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By J. A. Ressinger

"The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the differences between various methods of excavating and loading as they relate to mining operations. The intent is not to provide ""pat"" answers, but instead to raise some questions and set forth some reasonable guidelines.Specifically, the paper deals with the differences and relative merits of power shovels versus rubber-tired front-end loaders - or, carrying this further, comparing what could be called ""stationary"" loading or excavating devices to ""mobile"" types."

Jan 1, 1972

By Claude Hubert, Alex C. Brown, Michel Richard, Rejean Sirois

"The Pierre Beauchemin gold deposit, situated 15 km NW of Rouyn-Noranda, produces an average of 1050 tonnes of ore a day. Reserves are 1.2 Mt grading 5.6 g/t Au. The deposit, located in a shear zone within the Flavrianpluton, in the Blake River Group, is hosted by four major rock types: meta-trondhjemite, meta-tonalite, hybrid rocks and meta-diorite (the prefu; ""meta-"" is omitted thereafter). The trondhjemite, tonalite, and metamorphic hybrid rocks are spatially distributed as a series of sub-horizontal tabular sills that form a genetically related group. Early fractures that permitted either the emplacement of pre-diorite felsic dikes or the formation of a visible alteration caused by early fluid circulation might have been developed in response to initial strain created during regional deformation. These fractures were precursors to the emplacement of diorite and the development of major shear planes. Sub-horizontal north-trending en échelon diorite lenses are observed at the mine. Together, these diorite lenses constitute larger scale diorite zones which are observed at the scale of the pluton. The diorite zones are interpreted as evidence of an episode of sub-vertical extension sustained by the layered trondhjemite, tonalite and hybrid system. The anisotropy created by the less competent sub-horizontal en échelon diorite was an important factor. In shear zone development and subsequent mineralization. The tonalite and diorite accommodated further defomation and developed the main N030°/40° ESE shears along with the spatially associated N060°/50°-60° SSE, and the N000°/10°-40° E shear zones. The N000° shears are interpreted as refracted or deflected equivalents of the N030° shears. The combined shears compose the Eldrich shear system which trends approximately N030°/40° ESE and has had a general reverse movement with a minor sinistral component.Gold mineralization occurs in all four major rock types as en échelon sigmoidal shaped lenses associated with the major N030° deformation system. The distribution of ore lenses can be divided into two categories: The first category occupies sub-horizontal diorite zones. The lenses trend N-S, dip 100 40° E, and are associated with shear zones, sub-horizontal fractures or tonalite-diorite contact planes. The second category of lenses is found in felsic granitic rocks; the lenses trend either N0300!40°ESE or N060°/50°-60° SSE. Local hydraulic breccia zones are observed near ore zones occupying felsic granitic rocks. These breccias may have resulted from high fluid pressures brought upon by confinement as a result of impermeable zones in an anisotropic tonalite-diorite system."

Jan 1, 1990

By D. F. Scott

"DEFINITION OF THE REGION AND ITS BOUNDARIESTHE REGION of Western Canada covered by this re-port lies between the Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield and the structurally deformed rocks of the eastern Cordillera, extending northward from the international border to the 60th parallel. It is some 487,000 square miles in area, with a total sedimentary fill of about 535,000 cubic miles0>. It includes parts of the prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and the northeast corner of British Columbia and forms part of the geological region known as the Interior Platform, commonly referred to as the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The bedrock comprises carbonates and evaporites of Paleozoic age that lie on Precambrian crystalline rocks and are over-lain by a relatively thick blanket of Mesozoic and Tertiary elastic rocks. The nearly flat-lying bedrock, covered by a thick mantle of glacial drift, forms the Interior Plains physiographic province."

Jan 1, 1970

By Jodi Wilding, Barry Lurnsden

The implementation of new technology to mineral separation operations requires rigorous testing to confirm the technology&apos;s technical and economic benefit. The Jaguar Mine owned by Jabiru Metals is located in Western Australia and sequentially separates a copper concentrate and then a zinc concentrate. Fine grinding (80% of zinc in tail is <25µm) is required to achieve efficient mineral separation. All mineral losses are therefore fine mineral losses, and so improvements in metal recovery must focus on this fine mineral. Magnetic aggregation technology has been shown to increase the recovery of fine paramagnetic minerals so it was an appropriate technology to evaluate at Jaguar. Testwork commenced in the copper circuit and it was found that there was a substantial reduction in copper in copper tail and an increase in zinc recovery to the zinc concentrate. The increase in zinc recovery in the latter zinc circuit was an interesting result and initiated the second stage of testwork that was to install and test a second magnetic conditioning unit in the zinc círcuit. This showed a further increase in zinc recovery. Magnetic conditioning technology has now been fully evaluated in the plant and is now part of the Jaguar flowsheet.

Jan 1, 2011

By Douglas C. Fraser

A DIGHEM survey was flown in the Belford-Montcalm Township area of Ontario in November 1975. This 600-linemile survey resulted in the detection of 134 EM anomalies. The Montcalm Township copper-nickel discovery yielded a single-line anomaly having a conductance of 154 mhos. This anomaly was highly visible because (a) it had the highest conductance in the survey area, (b) it correlated with a 175-gamma thumbprint-shaped magnetic anomaly and (c) it was isolated from long conductive bands. The deposit is a copper-nickel pyrrhotite body which occurs in gabbro and strikes north-south, parallel to the flight lines. The DIGHEM survey was flown north-south, because the exploration program was primarily concerned with locating copper-zinc sulphides in the east-west-striking felsic volcanics. The flight line passed close to the deposit and yielded a 9-ppm anomaly on the chart record. The computer analysis showed that a deposit of exceptionally high conductance (154 mhos) caused the relatively weak (9 ppm) anomaly. The ground follow-up program of magnetics and EM led quickly to the discovery drill hole, which penetrated the orebody in September 1976. Subsequent geophysical surveys consisted of horizontal-loop EM, pulse EM, magnetic and induced polarization surveys over an area of about 8 claims. In addition, a detailed DIGHEM" airborne survey was flown at a line spacing of 100 m to evaluate the entire property of 620 claims. This detailed survey yielded EM conductor maps and contour maps of resistivity, magnetics and enhanced magnetics.

Jan 1, 1978

By I. Spector

A SHORTAGE of cement in the Prairie Provinces, together with an aggressive policy on the part of the Saskatchewan Government in bringing new industries to the province, combined to create a favourable set of conditions for the establishment of Saskatchewan's first cement plant on the outskirts of Regina. Built by Saskatchewan Cement Corporation Limited, this single-kiln plant, tl1e latest addition to cement producers on the Prairies, began operations in the Fall of 1956. Location of the plant followed the trend of building cement manufacturing facilities in market areas rather than at raw material sources. In 1957, all assets of the Corporation were taken over by Inland Cement Company Limited and the plant and quarry now operate as Saskatchewan Cement Company, an Inland division. The Regina plant's production makes up approximately eleven per cent of the productive capacity of all plants in the Prairie Provinces. At present, two types of cement are manufactured -normal portland and sulphate resisting.

Jan 1, 1960

By J. Lapointe, S. Leger, D. Proulx

"Une méthode non-électrolytique est utilisée pour plaquer au cuivre la fibre d&apos;amiante chrysotite. En variant les paramètres de placage du bain, on détermine les conditions optimales du taux de deposition du cuivre . Une analyse par diffraction aux rayons-X permet une comp araison relative des résultats de placage et de précipitation d&apos;oxyde cuivreux dans Ie bain. Le traitement de placage a pour but d&apos;assurer une adhésion suffisante de la fibre dans une matrice métallique Iors de la fabrication éventuelle de materiaux composites.IntroductionCette communication se veut un compte-rendu de nos travaux sur Ie placage au cuivre de la fibre d&apos;amiante chrysotile, en vue de I&apos;incorporer éventuellernent dans une matrice métallique. La fibre d&apos;amiante est constituée de fib rilles élementaires d&apos;un diamètre d&apos;environ 0.02 um qui ont une résistance en tension de I&apos;ordre de celie de la fibre de verre ou de carbone(1). Pour être efficace, la fibre de renf&apos;ort d&apos;un matériau composite doit d&apos;une part, avo ir des propriétés mécaniques intrinsèques élevées, et d&apos;autre part, adhérer solidement â la matrice pour que Ie transfert de charge s&apos;effectue sans qu&apos;il y ait décohésion entre les composantes du matériau.La fibre d&apos;amiante étant naturellement soyeuse, il faut la traiter superficiellement pour que l&apos;adhésion avec la matrice soit suffisante. Ainsi, on recouvre la fibre de phénol-formaldéhyde(2) ou de silane(3) lorsqu&apos;elle est employée avec une matrice polymere. Dans Ie cas d&apos;une matrice métallique, ces dépôts organiques ne peuvent resister aux températures de mise en oeuvre, d&apos;où l&apos;intérêt de plaquer les fibres par un dépôt métallique.Dans cette étude, nous rapportons les résultats relatifs à la methode utilisée pour plaquer au cuivre la fibre d&apos;amiante chrysotile. Une analyse par diffraction aux rayons-X permet de comparer les différentes conditions de placage non-électrolytique."

Jan 1, 1985

By The Staff

Introduction In this paper it is proposed to discuss briefly some of the problems confronting the management of a gold mine in choosing a method of milling to recover the gold from various classes of ore. In order to simplify the discussion, the more common types of gold ores are classified from a metallurgical point of view as follows: Class 1?A: Free-milling ores which require only relatively coarse crushing. B: Free-milling ores which require finer grinding to release the gold. Class 2?A: Gold ores which contain the gold partly in the flee state and partly associated with a small amount of iron sulphide, and which do not require fine grinding. B: Gold ores similar to 2A, but which require fine grinding. Class 3?A: Gold ores containing copper in quantities insufficient to interfere to a serious extent with cyanidation. Gold ores containing copper in sufficient quantity to interfere with cyanidation but in which a large proportion of the gold is in the free state, the remainder being chiefly associated with the copper mineral, chalcopyrite. Gold ores containing copper and other sulphides, such as pyrite, etc., in which the gold is principally associated with these sulphides.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. A. Hemstock

"Simple classification systems are now being used which will describe adequately the surface vegetation, the topography and the peat for any muskeg condition. Good progress is being made in determining some of the mechanical properties of muskeg and it is apparent that the science of soil mechanics will apply largely to these studies. Correlation is also indicated between shear strength as determined by the shear vane tester and vehicle performance. Several tracked vehicles are now available which perform well in muskeg and advances in this field have come rapidly in the past few years. Testing is under way on the largest of all muskeg vehicles -the thirty-five ton Musk Ox. This vehicle will fill the last gap for the oil industry and will make possible the movement of large drilling rigs at any season of the year."

Jan 1, 1960

By R. J. Young, S. J. Tennant, A. D. Drummond

"Gibraltar Mines is located on the western slope of Granite Mountain, 230 air miles north of Vancouver, B.C. and 38 miles north of Williams Lake, B.C. There are four mineable zones within the copper-molybdenite deposit: Gibraltar East, Gibraltar West, Pollyanna and Granite Lake. Open-pit reserves are 358 million tons which average 0.37% Cu and 0.016% MoS2 at a 0.25% Cu cut-off. The Granite Mountain pluton is one of the several Jurassic-Cretaceous intrusions which outcrop along the east side of the Fraser River fault system between Williams Lake and Prince George, B.C. The original Granite Mountain quartz diorite has been metamorphosed by a cataclastic deformation which foliated the rock on a regional scale. Attendant to the development of the foliation, the rock was saussuritized such that the present mineralogy is compatible with that of the greenschist facies. The presence of garnet-bearing assemblages is explained by a restricted increase in water pressure. Pre-mineral intrusive phases within the saussuritized quartz diorite are: (1) leucocratic quartz diorite, (2) aplite and (3) quartz-feldspar porphyry. A late chloritized hornblende dacite dyke is post-mineral. Quartz-feldspar porphyry and leucocratic quartz diorite are locally present on the inner sides of the Gibraltar East, Pollyanna and Granite Lake pits. Their presence suggests a core around which occurs an elliptically shaped sulphide-bearing stockwork. The stockwork, which comprises four ages of vein development, is imposed on and partly controlled by the regional foliation of the samssuritized quartz diorite."

Jan 1, 1973

By E. Burdukova

Rheological measurements have found a wide array of applications in mineral processing research. Rheological properties of mineral suspensions are highly dependent on the mineral surface properties as described by DLVO theory, and the relationship between these properties and inter-particle interactions is well established. In this paper, rheological properties of mineral suspensions are used to study the differences in behaviour of isotropic talc and anisotropic zirconia minerals as a function of varying properties of the suspension medium, such as pH and polymer dosage, specifically carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). It was found that the rheological tests when carried out in parallel with electrophoretic or point of zero charge measurements, clearly reveal differences between behaviour of the suspensions of isotropic and anisotropic minerals. These differences are further accentuated with the addition of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC).

Jan 1, 2006

By K. Duckworth

"AbstractA new electromagnetic depth sounding technique was applied to the measurement of salt thickness above the workings in the Central Canada Potash Mine at Colonsay, Saskatchewan. The initial tests indicate that this new technique can measure salt thickness and that the technique possesses operational feature s which make it possible to monitor trends in salt thickness throughout the mine. The technique can be applied using existing equipment, but the tests do indicate the desirability of developing equipment with features specially suited to the mine environment.IntroductionTESTS were conducted in the Central Canada Potash Mine at Colonsay, Saskatchewan during 1974 and 1975 to determine if a new technique in electromagnetic depth sounding could provide a convenient means of measuring salt thickness above the workings. This new technique, which was described by Duckworth (1975), offers operational features which appear to be advantageous in this particular situation.The problem requires that soundings be made upward from the mine workings to the base of the second red shale. This shale forms an impermeable seal on top of the Prairie Evaporite. A knowledge of this salt thickness is of interest due to the need to avoid any possibility of the workings rising to cut the red shale. Another desirable objective is the detection of any disruptions of the red shale. Ideally, this should be done ahead of the workings in order that such areas of disruption may be avoided."

Jan 1, 1977

By The Hollinger Mill Staff

MR. E. L. Longmore (l), in presenting this paper at the Annual General Meeting, suggested that it was neither desirable nor necessary to read any but the briefest portion of the paper. He wished to emphasize that the scale of the milling operations at the Hollinger not only provided several units in continuous operation to ensure that the test work was being carried on under normal conditions, but also provided a large and competent staff to supervise such an extensive experiment and to criticize intelligently the recorded results. He wished to acknowledge the enthusiastic co-operation of the group of assistants whose excellent work was responsible for the confidence with which the conclusions could be presented. The following data were given as a supplement to the published paper. Following conclusion of the test work described in the paper, the size of the balls fed to the mill was changed from 3-in. diameter to 2Yz-in. Within a short time, a gradual rise in the tonnage rate took place and, as no other condition had been changed, the increased tonnage was credited to the changed character of the ball load. At present, the average daily tonnage for the mill with low discharge is 1,507 tons, an increase of 77 tons over the 1,430 tons ground when feeding a 3-in. ball. A similar increase in tonnage should be credited to the high-discharge test, if the 2;Y2-in. ball had been used at that time. This would raise the 1,117 tons ground at that time to a new figure of 1,177 tons. From a study made to determine those factors influencing the rate of pulp flow through the low-discharge mill, it became evident that the ball screen used on the high-discharge mill must have been restricting the flow through the mill, although this was not recognized at the time. Accord-ingly, it was decided to repeat the high-discharge run. Additional length was added to the 21-in. ring grizzly originally used, and the length of the reverse spiral was increased. The end of the grizzly was left open so that, if necessary, excess pulp might flow out. A coarse mesh 3 ft. by 3 ft. flat screen was provided to catch stray balls.

Jan 1, 1937

By Lyle F. Smith

With the demand for larger diameter raises under all ground conditions and the increasing price of drill rods and operating costs, it was evident that there was a need for a raise borer with a variable-speed drive and fast-response torque limiting control. The raise boring machine described in this paper was developed after several years of market research and discussions with mine operators and construction contractors. This paper discusses the Ingersoll-Rand raise borers with the solid-state controlled DC motor drives. These machines have gained wide acceptance in the five-year period since being placed in operation and are designed to accommodate the range of raise diameters and lengths most required today.

Jan 1, 1978

This paper deals mainly with the modernization in the coal loading system at the loading piers of the Dominion Coal Company, Ltd., Sydney, Nova Scotia. The history of the operation is briefly outlined, and the construction of the Company&apos;s new pier is described in considerable de-tail. Particular attention is paid to the bins and conveyors, and to the loading tower. The paper concludes with a description of the S.S. Cape Breton Miner, built specifically for the coal trade, and the unloading facilities at Lakeview, Ontario. Coal Shipping at Sydney C OAL from the mines operated in Cape Breton by the Dominion Coal Company, Limited, has been shipped from the International Piers, situated on the east side of Sydney Harbour, for over sixty years. There were three piers, of which two were active-ly used in the shipping of coal until 1964. Nos. 2 and 3 were high piers about 600 feet long, of wooden construction throughout. They were founded on&apos; rock-filled cribs and creosoted piles driven into the harbour bottom, and each had two decks which carried standard-gauge railway tracks.

Jan 1, 1965

By Wm. F. Wuest

INTRODUCTION THE Western Canada sedimentary basin has one feature in common with the Precambrian Shield area: it also was a great chemical laboratory. The mining industry of Canada exploits the end products of chemical experiments that occurred on the Shield during periods of repeated disturbances in Precambrian times. The petroleum industry on the other band exploits what also appears to be the final results of chemical experiments that took place throughout all of post-Precambrian up to Tertiary times. Since the subject of this paper is a factual study of Alberta well waters, no attempt is made to answer significant questions pertaining to the probable role waters play in the generation of oil, or to the significance of the effects of structure and depth on waters. Data from several hundred well-water analyses were compiled by the writer in a series of charts and diagrams, of which those included in this paper are representative. Early studies indicated the possibility that outstanding anomalies in general concentration of waters and in greatly increased concentration of elements such as calcium, magnesium, bromine, and iodine for example, might be expected from wells that produced oil or were in the immediate vicinity of producers. The water analyses from wells which? were drilled at a later date did not confirm this possibility, and it is suggested that, aside from their initial value to the petroleum engineer or to. those interested in the commercial possibilities of brines, no definite significance as an aid in oil discovery can be attributed to water analyses.

Jan 1, 1951

By J. M. Hollicky

The economical processing of wet and sour natural gas presents a problem due to the seasonal demand for natural gas. The plants must be sized to handle the peak loads but may only operate at half capacity on the average, in which case the sales value of sulphur and hydro-carbon liquid by-products cannot support the operating and capital costs of the plant. This must result in an increased price for the gas. This problem was solved by Pacific Petroleums and Westcoast Transmission in the design of their pipeline and plant facilities now operating in the Peace River area, where there are both wet and dry gas fields. By .building a plant to process sufficient wet gas to pro-vide the base load requirement, and by drawing on the dry gas fields for peak loads, an optimum economic operation was ?possible. The sulphur, L.P.G., and gasoline produced not only are able to support the operating and capital costs of the pro-cessing plant, but were instrumental in the sharp drop in retail prices of these commodities in the area. The sour gas and condensate is gathered from the fields in the area and transmitted in a two-phase gathering system to the gas processing plant at Taylor, B.C. The condenrnte is knocked out in inlet scrubbers. Hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide are removed in an amine scrubbing unit. The hydrogen sulphide is stripped from the amine and is sent to the Jefferson Lake Sulphur Company&apos;s plant which produces sulphur by the partial oxidation of the hydrogen sulphide. The natural gas, now sweet, is processed in an absorption unit to recover additional liquids, before being de-hydrated to remove water. It is then sent to Westcoast&apos;s main c8mpression station. The condensate recovered in the inlet scrubbers and the liquid re-covered in the absorption unit are fractionated to remove fuel gas, used in the plant, and to produce pro-pane, butane, and naphtha. The pro-pane and butane are scrubbed with caustic soda to remove hydrogen sulphide. The naphtha is treated with hydrogen in a unifiner unit to re-move sulphur compounds completely, and is split into a light and heavy naphtha. The heavy naphtha is .catalytically reformed to produce a high-octane blending-component. These fractions are blended with components produced from crude oil at the Dawson Creek refinery to produce a high-quality balanced gasoline with special attention being paid to volatility for ease of starting, warm up, and engine cleanliness, and octane for power and ?performance.

Jan 1, 1958

By Peter Rubie

For many years, optimising the relining of hard rock grinding mills has been complicated by: ?? the large number of variables; ?? the low frequency of relines (slow feedback loop); ?? the potential economic risk associated with some changes. A technology that has its roots in the automotive manufacturing industry is being utilised to construct a statistically accurate, configurable, and dynamic simulation of the mill relining process. The effects of various mechanisation and process changes can be rapidly modelled and compared. This technology will provide mill maintenance managers and contract relining companies with the opportunity to benchmark current performance against world?s best practice. It will also provide an opportunity for concentrator plant designers and mill manufacturers to plan for maximum plant efficiency, by designing an infrastructure and equipment combination that maximises annual plant availability. This simulation tool and its associated data set, has been developed using recent grinding mill performance data from mills of varying dimensions, liner configurations, mill relining equipment, operator and tool variables. The simulation will provide an output that the various stakeholders can utilise to make optimal decisions within the given financial, physical and technological constraints of the individual concentrator plant.

Jan 1, 2012

By A. M. Simons

Cyanide destruction by Caro’s acid is one process commonly employed by gold operations to meet regulatory requirements and/or the International Cyanide Management Code compliance for weak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide in cyanidation tails or waste water from such operations. Typically smallscale bench tests to evaluate and assess the suitability of the Caro’s acid destruction process are conducted. Additionally, the experimental procedure used during these preliminary investigations may also differ from that implemented at the full-scale. This paper presents the results from a fundamental investigation of the Caro’s acid process to establish a more detailed understanding of the impact that the experimental procedure has on the destruction of cyanide. In particular, it was found that the control of pH was important to avoid copper(I) cyanide precipitation at low pH and maximise WAD cyanide destruction. Residual peroxide in the preparation of Caro’s acid has the potential for subsequent cyanide destruction and could be exploited.

Jan 1, 2014

By L. Zhu, S. Kaierle, M. Dahmen, C. Zimmermann, T. Haubold, I. Kelbassa, C. Mattern

Application of integrally bladed disks (blisks) is of increasing interest in compressors of aero engines. Blisks are preferred due to their potential for size and weight reduction, for increased performance and for reduced manufacturing costs compared to conventionally bladed disks. In case of a damage the blisk aerofoils cannot be simply replaced. If the damage is beyond acceptance or blending limits refurbishment is possible only by scrapping the whole blisk assembly, or more cost effective by the application of advanced weld repair methods. Weld repair of blisk aerofoils is challenging as it affects a critical part with specific requirements regarding its mechanical integrity, and as the accessibility is usually limited. The paper describes the ongoing development of advanced weld repair processes as part of a comprehensive repair strategy which have been developed for small-sized blisk assembly to give competitive maintenance cost.

Jan 1, 2006