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By N. K. Jaber

The "Pidgeon Process" for the extraction of magnesium from dolomite ore utilizing ferrosilicon as the reducing agent has been studied extensively by active metallurgists such Mr L,M, Pidgeon the father of this process, Most of the work sited so far has focused on heating the (FeSi/MgO,CaO) briquette mix under vacuum in stainless steel retorts by external fuel hydrocarbon heating, In this work Electrical Induction Heating was employed as the heating method whereby the briquette mix was placed in a steel crucible around which an Induction Heating copper coil was wound and placed inside in a stainless steel vacuum tank, It was observed that by virtue of the fast Induction Heating method utilized in the silicothermic extraction process higher reduction temperatures were reached in shorter periods of time due to fast heat transport into the ore charge mix, This facilitated shorter metal reduction times as compared to the conventional fuel heating methods.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. L. Martheleur

Introduction In October, 1945, the Coal Division of the Institute appointed a Committee on The Use of Electricity in Coal Mines, with the following terms of reference: ?To study under which conditions in each deposit the use of electricity can be brought closer to the coal face and which types of electrical machinery can be recommended?. It was not until the beginning of this year (1946) that the Committee had a chance to convene and .discuss the conclusions which are embodied in this report. Mr. McLeod, as Chief Electrician of the Dominion Coal Company, is intimately concerned with that Company's installations, and Mr. McIsaac, as Electrical Inspector of Coal Mines for Nova Scotia, is well acquainted with installations in all coal mines in the Province. The knowledge of both has been very valuable in helping to draft this report.

Jan 1, 1946

By R W. Drybrough

The program to increase production at Sherritt Gordon's Lynn Lake property, which began in 1956, included increasing the rope speed and the horsepower of the ore hoist at the "A" shaft. Because of the limited power sup-ply from the two 7,000-hp. hydroelectric plants, and the ? 3,600 hp. predicted for the combined hoisting requirements of the three production shafts, it was considered desirable to lessen the impact of this type of load on the relatively small power system by equipping all future hoisting arrangements with Ward Leonard direct-current drives. The manually operated 8-by 4-ft. hoist at the "A" shaft had a rope speed of 1000 f.p.m., and was driven by a 385-hp., 380-r.p.m. wound rotor motor with liquid rheostat control. This A.C. drive was replaced by a semi-automatic Ward Leonard direct-current drive with a 515-hp., 566-r.p.m., shunt wound motor, providing a rope speed of 1,500 f.p.m. During several months preceding the con-version, all possible preparations were carried out to keep the changeover period to a minimum, and this resulted in a total shutdown time of twelve days. The capability of the "A" Shaft hoist was increased from 109 tons per hour to 134 tons per hour, and both mechanical and electrical maintenance were reduced considerably. The total cost of the conversion amounted to $130,000. The hoistmen who had been required for the manual A.C. drive were transferred to the new Farley shaft, and the reduction in operating labour costs of the "A" Shaft hoist

Jan 1, 1965

By Thomas J. Ferree

"IntroductionThe objective of this chapter is to provide important criteria relating to the operation and maintenance of spiral concentrators and Reichert cones, so that optimum performance can be achieved and maintained in a mill circuit. Little space will be devoted to the theory of the forces of separation or the technical details of the devices, as that in(ormation is available from other sources. The discussions in this chapter will be presented in a manner that should be interesting and useful to anyone who may be exposed to these methods of gravity separation. It is most important for the reader to understand that each application of the equipment should be considered on its own merit, as no two suites of minerals respond exactly alike in mineral processing circuits. The information herein should be useful as a guide toward increasing the metallurgical efficiency of the processes, irrespective of the type of minerals being concentrated.It is highly recommended that certain tools be made available to the personnel responsible for metallurgical performance of the spirals and cones; these include a set of standard type laboratory screens, a medium quality petrographic microscope, and a vanning plaque or gold pan. These devices, when used in conjunction with a basic understanding of the mill circuit, provide immediate knowledge on the characteristics of any sample in the mill circuit. The information gained by visual evaluation of sized fractions of products can solve many of the basic problems of mineral beneficiation, and at the same time increase the interest of the non-technical personnel associated with the plant operation. There are many problems associated with obtaining satisfactory performance from a mill operation. Many of the problems have to be solved using a technical approach. Some of the problems, however, can be solved with practical knowledge and common sense. It is hoped this chapter can provide a guide to both techniques."

Jan 1, 1989

By Sibabrata Patnayak

A major problem during shovel excavation in oil sand mining is the variability of material diggability resulting in varying mechanical energy input, cycle time, energy consumption, wear, and stress loading of shovel dipper-andtooth assembly. This variability greatly influences the mining equipment performance. Different approaches such as empirical ground classification systems, analytical methods, and performance monitoring that are used to determine diggability of groundmass are reviewed. It is concluded that the existing empirical diggability classification systems are site specific and mostly based on rock and therefore, cannot be used for shovel excavation in oil sands. The O&K wedge test is a simple and useful index test for establishing correlations between cutting resistance and geotechnical properties of coal and other soft rock overburden material. But this test, when performed on small size unconfined oil sand samples, may not give reliable indication of diggability because of the boundary conditions on the specimens. Digging predictions made using analytical and laboratory digging models need to be verified with performance monitoring data to better understand the digging effort in oil sands.

Apr 1, 2005

By S. Feinstein, I. Reznik, Y. H. Hatzor, O. Shitrit, Y. O. Rosenberg, H. J. Vinegar, S. Nguyen

"We report the effects of porosity and total organic carbon (TOC) content on the mechanical behavior of organic-rich chalks, based on laboratory measurements. The organic-rich chalks are from the Senonian Ghareb and Mishash formations. This deposit is an immature oil-prone source rock, about 300 meters thick, situated at shallow depths (several hundreds of meters) in the Shefela basin in central Israel. The study is based on core data collected from the Zoharim borehole.Three main phases comprise the bulk volume of this rock: 1) carbonate mineralogical phase (predominantly calcite); 2) pores (mostly saturated with brine); and 3) solid organic phase (type IIS kerogen). The mechanical effects of porosity (23-45%) and TOC (4-19%) are evaluated based on bulk incompressibilities vs. volumetric fractions analysis. Volumetric fractions of mineralogical and organic phases were obtained by porosity, density and TOC measurements. Saturated rock bulk moduli were measured through ultrasonic velocity measurements. Saturated rock bulk moduli correlate best with the sum of kerogen and pore volume fractions, rather than each of them separately. The volumetric fractions were also used to define the range of bulk modulus of the organic-rich chalk, using the Hashin-Shtrikman upper and lower bounds. Based on Marion's Bounding Average Method (BAM), the normalized stiffness factor of the chalk averaged at w=0.197, indicating a soft pore geometry. Using the average normalized stiffness factor, the BAM predictions showed excellent match with the saturated rock bulk modulus and the sum of kerogen and pore volume fractions. Based on our findings, it is inferred that kerogen grains do not support the solid skeleton but are distributed between the minerals grains. We also propose here a straightforward approach for calculating the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, based on TOC and porosity measurements. The mechanical effects of porosity and TOC indicated here are very important for the understanding of the influence of immature kerogen presence in highly porous chalks, as the Ghareb and Mishash formations."

Jan 1, 2015

By J. E. Reeves, J H. Morgan

Certain non-metallic minerals are used widely as fillers in the manufacture of many Canadian products. The first part of this paper deals in a general way with deposits of such minerals and their mining, with the concentration and preparation of the minerals for market, with specifications of the consumers, and with methods of control of the products to meet the specifications. The second part of the paper de-scribes talc as a specific example of mineral filler. Its production and uses in Canada and the possibility of producing higher grades of talc are discussed. Some suggestions are made for meeting the needs for mineral fillers as Canada's industry expands. RELATIVELY few people are sufficiently aware of the vast and important role that is being played in our everyday lives by mineral fillers. Many kinds of paints, papers and plastics, to mention three major classes of industrial products, are literally loaded

Jan 1, 1961

By E. Watkins, J. C. LeRoy, A. Vivyurka

"TAILINGS REVEGETATIONWelcome to the Revegetation Session. My instructions are to introduce the Speakers and to provide a general introduction.I do the latter with humility not only because of a lack of personal experience or because tailings revegation is not well established technology, but because any general statement on a country or industry as diverse as the Canadian Mining Industry is bound to be wrong somewhere.Laying aside normal standards of accuracy I proceed as follows:In considering the question of tailings revegetation, one asks two basic questions:1. What ought to be done?2. What can be done?The first question can be broken down into three kinds of criteria or objectives:a) Legislativeb) Technicalc) AestheticThe first I leave to the politicians and the last I will avoid. Aesthetics is the philosphy of taste. It is concerned with the appreciation of things rather than what they really are. It is much easier to get into an argument on aesthetics than to get out of it feeling you have said something of consequence.Technical criteria can be divided into the following sub-objectives: 1. To isolate the tailings basin so surrounding land is not degraded. The first step here is stabilization of the surface to prevent wind and water erosion."

Jan 1, 1975

By C. A. Ingram

The Cigar Lake ore body is a high-grade uranium deposit situated within water-saturated sandstone. In order to extract the uranium ore remotely, ensuring minimal radiation dose to workers, and also to access the ore from stable ground, the Jet Boring System (JBS) was developed. This method of mining involves drilling a pilot hole up through a frozen ore body and utilizing a high-powered water jet to mine out cavities. During the mining process an ultrasonic sensor will be used to provide feedback to the operator, who is located beneath the ore body, as to the dimensions of the cavity. However, more precise data is required to determine final shape, volume, and location of the cavity for mine planning purposes. Selecting a device that will provide sufficient range data in the challenging environment will be vital to optimizing the mining process. Major issues include fog build up and flying debris during mining, and an environment that is wet, dark, and cold A test cavity has been designed and constructed at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) so that a study comparing three different technologies, as prospective candidates for the survey system, can be conducted. The devices being evaluated include a Senix ultrasonic sensor, an MDL Cavity Auto-Scanning Laser System (C-ALS), and a MESA Time of Flight (ToF) camera. The ultrasonic sensor is known to provide range data in foggy conditions but has low accuracy. The C-ALS has been developed for surveying remote cavities but is expensive and does not provide reliable data in fog. The ToF camera provides a high volume of data in a short time period, with potential to provide accurate information in extreme conditions, but has not been tested in a mine cavity application. Iterative closest point (ICP) registration is applied in an attempt to create a 3D point cloud from the scan data and to also compute rotation and translation of the ToF camera. This paper presents an overview of the challenges involved in conducting a survey within a JBS mined cavity, the analysis used to determine the suitability of each device, and the data collected from the test cavity.

Aug 1, 2013

By E. Zucker

In this paper, as in the 1960 CIM paper of the same name, s1gmf1cant new developments in electrical-mechanical mining equipment are briefly described. These include static thyristor-supplied D.C. drives for mine hoists, load-haul-dump systems, process controls with small and medium-size computers, and several other new items of equipment and Concepts. All the new hardware descriptions are given in the context of over-all process integration. This means the actual mechanical linking together of two or more processes and the preliminary step in the development of production-line mining.

Jan 1, 1969

By M. A. Cristovici

"In the last few years CANMET has taken the initiative by investigating the possibility of reactivating abandoned old tailings dumps (for gold production) which would be of potential economic interest across Canada.Nova Scotia was one location where numerous gold processing plants were in operation in the early days. A survey of the old tailing dumps was conducted and some areas of interest were selected. Among them were the sites identified as Lake Charlotte and Forest Hill.Ore samples collected from those tailing ponds were examined for their chemico-mineralogical composition and investigated for gold extraction. Three technological concepts were tested: flotation, direct cyanidation and flotation followed by cyanidation of the flotation concentrate. The combined flotation- cyanidation variant, yielding a gold recovery in the range of 90%, was recommended for processing the tailing ore.Pilot-plant runs carried out by a commercial testing firm (data not included in this paper) confirmed the conditions and results of CANMET's technology.As a result a consulting-engineering firm designed the processing plant which is expected to begin operation in the near future.IntroductionIn the last few years CANMET initiated a research program to locate in Canada, abandoned gold-silver tailing dumps of potential economic interest and to explore the possibility of recovering the precious metals from these old deposits by modern techniques.A literature search revealed that the first production of gold in Canada was recorded in British Columbia in 1858 and that, production prior to 1900 was essentially restricted to the Yukon, British Columbia Nova Scotia and Quebec. During the early 1900s, Ontario, Manitoba and the North West Territories joined the ranks of the gold producers.Early milling and recovery methods were mainly restricted to sluice boxes, gravity stamps and amalgamation. Froth flotation and cyanidation were introduced at about the turn of the century.Recovery of gold at plants using flotation and cyanidation was very good, therefore the tailing ponds resulting from those operations would, very likely be of little or no economic importance. However, the gold recovery at the amalgamation and gravity concentration plants appeared to be lower, indicating the possibility that significant amounts of recoverable gold would have been carried with the tailings to the dump sites."

Jan 1, 1986

By R. J. A. Fricker

IT is the purpose of this essay to give a reasonably complete description of shaft sinking under a rock pentice in a small Northern Ontario gold property. Hallnor is in many ways an exceptional mine, but the sinking operations here described are but typical examples of the excellent practice for which Canadian mines and mining engineers are justly famous the world over. The worth of the subject lies, therefore, nor in its originality, but in its soundness; not in the spectacular, but in the economical and safe. Attention is particularly drawn to the excellent safety record and to the exceptionally low overall sinking cost. INTRODUCTION Prior to April, 1939, the Hallnor No. 1 shaft had been sunk vertically to a depth of 997 feet below the surface. It is a three-compartment shaft, 19 ft. 10 in. by 7ft. 7 in. outside the timbers (see Figure 1).

Jan 1, 1941

By Michael Moser, Brighty Dutta, David Dreisinger

"Molybdenum is widely used in the industries as an alloying element in the manufacture of steels and super alloys. The widespread use of the element encourages a growing need to develop extraction processes for recovery from both primary and secondary sources. The Solvay Group has developed a solvent extraction reagent named CYANEX®600 for the recovery of molybdenum from acidic solutions originating from both low grade (e.g. copper solvent extraction raffinates, smelter dusts and slags) and high grade (molybdenite) molybdenum sources. CYANEX®600 is a purified form of CYANEX®272 with the active component bis(2,4,4- trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid. The extraction behavior of CYANEX®600 towards molybdenum in sulphuric acid medium was evaluated. The uptake of molybdenum increased with the increase in concentration of CYANEX®600. The approximate stoichiometry of the extracted complex was: Mo: CYANEX®600 = 1:2. Efficient back-extraction could be achieved with 0.1 M disodium EDTA and 0.1 M (NH4)2CO3, thus providing the option of recyclability of the extractant. The detailed back-extraction studies are currently under progress to find out the possible option for complete transfer of Mo(VI) to the aqueous phase so that high purity Mo salts could be precipitated from the molybdate solutions.INTRODUCTION Molybdenum (Mo) is one of the world’s valuable metals and is highly sought after by researchers due to its versatile mechanical, thermal, chemical properties. Swedish scientist Carl Wilhelm Scheele demonstrated molybdenite to be a mineral sulfide in 1778. Peter Hjelm successfully isolated dark metal powder from the mineral sulphide and named it as ‘Molybdenum’ in 1782 (Gupta, 1992). Molybdenum is a refractory metal of silver gray appearance and is an important alloying element used in the manufacture of steels and super alloys. Molybdenum compounds are widely used in formulation of catalysts (Gupta, 1992). Molybdenum occurs in nature only in chemical combination with other elements. Several molybdenum bearing minerals have been identified, but the only one of commercial significance is molybdenite (MoS2). As molybdenum is a strategic metal for the industrial sector, its widespread use acts as a factor for depletion of the natural resources. Hence, there is growing need to develop extraction procedures for its recovery from both primary and secondary sources. United States, China, Chile, Canada, Peru, and Mexico are listed as the main producers by the U.S. Geological Survey, 2016 (U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016)."

Jan 1, 2017

By H. W. Wevers

This paper is the result of an intensive literature search and practical study of the problems experienced by a mining company with the frame cracking of their large-tonnage haulage trucks. It explains the advantages of particular HSLA steels for applications in the welded structures of such equipment. Examples of existing welds in truck frames are analyzed. Modern fatigue models and linear elastic fracture mechanics techniques are explained.

Jan 1, 1978

By Roger T. Laine

"The Carswell structure, located in the western part of the Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, has been extensively explored since 1967. This exploration has been successful and lead to the discovery, in 1970, of the D sandstone-hosted unconformity related deposit. By the end of 1984, five additional basement-hosted unconformity related deposits had been delineated: the OP and N discovered in 1970, the Claude in 1971, the Dominique-Peter in 1981, and the Dominique-Janine in 1984. The D deposit has been mined out; the Claude open-pit has already produced more than 500 tonnes of uranium, the development of the Dominique-Peter underground mine (first phase) has been completed, and production from the latter started in 1985.All six deposits are located in the southern part of the Aphebian metamorphic core, 18 km in diameter, which has intruded at least 1250 metres of Helikian Athabasca Group sediments during a cryptoexplosion event at 480 Ma, unrelated to the emplacement of uranium mineralization. The metamorphic rocks, affected by the Hudsonian Orogeny, are divided in two lithostratrigraphic units: the Peter River gneiss, aluminous gneiss series, and the Earl River complex, mixed quartzofeldspathic and mafic gneiss series. A well developed regolith profile is recognizable in the south along the contact with the sandstone and inside the metamorphic core sometimes associated with conformable sandstone beds.Basement and sandstone-hosted uranium deposits show many similarities:-linkage to unconformity;-mineralogy and geochronology with a first phase mineralization characterized by a polymetallic sulphide-uraninite-brannerite assemblage dated at 1150 to 1050 Ma, a second phase characterized by a simple sulphide-uraninite assemblage dated at 890 to 820 Ma, and a third phase characterized by a pitchblende-hematite dated at 380 Ma; and,-linkage to early Hudsonian structures with remobilization of these structures during intense hydrothermal alteration resulting in Mg chlorite-illite halos."

Jan 1, 1986

By F. R. Joubin

MR. CHAIRMAN, Members of the C.I.M., and Friends -particularly friends, because I am not entirely a stranger in your city. I was last here some five years ago and it has given me a great deal of pleasure this evening to be able to say "Hello" again to those I had met at that time, when Bourlamaque and V al d'Or were very busy centres of intensive and successful gold exploration. My remarks this evening have to .do with Canada's Place in the Atomic Age. They will be of a general nature but I hope to tell you ?enough to whet your appetite so that you may be provoked into per-.suing the subject further. Now, atomic developments have become quite commonplace. Words like radioactivity, reactors, nuclear fission, and so on are known to everyone, even the youngsters. I re-member two or three years ago one of my office boys came to me and said "Mr. Joubin, I would like a raise." I gave the request a few seconds of serious thought and finally said "Alright, Jimmy, we'll give you a raise." However, he made no effort to leave, so after a -couple of seconds more I said, "Is there something else ?" and he said "Yes, Mr. Joubin, could you make that raise 'radioactive' to the first .of the year ?"

Jan 1, 1958

By W. Keith Buck

Introduction During World War II years, the magnetometer was used by various field parties of the Geological Survey of Canada, specifically in the search for chromite, a strategic war mineral. Throughout the summer of 1944, Professor J. W. Ambrose used the instrument experimentally on eight separate projects (1). Since then, several members of the Survey have come to consider its use to be of valuable assistance in the season's mapping. Dr. C. H. Stockwell, in particular, regards use of the magnetometer as a necessary part of detailed geological survey work. Throughout the field season of 1949, the magnetometer was used by Dr. Stockwell?s party as an aid to mapping in detail, to the scale one thousand feet to the inch, the south-west quarter of Dasserat township, Temiskaming county, Quebec. The principal geophysical project that was undertaken was the location of the Horne Creek fault and the Diabase fault in the area approximately midway between Arntfield and Kearns, on the Quebec side of the Interprovincial border. The location of these faults on either side of this central area was known. The Horne Creek fault is a subsidiary fault to the Cadillac 'break' which extends ?westward from Val d'Or through Cadillac to beyond Larder Lake. It lies to the north of that major fault zone and has a general southwesterly trend.

Jan 1, 1951

By Linlin Zhang

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of lanthanides elements which have been widely used in the electronic, petrochemistry, metallurgy, and defense industries. Their demand has increased sharply in the past decade with the boom in electronic device production. Some countries now consider them strategic metals for the future and it has been forecasted that REEs may become a dominant contributor to global economy. In the wake of REE exploration, mining and processing, concern has grown over occupational and community health issues and risks. A portion of available literature on this topic however is written in the Chinese language, and thus research information related to health and REE mining is not readily accessible to mineral development planners in countries such as Canada, where REE mining is now evolving. As REEs also represent an important commodity, primarily stemming from Chinese production, it is important to begin to understand the potential health costs related to this mining sector. There are two main objectives of this paper. The first is to present an overview of REE mining with a focus on geological characteristics, global production and uses with particular attention to the main producer: China. The second is to present the results of a literature review (using both Chinese and English sources) on REE mining and health and identifies key occupational and community health issues that require consideration. This paper concludes by identifying some critical issues this sector needs to address to ensure the sustainable development of this mining activity.

Aug 1, 2013

By P. Strand

Talk Outline ? Location and Regional Geology ? Two Unique Kimberlite Sources ? Mineral Chemistry ? Petrography, Age Dates ? Geophysics ? Exploration and Challenges ? Dyke versus Pipe dispersions ? Geophysics ? Prospecting ? Diamond Results ? Summary & Conclusions

May 1, 2008

By D. D. Tannant

An experimental and numerical study was conducted on the geomechanical behaviour of oil sands during penetration tests in which a steel wedge with an apex angle of either 20 degrees or 30 degrees was forced into compacted oil sands. The boundary conditions simulated in the laboratory tests are similar to shovel penetration into oil sands. The objective of the laboratory tests was to measure the force required to push a steel wedge into compacted oil sands. A wedge penetration test differs from conventional triaxial tests in that much more shear is generated. The laboratory data was needed to improve calibration of micro-mechanical input parameters for a two-dimensional discrete element model of oil sands constructed with Particle Flow Code (PFC). Initial model calibration was performed with triaxial test data and then a PFC model of the wedge penetration test was constructed. The measured force-displacement behaviour of the steel wedge was compared with PFC modelling results. It was found that different combinations of PFC particle and bond parameters could equally well replicate the laboratory triaxial compression data for bitumen-rich oil sands. When the wedge model was run, it was found that the resulting force required to penetrate the wedge into the oil sands was about four to six times higher than that measured. This clearly indicates that further research is required to improve the predictive capability of PFC models of oil sands.

Jan 1, 2002