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By H. McSorley

"I note that many of you are involved in the production of zinc, lead and copper concentrates and metal, which I am the most familiar with among the non-ferrous metals. This afternoon, I will describe briefly the responsibilities of a commercial manager within a mining/metallurgical company, the basic framework of a non-ferrous metals concentrate agreement and lastly, a brief discussion of the copper, zinc and lead concentrate and metal markets.I hope this talk will contribute to a better understanding of the business between all of us and look forward to a discussion after the presentation.First of all, I work for Noranda Sales, which is the marketing and sales agent for Noranda Minerals' three operating units: Noranda Copper, Noranda Zinc and Mining Corporation. In addition, Noranda Sales acts for other mining companies in the marketing of their raw materials and metals. Noranda Sales is responsible for procuring all raw materials for Noranda's metallurgical plants, such as the Copper Group's Forne and Gaspe smelters, as well as the sale of surplus concentrates and by-products and metal products. In addition, Noranda Sales trades metals and concentrates and owns a metal brokerage business, Rudolf Wolff, a founding member of the London Metal Exchange. It does $3 billion of business in 60 countries, exporting some 80% of Noranda Minerals' output to the world.What are the responsibilities of commercial management in resource marketing to the mine and metal producers?Resource marketing and commercial administration involves assistance in establishing exploration priorities, contributing to feasibility studies, pre-production planning, product promotion and realization of income for many properties and metallurgical plants through completion of supply and sale agreements with other companie"

Jan 1, 1988

By Carol J. Odell

As a mining social practitioner, social indicators are within the purview of required competencies. A situation, where the ER manager requested assistance in quickly deriving a few social indicators for the strategic plan motivates this paper: despite ample technical knowledge about indicators, a clear understanding of stakeholder aspirations and concerns, as well as familiarity with management priorities such a request required reflection to produce a satisfactory approach, which combined pragmatism with enough academic rigour to provide reliable measures, while being justifiable to management who are unfamiliar with many of the pertinent debates. Importance: Social indicators enable the identification of more and less effective mine-community engagement strategies as well as providing primary data to better understand how the mine-community social system responds to different interventions, thus guiding future engagement plans. In addition social indicators: ? Assist communication about social strategies with Engineering and Operations management, using a quantitative language that is familiar to them. ? Provides concrete data to engage stakeholders to discuss progress and challenges arising, to move discussions towards technically robust strategies and away from politically interested proposals. ? Finally, social measurement is required more and more in due diligence, covenants and ongoing monitoring in Independent Engineering assessments of projects for financing. This paper begins by considering some technical considerations that are useful to guide indicator development. It then introduces the field research informing this paper and discusses some useful results in the light of further applicable concepts from the literature. The paper ends by considering corporate aims in applying corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and discusses the application of the research for practitioners at mining operations, in the light of these aims.

May 1, 2010

By P. A. Witt

"Highland Valley Copper is a conventional truck-shovel mining and flotation concentrator operation located 75 km southwest of Kamloops, British Columbia (Fig. 1).The ore is situated within a porphyry copper deposit and is mined at a rate of 135,000 mt/day from two separate open pits. The nearby mill produces concentrates containing 375 million pounds of copper and 5 million pounds of molybdenum metal yearly. In the Valley pit, head grades are roughly 0.40% Cu at a 0.23% Cu equivalent cut-off. The Valley pit strip ratio currently sits at 0.55:1 with waste quantities made up of separate rock and unconsolidated overburden units. From the mill, concentrates are trucked to nearby Ashcroft and then hauled by rail to ocean port facilities in Vancouver. The mine employs 950 people and is planned to operate until 2009. The operation is a partnership between Teck Cominco (63.9%), BHP Billiton (33.6%), and others (2.5%). Management is shared by the two principal owners and directed by a management committee."

Jan 1, 2005

By V. J. Sopuck, O. P. Lavin, Ian Nichol

"A major challenge of contemporary exploration geochemistry is the development of procedures that can locate blind mineralization or mineralization that sub-crops below a cover of transported overburden, the composition of which bears no relation to the underlying mineralization. Over the past few years, the possible existence of diagnostic geochemical features in the country rock associated with volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits has attracted increasing attention both on the local mine scale and on the regional scale. In the present investigation, the nature of the geochemistry of a number of Archean greenstone belts of the Canadian Shield is examined to determine the feasibility of distinguishing productive from non-productive areas of copper-zinc mineralization. The results indicate that productive areas are distinguishable from non-productive areas providing consideration is given to the effects of igneous differentiation on rock compositionIntroductionArchean massive sulphide deposits are an important source of copper and zinc, and to a lesser extent silver and gold, particularly in Canada. As in the case of most other forms of mineralization, there is a continual need to develop new techniques that will improve the chances of success in the search for these deposits. The majority of Archean areas in the northern latitudes are overlain by a variable cover of glacial overburden. Considerable progress has been made in the development of new geochemical exploration techniques for use in glaciated terrain, based on the detection of anomalous dispersion in the glacial overburden. In certain situations, however, as in the search for blind deposits or in areas covered by glaciolacustrine deposits, overburden geochemistry offers little hope for success. In the case of massive sulphide deposits, one possible solution may lie in the detection of anomalous geochemical signatures in the bedrock. Recognizing this possibility, attention has been directed to the investigation of the nature of lithogeochemical dispersion associated with massive sulphide deposits on both regional and local scales, to establish the potential of lithogeochemistry as an aid in the search for these deposits."

Jan 1, 1980

By Michel Fontaine, Bruno St-Cyr

"The mission of the CENTRE DE RECHERCHE INDUSTRIELLE DU QUEBEC (CRIQ) is to stimulate economic development by guiding businesses in their pursuit of innovation.With a comprehensive approach to their needs, CRIQ provides businesses with expertise based on the most recent developments and insights in the fields of:Research and Development ServicesAutomation and production processesDevelopment of industrial equipmentEnvironmental biotechnologiesTesting and Product Qualification Services Industrial and Technological Information ServicesConsultancy and competitive intelligence servicesIndustrial information bankStandardization ServicesElaboration of standards and product certificationSystems registrationEXPERTISE COMPETENCE, INNOVATIONSince its founding in 1969, CRIQ has been involved in over 100,000 projects. The results of its research and development services have enabled it to build over one hundred pieces of equipment, almost all still in operation today. CRIQ has been and remains the driving force of innovation and expertise on the industrial scene, offering highly competitive solutions to a clientele from numerous industrial sectors.CRIQ became a crown corporation operating on a commercial basis on June 30, 1997. This change in its corporate structure has enabled it to put a marked emphasis on trade and implement an array of new operational practices.The formation of marketing companies with private partners, the opening up to corporate business and international markets, the new directions for internal research and the strengthening of its marketing component are among the activities CRIQ has initiated over the last fiscal year to finally reach its cruising speed."

Jan 1, 2000

By Bruce Conard

For many years, Bruce Conard has been engaged in reading about and discussing the desired sustainability of the mining and metals resource industry. He has, however, become concerned that there is a greater issue that requires our urgent attention: what challenges do we face as a global society? His Distinguished Lecturer presentation traces the idea of environmentally sustainable economic development but concludes that a business’ interest in its sustainability is predicated on the sustainability of our global society. Conard reviews some of the most serious challenges, including population growth, clean energy supplies, freshwater availability and climate change, and calls on scientists and engineers not only to apply their skills in helping solve these challenges, but most urgently, to speak with intelligence and passion about the need to act now.

Jan 1, 2014

Plan de l?exposé ?? Présentation du site de la mine Restigouche et du mandat confié à Genivar ??Dénoyage de la mine ??Processus d?enlèvement des boues au fond de la fosse ??Utilisation de Géotubes dans le procédé à l?usine de traitement des eaux.

Feb 1, 2008

By Guillermo Turner-Saad

"Best practice in the economic evaluation of mining projects and operations is based on the integration of geological, mining, metallurgical, environmental, marketing, economic and corporate information and strategies. Fundamentally, the economic evaluation takes into account mining, blending, stockpiling, processing, smelting, refining and marketing ore resources with grades estimated by geostatistical methodologies.Nevertheless, a realistic economic evaluation consists of a concurrent and integrated optimization process that maximizes the concentrates or products of liberated and selected ore minerals from mineral deposits. The optimum solution is obtained through a trade-off among mining, blending, stockpiling and processing ore reserves with distinct mineralogy and texture characteristics. The concurrent optimization determines both the practical mining sequence of ore reserves and the dynamic and robust mineral processing flowsheet design over the expected life of mining projects and operations.A combined risk-adverse and concurrent optimization process takes into account the spatial uncertainty of the mineralogy and texture characteristics of ore reserves. Additionally, a variety of mineral processing linear, non-linear, additive and non-additive parameters modeled spatially. The spatial uncertainty of these ore reserves characteristics and parameters has a direct impact in the expected mining sequence, mineral processing flowsheet design, concentrates or products quantity and quality, and economic value of mining projects and operations.Geometallurgical domain constrained stochastic geostatistical methodologies and multivariate mathematical models are applied for spatial uncertainty modeling of ore reserves characteristics and parameters. These mathematical models correlate the mineral processing liberation and selectivity responses of the mineralogy and textures within each geometallurgical domain. These models, in turn, are defined based on results of mineral processing and environmental testwork of unbiased and representative samples chosen for their variability. These samples are selected within mutually exclusive spatial geometallurgical uncertainty domains with similar mineralogical and textural characteristics in mineral deposits.Geometallurgical domains are defined by applying and combining multivariate statistical analysis and implicit modeling methodologies. These involve determining and constraining mineral processing liberation and selectivity properties explicitly contained in the extensive and integrated exploration drillhole database."

Jan 1, 2010

By M. C. Bétournay

Hydrogen fuel cells are a known technology, having been applied to stationary (e.g. equipment, buildings, and power plants) and vehicle applications (e.g. transit buses and space shuttles). There is currently a growing need to provide alternate power systems to diesel fuel for underground mining vehicles to improve underground air quality and reduce production costs and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, however, fuel cells have not been exposed to underground mine air and physical conditions. A testing program was carried out to provide information on the vulnerabilities of fuel cells as part of a number of proof-of-concept projects to apply hydrogen power to underground mining vehicles. The fuel cell type of choice for the industry, the proton exchange membrane, would function at the range of surface operations, and use hydrogen that is stored under low pressure and risk. A small fuel cell stack was tested in a cooperative project between CANMET, the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute, Inco, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Sandia National laboratories, and H-Power. This article will review the tests carried out to measure the effects from high humidity, mineral dust, diesel emission gasses and diesel particulate matter, as well as from shock and vibration provided to the unit in underground conditions at Inco?s 175 Orebody minesite and Stobie mine. The test results provided will show that the unit was not affected by the underground conditions; physically and electrically, the unit performed without any reduction in operation or adverse effects imposed

May 1, 2005

By G. Bonnell, W. Lidkea, M. C. Bétournay, E. Edwardson

"Hydrogen fuel cells are a known technology, having been applied to stationary (e.g equipment, buildings, and power plants) and vehicle applications (e.g transit buses and space shuttles). There is currently a growing need to provide alternate power systems to diesel fuel for underground mining vehicles to improve underground air quality and reduce production costs and greenhouse gas emissions.To date, however, fuel cells have not been exposed to underground mine air and physical conditions. A testing program was carried out to provide information on the vulnerabilities of fuel cells as part of a number of proof-of-concept projects to apply hydrogen power to underground mining vehicles. The fuel cell type of choice for the industry, the proton exchange membrane, would function at the range of temperatures encountered in underground and surface operations, and use hydrogen that is stored under low pressure and risk.A small fuel cell stack was tested in a cooperative project between CANMET, the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute, Inco, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Sandia National laboratories, and H-Power. This article will review the tests carried out to measure the effects from high humidity, mineral dust, diesel emission gasses and diesel particulate matter, as well as from shock and vibration provided to the unit in underground conditions at Inco’s 175 Orebody minesite and Stobie mine. The test results provided will show that the unit was not affected by the underground conditions; physically and electrically, the unit performed without any reduction in operation or adverse effects imposed."

Jan 1, 2005

By J. J. Bouillon

"Located in the northwestern portion of the Abitibi greenstone belt, Les Mines Selbaie is a copper-zinc (silver and gold) producer. Felsic tuffs host three are zones. Composed of sulphide veins and breccias, they are not exhalative massive sulphide deposits, except, probably, for the massive pyrite (fragments and lenses) localized close to the top of the volcanic sequence.The total of all (mineable and mined) ore in the three zones presently outlined on the property, is of the order of 29.9 x 106 tonnes with average grade of 0.63 g/t Au, 37.02 g/t Ag, 1.21% Cu, 1.91% Zn.The ore reserve calculations and the daily production procedures are computerized to various degrees. The data handling process is highly computerized.Various geophysical methods are, and have in the past, been successfully used on the property. The ""mise-à-la-masse"" surveys were used to perform the geological interpretation of an underground deposit (A-2 zone). Presently the PULSE-EM surveys are performed in all surface and underground exploration drill holes."

Jan 1, 1990

By Theophile S. Yameogo

Les ressources naturelles ont en général été le moteur du développement économique et social des nations. Les pays aujourd?hui développés sont pour la plupart d?anciens eldorado, charbonniers ou pétroliers. D?autres le sont toujours. L?Afrique fait cependant figure d?exception : même en étant comblé de ressources naturelles exceptionnelles, les pays de ce continent croulent sous le poids de la pauvreté et de ses acabits que sont les maladies, la famine, la guerre et l?insurrection sociale. On reconnaît néanmoins qu?il y a des cas particuliers comme le Botswana, la Namibie, l?Afrique du Sud. Face à cette situation, beaucoup de scénarii ont été proposés sans pour autant porté les fruits espérés. Le rapport Brundtland suggère que le développement durable est la clé du succès car elle veille à la prospérité économique, à l?équité dans la société et à la pérennité dans l?environnement. Pour l?Afrique, beaucoup de facteurs doivent être considérés et les solutions se doivent d?être pratiques et éthiques. Le futur ingénieur des mines qui a écrit ce rapport, apporte sa vision de la situation non sans avoir auparavant analysé les faits. Cette démarche, qui se veut avant tout éthique, inclut les aspects sociaux, économiques et politiques. Introduction In the 40s, 50s and the 60s, many economists, among which Harold Hotelling from South Carolina University, thought that developing countries could reach socio-economical success by extracting their natural resources such as oil and minerals. The current economical disaster seems to have contradicted that belief and critics like Davis Graham (Colorado School of Mines) and Michael Ross (University of California at Los Angeles) even suggested that extractive activities stop in Africa. But the experts of the World Bank (Mining Department) and some mining and oil companies are committed to reverse the tendency by implementing a new approach. Considering the principles of sustainable development defined in the Brundtland report (1987), we decided to analyze the possibility of giving the extractive industry a catalytic role in creating a socially, economically and environmentally development in Africa. In other words, can we continue to mine and extract oil in Africa for its blossoming future under the ruling of the sustainable development? In the following, we start by explaining the African socio-economic and political context. After a brief definition of the sustainable development, we explain why, for Africa, some believe in the extractive industry and some don?t. In the end, we draw out conciliatory arguments.

Apr 1, 2005

By P. Tittes, M. Deal, M. Spicher, S. McDaniel, J. Wickens

"Haile Gold Mine is located near Kershaw, South Carolina, approximately 50 miles south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Gold was first discovered at the site in 1827, and the property has been through several operating periods since. The relatively low grade and refractory nature of the deposit has been a challenge for efficient processing since the start of mining on the property. Early processing techniques included gravity separation and barrel chlorination. The last operation employed heap leaching in 1985 through 1992. After being closed and reclaimed for over 20 years, the property is poised to re-open and produce once again. In this chapter of the Mine’s legacy, flotation and ultra-fine grinding will be employed to achieve economic extraction of gold and silver from the pyrite. This paper briefly reviews some of the mine’s history, the metallurgical testing, the flowsheet and discusses design considerations.INTRODUCTIONHaile Gold Mine is located near Kershaw, South Carolina, approximately 50 miles south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Gold was first discovered at the site in 1827, and the property has been through several operating periods since. The last operation employed heap leaching in 1985 through 1992. Since then, the property has been closed and fully reclaimed. Romarco Minerals acquired the property in 2007, and began an exploration program that has delineated over 62 tonnes (+2M ozs.) of gold in reserve at an overall grade of 2 ppm (0.06 opt). This paper provides a brief history of the property, a summary of metallurgical testing, description of the process flowsheet and discusses design considerations.HISTORY1827 – 1837Gold was discovered in creek beds on the Haile property in 1827. The property was owned by Benjamin Haile, and the first few years of production came from placer mining. After gold was discovered in schist beds to the sides of the streams, Haile expanded the operation by leasing 18 meter-square (50 ft.) plots to local planters. These planters used slaves to work the small excavations in the agricultural offseason. The gold ore was taken to arrastras where the free gold was liberated and recovered. The excavations were above the water table, generally less than 18 meters (60 ft.) down, and it was noted then that gold could be found embedded in sulfides and difficult to extract."

Jan 1, 2013

By Mark Fernald, Christian O’Keefe, John Viega

"In this presentation, the SONARtrac™ technology platform will be described. CiDRA's proprietary clamp-on, passive sonar array-based flow meter technology performs two independent measurements – flow rate and fluid characterization. Firstly, the meter provides the volumetric flow rate of the mixture by measuring the speed at which naturally occurring turbulent structures convect with the flow past an axial array of sensors. Secondly, the meter uses similar sonar-based processing techniques and naturally occurring sound in the process fluid to measure entrained air levels. The result is a unique ability to measure the flow rate and entrained air level of most fluids – clean liquids, high solids content slurries, and liquids and slurries with entrained air.Also to be presented is the application of the sonar-based technology platform in a variety of oil sands processes, hydrotransport, and minerals beneficiation applications. In particular, difficult slurry flow measurement and control in the areas of comminution and flotation such as mill discharge, hydrocyclone feed/overflow, final concentrate, thickener discharge, and tailings will be discussed. In addition new real time maintenance free process measurement capability will be presented in the areas of entrained air in slurry, collection zone gas holdup (?g), and slurry velocity profiling. The operational advantages and value of these measurements, even in the presence of scale buildup, will be discussed.INTRODUCTIONFlow measurements in the mineral processing and oil sands industry suffer from the limitations placed by previously available flowmeters including the commonly used instruments such as ultrasonic meters, magmeters, turbine meters, orifice plate meters, vortex flow meters, Coriolis flow meters, and venturi meters. The desire or requirement to make a non-contact measurement that is accurate and robust, and can be performed on practically any type of fluid within practically any type of pipe has driven the creation of a new class of flowmeters. This new class of flowmeter technology utilizes sonar-based processing algorithms and an array of passive sensors to measure not only flow, but also fluid composition."

Jan 1, 2007

By R. L. J. Phillips

"The environmental impact of the Rabbit Lake project is presented. Baseline data for fish, water, air and radon collected in 1973, 1975, 1980and 1986, are compared with post-development environmental monitoring data. Predicted environmental impacts for the developed Rabbit Lake and B-zone deposits are compared to the actual impacts. INTRODUCTIONThe environmental impact of the Rabbit Lake project has been documented through the years in several submissions to the government agencies. In 1972, the environmental baseline study for the Rabbit Lake area was completed prior to any mining activity at the Rabbit Lake pit (Fig. 1).Sampling concentrated on Hidden Bay and Pow Bay, which received the treated effluent and the waters drained from Rabbit Lake respectively.A second baseline study was done on the Collins Bay area in 1980(Fig. I) in preparation for the mining of the B-zone pit. The detail in this study was considerably greater than the detail in the previous study. Collins Bay and Harrison Peninsula were the areas sampled. The B-zone deposit is being mined at present.With the discovery of the A-zone, D-zone and Eagle Point deposits, it was decided in 1986 to begin proceedings to obtain approval from Saskatchewan's Department of the Environment, and from the Atomic Energy Control Board to develop these deposits.In preparation, a third baseline study of both the Rabbit Lake and Collins Bay areas was done in 1986 and 1987. The emphasis was to establish the baseline at the three new deposits, to quantify the actual impacts of the existing Rabbit Lake operations and to confirm the Collins Bay B-zone (1980) impact predictions. The new deposits will allow us to continue to produce uranium into the future. In January 1988, Saskatchewan approval was received.Since 1975 in the Rabbit Lake area and 1980 in the Collins Bay area, routine environmental monitoring has been done. This has resulted in one of the largest and most comprehensive environmental data bases in North America in mining. By the time the Eagle Point deposit is mined to completion, there will have been data collected for approximately 40 years.Further discussions follow which describe the impacts of the past (1972 to 1984), the present (1985 to 1987) and the future. In addition, the past and present performances and the future plans of the .waste management systems will be discussed."

Jan 1, 1989

By Bali. D. D., S. Chattopadhyay

"The planning and construction of prime coking coal beneficiation plants in the nationalized mines in India are reviewed. Flow schemes, construction practice, materials consumption, and costs are detailed.Medium-capacity beneficiation plants with multiple loops are recommended under Indian conditions.IntroductionThe reserve of high-grade and easily washed metallurgical coal in India are quite limited. Prime coking coal constitutes approximately 22% of the total resources and occurs exclusively in the Jharia coalfield in the state of Bihar. Bharat Coking Coal Limited (a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) the nationalized mining sector of India) owns 80% of the Jharia collieries. The development of Jharia coalfield in the pre-nationalized period before 1971 has been characterized by a large number of small mines with primitive mining methods and low productivity. The production of prime coking coal to meet the demand of the steel industry in India has to increase from the existing level of 11.1 million tonnes to 43.4 million tonnes per annum by 2000 AD, thereby producing 5.61 million tonnes and 22.7 million tonnes of clean coal respectively. An ambitious program has been undertaken for development of bigger mines with an average production of 1 to 3 million tonnes per annum. With the fast dwindling reserves of good quality coking coal, more inferior grade coal seams, having difficult washing characteristics, are now being mined. All the coal from the future mines will have to be beneficiated to make it suitable for consumption of steel plants; the following washeries are being planned for construction by 2000 AD:"

Jan 1, 1986

By C. R. Edwards

"The Cigar Lake project will develop the world’s second largest high grade uranium deposit. The Cigar Lake Phase 1 orebody contains approximately 226 million pounds U3O8 at an average grade of 20.7% U3O8. The mine, to be operated by Cameco Corporation, will use a unique water jet boring mining method to cut previously frozen ore. A distinctive ore handling design is required to handle the high grade ore slurry exiting the mining machines. The ore will be crushed and ground underground, with the ore slurry then pumped to surface. Loaded into purpose-designed containers on tractor-trailer units, the ore slurry will be trucked to Cogema Resources Incorporated’s McClean Lake mill. McClean Lake will leach all of the ore. Forty-three percent of the resulting uranium solution will remain at McClean Lake for processing into yellowcake. The other 57% of the uranium solution will be shipped to Cameco’s Rabbit Lake mill for processing into yellowcake there. Detailed design for the Cigar Lake project is now underway. Barring regulatory or market delays, production could start up as soon as early 2005.INTRODUCTIONThe Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan hosts a number of large uranium mining and milling operations, including Cluff Lake, Key Lake, McArthur River, McClean Lake and Rabbit Lake. (Edwards 1988, Edwards 1992, Fielder 1998, Edwards and Oliver 2000, Edwards 2001) The latest project in the Athabasca Basin is the Cigar Lake project."

Jan 1, 2002

By Yeonuk Choi, Gus Van Weert

"In regular CIL circuits, activated carbon is used for two purposes: avoiding solid/liquid separation after cyanide leaching, and minimizing gold losses in the tails. The carbon distribution and gold profiles in the successive CIL stages are operating variables, not objectives. When the CIL feed contains a preg robbing constituent however, such as native carbon, there will be competition for gold cyanide and this conflicts with minimizing of losses of gold to CIL tails. This paper examines some of the limitations of activated carbon in CIL circuits handling preg robbing Carlin Trend ores.INTRODUCTION Carbon-In-Leach (CIL) has been a great success treating regular gold ores, but the technology is still challenged by preg robbing feedstocks. Little information is available in the gold milling literature on CIL gold extraction from “free” milling gold ores which are preg robbing, or on autoclave discharge (POX’ed) slurries of double refractory ores. Neither feedstock is readily available for experimentation. No literature reference could be found describing deliberate modifications to CIL operations or CIL circuits due to the presence of two types of carbon: “native” and activated. There is some literature on the gold cyanide adsorption activity of native carbons (Schmitz, Duyvesteyn, Johnson, Enloe & McMullen, 2001). Various tests have been devised to measure this activity, commensurate with CIP and CIL practices (Tretbar, Arehart & Graves). In this paper, the term “native” carbon indicates (severely) preg robbing carbonaceous materials found in gold ores. There is considerable literature on the gold cyanide adsorption activity of man-made “activated carbons”. Various tests have been devised to measure this activity, commensurate with CIP and CIL practices. These tests are comparative, i.e. results relate to a standard carbon and depend on the test methodology and carbon history. The test results are equilibrium oriented, hence of limited value to CIL circuit designers or plant operators handling preg robbing solids; in CIL circuits most carbons are not loaded to capacity. Information on gold cyanide adsorption and desorption kinetics might be more relevant and that is one subject explored in this paper."

Jan 1, 2012

By H. Powell

"This paper discusses how elemental analysis of conveyed bulk flows in real time using PGNAA (Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis) technology has resulted in significant improvements in advancing plant control in mineral processing operations. PGNAA through belt, full stream, continuous, multi-elemental, real time analysis technology is explained. Capabilities and limitations in plant operating environments are discussed including comparison with other real time, on-line technologies through review of published information available for on-conveyor minerals applications. Case studies include an iron ore and copper-gold company, both of which consider the technology an essential component in advanced plant control necessary in new process flow sheet designs, rather than an optimisation tool.INTRODUCTION Process operators rely on supply of a reasonable ore quality and consistency from the mine. Unfortunately neither the mining nor process operators have much control over the ore quality once it has been put into the crusher. Grade control typically stops once the material is designated as ore and the process plant operator needs to process it irrespective of quality. Plant control is most effective when technologies measure process streams directly and preferably in real time. Measuring sampling streams that are not representative of the primary flow will result in incorrect plant control decisions. Sampling coarse conveyed flows is expensive and impractical at many operations, however, this does not mean those flows cannot be measured. Investigations to find techniques suitable for real time elemental analysis have focussed on the application of known laboratory techniques to process streams. For conveyed applications, development of neutron irradiation techniques were most promising and early studies indicated potential success for bauxite measurement (Beurton et al, 1995). Tran & Evans (2001) concluded there was no equivalent technology to PGNAA in terms of material penetration power and that the technology was eminently suitable for basic industries such as cement. Nelson and Riddle (2003) evaluated PGNAA for possible use in the phosphate industry by using a unit installed in a cement plant to test performance on phosphate samples and ultimately recommended its use for further characterisation of the mine’s various ore types to improve stockpile allocation and grade control"

Jan 1, 2014

By Markus Timusk

This paper describes a research project that focuses on developing a diagnostic routine to assist in decision support for the condition based maintenance of mobile mining equipment subject to unsteady duty. The objective is to develop a general method for initial identification of mechanical faults in machinery operating under non-steady state conditions. The platform to be used for the experimental development and validation of the system is the swing machinery in an electric mining shovel operating in an open pit mining environment. The strategic approach that is proposed for the diagnostic routine will involve using novelty detection augmented by temporal classification.

May 1, 2004