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By D. M. Muir

The mineralogy of residues formed during the pressure acid leaching of arid region nickel laterite ore varies according to the salinity of the process water, alkali cation additives and the overall acid loading. In fresh water, hematite is the main iron-bearing leach residue component, together with amorphous silica and hydronium or sodium alunite/jarosite [(H3O,Na)(Fe,Al)3(SO4)2(OH)6]. As the process water salinity increases, or as NH4+ or K salts are added, alunite/jarosite is the kinetically favoured iron-bearing phase accompanied by an increase in acid consumption. The alunite/jarosite appears as two XRD distinct phases with different Fe:Al molar ratios. In weakly saline water, iron-rich alunite/jarosite slowly transforms to hematite and an aluminium-rich alunite/jarosite together with the release of acid. The addition of potassium salts forms a more stable alunite/jarosite whilst the addition of ammonium salts leads to greater transformation of alunite/jarosite at 250°C. Weakly saline process water gives enhanced nickel recoveries, whilst strongly saline process water gives lower nickel recoveries but higher soluble iron because of chloro-complexation. SEM and microprobe analysis shows very little nickel is associated with the alunite/jarosite and hematite phases. Nickel losses to the residues are attributed to adsorption on amorphous silica and to a lesser extent on alunite/jarosite.

Jan 1, 2006

By N. Melnyk

IN the past, the Cadomin Coal Company has opened four mines, all in the same coal seam or its folds. Three of these were opened from river level by horizontal entries or rock tunnels, and the fourth, the present working mine, by vertical shafts. This paper deals largely with some operating phases of this fourth mine, with which the writer has been associated. The seam worked here is a thick, steep, bituminous seam, and the writer feels there is a paucity of published data on the mining of such seams. Possible reasons for this are that such seams do not !end themselves to intensive development or mining, there is little chance to mechanize because of the extreme pitch, and operations are fraught with many problems. In addition, the present operations in this particular seam are being carried on at a level below the former workings, introducing new problems, not en-countered on the upper level. Coal will, without question, long continue to be an important factor in the national economy, and some of the best coal is to be found in thick, steep seams. But with the exhaustion of the easily-mined coal near the outcrops, future coal will have to come more and more from lower levels. At Cadomin there is still considerable coal on the second level, below the old river-workings, and there is a possibility that, in the future, still lower levels will be worked. It is the purpose of this paper to indicate some phases of such lower-level operations and to invite discussion.

Jan 1, 1942

By E A. Mitchell

In the fall of 1961, Cominco dis-carded its long-established system of feeding the lead blast furnaces by narrow-gauge tram and V-cars, and installed an elevated monorail bucket system. This system automatically loads buckets of sinter, along with the correct proportion of coke, and delivers them to any of several designated furnaces. Direct labour usage has been reduced by nine men per day; improved coke proportioning has been achieved; and a major safety hazard has been eliminated. Introduction I N THE fall months of l 961. the system of feeding the lead blast furnaces at the Trail, B.C., smelter of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited was altered from the tradition-al narrow-gauge railway and V-car method to one employing mono-rail carriers. The change was in keeping with a recent trend at Trail to replace narrow-gauge tramming with alternative methods of materials handling. In the case of the blast furnace feeding, the

Jan 1, 1963

By V. Falmagne

The mining sequence at Noranda?s Bell-Allard mine calls for two mining fronts retreating toward a central pillar known as the Retreat Zone between pyramids A and C. It is clear from numerical modelling and rock mass characterization that the induced stress level in the pillar will exceed the rock mass capacity. A mining plan was developed including the re-dimensioning of stopes in the Retreat Zone, additional ground support and instrumentation in order to ensure the safety of the workforce and to maximize ore recovery while minimizing production delays. The mining strategy consists in allowing the rock mass to fracture and fail progressively while maintaining control of the existing openings with the appropriate support. A systematic analysis of rockbursting and caving hazards was conducted for all accesses and stopes in order to plan ground support and instrumentation needs.

Apr 1, 2004

By W. G. Jewitt

THE Box mine, situated in Saskatchewan on the north shore of lake Athabasca, is unique in two respects. It is the first and, so far, the only gold mine in Saskatchewan, and it is the only gold mine in Canada to employ a large-scale forced caving system as the main mining method. Discovered in 1934 by Tom Box, an Edmonton prospector, its subsequent history, while breaking no records for speed, has been one of steady and more or less normal development. Camp and plant are situated close to the shore of Beaverlodge bay, sorne 50 miles east of the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary and 35 miles south of the north boundary of the Province. The railhead at Waterways, Alberta, is about 220 miles to the southwest. Prince Albert lies some 450 miles to the south. The surrounding country presents a rather rugged variation of the usual Precambrian topography, with hills rising five to six hundred feet above lake Athabasca. The numerous lakes and islands, together with the wide expanse of lake Athabasca, compose an attractive scene, at least in the not over-long 'open water' season. The winters are long but not extremely cold, judged by prairie standards. The small lakes break-up around May 20th and the 'freeze-up' stops navigation early in October. Though apparently remote, the Box mine is fortunate in having reason-ably cheap transportation from Edmonton. The 300-mile railway from Edmonton to Waterways is the most expensive section, the rate for 1st class freight being $1.70 per hundred pounds and for 5th class freight $0.77 per hundred. Freight from Waterways to the mine, approximately 140 miles down the Athabasca river and 90 miles along lake Athabasca, is delivered by barges and tugs for 50 cents per hundred pounds. All freight is delivered during the 'open water' shipping season, which lasts from about .Tune 7th to October 7th. In normal years, barges are loaded to 3 to 3 1/2feet draught up to September 1st. After that date, and earlier in dry years, shallow water at Waterways reduces the barge loads. Barges of 100 to 200 tons capacity handle all mining freight, including pieces up to 15 tons in weight, without undue difficulty.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. J. Burrough

Coal Reserves The Crowsnest Pass coal fields form part of a greater area which comprises the Inner Foothills belt of the Alberta coal fields and the southeastern coal fields of British Columbia. The most valuable and most extensive reserves of the bituminous coals of Canada are concentrated in this?area, of which the Crowsnest Pass fields form an important part. The extent of these coal reserves together with those of the rest of Canada were recently studied by the Geological Survey of Canada for the Royal Commission on Coal of 1946 (1). Quotin from the report, it is of interest to note that, prior to this work, the most widely known, and in fact the only Canadian-wide estimates of, coal reserves of Canada available to the Commission were those prepared by Dr. Dowling in 1913 (2). At that time it was estimated that Canada's reserves of coal were over twelve hundred billion tons. The more recent estimates of mineable coal for the whole of Canada are of the order of 10 per cent of that figure and are reported. as 99 billion tons, which is further reduced to 40 billion tons on the basis of the estimation of recoverable coal. This considerable divergence in estimated reserves is explained in part by the big difference in the bases of measurements. For example, in the original report, seams of one foot occurring at a depth of 4,000 feet were included in the estimates.

Jan 1, 1951

By James R. Hein

Manganese nodules form at the sediment surface of abyssal plains throughout the global ocean at water depths of about 4000-6500 m. The nodules form a continuum from purely hydrogenetic (all metals from seawater) to purely diagenetic (all metals from sediment pore waters), which will determine which metals of potential economic interest are enriched in the nodules. Another important factor in metal enrichment is whether diagenesis in the bottom sediment is oxic or suboxic. There are several nodule fields in the deep ocean that have received much attention with regards to economic potential, the most important being the Clarion-Clipperton zone (CCZ) in the NE Pacific, where the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has signed 12 contracts for exploration areas, each spanning 75,000 square kilometers. Those nodules are rich in nickel (mean 1.3 wt. %), copper (mean 1.1 %), and manganese (28%), with moderate amounts of cobalt (mean 0.2%), molybdenum (587 g/t), and lithium (129 g/t). A conservative estimate is that there exists 21,100 million dry tonnes of nodules in the CCZ, yielding more manganese, twice the nickel, three times the cobalt, and four times the yttrium than the entire land-based reserve base (economic plus marginally economic plus subeconomic reserves) for each metal. Total rare-earth elements (REEs) as oxides average 0.09% in CCZ nodules, a potential byproduct even at that grade because the heavy REE complement averages 26%, compared to less than 1% for the large land-based carbonatite REE deposits. The price for HREEs is much greater than for the light REEs. For comparison, the REEs in deep-ocean ferromanganese crusts are 3 to 5 times greater than nodules and the HREE complement averages 18%. Of the 12 CCZ contracts, 7 are with States (China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, and a group of States (IOM); and 5 are with companies: G-Tec Sea Mineral Resources NV, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI); Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd (TOML), UK Seabed Resources Ltd (Lockheed UK), and Marawa Research and Exploration Ltd. Three other nodule fields that have received attention are in the Peru Basin, which has nodules very rich in manganese (34%) and lithium (mean 311 g/t), the Penrhyn Basin (Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone), with nodules very rich in cobalt (mean 0.4%); and the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB), where India has an exploration contract with the ISA. CIPB nodules have mean nickel, copper, and manganese contents of 1.1%, 1.0%, and 24% respectively.

May 1, 2013

By P. R. Geoffroy

Extensive and Intensive Prospecting As often pointed out, the search for new ore deposits may be carried on along two widely divergent lines. It may be either extensive or intensive. By extensive prospecting we mean a search for mineralized outcrops conducted over large and more or less virgin tracts of land, followed by a test of the practical value of any discovery made, the test being limited to the immediate vicinity of the outcrop. Extensive prospecting, was, in fact, the only policy known to the early prospectors. of the American continent and is still the rule in the remote sections of the Canadian Shield and in the African wilderness. It can be further characterized by the lack of emphasis placed on geological and other technical means as an aid to the search for ore. However, very little virgin ground is left, nowadays, for a man or a company to test their luck, and whatever is left is so remote from the necessary means of development that any new discovery will require considerable delay and expenditures to be amenable to profitable mining. On the other band, a great many of the favourable and still unexplored areas (and this is particularly true in Canada) are overburdened to such an extent that outcrops of bed-rock are extremely scarce and extensive prospecting is nearly impossible. Intensive prospecting, to the contrary, must be understood as a detailed search for ore carried on over limited areas in districts already known to be mineralized and covering regional structures whose relation to mineral deposits bas been estahlis.hed with a fair degree ot certainty. The search for deep-seated deposits in the vicinity of successful mines is a perfect example of intensive prospecting. As a matter of fact, the majority of the geologists employed by the mining industry are engaged in some kind of intensive prospecting.

Jan 1, 1950

By Carlos Rebolledo, Nelson Parra

Arsenic is an unresolved problem in the mining industry considering the fact that most of the new copper deposits have high arsenic contents; stricter environmental restrictions for handling, transporting and processing complex materials are expected and stable abatement of arsenic is not extensively applied. In 2018 Chile produced 24.5% of the total copper from concentrates and in the future copper production in Chile is expected to increase, mainly associated with production of concentrates that will also contain more arsenic. China has set an import benchmark of maximum 0.5% for arsenic content in copper concentrates and this value is expected to be more restrictive in the future. On the first day of 2018 China banned the importation of scrap. Blending practice has been a business option, but it is not sustainable in the future, as “normal” copper concentrates become less and less clean. By the end of 2018, Chile formulated new regulations, increasing the capture of SO2 and arsenic to 95%. In order to comply with these regulations Chilean smelters had to make large invest large amounts of money. Disposing of arsenic as a stable residue is a pending issue. EcoMetales is a 100% subsidiary of Codelco and provides the mining industry with environmental solutions. It has a plant near Calama in Chile that treats flue dust from smelters, refinery effluents and acid solutions from acid plants. EcoMetales is fully committed to contributing to the solution to the arsenic problem. Currently we are developing four main projects: 1) Concentrates treatment. A PLCC project considering the treatment of 200 ktpy of copper concentrates with arsenic from the northern district of Codelco; 2) EPAS DET project considering the treatment of 700 m3/d of weak acid solution with arsenic from the of El Teniente devision of the Codelco acid plant; 3) Borras project, considering the recovery of valuable metals (Cu, Ag, Ge, Pb) from the flue dust leaching plant; 4) Tailings project, considering the recovery of metal values from tailings. The purpose of this work is to present the trends and treatment processes for arsenic handling in the copper mining industry with a focus on the scorodite process. INTRODUCTION Between 2000 and 2015 the global copper concentrates production has grown from approximately eleven to fifteen million metric tons per year. Chile produced 26.5% of the total copper from concentrates and in the future copper production in Chile is expected to increase, mainly as a result of the production of concentrates (Figure 1)

Jan 1, 2019

By L. C. Lien

Tower crane layout (TCL) is a typical construction site layout (CSL) problem, which is suitable for a wide range of work assignments and site conditions. Tower crane is one of the key facilities for vertical and horizontal transportation of materials, especially for heavy prefabrication units such as steel beams, ready mixed concrete, prefabricated elements and large panel formwork such as machinery and equipment, and a wide variety of other building materials within a construction site. However, it is a difficult combinatorial optimization problem to determine the locations of tower cranes with materials quantity supply and demand for engineers. Swarm intelligence (SI) was very popular and widely used in many complex optimization problems which was collective behaviour of social systems such as honey bees (bee algorithm, BA) and birds (particle swarm optimization, PSO). This study applied a hybrid swarm algorithm namely particle bee algorithm (PBA) based on a particular intelligent behaviour of honey bee and bird swarms by integrates theirs advantages. This study compares the performance of PBA with BA and PSO for a proposed hypothetical construction engineering of TCL with materials quantity supply and demand problem. Results show that PBA performs better performance than the mentioned algorithms on a proposed hypothetical TCL problem.

Aug 1, 2013

By R. B. Allen, E. E. N. Smith, B. C. MacDonald

"LocationTHE MAIN PROPERTY and townsite of Eldorado Mining & Refining, Limited, Beaverlodge Operation, is on the north shore. of Beaverlodge lake, •about seven miles north of the deserted town of Goldfields on lake Athabasca, and four hundred and ninety air-miles equidistant from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Edmonton, Alberta. Both Eldorado Airlines •and Canadian Pacific Airlines maintain scheduled flights from Edmonton to the 4,000-foot airstrip on the north boundary of the Company property. Bi-weekly flights are made by Saskatchewan Government Airways from Prince Albert. Men and priority freight are flown by Company aircraft direct from Edmonton. From June to-September, when the waterways .are ice-free, freight is carried by barge from the •railhead at McMurray, Alberta, down the Athabasca river to Chipewyan, and across lake Athabasca to• Bushell, the terminal on Black bay, lake Athabasca, a total distance of 265 miles.The Eldorado Operation has been connected by a 12-mile, all-weather highway to Bushell. Where the highway crosses the park-land along the Fredette river, the townsite, Uranium, is under construction to provide services to the uranium-producing district. Spur roads have been built to the Ace, Fay, Eagle, •and Martin mines of the Eldorado operation, and to the properties of Pitch-Ore Uranium Mines, Ltd., and Rix Athabasca Uranium Mines, Ltd."

Jan 1, 1954

By R. Duinker

"This paper, an update to the 2003 paper titled "Knowledge, Technology and Profit" (Twigge-Molecey, 2003) analyzes 45 "problem projects" from the mining and metals industry over the last eleven years representing $133 billion in CAPEX. The projects have been designated as "problem projects" as they did not meet their owner’s initial expectations for project performance as defined in the paper. This paper explores some of the challenges that were present, through interviews with the knowledgeable individuals that were familiar with the projects and investigations using publically available information. The aim of the exercise was to identify the key challenges faced by the projects, and the contributing factors that led to the project failures so that the lessons can be applied to future projects.The project challenges have been categorized into four themes, technical, organizational, environmental & social and missing "homework" prior to board approval. Of noteworthy interest is that environmental permitting aspects have risen to become a significant and notable contributor to problem projects in 11 years from 2003 to 2014. It is further observed that many projects have been challenged by increasing size and complexity and with execution in more remote locations since the previous paper.It is a reality that every project will face challenges. Some projects are simply more challenging than others, and success or failure of the project is often determined by whether the project team is fully prepared to respond to the challenges. This in turn is largely dependent on whether the project "homework" was adequately completed and considered for all aspects of the project."

Jan 1, 2015

By Gillyeard J. Leathley

The Cassiar Asbestos mine is situated on McDame Mountain in northern B.C. at a mean elevation of 6000 ft (1830 m), some 6 miles (9.6 km) from the townsite /mill complex. Asbestos ore production averages 1,200,000 tons at 9% R.M.G. (Recoverable Mine Grade) and waste production is 6,000,000 cu. yd annually. Waste is loaded by P&H 1900 AL 11-cu.-yd shovels and transported by 75-ton and 85-ton end-dump trucks to the waste dumps. The ore is loaded by a 992 Caterpillar 10-cu-yd front-end loader into 50-ton and 75-ton trucks, which transport it to the crushing plant located at the mine. The ore is transported by a 15,370-ft (4685-m) tramline to the mill complex.

Jan 1, 1978

By J. D. Little

"THE SALMO PROPERTIES of Canadian Exploration, Limited comprise forty-one Crown-granted mineral claims situated on Iron mountain between Sheep creek (on the north) and Lost creek, some eight miles southward from Salmo, in the Nelson mining division (see Figure 1). On these claims there are at present four operating mines. These are, from north to south, the Dodger, Feeney, and Emerald, all tungsten mines, and the Jersey, a lead-zinc mine, about 7,000 feet south of the Dodger. About midway between the Dodger and the Jersey is a fifth mine, the Emerald lead-zinc mine, which was the first producer in the area but has been inactive since 1926. The locations of the mines are shown in Figure 2.Records of prospecting and claim staking on Iron mountain -which owes its name to the presence of large iron-stained outcrops -go back to 1895. The first recorded owner of the claims that form the old Emerald lead-zinc mine was John Waldbeser who, in 1908, did considerable work and produced 426 tons of lead ore valued, at the then price of lead, at $7,000. This ore was chiefly lead carbonate and was taken from the surface outcrops of two bands of ore that form the Emerald orebodies. In 1909, the Emerald was the largest lead producer in the Nelson mining district."

Jan 1, 1953

By H. Pempel, J. Markowski, P. Ay

"Metal-coated thermoplastic parts find more and more functional and aesthetic applications in the interior and exterior of cars. The vapor-deposited or electroplated coatings are usually composed of a plurality of nickel- and chromium-containing layers, which are applied to copper-containing carrier layers on the polymers. Previously, recycling processes are mainly focussed at the recovery or thermal utilization of the plastics. Targeted and selective recycling of the metallic coatings is usually not carried out. Together with several SME, BTU developed a process, in which a complete and separate recovery of all components in high purity is possible with biotechnological methods. The bioleaching is carried out with iron and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, especially Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The copper-containing layers are dissolved in the solution; chromium- and nickel-containing particles are precipitated as solids. After the bioleaching, a mechanical separation of the individual metal-containing components and their separate workup are carried out. End-products are metallic copper, a nickel- and chromium-containing solid and the cleaned plastics. The bioleaching ensures a high purity of the end products. Through the use of bacteria, which are also found in nature, the process is environmentally friendly. Compared to chemical leaching using inorganic acids, considerably shorter leaching times can be achieved. In addition to the optimization of the leaching process, the R/D-project also includes the development and testing of the apparatus technology.INTRODUCTION The material complexity of many end-user products has increased in recent years, especially in the fields of electrical appliances, vehicle technology and medical technology. However, the demands on functionality, safety, comfort and energy efficiency still play a greater role in product design as factors such as sustainability and usability. For example, if a car still holds more than 70% of steel in the 1980s, a vehicle nowadays includes a larger proportion of a variety of difficultly separable plastics and composite materials, as well as complex metal composites. This relates in particular to composites made from such different materials as metals and plastics. The processing and recovery of the components of those complex material mixtures is difficult for recycling companies."

Jan 1, 2017

By T. Patching

"A GLANCE BACK AT what has happened in the past is often a useful guide to the future, although it should be used mainly to provide a sense of direction rather than a map that must be followed. As a preamble to discussing some of the questions posed by the organizing committee it may be appropriate to briefly review the distribution and careers of the graduates of our Department since the first degree in mining engineering was awarded in 1916. An attempt has been made to keep a record of the locations and careers of the Department's 540 graduates in mining and metallurgical engineering. Almost all of those who graduated before 1930 have now retired, but a very large proportion held positions as senior executives prior to retirement. A major proportion of those who graduated before 1950 are now in what might be considered senior management positions. Those who have 10 to 20 years of experience are generally in work of senior engineering responsibility or in supervisory or junior management ranks, while those who graduated in the last ten years appear to be generally in staff engineering or junior supervisory positions. This classification is admittedly imprecise because it is difficult to determine from a job description whether duties should be considered of an engineering or management nature - a distinction between the two terms is often over-emphasized. Nevertheless, the trend from technical engineering to management responsibilities with seniority and years of experience is clear in the careers that we have been able to follow."

Jan 1, 1972

By David Davidson

Overview- Points To Be Addressed ? Review the building blocks of a successful and vibrant industrial economy ? China?s current position in the global economy ? China?s voracious appetite for raw materials ? Distortion in import/export trends ? Areas of strategic importance for China - Steel and its components - Agriculture self sufficiency - Energy now and for the future ? Do current valuation techniques fairly value ?strategic? assets? China ? The Economical Miracle - Massive shift in population from rural to urban - ?Middle class? growing rapidly, hence strong consumer growth - China is the manufacturing center for the world ? cheap labour and - modern facilities - Infrastructure build out ?US$585b stimulus package and 5 year plan - Rail ? 30,000 kms of new track planned by 2020 - Power ? 50% capacity increase, including 35 nuclear reactors - 100 major new airports - State of the art process and manufacturing facilities - Port capacity ? 100m TEU capacity increase by 2020 Class 1 national highway ? 35,000 km?s by 2020

May 1, 2010

By W. G. McBride

INTRODUCTION Preparation of this article, at the request of the Committee on papers, has been undertaken in the hope that it may stir up helpful discussion and constructive criticism. The Canadian mining industry is in the dumps and there is no use trying to deny the fact; nor does it help to say that other industries are in as bad or a worse condition. Let us face the situation honestly and see just how serious it is. The entire financial and industrial world is in a state of depression. The gravity of the case is no doubt exaggerated by contrast with the wave of optimism and false prosperity which pre-ceded it. The prevailing gloom and pessimism are just as irrational as was the former super-optimism. As far as we mining engineers are concerned, the causes are quite beyond our control, and it is the effect upon our own industry which interests us most. This effect is an accumulation of mineral products with consequent depression in price to a point where profits have almost, if not quite, disappeared. Whether this accumulation of stocks is the result of over-production or under-consumption is difficult to say, but it would seem likely that there is a combination of the two. The introduction of selective flotation has brought about a large increase in the production of zinc, a moderate increase in the production of lead, and a comparatively small increase in copper. It has turned relatively small mines into great producers, as in the case of the Sullivan, revived expiring mines like La Cananea, and brought-in new ones like Flin Flon

Jan 1, 1931

By J. G. Martin, J. C. Campbell

THE VICTORIA JUNCTION 31,4-million-ton coal preparation complex went into operation in October 1976."' It is designed to produce a metallurgical coking coal by lowering the sulphur and ash content of the raw coal using a heavy-media cycloning process to treat deslimed crushed coal, with scavenging of fine coal by flotation from the primary minus-28-mesh screen product. A secondary H-M cyclone scavenges a thermal-grade coal from the primary H-M cyclone tailing.

Jan 1, 1985

By W. Keith Buck

This paper defines the discipline of mineral economics. By example, it describes the application of the tools of economic analysis to mineral problems - to problems in the areas of: mineral resource analysis and forecasting, mineral industry activity from exploration to distribution and marketing, mineral commodity analysis, and mineral policy analysis and policy formulation - all in a regional, national or international context.

Jan 1, 1972