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By P. B. Queneau, Peter V. Avotins, Lauch F. Farris

"The Lang Bay germanium property is a carbonaceous sandstone deposit outcropping near the Pacific coast, 100 km north of Vancouver. The germanium-bearing seams are up to 5 m thick. Where one such seam outcrops, it averages 50 to 60 g Ge/tonne. Drill core analyses have shown considerably greater concentrations of germanium at depth. Additional drilling to establish continuity and grade of the germanium-b earing strata is scheduled for 1986. The germanium occurs in association with lignite, which makes up 1 to 2% of the seam. American Cyanamid Company engineers have developed a proprietary flotation reagent effective for concentrating the germanium rich vitrain portion of the Lang Bay lignite. Ongoing laboratory studies are developing procedures for further upgrading and refining of this germanium. This paper outlines progress made by Fargo Oil Corporation on Lang Bay geology, reserve estimation, mine planning, ore dressing, refining, and economic evaluation.IntroductionIn 1871, Mendeleyev specula ted on the properties of a ""missing"" element between silico n and tin on the periodic table. The discovery of germanium fifteen years later proved the Mendeleyev predictions to be remarkably accurate. Almo half a century later, the pioneering work of McCutcheon of Eagle-Picher led to production of germanium dioxide from Oklahoma zinc smelting residues. Demand for the element surged due to development of the Ge02 diode rectifier during World War II, followed by development of the transistor in 1947. The chief commercial sources for germanium during the following two decades were the Cu-Zn mines in the Congo and the Zn-Cu-Pb mines of Tsumeb in Southwest Africa. The germanium was chemically combined in complex Cu-Fe sulphides (germanite and renierite), from which the element was recovered either by leaching the selectively roasted sulphide, or by direct fuming of GeS(I). Although these deposits have reportedly been depleted (2), new deposits of renierite have been discovered in Zaire. Alternative sources of germanium are therefore being sought worldwide for use in infrared optics, semiconductors, fibre optics, and catalysts. One such source is germanium-rich coal (2)."

Jan 1, 1986

By D. B. Hyma

"The Raglan Ni/Cu property is located on the Ungava Peninsula in Northern Quebec, Canada, at a latitude of61°42' and a longitude of73°40', approximately 40 km southwest of Douglas Harbor. Geological reserves are estimated at 18 million tonnes, grading 3. 1 % nickel, 0.9% copper and smaller amounts of cobalt and platinum group metals.Extensive project development has defined the concentration process, concentrator sizing, tailings and environmental management required for this project.The grinding circuit selected is a fully autogenous primary grind, with pebble crushing and a pebble mill for secondary grinding to produce a product of 80% -70 microns for flotation.The flotation circuit is a simple circuit utilizing roughing, a regrind of rougher concentrate to 80% -20 microns, two stages of column cleaning with a cleaner scavenger bank on the column tails.Concentrate handling options were thoroughly reviewed because of the pyrophoric nature of the concentrate, remote site location and long distance to downstream processing. The preferred option, currently.is to dry the concentrate at Raglan to less than l % moisture and then pneumatically handle the powder.A detailed analysis of tailings placement options, suggests filtered tailings placement to be the preferable route for the Raglan site.INTRODUCTIONThe Raglan Project, as proposed by Falconbridge Limited, will develop extensive nickel-copper deposits in the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec, Canada. The project schedule and construction conditions in the project area are demanding. The Raglan mineral deposits have been the subject of numerous studies and evaluations over the last thirty years and the Phase I 1991 pre-feasibility document includes exploration information obtained in the 1989 and 1990 drilling seasons. This review concluded that an 800,000 tonnes of ore per year mining and concentrating complex located at Katinniq could produce 20,000 tonnes per year of nickel at competitive costs."

Jan 1, 1993

By Jr. Watts, B. K. Cantrell, K. L. Bickel, J. F. McDonald

"A field trial was conducted at an underground gold mine to evaluate diesel fuel derived from soybean oil (soy-methyl-esters or “biodiesel”) as an alternative to commercial, low-sulphur, number 2 diesel fuel (D2). A 2.7 m3, 18-ton load-haul-dump (LHD) unit, powered by a naturally aspirated, indirect injection (pre-chamber), 100 kW diesel engine was used as the test vehicle. The LHD was equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst. The LHD operated satisfactorily on the biodiesel fuel. Operators observed a slight decrease in power and an absence of black smoke.Diesel particulate matter (DPM) concentrations were monitored for a six-week period while the LHD was operated with either the biodiesel fuel or the D2 fuel. DPM concentrations were measured in the mining section’s clean air intake, exhaust and on the LHD. Reduction in DPM emissions was determined from the measured difference in DPM concentrations between the clean air intake and the exhaust. The biodiesel fuel reduced energyspecific DPM emissions approximately 75%, from 3.6 ± 1.8 g/kW-hr to 0.86 ± 0.27 g/kWhr. Time-weighted average DPM exposure, measured near the LHD operator, was reduced from 0.67 ± 0.13 mg/sm3 to 0.28 ± 0.12 mg/sm3, or approximately 58%, when the biodiesel fuel was used. IntroductionDiesel exhaust consists of noxious gases and diesel particulate matter (DPM). Recent attention has focussed on the potential carcinogenicity of DPM and the potential health impact on miners. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended that whole diesel exhaust be regarded as a “potential occupational carcinogen”, and that reductions in workplace exposure would reduce cancer risks (NIOSH, 1988). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared that “diesel engine exhaust is probably carcinogenic to humans” (IARC, 1989)."

Jan 1, 1997

By David M. Knowles, R. Gordon Gastil

"The Precambrian sedimentary series of the Labrador geosyncline, including iron formation, extends into southwestern Labrador and adjacent Quebec. The iron formation consisted of primary oxide, silicate, and carbonate facies which were deposited simultaneously in an irregular basin in response to migratory environmental conditions. The iron formation isochemically recrystallized to coarse-grained quartz-iron oxide, iron silicate, and quartz-iron carbon-ate rocks during prolonged regional metamorphism. The rocks are deformed on two deformation axes intersecting at large angles, and are characterized by isoclinal to recumbent folds. Parts of the formation have been profoundly affected by a post-metamorphic leaching and oxidizing environment."

Jan 1, 1959

By J. F. Wright

INTRODUCTION Eighteen years ago about half a dozen experienced prospectors moved from northern Ontario to northwest Manitoba to prospect 'greenstone' areas shown on geological maps of .parts of northern Manitoba prepared by J. B. Tyrrell, D. B. Dowling, and Wm. Mclnnes. Gold-bearing quartz was soon discovered by these men in this new field, and in succeeding years many more prospectors entered the district. A number of the pioneers are still prospecting, and since 1913 mineral deposits have been discovered each year in widely separated areas of the large district extending 150 miles eastward from the 102nd meridian and 60 miles north of latitude 54°30'. The majority of the discoveries, however, have been made near Schist, Elbow, Wekusko, and Kississing lakes. One hundred or more mineral occurrences of some merit are known, the main types being sulphide replacement bodies containing nickel-copper or copper-zinc and gold-bearing quartz veins. Some underground exploration or diamond drilling has been completed on 25 or more of the prospects. Up to the present, three ore-bodies, namely, Flin Flon, Sherritt-Gordon, and Mandy, have been proved. Of these, Flin Flon, the largest, is estimated to contain from 16,000,000 o 19,000,000 tons of copper-zinc ore carrying some gold, silver, and lead. Next in importance in regard to tonnage is Sherritt-Gordon, with a calculated reserve of nearly 5,250,000 tons of copper-zinc ore carrying less than $1.00 combined gold and silver.

Jan 1, 1931

ABSTRACT Inco’s Iron Ore Recovery Plant was operated by Inco from 1955 to 1980 near Sudbury, Ontario. As exposures to specific nickel substances have been associated with adverse respiratory endpoints it is important to understand processes giving rise to such substances. This manuscript discusses the process and equipment, the propensity for aerosol formation, and operational procedures used by Inco in roasting a pyrrhotite concentrate, reducing the nickel in the formed oxide, leaching the nickel in ammoniacal solution, purifying the resulting solution, making green or black NiO, and producing iron oxide pellets. Industrial hygiene measurements are also reported.

Jan 1, 2013

By J. J. O?Neill

Introduction The Beattie mine is the first of its character to be exploited in Quebec. It is primarily a large low-grade gold deposit containing values which a few years ago would not have been considered as ore. Much interest is attached to this development as its success may mean a greatly enlarged scope to gold mining in Canada on deposits which have formerly been considered worthless. Because of its potential importance as a pioneer in low-grade gold mining, the Quebec Bureau of Mines decided to make a careful detailed study of the Beattie in the hope not only of assisting in its development, but of stimulating the search for similar essential geological conditions in other parts of the Province. This paper is a summary of the results obtained during two months on the property in 1932, supplemented by a few trips underground in 1933. The full report will appear in the Annual Report of the Quebec Bureau of Mines for 1932, Part C. Location and Means of Access: The Beattie ore-body is situated two miles west and one half mile north of the centre of Duparquet township, and approximately 22 miles north 28° west of the town of Noranda. Until the fall of 1932, access to the property was from LaSarre, on the Canadian National railway, over a thirty-mile water route with one portage 600 feet long; about 2,000 tons of machinery and supplies were taken in by that route. An automobile road, nine miles long, now connects the property with the Makamik highway, and a narrow-gauge railway, without ballast, gives outlet for concentrates from the mill to the C.N.R. tracks of the Rouyn-Taschereau line, nineteen miles distant.

Jan 1, 1934

By G. F. Carr

"IntroductionFLUORSPAR has been found at several •localities in Newfoundland, but all the commercial deposits discovered to date are in the vicinity of St. Lawrence, a town on the southeast coast. Most of the veins are within six miles of St. Lawrence harbour, and between sea-level and an altitude of 400 feet. The St. Lawrence Corporation of Newfoundland, Limited, and Newfoundland Fluorspar, Limited, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of Canada. Limited. are the two producers.With the arrival of 1953, the St. Lawrence area entered upon its twenty-second •consecutive year as a producer of fluorspar. Production has increased more or less steadily during this period, as is shown by the fact that approximately one-half of the total shipments to date have been made during the past six years. Between four and five hundred men are employed by the industry, and more than $1,250,000 was paid out in wages and salaries during 1952. Shipments during that year reached an all-time high of 81,283 tons valued at $2,484,943, compared with 67,925 tons valued at $1,966,477 in 1951 (1).As a result of an agreement made in July, 1952, with the United States Defence Materials Procurement Agency, production of the St. Lawrence Corporation, Limited, and St. Lawrence Fluorspar, Incorporated, an affiliated company, will •be increased by .approximately 50,000 tons of acid-grade fluorspar per year. The contract extends over a period of four years, or until 150,000 tons of acid-grade concentrates have been produced."

Jan 1, 1954

By K. W. Edwards

The formulation of a theoretical basis for the evaluation of in-situ coal through the use of geophysical logs is outlined. This involved the development of an approach to the interpretation of resistivity in environments having multiple conductive and non-conductive components. Utilizing this approach and other conventional interpretation techniques, a program was developed yielding accurate determinations of the in-situ percentages of coal, water and ash for the evaluation of coal deposits. Basic information obtained from the CWA program can be utilized in numerous aspects of total mine planning . Some examples of the practical application of this method are included.

Jan 1, 1978

By G. W. Evatt

This paper presents the scientific framework underpinning the Resource Valuation and Optimisation Model (RVOM). The RVOM is a Real Options software package, which helps mine owners optimally plan their operations, understand their project risks, and make defensible valuations. This is achieved in the presence of both financial and physical uncertainty. The three key outputs from the RVOM are: Valuation, Optimal Decision and Probability of Decision, where a decision can include any combination of: normal operation, expanded operation, care and maintenance, and abandonment (and variants thereof). This paper presents a clear example of the RVOMs usage to a case-study gold mine.

Jan 1, 2011

By E. Swartzman

"IntroductionGENERALLY, the necessity for mining coals of higher impurity content, the drive for lower costs by intensive mine mechanization, changing market requirements, and the increasing competition of oil and natural gas, have continued to result in an upward rise in coal preparation, and have necessitated a more intensive study of coal preparation problems.Increasing adoption of •continuous mining equipment, for example, is introducing new problems in coal preparation. Limited experimental work in the United States (1) shows that the effect of the continuous miner on size distribution varies with the characteristics of the seam. In some seams, the fines problem is lessened, in others it is greatly aggravated. Generally there is a decrease in the relative amount of the top sizes (plus 2 in.) and a substantial increase in the intermediate sizes (down to about 1/8 in.). Contrary to expected results•, where continuous miners with vertical-moving cutting heads are used, an increase in impurities in the slack sizes does not necessarily occur where draw-slate is taken. This is because the draw-slate tends to be kicked out in lump form. However, if a seam contains bands •and lenses of impurities they are bound to be in the mined product."

Jan 1, 1952

By R. Poulin, M. R. Samis

Real options valuation is an alternative net present value framework that is able to incorporate both management flexibility and dynamic project risks. In this paper, management is considering the development of a satellite low-grade zone while operations in a developed high-grade zone continue. If the lowgrade zone is developed prior to high-grade zone exhaustion, mine capacity must be expanded before additional production from the low-grade zone can be processed. This expansion can be avoided only if low-grade zone development is delayed until the high-grade zone is exhausted. The real option model presented here allows the development and capacity expansion decisions to be reconsidered on a discrete half-year basis. It delineates price regions, for given levels of high-grade zone reserves, in which it is optimal to develop the low-grade zone, defer low-grade zone development and abandon the mine irrevocably.

Jan 1, 2006

By T. D. Chatwin

While new jobs and taxes are major incentives for support of mining, stakeholders must also be assured that current jobs, resources and environment will be protected. Mining companies can help achieve stakeholder support by frankly addressing Acid Rock Drainage CARD) issues. To prevent ARD, miners must begin early in the mine life-cycle to develop an ARD management plan and integrate it into the mining operation. As this proactive preventative program is initiated, mining companies also need to engage and collaborate with stakeholders to insure that their expectations and needs are met. Stakeholder engagement is enhanced as mining companies emphasizes the value of clean and available water for current and future generations.

Jan 1, 2011

By D. J. Robertson

"THE copper smelting operation of the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company, Limited, at Flin Flon, Manitoba, generates a gas flow of 350,000 c.f.m. at n.t.p. This gas stream passes to atmosphere through a 20-foot diameter by 250-foot brick stack, carrying with it an appreciable dust burden in the form of metallic oxide fumes. The flow constituents during the period 1952 and 1953 and •before gas filtration was included in the treatment scheme are shown in Table I. This paper describes the gas filtration treatment which was installed in 1957, using glass cloth media to recover this dust burden, and discusses the associated problem as its treatment for recovery of zinc and cadmium.The metallurgical details associated with the problem are illustrated by a description of the material flow sequence of the Company's hydrometallurgical zinc plant and copper smelter. In this ore processing complex, the zinc plant and copper smelter form an integrated unit within which intermediate zincrich products of each operation enter the treatment circuit of the other."

Jan 1, 1960

By Ahmad Ghahremaninezhad, Denver H. Cowan

Much of today’s gold is locked within sulphide minerals. These sulphide minerals, including pyrite, need to be subjected to oxidative pre-treatment in order to leach the refractory-gold using traditional methods. Typically autoclaves employing high temperatures between 180?225 ºC, and extremely high pressures between 1,500?3,200 kPa, are used for the oxidative pre-treatment. However, the autoclaves themselves are very expensive, costly to operate and maintain, and produce excess sulphuric acid. This paper studies the atmospheric oxidation of pyrite in ferric sulphate solutions. In general, pyrite oxidation under atmospheric pressure can result in high elemental sulphur production, i.e. less acid generation. Activated carbon has displayed an ability to catalyze the process, achieving reasonable kinetics. The reaction kinetics were investigated by altering acidity of the leaching solution, temperature, catalyst ratio, sparged oxygen and agitation. A combination of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) were used to monitor the kinetics of the process and elemental sulphur yield. The purpose of this investigation was to determine optimal operating conditions that maximized kinetics of the atmospheric oxidation while maximizing elemental sulphur yield.

Jan 1, 2015

By Engineering Staff

In 1958, the Iron Ore Company of Canada decided to proceed with the Carol Project. The ore deposits in the area are part of the highly metamorphosed southern zone of the Labrador Trough. They lie along the shore of W a bush lake, in the western part of Newfoundland-Labrador, 190 miles north of Sept-Iles. The project is designed to mine, by open-pit methods, 17,200,000 long tons of crude ore, grading 37 per cent iron, per year. This ore will be beneficiated to produce 7,000,000 long tons of concentrate, grading 66 per cent iron, of which 5,500,000 long tons will be pelletized. Production is scheduled to commence this summer. Initially, ore will be taken from 45-foot benches in the Smallwood mine, using jet-piercing production drills and large-scale blasting with "slurry" explosives. Four 13-yard electric shovels will muck the broken ore into 100-ton trailer trucks. The trailers will be hauled to two 2,000-ton loading pockets, which feed the ore into 100-ton railcars. Four ore trains, each comprised

Jan 1, 1962

By Fei Dai

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a group of painful disorders that affect muscles, tendons, nerves, joints, cartilage, and ligaments. They are a serious problem among the workforce in the United States. In the construction industry, high physically demanding tasks expose construction workers to a number of well recognized MSDs risk factors such as repetitive motion, high force exertion, and awkward body posture. Finding ways to effectively identify and evaluate risks of MSDs can significantly alleviate this problem. To this end, this paper reviews state of practice and research in the assessment of risks of MSDs among construction workers, in which a number of biomechanical models have been developed to evaluate joint and tissue loading with the aid of state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies. Findings from the review reveal that despite the advances in tracking human motion and muscle activities, current remote sensing approaches still involve sophisticated instrumentation and expensive experiment setup. These factors greatly limited the applicability of such approaches in real construction settings. How can we detect and evaluate the construction worker?s MSDs risk in real work environments? In this paper, strategies by utilizing video surveillance systems are presented, to set the stage for addressing the above question and discussing future research in real-time, marker-less, and costeffective MSDs risk assessment.

Aug 1, 2013

By O. Babak, J. G. Manchuk

ABSTRACT A significant factor in evaluating bitumen recovery from an oil sands mine is the particle size distribution (PSD). Increased understanding of mined ore quality and improvement in predictions of recovery can be achieved through PSD modeling. This paper addresses PSD modeling using geostatistics. PSDs may be described using many discrete particle sizes, making this a challenge. The approach parameterizes PSDs with a few statistics. A lookup table is used to reconstruct the PSDs based on models of the statistics. The workflow is applied to Total E&P Canada’s Joslyn Lease and yields good results that reproduce input statistics without introducing artifacts.

Jan 1, 2013

By B. W. Williams

The crack propagation behaviour of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material was studied through comparison of the measured behaviour with the predicted response from finite element analysis. Three-dimensional finite element simulations of compact tension specimens were performed using the crack tip opening angle as a fracture criterion to allow for crack propagation. To obtain reasonable agreement with the measured behaviour, it was important to capture both the anisotropic plastic deformation behaviour of the Zr-2.5Nb material through use of the Hill-48 yield criterion and damage due to void growth, nucleation, and coalescence through the use of a Gurson-based constitutive model in the simulations.

Jan 1, 2010

By L. Trytten, S. Bass, P. Nawrocki, J. Mercer

The Sherritt Fort Site nickel refinery and fertilizer plant has been operating continuously since 1954. The ammonia leach process uses ammonia and sulphuric acid, producing nickel and cobalt and an ammonium sulphate byproduct. One of the features of an ammonium sulphate based process is the aggressive nature of ammonium sulphate to concrete and structural steel. After six decades of operation, portions of the structural steel and concrete at the Sherritt facility have become degraded. Infrastructure replacement programs started in earnest more than a decade ago with pipe racks and electrical infrastructure, and have now progressed into building steel. Replacing and repairing this infrastructure within the tight constraints of an operating plant poses several difficult challenges. This paper will outline the approach taken to accomplish this difficult work, and discuss key learnings from the ongoing program.

Jan 1, 2015