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"THE CONCEPT of energy as a commodity, while not entirely new, is not as widespread as the importance of the idea to this modern world would lead one to expect. The growth in the supply and use of energy over the past years has been tremendous, but our very closeness and familiarity have somewhat distorted the viewpoint, particularly of the younger generation. To many of us who remember the wonderful satisfaction of our first responsibility for directing two horsepower hitched to a farm cart or hay wagon, there still arises a feeling of some awe at the casual flick of the switch with which our sons and daughters summon to their convenience the service of some one hundred or more horsepower.Energy is the vital component of our existence and, no matter what contempt our day-to-day familiarity may •breed, it is wise to .pause from time to time and consider our national energy standing. Have we still capital in the bank? Are our expenditures wisely •conceived and well directed? Is provision being made for the years •ahead for the needs of our children and our children's children?"

Jan 1, 1953

By E. W. Shaw

The past year (1950) has been a big one for the oil industry in Canada, with new records being set in almost every phase of exploration and development activity. New highs were reached in acreage holdings, in geophysical activity, in wildcat drilling, and in field development and production. The only item that did not show a substantial increase over recent years was the amount of reserves added by new discoveries. This was not due to a decrease in the number of new discoveries, however, hut rather to the fact that most of the discoveries were made during the later months in the year and could not be fully evaluated by the year end. The foregoing remarks pertain mainly to activity in Western Canada. In Eastern Canada, operations continued on a modest scale. with exploration drilling down slightly from the previous year but with development drilling and production at about the same level. Returning to Western Canada, it is observed that the general exploration play was one of expansion and intensification. The issuing of new petroleum and natural gas regulations by the province of British Columbia precipitated a moderate entry of companies into the northeastern part of the Province.

Jan 1, 1951

By F. C. Lendrum

Introduction The property of Normetal Mining Corporation is in Desmeloizes township, Quebec, twelve miles north of Dupuy on the main line of the Canadian National railway from Quebec city co Cochrane, Ontario. The ore bodies occur within a band of highly sheared and sericitized agglomerate which strikes N.60°W. and clips 82° north. Along a zone 1,000 feet or more in length and of variable width, the agglomerate has been replaced by copper, zinc, and iron sulphides, with copper usually predominant on the hanging-wall side and pyrite replaced in part by sphalerite on the footwall. A northsouth diabase dyke cuts through the ore zone near its east end. The Normetal mill produces a copper concentrate and a zinc concentrate which are shipped, respectively, to Noranda, Que., and Newcastle, Penn., U.S.A., for further treatment. The present paper deals with the milling of ore from what is known as No. 3 orebody. This is a lenticular body of high-zinc ore lying co the east of the diabase dyke, along the line of strike of the main ore zone, which extends westward from the dyke. On its northern side, No. 3 orebody is in contact along most of its length with a narrow band of copper ore which is highly oxidized.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. A. Bos, Z. Dai, P. Quinn, A. Lee

A flowsheet is being developed for processing Thompson ultramafic low-grade nickel ores. This type of ore is characterized by high content of serpentinized magnesium silicates which generate slimes during comminution. Flotation of this type of ore proves difficult due to problems associated with the slimes. The flowsheet, based on extensive laboratory and miniplant flotation tests, consists of two key components: desliming by hydrocyclones prior to flotation and using soda ash for pH control in flotation. Satisfactory metallurgical results have consistently been achieved in laboratory full circuit simulation and miniplant tests.

Jan 1, 2009

By C. H. Stockwell

RICE LAKE-BERESFORD LAKE area, situated 100 miles northeast of Winnipeg (Figure 1), is Manitoba's foremost gold mining district, although it is exceeded in gold production in the Province by the Flin Flon base-metal mining district. At present, the area is producing at the rate of about one and three-quarter million dollars annually, almost entirely from the San Antonio and Gunnar mines. The total production to date is about $14,000,000. Of this total, over $7,000,000 has come from the San Antonio mine, over $2,000,000 from the Gunnar mine, about $4,000,000 from the Central Manitoba mine, and the balance from several smaller properties. The writer has led Geological Survey parties in the area for the past four summers. The present paper gives a summary of the results of this work and also includes the findings of C. S. Lord, who was in charge of a party for one year. Much valuable information was obtained from earlier published reports on the area and from officials of mining companies, to whom the writer is indebted for their kindly co-operation. It is impossible in this short paper to give proper credit to the earlier workers or to discuss certain points o disagreement between their conclusions and those presented here. For further information the following references may be consulted.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. F. Sirianni

The Peace River iron ore deposit represents the sole source of raw material for an integrated steel industry in Alberta. The ore has proved refractory to beneficiation by a number of techniques. A selective oil-phase agglomeration technique is described. Medium-grade concentrates, analyzing 48-53% Fe and 10-14% SiO2 were obtained with recoveries of about 75% of the total iron. These results appear to represent the optimum possible for this ore body.

Jan 1, 1977

By Georgia J. Lysay

The Kemess Mine tailings impoundment is retained behind an earthfill and rockfill dam that, when complete, will measure about 140 m in height with a crest length in excess of 1 km. Due to weak foundation conditions, the dam must be raised at a very flat downstream slope approaching 7H:1V. This requires an enormous volume of fill to construct the downstream shell of the dam, which has a low permeability clayey till core and is raised via the centerline construction method. For the initial years of annual dam raising, from 1996 through 2002, the downstream shell of the dam was constructed with non acid generating waste rock from the open pit, 7 km distant and requiring an uphill haul with obvious cost implications. To reduce costs, and to reduce waste haulage constraints on mining schedules, feasibility studies were initiated for raising of the downstream shell using cycloned tailings sand as opposed to open pit waste. This required inclusion of flotation cells for removal of residual sulphides from the tailings to produce the non acid generating product mandated for the downstream shell of the dam. These studies were positive, and cycloned sand construction was initiated in December of 2002. This paper describes the experience gained with cycloned sand construction for the dam. Unique aspects include environmental controls given the sulphide-bearing ores, preparation of the existing shell of the dam for subsequent placement of hydraulically placed cycloned tailings sand, on-dam settling ponds, water management issues, reclamation of the sand dam for erosion control commensurate with the wet climate, and use of the system to construct an above-water beach of non acid generating tailings to increase the closure security of the structure. A particularly unique aspect of the Kemess experience is hydraulic fill operations extending throughout the coldest winter months, as compared to other operations where such placement has traditionally been considered non-viable through the winter months

May 1, 2007

By B. Pewkliang, K. Ehrig, E. Macmillan, M. Smith, V. Liebezeit, Y. Li

The Olympic Dam iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG) uranium-silver deposit is the largest publicly declared uranium, fifth largest copper and third largest gold resource. Currently, the operation consists of an underground mine and integrated processing plant. Uranium is produced from leaching of flotation tailings and is a co-product to copper cathode with by-product gold and silver bullion. The Olympic Dam geometallurgy team began studying ore from the Southern Mine Area (SMA) in 2006 and soon discovered uranium behaviour was far more variable than the behaviour in the Northern Mine Area, which had been mined from the start of the operation in 1988. The primary objective of Olympic Dam geometallurgy is to develop metallurgical performance predictors that reliably describe the process performance of different ore types and distribute these into the resource block model for use as a fundamental input into mine planning. The nature of the uranium mineralisation (compositionally and texturally complex and highly variable) meant that classic mineralogy techniques alone could not provide the resolution required for prediction of uranium extraction. However, the combination of quantitative mineralogy, results from laboratory-scale leach tests and modelling within the geometallurgy program has enabled prediction of both uranium flotation recovery (via association with sulphides) and uranium leach extraction, including at variable leach conditions. These stope-based predictions have supported trade-off decisions between operating costs and uranium revenue, and have predicted the changing recovery as the mining operations have moved into the Southern Mine Area in recent years.

Jan 1, 2020

By Paul Girodo

Government Approval For Foreign Workers 1.Service Canada Work Permit Tasks: i. Prove there are no Canadian Journeymen; ii. Use heavyweight stakeholders; iii. Understand the FWU transformation taking place today. Government Approval For Foreign Workers 2.Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) i. Build relationships; ii. Use heavyweight stakeholders; iii. Continually demonstrate benefits to the Province from foreign Journeymen. Government Approval For Foreign Workers 3.Letter from Union Supporting Temporary Foreign Workers i. Easiest path to approval ?CLAC model

May 1, 2006

By J. N. Van der Merwe, M. Mathey

"We present an analysis of the mechanical properties of coal specimens from various coalfields and seams in South Africa. Our database comprises of 1800 test results from uniaxial and triaxial compression tests, as well as indirect tensile strength tests, which we collected from the various mining houses and research agencies in the country. We inspected the database for possible errors and present a brief description of the verification procedure in the paper.In the analysis, we reveal that the collected samples of strength and elastic properties of South African coals can be represented by single lognormal or normal distributions with only few outliers. This finding indicates that the samples realistically approximate the population of mechanical coal properties in the country and may suggest that the properties are randomly distributed. Significant coalfield- or seamspecific trends for the mechanical properties of coal are not clearly discernible from our data.Typical coefficients of variation for the individual mechanical properties range between 25-50 % on a country-wide and seam-specific level of analysis. Average uniaxial compressive strength values, however, are closely clustered for all seams. A comparison with data available from international coal strength studies show the distinct difference between South African coals and seams in countries of the Northern Hemisphere, where differences in the average coal seam strength are more pronounced.We observe that the number of specimens whose failure mode is influenced by the presence of natural discontinuities reduces drastically with the application of very small confining pressures to the specimens. Further, the strength-reducing influence of discontinuities diminishes with increasing confining pressures."

Jan 1, 2015

By Ian McC. Stewart

"Seam gas flow in coal mines takes place through a medium which has both capacity and resistance and can therefore be expressed in terms of the basic diffusion equation, provided that the characteristics of the system can be adequately described. It may be possible to lump the variations from point to point in a seam together as an effective diffusivity. The paper discusses the characteristic flow-time patterns for various types of openings and the particular features of coal and seam which influence the diffusivity.Two field experiments are described in which gas make to a heading and to a borehole were measured in a mine for which considerable data on coal sorption properties were available. Incremental gas flow measured from the borehole experiment predicted the actual flow from the heading measurements remarkably well. The effective permeability adjacent to the face was much higher than expected from the properties of the coal. The incremental flow measurements to a horizontal (in-seam) borehole showed a striking picture of advancing 'relaxation' behind the face which is not discernible by other experimental means."

Jan 1, 1971

By W. P. Campbell

Foreword At the outset, it should be stated that this paper does not pretend to present a panacea for the ills that 'frozen' wells are heir to, but rather is an attempt to bring to the attention of those whose special concern it is, a little theory and some facts, which have been brought to light recently, in connection with the problem of 'freezing' as it applies to naphtha-producing wells in the Turner Valley field, and to draw some conclusions that follow from the facts discovered. It should also be stated that the investigation is not to be regarded as in any sense complete, but in progress. Doubtless new facts will be brought to light from time to time which may modify present ideas on the subject, but whether favourable or contrary, these will be welcomed, as the purpose of the Department is to secure as complete information as possible of the factors contributing to 'freezing', since this must be the first step to an intelligent attempt to remedy or prevent its occurrence, if such can be done. It is possible, too, that the cause or causes of freezing may not be the same in all cases, but whether this be so or not will have to be determined later as new information comes to hand. Introduction One of the worries which must constantly confront the operators of gas-naphtha producing wells in Turner Valley-although all, fortunately, have not met with it-is the possibility of the occurrence of what is commonly called 'freezing' (going off production).

Jan 1, 1930

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

By A. Mitrašinovic, A. Wolf

"The aim of this investigation was to determine the most suitable additive for recovering metals from converter slags generated during Ni extraction. Fluxes analyzed were silica and lime and reductants included pig iron, ferrosilicon and copper-silicon compound. Slag was settled at 1300°C for one hour to simulate the smelting environment. The newly formed matte and slag were characterized by chemical composition and morphology. Microstructural studies showed that slag formed after adding reductants consisted of primarily fayalite, with traces of magnetite. Entrained matte was present in the slag mostly as prills of Ni3S2-FeS matrix and a Cu2S-FeS secondary phase below 10µm in diameter. Kinetic parameters of matte formation, valuable metal recovery rates and partition coefficients were deduced. Silica additions generated higher partition coefficients for copper and nickel than the addition of lime. Additives used as reducing agents had higher valuable metal recovery rates and partition coefficients. Silica additions favoured the formation a higher grade matte while lime additions will hinder metal recovery. Pig iron, ferrosilicon and Cu30Si were the most effective reductants for valuable metals recovery. Cu10Si and coke additions had little to no effect on valuable metals recovery."

Jan 1, 2015

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 F. A. McLean

At the Annual Western Meeting held at Blairmore, Alta., October 1924, the writer presented a paper drawing attention -to the advantages of portable gas-driven equipment for developing isolated mining properties. This type of equipment was at that time practically in its infancy and the details of results actually accomplished were somewhat meagre. During the last year or so a number of these plants have been installed so that it is now possible to offer more definite information regarding the actual mining progress accomplished with such plants and their cost of operation in various parts of the country. This paper has been written with the idea of reviewing the work done during the past year, and to supply data which may be of interest to those wh9 are confronted with the problem of selecting equipment for development or assessment work. Because drilling operations play such an important part in mining, one of the first problems that usually confront the prospective? mine owner is the selection of the proper com-pressed-air plant. The size and type of equipment and the method of driving it require careful consideration. The size and type of equipment is determined largely by the funds available, transportation facilities, and the speed with which the programme of development is to be carried out. The selection of the proper method of drive usually depends on local conditions, such as the relative cost of various fuels, and has an important bearing on operating costs.

Jan 1, 1926

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 B. S. Ignasiak, Dennis Carson

"Laboratory study of the behaviour• of binary coal blends shows that coke strength is more closely dependent on the distribution of ""reactive"" oxygen in the parent coals than on their proximate, elemental or petrographic compositions, and it also appears possible to qualitatively predict coke strength from information about reactive oxygen. Proceeding from this recognition, experiments were carried out to test the possibility of preparing metallurgical cokes from binary blends in which non-caking hvb coal was substantially freed of reactive oxygen by prior heat t1•eatment under controlled conditions. The results indicate that such blends can yield surprisingly strong cokes and that coke strength may be amenable to further improvements by modifying the size distribution of the pre-heated component and the rate at which it is charred."

Jan 1, 1976

By P. R. Jones

"The paper describes the CDN$400 million expansion at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited’s operations. The company has continuously produced copper and zinc at the Flin Flon metallurgical plant since 1930. The paper details the company’s operational turnaround since 1995 and “The 777 Project” which includes two new mines, expansion and modification of the concentrators, expansion of the zinc pressure leach plant, a new zinc electrolytic cellhouse and modifications to the copper smelter gas handling system to reduce ground level gas emissions. IntroductionHudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited (HBMS) was incorporated in 1927 to mine and process the world-class Flin Flon copper and zinc orebody. Ore concentration and metallurgical facilities were constructed in Flin Flon. The metallurgical complex capability is currently 89 000 tonnes of copper metal and 98 000 tonnes of zinc metal from both HBMS and purchased concentrates.Flin Flon, with a population of 7000, is in Manitoba and partly in the province of Saskatchewan. The location is isolated with Winnipeg 800 km to the south and Saskatoon 500 km southwest.Today, three underground mines feed the Flin Flon concentrator, one feeds the Ruttan concentrator at Leaf Rapids, 200 km to the north of Flin Flon, and Chisel North mine feeds the Snow Lake concentrator (Fig. 1).The Flin Flon volcanic massive sulphide proximal and distal orebodies are within the Flin Flon greenstone belt which stretches from the west of Flin Flon to the east of Snow Lake, a distance of 250 km. The belt is approximately 100 km wide before disappearing below the paleozoic cover to the south."

Jan 1, 2001

By S. Kwon, J. W. Wilson

"In salt and potash mines, the time-dependent deformation mechanism should be clearly understood based on in situ measurements to predict the performance of a mining design. In this study, in situ deformation measurements from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and other salt and potash mines were used to determine the transition time from the primary to the secondary creep stage and to investigate the influence of adjacent excavations such as a nearby tunnel excavation, panel excavation and/or pillar extraction on rock deformation. IntroductionThe deformational behaviour of underground excavations in salt and potash mines is complex due to the time-dependency of the rocks. When the material properties are determined from laboratory tests, they should be carefully applied to in situ conditions, because in situ conditions are completely different from laboratory conditions. For instance, in situ deformation measurements show that the deformation rate decreases with time similar to those observed in the laboratory during the early stages. However, the rapid decrease of deformation rate does not come from the microscopic strain hardening effect observed in laboratory tests, but mainly from stress relief around the opening after its excavation (Baar, 1977). It is, therefore, recommended to undertake in situ measurements and use them to understand the deformation mechanism.Even though in situ measurements are widely accepted as important information for understanding the deformation mechanism of salt and potash (Barr, 1971; Kovari and Amstad, 1993), not many publications have focused on the fundamentals of data measurement, the application of the measured data, and the development of data analysis techniques. Recently, several new techniques for better understanding the deformation mechanism of rock salt have been developed that are based on in situ measurements. Kwon and Miller (1995) developed a new technique for describing the actual deformational behaviour of an underground excavation in rock salt. The migration of “zero strain boundary,” which represents a no movement boundary around an underground excavation, could be calculated by the technique developed by Kwon and Miller (1996). Kwon and Wilson (1997, 1998) applied neural network techniques to in situ deformation measurements to predict the deformational behaviour of the underground excavations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) located in the United States.In this study, in situ deformation measurementsfrom the WIPP site and other salt and potash mines in the United States were extensively analyzed to understand the deformation mechanism of the underground excavations in the rock mass."

Jan 1, 2002