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By Valérie Tremblay

Plan de la presentation ?Laboratoire d?analyse des fluids ?Gestion des contaminants ?Condition Monitoring Avantages reliés aux analyses ?En savoir plus!! ?pour minimiser les coûts d?opération; ?pour prévenir les défaillances catastrophiques; ?pour maximiser le rendement des équipements; ?pour maximiser la longévitédes équipements; ?pour permettre des périodes d?entretien planifié.

Feb 1, 2008

By Adam Powell, Matthew Earlam

INFINIUM, Inc. is scaling up a new molten salt electrolysis process for producing rare earth metals. Instead of conventional carbon anodes, this process uses Pure Oxygen Anodes™ which employ a stabilized zirconia solid electrolyte between the molten salt and anode. This eliminates two problems with today's rare earth metal production technology. First, it eliminates carbon anodes and contamination of the product by carbon and its impurities, enabling 10-100 times larger batch size than current practice, and lower labor costs. Second, it eliminates emissions of perfluorocarbons (PFC) such as CF4 and C2F6, which are very problematic greenhouse gases with 6000+ times the global warming potential of CO2. The zirconia also enables a sealed vessel with no LiF emissions, creates a reducing environment enabling use of low-cost welded steel vessels, and either produces a high-purity oxygen by-product or can use natural gas to reduce the necessary electrical energy with no HF production. This paper will describe the technology and its current status for rare earth metal production.

Jan 1, 2014

By Dave Marsh, John Goode, Niels Verbaan, Kevin Bradley, Henrie Notzl

The mineralogy of the Avalon Nechalacho deposit is complex with significant fractions of HREEs, Zr, and Nb found in refractory minerals such as zircon and fergusonite. Sulphuric acid baking followed by water leaching can be used to extract REEs from flotation concentrates, but acid baking does not completely "crack" the zircon and fergusonite, so the extractions of Zr, Nb, and HREEs are not high. An alternative flowsheet has been developed that is able to obtain significantly improved extractions of HREEs, Zr, and Nb from flotation concentrates or acid bake residues. This is accomplished by cracking the zircon and fergusonite minerals with caustic soda at high temperatures, followed by water washing to recover excess caustic soda and soluble sodium silicates and phosphates. REEs, Zr, and Nb in the solid residue can then be solubilized with HCl or H2SO4. This paper highlights some of the findings from an extensive laboratory program and discusses several flowsheet implications.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. H. McKibbon

THE metallurgical industry has purchased more than sixty per cent of the industrial gas cleaning equipment installed in Canada. This includes cyclonic collectors, scrubbers, cloth filters and Cottrell Precipitators. These are the principal types of equipment which are used commercially for the cleaning of gases which result from the processing of iron, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, gold, gypsum and aluminum ores. The recovered dust, which usually contains metal values, is returned to the process. The cost of the equipment is thus economically justified. This is in contrast to other industries, such as those involving steam power generation, asbestos, cement and lime production, where, though dust collection equipment is extensively used, it is installed primarily for nuisance abatement. Communities are becoming more and more conscious of air pollution, new and more stringent legislation is being enacted, and, for other than economic reasons the smelting industry will eventually be required to install more efficient gas cleaning equipment. This paper

Jan 1, 1962

By S. Mostaghel, S. Nicol, M. Y. Solar

Once upon a time, the process engineer developing the design criteria for a new saprolite ferronickel smelter had it easy: most ores were around 2.5% Ni, with a Fe/Ni ratio of 4 to 5 and a SiO2/MgO ratio of about 1.6; to use the French word: garnierites. The ferronickel grade selected was the conventional 20 to 25% Ni and the impurity levels could be predicted from well established [C], [Cr] and [Si] vs (FeO) graphs. However the process engineer can no longer depend on statistics to design smelters: Ni grades are decreasing while the goethite contents are increasing; SiO2/MgO ratios vary from 1 to 3; and Al2O3 concentrations are reaching levels that cannot be ignored. Mechanistic models must be developed to select or predict essential parameters such as kiln and furnace reductions, ferronickel grade, slag losses, metal and slag liquidus, operating temperatures, etc. But these models must be simplified so that they can be used on a routine basis; and they must be calibrated against a wide range of commercial operations in order to yield the most realistic predictions possible. The present paper proposes one possible approach, using FactSage as a basic source of thermodynamic data. The predictions thus obtained are compared to actual performance for two well documented operations, as well as to the predictions made with other tools that might be more accessible.

Jan 1, 2014

By James F. Archibald, H. Jame Hackwood

"Research was performed to assess the feasibility of barrier membrane substances, for use within mining or associated high risk environments, in restricting the diffusion transport of radon gas. Specific tests were conducted, both within laboratory and in situ environments, to determine radon gas concentration ratios across a barrier of interest and emanation rate variation resulting from application of such materials. Several materials have been demonstrated to be effective in restricting the emanation of radon gas into initially radon-free environments. One liquid material shows particularly good promise upon consideration of ideal radon barrier criteria.IntroductionIt has long been known (I.2.3) that inhalation of the short-lived, alpha particle-emitting daughters of radon gas can result in irradiation of lung tissue with the potential for causing lung cancer. Control measures are necessary to maintain concentrations of airborne contamination at a minimum to protect miner health and safety. Typical control practices in mines have been through the application of systematic ventilation and backfilling of excavated opening. As mines become deeper, however, and additional workings become exposed, increased ventilation capacity requirements are needed. As an alternative to other radiation control measures, the use of sealants to prevent radon migration from walls into mine atmospheres may provide a suitable engineering alternative."

Jan 1, 1987

By Marius Jacobs

"Safety performance in many companies and even industries has stalled in the few years. Accidents rates are at a "plateau" and yet, serious accidents and fatality rates are not. In more dramatic cases, such as in the BP Texas disaster, organizations that have "exemplary" safety statistics, suddenly have a catastrophic or multi-fatality event occurring. Other classic examples are the Piper Alpha disaster and NASA’s Challenger and Columbia disasters and even the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Looking into the root causes of these accidents provides an insight into the events and deficiencies that led up to the accident, but what are the common features in the organization’s mindset? What characterizes these organizations’ decision-making, their approach to safety and to risk and are there specific cultural features that can be delineated? The research and review presented in this paper covers a period since 1994, which started in the Australian resource industry and since then covered international events. The features of these organizations are summarized as the seven deadly delusions, based on extensiveresearch since 1997 of organizations that suffered unexpected disasters.The Piper Alpha Oil Rig disaster in the North Sea, on the 6 July 1988, was one of the most pivotal events in safety around the world. It changed the thinking and focus of governments, whole industries and led to numerous books and papers. It resulted in new legislation, textbooks and a critical self-examination by the oil and gas industry.In short, an explosion and fire occurred when a pipe started leaking gas and ignited. A temporary flange, with no safety valve, was used to block off this pipe during a maintenance operation the previous shift. The permit to advise operators not to start the pumps on this line was misplaced and lost. Several deficiencies, problems and system failures coincided. A key factor was that the water deluge system was inoperable at the time and failed to extinguish the large fire that erupted, followed by an even larger gas explosion. The accommodation unit, situated on top of the oil rig, was the main "killing field" - most men gathered here to await instructions (which never came) and where they died from smoke inhalation. Later, a large explosion of the gas pipeline from an adjoined rig exploded and killed more people.The line of events and the associated system failures are all very relevant in the analysis of the accident, and provide the only insight into what caused the accident. But much "further back", inside the organization’s culture, lurks more dark matter. The first inclination is to ask what was "deficient" in the culture. Did they not care enough about safety, or about their people? Did they have a culture where production decisions were more important than safety considerations? Did they ‘coerce’ supervisors and employees to ignore safety precautions or did they just "fly by the seat of their pants"?Not surprisingly, it is very difficult to identify the true nature of the culture in that business because in such an aftermath of death and destruction, no one dare say that the safety culture was a ‘positive one, focused and caring’ or that the company was doing well in safety and that this is only a freak accident. Indeed, there were many deficiencies in the organization’s systems and procedures, such as the permit to work system.But there are some niggling questions: How is then that the Piper Alpha Oil Rig was actually considered the company’s most productive and safest oil rig in the North Sea? Why would this rig win a safety competition, 6 months before the disaster, with the deficient permit as its most outstanding successful system?"

Jan 1, 2014

By K. V. Phani Prabhakar, G. Padmanabham1, L. Subashini

Laser-arc Hybrid Welding (LAHW) is a relatively recent concept which effectively combines the advantages of laser welding such as the high depth of penetration, low heat input, high welding speed and the positive aspects of arc welding such as better edge bridging and possibility to add filler. For example, steel sections upto 12 mm thickness have been successfully welded in a single pass at a welding speed of 1 m/minute using a 3.5 kW CO2 laser in combination with a MIG arc. Maraging steel of grade M250 is widely used in the aerospace industry in thicknesses upto 10 mm. Conventionally, it is possible to MIG weld such thicknesses in 3-5 passes employing V-Groove joint preparation. However, this multi-pass welding results in formation of reverted austenite in the weld zone after post weld aging; and the high heat input widens the reverted austenite containing heat affected zone which is popularly known as the dark zone/eyebrow zone. Both these zones are detrimental to strength of the welded joint, specifically the fracture toughness. The width of the dark band is an important factor because, thinner the band, it is supported more effectively by the surrounding material. Therefore, in order to avoid multi-pass welding and reduce the overall heat input, single-pass laser-MIG hybrid welding was attempted on 10 mm thick maraging steel M 250 plates using a hybrid laser arc welding system comprising a 3.5 kW CO2 slab laser and a MIG welding system. Simultaneously, multi-pass MIG welds also are produced. Both the laser-MIG hybrid and MIG welds are characterized microstructurally and subjected to mechanical tests such as tensile and fracture toughness in as-welded and post weld aged condition. The amount and distribution of reverted austenite in the fusion zone and width of the dark band was found to be different. Hybrid welds showed a narrow dark band zone and improved mechanical properties. Laser-hybrid and MIG welding investigations carried out on thick section maraging steel M 250 will be presented in detail, including microstructure, tensile properties and fracture toughness of the welds. To the best of the knowledge of the authors there are no reports on laser-MIG hybrid welding of maraging steels.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. S. Vanderploeg

I WILL begin this presentation by citing the annual per capita use of copper in Canada. This is best calculated by taking refinery domestic sales, plus imports of the products of foreign fabricating mills (very little refinery copper is imported), and deducting the exports of Canadian mills. No attempt has been made to estimate the copper content of imports or exports of machinery, motors, etc., but the trade balance here is probably against Canada. In any event, we find that, though varying somewhat since the war, the estimated yearly per capita figure has reached a high of 18 pounds. This is practically on a par with the United States. The rest of the world uses an average of about 2 pounds per capita, yearly, though this includes some countries, such as Sweden, Germany and England, which consume much better than average quantities. It looks, therefore, as if the Canadian copper industry has not (as has been generally charged) been asleep after all.

Jan 1, 1962

By A. H. Lang

Introduction The recent uranium discovery at Theano point, lake Superior, is probably a rediscovery of the first reported Canadian uranium occurrence. A description of material from the original discovery was published in 1847 by J. L. LeConte, and many attempts have been made to relocate the deposit. Such attempts have in the past been unsuccessful because of vagueness in the original description of the locality. Besides being a prospect that seems to merit development work, the Camray discovery is important because it reaffirms the occurrence of pitchblende in the eastern part of the Precambrian shield. Much staking followed the announcement of the discovery, and some additional finds have been reported. Location The Camray discovery is at the shore of Theano point, lake Superior, about seventy miles north of Sault Ste. Marie (see Figure 1). It is in township 29, range XIV, district of Algoma. The showing is two miles from Highway No. 17, and is reached by a rough trail that leaves the highway at mileage 72.9 from Sault Ste. Marie. There are no towns of any size nearer than Sault Ste. Marie.

Jan 1, 1949

By Theo. A. Link

ACCORDING to our office dictionary, geology is "the science that investigates the structure of the earth and its successive physical changes", and a geologist is "one who knows the science of the structure of the earth". No doubt this definition does not suit all of us. Another dictionary would have the definition slightly different. As an example, one dictionary stated that "a geologist is one who practices geology". (Some of our clients told us to quit practising and get to work). There are many different types of geologists engaged in various branches of the profession and some of these are further broken down into subdivisions so that specialization is becoming more and more prevalent. As a result it is, in some cases, doubtful whether or not we are actually dealing with a geologist in the generally accepted sense of the term.

Jan 1, 1956

By J. Abrahams, A. Nesbitt

Over the past half-century, researchers have commented on the complexities of ion-exchange processes, but have been forced to use gross assumptions to simplify the associated mathematics sufficiently for mathematical models to be of practical use, given the available computational power. This paper reviews the development of increasingly complex models as computational power has increased over the past half-century, from the direct application of Fick's Law in 1947, through to today's models requiring finiteelement methods. The assumptions required for and the associated limitations of the various models are presented and the associated computational complexities are discussed. A case study is presented in which a continuous loss of capacity in an acid resin was observed over about sixty cycles of loading and elution. Resin poisoning does not explain this observation. This paper presents the capacity loss data, speculates on possible causes of the phenomenon, discusses why conventional kinetic and equilibrium mechanisms cannot explain it and concludes that the need to develop a more rigorous model is apparent. The significance of this observation is that standard tests done for a new resin application could significantly overestimate the commercial performance of the resin concerned, highlighting the importance of computer simulation in this field of process engineering.

Jan 1, 2005

By D. J. McLaws

"Recent innovations in metal smelting technology utilize continuous oxygen-enriched smelting and converting processes which are capable of producing off-gases containing up to 60% SO2 or more. Other SO2 recovery processes, involving solvent absorption and steam or vacuum regeneration, can produce off-gases with SO2 concentrations nearing 100%.Processing of these high-concentration SO2 off-gases in conventional sulfuric acid plants can cause excessively high catalyst bed temperatures and poor SO2 conversion. In order to avoid these problems, a conventional acid plant design must dilute these high SO2 process gasses with dilution air in order to provide the required oxygen to effectively convert the SO2 and provide a heat sink (via the inert N2) such that the exothermic reaction, SO2 + ½ O2 ???SO3, does not exceed the temperature limit of the catalyst or the converter vessel.MECS, Inc. (MECS) has proven that a high SO2 feed gas design can be a viable option which can increase energy recovery, reduce energy consumption and potentially reduce capital costs."

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Y. Solar, W. G. Davenport

Most of the recent growth in nickel demand has been for the production of stainless steels and virtually all of it has been satisfied by new ferronickel and nickel pig iron projects. But "good" laterite resources are more and more difficult to find: Ni grades are decreasing while Fe contents are increasing and SiO2/MgO ratios vary from 1 to 3 and even higher if limonites are included. Predicting the smelting behaviour of such ores requires a more fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics of these systems in commercial operations. One valid question is thus whether these furnaces are at thermodynamic equilibrium or not. The present paper investigates this question, compares calculated and measured O2 partial pressures and mechanical/chemical slag loss ratios and concludes that ferronickel furnaces are not at thermodynamic equilibrium. This departure from expectation is actually to the operators’ advantage: the targeted ferronickel grades can be obtained at lower reduction potentials than calculated from pure thermodynamics.

Jan 1, 2014

By Raymond J. Pichette

"Aeromagnetic data can be useful in helping to delineate structures and rock types in gold exploration. Magnetic anomalies associated with Archean volcanic belts in northeastern Ontario can be quickly and effectively analyzed in profile form with the use of model curves. The model curves help to locate contacts between strata. They also help to estimate the magnetite content of the rocks and their depth beneath overburden.An aeromagnetic map of part of Catharine Township, Ontario has been analyzed with the aid of model curves. Several magnetic rock types, potential fault zones and areas of relatively thick overburden were delineated.IntroductionIn any exploration program, a good understanding of the stratigraphy, rock types and structure enhances the possibility of success. For example, environments which host gold deposits in the Abitibi Volcanic Belt may be characterized as follows (Jensen, 1980; Pyke, 1980):(I) They have major faults, especially as tectonic boundaries between volcanic piles which include mafic and ultramafic rocks and clastic sedimentary rocks or gneisses.(2) They have subvolcanic felsic intrusions.(3) They have extensive carbonitization, with or without carbonate and sulphide-facies iron formation.In all cases, delineation of structure and rock type should be a major objective in exploration. The analysis of magnetic data can be a useful tool in this task. This paper is presented with the purpose of describing the application of the magnetic method to gold exploration in Archean volcanic terrains.Magnetic AnalysisTotal-intensity magnetic contour maps can be used to discriminate rock units according to differences in magnetization. However, because of smoothing of texture resulting from the compilation procedure and the fact that survey lines are widely spaced, contours should not be directly used for quantitative analysis. A much more definitive means of magnetic analysis is provided by the use of the original profile or chart recordings. Model curves provide a basis for analyzing these profiles both accurately and rapidly."

Jan 1, 1982

By J. L. Collins

"Une recherche debutee en 1987 tente de cerner divers éléments ayant un impact sur la productivite miniére, de facon à améliorer la planification des operations souterraines. II a été possible de recueillir jusqu'à trente variables dans sept opérations minières differentes du Nord-Ouest québécois. Cette présentation rend compte de quelques résultats préliminaires obtenus à l’une d'entre elle. Entre autres, elle montre comment une association entre une analyse de régression multiple et un logiciel d'optimisation (OPTIMUL) peut servir à une application particulière de la planification d'une opération minière du Québec. Plus spécifiquement, la présentation montre comment une quantité appropriée de ANFO et de TOVEX peut maximiser la quantilé de minerai cassé, minimiser les couts de sautage ou encore minimiser les coûts d'explosifs par tonne de roche cassée, en se basant sur une série de contraintes réalistes provenant de la mine.ABSTRACTA study, underway since 1987, tries to evaluate factors affecting mines' productivity. Information has been collected from seven underground mines in Quebec and this paper shows preliminary results from one. In particular, it shows how a combination of multiple regression analysis, mathematical programming and a set of realistic mine constraints can be used for a particular application of mine planning. More specifically, the paper shows a parallel between maximizing production of tons of broken are, minimizing explosives costs or minimizing the costs of explosives per ton of broken are by an appropriate selection of ANFO and TOVEX quantity of explosives. Finally, the paper shows that minimizing the costs of explosives per ton of broken are is the best alternative to follow providing a special optimization program can be set up."

Jan 1, 1990

By Hugo Julien

According to OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910.119 (Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals), Canadian Provincial Safety Standard Acts or Federal laws, the owner of stationary equipment (Boilers, stacks, piping, pressure vessel, etc.) should follow a complete inspection plan and follow an Integrity Operating Windows (IOW’s) adapted for each of them. Some important variables shall be included in the inspection plan such as specific damage mechanisms versus alloy used in the original design, process conditions, etc. Some North American’s standards exist, like the one listed in ASME PTB-2-2009, to help owner to create such inspection program. The new API RP 584, Integrity Operating Windows (IOW’s) can guide Mining & Metals owners to find out their specific IOW’s. Inspection frequencies are often described in the Jurisdiction Safety Acts such as the British Columbia B.C. Reg. 104/2004, etc. but often left in the owner representative responsibility (Bill C-21, federal Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act). Every deficiency should be repaired according to recognized Codes such as ASME PCC-2, etc.. If flaws not conforming to the original Code of construction are found, this article will introduce the Fitness-For- Service assessment principles to be able to accept it without any repairs.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. Bellec, A. Berton

"Usually, steady state mass balances are used for the design of mineral processing plants. However, this tool does not take into account the impact of process inputs variability nor does it evaluate process transient behaviours between stationary states, such as mill start-up and shutdown. The use of advanced simulations enables the integration of dynamic behaviours in process design decision-making by highlighting situations that are undetectable by using only steady state mass balances. Applying these simulation tools to brown field projects allows the simulator performances to be calibrated and validated on actual plant data before it is used as a prediction tool for the modified plant.Three (3) simulators were implemented at the design stage of a major upgrade project for an ore processing plant in order to assess process behaviours under different production scenarios. These simulators were built to evaluate the impacts on major elements such as mine production, ore stockpile, concentrator production as well as water demand. A validation of individual equipment models was performed whenever sufficient measured data was available. The simulators were then used to study the impact of ore variability (grade, hardness, throughput), to assess day-to-day production special events, and to evaluate the true stockpiles live capacity.The use of a stochastic simulator for equipment sizing allowed a more precise sizing of many pieces of equipment and avoided important expenses in the fresh water pumping system. The dynamic simulator also confirmed that the water in place system would suffice, even in the most demanding production scenario. Finally, the stockpile simulator allowed an important production bottleneck to be quantified and then made possible the assessment of various practical solutions for the stockpiling-reclaiming issues.Post start-up, process data underlines the fact that using advanced simulation tools was useful to mitigate process-related risks associated to the plant expansion, showing generally accurate prediction and adequate equipment sizing, leading to smooth process commissioning. The presented methods are part of what is now routine in Soutex’s participation in both greenfield and brownfield projects."

Jan 1, 2015

By Sir Stopford Brunton

Gold was first found in Nova Scotia about 1830-40, but its significance at that time was not appreciated. Probably the first discovery that resulted in any work was made by Lieut. C. !'Estrange, at Mooseland, on the Tangier river, in 1858.1 Since that time gold has been mined with varying success until now, and from 1868 onwards work has never altogether ceased. Gold mining in Nova Scotia is at the moment under a cloud, and the idea generally accepted by most people is that it has failed in the past, and that there is no prospect for it in the future. The actual reasons for the present situation have never been carefully analysed, and it seems a good thing to see what really is the state of the case and whether or not this general idea is worthy of credence. It is the purpose of the present paper to analyse the situation in the light of present knowledge, and to set forth some data which may assist in the future development of the Province.

Jan 1, 1926

By D. Runnels, A. Allaire, J. Torrealba-Vargas

Data mining and modelling of operational data involves the discovery of patterns in large datasets for future use in benchmarking and plant optimization. The modern pattern of discovery in large data sets involves statistical techniques, machine learning and new visualization tools. Former examples of data mining are revisited and presented in this document. INTRODUCTION A network of enthusiastic and active professionals is currently developing and maintaining several open source statistical software tools (packages) for data analysis (example Rstudio, Orange, Spyder, etc.). The advantages of the open source software philosophy are the fast development and testing of the solutions presented to the community. Books and support are available for each software application. Since each modern work activity generates massive amounts of data, it is attractive to learn and test those available tools considering that we are at the door of the new work revolution coined as “Mine 4.0”. Data mining involves collecting large datasets, the preparation and cleaning of a dataset (term named data wrangling), the uploading of the data to a database program capable of handling big datasets, the development of prediction models and the presentation of the results. Machine learning techniques help to develop mathematical models and algorithms that could be used to improve the performance on a specific task. Mine operations are producing an incredible amount of data each day and the need to analyze those results seems to be impossible due to the lack of time, as well as the lack of skills to investigate the data collected. If we add to this the traditional habit of working in silos, an additional challenge is to consolidate databases from different departments in search of trends that could help to optimize production.

Jan 1, 2019