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By B. Crane, S. Schwartz

"IntroductionThe Cape Breton Development Corporation (CBDC) located in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in eastern Canada, was established in 1967. Its mandate at that time was to facilitate a phased downsizing of the coal industry and developing viable replacement industries. The oil crisis in the early 1970s changed CBDC’s mandate and focus was modified to increase coal production to support Nova Scotia Power Commission’s “off oil” policy for their power generators. In the late 1980s the mandate to develop viable replacement industries was eliminated and CBDC became primarily a coal mining company. CBDC presently operates two underground coal mines, Phalen Colliery and Prince Colliery, using a retreat longwall method of mining. Both mines operate beneath the Atlantic Ocean. CBDC also operates associated infrastructure — central workshops, a railroad, coal preparation plant, and international pier. The Need For Substantial ChangeOver the last few years, CBDC has been facing some challenging issues, including improving labour management relations and achieving financial self-sufficiency and profitability. Recent achievements with regard to human resource issues, especially in the areas of collective bargaining, absenteeism, and attendance, show noticeable improvements. All participants should be commended for successfully concluding the collective bargaining process with all four CBDC unions, CUPE; CAW; IAM&AW; and UMWA. However, although these changes are encouraging, even critical in the short term, they are not sufficient to ensure the long-term viability of the company. Market ForcesShort- and long-term financial realities are drawing the need for further substantive changes. The corporation has a mandate to achieve financial self-sufficiency by the year 1999. This goal can only be achieved through a combination of cost reductions and productivity gains, specifically, a reduction in the workforce of 658 and an increase in production of 800 000 tonnes annually. This increase in productivity requires CBDC to re-think the way it does things.In the longer term, CBDC faces even greater challenges. The energy market is becoming more competitive. The electrical utilities across Canada are anticipating deregulation and are positioning themselves for the resultant competition. As primary fuel supplier to Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI), the corporation will have to become ever more competitive to stay in business."

Jan 1, 1997

By Jonathan Matthews

Efficient and effective management of mine tailings is essential for continued successful development of Alberta?s vast oil sands resources. Syncrude Canada Ltd. continues to research novel tailings management techniques in an effort to improve production efficiency and environmental sustainability. During the summer months of 2001, Syncrude Canada Ltd., in collaboration with members of the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development (CONRAD), conducted field-scale trials of thickened tailings technology at Syncrude?s Aurora mine, north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. This paper provides an overview of the test program including discussion of objectives, test configuration, and program observations. 0Data collected during the field trial indicate that substantial swings in feed slurry composition challenge effective thickener operation. When coarse mineral solids dominated slurry composition, thickener rake torque rose to unmanageable levels. It was determined that the end-of-pipe depositional characteristics of thickened oil sands slurry were generally consistent with present understanding of oil sands tailings slurries. After shear, thickener underflow product exhibited very shallow beach angles and a limited capacity to keep coarser particles in suspension indicating that stacking of ?paste-like? thickener underflow product from a conventional thickener is not practical in an oil sands setting unless process adjustments can be made to increase the underflow density and/or preserve the initial high yield stress of the underflow during transport and deposition. These technical challenges notwithstanding, Thickened Tailings technology offers considerable promise for recovery of warm water from oil sands process tailings.

May 1, 2003

Up to thirty years ago, coal preparation in western Canada, except at four plants, had not included actual coal washing. The exceptions were at Nanaimo and Royston, B.C., where tub washers and wet tables were in use; at Hosmer, B.C., using. Robinson cones; and at Leitch Collieries, Passburg, Alta., using a feldspar jig. The two last named collieries had a short life and were not operating in 1920. The industry was divided, as at the present day, into two sections, steam (bituminous) coal and domestic (largely sub-bituminous) coal, the first generally supplying industrial needs and the second householcl and other heating requirements. The two sections overlap to some small degree today as prepared sizes, chiefly stoker, and briquettes, from steam coal are shipped for house-hold use, and domestic slacks are used in certain industrial plants. The .domestic operator, for reasons shown later, was not primarily concerned with actual coal washing as a phase of coal preparation, and bent his efforts to improvement of screening and loading plants, with hand-picking of coarse sizes. The bituminous operator, on the other hand, felt it necessary by 1920 to consider coal washing. When the mines were comparatively young, coal quality could be controlled to a considerable degree by selective mining, by leaving behind some of the seam or by-passing districts in a mine where the coal was of inferior quality to that in other districts. This obviously had its limitations, and so the next step was coal washing.

Jan 1, 1952

By A. M. Bell

"Hallnor mine is in the township of Whitney, Porcupine district. To date, its production of gold has been second largest in the east Porcupine field. Ore was discovered in the property in 1936 by diamond drilling in overburdened country. This drilling was undertaken by Noranda Mines following the discovery of ore in conglomerate at Pamour 1 mile to the east.Milling commenced at the Hallnor in June 1938, and to the end of 1945 432,000 oz. gold had been produced from 889,000 tons of ore, giving an average recovery of 0.49 oz. a ton.The West mine of Pamour, the Broulan orebody, and the veins on the Hallnor and Bonetal are all parts of a mile long vein system that has been separated into three sections by cross faulting. In consequence, they could well have been described in one paper. In treating them individually the viewpoint obtained from each may lead to conflicting opinions, and any conclusions advanced in this paper on the general structure should be modified by the conclusions advanced in papers on the neighbouring properties.GENERAL GEOLOGYRock FormationsThe Hallnor orebodies occur within 400 feet of the contact between lavas and sediments, and may lie in either lavas or sediments. The lavas near the ore consist of flows of pillowed andesite and one flow of more acid and less sheared and chloritized lava locally named trachyte. These flows strike east-west and dip steeply. At the surface on the east side of the property the volcanics have been intensely altered to a massive carbonate rock having a north-south thickness in excess of 1,000 feet . This carbonate body extends west across the property with a plunge of 45° (Fig. 1)."

Jan 1, 1954

By DON E. MacDONALD

Marl in Alberta is confined to highly specific geological, hydrogeologica/ and climatic settings. Tufa is fa irly abundant in those areas of western Alberta where bedrock is of the Paskapoo Formation. Marl and tufa originate when the following conditions are met: presence of a carbonate source in drift or nearsurface bedrock; leaching of the carbonate by percolating groundwater; transportation of calcium and bicarbonate ions in a permeable aquifer; discharge at the surface as springs, seeps or lakes; re-precipitation of calcium carbonate. Alberta has seven categories of marl and tufa deposits, based upon over-all depositional environment and calcium carbonate

Jan 1, 1984

By Mark Hollingworth

"There is general consensus that as the world continues to change at an ever-increasing pace, companies must continually adapt their operations in order to remain competitive. Those that change fast enough, survive; those that don’t, perish quickly. Today, we hear that it is not worth the time preparing corporate business plans as they are out-of-date before the ink is dry. Within the corporate environment of the 1990s, we must “think” strategically, be a “learning organization”, keep our costs low, focus on our core competencies, stay as flexible as possible and create value. So-called “sustainable competitive advantages” can be obsolete before a patent is issued — if its even worthwhile patenting the advancement. This is industry in the 1990s.Now, while all this radical change has been underway in the global industrial environment, what have Canada’s universities been doing to keep pace with the change affecting one of their major stakeholders? Have they adapted their products and services to suit the new market conditions? Have they built closer links to industry to try to understand how better to serve this important client? Do they welcome industry input as to how to redefine their mission, objectives, strategies or their course contents? Do their students graduate with skills ideally tailored for the global mining industry? In the era of communication, can they write high quality reports in English, never mind speak French or Spanish?In an effort to provide Canada’s engineering faculties with a “blueprint” for the future, the Canadian Academy of Engineering pre-pared a report entitled “Engineering Education in Canadian Universities”, published in August1993, which concluded with the following recommendations:"

Jan 1, 1996

By Pamela Paradis-Sokoloski, Deni Thibodeau, J. Denis, Samantha J. Espley, P. O’Donnell

"During the previous decade, the role of spray-on liners within the mining industry was limited to providing a corrosion resistant coating to screen and bolts; however, increasingly, liners are being used as ground support products. Expanding use and testing of liners have demonstrated their ground support function, yet the definitive support mechanism is still under debate. The most promising theory is the retain/hold/reinforcement concept (Kaiser et al.,1992). This conceptual theory has been the basis for the recent underground trials at INCO where, specifically, shotcrete and MIROC Mineguard were tested in two trials to further define limitations and applications of each liner.In a cursory overview, shotcrete is becoming accepted as a support product, while Mineguard is only slowly gaining acceptance.This discrepancy is the result of the corresponding life-spans within the industry, whereby shotcrete has had wide-spread use for decades, yet Mineguard has only recently been introduced. Currently at INCO, shotcrete is primarily used: to provide support in poor ground conditions, to add stability when developing through backfill, and to provide damage control in seismically active mines. It is also used to protect production headings and secondary-blasting chambers from fly-rock damage during blasting. Despite an obvious support function of the liner, shotcrete has always been used in addition to bolts and screen. Comparatively, Mineguard is still in the testing stage, where the greatest potential is increased productivity for applications in multi-tasking development headings. In this scenario, Mineguard provides instant support to replace screen, and bolts temporarily. When the heading has advanced, the drill and support crews work in tandem, drilling off the next round and installing bolts for long-term radial support, respectively. Other potential applications of Mineguard are within production headings to replace screen in the back, and screen and bolts in walls. The potential for both liners to replace conventional support is clearly war-ranted, such that defining the support role was the primary goal of the two underground trials."

Jan 1, 1996

By T. Mulja, Michel Boily, Anthony E. Williams-Jones, Pierre Pilote

"The Preissac-Lacorne batholith is composed of suites of early metaluminous calc-alkalic gabbroic to granodioritic intrusives, three late peraluminous monzogranite plutons and numerous Li, Be and Ta-bearing granitic pegmatites. The Lacorne pluton is dominated by biotite and biotite + muscovite monzogranites containing abundant Be and Ta-bearing granitic pegmatites (40-80% volume). The pluton is surrounded by swarms of unzoned or poorly zoned spodumene-rich pegmatite dykes. The La Motte pluton is composed of biotite monzogranites, biotite+ muscovite monzogranites and rare muscovite + garnet monzogranites. Li, Be and Ta-bearing pegmatites are less abundant than in the Lacorne pluton and are commonly associated with molybdenite bearing quartz-muscovite-K-feldspar veins. In the Preissac pluton, muscovite + garnet monzogranites and muscovite + biotite + garnet monzogranites are the dominant rock types. The pluton rarely contains granitic pegmatites and these are generally barren. However, numerous molybdenite bearing quartz and quartz-feldspar-muscovite hydrothermal veins are observed.Li, Be andTa-bearing pegmatites display a crude spatial zonation around their parent monzogranites. Spodumene-rich pegmatites are generally unzoned or poorly zoned and are confined to the surrounding metasedimentary or metavolcanic rocks or crop out in the early gabbroic to granodioritic intrusives surrounding the monzogranites. Ta and Be-bearing pegmatites are usually concentrated towards the margins of their parent monzogranites. The highly fractionated nature ofmonzogranites (high Rb/Sr, low K?Rb, Ba?Sr, Zr/Nb ... ), their peraluminous composition (corundum normative and muscovite bearing) and the numerous occurrences of Ta and Be-bearing pegmatite dykes represent important criteria for the exploration of fertile granites."

Jan 1, 1990

By C. Klinkenberg, G. Zhu, K. Hulka, S. V. Subramanian

A quantitative model based on strain accumulation in multi-pass rolling is developed to overcome a large critical strain for dynamic recrystallisation in a Nb microalloyed steel with high Mn content (HTP steel). The larger the critical strain for dynamic recrystallisation, the finer is the dynamically recrystallised grain size. The initial mill trial showed that it is feasible to achieve ultra-fine grain size by dynamic recrystallisation but the prevention of static recrystallisation in between passes is identified as an essential condition to suppress mixed grain size. The data-base on static softening kinetics at short interpass time was experimentally determined on WUMSI and incorporated in the model. The model is used to optimise the strip rolling schedule to prevent static recrystallisation in the interpass time. The rolling simulation of strip rolling schedule has validated the model prediction that it is possible to obtain a uniform ultra-fine ferrite grain size of about 1-2 micrometer diameter in final ferrite microstructure for industrial rolling parameters. A user friendly software package has been developed to apply the model for off-line control of mill processing parameters, i.e., time-temperature-deformation schedule of finish rolling in order to accumulate large strain to overcome a large critical strain for dynamic recrystallisation. The model is a powerful predictive tool for grain size control in multi-pass rolling.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. Zollinger, J. R. Kennedy, J. H. Park, D. Daloz

"In order to improve the properties of cast Ti-Al alloys to replace Ni-based superalloys past the low pressure stages of aircraft engines investigations into inoculation for grain refinement were carried out. Previous work showed isomorphic self-inoculation using Ti-Al-Nb particles was effective for grain refinement, however the relatively fast diffusion of Nb in Ti-Al make it difficult to observe the mechanism of nucleation. An alternative alloy was developed in the Ti-Ta system for isomorphic self-inoculation, maximizing the Ta content to improve the particles survivability in the melt. The powder processing produced comparatively small inoculant particles which dissolved, however larger particles were seen to survive solidification. The density difference between the inoculant particles and melt resulted in an inhomogeneous mixing of the particles and the melt with larger particles found near the outer edges of the ingots. Variations on particle size and interaction time between the inoculants and the melt resulted in the Ti-Ta inoculant reducing the as-cast equiaxed grain size by a factor of two compared to non-inoculated samples as well as increasing the equiaxed fraction in the ingot.INTRODUCTION Lightweight metals are of particular interest in aerospace applications. The hot sections of turbines are dominated by blades made of nickel based superalloys. Recently the GEnx turbine introduced TiAl blades in the last low pressure stage of the turbine to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency (Kim & Dimiduk, 1991). In order to carry these benefits deeper into the turbine the high temperature (>800oC) properties of the alloys must be improved. Current grain refinement methods to improve properties rely on boron additions which may not be applicable for all blades as brittle precipitates may be formed during processing (McCullough, Levi, Mehrabian, & Hyman, 1991). A novel grain refinement process was previously introduced called “isomorphic self-inoculation” using Ti-Al-Nb particles to successfully grain refine TiAl (Kennedy, Zollinger, Bouzy, & Daloz, 2016). In order to better understand the mechanism of this process an investigation was carried out using the same process but with a Ti-Ta alloy which is more stable in the TiAl melt than the Ti-Al-Nb."

Jan 1, 2017

"A growing public awareness of work-related diseases such as pneumoconiosis and the impact of this awareness on legislative bodies and on the skilled labour market are reasons why the Canadian mining industry must consider dust control of top-drawer importance. Measurements and standards related to the hazard are necessary to control a dust situation and to avoid excessive risk. The author discusses some of the methods of measurement, standards proposed and terminology used in this developing technology. The purpose primarily is to give a better understanding of the basic advances achieved by those who have applied current knowledge with a measure of success."

Jan 1, 1972

By W. S. Dyer

Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to the fire-clay and silica-sand deposits of the Mattagami and Missinaibi rivers and ? to the lignite occurring in them. The fireclay especially deserves this attention; it is of first-class quality; it appears to be widespread; it is the only fire-clay in central Canada, and part of it lies not more than 20 miles west of Coral rapids, to which point steel will be laid this coming spring by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario railway. Undoubtedly, these clays will rapidly find a place in industry. The fire-clays and the better grades of silica-sand are Mesozoic in age and have been referred to the Lower Cretaceous or Upper Jurassic. Glacial clays and sands and Palaeozoic shales also occur in the same region, but are of little economic value, and will not be dealt with in this paper. Dr. Robert Bell was perhaps the first to discover the clays, since in the Report of Progress of the Geological Survey of Canada for 1877 and 1878 he reported beds of lignite on Coal brook, a tributary of the Missinaibi river, underlain by sticky clay and overlain by glacial drift. In 1880 E. B. Borron (1) discovered an extensive deposit of white sand and clay on the east bank of the Missinaibi river, five miles below Coal brook, and in 1890 (2) he examined the deposit found by Dr. Bell on Coal brook. He recognized that the underlying clays were quite distinct from the glacial clays of the region, and suggested that they might be used for fire-brick if metallurgical operations were undertaken in the region. Somewhat later, J. M: Bell described a deposit of fire-clay and silica-sand on the Wabiskagami river, another tributary of the Missinaibi.

Jan 1, 1928

By Rodolfo Zanella

Au/TiO2 catalysts prepared by deposition-precipitation with NaOH (DPN) (~3 wt%) and urea (DPU) (~8 wt%) were tested in crotonaldehyde hydrogenation at atmospheric pressure. There is no differences in activity (mole.gAu -1 s-1) and selectivity between both DPU and DPN samples for a given activation treatment. This is due to the fact that DPU and DPN samples exhibit similar gold particle size distribution, although the gold loading in DPU is much higher that in DPN. The DPU samples were reduced under H2 at different temperatures (120-500 °C) or under air at 300 °C with various flow rates, to vary the average particle size within a large range, 1.7 to 8.7 nm. The selectivity to crotyl alcohol (selective hydrogenation of the carbonyl bond) is high, 60-70 %, and almost constant as a function of the particle size. The selectivity to crotyl alcohol is also constant for conversions between 10 and 50%. These results suggest that the adsorption mode of crotonaldehyde is of ?3 or ?4-type. In contrast, the TOF depends on the gold particle size, it drastically increases when the gold particle size is ~2 nm. Our results are in agreement with former studies that suggest that the gold atoms involved in the hydrogenation process are those of low coordination.

Oct 1, 2003

By Bob Drew, Goran Vukovic, Bojan Zivanovic, Klaus Gamweger

Reaction bath temperature is a major factor in processing liquid metals and in many applications where a balance between process duration and temperature has to be found to run a procedure efficiently. Also extremes of temperature can decrease the output of a process if too cold or even make it impossible, conversely overheating can be detrimental to both the product and furnace integrity. With the help of the new online temperature measurement system very accurate monitoring of the process is possible in contrast to the current routine practice where the temperature is measured periodically with dip thermocouples. The system works with a digital, fiber optic pyrometer, which is embedded in a refractory housing. Installation in the lining is possible below liquid level as nitrogen is blown to keep the system open and to ensure continuous sight from the optical head of the pyrometer to the molten metal through the tuyere. This permanent temperature measurement gives optimal process control with the potential of taking appropriate actions at an early stage enabling proactive process control. Therefore energy savings and even process endpoint detections can be realized.

Jan 1, 2015

By Davis. B. R.

There are a number of hydrogen storage systems proposed for automotive applications. However, all of the current suggestions fall short of the DOE targets for storage density and volumetric density. The DOE has suggested that only through radically new ideas will a practical solution to hydrogen storage for automotive applications be realized. This paper provides some background in chemical hydrogen storage and discusses roadblocks to the implementation of some proposed technologies.

Jan 1, 2005

By Reinis Sipols

AGENDA ? Introduction ? Definitions and Key features ? PEA - Preliminary Economic Assessments ? PFS ? Preliminary Fesibility Studies ? FS ? Feasibility Studies ? Costs and Risks ? Cash Flow, Economic Analysis and Reporting ? Recommendations for Improved FS accuracy INTRODUCTION ? The reporting of material information on mineral deposits has been governed by NI 43-101 legislation for almost a decade. ? The investment sector depends on the independent, professional QP to provide objective observations, comments and recommendations through all levels of geological, engineering and financial evaluation until a mine construction decision has been made.

May 1, 2013

Roasting of molybdenite concentrate is an important stage in the production of commercial molybdenum trioxide. The oxidation kinetic and mechanism of molybdenum sulfide concentrates from two plants were investigated at temperatures from 444 °C to 640°C. The rate of reaction was determined for thin layer samples in a muffle furnace at controlled temperatures, oxygen excess and removal of sulfur dioxide. For both concentrates the rate of reaction is fairly slow at temperatures below 500°C and remains fairly constant from 540 to 600 °C. It was observed that the concentrate from the first plant presents a tendency for sintering or glazing at temperatures above 620°C, whereas the same phenomena was observed at 20 or 30 °C higher temperature for the second concentrate. A kinetic model of two reactions, involving the formation of Mo02 as intermediate oxide for the production of Mo03 is proposed and activation energies of 23.0 and 20.8 kJ/mol for the first and second reaction were calculated for temperatures between 520 °C to 600 °C. These low values of activation energies indicate that the overall rate of oxidation is controlled by mass transfer, particularly in a porous layer of oxides. Therefore, the renewal of the surface by mixing and motion of the concentrate layer is of great importance. Sublimation of Mo03 becomes significant for temperatures above 650 °C.

Jan 1, 2007

By G. Goodall, D. Mercier, M. Brochu, C. Kaplin

A nanostructured CoNiCrAlY coating was obtained by thermally spraying cryomilled feedstock powder using the high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) process. The oxidation behavior of the nanostructured powder and coating were compared to their conventional counterparts by performing static oxidation tests at 1000°C for durations ranging from 1 to 96 hours. It has been found that oxidation of the conventional powder yielded a duplex oxide scale composed of an inner layer of Al2O3 and an outer layer composed of Cr2O3, NiAl2O4 and other spinels. Interestingly, oxidation of the as-sprayed nanostructured coating yielded a similar duplex oxide scale while oxidation of the polished coating resulted in a single Al2O3 layer. These findings indicated that surface oxide seeds act as nucleation sites for the growth of the mixed oxide layer. Also, it was determined that nanostructuring of the coating promotes the nucleation and growth of a single and adherent a-Al2O3 layer by increasing both the number of diffusion channels and the aluminum concentration at grain boundaries.

Jan 1, 2010

By B. G. Hunt, E. J. Kwasney, W. P. Campbell, S. L. Gertsman

"AbstractIn the separation of lead and zinc concentrates from the ore from Cominco's Sullivan mine at Kimberley, • B.C., an iron sulphide concentrate is also produced, some of which is roasted to provide sulphuric add for the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer. The iron oxide calcine from the roaster is potentially a valuable raw material for the production of pig iron and steel. To evaluate this material, six tons of .pig iron was produced from it in an experimental 75 k.w. electric furnace at Trail. The pig iron alone, and also in varying proportions with structural steel scrap and commercial pig iron, was used in the production of basic electric furnace steel at the Mines Branch Laboratories, Ottawa. Details are given of the steel making and fabrication procedure, of the visual and microscopic examination, and of the extensive series of tests on the steel produced. The steel produced using Cominco .pig iron in the charge showed normal working properties in all tests carried out.IntroductionTHIS PAPER describes (a) experimental work by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited ( Cominco), at Trail on the production of pig iron .from Sullivan iron concentrates, and (b) a joint laboratory investigation by Cominco and the Mines Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, to determine the feasibility of making a satisfactory steel from this pig iron."

Jan 1, 1955

En quoi consistent les études de suivi des effets sur l?environnement (ESEE)? Les ESEE constituent une méthode de suivi scientifique que l?on peut employer pour déterminer la santé des écosystèmes aquatiques (qui peuvent être touchés par l?activité humaine) et l?efficacité des mesures de protection de l?environnement. Les ESEE sont des évaluations scientifiques itératives du poisson, de l?habitat du poisson et des ressources halieutiques. Le programme comporte des phases séquentielles de deux à six ans de suivi, d?interprétation et de compte rendu au cours desquelles la fréquence et le type de suivi dépendent des résultats des études précédentes. Le programme des ESEE pour les mines de métaux est fondé sur un accord conclu à l?unanimité entre les intervenants. Les exigences du programme et les guides techniques connexes ont été élaborés à la suite d?une consultation multilatérale à laquelle ont participé les représentants du secteur privé, du gouvernement et des collectivités. Toutes les mines assujetties au Règlement sur les effluents des mines de métaux (REMM), aux termes de la Loi sur les pê ches, doivent procéder à une ESEE dans le cadre de l?autorisation qu?ils ont reç ue de rejeter des effluents. Le REMM a été enregistré le 6 juin 2002 et publié dans la Partie II de la Gazette du Canada le 19 juin 2002 (SOR/DORS/2002-222).

Nov 1, 2002