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By George W. Bain

Mr. Geo. W. Bain: Dr. H. C. Cooke's discussion of 'The Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Harricanaw and Bell River Basins' possesses many of the elements of a good political address; perhaps his long residence in Ottawa has some bearing upon his method of discussing geological work. The three essential parts of the address are all included. First, the plank - "Contributed discussion on the Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Harricanaw and Bell River Basins"; second, the personal attack upon the opponent, to show antipathy to the opponent as well as to his ideas; and third, controversion of a number of statements, which have been made to appear as planks of the opponents platform, even statements and work which are in no way connected with one under discussion. In the following pages, I will confine my attention to a defense of my work in the Harricanaw and Bell River basins, leaving discussion of the other areas mentioned by Dr. Cooke until results of the re-surveys are published. It is intimated that it was impossible to make a geological examination of an area of 1,600 sq. miles on a scale of four miles to the inch (base map supplied) in three and a half months, because "the area is accessible only from the railway along the northern edge together with a few roads close to it, and from rather wide separated streams?. There is one way, known to most geologists, whereby a place can be reached other than by railway coach or motor boat, and that the oldest of all -- walking. Most of the region was reached in this fashion. The boundaries of all the 18 townships included in the map are surveyed, nine are divided into lots, and the north-south and east-west centre lines of most of the others are surveyed and have mile-posts placed.

Jan 1, 1927

By D. Gaboury

Most hydrothermal gold deposits contain quartz with fluid inclusions that record composition and temperature of the mineralizing event. Quartz has strong chemical and mechanical resistances to weathering and abrasion. Hence, quartz fragments occurring on weathered surfaces or in till cover have the potential to be used for gold exploration as far as we know what is the signification of the volatile content of the fluid inclusions for gold mineralization. In this perspective, fluid inclusions were analyzed in pure quartz by solid-probe mass spectrometry from gold deposits hosted in the Archean Abitibi (Canada) and Paleoproterozoic Birimian (Western Africa) belts. This approach provides the relative abundance of volatiles from families of fluid inclusions decrepitating at specific temperatures (Td). Fluids in gold deposits are aqueous-dominated with CO2 and minor H2S in accordance with their fundamental role as gold-ligands (H2S) and for pH-buffering (CO2) of the gold-bisulfide solubility. However, there is no correlation between CO2 and H2S contents of fluid inclusions with the gold grade of the samples. This suggests that trapped fluids represent a marginal portion of the fluid history recorded by the veins. However, in barren quartz veins away from known mineralization CO2 or H2S are commonly absent. Wide ranges in H2O Td from 250 to 450°C and CO2-H2O Td offsets are common, indicating phase separation. The content of other volatiles seems to be more dependent on the geological setting. Helium content may suggest proximity to a crustal-rooted fault, a critical parameter for gold mineralization. Methane and especially C2H6 appear to be indicative of fluid buffering by organic-rich material such as graphitic-shale. These rocks may provide an important primary gold reservoir from sedimentary metal-rich pyrite. Nitrogen-bearing fluids may be related to a magmatic component but can also be derived from organic-rich sedimentary rocks. For gold exploration, quartz containing CO2- H2S-bearing fluid inclusions and having H2O-CO2-Td offsets within 250 - 450°C has strong vectoring potential.

Jan 1, 2011

By Alan Bauer

IN RECENT PAST YEARS, the mining industry has expanded rapidly and mining engineers have not been generated in sufficient numbers to sustain this growth. Canada has not been alone with this problem, which has resulted in considerable soul-searching as to what the solution might be. Because of the unfavourable economics of running small departments such as mining, metallurgy, ceramic engineering, etc., one approach in some cases has been to put these departments together to form a department of mineral science which now has a broader base structure. Another solution has been the "conversion kit" program which has been conducted both at universities and in industry. At universities, such programs have consisted of converting graduates of other engineering disciplines into mining engineers. In some of the large mining corporations, extensive training programs have been used with the same aim.

Jan 1, 1972

By François Robert, Steve Green, Tyson Birkett, Dan Richardson

Abstract -Detailed sampling using a portable diamond drill, and interlaboratory comparison of selected samples have been combined with statistical studies of truncated populations to establish the gold content of several outcrops in the Val d'Or area. The outcrops chosen are non-mineralized. The background gold concentration in the rocks of the region is 5 ppb or Jess. Gold is distributed relatively homogeneously within the outcrops studied except for slightly increased concentrations within quartz-tourmaline veinlets. Three samples, of which 20 grams of powder are analyzed for each, can adequately determine the gold concentration of a structurally simple outcrop in the Val d'Or area.

Jan 1, 1992

By R. Hans

Removal of toxic anions from aqueous solution was studied using a Magnetic Ion Exchange (MIEX) resin which is a polyacrylic, strong base resin. Gravity based settling is made more efficient due to the magnetic nature of the resin which is advantageous over conventional ion exchange resins. In addition, the magnetic microspheres of MIEX have larger surface area in comparison to conventional ion exchange resins. Over the years MIEX has been successfully used and has gained significant popularity for efficiently removing dissolved organic matter from wastewater and groundwater. In the present study the efficiency of the MIEX resin was tested for the removal of chromium(VI), molybdenium(VI), vanadium(V) and arsenic(V) anions. Effects of pH (2-10) and temperature (25oC-55oC) were examined. In general, low solution pH values were favorable for anion uptake by MIEX. Except for chromium(VI), the metal ion uptake was significantly increased by the increase in solution temperature. The adsorption data were analysed on the basis of chemical speciation and heterogeneous kinetic models.

Jan 1, 2014

By D. Runnels, Daniel Roy, Ricardo Esteban, J. Torrealba-Vargas

"An intuitive way to reduce power consumption in grinding operations is to feed the grinding circuit with finer feed by enhancing blasting and fragmentation control. The optimization of blasting with the objective of minimizing power consumption in grinding is not new.The study was based on a Canadian mine that processes a very hard ore. BBA conducted blasting/fragmentation and grinding circuit surveys in 2014. The results of the exercise were used to develop a base case model to simulate the effect of blasting in the operation on the grinding circuit. Tools for fragmentation simulations, particle size measurement and crushing/grinding simulations were used with the objective of reducing the OPEX costs including power consumption.The paper describes the steps involved in the model optimization as well as an economical evaluation of the OPEX savings.INTRODUCTIONIn 2014 BBA was retained by one of its clients to conduct a crushing and grinding survey. The objective of the survey was to update the grinding circuit model with production data and also to develop a tool to investigate opportunities for process improvement.A second phase of the study involved the development of drilling and blasting and crushing models. The models were used to diagnose the operations and to investigate opportunities for process improvement.The objective of the present study is to describe the approach and to identify potential improvements to overall mine site operating costs by better integrating mining and milling operating costs with blasting and grinding models."

Jan 1, 2016

Applying DEM to prediction of tumbling mill performance is challenging because several different modes of breakage are active in the process. As our knowledge of breakage and computational capacity improve, it is worth revisiting previous simulation tasks which did not produce a satisfactorily realistic description of a measured process. At SAG 2006, we reported the simulated and measured outcomes of treating a well characterised ore in a 1.2 m diameter mill. This well instrumented, pilot scale mill at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has been combined with some new approaches to ore testing to allow different modes of breakage to be tested. The mill design allows the rate of generation of fine material to be measured in close to real time for autogenous and SAG mill charges. The updated simulation model estimates mass loss with particle evolution and embeds the cumulative damage and breakage. The simulated results are compared with the measured results. Issues such as relating modelling inputs to particle breakage characterisation data and the accuracy of the predictions of the models are discussed.

Jan 1, 2012

By Kevin B. Doyle

"Canada now supplies 23 per cent of the world demand for potash. Although potash is produced by many countries, Russia and Canada have the greatest reserves and capability to supply the future substantial demand over the next decade. It is estimated that demand will grow from 38,000,000 mt KCl in 1975-76 to 60,000,000 mt KCl in 1985-86. Current firm expansion plans and development underway in the world will move Russia to the forefront in supplying this demand growth. Russia will move from supplying 40 per cent of world demand in 1975 to supplying as much as 52 per cent in 1981. Canadian deposits suffer from natural disadvantages, such as high costs and risks of mine development and operation, and high-cost transportation to international markets, but experience has shown that these natural barriers can be surmounted to effectively compete in these international markets. However, Canadian potash is losing out in the race to supply the growth in the world potash demand over the next ten years because of artificial barriers raised through the unhealthy environment created by the current battle between different levels of government and the industry over resource taxation and legislation."

Jan 1, 1976

By P. -Q. Wu

A modified electrochemical noise (EN) technique has been applied to monitor corrosion wear of TiN-coated ASP23 steel and TiN-coated AISI 316 stainless steel sliding against corundum in 0.5 M H2SO4. Experimental results show that the EN technique can sensitively detect potential and current variations during a corrosion-wear process. Corrosion-wear mechanisms of TiN coatings depend on their substrate properties. If the substrate is passive, such as AISI 316 stainless steel, the potential and current variations reflect the properties of the coating. Depassivation and repassivation alternately take place on the tribo-activated wear area during the steady-state phase. If the substrate is active, such as ASP23 tool steel, the electrochemical noise is dominated by dissolution of the substrate at the pinholes and the hydrogen evolution all over the exposed surface.

Jan 1, 2005

By Karl J. C. Harries

"2.1. INTRODUCTIONNo agreement can be perfect in the sense that it contemplates and provides for all eventualities. Mineral acquisition agreements are usually negotiated and drafted at a time when an orebody is no more than a gleam in a geologist’s eye, so it is hardly possible to provide for development and operation in other than the most general terms. However, an agreement that stops short of contemplating the possibility of an orebody and production is ill-advised. Accordingly, it is important to provide procedures to make decisions that will let the project proceed, even in the face of a fallingout between parties. Whether the parties are shareholders in a corporation or venturers in a contractual common undertaking like a joint venture, differences of opinion and disputes will occur. Unfortunately, more and more are ending up before the courts. Besides greed and the growing tendency in society to fight rather than talk, there are other factors that contribute to the increase of litigation. In some jurisdictions, agreements have tended to become complicated, often defying interpretation, even by a lawyer, and explorationists want their budgets to go into the ground as constructive work rather than into a lawyer’s pocket. All this has led to a growing tendency for corporations to take the attitude that the chances of finding a mine are, at best, marginal and there are lots of earlier agreements in the files to draw from, so why not prepare their own agreements? As discussed in the preceding chapter, this can be folly. All these factors can quickly have parties facing each other in court while a project sits idle. Added to this is the problem that, in some jurisdictions, lawyers may take cases on a contingency-fee basis, sometimes promoting the pursuit of a nebulous claim.When an orebody is discovered, someone will always want some, or more, for himself. There is a breed of “prospectors” who prospect for legal actions, on the somewhat sound grounds that a major corporation will buy off nuisance litigation, rather than incurring the cost and effort of attacking even a poorly founded claim in the courts. They may even find a winner. Besides, it is far more comfortable and relaxing to prospect for problems and legal niceties than to prospect for an orebody.1 In short, it is appropriate to consider briefly some of the factors relating to lawsuits and judgments. Although many of the comments are made in the context of the common law and the Canadian legal system, most of the concepts and suggestions are applicable to any legal system."

Jan 1, 2003

By J. Budac, R. Kofluk, S. Mankasingh

Stainless steels such as 316L or 304 are normally relatively resistant to attack by nitric acid. However research at Sherritt International’s Fort Saskatchewan Operation reveals that when the stainless steel is immersed in an aqueous system in which nitric acid is used to dissolve metals such as cobalt or nickel, the steel can be seriously corroded. Sherritt is patenting a simple process for arresting the corrosion via the use of copper. This process is expected to substantially eliminate corrosion in processes where nitric acid is used to dissolve metals attached to a stainless steel substrate.

Jan 1, 2014

By Y. Luo

The rock breakage process in drilling is a main source of noise in roof bolting operations, especially when hard rocks are encountered. Proper control of drilling operation can provide an opportunity to improve energy efficiency of drilling and to reduce noise and heat generated from bit-rock friction. Drilling tests have been conducted in laboratory settings to confirm this noise-reduction strategy. Preliminary results show that the drilling parameters, penetration and rotational rates can be controlled to achieve in a desirable range in drilling medium hard rock. Based on the theoretical and experimental studies, rational drilling control strategy is developed for noise control while maintaining a safe and productive roof bolting operation. Applying this strategy in underground roof bolting operation, the noise exposure of roof bolter operators will be significantly reduced.

Aug 1, 2013

By K. Buxmann

Climate change is a subject of growing concern. Based on the International Energy Agency, about 19% of man made greenhouse gas emissions globally are generated by the transport sector. This paper will focus on the environmental aspects of the light-weighting in transport and the resulting savings of fuel and electricity. Aluminium is an option for lightweight applications in transport, with very high benefits not only in the use stage, but also in the stage of vehicle recycling. Life cycle assessment is used to quantify the relative benefits of light-weighting specific components of cars, commercial road vehicles, buses, ships and trains. A vehicle consists of many components, which are produced by different processes and undergo different types of end-of-life operations. This document does not intend to compare a generic aluminium vehicle with a generic "heavy materials" vehicle. It rather tries to use a pragmatic approach based on specific examples of components where aluminium is used and can be used in the design of new vehicles, also taking into account future developments. The case studies in this paper are based on real cases where aluminium was used. For each component, sensitivity analyses are applied to see the impact of specific parameters such as the end-of-life recycling rate and the use stage driving distance. Significant greenhouse gas savings by the use of aluminium are demonstrated for cars and even higher ones for trucks, buses, trains and ships. In addition, the total potential benefits of light-weighting with aluminium are shown on the global level.

Jan 1, 2007

By R. A. Wyman, F. E. Hanes

THE demand for high-quality aggregate is increasing in all phases of the construction industry and in all organizations associated with road building in Canada. The production of aggregate in Canada has increased almost continuously since the end of the war and has quadrupled since 1948. Increases during the past fifteen years can be accounted for by the expansion in all types of construction, particularly that of roads and highways. Total construction in 1959, based on preliminary estimates, has been valued at $7 billion, and an increase fore-cast for 1960 indicates optimism on the •construction horizon (1). Cement produced in Canada in 1959 amounted to 6.3 million tons. This is more than 2.5 times the 1948 production. Increased cement production indicates an increased use of concrete, and thus an increased need for aggregate. Natural sand and gravel deposits are gradually being depleted.

Jan 1, 1962

By Hans Lundberg

PREFACE THE successful conclusion of all geophysical work depends on the operator's skill and sound judgment, as well as on his knowledge of geology and geophysics. We have been fortunate enough to have as co-workers a number of very good men. Some results of their work are summarized in this paper, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge their cheerful spirit of co-operation and the enthusiasm and loyalty with which they have assisted in the building of a geophysical organization to serve the Canadian mining industry HISTORY Geophysical prospecting is commonly, but quite erroneously, regarded as something new. The name is modern, but the principle of applying physical laws to reveal the presence of hidden ore is several hundred years old. Already, at the beginning of our civilization, the need was strongly felt for methods that could indicate the presence of ore in regions where the ore-bodies were completely masked or hidden from the eye. Particularly in countries where the rocks have been eroded during periods of glaciation and later covered by a thick mantle of glacial debris, all kinds of mysterious schemes were invented to locate the hidden ore. Often magic was resorted to (for example, the divining rod), but methods based on sound principles were also developed. Such features as topography, colour and taste of surface waters, and the growth and occurrence of trees and plants, were used to reveal certain types of ore deposits. For finding bodies of iron ore, the compass was very early in use. The fact that objects of iron attract a compass needle was utilized in prospecting long bef01:e the time of Columbus, and a systematic search for bodies of iron ore by this method was organized as early as the year 1600. There are still in existence documents, dated a little over 300 years ago, which show that the Swedish Chancellor of that day, Axel Oxenstiorna, ordered dozens of sun-dial compasses from instrument makers in Germany. The Swedish Government at that time employed a great number of prospectors to search systematically for iron ore. This Government undertaking must have been quite successful, as a number of iron ore-bodies were found in areas covered by heavy overburden. These prospectors were simply Government 'geo-physicists', although they were not known by this fancy name.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. Jankovic

Numerous advantages have been recognized for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating at temperatures of 500-700°C. However, there are several issues related to low temperature SOFCs, such as high electrolyte resistance and high electrode polarization. One of the routes to enhance the electrode performance, particularly for the cathode, is to use new materials with optimized microstructure. In this work, the plasma-spraying technique, recognized to have several advantages over presently used deposition techniques, was used to deposit cathode materials onto ceramic and stainless steel substrates to obtain highly porous structures. Cathode materials with composition of Lao 6Sr0.4Co02Fe0 8O3 (LSCF) were employed in the powder form. The LSCF was prepared from powder precursors with different pore formers and binder levels, or from already produced, single-phase LSCF. The (La0.8Sr0.2)0.98MnO3 (LSM) cathode material was also processed for comparison purposes. The deposition process was developed to obtain coatings with good bond strength, porosity, film thickness and residual stresses. The phase and microstructure of deposited materials were characterized using XRD and SEM.

Jan 1, 2005

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 C. Samuelsson, G. Carlsson

Characterization of dust from Boliden Mineral AB’s copper-plant in Sweden was carried out using chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, energy dispersive analysis and wave length analysis using electron microprobe equipment. Dust from four different locations was characterized: the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) after the roasting furnace; the ESP after the copper smelting furnace; from the copper converter ventilation bag house filter; and from the bag house filter collecting dust from the settling furnace and tap gas ventilation. The results showed that the dust is composed of small solid and/or liquid particles from the furnace reactor which have been transported with the process gas to the dust collecting devices. This portion of the dust is mechanically formed. It also contains compounds that have been vaporized in the process and then condensed from the process gas at lower temperature, chemically formed dust. The proportion of mechanical and chemical dust varies with the process generating the dust.

Jan 1, 2001

By Tyson Birketi, Françoi Robert, Steve Green, Dan Richardson

Detailed sampling using a portable diamond drill, and inter laboratory comparison of selected samples have been combined with statistical studies of truncated populations to establish the gold content of several outcrops in the Val d'Or area. The outcrops chosen are non-mineralized. The background gold concentration in the rocks of the region is 5 ppb or less. Gold is distributed relatively homogeneously within the outcrops studied except for slightly increased concentrations within quartz-tourmaline veinlets. Three samples, of which 20 grams of powder are analyzed for each, can adequately determine the gold concentration of a structurally simple outcrop in the Val d'Or area.

Jan 1, 1992

By Carol A. Pilon

"IntroductionRECENTLY, the Saskatchewan Research Council (Saskatoon ) marked the completion of one of its coal-related projects with the publication of the Bibliography and Index of Coal in Saskatchewan and Adjoining Provinces and States, hereafter referred to as the Bibliography and Index of Coal. Over a two-year time period, literature was surveyed and indexed and bibliographic data were compiled using a computer-assisted information retrieval system called FAMULUS. The final publication contains 1150 bibliographic references, which are cross-referenced by six indices.The project was initiated in September 1974, in support of Saskatchewan's Coal Resources Evaluation Program , an ongoing research program sponsored by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (Ottawa) and the Province of Saskatchewan. This program places emphasis on such areas of concern as the occurrence of deposits, chemical and physical properties, calculation of reserves and computer-assisted applications for the evaluation of lignite resources in the Province. Attention is also given to aspects of geophysical exploration, mining conditions and economics, by-products and the transporting of lignite. These are the subject areas .covered by the Bibliography and Index of Coal.The over -all objectives of the literature indexing project may be enumerated as follows: (1) to build a specialized resource library by surveying established public and specialized libraries, and commercial data bases; (2) to enter library data into the FAMULUS information retrieval system, to be used to generate bibliographies and indexes, and to retrieve information by the use of specified searching techniques; (3) to make this library data available to interested persons."

Jan 1, 1977