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By G. W. Brooks

This short article is quite different to the general run of papers that are presented to the Institute, but no apology is offered because I consider that first-aid and mine-rescue work are of equal importance to many other subjects that are dealt with in our Transactions. Members of the Institute should be as much interested in the safety of persons engaged in the mining industry as they are in the practical methods of modern mining. We must not only do our best to conserve life and property by adopting every known device to that end, but we must also prepare ourselves so that we may take prompt and effective action when life is in danger, or when property is subject to loss. The need for such preparation in Alberta is perhaps greater than in most places where mining is carried on, and we must spare no effort to assemble at every mine men who are well trained in first-aid and mine-rescue work. The large area over which the mines are distributed renders central training stations out of the question, hence the need for local rescue-teams. Hospitals with skilled staffs, close enough to the mines to be convenient, also seem to be out of the question; therefore the greater need of a high standard of first-aid training for the people in our mining camps. The Government mine-rescue cars are supplied with the equipment necessary for training persons in this essential work and also for dealing with disasters should they occur. The question then arises: are there a sufficient number of men who are trained ? If so we can rest assured that what is possible to be done will be done. But if a sufficient number of trained men are not available much loss of life and damage to property is likely to result.

Jan 1, 1925

By W. B. Boggs

This is a rather comprehensive subject and cannot be thoroughly covered in the short rime allowed for its presentation. This article will touch only upon a few of the chief points of the difficulties encountered in recovering copper from brass shell cases in a primary smelter which was not designed to treat scrap metals. Owing to the fact that the plant is at present (Dec., 1946) closed, and our tests were not completed, full details of the results are not available. As is well known, most primary smelters are situated near the mines in the interior of various countries and are not close to seaports or large industrial and railway centres. Consequently, iris unusual for a primary smelter to be asked to treat scrap metal of any kind. When so required, iris obvious that the primary smelter is at a great disadvantage, for the simple reason that it probably has to pay the freight on the scrap from the seaport or industrial centre to the smelter and then also pay the freight on the recoverable metal from the smelter to the refinery, or seaport or industrial centre. Another disadvantage is that a primary smelter is not equipped to sample and unload the scrap nor bas it usually the equipment adaptable for treating the scrap efficiently, as the plant bas been designed to handle large tonnages of ores and concentrates. This short paper will describe some of our difficulties> and how they were corrected. However, it might be advisable to state briefly some of the methods used in treating brass shell cases in other plants. In the first place, a brass plant producing new brass- especially those producing brass billets for extrusion to make brass tubes or rods, or to be drawn into wire, or making brass cake to roll into brass sheets- generally insists upon using new electrolytic copper and zinc and is opposed to using any scrap or secondary brass . Consequently, such a plant usually will not treat brass shell cases. Therefore, the usual procedure is to ship brass shell cases to a secondary smelter, where it is generally sorted, melted, fire-refined, and returned to the market in the form of a high or low brass ingot which can be sold to brass foundries for making brass castings. This evidently is the cheapest and simplest method. Another method is to ship to a smelter which is a combination of a primary and secondary smelter attached to or near an electrolytic refinery. In plants of both these types, that is a primary smelter with Cottrell dust collectors or a combined primary and secondary smelter with Cottrells or a bag house, the zinc may be wasted. However, if a bag house is used, some of the zinc is recovered, but it is usually contaminated with other metals and further processing is required to recover it.

Jan 1, 1947

"The North Star and Don Jon copper deposits lie beneath the waters of Thompson Lake, which is 12 miles east of Flin Flon, Manitoba. The deposits were discovered during the years 1949 and 1951 by diamond drilling done in the vicinity of pyritic showings on the shores of two small islands in the lake. The Don Jon ore body lies 1, 700 feet southeast of the North Star orebody and is connected with the North Star mine workings by a crosscut on the 600-foot level (Figure 1 ).Production began on January 1, 1955, at a combined rate of 200 tons per day. The ore is trucked, on 24 miles of highway, to the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited mill at Flin Flon.Regional GeologyRocks in the Thompson Lake area are Precambrian volcanics, ranging in composition from andesite to rhyolite, with related tuffs and breccia. These rocks have a general north-south trend and are steeply dipping. The area is part of the Lac Aimee fault block, which probably is the southward extension of a south-plunging syncline now thrust some miles to the north. This regional deformation has produced many subsidiary zones of intense shearing and crumpling. It is in two of these zones of shearing and drag-folding that the orebodies occur. The only recognizable intrusive is a narrow diorite sill which trends northeasterly near the west shore of Thompson Lake.The North Star MineA pyritic showing, carrying some chalcopyrite, was discovered around the year 1930 on the west side of a small island near the west shore of Thompson Lake. This ground was included in a group of claims acquired by the Hudson Bay Exploration and Development Co., Limited in 1947.In the years 1949 to 1951, a diamond drilling program outlined a copper sulphide orebody. This ore zone comes to surface beneath the lake, about 300 feet north of the pyritic showing on the island."

Jan 1, 1949

By J. S. Redpath

Eighty feet of overburden, thirty feet consisting of fine, water-bearing sands, was encountered during the construction of a shaft collar for Chimo Gold Mines Limited at its Louvicourt, Quebec, property. This paper describes the excavation and construction methods used on the project. Open-cut methods, a sheet pile cofferdam, chemical grouting and special blasting methods were used during excavation. Concrete placement was hampered in the lower portion by a heavy water flow, and aided in the upper portion by an unusual method of form bracing. Plant and • pum11ing facilities are also described.

Jan 1, 1966

By J F. Short

The jet piercing process, developed by Union Carbide Canada Ltd., is well established in blasthole production in open-pit mining. By this process, holes can be drilled, shaped and chambered for blasting. In suitable ore or rock formations, a considerable cost reduction can be achieved. This paper reviews the equipment used, relates how cost savings may be accomplished, and concludes with a mention of the most recent developments in this field. JET piercing and chambering, a process for blasthole production in open-pit mining, leads, in many instances, to improved drilling and blasting techniques and costs. It is a method of working rock with a supersonic flame and, to be most effective, depends upon a characteristic of the rock called spallability. Spalling, in this case, is the breaking away of surface particles from the rock body due to stresses caused by the thermal shock of the jet flame. Various rock properties contribute to this action, but, in general, the harder the rock the greater the spallability and the more effective and economical is the jet process. The jet process has the capability to drill, ream, shape and chamber holes for blasting.

Jan 1, 1965

By D. McFadgen

"THE Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation, through its subsidiaries, the Old Sydney Collieries and the Dominion Coal Company Limited, produces 4% million tons of coal annually from eight submarine collieries situated on the eastern coast of Cape Breton Island. The present workings have a frontage of 20 miles and extend 31/2 miles under the Atlantic ocean on gradients varying from 4 deg. to 24 deg. To date, some of the workings have reached .a depth of cover up to 2,800 feet.The pitching seams, the annual seaward advance, the resulting depth of cover and the rdatively soft roof and floor have necessitated the adoption of extensive longwall mining, with room-and-pillar mining con-fined to areas above the 1,000 foot cover line, where 60 per cent of the -coal is left standing in pillars to support the ocean floor. Longwall mining accounts for 87 per cent of the total production with the remaining outputs obtained from room-and-pillar work and the narrow work development. Seventy-four per cent of the longwall production and 41 per -cent of the room and development production is completely mechanized.Although 2 tons of water is pumped from the collieries for each ton of coal mined, the working sections are relatively dry as the heavy make of water is essentially surface drain-age from the land crop areas. The dry workings and the long haulage distances, which in many cases exceed 4 miles, have resulted in a continuing programme to combat the dust hazard, both at the working face and along the mine roadways."

Jan 1, 1960

By J-F. Magnan, M-A. Thibault, R. Boulianne, C. Gauthier, J-P. Gagné, G. Dufour

During the production of aluminium in smelters, the anodes used in electrolysis cells have to be replaced frequently. Anode butts are usually placed on anode trays for transportation and cooling, a practice during which Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) is emitted in large quantities. Covers developed in 2000 by Alcoa Deschambault to fit on the anodes trays were implemented, resulting in significant reductions of HF emissions. However, the covers are expensive to maintain and use short-life consumable parts. In January 2004, STAS and Alcoa decided to develop a more efficient design of cover, with lower maintenance costs and no need for consumable materials (like soft cushions). This paper presents a summary of the work performed to develop the new design as well as a summary of the test results.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. D. Brown

Ever since British Columbia started the ball rolling in 1974 with the introduction of its now-defunct Mineral Royalties Act, all Canada's resource-based provinces have significantly altered their mining tax systems. The last resource-based province to abandon its pre -1974 mining tax structure is New Brunswick, which introduced a new mining tax regime in the summer of 1977 to take effect from April 1 1977. The new structure, which represents the outcome of considerable study and discussions with industry representatives, contains some intriguing concepts which make Nero Brunswick's new mining tax system unique among the Canadian provinces.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. G. Phillips

"This paper gives an inside look at a bulk terminal and describes the preparations that must be made by a company in developing such a terminal and its position in today's traffic pattern. The following headings cover the subject material: (a) Traffic pressures, their detection and measurement, (b) position in the traffic flow -selection of site, (c) transportation connections -present and possible future routes, (d) engineering studies and costs, (e) contracts, the basic material for insured traffic, (f) financing, (g) budgetary control, (h) development of new techniques, (i) growth into new cargoes or cargo-handling methods and (j) consolidation."

Jan 1, 1968

By Donald J. MacNeil

The commercial carbonate industry of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, began about eighty years ago with the opening of the Sydney steel plant. Significant carbonate deposits are confined to the Precambrian George River Grav" and the Mississippian Windsor Group. George River Group carbonates are thought to have formed as part of a stable platformal sequence. They are crystalline and lie within a dominantly quartzitic sequence. Of the four major sites for George River carbonates on the island, the most commercially promising are the dolomite at Kelly Cove and the limestone and dolomite at Glencoe. Kelly Cove dolomite has good potential for metallurgical, agricultural and fettling purposes; reserves approach 13.6 million tonnes. Windsor Group carbonates were deposited as marine sediments in basins formed by pre-Carboniferous fault blocks. Windsor dolomite reserves at Stoney Creek are only fractionally retrievable and hence are of little economic value. The Windsor Group's Irish Cove limestone has been quarried on a large scale since 1964; no undeveloped commercial deposits, however, remain in the group.

Jan 1, 1984

By STEPHEN V. FORGERON

The Loch Lamond celestite properties in central Cape Breton Island were mined by Kaiser Celestite Mining Limited from 1970 until 1976. Poor market conditions in J976forced operations to cease. Kaiser holdings included the Lake Enon, MacRae and A mac prospects. A total of about 272,000 tonnes of raw celestite have been mined. Celestite deposits are situated in the Loch Lamond Basin, specifically in Lower Windsor sedimentary rocks. Of the five formations in the Lower Windsor Group, celestite is found in the upper four. Celestite in the Enon Formation occasionally replaces shale that separates stromatolitic dolomite columns; elsewhere in the formation it occurs in association with siltstone and gypsum. Jn the B2 Limestone Formation celestite fills pores or grades between limestone and gypsum. It replaces both limestone and silty limestone conglomerate in the Loch Lamond Formation; this limestone is of unusually high grade (60 to 70% SrSO,J for the area. Evidence indicates that the Uist Formation may hold important celestite reserves. Original celestite mineralization probably resulted from evaporation of seawater on mudflats or 'sabkhas'. Secondary mineralization also may have occurred. Strontium ions could have been leached from pre-existing concentrations and overlying gypsum, moved downdip in groundwater and combined with sulphate rich waters to deposit as celestite in porous B2 limestones.

Jan 1, 1984

By Changyoon Kim

Technological advances in mobile systems, such as smartphones and tablet computers, provide engineers with new opportunities to enhance the current facility management processes. Equipped with powerful system processors, touch screens, and wireless communication capabilities, mobile systems enable the experience of omnipresence of facility information. Building information modeling (BIM) also enables improvements in facility management. With an advanced data structure and visualization capacity, BIM can be used in numerous applications for facility management. This study aims to incorporate the strength of mobile systems and BIM in facility management. The proposed system, which utilizes smartphone technology, allows engineers to conduct facility management functions, such as maintenance planning, inspection, and assessment, irrespective of a user?s location. The integration of building information modeling in a system provides detailed visual information of the building components. A case study was conducted to verify the applicability of the mobile system in terms of the hardware functions, system design, and user interface. This proposed system, with its study results, provides a guideline as to how mobile systems can be effectively integrated with BIM for improved management of facility information.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. D. Galloways

The northern part of the P. G. E. railway traverses and opens up that part of the province known as the Cariboo district, comprising the Cariboo and Quesnel Mining Divisions, which are a part of the Northeastern Mineral Survey District. Williams lake, a divisional point on the P. G. E. is near the southern boundary of the Quesnel Division and from this point the railway runs northerly to Quesnel, its present terminus. From Quesnel the railway is projected and partially constructed to Prince George on the Canadian National railway; therefore its general trend is northerly through the heart of the Cariboo district. Early History There is no need to outline at any length the early history of mining in the Cariboo. It is sufficient to say that the great gold rush to the Cariboo, in the early sixties, was practically the commencement of mining in British Columbia. These early placer mining operations centred around the old towns of Quesnel Forks, Keithley Creek, Barkerville and Van Winkle, the latter now called Stanley. Many millions of dollars of placer gold have been taken out and the end of production is not in sight yet. The maximum yearly production was reached about 1863, after which there was a gradual decline in output. During the war years production was at a very low figure but a steady, even if small, increase has occurred in the last three years and prospects are encouraging for a much greater output.

Jan 1, 1925

By N. B. Clarke

LIMESTONE, as a name, covers a great variety of stone consisting of varying amounts of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and impurities such as silica, alumina, and sulphate of lime. In the iron and steel industry, limestone is roughly divided into two classes, namely Calcite, when the magnesium carbonate content is below 10 per cent, and Dolomite, when the magnesium carbonate is over 10 per cent. In practically all metallurgical melting, the quality of the finished product is related to the character of the slag, and limestone is used as a flux to achieve the proper analysis and consistency. The function of the slag is to absorb the undesired elements of the bath and also to act as a protective cover over the metal. The carbonates of calcium and magnesium are the effective agents in fluxing, and the silica, alumina, sulphur, and other foreign matter are objectionable impurities which should be as low as possible, totalling not over S per cent and preferably below 3 per cent, since all of these so-called impurities must be fluxed by the lime and magnesia of the stone. When the lime and magnesia of the stone have to be used to flux its own impurities, there is that much less of these two oxides left for fluxing the impurities from the balance of the charge, and, as a result, more lime-stone must be used than is desirable with good practice.

Jan 1, 1939

By Brian Lewis

"IntroductionThe ion exchange process is classed as a purification and concentration stage. In the uranium industry it is used to separate, and recover uranium, from a solution produced in the leach and subsequent solid washing circuit, that contains uranium as well as some impurities. The final product from this circuit is a solution, containing uranium at a 15 to 25 fold increase in concentration, with a chemical composition suitable for the ""Precipitation"" circuit.The process is a reversible chemical ""ION"" exchange, between a solution, and solid phase, with the ""resin"" being the solid phase. Various chemical changes in the solution phase will permit the resin to remove uranium from a solution or have the uranium removed from the resin back into a solution phase. The former loads uranium onto the resin, and is called the ""adsorption cycle"", and the removal or stripping is known as the ""elution cycle"".Ion Exchange resin is a semi-rigid polystyrene spherical bead, approximately 10 to 30 mesh. It is used by placing the resin in a vessel, so that a porous bed of resin is formed, through which the solution may flow.There are many different types of vessels, and systems used to hold the resin, but it is not the intention of this chapter to describe them all, but to describe two methods used in Elliot Lake. These are the ""fixed bed"", and ""moving bed"" systems, the condition of the bed during normal operation signifies the name of the system.Chemical and Physical Characteristicslon Exchange ResinThe resin used is a strange base Anionic resin, semi-rigid, and spherical in shape. The size of the wet resin is approximately 9007o between 20 and 40 mesh. Physically the beads of resin are broken early, but some have lasted over 15 years and are still in use."

Jan 1, 1989

By J. M. Turnbull

THE primary objective of the young graduate, after the war, will be to obtain a suitable position within the Industry, with adequate pay and opportunity to advance. The positions available to meet this demand will depend on the magnitude and organization of the industry. The size of the mining industry, in particular, will depend on a number of factors, including depletion; new discoveries of mineral deposits; beneficiation of new kinds of mineral deposits, based on research; technical improvements, also based on research, enabling the mining of lower grade deposits; and complex social factors. The organization of the industry will depend on its control and management, which may be greatly affected by social conditions and changes, and may include a wider or a narrower use of technical services. The corresponding training or qualifications of graduates, to meet these conditions, calls for a consideration of educational requirements and facilities in relation to the conditions that are likely to occur. Some forecast of the probable future of the Industry, after the war, based on consideration of. the above factors, is necessary as a basis of discussion, since the graduate must find his place in the industry of that time, and find his work in maintaining and improving it, within the existent social framework. Social factors are pressing and? important at present and their future impact is uncertain. In considering these, a few quotations and extracts may be in order. "A new economic order, based on free access to the sources of raw materials, means free use of the world's wealth by all civilized nations" (The Pope. Also advocated by Churchill and Roosevelt in the Atlantic Charter). "Every citizen should have a voice in the conduct of business or industry which is ?carried on by means of his labour" (Archbishop of Canterbury).

Jan 1, 1943

By A. D. Akerman, D. D. Young, G. R. Baiden

The development and maintenance of underground roadways are increasingly important aspects of the modern mining process. With the trend toward automation and track-less mining, roadbeds capable of with standing increased wheel loading have proven necessary to maintain high vehicle speed and reduced maintenance costs. Concrete has been used successfully on some roadways in order to obtain the required characteristics. However, this solution usually involves unacceptable expense. The objective of the Road Router project was to create a drift floor profiling machine capable of cutting a smooth surface out of the existing rock floor of development drifts and ramps. This surface would provide a durable, high strength, low rolling resistance roadbed that would allow for reduced operating cycle times and lower maintenance costs of scoops and haulage trucks. The Road Router has the potential to offer an alternative to concrete with substantial cost savings.

Jan 1, 1997

By J. E. Moran

A groupd of French capitalists, La Compagnie Française des Mines d'Or du Canada, has undertaken the considerable task of developing Otter creek, in the Atlin district, B.C., by hydraulic mining methods. It has long been known that the gravels of this stream carry sufficiently high values in gold to make it attractive as a mining venture, but it was impossible to ignore the existence of formidable natural obstacles to hydraulicing them, and these needed to be taken into serious account before embarking upon any costly programme of development. The tide to the Otter Creek leases was originally held by Mr. H. Maluin, a French engineer well known throughout the north, to whom was to fall the task of financing whatever programme might be decided upon. It was he, too, who would have to assume the responsibility of finally passing judgment upon the practicability of the various devises for overcoming the adverse natural conditions. With an infinite attention to detail, which I believe to be a characteristic of the French people generally, he studied his problem and was finally able to submit to his financial backers a programme which left the very minimum possible to the hazard of accident or chance. Dr. Mandy, on his visit to Otter creek this season, expressed the opinion that our method of opening this difficult creek presented certain features which might be successfully applied in placer operations elsewhere in British Columbia, and it is largely for this reason that the present paper has been prepared. I shall set forth, as well as I can, the practices which have enabled us to overcome rather easily some of the obstacles which nature had unkindly placed in the path which we must take. The natural flow of water in Otter creek is far too little to deal success-fully with the rather excessive amount of glacial drift overburden which lies directly over the gold-bearing gravels. For this natural defect, the only remedy was to procure more water. This we have clone through a system of flumes and ditches, totalling between ten and eleven miles in length, which bring to the mine a supply of water adequate for our needs.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. J. Gibson

"This paper will provide a general assessment of the differences in construction and industrial labour relations. From this outline will come a detailed examination of labour relations in the construction industry and then specifically as related to the construction of mining projects, with emphasis on projects in isolated areas. Development of manpower forecasts, manpower availability, wage escalation formats, working rules, training and recruitment programs, and safety - as related to construction labour relations in the mining industry - are topics which will be dealt with."

Jan 1, 1972

By LeRoy A. Thorssen

The use of lightweight aggregate as a constituent of concrete is not a recent development. Pumice was used by the early Romans, in pozzolana cement concretes, in the construction of many of their works. However, the recent development of manufactured lightweight aggregates, such as the expanded shales, vermiculite and perlite, has created a possible use for a whole new group of Portland cement concretes. Concrete can now be produced with unit weights ranging from 30 to 150 pounds per cubic foot and with various insulating, fireproofing, acoustical and structural properties. The tonnage of such materials being used has increased considerably in each of the past ten years, and can be expected to increase for the next several years as availability of the aggregates becomes more widespread and the properties of such concretes become more thoroughly investigated and more generally known. LIGHTWEIGHT aggregates of many types have become avail-able to the construction industry in most localities on this continent

Jan 1, 1963