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By E. Marcoux, F. Lotfi, A. Belkabir, L. Maacha, A. C. Brown, S. Brunet

"Koudiat Aïcha is a small Zn-Pb-Cu deposit, enclosed in the Visean Sarhlef volcano-sedimentary series of the Moroccan Hercynian Jebilet massif. Base metal mineralization is located between a basal unit consisting of black argillite with arenite intercalations, and an upper unit composed of black argillite with locally fossiliferous calcareous units towards the top. Paraconcordant gabbro sills are present in both the upper and basal units, and the enclosing strata. Three successive phases of deformation linked to regional deformation overprint the volcano-sedimentary rocks and gabbros, as well as the sulfide mineralization.The mineral deposit includes several lenses of massive to semimassive pyrrhotite, 1 to 20 m thick, with a large halo of disseminated sulfide veinlets and sulfide nodules within a zone of intense chlorite alteration in the footwall. The ore mineralogy consists of massive to semimassive pyrrhotite with lesser amounts of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, pyrite, and stannite.Lead isotope results (206Pb/204Pb averaging 18.27) suggest that the metals of the Koudiat Aïcha deposit are derived from the volcano-sedimentary host rocks. Sulfur isotopes also indicate a volcano-sedimentary origin, with bacterial reduction of sulfate (d34SCDT = -7.5‰ to -10.5‰). The conditions for sulfide meta-morphic equilibration range from 250° to 330°C (sphalerite and chlorite geothermometers). The gabbroic sills could have been a local heat source for hydrothermal circulation. Based on these geological and mineralogical features, a Besshi-type model seems appropriate for the genesis of the Koudiat Aïcha mineralization.Koudiat Aïcha est un petit dépôt de Zn-Pb-Cu, encaissé dans la série volcano-sédimentaire Viséenne de Sarhlef dans le massif Hercynien de Jebilet au Maroc. La minéralisation en métaux usuels se situe entre une unité basale d’argilite noire interlitée d’arénite et une unité supérieure composée d’argilite noire comprenant localement des calcaires fossilifères près de son sommet. Des sills de gabbro paraconcordants sont présent à la fois dans les unités basale et supérieure, ainsi que dans les strates environnantes. Trois phases de déformation successives associées a la déformation régionale superposent leurs effets sur les roches volcano-sédimentaires, les gabbros, ainsi que la minéralisation sulfurée. Ce gîte comprend plusieurs lentilles de pyrrhotite massive a semimassive de 1 a 20 m d’épaisseur au sein d’un large halo de veinules de sulfures disséminés et en nodules au sein d’une zone intensément chloritisée dans le mur du gisement. Le minerai consiste en pyrrhotite massive à semimassive avec des quantités subordonnées de sphalérite, de chalcopyrite, d’arsénopyrite, de galène, de pyrite, et de stannite. Les résultats de l’analyse des isotopes du plomb (206Pb/204Pb moyen de 18.27) suggèrent que les métaux du gîte Koudiat Aïcha proviennent des roches volcano-sédimentaires encaissantes. Les isotopes du souf¬fre indiquent eux-aussi une origine volcano-sédimentaire, impliquant la réduction bactérienne des sulfates (d34SCDT = -7.5‰ et -10.5‰). L’équilibration métamorphique des sulfures s’est produite entre 250° et 330°C (géothermomètres à sphalérite et chlorite). Les sills de gabbro pourraient avoir été la source de chaleur locale responsable de la circulation hydrothermale. Sur la base de ces caractéristiques géologiques et minéralogiques, il semble approprié d’invoquer un modèle de type pour Besshi pour expliquer la genèse de la minéralisation de Koudiat Aïcha."

Jan 1, 2008

By Sune Eriksson, Stig Peterssonsune, Christer Fridfeldt

"Boliden Metal Corporation has developed a technique to treat complex copper concentrates containing large amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, antimony and bismuth which cannot be treated in conventional smelters due to the impurities.Tests were carried out to treat such complex copper concentrates in the TBRC. They were performed in a pilot-plant TBRC with charges of 5 tons. These tests resulted in a new method to treat complex copper raw materials and produce a blister copper low in impurities. The background and data from the test work are presented as well as a flowsheet for a full-scale process.IntroductionThe Ronnskar Works is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, 40 miles east of the Boliden Mine. Smelting began at Ronnskar in 1930 to process the complex ore extracted from the Boliden Mine. The Ronnskar Works has subsequently developed into a relatively integrated smelting plant.Copper and lead sulphide concentrates from Boliden's own mines as well as purchased copper raw materials are processed. The main products are refined copper and lead, but full utilization of the raw material also yields other metals and some metallurgical and chemical by-products. The products include gold, silver, zinc clinker, white arsenic, arsenic salts and arsenic metal , selenium and selenium compounds, nickel sulphates, sulphuric acid and liquid sulphur dioxide."

Jan 1, 1981

By Milton Fies

Introduction The first experiment in underground gasification of coal in the United States was conducted at Gorgas, Walker county, Alabama, under a co-operative arrangement between the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Alabama Power Company, at the suggestion of the Power Company. The test was conducted on property of the Alabama Power Company, that owns some 19,000 acres of coal-bearing lands on which there is developed a highly mechanized mine producing some 2,500 cons of good quality steam coal per day. At the same locality ?there is a 200,000 kilowatt steam plant one of the largest in the southern portion of the United States. The Alabama Power Company owes much of its beginning in 1912 to British vision and courage. The original plans for building hydroelectric plants in Alabama, and for the construction of necessary transmission lines, were submitted to Sperling & Company, bankers of London, who agreed to underwrite certain bond issues, the proceeds of which would be used in launching the new Company on its programme. The set-up by which these funds from England were received was through an intermediary Canadian company, which the English investors desired. The Canadian company - Alabama Traction, Light and Power Company, Ltd. became owner of the securities of the Alabama Power Company and marketed its own securities through the banking house of Sperling & Company. Without assistance at this time the Alabama Power Company could not have gone ahead with its programme of expansion and the bringing together of the properties necessary for laying the foundation for a strong Company, fortified with ample power resources essential for future requirements and for dependable service to the public.

Jan 1, 1948

By B. J. Walsh

ABSTRACT Segregation of sphalerite minerals in zinc concentrates into christophite, marmatite and ordinary sphalerite by means of magnetic fractionation is investigated. A Frantz ferromagnetic filter, 1.2 amp., and a Dings magnet, 0.3 amp., is used to fractionate seven zinc concentrates produced in the Province of Quebec. The Dings magnetic product contains the pyrrhotite, and the sphalerite as christophite. The Frantz magnetic product contains sphalerite as marmatite, while the Frantz nonmagnetic product contains ordinary sphalerite. The results indicate that the magnetic susceptibility of sphalerite increases with increasing isomorphous iron content and that a satisfactory separation into christophite, marmaite, and ordinary sphalerite may be accomplished by magnetic fractionation. INTRODUCTION SPHALERITE, the chief ore of zinc, is almost never pure zinc sulphide. Iron is almost always present isomorphously replacing an ?equivalent amount of zinc. What may be referred to as 'ordinary' sphalerite contains up to 10 per cent iron. More highly ferriferous varieties, with 10 to 26 per cent or more iron, have been named marmatite .and christophite.

Jan 1, 1951

By Joseph Poplawski, Christian O’Keefe, Robert Maron

"Unique and difficult minerals processing measurement situations will be described and the application of passive array-based technology for performing these measurements will be illustrated. Examples of these situations include volume flow measurements in froth lines and flotation feed lines with entrained air, slurry lines with magnetite and other magnetic ore, slurry lines with abrasive or corrosive materials, high pressure lines, and slurry and non-slurry lines exhibiting scale buildup. Other situations include measurement of entrained air levels in pipes and in flotation columns. These measurements are achieved through CiDRA’s patented passive sonar array-based technology. This technology performs two independent measurements – flow rate and entrained air amounts. Two hardware implementations of this technology have resulted in a non-intrusive flow and entrained air meter which easily is installed on the outside of the pipe, and a submersible version for entrained air or gas holdup measurements which is used in flotation processes. Recent developments in extending this technology to solve other unique measurement problems such as valve movement confirmation will be covered.INTRODUCTIONThe minerals processing industry faces many unique and challenging process control conditions and environments. In terms of flow measurements, many of these situations are not being properly served by traditional flowmeters such as ultrasonic meters, magmeters, turbine meters, orifice plate meters, vortex flow meters, Coriolis flow meters, and venturi meters. A new class of flowmeters has been developed that solves these unique situations and flow measurement problems. 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. It does so accurately, reliably and without making contact with the fluid. These measurements are performed on practically any type of fluid within virtually any type of pipe.PRINCIPLE OF OPERATIONSonar array-based flowmeters are ideal for tracking and measuring the mean velocities of disturbances traveling in the axial direction of a pipe. These disturbances generally will convect with the flow, propagate in the pipe walls, or propagate in the fluid or slurry. First let us focus on the disturbances that convect with the flow. The disturbances that convect with the flow can be density variations, temperature variations or turbulent eddies. The overwhelming majority of industrial flows will have turbulent eddies convecting with the flow, thus providing an excellent means of measuring the flow rate as described below."

Jan 1, 2008

By Wayne Phillips, Anatalia Silva, Robert Henderson, Tondo. Luis

"Kinross’ Paracatu Mine has 20 years of operational success as one of the lowest grade milloperated gold mines in the world. At year end 2005, Paracatu’s Proven and Probable Reserves were 1.18 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.40 g/t Au, containing a total of 15.2 million ounces of gold.In 2005, the plant processed 17 Mt of ore and produced 180,519 ounces of gold at a cash cost of US$274/oz. An investment of US$470 million has been approved to expand production to 61 Mtpa in 2009 which will extend mine life to 2036. During the period from 2009 to 2013 the project is expected to produce an average annual output of approximately 557,000 ounces of gold at an average cost of sales of approximately $230 per ounce.The soft, friable ore containing readily leachable gold associated with sulphides lends itself to simple processing. The process flowsheet consists of crushing, grinding, gravity recovery, flotation, concentrate leach and carbon adsorption to produce bullion bars. This paper describes the current operation, the deposit’s unique metallurgical features and the future expansion plant that has been designed to optimise recovery of gold.INTRODUCTIONRio Paracatu Mineração (RPM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation, operates the Paracatu mine. The mine is located in Brazil, 230 km south west of Brasilia in the north west portion of the State of Minas Gerais. The city of Paracatu, which has a population of 83,000 people, is just 2 km south of the mine."

Jan 1, 2007

By P. Scinto, A. Festa

"Orway Mineral Consultants Ltd (OMC) as a consultancy has specialized in comminution circuit design for over 30 years. The OMC Power Model is OMC’s in-house software for specific grinding energy power-based circuit calculations. The model uses ore hardness parameters from testwork, circuit configuration, equipment geometry and operating conditions as inputs. The model combines proprietary and published power models to predict the total specific energy and the specific energy for each of the components of the comminution circuit. This makes the software a valuable tool for the design and validation of JKSimMet modelling or actual plant performance. Proprietary calculations have been developed and reconciled with over 100 plant benchmark projects encompassing a variety of comminution circuit configurations.This paper describes the OMC approach for determining power requirements for the design of grinding circuits. The accuracy of the OMC Power Model software is confirmed through plant survey benchmark performance and comparisons are made with other power modelling techniques. Practical examples are presented, showing applications for single stage SAG (SS-SAG), SAB and SABC circuit configurations.IntroductionConventional low throughput grinding options, consisting of multi-stage crushing followed by rod and ball mills, have almost become obsolete in the move to higher milling rates required to process lower metal grades. Grinding circuits with fully autogenous (AG) or semi-autogenous (SAG) mills, often combined with ball mills are now the standard to meet the high capacity requirement for processing ores with lower metal grades. Simulation software and power-based equation methodologies have been established for designing AG/SAG based grinding circuits and predicting their energy requirements.Presently, power-based equations remain the principal method for designers to size mills and estimate the power requirement for comminution circuits. The technique is simple and it relies on the design to specify a feed and product size plus a hardness index to produce a specific energy value (kWh/t). The desired throughput of the mill is multiplied by the specific energy to give the mill power requirement, which is used in turn to size a mill for dimensions, internal geometry and loading conditions to match the power draw."

Jan 1, 2015

By Mohamed Ourriban, Stéphanie Somot, Éric Proulx, Jean-Sébastien Marois, Marjolaine Drouin, Paul Blatter, Ahmed Bouajila, Claude Gagnon

"The mining industry has to face increasing restrictions concerning the use of fresh water in Québec and throughout the world. Increasing recirculated water usage could lead to a better control of the quality and the quantity of water supplied to the mineral processing units. Furthermore, it could reduce the volume of waste water to be managed and treated before its release to the environment. However, process water may have a negative impact on mineral processing operations, thereby limiting the incentive for sustainable development initiatives. As a first step into selecting and testing remediation strategies, one of which being blending local waters, a mapping of process water quality (inorganic and organic fractions) allowed to locate zones in an industrial case study where fresh water is introduced into the circuit and to detect dissolution and precipitation zones. A complementary hydro-geochemical modeling study on water blends was also performed showing encouraging results towards the objectives of the project.INTRODUCTION The industry has to face increasing restrictions on the use of fresh water in Québec (Quebec Government, 2009) and throughout the world (Brown, 2003; UNESCO, 2006). The cost for the use of fresh water and for water management is highly variable and case-dependent (from 0.2 to up to 7 million dollars/year according to available private estimations, excluding the capital expenditure). It may be, or may become, significant for any plant; thus, risk assessment is of concern here. Using recirculated water could lead to a better control of the quality and the quantity of water supplied to the mineral processing units. Furthermore, it could reduce the volume of waste water to be managed and treated before its release to the environment. However, process water may have some positive and negative impacts on mineral processing operations (Janssen, 2003; Johnson, 2003; Rao and Finch, 1989). Negative impacts could limit the incentive for sustainable development initiatives. Water management strategies at mineral processing sites are supported both by a strategic plan and a water management plan. The strategic plan includes legal aspects, investment costs, potential benefits and various risk levels (Corder and Moran, 2006; Côte et al, 2006; Evans et al., 2006; MacIntosh and Merritt, 2003; McLellan et al., 2008; Merritt and MacIntosh, 2006; Robinson and Keddie, 2006; van Beers et al., 2007a; van Beers et al., 2007b; van Berkel, 2007). In practice, the strategic plan evaluates technical possibilities and costs of various scenarios, such as for example: bringing fresh water to the plant or recirculating waters, or using blends of both. Two important factors to consider in order to enhance the future production efficiency and to minimise risks are: the durability and the stability of the resource, both from quality and quantity points of view."

Jan 1, 2012

By J. B. Boisvert, P. Oshust

A significant source of uncertainty in the diamond resource contained in kimberlite pipes is the volume of the pipes. Often the material within a pipe will be mined as ore, leaving the actual geometry of the pipe as a significant source of uncertainty. It is desirable to use stochastic techniques, rather than deterministic methods, to model pipe geometry because stochastic techniques generate multiple realizations that are reproducible and can be used to assess uncertainty in pipe geometry. The proposed methodology uses sequential Gaussian simulation of pierce point locations interpreted from drillholes through a kimberlite pipe. Kimberlite pipes are approximately cylindrical in shape; therefore, the data are transformed to cylindrical coordinates to facilitate the simulation of pipe geometry. Rather than using xyz coordinates to define the pierce points, z, ??and pipe radius are used. The radius variable can be simulated in z-??space to generate multiple realizations of pipe volume. Uncertainty in the volume of the pipe can then be evaluated. This methodology is demonstrated with a kimberlite pipe at BHP Billiton’s Ekati diamond mine.

Jan 1, 2008

By Pedram Sahba

In today?s emerging economy, pooling resources is a growing trend to reduce overall system costs. Two important resources of every maintenance department are repair shops and spare parts. In this work, we consider a system consisting of mine drills at multiple areas in a mine. In each area, a number of identical drills are operational. When a failure occurs, the defective component should be repaired in a designated repair shop. The failed component can be replaced immediately if a spare part is available. Otherwise, the drill is down until a component is repaired and put back into service. In this paper, the effect of pooling resources is examined, and the conditions under which it is beneficial to pool the resources are investigated. In addition, determining the optimal number of stand-by units, equipment or spare parts, in each case is of interest.

May 1, 2013

By V. Balakrishnan, A. Hewitson

"The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited, a government of India enterprise, has constructed iron ore mining, crushing, handling and concentrator facilities at Kudremukh, in southwest India. Concentrate produced is pumped 65 km to dewatering, storage and ship-loading facilities which were built at the same time at the sea port of Mangalore.A computer-based distributed process control system was implemented for all operations at Kudremukh and to interface with and monitor the Mangalore plant.The control system is examined from various standpoints, beginning with a description of its architecture, method of process input/output connection, and major hardware items.Software considerations and process applications are then looked at, with a review of the integration of the computer vendor's system software with user-developed applications programming. A control example of crusher operations is provided.Following the descriptive segment is a discussion of the design considerations and decision factors involved in the implementation of such a system considering the type of process and the remote nature of the installation site. It ends with a review of actual operating experience and conclusions regarding both this system and future similar applications.ScopeThe following is a discussion of the computer-based process control system applied for the Kudremukh Iron are Company Limited's ore handling, concentrating and shipping facilities located in South India.A general description of the process and plant equipment will be followed by an examination of the control system from the points of view of hardware and signal flow, software requirements, design considerations, implementation logistics and operating experience. Conclusions will be drawn concerning this and future computer applications."

Jan 1, 1984

By K. Blower

"Since there was no representative from Wesfrob Mines Limited, the information on their infra-red concentrate drying operation, which had been prepared by Mr. K. Blower, was presented by Mr, Dorland. Mr. Blower, in submitting the information, emphasized that their objectives in this operation were (a) to guarantee less than 90%, of flow-moisture in their copper concentrates and thus satisfy marine shipping regulation• and (b) to minimize capital costs, The infra-red dryers have satisfied these objectives.To control final moisture in the copper concentrate, current practice is to preheat the filter cake with steam in the disc filter hood and then conveyor-0r7 the concentrate with infra-red calrod heaters. The application of steam aids the system as follows:1) Improves vacuum pump efficiency.2) Lowers viscosity of filtrate (increased temperature},3) Preheats the cake prior to radiant heating. (150°F)The hot cake discharging from the filter ranges from 10.6 to 10.9% moisture. After radiant heating the moisture level is reduced to 8.5% - 9.7% depending on production rate. Further moisture loss occurs during conveying and transferring to the stockpile for a final shipment moisture ranging from 8.1% to 9.5%. Production rate is frail J to 5 dry short tons per hour.1) #23 Conveyor 18"" flat belt covered from filter discharge to transfer point with 7 heaters end-to-end. Drive - Reeves Vari-Speed, 31:4 ratio, type 332-10-18, class ""D"", driving through a 24:1 ratio Dodge reducer. Speed of Conveyor - 3,9 feet per minute to 19.6 feet per minute. (Speed has been established and is not changed as a rule from the present level of a1:out 15.)2) #23 Conveyor 24"" wide, 20° troughed belt covered with 21 heaters, end-to-end from loading point, Speed - Constant at 54,2 feet per minute."

Jan 1, 1972

By A. R. House, G. W. Shepherd

Newmont USA Limited owns and operates the Phoenix Mine near Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA. The existing milling facility has operated since 2006 (House, 2010). Following the startup of the milling operation, and coupled with the upswing in the copper market, Newmont realized that Phoenix had no process option to treat transition and oxide copper ores. This meant that potentially revenue generating ore would be mined as waste. With no system in place to treat the transition and oxide copper, work began to determine the most feasible approach. After evaluating multiple options, the flow sheet was set for a runof- mine (ROM) heap leach pad and solvent extraction/ electrowinning plant (L-SX/EW). This paper will discuss the eight years of successes and challenges with developing the copper L-SX/EW plant and achieving commercial production of copper cathode.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. Hu, F. Lin, R. Chen, F Peng, S. Yang, W. Yu

"Microseismic monitoring technology has become one of the most effective method of mine ground pressure monitoring after decades of development. But safety assessment of mine ground pressure by using microseismic monitoring is still in the development stage, it needs to be perfected continuously in practice, and choose the optimal assessment indexes and methods. The definitions and physical meanings of wave velocity, b value, and EI-VA value are introduced in this paper. Statistical calculation of the microseismic events in Luomu Mine is finished by using these indexes, then the functions and calculation results of V, b value, and EI-VA value with the variable of time are also given in the paper. The preliminary safety assessment method is established in Luomu Mine, and it has achieved good results in practical application.1.1 Engineering background The Luomu Mine is a super large molybdenum and tungsten production base in China, ore reserves is up to 2 billion tons, first in Asia and third in the world. It begins mining since the 1960. and bases on underground mining until 2002. In order to recover resources more effectively, it began to use opencast mining method and formed a production of 30000t/d in the early 1990. After about 30 years of underground mining, a large mined out spaces was formed under open pit mine, up to area of 1.2 million m2 and volume of 18 million m3, as shown in figure 1. The large number of mined out spaces seriously affects the normal production, mining and handling of mined out spaces are in the high risk. In the past years, several rock mass collapsions happened, and it caused a serious security threat to persons and equipments. According to the distribution characteristics of mined out spaces, Luomu Mine is divided into A, B, C, D and E mining area. The stability of D mining area is studied in this article. D mining area mainly includes 1376,1350,1340,1317 mined out spaces and 1280 deep large mined out area, as shown in figure 2. The mined out spaces of D mining area is extremely complex and high-risk. Therefore, a microseismic monitoring system was built to monitor the stability of D mining area, a large number of valuable datum has been obtained, and it has a striking effect (Cheng & Peng, 2013; Peng et al., 2013)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Z. Xiao, A. R. Laplante

"The recovery of gold by gravity from grinding circuits differs from virtually all other gravity recovery approaches in that stage (or unit) recoveries are low, typically 1 to 5%, but overall recoveries are generally in the 25 to 60% range, because individual gold particles are presented many times to the primary recovery unit. Full-scale recovery is difficult to predict from benchscale tests. Further, maximizing metallurgical recovery is generally not the primary objective, because of the more efficient downstream recovery circuit (flotation or cyanidation). In this paper, a new concept, the gravity recovery effort, is presented to assist in the design and optimization of gold gravity circuits. It is defined as the product of the circulating load treated by the primary gravity unit, the recovery of this unit, and the gold room recovery. Predicted gold recovery is linked to the recovery effort, the size distribution of gravity recoverable gold (GRG), the dimensionless retention time in the mill and the partition curve of GRG. A case study of economic optimization of the gravity recovery effort is presented. INTRODUCTIONPredicting gold gravity recovery from grinding circuits has always been a hit-and-miss exercise. The problem can be traced to the highly variable gravity recoverable gold (GRG) content of ores, high GRG circulating load, fraction of the circulating load treated, and performance of primary gravity recovery and gold room. Typical values, highs and lows are shown in Table 1."

Jan 1, 2001

By Ray Walton, Ron Colquhoun, Ken Thomas, Dwayne Fentie, Barney Burke

"The new Roasting Facility at Barrick’s Goldstrike Mine in Nevada, U.S.A. was developed to process 12,000 tons per day of refractory gold ore. The process consists of crushing, dry grinding, roasting, extensive gas purification, calcine quenching and leaching in the presence of activated carbon. The new plant is integrated into the existing Goldstrike facility, treating ore from both open pit and underground sources.The process design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the Roaster facility was performed successfully over a 3% year period with peaks of 400 engineering personnel and 950 construction personnel supporting the project. The US$330,000,000 project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. The commissioning was well planned and proceeded smoothly through a rapid start-up to achieve all primary goals within three months of the start of processing of ore.BACKGROUNDAs early as 1992, Barrick’s Goldstrike Mine, located north of Carlin, Nevada had indications of the ore becoming ever increasingly carbonaceous in nature. As the open pit and underground exploration programs proceeded to step out over the years that followed, the accumulative amount of carbonaceous refractory ore and tons had become significant. By 1997, 29 million tons of double refractory carbonaceous ore containing an estimated 11.6 million ounces of gold had been identified. By 2000 the resource had increased to 14.3 million ounces."

Jan 1, 2001

By M. Melashvili

"The SART Process was introduced to the gold mining industry in the late 1990s and several commercial plants were built over the following 10 to 15 years. Most of these plants have operated well and enjoyed plant performance in line with expectations based on the underlying chemistry of the process. However, two of the plants have consistently suffered from high reagent consumption and poor product quality, which has motivated a re-examination of the process fundamentals in the hope of understanding the reasons for poor performance when it occurs, and developing mitigating strategies.This testwork along with a review of the relevant literature has demonstrated that the amount of sulphide added to the primary reactor, relative to the copper concentration, is the most critical parameter dictating plant performance, with pH and residence time important secondary factors. The primary product in the SART Process is synthetic chalcocite, Cu2S, and the stoichiometric requirement for sulphide addition is therefore 0.5 moles per mole of copper in solution. Testwork shows that when sulphide is added in excess of this amount (generally with the express purpose of lowering residual copper in solution) it not only fails in its intended purpose, but can have a negative impact on the settling and filtration characteristics of the copper sulphide product, as well as the final product quality. Moreover, these problems are exacerbated the higher the selected operating pH in the pH 3 to 5 range, and the longer the residence time of slurry in this pH range.Freshly precipitated copper sulphide compounds are known to be very fine and slimy, with poor settling and filtration characteristics. It is therefore important to engineer the SART Process in such a way as to encourage growth in the average particle size of the precipitate crystals. This was the rationale for recycling a portion of the thickener underflow to the primary reactor when the SART Process was developed. The theory of crystallization predicts that compounds of extremely low solubility, such as chalcocite (Cu2S: KSP = 10-48), are likely to experience growth in crystal particle size through aggregation rather than heterogeneous nucleation. On this basis, the SART practice of recycling a portion of thickener underflow to the primary reactor in the commercial plants is unlikely to lead to crystal growth via nucleation, and could in fact promote breakage of the aggregates that formed in the thickener. Recycling thickener underflow could therefore have the opposite of the desired outcome. The result of testwork that is reported here lends credence to this theory and questions the wisdom of recycling in the SART process.There is evidence to suggest that operating the copper sulphide thickener in the SART Process without flocculants may be beneficial. Thickener underflow densities could improve from the current 10 - 15% range to 40 - 50%. This will not only reduce the flowrate of slurry to the filter, but the filtration properties of the slurry (filtration rate, filter cake moisture content) will also improve. This is one of the most critical engineering and design aspects of the SART Process, and the achievement of high solids density in the thickener underflow will not only improve the health and safety aspects of the operation, but also has the potential to lower capital costs and improve the quality of the final product."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. A. Relf

The construction of refineries and gas conservation plants in the general Edmonton area in the early 1950's made available large quantities of by-product liquified petroleum gases (LPG). These gases, together with discovery of increasing reserves of natural gas in the Edmonton area, provided Canadian Chemical Company with two of the necessities for petrochemical production, namely, available and reasonably priced raw materials and fuel. This paper outlines the development of the $83 million Edmonton plant from its origin, together with a brief description of the processes and some of the interesting features involved. Several economic aspects of the petrochemical industry are high-lighted including its importance to the local community and the province. The paper reviews the relationship between the oil and gas industry and petrochemical manufacturing and indicates some of the factors that may affect the future growth of the petro-chemical industry in Wes tern Canada.

Jan 1, 1962

By Dale Lens, W. S. (Wayne) Cusitar

"The use of continuous loading and conveying technology for mining is currently practiced in relatively few mining environments and, even in these cases, on a non-exclusive basis. For the most part, and particularly in hard rock mining, appropriate equipment technology has only recently been developed for continuous loaders, mobile low profile crushers and flexible face conveyors. Mining R&D work by Inco Limited has promoted the development and proving of a loader suited to hard rock conditions and capable of sustained loading rates of500 tonnes per hour. Current R&D work at Inco will test the production capabilities of a low profile mobile crusher by CMS/Eagle and a flexible/ mobile face conveyor system by DME. This follows successful production testing of the Belt Bender concepts in potash mining in Saskatchewan and the development of enhanced extensible conveyor equipment features by DME. Numerous applications are seen for variations of the LCC technology in soft rock, hard rock and surface mining environments. Introduction In some respects, this paper is an announcement of new technology which has the potential to bring revolutionary change to the mining industry. It is also the story of technology transfer, in which mining concepts that have developed independently in underground soft rock and hard rock mines and in surface mining operations are being brought together for a common benefit. It is also the story of key developments in equipment technology which 'complete the cycle' of cooperating technical capabilities to enable the revolution to begin. The phrase ""technological revolution"" requires some defmition: an equipment innovation, or invention, or improvement, will only be revolutionary if its use gives rise to a significant new mining practice."

Jan 1, 1987

By Neri Roux, Chris Budgell, Allan Cramm, Leo Cheung

"Anaconda Mining Inc. is investigating potential improvements and expansions to their operating plant located on the Baie Verte Peninsula in Newfoundland. An extensive batch and continuous bench scale testing program was launched to investigate the efficiency of cyanide destruction under different conditions in order to improve tailings handling. The primary objective of the cyanide destruction study was to apply new technologies to develop a novel cyanide destruction system.Effluent and slurry from Anaconda Mining Inc.’s Point Rousse Project was received at RPC where test work was conducted. Various sodium metabisulfite (MBS) dosages were evaluated and the use of utilizing ozone and ultra violet (UV) light to oxidize cyanide was investigated. All the data was evaluated and mass balances were compiled to develop several flowsheets. Overall encouraging results were found using a combination of ozone and MBS.IntroductionAnaconda Mining Inc.’s Point Rousse project includes an operating gold processing plant located on the Baie Verte Peninsula in Newfoundland which is in the process of improving and expanding. This plant comprises of milling and flotation followed by cyanide leaching in order to extract the gold. The residue from cyanide leaching is filtered by drum filters prior to being clarified for the Merrill-Crowe process. Once the gold has been recovered by the Merrill-Crowe process the effluent is filtered by filter presses and the resulting filtrate as well as the solids from the drum filters are detoxified prior to being pumped to the tailings pond along with the flotation tailings.The entire process is very dependent upon the efficient destruction of cyanide in the effluents and successful tailings handling. Substantial amounts of effluent are delivered to tailings ponds after gold extraction which could create environmental problems if the regulations are not met. Environmental regulations stipulate that final effluents contain no more than 1 mg/L Total CN.The detoxified tailings of the Point Rousse project are produced by the INCO SO2-Air circuit depicted in Figure 1. These detox tailings contain 10 mg/L Total CN at that point of the circuit and this was selected as the target to be matched while reducing overall MBS consumption rates from 3.2 g/L per minute. Prior to detoxification, the filter press tailings contain 520 mg/L Total CN while the drum tailings contain 29 mg/L Total CN."

Jan 1, 2017