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By K. Nikkhah, N. Dhadli, G. Freeman

Ammoniacal pressure leaching operations have been in commercial use at the Fort Saskatchewan refinery of Sherritt International Corporation since 1954. Recent improvements have significantly increased the capacity of this circuit. The computer modeling of this process has proved to be a valuable tool in facilitating the evaluation of different operating scenarios in an effective manner. Reagent response in the ammonia leach of nickel and cobalt sulphides is examined using the dynamic process simulation capabilities of IDEAS(TM) software. The dynamic simulation enables accurate measurement of the sensitivity of the process to variables such as temperature, feed rate and ammonia concentration as well as compartmental analysis of metals concentration, pulp density, vent gas composition, and the formation of specific complexes. The complexity of the ammonia leach process makes it a logical choice for evaluation by computational analysis. The methodology for dynamic modeling of a pressure leach process is presented.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. J. Brummer

"A reconnaissance geochemical survey, using the stream sediment technique, is described. The survey covered an area of about 400 square miles, in the Seal Lake area of central Labrador, underlain by basaltic flows, diabase and metadiabase sills, and sedimentary rocks. Previous work had indicated numerous small copper occurrences within the Seal Lake group of rocks. Stream sediments were tested for the readily extractable copper content and total heavy metal content. The results of the copper survey did not yield any new data on the distribution of copper mineralization. Results of the total heavy metal survey attracted attention to a remote portion of the area (Ten Mile Lake), which had hitherto been regarded as having no economic interest. The anomalous values found, suggested that zinc mineralization should occur in this region. Geological mapping indicated that the rocks exposed belonged to the Letitia Lake Group, which is older than the Seal Lake Group exposed to the east, which contains the copper mineralization of the district.Investigation of the area lead to the discovery of: (1) uneconomic lead-zinc mineralization; (2) radioactivity extending over a considerable area. Evaluation of the radioactive rocks led to the discovery of columbium-thorium mineralization in amphibolite and in diopside-actinolite schists along a contact with intrusive alkali syenite.Thus a geochemical survey, which was planned to evaluate a copper province, resulted in the discovery of lead-zinc-columbium-thorium mineralization."

Jan 1, 1960

By S. M. Fatemi-Varzaneh

The AZ31 magnesium alloy is considered as a promising alloy in various applications and industries. Furthermore, to design a proper hot working process (rolling, forging and extrusion), the assessment of hot working behaviour of the alloy is necessitated. Accordingly, the hot deformation behaviour of AZ31 alloy was studied through hot compression testing method. The latter was carried out in a wide range of temperature (523 K to 783 K) and strain rates. The obtained true stress-true strain curves and final microstructures were examined and a partial melting was realized at 740 K. It was concluded that the presence of liquid did change the deformation mechanisms thereby affecting the flow behaviour.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. A. Brusset

THE Greenhill mine of West Canadian Collieries, Limited, is situated at Blairmore, Alberta, and produces 2,500 tons per day of bituminous coal. On Monday, October 25th, 1943, smoke was discovered by a party of firebosses on their regular weekly inspection of air-ways. Probably the fire had been smouldering for several days but, as it had started on the outcrop at the top of an old raise filled with dirt, only a small quantity of smoke could filter through, and the plume of mist that crowns the fan at that season had prevented the fan-man from noticing it. This raise is only about 200 feet from the fan, and is 70 feet long between the fan-drift and the outcrop. It was impossible to prove the origin of the fire, as it had probably started several days before it was discovered, but it is possible that a careless smoker may have thrown a match into the opening at the outcrop, and that the old, dry timber had caught fire. The airways are in No. 2 seam, a bituminous seam 18 to 25 feet thick surmounted by shales and sandstones. Only 45 feet vertically above it is No. 1 seam, 12 feet thick, overlain by a strong conglomerate. In that vicinity, No. 1 seam had been worked out about ten years ago and the strata between the two seams are undoubtedly fissured. The pitch of both seams is 43 degrees.

Jan 1, 1945

By W. Kempson

"As has been noted on numerous occasions, the vertical shafts being sunk around the world are all tending to get deeper as we seek to take advantage of higher grades of minerals which can sometimes be found at greater depths. One of the challenges with these deeper shafts is the requirement to supply services to the mine’s operations at depth as well as the requirement to dewater the mine. Both the supply of water and the dewatering of mines is generally done using piping. With the greater shaft depths, this piping is now required to contain higher pressures as well as to accommodate changes in temperature resulting from normal mine operations. This paper will discuss the requirements for the design of high pressure piping in deep vertical shafts. The discussion will start with the general definition of the systems and the detailed design requirement. Once this is clearly outlined, we will discuss the options available for fulfilling these requirement as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of the systems. We will finish with the installation recommendations and provide a basis for the maintenance of these systems. INTRODUCTION Piping in vertical shafts is used to provide a number of services in underground workings. These services vary depending on geographical location and the type of the ore body which is being mined. For example, in the Zambian Copper mines, one of the largest requirements for in shaft piping is for dewatering. Similarly in the Gold deposits in the West Wits basin as well as the deep level Copper deposits in Arizona, one of the largest uses for the piping is the supply of a cooling medium to underground workings to create a safe working environment (this can in the form of water or of glycol depending on the application). In South Africa, systems were installed which used the hydrostatic head which is generated from supplying chilled water to mines whose depths exceeded 2,000 m below surface. This chilled water was supplied as a closed system, allowing for high pressures to be generated which was then used to supply useful work (for example, Rock Drills, Face Cleaning and other ancillary services) whose power was traditionally supplied by compressed air or electricity. This system was initially researched by Chamber of Mine in South Africa. The design pressure range of these systems is 14 MPa to 18 MPa."

Jan 1, 2019

"Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) modelling has increasingly being used in many geotechnical and mining engineering problems, the authors believe there is an ever greater demand to provide updated guidelines that address the collection of discontinuity data in the specific context of DFN models. In general terms, the generation of a DFN model requires collecting information on i) fracture orientation, ii) fracture intensity, iii) fracture length and iv) fracture terminations. The International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM) suggested methods for the quantitative description of discontinuities in rock masses directly include most of these parameters. However, there are important differences engineers should be aware. To what extent discontinuities can be sampled and which limitations are inherently introduced in the analysis by the sampling methods being adopted represent important aspects that should drive the collection of discontinuity data for DFN analysis; this will require the introduction of a more appropriate set of guidelines bridging the gap between the current, very practical, ISRM methods and the data requirements imposed by the use of new DFN technologies.INTRODUCTIONThe last decade has seen a major increase in use of the Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) approach, both as a stand-alone tool or integrated within more complex geomechanical simulations (Rogers et al., 2014 and Elmo et al., 2014). In particular, the DFN approach offers the opportunity to maximise the use of fracture data collected from mapping of rock exposures and to construct synthetic rock mass (SRM) models. However, the potential of DFN based modelling is limited if there is insufficient care in collecting the necessary structural data at the required engineering scale. DFN models are also subject to the process of data calibration and validation (Hadjigeorgiou, 2012). With DFN modelling becoming an almost integral part of many geotechnical and mining engineering problems, the authors believe there is an ever greater demand to review the process of collecting fracture data in the specific context of DFN modelling.The value of the DFN model depends directly on the quality and quantity of available field data. For example, fracture length (persistence) is an important parameter in DFN modelling; however, this parameter is either seldom available at the pre-feasibility stage due to a lack of exposures (man-made or natural), or engineers have access to limited length data collected along exploratory drifts. Characterisation of rock exposures should also take into account limits of window/scanline mapping techniques with respect to both trace length bias and the effect of cut-off assumptions inherent in the mapping methodology."

Jan 1, 2015

By L. Freitag

"The Dollard oil field in southwestern Saskatchewan is a stratigraphic trap of irregular shaped perimeter. The reservoir is a low-angle monoclinal structure with a dip of approximately 100 feet in 5 miles from west to east across the long axis of the reservoir. Production of. 23° API gravity crude is obtained from a Jurassic sand referred to as the J-2-A, at an approximate depth of 4,500 feet. Reservoir studies and fluid analyses revealed that the crude is highly undersaturated, having a solution GOR of approximately 130 cubic feet of gas per barrel, that the reservoir has no definable water table, and that it appears to be of a closed-boundary type. Oil production was marked by a rapid pressure decline and it was soon evident that the greatest ultimate recovery would be best obtained if the natural driving energy of the reservoir were augmented by some artificial energy source. In support of a pressure maintenance programme, studies were conducted on flood-pot recoveries of large-diameter cores, and a potentiometric model study of the field was made. These studies indicated that a successful water flood would be obtained. The Dollard field was unitized in 1955 and pressure maintenance started in March 1956."

Jan 1, 1959

By F. Y. Hsiao, H. C. Kao

Underground excavation in hard rock is normally stable at shallow depth except for wedge failure. However, the excavation depth is rapidly increasing recently. In high overburden stress condition, the integrity of rock would be destroyed with degrading rock strength. Therefore, understanding both the peak and the post-peak strengths of hard rock are necessary to assess the tunnel stability at depths. The characteristic of the post-peak strength is seldom studied in Taiwan in the past. Various estimation methods for the post-peak strength degradation were briefly reviewed in the paper. Based on the Geological Strength Index (GSI) system is widely used in the determination of the rock mass strength, the quantitative residual GSI system was adopted to estimate the possible strength degradation for a hydraulic tunnel in Taiwan. The Mohr-Coulomb model (no strength degradation) and the post-peak strength degradation model (strain softening model) were used to simulate the excavation of the case tunnel at different depths. The analyses demonstrate that the tunnel is in stable condition at 600m of depth. And the effect of the postpeak strength degradation on tunnel deformation is progressively significant with increasing tunnel depth. Approximate 3-5 times of increase in crown settlement and horizontal convergence would occur when post-peak strength degradation are considered at 2400m of depth. Severe tunnel deformation may endanger the tunnel stability. Modeling results reveal that the post-peak strength degradation has a great effect on tunnel stability under high overburden stress condition, which should not neglect in deep tunnel design.

Jan 1, 2015

By S. S. Al-Thyabat, A. M. Ghrair

"Printed circuit board (PCB) is the main part of any electric or electronic device, providing mechanical support and electric connection for the board eclectic components such as capacitors, resistors, diodes etc. PCB consists of non-conductive substrate overlaid with one or more layers of copper sheets. They also contain appreciable amounts of base metals (copper, nickel, tine, and aluminum) and precious metals (gold, silver, and rare earth elements (REE)) which end up in the landfill at the PCB end-of-life.PCB recycling E-waste in general is a profitable business; many valuable raw materials, precious and base metals, can be extracted with high purity. Approximately, one metric tonne of PCBs may contain 80-1500 g of gold and 160–210 kg of copper. The precious metals recovered from PCBs occur at concentrations higher than commercially mined minerals. Also PCB recycling is very important to our environment since many heavy metals (e.g. lead) may be leached from the landfills to the underground reservoirs. In Jordan, however, the work conducted on E-waste and PCB recycling in particular is limited; currently most of the E-waste is either exported or dumped in the landfill.In this work, a combination of physical (magnetic separation), physicochemical (flotation), and chemical methods (leaching) were used to compare metals concentrations in leach liquors produced from a concentrates resulted from a combination of these methods. It was found the leach liquor of the magnetic fraction of the PCB coarse size gave the highest concentration of Fe, Al, and Ni while concentration of Cu was higher in leach liquor of nonmagnetic sink fraction. On the other hand, metals concentration almost similar for both sink and float of the fine size fractions, indicating even distribution of metals concentrations in the fine size fractions."

Jan 1, 2016

By K. Aziz

The solutions to unsteady-state gas flow in a radial system have been reviewed in order to aid in the interpretation of drawdown data. It has been the practice to evaluate the time and rate conversion constants, directly or indirectly, by using reservoir data. This paper presents a method of determining these constants from drawdown data. A simplified approach to the de-termination for the various boundary conditions is presented. An example of a problem which illustrates the use of this theory appears in the appendix. UNSTEADY-STATE FLOW EQUATION The solution of any unsteady-state flow problem involves (1) the continuity equation, (2) the equation of state of the fluid, (3) the equation of fluid motion and (4) the boundary conditions. For the Darcy flow of a gas in the horizontal radial plane, the equation is when the viscosity, compressibility and permeability to gas flow may be assumed constant and the medium

Jan 1, 1963

By André Bérubé

Since the disappearance of Les Forges du Saint-Maurice at the end of the last century, many historians have taken an interest in the lengthy past of this enterprise. They considered the political, socio-economic, administrative and anecdotal aspects of the industry, but barely dealt with the elements of technology. The purpose of this article is to try to fill this gap (1). Les Forges du Saint-Maurice was an integrated industrial concern, specializing in the production of semi-finished wrought iron and finished cast iron that operated almost without interruption between 1734 and 1883. Les Forges first came into being in 1729, when Montreal merchant Franc;ois Poulin de Francheville submitted to the King of France a request for the right to exploit the bog iron ore deposits on his seigneury of Saint-Maurice. This request, agreed to in 1730, was one of a long series of attempts, previously unsuccessful, to establish a local iron industry in the colony. Several such proposals were held up by a lack of capital from promoters or a too rigid application of the mercantilist policy by the metropolis. In 1730, however, the French minister Maurepas favoured a more liberal policy which would encourage private enterprise. The benefits of an iron industry to the naval construction industry was a factor that caught the attention of administrators. The choice of the site for Les Forges was based on the following factors: - the abundance of surface deposits of bog iron ore in the Saint-Maurice region; - the presence of a vast supply of hardwood and conifers needed in large quantities by this industry; - the proximity of sandstone and limestone deposits, md1spensable materials for the construction and operation of the blast furnace; - the presence of a water stream, with sufficient flow to provide the hydraulic power needed for the operation of the machinery.

Jan 1, 1999

By W. H. White, A. J. Sinclair

"Unaltered biotites from three samples of monzonite and gabbro from the Copper Mountain stock and a single sample from a pegmatic biotite-chalcopyrite vein cutting the Triassic Wolf Creek formation have a mean K-A age of 193±7 m.y. These data support a suggestion based on geological evidence that Copper Mountain ore deposits are related genetically to the Copper Mountain stock.A cogenetic mineral pair (biotite and clinopyroxene) from a sample of sericitized and chloritized monzonite of the Copper Mountain stock have identical K-A ages of 150 m.y., which probably represents a time of wide-spread, post-ore, hydrothermal alteration. This alteration is believed to be related genetically to a group of post-ore intrusions known as the ""mine dykes,"" suggesting that they also have an age of 150 m.y."

Jan 1, 1968

By A. F. Beck

Abstract Canada has opened up a geological province in ?Western Canada which offers a new .stimulus to oil exploration geophysics. The problems of instrumental technique, interpretation, and logistics involved in the exploration of this new territory are presented in this paper and some of the efforts being undertaken to overcome them are discussed. The scope of this programme, its possible trend and extent, especially when viewed .against the background of the exploration effort in the United States, is touched upon. Introduction The science of earth physics was first applied to the search for oil on this continent some twenty-five years ago when torsion balance and refraction seismic methods were initiated in the Gulf Coast area of the United States. Since that time advances in the various branches of the science have been sporadic as new fields for their use opened up in the search for deep salt domes as well as less well-defined geological structures; in the application to well logging as part of the exploitation of petroleum; and in underwater surveys, aerial surveys, etc. In the present paper, attention has been concentrated only on the Western Canada plains area because of the recent remarkable growth of geophysics as an oil finding technique in this region. The other prospective oil areas of the West Coast and the Eastern Provinces of Canada are at present of minor importance, although they will undoubtedly receive increasing consideration in the future as accessibility to markets becomes a major factor and more improved geophysical and geological techniques are developed. A vast province in Canada, covering some 655,000 square miles of prospective oil territory (approximately one-half of the prospective oil area in the United States), has provided the new sphere of activity for geophysics (see Figures 1 and 2). Included in this area are immense inaccessible, uninhabited frozen regions which pose a new problem in logistics and operational techniques.

Jan 1, 1950

By C. J. Cajka

Commodity agreements, trade liberalization, producer cartels, the New International Economic Order, price stabilization and access to supply are buzz words of the day. The international concern and dialogue on these concepts, often by a new breed of politically motivated experts, have generated intense interest in seeking an international solution to natural resource problems. While this momentum was maintained during the past year, the growing incidence of protectionist actions by several major nations has been eroding confidence in the global approach. The seriousness of current difficulties has created an urgent need for decisive action. At the same time, the limitations of the global approach have become more evident.

Jan 1, 1978

"HPGRs operate in a wide array of applications in mining and minerals. These range from relatively coarse crushing of copper and gold ores at one end of the spectrum to the processing of fine iron ore pellet feed and fine industrial mineral products at the other. Traditionally these circuits involve the treatment of relatively moist materials in pre-grinding circuits; using single stage HPGRs in open circuit or as a closed circuit operation with screening or partial product recycle. More recently, HPGR is increasingly deployed in dry grinding in combination with air classification. The high throughput demonstrated by larger HPGRs has stretched the application towards coarser size reduction duties for a number of new projects. At the same time, the basic principle of inter-particle crushing for generating a product with a high fines proportion gives ground to investigate applying the technology further towards finished product duties. The advantages that HPGR brings are clear. Multi Stage grinding enables energy efficient size reduction across more of the comminution circuit. Primary HPGR serves for a coarse grinding duty, whereas a secondary HPGR is geared towards generating a fine product for downstream processing or even a finished product. This publication summarizes some of the features of staged HPGR circuits and discusses some examples of operating and projected applications.INTRODUCTION In most HPGR applications, the grinding units are used as a single process stage, either in open circuit, such as for pebble crushing [Rose 2002, Westermeyer 2000, Van der Meer 2015] or in closed circuit with classification [Van der Meer 2009, 2012] or product recycling [Van der Meer 2010]. Where a higher plant capacity is required, the HPGRs are commonly installed in multiple lines in a parallel arrangement [Parker 2005, Koski 201, Vanderbeek 2006]. HPGRs can take a wide range of feed size distributions, and grind this down to a product with a high fines content. In general view, there is a limit on the size reduction range that even an HPGR can provide. Grinding down from a very coarse ore (e.g. 70-100 mm) to a very fine product (e.g. 100 microns range) is stretching the ability of a single stage HPGR circuit. Fine grinding generally requires a classification stage that returns the classifier oversize to the head of the HPGR circuit. From one point of view, it can be demonstrated that when recycling a large proportion of fines and middlings back to the HPGR feed results in an effective feed with an overrepresentation of middlings and fines, which will eventually reduce the grinding efficiency and consequently result in an increased recirculation mass flow [Van der Meer 2014]. From another point of view the large recycling mass puts a strain or even a limit on the capacity of present-day conveyor capacity."

Jan 1, 2018

By K Morrison

Different individuals have calculated the boundary stresses around elliptical openings in an infinite elastic medium for various conditions of loading. With caution, such calculations are useful in indicating stress trends in mining. This paper illustrates an application to caving operations and suggests that abnormal field stress would have an adverse effect. Introduction GELDART and Udd (1), applying elastic theory, confirmed, and set out graphically, the stress distributions on the surface of elliptical openings with axis ratios varying from 1.0 (a circle) to infinity (a crack). The loading conditions varied from uniaxial to hydrostatic, and inclinations for the opening, with respect to the stress axis, varied from 0° to 90°. As most mine openings can be generalized into this elliptical conception, the usefulness of the presentation lies in the fact that given reasonable estimates for the stress ratio, the axis ratio, and its inclination, then the trend in stress concentrations as an opening develops can be readily approximated.

Jan 1, 1964

By M. Ye. Shulgina, M. L. Bolotin, S. A. Prokopev, Ye. S. Prokopev

Iron ores concentration at Russia’s operations is carried out using conventional flow sheets. They comprise the two-four stage grinding followed by one-two stage magnetic separation. This results in the maximum recovery of magnetite to concentrate and the tailings generation. The final concentrate is generated only during the last stage of magnetic separation. Technologically, this flow sheet layout is not effective at recovering the liberated magnetite grains during grinding to the resulting concentrate. Advanced models of magnetic separators do not allow for the selective separation of the tailings and the portion of the resulting iron ore concentrate. Magnetic product which is the ore mixture of the liberated magnetite grains, high grade and low grade intergrowths is directed to the next grinding stage. In this case, regrinding of the liberated magnetite occurs. In addition, the performance of hydrocyclones during classification in closed grinding circuits is poor. Their classification efficiency does not provide the material separation in accordance with the size. In this case, simultaneous separation in accordance with the density occurs. The quartz particles with the size of 300 mm have similar velocity and trajectory like the particles of magnetite with the size of 60 mm. As a result, light and coarser intergrowths report to the overflow and free heavy magnetite grains report to underflow and return to regrinding (“the density effect”). This resulted in a significant increase of a mill circulating load, the decrease in the feed throughput and higher power consumption. In this connection, the development of iron ore concentrate stage recovery with the focus on gradual liberation of the intergrowths is getting much attention. Gravity concentration technique, particularly, spiral separation is effective at solving the problem of stage recovery not only the dump waste product but also high grade magnetite concentrates at the early concentration stages. This can be attributed to a significant difference in magnetite (4.9-5.2 g/cm3) and host minerals (quartz 2.7 g/cm3) densities, which is the principal during gravity concentration. The test work on concentration of various products samples from current operations (the mills discharges, concentrates from various stages of wet magnetic separation and cyclones underflows) was carried out. Spiral separators SV-500 and ShV-500 manufactured by Spirit LLC were used for the test work. High grade iron ore concentrate (69.05% Fe) was generated during primary wet magnetic separation concentrate concentration using a spiral separator. During the concentration of mills discharges the content of iron in the resulting concentrates and middlings of wet magnetic separation II stage was 64.5% and 64.6%, respectively. The recovery of iron to the concentrates of spiral separation was 33.6-42.0%. The studies presented demonstrate that by using spiral separation for iron-bearing ores concentration, you can separate magnetite liberated grains at the early concentration stages, decrease their regrinding and circulating loads in grinding circuits. This process is able to improve the overall recovery and economics of iron ores concentration process.

Jan 1, 2016

By M. Ye. Shulgina, M. L. Bolotin, S. A. Prokopev, Ye. S. Prokopev

Iron ores concentration at Russia’s operations is carried out using conventional flow sheets. They comprise the two-four stage grinding followed by one-two stage magnetic separation. This results in the maximum recovery of magnetite to concentrate and the tailings generation. The final concentrate is generated only during the last stage of magnetic separation. Technologically, this flow sheet layout is not effective at recovering the liberated magnetite grains during grinding to the resulting concentrate. Advanced models of magnetic separators do not allow for the selective separation of the tailings and the portion of the resulting iron ore concentrate. Magnetic product which is the ore mixture of the liberated magnetite grains, high grade and low grade intergrowths is directed to the next grinding stage. In this case, regrinding of the liberated magnetite occurs. In addition, the performance of hydrocyclones during classification in closed grinding circuits is poor. Their classification efficiency does not provide the material separation in accordance with the size. In this case, simultaneous separation in accordance with the density occurs. The quartz particles with the size of 300 mm have similar velocity and trajectory like the particles of magnetite with the size of 60 mm. As a result, light and coarser intergrowths report to the overflow and free heavy magnetite grains report to underflow and return to regrinding (“the density effect”). This resulted in a significant increase of a mill circulating load, the decrease in the feed throughput and higher power consumption. In this connection, the development of iron ore concentrate stage recovery with the focus on gradual liberation of the intergrowths is getting much attention. Gravity concentration technique, particularly, spiral separation is effective at solving the problem of stage recovery not only the dump waste product but also high grade magnetite concentrates at the early concentration stages. This can be attributed to a significant difference in magnetite (4.9-5.2 g/cm3) and host minerals (quartz 2.7 g/cm3) densities, which is the principal during gravity concentration. The test work on concentration of various products samples from current operations (the mills discharges, concentrates from various stages of wet magnetic separation and cyclones underflows) was carried out. Spiral separators SV- 500 and ShV-500 manufactured by Spirit LLC were used for the test work. High grade iron ore concentrate (69.05% Fe) was generated during primary wet magnetic separation concentrate concentration using a spiral separator. During the concentration of mills discharges the content of iron in the resulting concentrates and middlings of wet magnetic separation II stage was 64.5% and 64.6%, respectively. The recovery of iron to the concentrates of spiral separation was 33.6-42.0%. The studies presented demonstrate that by using spiral separation for iron-bearing ores concentration, you can separate magnetite liberated grains at the early concentration stages, decrease their regrinding and circulating loads in grinding circuits. This process is able to improve the overall recovery and economics of iron ores concentration process.

Jan 1, 2016

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 Chris Yellowega

The construction and startup of a new mine is a daunting task. To successfully locate, design, build and startup an immense human endeavour like a new mine, takes perseverance, planning, dedication and significant capital. The application of capital requires a thorough evaluation of risk and where that risk is most properly limited to create the risk/return profile. One area of significant capital and thus, significant risk is the selection and maintenance of the very machinery needed to deliver the creation of investor wealth. Albian Sands Energy is the operator of the new Muskeg River Mine located north of Fort McMurray in Alberta?s oilsands. The Muskeg River Mine is owned by a joint venture of three companies: Shell Canada, Chevron Canada Ltd.and Western Oil Sands. The mine is designed to run 400,000 tons per day, 365 days per year. The mine conditions vary from material as hard and of similar consistency to pavement to underfoot conditions as soft as saturated sands. Water cannot be drained below surface conditions, shovel teeth can disappear in less than 24 hours and the primary business is often constructing large civil structures that have little to do with the delivery of ore. The mine starts with the deposit (if it doesn?t exist, nothing else matters), moves into the design, the feasibility study and the approval. The evaluation of risk and the strategies surrounding the control of that risk truly lie after these stages are complete. The strategy and execution stage is where risk is eliminated or accommodated. The point at which the investors money is being spent is the point at which the decisions made cannot be reversed. It is of absolute importance that the execution of the decisions are consistent with the strategy agreed to, lest the investors need to be asked for more money. The key sources of risk identified for the Muskeg River Mine were recruitment of trained and experienced personnel and the delivery of ore to maximize early (<2yr) cash flow. The Muskeg River Mine personnel determined that to minimize risk, personnel would be recruited to operate the mine equipment yet, the requirements for maintaining the equipment would best be held by the manufacturer. The strategy was to obtain the correct equipment for the operation of the mine and leverage the supplier?s expertise to ensure the mine wasn?t training a maintenance organization at the same time as a mining organization. In essence the key strategy for the mine start up and early operation was to leverage the equipment suppliers to maintain and repair the equipment. Albian Sands would maximize the utilization of Maintain And Repair Contract?s.

May 1, 2003