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By R. A. Campbell, R. R. Rogers

"AbstractThe experiments described show that crude bismuth metal containing up to 5 per •cent lead, 0.14 per cent silver, 0.015 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent iron, .and small amounts of antimony, nickel, and tin may be refined to a bismuth content of 99.98 per cent by distillation followed by chlorination. It also is shown that bismuth trichloride of high ,purity may be produced by passing chlorine over hot •crude bismuth metal and allowing the resulting vapours to •condense in a cooler .part of the system.IntroductionBISMUTH is used in the production of alloys and pharmaceuticals. During 1952, the New York price for the refined metal was $2.25 per pound in ton lots.Some months-ago a Canadian producer requested the Mines Branch to investigate methods of refining the bismuth which they had been producing. Their crude product had been selling for $1.50 to $1.70 per pound and it was desired to increase its purity to at least 99.98 per cent so that it could be sold for $2.25 per pound."

Jan 1, 1955

By J B. Maughan

Gas and oil seeps have been known in Quebec for more than one hundred years. These occur in three main areas which contain sedimentary rocks with a total thickness estimated to vary from 6,000 to 20,000 feet. The strata in these areas are similar in many respects to those in producing areas of southwestern Ontario and the Appalachian basin, and the prospects for finding and developing commercial reserves of oil and gas in Quebec would therefore also appear to be favourable. Little of the exploratory drilling to date has been con-ducted in a systematic manner, and most of the drilling has utilized improper or inadequate equipment. Many wells have also failed to adequately test and fully evaluate the principal zones of interest. Relatively high drilling costs have hindered systematic exploration; however, with improved portable equipment, it is expected that future wells can be drilled with greater efficiency and at less cost. Most of the mineral rights in Quebec are held by the Provincial Government, and acreage can still be leased in large blocks on favourable terms.

Jan 1, 1964

By E. Lee Cameron

Summary Records of the past show that the first mineral production in what is now the Province of Manitoba consisted of salt, obtained about the year 1800 by the evaporation of brine. Also at an early time in our history, the Ordovician limestone at St. Andrews Locks, East Selkirk, and other localities was quarried for use as building scone in the construction of forts and fur trading posts. Both salt and building stone are still produced in Manitoba, although not from the original sources. In addition, there is now a substantial production of a variety of other industrial minerals and their products such as lime, crushed stone, gypsum, peat moss, and bentonite. The annual dollar value of production of the industrial mineral industry in Manitoba is today greater than at any time in our past and is derived from a greater variety of products. At the present time, exclusive of the various gravel pits operated by the Provincial Department of Public Works, twenty companies operating thirty-four separate pits, quarries, or mines are producing industrial mineral raw materials in Manitoba. This paper attempts to outline the development of the industry from its start about 1800 to the present, giving general information on the various materials produced. Some suggestions regarding the possibilities of establishing new industries based on other raw materials are given at the end of the paper.

Jan 1, 1949

By Michel Lefebvre, André Piché

Every organization performing R&D is faced with the challenge of introducing new technologies to its operations. Difficulties must be overcome if companies are to realize the benefits anticipated from such developments. This paper outlines the difficulties encountered in transferring to operations various technologies developed at the Mining and Exploration Division of the Noranda Technology Centre. The approach used in the selection of a privileged partner for the technology transfer, the criteria motivating the choice and the process followed to establish the partnership are presented.

Jan 1, 1997

By S. Leong

This paper reports on research examining disclosures from mining companies regarding their water usage in the Macquarie and Lachlan catchment areas, both parts of the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the research was to assess whether this disclosure is sufficient to allow communities to determine whether mining companies are complying with mining conditions of consent and abiding by the requirements of their water licencing agreements. These requirements are then compared to the water reporting requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Water Accounting Framework for the Minerals Industry (WAFMI). Communities are concerned about whether the mining industry?s use of water will have impacts on their livelihoods and lifestyle and thus require information concerning the quantity of water that will be extracted, how much water will be left for other stakeholders and whether the mining will affect water quality. This is an archival study. It has involved examining relevant publically available information released by mining companies and government regulators and determining if this is sufficient to meet the needs of the local communities. Additionally, it has involved looking at information indirectly provided by mining companies, via the use of intermediaries. Further, information availability concerning basic water accounting and regulatory breeches and whether such information is available at the mine site level has been considered. It is found that while NSW legislation places very little reporting requirements on mining companies, the development consent conditions for new projects and extensions to existing projects are quite significant and should be sufficient to meet the needs of local catchment residents though such information is not always easily accessible for the layperson.

Aug 1, 2013

By Joseph F. Daniels

In recent considerations of the utilization and beneficiation of coal, the chemise and the chemical engineer have been occupying the centre of the stage with their presentation of the picture of new fuel forms. The stage hands and supernumeraries of the cast, the miners and the consumers who carry the brunt of the present-day burdens, are apt to be forgotten in the glorious settings and the climaxes. With no thought of disparaging or of minimizing the efforts of our fellow scientists, let us remember that economic considerations as well as technical difficulties will limit these chemical applications, which must develop and move slowly before reaching the stage of industrial application at some later day. In the meantime, the coal-mining industry must live on hard faces rather than rosy dreams. In these brief notes it is my purpose to call attention to some of the physical advances in the utilization and beneficiation of coal which have been of interest to the industry in the State of Washington.

Jan 1, 1928

By John Postle, Maureen Jensen, Marcel Vallee, Bernie Haystead, Dan Hora, Graham Clow

The Committee's proposed standards establish definitions and guidelines for the reporting of Exploration Information, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in Canada and are identified as the "CIM Standards" and referred to as such hereafter in this document. To provide additional clarification to Qualified Persons (QPs), guidelines have been included with the respective definitions. The CIM Standards are applicable to all minerals including industrial minerals, diamonds and other gemstones. Reserve definitions for bitumen, natural gas and oil are not included in these Standards. The CIM Standards are not intended to cover mineral inventory estimates that will be reported to government agencies.

Jan 1, 2001

By L. Paulino, C. E. Zangiacomi, J. Yamamoto

"This paper presents the learning from Alcoa Po9os de Caldas Smelter in Brazil, after several energy restrictions resulting from the failures of three rectifier units at its power switchyard. Starting on December 27th, fuses and diodes failed in three rectifier units of Potline #1, causing a long and dangerous power interruption. Even after current was reestablished, amperage was only 70% of the line target leading to a bath freezing process that lasted for around 48 hours. The process engineering team played with several potroom parameters as pot resistance, bath and metal levels, alumina feeding and bath chemistry in an attempt to minimize impact on the potline metal output and energy consumption. As it will be illustrated, the first battle was to keep the pots running on a ""survival"" approach. After that, several changes took place on the procedures used to run at reduced current which were considered rather successful. Finally, some recommendations will be given to foresee and prevent transformers and rectifiers from undesirable failures."

Jan 1, 2006

By Doug Russell

Natsource: At a Glance l 160 employees l Global reach ? New York, Washington, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Tokyo l Major Environmental Commodity Broker ? Rated as Top GHG Broker (Environmental Finance Magazine Survey, Dec. 2000 & 2001) ? Leading RECs Broker ? Large Broker of SO2, NOx l Large Energy Broker ? One of Highest Volume Gas Brokers ? Major Electricity Broker Overview l International Market l Implementing the Rate-Based Proposal l Assessment and Management of Risk from GHG Emissions Limitations

Nov 1, 2002

By D. Tao

The adverse effects of clay particles on coal and mineral processing processes such as gravity separation, flotation, filtration, and thickening are well known in the mining industry. In particular, the presence of ultra-fine clay particles deteriorates froth flotation performance, which has been attributed largely to slime coatings that inhibit bubble attachment and to adsorption of the frother and/or collector by the clay particles. The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of clay binding agents developed by Georgia-Pacific Resins, Inc. in enhancing coal and mineral flotation performance. Mechanical and column flotation tests were carried out using coal and potash samples. Process parameters investigated include slurry solids percentage, impeller rotation speed, binder dosage, collector dosage, etc. Flotation results show that use of GP reagents significantly enhanced flotation efficiency under different conditions. The required binder dosage and conditioning time was about 1 lb/t and 0.5-1 min, respectively. More significant improvements in process performance were observed at higher solids percentage and higher impeller rotation speed.

Jan 1, 2006

By B. Caldwell

"The CompanyCardinal River Coals is jointly owned by Luscar Ltd. and the Consolidated Coal Company of Canada (Consol). The Luscar mine is operated by Luscar Ltd. and is located 40 km south of Hinton near Cadomin, Alberta (Fig. 1). The plant sits on the old townsite of Luscar, Alberta, which was founded in order to develop the coal in 1912 (Fig. 2). Initially, the coal was mined by Luscar Ltd. for heating and steam generation and used quite heavily by the railways for their steam locomotives. In 1955, the mine was decommissioned as the demand for coal for tl1ese purposes had dropped off. In 1969, the mine was re-established by Cardinal River to provide metallurgical coking coal for its customers in Japan. The coal is mined from the 13m thick Jewel Seam by open pit methods at a 10 to 1 stripping ratio. The run-of-mine coal is then cleaned to meet customer demands.The PlantThe clean coal preparation facilities at Cardinal River were extended in 1980 in order to increase the feed rate from 450 t/h to 800 t/h. The extension is a separate plant which can be operated on its own or in parallel with the old plant. In addition, modifications have been made to the fine coal circuit (hydrocyclones added), the coarse refuse circuit, (refuse bucks replaced by a refuse conveyor which backfills a pit), and the fine refuse circuit (solid bowl refuse centrifuges, refuse classifying cyclones, and hydra-rake thickener no longer utilized) since the plant was built in 1969. The plant production of 3 M t per year with a yield of 78% is achieved by first screening and breaking the run-of-mine material to a top size of 1 ½ in. The feed is then slurried, sized, and processed in three different washing circuits. The washed coal is mechanically dewatered, thermally dried, and then stored in a 14 500 t capacity silo or on a 300 000 t stockpile. The fine refuse is thickened and pumped to the same pit to which the coarse refuse is being conveyed"

Jan 1, 2000

By P. R. Clark, M. D. Gleghorn

"IntroductionAt TransAlta Utilities Corporation's Highvale Mine, located west of Edmonton, Alberta (Fig. I and 2), dragline stripping has proved to be a practical and economical method of overburden removal and future plans have been based upon the continued use of draglines (Fig. 3) as the major stripping equipment (Williams, 1979, Nikols et al., 1986). However, long range planning has shown that the capacity of draglines alone will be exceeded in the early 1990s as mining progresses into deeper overburden cover (Tapics, 1983). Strip ratios will increase from I.3 bank m!/ t of coal in 1985to 4.5 bank m3 / t in 1995. During this period the depth of overburden will increase substantially and the areas to be mined will be characterized by weak soils including glacially displaced overburden. This increased overburden depth in relatively weak soils will make it impractical to _continue side casting by draglines without prestripping in advance. In 1983, a major investigation was initiated to determine what additional overburden removal equipment was appropriate to the Highvale operations, and recognizing the long delivery times of this major equipment. when it would be required. This paper describes studies and tests which were undertaken in 1983 and 1984 to select prestripping methods and equipment for the future operation of the mine.Previous planning studies have shown that with the current burn schedule and with the economies of progressing from low cover to high cover, as has been practiced in the past, overburden volumes will exceed the capacity of the existing draglines in the early 1990s (Fig. 4). These previous studies had placed reliance on (I tandem dragline operation for future overburden removal requirements up to a depth of 45 m throughout the Highvale Mine. New drilling together with the associated geotechnical studies and some detailed planning on the practicality of using tandem draglines, created concerns about their universal application. Even without considering geotechnical conditions there was a depth limitation to tandem dragJines and substantial prestripping would be required to achieve the ultimate depths."

Jan 1, 1987

By Rob Boom, Yasuyuki Tozaki, Frank M. Wheeler

Selection of a suitable site for a metallurgical plant is crucial for the success of the business case. For a brownfield project, with the decision to locate the project on a site with existing production facilities and activities, the selection of the site has been made. For a greenfield project, important economic and logistical considerations include proximity to primary and secondary resources and/or to the market, infrastructure, and access to energy and water. National and regional aspects, including the social license to operate, can be decisive in final site selection. Key to recruiting and retaining a labour force are proximity to urban areas, along with weather and health conditions at the site. Risk factors include site geotechnical parameters and topography, contamination, as well as probability and types of potential natural disasters.

Jan 1, 2015

By P. Schmidt, M. Hopf

Water-cooled parts of submerged arc furnaces are potentially dangerous, especially if molten matte or slag contacts the water. Explosion hazards and metal run-outs generate high costs for production loss and repairs - not mentioning the possible loss of human life. This paper reports about practical results of wear measurement on intensive water-cooled tap-holes and spray-cooled side walls. On the one hand an embedding technology has been developed, that is used e.g. in water-cooled copper tap blocks or copper side wall coolers. Second the application of the sensor installation on the inner side of a water-cooled steel shell will be discussed. The fibre-optic sensor is fed through a specially arranged piping system and measures numerous temperatures over its entire length. By using the thermal conductivity of the installed refractory materials the lining thickness is calculated. The practical installation of the sensors will be discussed and the results of the wear measurement will be compared to the theoretical FEM calculations. The highly sensitive and accurate temperature measurement, as well as the recalculation of the impact of differences in the cooling water temperature, allows the exact determination of the remaining lining thickness. The discussed technologies offer efficient and safe monitoring of tap-holes, side walls and other endangered parts of pyro-metallurgical smelters.

Jan 1, 2015

By C. Blais, G. L’Espérance

Characterization of second phase particles is important with regard to their influence on mechanical properties of materials. Analytical electron microscopy offers the possibility to achieve complete characterization of inclusions. Complete characterization of inclusions means quantitative evaluation of their chemistry and the stereological parameters. A characterization technique based on integrated microscopy and involving scanning electron microscopy, image analysis and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry is presented. A discussion of the use of transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy is also presented for the characterization of very small particles and compounds (>100 nm).

Jan 1, 1998

By T. Plikas, T. Porretta, M. Al-Dojayli, B. Pretorius, J. Woloshyn, H. Ghorbani

"Water-cooled ducts represent an integral part of high temperature off-gas systems in metallurgical processes. Typically, off-gas enters these ducts at significantly elevated temperatures; therefore, water cooling may be required to maintain the duct skin temperature within allowable design limits. These off-gases are typically of high mineral content that could lead to dust buildup, and there is a possibility of slag buildup / molten metal splashing. Therefore, dust cleaning provisions may be necessary in order to remove or minimize accretion on the duct wall, which could otherwise impact the water cooling and the system process efficiency. These ducts may have complex geometry and experience a wide range of loading, including gravity loads, water and gas pressures, cyclic thermal loading and dynamic impact forces. Consequently, the thermo-mechanical assessment of such water-cooled ducts is critical and requires consideration phenomena such as high temperature gradients, potential nucleate boiling, thermal ratcheting and fatigue failures. Such assessment is not comprehensively covered by design-by-rule design codes and guidelines due to its complexity. This paper presents a successful implementation example of design-by-analysis methodology to improve the design and extend the life of a water-cooled furnace transition duct using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA).INTRODUCTION Water-cooling represents an important part of high temperature off-gas systems in metallurgical processes. Typical temperatures of the off-gas in the furnace uptake are in excess of 1400°C, and thus there is a need to maintain the water-cooled duct and jacket skin temperatures within their material allowable design limits. Water-cooled channels have been used effectively in arc furnace roof design (Sosonkin et al., 1972; Smolyarenko and Khainson, 1988) and other furnaces as well as in furnace fuming jackets (Scholey et al., 1994). The design of these systems was based on one-dimensional analysis to ensure sufficient cooling is available under extreme furnace conditions (Smolyarenko and Khainson, 1988; Scholey et al., 1994). With advancement in furnace and fuming system designs, water-cooled duct designs have become more complicated in geometry. Numerical techniques, such as three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer modeling, are therefore needed to more accurately calculate water velocity, temperature and convective heat transfer coefficients in the water-cooled channels (Haywood et al., 2002; Henning et al., 2010). This is of particular importance around geometric corners where stagnant water flow may lead to local nucleate boiling at the critical heat flux, causing hot spots (Bergman et al., 2011). High wall skin temperatures increase the risk of failures due to thermal stresses as well as increasing corrosion rates (Gelfi et al., 2012), leading to costly equipment downtime and potential safety risks."

Jan 1, 2017

High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) are said to be a good option in new grinding circuits. Due to their low energy consumption compared to other grinding systems such as SAG milling, there is a strong incentive to check their behaviour for certain ore types. With rising energy prices the operation will become even more beneficial in future. As published in the past, the HPGR is claimed to increase the liberation of the valuable mineral component within an ore. An investigation at the research centre of Polysius was conducted to substantiate the liberation behaviour in finish grinding operations. A pilot scale HPGR test unit (POLYCOM MAGRO) with a roll diameter of 950 mm and processing capacity of 80 t/h was used. Grinding tests were completed with a screen and a two stage drying air separation process (SEPOL). Analysis included standard screen analysis, fractional XRF and modern MLA technology. A technique was developed to oppose the amount of produced slimes (resuming bad flotation) against the positive effect of producing high mass fraction at flotation-easy sizes. The paper shows how effective the use of a dry grinding separation could be in terms of production of mass of liberated metal.

Jan 1, 2012

By R. L. Brown

The burning sulphide ores in the Sullivan Mine generate sulphur dioxide gases. This paper is concerned with a description of the environmental impact of SO2 on air quality in the mine and on the surface in the vicinity of the mine. As a result of surface caving, SO2 has been able to vent to surface and winds have carried it into one residential area of Kimberley. Monitoring practices are described.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. B. Kwon

For improvement in the productivity of tall building projects, table formwork is one of the main methods that have been adopted for slab formwork. Because the table formwork method is an equipment-oriented construction method, the type of lifting equipment and method of operation considerably affects the productivity and cost of the table formwork. It is also important to make an equipment input plan for completing the table formwork within the time given, according to the structural construction cycle. For performing the table formwork, a tower crane or an independent lifting system, and shifting trolleys, are required. However, if an inefficient equipment input plan is made, exorbitant cost may be incurred. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the productivity of a table formwork, considering the type and number of lifting equipment and the number of trolleys inputted, and to suggest quantitative data for making a cost-efficient equipment input plan within the construction duration given. It is expected that the results of this research will be utilized as a basis for cost-efficient equipment input planning.

Aug 1, 2013

By C. E. Baltzer, W. H. Harper

"This study has been developed to illustrate the trend and pattern of distribution applying to the quantities and costs of the fossil fuels used, and the related amounts of electricity generated, in the thermal segment of the Canadian electric utility industry.Traditionally, Canada's requirements for electric energy have been preponderantly met by hydraulic power. The need for augmented supplies of thermally generated power has mainly developed since the close of World War Il-in an era that has seen drastic decline in the production of indigenous coal and buoyant expansion in the supply of oil and natural gas. Although coal currently is faced with serious competition from the fluid fuels, the utility industry in particular promises an advancing market for coal, because of its abundant resource, at prices less likely to show sharp increase. For Canada as a whole, this trend has been progressive since 1959, and, unbelievable as it may now seem, the extent of the advance by 1975, particularly in Ontario and the Prairie Provinces, may well be as much, or even more, than the present rate of consumption for all purposes.The text and the tables and charts are arranged to focus attention on: the growth of thermal genera ting capability; the historical trend in consumption of fuel and the related production of electricity; patterns of distribution by types of fuel and thermal capacity; the relationship of steam to other sources of thermal capacity; and the quantities, costs and related percentages of electricity generated by types and kinds of fuel used, both regionally and provincially."

Jan 1, 1966