the opportunities this technology presents when designing horizontal grinding mills. Operational data, with particular reference to energy and throughput optimization, is presented."

Jan 1, 2013

By R. L. Dunsmore

Introduction If one had been called upon to describe petroleum oil refining seventy-five years ago, he could have acceded to the request quite satisfactorily in about fifteen minutes. Fifteen years ago, an hour and a half would have been sufficient to give a general idea of oil refining, and of the equipment used for this purpose. Today, so extensive has been the research into all phases of the refining and manufacturing of petroleum products, and so rapid the strides in improvement in technique and equipment, that I doubt if a week would suffice to give an adequate outline of ail the ramifications of present-day oil refining. I propose to only 'hit the high spots', dealing particularly with the equipment and methods employed at the Imperoyal refinery, which you are to visit. Crude oil, the refiner's raw material, contains essentially only two elements, hydrogen and carbon. These are not present in the free state but are combined in various proportions as 'hydrocarbons'. A given crude oil is not made up of just one hydrocarbon, but of myriads; some solid, others liquid, and still others gaseous at atmospheric temperature and pressure, ail dissolved one in the other. Moreover, the nature and the relative amounts of the several hydrocarbons vary very considerably in crude oils from different sources. That is, a 'crude' from Oklahoma will contain hydrocarbons not present in crude from Mexico, and is different again from the Venezuela crude. Not only this but oil in a certain well in, say, Peru may be differently constituted from that in a well half a mile distant from it.

Jan 1, 1931

By Staff

This paper contains an outline of the history of the Sullivan mine, now owned and operated by the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada, Ltd.; some account of the various methods by which the ore has been treated in efforts to solve the metallurgical problems which its complex character presents, and, finally, to give, as concisely as possible, an outline of the present mining and metallurgical practice along with a description of the mining and milling plant at Kimberley and the smelter and refineries at Trail, in British Columbia. EARLY HISTORY In May, 1892, Pat Sullivan, John Cleaver and Mike Holland left the Coeur d'Alene country, in the State of Idaho, to seek their fortunes in the Kootenay lake district in British Columbia. They were aided in their venture by James Cronin, afterwards locator and owner of the St. Eugene mine at Moyie. Two months later the party broke up, Sullivan and Cleaver crossing the mountains from Crawford bay on Kootenay lake to the head waters of the St. Mary's river, the course of which they followed down to Fort Steele. Here they found a good deal of excitement about the North Star mine, and, joined by "Ed." Smith, who was familiar with this part of the country, they determined to return and prospect in its vicinity.

Jan 1, 1924

By C. E. Rodgers

WHEN I was asked to prepare, for presentation at the 1938 Annual Meeting of the Institute, some data concerning low-discharge grinding at the Sylvanite mill, it seemed entirely reasonable to expect to have at my disposal the results of at least four full months' operation after the last unit, as then proposed, was installed. Delays in delivery of equipment, nevertheless, shortened the interval, as will be shown herein. In submitting the data contained in this discussion, I wish distinctly to state that the intention is not to claim that final conclusions can be reached at this time concerning our operation. Test periods, in certain instances at least, have been too short for this purpose, although some, where so stated, have been extended through March and April. It is hoped, however, that an advantageous trend in practice can be shown and that the experience related may be of interest to others who are now operating, or who are considering the operation of, low-discharge grinding mills. In the plant under review, four mills are in use: one primary and three secondary. Present mill capacity (grinding, as shown by screen test, about 99 per cent through-200-mesh and approximately 88 to 89 per cent minus-325-mesh with infrasizer giving about 90 per cent of the latter) averages about 525 tons per day. A brief description of each unit will be given and comments will also be made relating to operation. This will be followed by certain test data from which, in conclusion, operating results are summarized.

Jan 1, 1938

By D. J. Cheung, V. N. Kazakidis

ABSTRACT Seismicity and rockburst problems in hard-rock mines negatively impact safety and profitability. The authors propose a design risk methodology as a relative risk assessment for underground excavations vulnerable to rockburst damage. It considers rock mass conditions relating to mininginduced stress, geological structure, rock mass properties, and mining influence. Application of the methodology to rockburst cases involving seismically active fault zones at the Craig mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, demonstrates that design changes can reduce exposure and economic risks. Mines with high geotechnical risk can use the design risk methodology to evaluate design alternatives as a risk management strategy.

Jan 1, 2014

By J M. Fletcher

The responsibility and scope of the Industrial Engineering Department, as organized at the Jeffrey mine, has been broadened to include any study, project or report that could result in more effective use of men, materials and equipment. Although still emphasizing wage incentives and co t reduction, much more varied work is now done, consistent with the in-.creased complexity of industry. Additional activities now include production, maintenance and inventory control improved job evaluation, packaging, labour utilization studies, technical sales liaison, mining, milling and service department n1ethods, plant layout, and specialized project analysis. Additional techniques include the extensive use of work .sampling and standard data. A recent trend has been toward increased emphasis on industrial relations, both in introducing change to the men and in providing requested explanations to Union stewards and officers. These new responsibilities have resulted in the development of specialists in some rather narrow industrial engineering fields, as well as the necessity for industrial engineering assistance in supervisory and job training.

Jan 1, 1963

By P. J. Sylvester, D. H. C. Wilton, R. I. Wheeler, M. A. E. Huminick, D. Evans-Lamswood

"Abstract — Systematic characterization of the mineralogy of massive sulfide ore deposits can provide valuable insights into ore genesis and metallurgical processing that would not be apparent otherwise. We describe a method wherein (1) normative mineral abundances are calculated from whole-rock chemical assays using an algorithm, (2) the results are cast in block models, (3) the results are then verified with automated image analysis of a subset of samples prepared as grain mounts by backscattered electron imaging and X-ray mapping on a scanning electron microscope, and (4) those verified results are integrated with textural data determined by optical microscopy.The technique is applied to the magmatic Ni-Cu-Co sulfides of the Ovoid orebody, based on geochemical assays of 3175 whole-rock samples. Three principal ore zones are defined in the Ovoid. Type I ore occurs in the center of the deposit; it is magnetite-rich and pyrrhotite-poor with intermediate contents of pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Type II ore surrounds Type I ore and is pentlanditechalcopyrite- rich with intermediate contents of pyrrhotite and magnetite. Type III ore occurs at the base and along the outer periphery of the northern part of the orebody; it is pyrrhotite-rich and chalcopyrite- poor with an intermediate content of pentlandite, and a low-to-intermediate content of magnetite."

Jan 1, 2012