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By W. Almdal

"To compete in the ever expanding global market, companies must continuously improve. Benchmarking, a tool that can help determine where the best areas for improvement are, is more than comparing measures, it is comparing how business is carried out and how decisions are made. The key to success is in integrating benchmarking results into the organization, so that those most affected by the results own them and are empowered to use them as a positive change agent. This is a necessary step to achieving substantive change to practices and achieving optimum performance improvement. IntroductionBenchmarking is a powerful tool that can assist in the continuous goal of improvement. Benchmarking is more than comparing productivity rates or unit costs, it is seeking out best practices and assimilating them into a business to provide a positive change agent.Benchmarking is a continuous process - is time consuming, labour intensive, and requires a lot of discipline. There are no easy answers and no easy solutions, just a lot of work. The results, however, are nothing short of spectacular. More and more companies are adopting benchmarking practices because it is a key tool of the learning organization and will become part of the way business is done, part of the way it is managed. Business must change to stay ahead or to get ahead and benchmarking can accelerate the process of business change. Improvements in an organization can happen faster and more effectively with a benchmarking approach."

Jan 1, 1994

By Dave N. K., T. P. Lim

"A fast, reliable and accurate method for radium-226 determination in environmental water samples has been devised, using an alpha spectroscopic technique. The correlation between barium-133 and radium-226 in the barium-radium sulphate precipitation mechanism was studied and in the limited experimental recovery range, the coefficient of correlation was r = 0.986. A self-absorption study for various barium carrier concentrations was also undertaken to obtain the least broadening of alpha energy line widths. An optimum value of 0.3 mg barium carrier was obtained for chemical recovery in the range of 85%.IntroductionWith the increase in uranium mining activities, the migration and spread of radioactivity via various environmental pathways is of great concern. Because of its inherent biological hazard and relatively long half-life, (approximately 1620 years), raidum-226 is frequently monitored as a measure of radioactive contamination of the environment. It is, therefore, necessary to modify existing methods for rapid determination of radium-226 in environmental samples for quick corrective measures in the event of seepage, dam leakage or discharge violations."

Jan 1, 1981

By T. P. Kostek

"Historically, gear pumps and motors have been popular in the mining industry because of their competitive cost, simple yet rugged construction, ease of rebuild, and relative long life and insensitivity to contamination. However, with the ever increasing ""popularity"" of fire-resistant hydraulic fluids, both users and manufacturers of gear equipment must make special considerations to enable the equipment to continue giving satisfactory performance even with the water-containing fluids.The paper discusses 60-40 invert emulsions and waterglycolsIntroductionMuch information has been published on the specific characteristics of the various types of fire-resistant hydraulic fluids. Fluid manufacturers' literature and other publications have dealt with such specifics as fire resistivity, seal compatibility and wear rate characteristics. Gear pumps and motors have been, and will continue to be, applied successfully in hydraulic systems employing both the ""invert"" emulsions (60-40) and water-glycols as the hydraulic fluid.Because most external spur gear equipment has been designed to function with petroleum oil as the fluid medium, certain guidelines must be followed to ensure satisfactory service life. FluidsThere are a number of different types of fluids which fall in the category of"" fire-resistant"" , the most common'being phosphate esters, water-in-oil emulsions, oil-in-water emulsions and water-glycols. The two in most prevalent use today as hydraulic fluids are the water-in-oil emulsions and the water glycols"

Jan 1, 1980

By J. W. Smith, J. G. Eacott, D. H. Napier

"Three hydrometallurgicat processes (Noranda chloride leach, B. C. Research biological leach and Sherritt-Cominco activated oxygen leach) and the Noranda pyrometallurgical process have served as the basis for design projects in the final year of the chemical engineering program at the University of Toronto. Each member of a team of five or six students devotes about 200 hours to the project and the final report is expected to include an economic analysis.None of the processes has been developed to full- scale plant, nor, in the case of the B.C. Research and Noranda processes, were pilot plant data available. Nevertheless, the designs developed provide a useful basis for a preliminary estimate of capital and operating costs and for a preliminary assessment of project feasibility.This paper discusses the approach used in the design projects with respect to engineering and economic aspects, and outlines the educational features and benefits of such a program as well as some of the problem areas that arise.IntroductionAs part of the undergraduate degree course in chemical engineering at the University of Toronto, students devote some 200 hours to a design project in their final year. Hydrometallurgical processes, not yet proven at the commercial scale, have been selected for study. The students are required to develop laboratory and / or pilot scale results into a conceptual plant design, using sound engineering principles. Capital and operating costs are then determined and a preliminary feasibility study and economic analysis are carried out."

Jan 1, 1986

"The last thirty years have seen enormous changes in all aspects of the gold industry, from the technologies of mining and extracting gold to the role it has played in the fiscal policies of nations. In this time, the market price of gold has increased ten fold and mine production has more than doubled. However, the cost of mining and extracting gold has also increased exponentially, and the industry has struggled with declining ore grades and increasingly refractory ore bodies.With the major economic powers of the world shrugging off the uncertainties of the post cold war era and moving into a period of unprecedented political stability, economic growth and low inflation, gold is also losing its lustre as a hedge against inflation and a backing for national currencies. Consequently, countries that had accumulated and hoarded gold for decades are now disposing of these non-performing assets, resulting in major swings in supply of the metal. Fortunately, this has coincided with the end of communism in many parts of the world and a tentative move to free market economies in most of the developing nations. As a result, people are becoming wealthier, and this is creating more demand for gold, principally in the form of jewelry.On balance, the shift in the role of gold, from one in which a significant portion of new gold production lay dormant in bank vaults as insurance against political or fiscal instability, to one in which most new gold is now freely traded as an industrial commodity, responding to normal market forces of supply and demand, has had a negative impact on the price of gold over the last fifteen years. In that time, the gold price has declined from a peak of $850/oz in 1980 to an average price of about $400 through the rest of the l 980's, to a price of -$320/oz today (1997). In large measure, this has been due to the enormous inventory of gold metal that was held by central government banks in vaults around the world, and which has been dumped on the market as soon as the price has started to trend upwards. Even today, after ten years of fairly steady selling by central banks, about 3 0, 000 tons of gold (or -8 years' supply at the present rate of consumption) is still retained in vaults (Murray et al., 1997).The downward pressure on the price of gold has created exciting opportunities for the development and implementation of new technology. Increasing the efficiency of gold recovery from more and more refractory ore bodies, whilst at the same time lowering production costs, have become critical to survival in this industry. These challenges have been met by the development and implementation of new technologies such as heap leaching, carbon in pulp, resin in pulp and the sulphide ore pre-treatment process of pressure leaching, bacterial leaching and fluid bed roasting. For an industry that saw very little technological change in the first seventy years of the twentieth century, the pace of change over the last thirty years must have seemed bewildering at times."

Jan 1, 1998

By Xu Feng, Han Shufeng, Zhu Bin, Wang Mingming

Due to urban subway tunnels mostly built in the cities with highly density buildings, the geological and construction conditions is complex, especially certain sections of the subway tunnel will pass through from the foundation of the overpass, therefore the stability and surface deformation control of that section’s tunnel excavation is particularly important. Taking Xi'an Metro Line Three interval tunnel as a research object, we have used FLAC3D simulation to analyze the tunnel’s surrounding soil deformation and tunnel lining stress distribution under bridge foundation with shallow buried covered excavation method. Analysis results show: (1) After the excavation of the tunnel right line, due to the bias of the upper bridge foundation the right of the tunnel showed relatively large deformation. In order to ensure the construction safety, we recommended using the grouting anchor reinforcement on the right side wall to further control the deformation zone. (2) The maximum vertical displacement of the ground occurred in the right wall of the tunnel portion which was due to the intensity of soil outside the grouting range of the arch is low, as a result the deformation is larger; this position requires special attention, strengthening the monitoring measurements of this part is necessary to avoid the large deformation and other adverse effects of the upper portion of bridge foundation. (3) The maximum vertical force area of the initial lining of the tunnel is in the middle of the side wall, while the second lining in this part of forces is smaller, thus at the beginning of the construction of the liner, attention should be paid to this area. On-site grouting or steel bracing reinforce support may be used if necessary.

Jan 1, 2015

By Gordon E. Agar

"The effectiveness of two this compounds for copper sulphide depression in molybdenite flotation has been examined with batch bench scale tests.Both thioglycollate and trithiocarbonate proved to be good depressants producing results similar to those f or cyanide and hydrosulphide. Ferrocyanide was ineffective on the samplematerial tested.The depressing effect of thioglycollate was readily reversed by an addition of xanthate.IntroductionThe separation of molybdenite from copper sulphide minerals has been practised for a long time(1,2). The predominant scheme is to depress the copper sulphides while capitalizing on the ready floatability of molybdenite to effect the separation. There are many recipes for depressing the copper minerals(3), among them the addition of sodium cyanide, particularly if the copper is present primarily as chalcopyrite; some form of sulphide whether as sodium sulphide, sodium hydrosulphide or phosphorous pentasulphide when there is a mixture of copper sulphides such as bornite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite; potassium ferro cyanide may be used when chalcocite is the principal copper sulphide; peroxide or hypochlorite; as well as heating in the presence of lime. There are different mechanisms by which these reagent s depress the copper sulphides. Sodium cyanide and the sulphide-producing compounds apparently reduce the potential of the copper sulphides to the point where they ar e rendered unfloatable by xanthates . Another study(4) showed that after cyanide addition, chalcopyrite was rendered un floatabl e until the REDOX potential (measured with a gold electrode with a saturated calomel reference) had become more positive than -250 mY. If the chalcopyrite pulp was conditioned after the cyanide addition the REDOX potential increased slowly, whereas if air was introduced during the conditioning the potential r ose much more rapidly. The difference in time to reach the desired level of - 250 mV was as much as 20 minutes' 25 minutes being required when air was absent but less than 5 minutes when air was admitted . These observation s demonstrate some of the problems encountered when using cyanide to depress sulphides such as chalcopyrite . The system adjusts to counteract the depressing effect of the additive. To overcome this tendency it is necessary to either add an overdose at the beginning or to more or less continuously add the regulating reagent. In this study cyanide solution was added under automatic control to maintain a specified REDOX potential."

Jan 1, 1984

By A. A. Abdul-Latif, A. Sahin

"The phosphate deposit, located in the Abu Tartur plateau between the Kharga and the Dakhla Oases in the southern part of the Western Desert of Egypt, is the largest of its kind in the country. The phosphates are found in two horizons referred to as the Lower and Upper Phosphate Horizons within the Late Campanian Sibaiya Formation which belongs to the Nubia Group.This paper presents the results of a geostatistical study on the main phosphorite bed at the base of the Lower Phosphate Horizon which contains almost all the commercial reserves in the area. After semivariogram modeling for the phosphate thickness and accumulation, ordinary block kriging was employed to estimate the values of these variables in blocks of400 m by 400 m dimensions. The kriging results, which are presented in the form of contour maps, can be of considerable use in both future exploration and exploitation of the deposit. The grade-tonnage relationship based on the grade estimates derived from the corresponding thickness and accumulation estimates indicates the existence of 453.9 x 105 tonnes of phosphate above a cut-off grade of 18% P2O5. The mean grade of this tonnage has been estimated to be 25.77% P205"

Jan 1, 1990

By D. B. Langford, R. Hart

"This paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art in industrial and utility power metering and control systems with particular emphasis on Digital Power Meters and Power Demand Controllers.IntroductionModern micro-processor technology, combined with very fast, high accuracy analog to digital converters, is rapidly allowing economical, digital power instrumentation systems to replace the traditional electro-mechanical meters and equipment previously used for instrumentation, control and protection in industrial power systems. Consequently, instrumentation and Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that were only practical for the very large utility or user are now available to smaller utilities and users. The information available includes sequence of event recording, trend logging, energy management cost allocation and automated load control, among others. The heart of any power monitoring system is the Digital Instrumentation Package (DIP) . These ""DIP's"" include Digital Power Meters (DPM's) and Power Demand Controllers (PDC's) as well as other specialized instrumentation packages such as Mini RTU's."

Jan 1, 1991

By R. D. Brown

This article summarizes some of the principal features of the taxation of industrial mineral mining in Canada. Where the rules applicable to such operations differ from those pertaining to the production and processing of precious and base meta s (non-industrial minerals), the two sets of rules are compared. If a conclusion could be drawn from such an over-all comparison, it may be that the total tax burden on an industrial mineral mine can be considerably more onerous than on both base meta mining operations and manufacturing profits.

Jan 1, 1979

By I. M. Masters

Iron removal and control in processes employing pressure leaching technologies developed at Dynatec Corporation are reviewed. Discussions are focused on recent developments in the processing of nickel-copper matte and copper concentrates, and on the Ambatovy laterite project in Madagascar. Iron control and its implications on flowsheet design in the pressure acid leaching (PAL) treatment of laterite ores and in the oxidative pressure leaching of mixed nickel-cobalt sulphide intermediates are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. G. Joe

The continuing increase in costs for power and fuel are affecting significantly the cost of milling Canadian ores. In order to ascertain the scope and source of energy consumption in Canadian mills for further energy conservation opportunities, CANMET, in cooperation with the Canadian Mineral Processors, carried out a detailed survey on the metallic mineral processing plants. Sixty-seven mills representing almost 300 million tons of annual capacity participated in the survey. The results indicated that, in general, copper and iron ore mills, representing the bulk of the tonnage, consumed relatively low levels of energy per ton. Nickel-copper, zinc-copper and lead-zinc .ore mills were moderate in energy consumption, and uranium and some copper-lead-zinc mills reported much higher energy consumptions due primarily to the increased heat requirements of the ore pulp. Although plant heating costs varied somewhat with location, it was apparent that the lowest heating costs were achieved by those plants built with proper insulation and energy conservation design. If the cost per million British thermal units is taken as $2.00, the mill energy costs generally ranged from 40ft to $1.20 per ton.

Jan 1, 1979

"Sedimented hydrothermal precipitates of silica, now fine-grained quartz, are described from a Pb-Zn-bearing vein system. Their discrimination from the wall-accreted fine-grained quartz that is common in the shallow parts of epithermal systems is discussed. Local fine-grained (<0.3 mm) quartz accumulations occur in a suite of veins with otherwise normal drusiform and crustified infills. This sediment may fill the vein above chokes in steep segments (axial plugs), or form continuous layers within the footwall material where the vein is inclined at low to moderate angles. Pads of fine-grained sediment are deposited on the upwards-facing surfaces of wall-rock clasts and of drusiform crystals growing from the vein walls. The asymmetry of these deposits differentiates them from the more common symmetrical, crustified walllining deposits of fine-grained quartz and opaline silica, and requires a gravity-controlled, sedimentary depositional mechanism.Thin section examination shows that much of the fine-grained quartz is present as elongate prisms. The prism habit was present soon after deposition, but it is not possible to identify unequivocally the original sedimented grains. Sedimentation of vein- and wall-rock-derived detritus is also recognized. Deposition of the fine-grained sediment accompanies normal in situ drusiform growth of quartz and other vein minerals. The mammilated and spherulitic textures associated with accretion of amorphous quartz are entirely absent from the Tyndrum veins with sedimented materials. The literature on modern hydrothermal waters and physical chemistry of silica precipitation shows that precipitates of silica suspended in hydrothermal fluids are amorphous and derived from colloidal silica. It is argued that much of the suspended silica was present as quartz at the time of deposition or was converted from amorphous silica almost immediately after deposition.Hydrothermal sediments and their distribution potentially provide information on flow directions and velocity in veins. Plugs of sediment obstruct vertical flow and lead to local flows with large horizontal components. It is shown that sedimentation features occur in other deposits and can involve other minerals. If the features seen here can be scaled up to the size of major veins, they may result in up and downdip variations in mineral assemblages and abundances, which may affect grade."

Jan 1, 2007

By M. Kuyumcu

With annual production of almost 3.5 million metric tonnes of K20, former East Germany (GDR) was the world?s third-largest producer of potash, ranking behind only the Soviet Union and Canada. More than 80 % of production was intended for export to earn urgently needed hard currency. For this reason, beginning in the 1970s, East Germany began to mine unprofitable hard-salt sources and carnallitite fields, which are geomechanically problematic. In the course of restructuring from a centrally planned to a market economy after German reunification, only two of the nine existing potash mines were classified as economically viable for privatization. All six potash mines in the South Harz Region were closed between 1991 and 1993. The orderly safekeeping of these potash and other decommissioned ore mines and the rededication of mining areas were assigned in 1992 to a German state-owned company GVV founded especially for this purpose. Elaboration in the present documentation covers the local necessity of the type and extent of filling and safeguarding measures. As a result of the remedial measures taken, it was possible to prevent the collapse of cavities and damage to surface facilities. This documentation describes the safeguarding successes to date, with appreciable reduction and stabilization of surface settlement and with significant lessening of seismic events. Also presented are concepts updated to the state of the art for safeguarding of numerous potash mining shafts for long-term effectiveness in separation of the workings and watercourse levels in the cap rock. In the course of 100 years of production, six mining dumps resulted with a total volume of approximately 170 million m3. They consist of up to 95 % of water-soluble salts. Every year, precipitation dissolves up to 500,000 tonnes of this salt, which enters as a highly concentrated solution into watercourses and ground water. Explanation follows of measures for minimization of environmental pollution by covering of dumps and controlled drainage of alkaline solutions from the dumps. Finally, presentation is made of the results of the successful work until now by GVV for reuse of decommissioned mining sites with settlement of new companies for creation of additional jobs and for revitalization of the monostructured South Harz Potash Mining Region.

Aug 1, 2013

Induced microseismicity monitoring is: ?Essential tool in improving the geotechnical understanding about a mine and its inaccessible surrounding rock masses. It helps to determine: -Event timing, location, and magnitude - identification of highly stressed areas -Event source mechanism - the physics of fracturing in its seismic source region -Seismic strain-rate distribution in 5D - identification of stress concentration or migration patterns -Geomechanical interpretation - identification of hidden geological structures or weaknesses in the ground -Strategy for mining e.g. by a block caving method - maximization of mine production and to optimize ground support design -Potential of future seismic hazards -Large event re-entry protocol, to improve mine safety ?The norm as part of mine safety maintenance and long-term mine design practices

Aug 1, 2013

By Chris V. Sellathamby

Condition-based maintenance is replacing preventive maintenance in many industrial operations as a result of gains in productivity. Preventive maintenance is strictly time-based which means that as long as the prescribed time is sufficiently short, failures are prevented. The trade-offs between shorter cycles and increased downtime is a fine balancing act. Condition-based maintenance is gaining momentum as the more cost-effective and green solution to finding the optimal maintenance cycle and improving overall productivity. In the mining industry, various parameters of heavy equipment are monitored continuously to provide feedback for maintenance events. However, strain, shock, and vibration, key factors which lead to yielding and fatigue of metal parts, are not generally monitored by built-in systems, mainly due to the complexity of sensor installation and computational intensity of data processing. Scanimetrics has developed a stand-alone, add-on wireless system for measuring strain, shock, and vibration in heavy equipment and components, the data from which can be directly used to trigger maintenance events. The present system is being deployed in tar sands mining equipment. The system consists of a portable display and control unit, a software platform consisting of data management, sensor instrumentation and data analysis, and wireless strain sensor units, which can be easily installed on equipment. Data from the sensors can be gathered throughout the mine site, processed instantly, and used to generate condition-based maintenance events, improving overall uptime of the equipment and overall productivity of the mining operation.

Oct 1, 2010

By Lionel C. Kilburn

"This geological engineering method is based on jour main characteristics of mineral properties, viz; location: inclusion of valuable mineralization; inclusion of geophysical and/or geochemical targets; and inclusion of geological targets. These are subdivided into a total of 19 subcategories, which are used to determine the value of the property.The nineteen subcategories are prioritized and assigned relative value factors from 1.3 to 10. Value of each mineral claim unit is determined by applying the appropriate subcategory factors to a base value of $400per 16.2 hectare unit. Property value is calculated by totalling the values of such individual claim-units.The boundary between ore grade and sub-ore grade must be estimated for each property under valuation, thereby making the method sensitive to mineral commodity prices.A clear and disciplined sequence of decisions based on personal experience forms the basis of this method. The method utilizes all factors normally used to value a mineral property.IntroductionIt is generally accepted in the exploration industry that valuation of exploration properties is a subjective rather than objective process (Roscoe, 1986; Lawrence, 1988; Lawrence, 1989; Woodcock, 1985), and that it is greatly influenced by the experience and qualifications of the person who is doing the valuation. However, the significantly low degree of objectivity in mineral property valuation at this point in time invites effort to achieve a more quantitative engineering basis.Value of a mineral property depends basically upon metal prices, recoverable grades, mining and metallurgical practices, commodity supply and demand , and political-economic conditions, all of which vary with time. Therefore, any valuation is valid for only that point in time when it is made. Mineral deposits can decrease as well as increase in technical value with time."

Jan 1, 1990

By John Smith

"The RTZ Corporation PLCFrom a company&apos;s point-of-view, a good investment decision is one which results in the purchase of an asset that is worth more than it costs. Thus, in order to judge the merit of an investment opportunity, it is necessary to estimate the value of the assets to be acquired.Discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis has become widely adopted by companies in assessing potential new investments. The principle is a simple one: invest in projects which have a positive net present value, and reject those which do not. However, perhaps because of its apparent simplicity, DCF analysis is frequently misused. Good practice in the use of the technique is discussed, together with several common misconceptions.Sound analysis requires sound data; thus, the valuation process relies heavily upon a wide range of specialists to provide the basic input from which cash flow forecasts can be built up. The analyst must maintain close liaison with these specialists from the outset in order to ensure that the data provided is indeed relevant and complete.IntroductionBefore turning to the main subject of this paper ""How Companies Value Properties"", it is of interest to consider first a slightly different question ""Why do Companies value Properties""? In other words, for what purposes are such valuations prepared? Certainly the commonest, and probably the most important circumstance in which a valuation is required is when the company is considering an investment opportunity. This may be the direct purchase of a property or group of properties from a third party, but could also be the opportunity to develop a new operation or expand an existing one.A very simple objective in making any kind of investment is to make our shareholders richer than they would otherwise have been. That is, to make investments whose value to shareholders exceeds the consideration required to acquire them. Thus the investment decision focusses on the difference between an asset&apos;s value and its cost.This distinction between ""value"" and ""cost"" is an important one. Study of a company&apos;s balance sheet may tell a lot about the cost of this company&apos;s assets, but very little about their value. Then again, it is sometimes argued that a business should be bought because this will result in assets being acquired for less than their replacement cost. This merely compares one cost with another, it says nothing about value."

Jan 1, 1991

By Bhawani Singh, Mahendra Singh, N. K. C Samadhiya

"Inherently anisotropic rocks occur in abundance at many rock engineering project sites in Himalayan region. These rocks pose difficulty in analysis and design due to their direction dependent strength behaviour. Moreover the strength varies in a non-linear manner with confining pressure. Mohr- Coulomb strength criterion is widely used by geotechnical engineers for defining strength of rocks subjected to given confining pressure. However, the conventional Mohr-Coulomb (MC) criterion suffers from the limitation that the strength is treated to be linearly dependent on confining pressure. In the present article, the MC criterion has been modified by incorporating non-linear term while retaining the original parameters c and ?. The non-linearity with confining stress level has been imbibed through critical state concept (Barton, 1976). The criterion has been applied to a triaxial test data base comprising of more than 1140 triaxial tests conducted world-wide on anisotropic rocks. Statistical evaluation of the goodness of fit of the proposed criterion to the data-base has been carried out. Further the predictive capabilities have been evaluated by determining the error in estimation of triaxial strength if only few triaxial test data are available for determining the criterion parameters. The data base has also been back-analysed to assess the critical confining pressure for anisotropic rocks. Statistically the critical confining pressure, for the present criterion, may be taken nearly equal to 1.25?cmax, where ?cmax is the maximum value of the UCS out of all orientations of planes of anisotropy. It is concluded that reasonably good estimates of the anisotropic strength are possible through the proposed criterion.INTRODUCTIONMany rocks encountered in Himalayan region like shale, slate, schist and phyllite are inherently anisotropic and exhibit direction dependency in their strength behaviour. In addition, the strength of the rock also depends on the confining pressure and, the strength response is non-linear especially when the confining pressure may vary over large range. Conventionally, Mohr-Coulomb criterion is the most widely used criterion for rocks. However, the limitation of this criterion in its present form is that the strength is treated to be linearly dependent on the confining pressure. The present study attempts to address the following two main objectives: i) Include nonlinear response in the Mohr-Coulomb criterion while retaining parameters c and In their original form; and ii) consider anisotropic response of the rock for a given confining pressure. A nonlinear strength criterion, which uses shear strength parameters c and as per Mohr-Coulomb criterion, has been suggested based on critical state concept for rocks."

Jan 1, 2015

By Robert B. Parsons

"It is generally felt that flow-through shares face a bleak future under the set of tax rules proposed in the federal government&apos;s tax reform white paper. Industry and government circles are beginning to give thought to alternatives to flow through as a mechanism for facilitating equity financing in the exploration industry. Despite suggestions that grants and tax credits may someday be on the table, industry is sticking to its position that there is no substitute for flow-through. Alternatives toFlow-throughProposals in the federal government&apos;s tax reform white paper have cast significant doubt on the ability of the mining industry to raise risk capital after 1989by way of flow-through shares. There is serious concern that introduction of the ""cumulative net investment loss"" (CNIL) rules, the phase-out of the mining explorati0! 1 depletion allowance (MEDA), and the Increased capital gains inclusion (750/0 versus 50%, at present) will make the economics of flow-through so unattractive after 1989 that these shares will hold little appeal to most investors. The question might be raised, then, as to what alternatives exist by way of tax or other government assistance that could help the exploration sector.The purpose of this paper is to survey the types of government incentives that could be of some value to explorationists and to the mining industry in general. For the past several years, flow-through has been in the spotlight insofar as incentives to the exploration industry are concerned. Other potentially useful and attractive incentives have been partially hidden in the shadow of flow-through. These incentives, in certain circumstances, can be of considerable benefit, and should not be ignored."

Jan 1, 1988