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By D. E. Deegan, G. Holcroft, T. P. Johnson

"The rising cost of extracting metals from existing traditional deposits, increasingly stringent environmental regulations and a greater awareness of corporate social responsibility issues are all factors in stimulating the examination of mine tailings and small-scale alluvial deposits as a potential source of new raw materials. Furthermore, despite tougher economic times the demand for commodities remains strong, in no small part as a result of the growth of the world’s emerging economies.This combination of social and economic factors looks set to continue in the long term which will encourage greater recovery of materials from previously ignored sources such as mine tailings and ores from alluvial deposits.An expansion in the recovery of useful materials from mining-related activities is likely to require the use of robust and innovative techniques that have a built-in degree of future-proofing; DC plasma technology is one such technology.As a result of its ability to separate the valuable metal and minerals from the waste material while destroying hazardous compounds, Tetronics’ DC arc technology offers an alternative approach to resource recovery from a wide range of mine ores. Harmful cyanide compounds and the vast quantities of water used in conventional hydrometallurgical processing are avoided when plasma processing is adopted. DC arc technology also brings additional benefits, including: the extremely effective destruction of organic materials, the conversion of the inorganic material into a re-useable aggregate and the high tolerance of the process to fine and dusty materials. This paper presents details of Tetronics’ DC arc technology as one of the key pyro-metallurgical solutions available for the recovery of valuable materials from traditional mine ores and tailings, as well as giving specific examples of how the technology has been successfully employed in the recovery of enriched slags, ferroalloys and other metals."

Jan 1, 2016

By H. C. Gunning

In spite of the fact that mining has been more or less active in the northern part of Vancouver island since the late 'nineties', there seems to be a remarkable lack of information regarding the nature and development of the region. Recently the operations at the Old Sport mine of the Coast Copper Company, Limited, and spectacular copper discoveries in the vicinity of Nimpkish lake, have directed the attention of the mining fraternity to the district. The writer spent the summer of 1929 making a reconnaissance examination of the general geology and mining properties of the area between Quatsino sound and Nimpkish lake, and he feels that a short paper describing the nature and mining possibilities of the region should be of interest at this time. A more detailed account of the ?geology and of the mining properties will be published in the forth- coming Summary Report of the Geological Survey. A short paper dealing with the Nimpkish Lake district was presented at the Annual Meeting of the British Columbia Division, held recently in Vancouver.

Jan 1, 1930

By I. V. Kojo

Continuous development of technologies has been self-explanatory for Outokumpu Technology's engineers for decades. The aim in the development has always been the improvement of profitability of the copper production but also the sustainability of the processing i.e. high copper recovery, low external fossil based energy utilization, high emission captures and of course low operation and investment costs. Outokumpu Technology's long-term view of the development is a change towards continuous processes and elimination of number of unit operations in smelting i.e. elimination of possible sources of emissions. Outokumpu blister smelting processes i.e. Outokumpu Direct-to-Blister Flash Smelting and Kennecott-Outokumpu Flash Converting have shown excellent operational results during the years of operation and it is expected that soon more than 10 % of the world primary copper is produced by these technologies. The paper will give some background of this development trend.

Jan 1, 2007

By E. Swartzman

"DURING 1951, experimental cleaning studies on both fines and larger sizes of certain Canadian coals were conducted on a relatively large scale in two pilot plants in the United States, large enough to be considered as small commercial units, and in one commercial plant in Canada.One of the pilot plants was a wet washer of a type which apparently has never been .used in Canada, nor has any Canadian coal been tested in it before. In the other pilot plant and in the commercial plant, dry cleaning equipment was used. The commercial plant is the first of its kind to be employed in Canada, and this type is used only to a limited extent in the United States.Fine-Coal Cleaning ExperimentsTest PlantsHydrotator and Hydrotator-Classifier combination pilot-plant with a capacity of about twenty tons per hour. This is a classifier type washer adapted for cleaning fine coal as well as certain intermediate sizes. The Hydrotator deals with that portion of a coal retained on approximately a 24-mesh Tyler sieve, whereas the Hydrotator-Classifier deals with the minus 24-mesh fines."

Jan 1, 1952

By R. H. Waddington

Historical The limitations of reverberatory furnace operation have prompted many investigators to consider electric furnaces for melting electrolytically refined cathode copper. In the majority of cases where experimental work was performed, the furnace used was of the granular resistor, induction, or indirect-arc rocking type, and attempts to adapt the three-phase direct-arc furnace to copper melting appear to have been relatively few. In 1935, the International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited, carried to an advanced stage its experimental investigation of continuous melting of copper in the three-phase direct-arc furnace, and demonstrated that this process was technologically and economically practicable. Trial operations were conducted at the Huntington, W.Va. works of the Company, and were followed by the installation at Copper Cliff, Ontario, in 1936, of a full-scale unit for commercial operation. Two years later, a second unit was installed -which raised the electric melting capacity to a point permitting complete replacement of the coal-fired reverberatory furnace operation in the production of refined copper castings.

Jan 1, 1946

By Rita Awwad

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been gaining a significant edge in the construction industry over the last decade. BIM allows gathering all building information in one shared database that can help all construction entities better understand, integrate and visualize all work progress from inception to operation of the building. The main purpose behind BIM is to bring all project participants together (Client, Architect, Contractor, Consultant) since the initial stages of a project allowing them to cooperate and work as a team in the promise of an increased productivity, reduced cost, enhanced quality and faster delivery. However, a full-fledged implementation of BIM tools and benefits is not yet achieved in the construction industry and remains a debatable issue for researchers and practitioners in the construction field. This paper aims at assessing BIM awareness and usage in the Lebanese construction industry through conducting interviews with contractors, architects and consultants that are key players in the Lebanese market. A comprehensive literature review about BIM adoption in some developed countries and in the surrounding region is also provided in order to better evaluate the Lebanese industry status in comparison with foreign industries. This research sheds the light on BIM awareness of the different construction parties in the Lebanese market, assesses the extent of its current use, identifies the pertaining implementation challenges, and provides recommendations to enhance BIM role in the Lebanese construction industry.

Aug 1, 2013

By S. Sundararajan, Z. Lin

ABSTRACT Fierce market competition and demand have made it imperative for mining companies to achieve higher productivity and operational efficiency. The selection of the best mining method and equipment combinations will enable companies to meet production and efficiency targets. Continuous mining is increasingly preferred by companies for its high efficiency and low unit costs. We developed simulation models for two continuous mining systems: the continuous surface miner (CSM) system and the at-face slurrying (AFS) system. Considering two different case studies, the paper discusses application of developed models to determine the optimal number of trucks and equipment capacities for the two systems.

Jan 1, 2013

By W. A. Crosby, W. K. Smith, K. L. McDonald

"IntroductionThis paper describes how the introduction of two blasting techniques and the resuItant development of new dragline digging methods have increased the productivity of single- and double-seam dragline operations at the Rietspruit opencast mine.LocationRietspruit , one of South Africa's largest opencast strip mines, is situated some 11 5 kilometres east of Johannesburg in the Witbank coal field.BusinessRietspruit is a joint venture between Transvaal Consolidate d Land and Exploration Company (T.C.L.) and Shell, South Africa. Rietspruit is administered and managed by Rand Mines, the Mining division of Barlow Rand, transportation and marketing being the responsibility of Shell. The total saleable coal product, approximately 5,5 million tons per annum, is exported via Richards Bay.Presplitting and Throw BlastingPresplitting was initially introduced in September 1980, as a means of dewatering t he overburden and mid burden to facilitate the use of dry-mix explosives a s opposed to slurry explosives.The utilization of the throw blasting technique arose as a direct result of observed ground movement after the successful introduction of presplitting. The first trials commenced in March 1981 on the double-seam operation. The methods, economics and resulting advantages are fully described elsewhere. A brief description follows.Method of PresplittingAfter determining the desired presplit line, 250-mm holes are drilled to top of coal at 4-m to 6-m intervals, dependent on the competency of the rock overlying the coal. A single 60-kg charge of slurry explosives is located at the bottom of each hole, no tamping is used and all the holes are detonated simultaneously. The results are a competent, straight, vertical highwall. This enables accurate control of the first row of blast holes closest to the highwall, which is a prime requisite for successful throw blasting."

Jan 1, 1983

By W. J. Wright

Summary Statement The following notes on the geology of the Grand Lake coalfield are intended to be introductory to a second paper being read at this meeting, which paper will describe the earlier and the more modern mining methods. The coal industry of the Grand Lake coalfield is centred chiefly within a three-mile radius of Minto, but minor operations are dotted over an area of approximately 50 square miles extending easterly to the vicinity of Chipman and Coal Creek (see Figure 1). The coal comes from one seam of Pennsylvanian age. The seam varies in thickness from 16 to 30 inches and lies almost horizontal at depths of 0 to 125 feet. It has been mined and prospected over an area of approximately 150 square miles, but in a portion of this area the commercial possibilities have been destroyed by erosion. The industry is the oldest of its kind in North America, but it did not at tract particular publicity until about 1914. Since that date, mining methods have improved and the output has rapidly increased until, in 1934, it amounted to 271,335 long tons, and furnished employment for about 1,000 men (1). Approximately 73 percent of this amount was produced by the Minto Coal Company, the Miramichi Lumber Company, the Avon Coal Company, and Welton and Henderson, and 25 per cent by the Rothwell Coal Company, Harvey Welton Limited, G. H. King, the Reade Construction Company, and the Newcastle Coal Company. The remainder was produced by J. W. Carter, G. D. Crossman, T. H. Swift, C. S. Yeamans, and several other small operators. The coal is won by underground mining, except in the case of the Reade Construction Company, and a minor operation by Ashfield and Pieton, who have employed open stripping. It is mined only as required to fill definite orders, and is loaded directly into cars for shipment. In 1934, the larger mines did not operate full time, and the production could easily have been increased if markets had been available. The coal is sold in four grades: screened or lump, run of mine, slack, and stripping. The chief market is with the railways and commercial plants, with a fair amount for domestic purposes.

Jan 1, 1935

By N. B. Brown

ABSTRACT The effect of a low4emperature stress relief at 232.2°C. (450°?F.) on the fatigue properties of shot-peened SAE. 1080 steel has been investigated. Specimens of the steel were first annealed. One half of the steel bars were then normalized and the other half were water-quenched and drawn. Specimens of the steel with each heat treatment were tested in tensile, notched bar impact, and fatigue. The fatigue specimens were test in air and water in R. R. Moore high-speed rotating bending machines in the following conditions: un-peened, peened, and peened-and stress-relieved at 232.2°C. ( 450°F.) The 'endurance life' and fatigue properties of specimens given a stress relief heat treatment after shot peening were superior to those of specimens given a smooth machine finish or shot peened. INTRODUCTION THIS investigation was initiated to obtain preliminary information on the effect on the fatigue resistance of shot peening the machined surface of a high-carbon steel similar in composition to that used in hollow drill steel. The data obtained in this investigation could be applied in analysing the application of shot peening hollow drill steel shanks. It is well known that the 'endurance life' and fatigue limits of steel are greatly ?improved by shot peening. References to this in the literature are numerous.

Jan 1, 1951

The JKRBT (JK Rotary Breakage Tester) is a newly developed impact breakage testing device for rapid ore breakage characterisation, and has recently been commercialised after a three year comprehensive validation study, involving five major mining companies and six industrialised JKRBT units deployed worldwide. Comparisons of breakage mechanisms and characterisation data between the JKRBT and the Drop Weight Tester (DWT) indicate that, despite the differences in the breakage modes, the JKRBT can provide statistically similar A*b parameters, by using a data reduction procedure which takes into account the difference in the number of contact points, strain rate and potential for secondary breakage. Feedback from the validation sponsors has indicated higher productivity and better repeatability of the JKRBT compared with the DWT. This better precision, combined with the JKRBT?s wider particle size capability and wider specific energy range, provide a more powerful tool, ideally suited to rapid mapping of ore hardness in geometallurgical and comminution applications.

Jan 1, 2012

By A. A. Brant

"Improving geological and geophysical evaluation should serve to reduce the early-stage risk assessment and there-by contribute to exploration expenditure stimulation. The limitations of present-day methods are reviewed, particularly as to anomaly causes, depth penetration and quantitative physical interpretative abilities. Some of the problems now under study are discussed. Future developments expected include the treatment of quantitized geologic and geophysical data, as well as continuing attempts toward computerized interpretation."

Jan 1, 1967

By Fred W. Snow

THE mines of the Consolidated Copper and Sulphur Company, consisting of the Eust1s, the Albert, and the Capel mines, are situated w Ascot township, Quebec, about ten miles southeast of Sherbrooke, on the main line of the Quebec Central railway. Of these mines, only the Eustis is now producing, and it has been operated almost continuously for the past seventy years. Mining methods have been improved in recent years but are still old fashioned when compared with those employed in more modern and up-to-date mines. The ore is of milling grade and is mined for its copper and sulphur con-tent. Silver is present in small quantity, together with a trace of gold. The ore is mined by the shrinkage stope method. Pillars are frequently left as supports for the hanging-wall to prevent serious dilution of the ore and are sometimes recovered after the ore is drawn from the stope. Occasionally, small blacks of ore in close proximity to the shaft are mined by a cut-and-fill method. HISTORY ALBERT AND CAPEL MINES: The Albert and the Capel mines, originally known as the Capelton mine, were discovered in 1863 by George Capel (1). By the end of 1866 the Albert shaft had been sunk to a depth of 121 feet on an incline of about 30 degrees where a vein five feet thick was encountered. In 1879, these mines passed into the hands of G. H. Nichols and Company, by whom they were operated practically continuously until 1907. When mining operations ceased in that year, the shafts had reached depths on the incline of approximately 2,300 feet and 1,000 feet, respectively. These mines have been allowed to cave and fill with water and have been inaccessible for many years.

Jan 1, 1936

By K. O. J. Sidwell

STRATMAT LIMITED, through its subsidiary, the Strategic Manganese Corporation, controls two adjoining iron-manganese properties five miles west of Woodstock, New Brunswick. One is a staked property of 77 claims traversed by one trunk highway, several secondary roads, and a branch line of the Canadian National railway. The other property, a 20-square-mile Concession immediately to the north-east, is also traversed by an excellent network of roads. Both proper-ties are situated in gently rolling farmland. The deposits were discovered in 1836 by Dr. C. T. Jackson. The first attempt to exploit them was made in 1848 when a blast furnace was erected with a capacity of 7 tons per day. The ore was mined by a series of deep trenches that followed the folds of the enclosing slates. In the late years of operation, bog iron ore from Burton and Maugerville, in Sunbury county, was used in conjunction with the Wood-stock ore. An additional 5-ton furnace was erected in 1863 and mining was carried on intermittently until 1884. No further extensive work was done until 1953. During the period of activity, approximately 70,-000 tons of ore are said to have been smelted ( 1). During these earl y operations the Iron Ore Hill and Moody Hill deposits were partially opened, with the ?bulk of the furnace feed being mined from the Iron Ore Hill workings. The low tenor and apparently limited extent of the deposits, the high. ?content of phosphorus, and the increasing scarcity of fuel, were the chief factors that brought the enterprise to an end.

Jan 1, 1957

By A. E. Aho

"The material presented in this paper will be subject to modification as new data become available, but it is presented in the hope that it will inspire more intensive mineral exploration and geologic studies of what appears to be one of Canada's richest mineral provinces. A metallogenic province 400 by 150 miles in extent, lying mostly northeast of Tintina trench, encompasses most of the base metal deposits of Yukon, as well as deposits of other metals. Its main features are northwesterly trending arcuate fold belts, with several orogenic axes, which include most of the metamorphosed rocks, granitic intrusives and mineralization; and which are modified by regional uplifts, northwest-striking fault trenches, and lesser transverse folding and faulting.The main base metal occurrences and their regional controls are summarized briefly. Most of the replacement-type deposits are localized in late Proterozoic to early Paleozoic rocks, particularly Lower Cambrian -probably because these are the most physically and chemically favourable hosts encountered in an appropriate temperature and pressure environment; perhaps because of early age of deposition. Most of the deposits also occur near heat sources or intrusives with associated structural uplift, which has, moreover, served to expose the older rocks. They also tend to occur near known or suspected regional fault trenches, such as Tintina, Macmillan and Hess, although this relationship may be fortuitous. In detail, they may be localized in fold axes, flat-lying beds or other appropriate structural traps. Vein-type deposits are fracture-controlled and localized by dilational localfties, the competence of wall rocks and ""damming"" effects.In the Anvil district, large stratiform iron-zinc-lead replacement deposits lie parallel to gently plunging flex-ures in phyllite in a zone parallel to the Tintina trench, along the southwest flank of the arch-like Anvil batholith. About 80 million tons of massive sulphide ore probably existed before erosion of the Faro orebody, the Vangorda deposit could have been of similar magnitude before erosion and much more tonnage probably remains to be discovered in the district. The Anvil deposits may differ from others found to date in Yukon, but resemble the Sullivan orebody of southeastern British Columbia in their large size, localization in essentially non-limy peptic to arena-ceous host rocks of Proterozoic or early Paleozoic age and proximity to the Rocky Mountain -Tintina trench sys-tem. These features suggest an origin from primordial subcrustal sources.More major ore deposits, not only of lead, zinc and copper but probably of other metals as well, will no doubt be found in similar environments in Yukon or Alaska. Thus, the base metal province of Yukon offers challenging opportunities for prospecting, development, field studies and basic research."

Jan 1, 1969

By C. E. Dowker

"IntroductionMechanization underground at the Buffalo Ankerite mine in Deloro township, Porcupine district, had reached a high level by 1944, both in equipment available, and in the use of this equipment, for all stoping operations. Power feed leyners and the latest type of stopers for drilling, slushers for moving ore and fill, and tugger hoists for all servicing, did much to halt rising stope costs, and in some cases decreased them. On the other hand, little beyond the use of mucking machines and power feed leyners had been adopted in the effort to reduce level development costs, or to increase the advance per man-shift.Faced with ever increasing level development costs, caused by rising prices of equipment and supplies, coupled with increasing wage demands for less physical effort, it was realized that more mechanization of development work was essential. The objectives of such further mechanization were:(1) Decreased development costs(2) Increased footage per man-shift(3) Less physical effort by development crews, with greater take-home pay (4) A more satisfied and stable labour force"

Jan 1, 1950

By J. Keith Seidler, David R. Lentz, Douglas C. Hall, Nicholas Susak

Abstract - The Ta-Nb-Zr-REE-rich McKeel Lake alkali granite pegmatite-aplite dike swarm is hosted within the late Silurian multiphase alkali granite intrusion (Welsford) near Browns Flats in southwestern New Brunswick. A steep easterly dipping series of pegmatite-aplite dikes trending 170º can be traced 150 m along strike; they are up to 40 cm wide, closely spaced (10-20 cm apart), and interconnected by narrow branching dikelets that generally trend perpendicular to the overall strike direction. The Welsford intrusion has mantle A-type affinities characterized by enrichment of Zr, Ta, Nb, Th, and rare earth elements (REE). Two separate sets of dikes have been identified: (1) an unmineralized fine-grained porphyry, which occurs at depth and seems to be the youngest intrusive phase; and (2) a mineralized pegmatite-aplite dike swarm (419 ± 20 Ma) that crops out at surface. The mineralized pegmatite-aplite dikes likely represent a late magmatic, highly fractionated phase of the Welsford intrusion. XRF and INAA data indicate that the Welsford intrusions and related pegmatite-aplite dikes show elevated levels of Ta (74-220 ppm), Nb (750-3,040 ppm), Zr (1,450-36,000 ppm), Y (540-3,070 ppm), Th (170-870 ppm), U (60-250 ppm), Ce (430-1,950 ppm) and Yb (110-290 ppm). Electron microprobe analysis of two samples identified Ta-Nb- and REE-rich phases: euxenite, fergusonite, aeschynite, (Y)-aeschynite, and a REE carbonate.

Jan 1, 2005

By Derek Perkins

"Brenda Mines Ltd. operates an open pit copper and molybdenum mine located in south central British Columbia. The main economic mineralization is chalcopyrite and molybdenite. Pyrite, galena and sphalerite are also present in varying quantities. The mineralization is present in small veins and fractures in a porphyritic quartz diorite host rock.The mill processes approximately 30,000 tonnes of ore daily. The ore is crushed in three stages and then ground in conventional rod mill - ball mill circuits with cyclone classification. The cyclone overflow is fed to the bulk flotation circuit as a pulp with a density of 50% solids. The particle size distribution is approximately 35% plus 65 mesh. Bulk rougher and cleaning flotation produce a concentrate grading approximately 20% copper and 4% molybdenum. This concentrate is fed to the separation circuit, where the copper is depressed with sodium hydrosulphide and the molybdenum is floated. These products are further ground and then upgraded by column flotation. The molybdenum concentrate is pumped to the leach plant to reduce concentration of lead and copper. It is then washed, filtered, dried and packed for shipment to Europe. The copper concentrate is filtered, dried and subsequently shipped to Japan.Prior to November 1977, the mill flotation control was carried out by the assay laboratory using a Philips PW 1540 sequential x-ray spectrograph. The assay set consisted of twelve samples, analysed on a two hourly basis for copper, molybdenum, lead, iron and silica.In order to provide elemental composition information on a much shorter sampling interval and to produce speedier control analysis for automating process control, an Applied Research Laboratories PCXQ on stream analyser was purchased. The installation of this analyser, reduced the turnaround time of the control analyses from (2) hours to (20) minutes. At Brenda, the following assays are used in the mill control strategies."

Jan 1, 1989

By Gilles Bonin

Structures and serpentinization patterns in the Thetford Mines peridotites are important characteristics indicating the necessary geological conditions which led to the development of chrysotile orebodies in Early Ordovician limes. These structures and serpentinization patterns are reviewed in this paper using the geology of LAB Chrysotile orebodies as a model. Structural aspects include parallel and transverse faults, parallel and transverse granite slabs, and orebodies, some of which trend clearly north-westward parallel to the accretionarymovement. Serpentinization patterns in the peridotite belt, particularly in the harzburgite, include primary pervasive mass serpentinization and secondary complete serpentinization. Listwaenites layers appeared along some faults and along some granite slabs as a result of hydrothermal alteration of the serpentine, following the emplacement of the devonian plutons to the south. These plutons as we/1 as other important lineaments, align with the structural pattern of Thetford Mines ophiolites. It is believed that these plutons are part of a heavy magma tic corridor resembling the Pilote-Mont-Louis corridor in the Gaspe (Doyon and Berger, 1997), and the Buchans' structure in Newfoundland (Hutchinson, 1984), both intersecting the Brompton-Baie Verte line.

Jan 1, 2001

By P. C. Benedict

Introduction and Summary The Northern Empire mine is a mile east of Beardmore, and 100 miles northeast of Port Arthur, district of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Production started in March, 1934, and terminated in September, 1941. During this period, the mill treated 425,866 tons of ore, from which 153,103 ounces of gold were recovered. The lowest level from which ore was mined was the 1900, but considerable drifting was performed on the 2075 level and 800 feet on the 2415, the deepest level. The following description of the geology of the mine is recorded by the senior author but is based on the observations and complementary mapping of both authors. The vein strikes about N.72°E. and has an average dip of 80°S. (Figure 1). In stoped sections, the quartz averaged about two feet wide. On the 1725 level it was drifted on continuously for more than 7,000 feet, but in the mine as a whole practically no commercial ore was found beyond points 1,400 feet west and 1,800 feet east of the shaft. Conspicuous wall-rock alteration extended throughout this section but not much beyond its limits. There was some splitting of the vein and widening of the alteration halo on the lower levels. The average general colour of the quartz changes with depth. It may be generalized, from top to bottom, as light grey to dark grey to brownish. The brownish quartz first appeared near the bottom of the ore.

Jan 1, 1947