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By Chris D. Veldhoen

If you ask most diamond drillers if they have ever encountered methane gas, the answer would probably be yes. This paper explores a serious methane gas explosion that the author experienced while diamond drilling at a northerly Ontario mine. It is hoped that by documenting this event, people may be alerted to the hidden danger posed by confined methane in underground workings. Methane gas tends to be a problem the deeper you get in any Canadian gold mine. Common procedure when encountering methane is to take readings at the collar of the hole and at different lengths from the source. Monitoring continues until the readings drop below 0.25 ppm. Methane is a tasteless odorless gas that is usually locked up in the seams of the rock or is a product of decaying organic material. Occasionally, the gas is released abruptly over a short period of time. Sometimes the gas can continue to vent for months or even years. In small concentrations, methane is relatively safe. In concentrations under 0.25 ppm methane gas is considered safe to work around. Concentrations over 0.25 ppm can become dangerous. During the summer of 2001, Chris Veldhoen was drilling at a gold mine in Ontario. There were three electric hydraulic diamond drills on the 39 meter level, approximately 5200 feet deep. Two Longyear LM 55 drills were about 40 feet apart and another LM 75 was about 2000 feet away. The two LM 55?s were set up to drill holes no deeper than 350 meters. All three drills had been set up on the same spot for more than a month. None of the three drills had ever encountered methane gas in the entire time they had been drilling on the level. On the day shift of July 13 2001, the driller on Chris? cross shift hit a small pocket of gas. He tested the hole and got a reading above 0.25 ppm. He proceeded to rope off the area with a ?DO NOT ENTER - METHANE GAS? sign and a rope denying access beyond the sign. On Saturday, July 14, Chris was instructed to install a Margo plug in the hole that was emitting methane gas. Methane is usually odorless, but occasionally when encountered underground, is accompanied by a rotten egg smell. As he walked to the drill, he could not smell methane gas. He proceeded to test the hole and got a reading of 0.22 ppm methane. This number was in the acceptable range for drilling, but he plugged the hole anyway.

May 1, 2004

By P. H. Tolcher

Canada, as the Free World's largest mine producer of zinc and the third largest mine producer of lead, has a vital interest in the future growth in demand for these metals. This paper traces the development of lead and zinc consumption in the last two decades, both on a total-Free-World basis and by major market areas. How Canada, as a major mine producer, has shared in this growth is also indicated. In addition, future consumption for both metals in the current decade of the 1970's is fore-cast. The demand these projections will make on Free World mines, particularly on Canadian mines, is examined. Some of the opportunities and challenges the Canadian mining industry will likely face during this period are also dealt with.

Jan 1, 1971

By O. B. Horne, R. O. Morgan, C. E. Anderson

"Air-photo interpretation and photogrammetry are two of the most effective and versatile tools available to the petroleum industry. The techniques have proven successful in providing solutions to many of the problems encountered in the design and construction of oilfield projects.Although most technical personnel are aware that air-photo interpretation and photogrammetry are useful in the selection of routes for roads and pipelines, few realize the true scope of the techniques or the wide variety of areas in which they are applicable.This paper briefly describes the principles involved, and reviews a number of typical applications of particular interest to petroleum companies. Excessive detail is avoided, rather the emphasis is placed upon the wide spectrum of possible applications. It is stressed that on-the-ground examination generally is a necessary adjunct, and that there are certain limitations to the techniques discussed.Properly applied, however, air-photo interpretation and photogrammetry can offer significant advantages in terms of time, flexibility, secrecy and economy."

Jan 1, 1968

By Warnett Kennedy

"GENUINE CONCERN for the environment is a built-in attitude of mind. If you do not have it by age 40 you probably never will. Some people speak the jargon of 'environment' and 'ecology' for political reasons, others because it feeds their need and bias toward attitudes of moral indignation or dissent. Others pay lip-service for purely business reasons. Complete reactionaries equate conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists as either 'commies' or 'pinkos'. Their real credo is the old saying, ""Where there's muck there's brass."" Those who have genuine concern for good environment are not only romantics like Thoreau but realists who sense the danger to our planet if human greed is rampant and unchallenged. The cities are in real trouble. Almost 75 per cent of the population already live in and around cities. Even mining men live in cities or bring up their children in the new 'instant' towns. The ecology of cities is the concern of all. Our distinguished guest Stewart Udall, in his book ""The-Quiet Crisis,"" quoted Thoreau in 1859 as having written ""each town should have a miniature wilderness park, a primitive forest of five hundred or a thousand acres where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever."" Mr. Udall will be glad to know that this advice was taken in at least one instance known to me. I refer to Stanley Park in Vancouver. It is a primitive forest of 1000 acres right inside our small downtown peninsula. It remains unmanicured. This month we celebrated the completion of a seawall of 4%, miles along its perimeter. The construction of this wonderful walkway started in 1910. We are very, very proud of our park."

Jan 1, 1972

By R. A. Lunceford, K. C. Shaver

Acquired by Teck Corporation in 1990, the White Earth project, located in southwestern Colorado is the largest titanium resource in the U.S. Teck Corporation has conducted geologic, reserve, mineral processing, pre-marketing, and environmental baseline studies directed toward the economic feasibility of producing titanium pigment. The White Earth project is situated in a 31 km2 alkalic-carbonatite complex intruded into Precambrian granite and metamorphic rocks about 570 million years ago. Perovskite occurs in a 8 km by 1.2 km Acquired by Teck Corporation in 1990, the White Earth project, located in southwestern Colorado is the largest titanium resource in the U.S. Teck Corporation has conducted geologic, reserve, mineral processing, pre-marketing, and environmental baseline studies directed toward the economic feasibility of producing titanium pigment. The White Earth project is situated in a 31 km2 alkalic-carbonatite complex intruded into Precambrian granite and metamorphic rocks about 570 million years ago. Perovskite occurs in a 8 km by 1.2 km

Jan 1, 1998

By P. E. Weidmark

Allard, M., Hucka, V.J., Das, B., and Borchtch-Komponietz, V.I., "Investigation of seismic vibration due to large blasts in Gaspe Copper Mines"; (in Russ); The Industry of Chemical Raw Materials; Referativnyi sbornik; 5:18-20: 1978. Askew, J., McCarthy, P.L. , and Fitzgerald, D.J ., "Backfill research for pillar extraction at ZC/NBHC"; Mining with Backfill; Proc 12th Cdn Rock Mech Symp; May 23-25, 1978; Sudbury; CIM Spec Vol 19:100-lJO; 1978. Barrett, J.R., Coulthard, M.A., and Dight, P.M., "Determination of fill stability" ; Mining with Backfill; Proc 12th Cdn Rock Symp; May 23-25, 1978; Sudbury; CIM Spec Vol 19:85-91; 1978.

Jan 1, 1979

By A Sadough Vanini

In this paper large deformation of smart functionally graded beams with initial imperfection and under thermal loadings is considered. Smart beam consist of two types of layers. One layer is made from functionally graded materials and a layer or a set of layers from active materials that usually is made from piezoelectric materials that are bounded on the surfaces of beam. An active controller is used for controlling the deformation and stress in functionally graded layer of beam. A simple Euler- Bernoulli beam theory is used for analyzing of beam. In functionally graded layer the material property vary continuously through the thickness direction and power law model is used for the variation of elastic modulus, heat expansion and heat conduction coefficients. Poisson ratio is assumed to be constant in functionally graded layer. The effects of varying the power law constants and the Gain of controller is considered here. The results are reduced and compared with smart functionally graded beam without initial imperfections.

Oct 1, 2011

By Zhongxue Li

This paper reviews an analytical model that defines the relationship of weight-weighted or volume-weighted average haulage distance with bench height and other related parameters, presents the optimum bench heights under various conditions in terms of minimizing the weighted average haulage distance of ore/waste during the full lifetime of an open pit mine, and discusses the truck haulage economics of mining open pits by high bench, specifically by 15 m, 18 m and 20 m benches through marginal analyses. The observations from these analyses disapprove the previous conflicting assertions that the over-all weighted average haulage distance either increases or decreases directly with bench height. It is concluded that: (1) an increase of bench height to 15 m from 12 m is likely to be viable under the general conditions of large-scale deep open pit mines; (2) the reduction of haulage cost is much limited with the case of increasing bench height to 18 m from 15 m; and (3) the feasibility of mining open pits by 20 m benches is generally questionable. These conclusions may serve as a useful guide for those who advocate open pit mining by high bench.

Jan 1, 1995

By C. Jay Hodgson, Adrienne C. L. Larocque

The Mobrun VMS deposit in northwestern Quebec does not fit the classic Noranda type model, but exhibits characteristics more consistent with a Mattabi-type deposit. The orebodies are underlain by fragmental volcanic rocks indicative of explosive volcanism in shallow water. Felsic volcanic rocks are more abundant than mafic rocks. Alteration assemblages comprise chlorite, carbonate, sericite, and quartz. Broad semi-conformable alteration occurs high in the footwall to the 1100 lens. Mobrun occurs higher in the stratigraphic sequence than most of the other deposits in the Noranda camp. In this part of the stratigraphy, zones of pervasive carbonatization may be more useful guides for exploration than zones of silicification.

Jan 1, 1993

By A. B. Irwin

Abstract The techniques used in recognizing, recording, and interpreting structures in the Slocan sedimentary ceries in the West Kootenay district of B.C. are presented here in the hope that they will be of use to others working in complexly folded areas. The general pattern of folding in the Central Slocan area is obscured by lack of outcrop over a large part of the country, lack of marker horizons, local complexities of folding, and several systems of faulting. 1t was found necessary to observe and record in great detail all primary and secondary structural features and to analyse those observations on a statistical basis. The determination of bedding tops as well as bedding attitudes proved to be of fundamental importance in determining the pattern of folding. The interpretation of secondary linear and planar structures confirm:; this pattern. Accordingly, the thickness of the Slocan sedimentary series is computed to be several times that formerly postulated. Introduction The data upon which this paper is based were collected largely during the field seasons of 1947 and 1948 when the writer was employed by the British Columbia Department of Mines on detailed mapping in the Slocan mining camp. Additional observations were made by the writer during 1950 when engaged in property examinations for the Geological Survey of Canada. This presentation is largely a condensation of part of a more comprehensive thesis (5) and is restricted to observations and conclusions pertaining to the mapping of complex folds, stripped of any hypothetical discussion. Except for some unique occurrences of primary structures, there are no features or techniques described here which are not presented in standard textbooks on structural geology. It is felt that the major contribution of this paper is the method used in applying these standard techniques to a specific field problem and in interpreting the results.

Jan 1, 1951

By C. W. MacLeod

LOCATION The Goudreau gold area in Ontario extends from a point a short distance south of the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, at Lochalsh, in a south-westerly direction to the Magpie river. It crosses the Algoma Central & Hudson's Bay railway at Goudreau station, 177 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie. The area is roughly 25 miles in length by 6 miles in width. The potential gold formation is much more extensive but little prospecting has been done outside of the limits mentioned. The actual continuous area of Keewatin formation, in which gold has been found, is one of the largest in Ontario. ACCESSIBILITY Probably no mining area in a similar stage of development has had the excellent transportation facilities which Goudreau enjoys. This field is traversed in part by the main lines of the Canadian Pacific and Algoma Central railways. The Provincial Government has constructed 22 miles of road through the heart of the camp. Sixteen miles of this road is suitable for motor car traffic and several cars and trucks are in constant service.

Jan 1, 1926

By T. Richard Davies

This paper primarily deals with the application of wearfacing materials and their role within a well-established preventive maintenance welding program. Some examples are shown, as well as a synopsis of possible benefits and a compendium of methods and materials.

Jan 1, 1979

By Li Xibing

The In order to mine safely with reasonable cost, it is necessary to research the fracture characters of backfill and its matches with rock mass. Four kinds backfill with cement-tailing ratio of 0.250, 0.125, 0.100 and 0.083 respectively were tested, and basing on stress-strain curves tested, the deformation characters and fracture laws as well as the damage constitutive equations investigated with damage mechanics whose calculating results are coincided with experiment results well were proposed. The results of damage analysis show that there have different damage characters in different backfill, e. g. the lower the ratio of cement to tailings the lower the damage values when stresses reach to peak value; the lower the content of cement the more rapid in damage and the more abrupt in breakage process. In addition, using catastrophe theory, an energy model was proposed for backfill and rock mass acted each other in mechanics, and the unstable condition of the system was obtained. Research results show that the higher is the stiffness of rock mass the more stable the system, and the lower is the ratio of cement to tailings, the more unstable the system will be. Further more, according to the catastrophe model proposed, the reasonable matches between backfill and rock mass were researched, and a calculation formula that designs reasonable strength of backfill during mining was put forward. It has been proved by practice that the model and theory researched in this paper can guide filling design in mining. Keywords: Cemented tailings backfill, constitutive equation, catastrophe theory, match of backfill and rock mass

May 1, 2007

By M. E. Wilson, A. C. Lee

"The property owned by Senator-Rouyn Mines, Limited, is in Rouyn township about 17'2 miles southwest of the town of Rouyn. It adjoins the Chadbourne claims of Noranda Mines, Limited, on the south and the Bagamac property on the ·west. It includes seven claims-block 44, blocks 80 to 83 and blocks 96 and 97; the mine is wholly in blocks 44 and 82.Late in 1936 gold was discovered in an outcrop of rusty weathering carbonate rock near the north end of block 44, and the following year the present Company was organized to proceed with the development of the property. During 1937-38, 17,000 feet of diamond drill core were bored to determine the extent of the ore deposit at depth. From October 15th, 1940, to April 15th, 1941, the ore was hauled to the mill at the Arntfield mine for treatment. The mill on the Senator-Rouyn property started on April 25th, 1941, and has been in practically continuous operation since than time. To the end of 1946, 574,874 tons of ore, from which gold having a value of $3,836,450 was recovered, were treated in the mill.GEOLOGYThe rocks exposed at the Senator-Rouyn mine, except in the southern part of the property, are almost wholly quartz diorite, part of an irregular mass that extends west from the town of Rouyn along the north shore of Noranda lake and thence southwest across the Senator-Rouyn claims. In the northern part of the propertyt inclusions of rhyolite occur here and there in the diorite. In the southern part the predominant rock is dacite and in the east-central part of block 44 claim andesite. Dykes of andesite, quartz syenite, and later diabase also occur on the property.The andesite of the Abitibi volcanics is not exposed on the property, but has been intersected in three diamond drill holes, one on the eastern boundary of block 44 and two farther west within the block. This andesite is probably the western end of a band of pillowed andesite well exposed in the Larose claim to the east."

Jan 1, 1954

By A. Miura, R. Winarko, D. B. Dreisinger

Chalcopyrite leaching in acidic ferric sulfate media at ambient temperature exhibits slow kinetics and poor leaching efficiency, which is typically attributed to surface passivation. Recently, the presence of small amounts of iodide in the leaching media has been reported to significantly accelerate chalcopyrite dissolution. To further explore the behavior of chalcopyrite leaching in the presence of iodide, it is essential to determine the factors that control the leaching kinetics. In this study, we investigated the effect of initial solution potential, iodide concentration, particle size, and temperature on the kinetics of copper extraction from chalcopyrite. The key in the experimental setup was to minimize iodide loss by iodine evaporation and precipitation as cuprous iodide. The former was achieved by performing the leaching tests in fully sealed leaching systems. The latter was achieved by maintaining the solution potential higher than 420 mV (versus Ag/AgCl electrode), where formation of CuI precipitate is possible. The experimental results show that higher solution potential and higher iodide concentration had a pronounced positive effect on the rate of chalcopyrite dissolution. There was no effect associated with particle size, which might be due to the narrow size range tested. The positive effect of increasing temperature only manifested itself when the solution potential was sufficiently high. INTRODUCTION The main challenge of chalcopyrite leaching using ferric ions as the oxidant at ambient temperature is the slow kinetics and poor extraction. The reason for this leaching behavior has been attributed to passivation resulting from formation of insoluble passivating layers on chalcopyrite surfaces, which could be metal-deficient sulfides, elemental sulfur, polysulfides, and iron precipitates (Klauber, 2008). To overcome passivation, technologies using higher temperature and pressure have been developed to leach chalcopyrite concentrates, such as the CESL process (Mayhew, McCoy, Mean, & Woeller, 2013), FLSmidth Rapid Oxidative Leach (ROL) process (Mulligan et al., 2017), Galvanox (Dixon, Mayne, & Baxter, 2008), Albion process (Hourn, Turner, & Hourn, 2012), HydroCopper (Hyvärinen & Hämäläinen, 2005), TPOX (Dreisinger, 2006), and AAC/UBC process (Dreisinger, Dempsey, Steyl, Sole, & Gnoinski, 2003). Even though they are effective in accelerating copper leaching kinetics, those technologies typically have higher capital and operating costs associated with production of concentrates and application of autoclaves. This makes them unsuitable for treating low grade primary copper sulfide ores.

Jan 1, 2019

This growing dependence of Canada upon foreign mineral commodities, just referred to, applies particularly in the direction of the United States. There is, in fact, no more significant feature of Canada's mineral trade than the manner in which it affects the Dominion's commercial standing with that country. Our heavy adverse balance of trade with the United States is perhaps not a matter of such wide concern or frequent comment as was the case two or three years ago. It is, of course, a well-known fact that the Dominion each year buys from the States a volume of goods to a value enormously in excess of our sales to that country. And it has come to be accepted as a ?normal, though not altogether satisfactory, feature of our international commerce that a huge portion of the bill incurred by our American purchases must be met, not by our American sales, but by the proceeds of our sales to other countries, not-ably Great Britain. It is a three-cornered situation in which our trading deficit with the United States is covered largely by our trading surplus with the United Kingdom. In this situation the mineral trade plays a remarkable part. If one delves into the details of our transactions with the United States it will be found that, in one sense, the mineral trade is entirely responsible for the huge annual balance against the Dominion. In fact, Canada gets decidedly better than an even break on Canadian American trade, if one leaves out of account the three mineral groups, "iron and steel", "non- metallic minerals", and "non-ferrous metals".

Jan 1, 1924

By Arthur Lieu

Outline Removal mechanisms of Se and Mo in the Key Lake Bulk Neutralization circuit Bulk circuit Detail process modification in the Key Lake BN circuit Process performance after commissioning Objective Legacy effects of Se and Mo from the historical operation of Key Lake mill were shown to have an negative effect on the regional biota in the downstream environment. The water treatment circuit was not designed to remove Se and Mo from the effluent. Reduce Se and Mo concentrations in final effluent under0.028 0.028 ppm ppm and 0.3 and ppm ppm(CNSC regulatory limits).(limits).??????

Nov 1, 2011

By I. Lackey

In 2004, Zinifex Budel Zink commenced testing with the objective to increase the precipitation of aluminium in the iron purification stage of its hydrometallurgical zinc circuit, without the use of expensive reagents. Findings from the literature applied to the leach circuit at Zinifex Budel Zink demonstrated that aluminium removal from the leach circuit could be increased by lowering the ferric concentration and acidity in the vessels where jarosite precipitation occurs. An associated increase in copper precipitation was mitigated by limiting the extent to which the ferric concentration was lowered in the vessels where jarosite forms and lowering the ratio of copper to aluminium in the solutions entering these vessels.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. P. Amsden

"Ecstall Mining Limited, a subsidiary of Texasgulf, Inc., Operates the Kidd Creek Mine, Concentrator and Zinc Plant at Timmins, Ontario. Two different ore types are mined and milled to produce concentrates of copper, zinc, lead and tin. The ores are processed at the Concentrator in three separate individual milling circuits, each with the capacity to treat up to 3500 tons per day. Two circuits treat copper-zinc ore 1t an average combined rate of 6500 tons per day and the third circuit treats 3500 tons per day of silver-lead zinc ore. Conventional crushing, grinding and flotation procedures are followed. The purpose of this paper is to describe Ecstall's experience with rubber mill linings in the grinding circuits.CrushingBoth ores are crushed to minus 6 inches at the Mine and delivered by rail to the Concentrator where they are reduced by secondary and tertiary crushing to minus 5/8 inch.GrindingThe crushed ores are prepared for selective flotation by grinding with rod mills and two stages of ball milling. flotation circuit middling products are reground in regrind mills prior to further treatment. A typical flowsheet of one of the grinding circuits is shown in Figure 1.All the grinding units are Allis-Chalmers Mills. The rod mills are 10 1/2 feet diameter by 16 feet long. Both the primary and secondary ball mills are 12 feet diameter by 18 feet long and all regrind mills are 6 feet diameter by 12 feet long. The primary mills are charged with 1 13/16 inch forged balls. Secondary mills are charged with 1 1/2 inch forged balls and the regrind mills are charged with 1 inch forged balls. All cyclones are Kreb units. The primary cyclones are Dl5B hydrocyclones, the secondary cyclones are D6B hydrocyclones and all regrind cyclones are D6B hydrocyclones."

Jan 1, 1974

By K Morrison

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

Jan 1, 1964