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By B. Goard

"IntroductionCemented backfill has been placed underground in slurry form in Inco Limited's Ontario Division mines since the early 196Os. The slurry was traditionally mixed on surface at between 65 and 70 wt% solids* and transported underground via gravity through a borehole-pipeline distribution system. This method of placement, while simple and dependable, has proven to be costly because of the large amounts of transport water involved.A significant quantity of the slimes buildup on mine levels is caused by the backfill water carrying cement and other fine material out of the stopes. The level cleanup and eventual pumping or hoisting of the slimes and water back to surface result in substantial indirect backfilling costs.The cement that remains in the stope is always overhydrated because of the high water cement ratios that exist. As a consequence, high concentrations of Portland cement must be added to the backfill to produce the fill strengths required for the different mining methods.Pouring backfill at these densities also demands extensive fill preparatory work in the stopes to withstand the hydraulic heads created by the slurried fill. This, along with the delays in pouring necessary to allow for water drainage, result in significant losses in productivity.These negative aspects of slurry placed fill has led Inco Limited to investigate several methods of transporting backfill underground via pipeline, at higher densities (i.e. 75 to 95 wt.% solids). Three separate transport methods are presently being experimented with by the Company's Mines Research Department. Each utilizes a different technique or form of flow transport, i.e. concrete pumping technology, high density slurry flow, and pneumatic conveying."

Jan 1, 1987

By A. Wright, P. Lacombe, R. del Villar, D. Hodouin, C. Sepulveda

"The data acquisition from industrial plants is a fundamental step for process modelling in process optimization, process analysis and automatic control.The introduction, some years ago, of modern distributed control and data acquisition systems in concentrators imposes a new approach in designing experimental schemes for data acquisition campaigns and new criteria for the treatment of the obtained discrete information.This paper presents the methodology applied to sample a zinc flotation circuit at Les Mines Selbaie, Joutel, PQ. Values of 85 process variables were obtained form the Distributed Control and Data Acquisition System (Bailey Network 90) and transferred to the DOS environment. Another 11 variables (flowrates and valve positions) were directly sampled using an IBM-PC compatible computer equipped with a data acquisition card and a signal processing circuit.All variables, under the vector form, were processed in the PC-MATLAB environment to either filter or eliminate the non-linear disturbances and noises, producing useful data for model development. The filtering algorithms are also presented.INTRODUCTIONProcess control does not need to be justified. Whether manual or automatic, any processing plant requires some form of control to accomplish its main objectives: a good quality product and a target throughput. Process control of mineral processing plants has steadily evolved from manual control, where the operator skills and/or experience play an important role, to some level of automatic control, usually considered better, as less human subjectivity is involved, at least when actions have to be taken.The design of these control systems requires the knowledge of the dynamics of the process it is deemed to control. Process modelling is therefore an essential step in the assessment and the design of a control strategy. The choice of model will depend on the available resources and manpower."

Jan 1, 1991

By V. Aprahamian, T. Cheng, M. Tangen, R. Beauprie

The Royal Canadian Mint has implemented significant process additions since 2005. Installation of a whole new highly automated silver refining circuit has allowed recovery of physical silver from gold and silver dorés . To complement this change, a small Top Blown Rotary Converter has been in operation. On the gold refining side, a new hydrometallurgical process to recover precious metals from Miller Chlorination slag has been developed. Finally, new systems have been put in place to improve treatment of waste water, wet and dry fume and dust.

Jan 1, 2011

By Vladimir N. Rudashevsky, Louis J. Cabri, Nikolay S. Rudashevsky, Thomas Oberthür

"EPD (Electric Pulse disaggregation) and HS (hydroseparation) are exceptional technologies for research, concentration, evaluation, and mineral extraction of specific minerals such as precious metals (Au, Ag, PGM), kimberlites (extraction and concentration of indicator minerals), zircons and baddeleyite (recovery of objects for geochronology), and even gemstones (method of evaluation and production of the 100% gemstone concentrate of ideal crystals) etc. EPD is used for recovery of pristine undamaged crystals of diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire etc, including large crystals. It was tested on various hard ores and was especially successful for recovery of “soft” minerals from “hard” matrix. EPD products are very convenient for HS processing, resulting in representative concentrates of all heavy minerals including the finest particles (5-10 µm). The combined EPD and HS method enables high sensitivity (20 ppb) for evaluation of precious metal ores providing objective information about original grain size, associations, and recovery using a very small amount of sample (1-3 kg). Latest developments of EPD and HS techniques at CNT Mineral Consulting Inc. include the HS-21 hydroseparator (50 kg/hr) and the Spark-21 EPD (5 t/hr), which enables use of both techniques for prospecting and mineral processing of industrial size samples of certain ores.INTRODUCTIONThe main task for mineral processors is to find a reliable technology for testing of mining feasibility and the efficiency of mineral extraction procedures. Among various mineral processing approaches of extraction and concentration there are two alternative cost-effective methods that can be described as the most environmentally benign and complementary: electric-pulse disaggregation and hydroseparation. These techniques were tested on many different ore types and process products with great success providing a precise and comprehensive mineralogical determination of different accessory precious metal and other useful minerals constituent in rocks, ores, and tailings.This article describes several examples of EPD and HS use: native gold from the Kostomuksha deposit (Karelia, Russia), a Ag-Au deposit in South America, zircons from ancient ultramafic igneous rocks of SW Greenland, bauxites of West Australia, PGM from the Driekop dunite pipe and gemstones (ruby, sapphire, emerald and demantoid) from different deposits."

Jan 1, 2008

By P. P. Rosario, D. M. Maijer

The primary crusher is a key component in the comminution process applied in open pit mines. A collaborative research project between the University of British Columbia and Highland Valley Copper (HVC) was conducted aiming at understanding gyratory crusher liner wear in the overall context of the crushing process. This paper presents an analysis methodology applied to data collected using a laser-based tool for assessing wear in gyratory crushers. Data from the wear measurements was correlated with crusher production information such as current draw and throughput. As a result of the knowledge developed during this work, an innovative way to evaluate crusher liner profiles was created and new mantle profiles were designed. This led to a reformulation of HVC’s standard liner management policy with a resulting estimated annual savings of 13% in total crusher liner cost and a 15% reduction in liner replacement downtime.

Jan 1, 2006

By K. Yamaguchi, Sekimoto. H.

"Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) used as catalyst which reduces toxic substances in emission gas exhausted from an automobile should extensively be recycled because they are rare metals produced only at the limited regions. The recycling process is to smelt an alumina honeycomb, in which PGM is built, in molten iron with flux such as lime and silica to separate them. PGMs are concentrated in molten iron while alumina in slag.The objective of this study is to understand the factor to concentrate PGMs in liquid iron as much as possible. Fundamental research of the distribution of the PGMs between the slag and liquid iron was carried out to recover the value metals of platinum, palladium and rhodium from the three-way auto catalyst. The distribution ratios of platinum, palladium and rhodium between the Al2O3-CaO-SiO2 slag and liquid iron are from 10-6 to 10-5, and these are concentrated in comparison with slag phase by about 1 million times to the liquid iron at 1873 K. The distribution ratios of platinum between the FexO-CaO-SiO2 slag and liquid iron decrease from 0.1 to 2?10-4 with increasing the CaO content in the slag. The CaO addition to the FexO unary slag is effective in concentrating platinum in molten iron.Based on the distribution ratios obtained in this work, recovery of PGMs was determined. The recovery of platinum, palladium and rhodium increase with increasing the mass ratio, Mmetal/Mslag. In the case of the conditions of Mmetal/Mslag = 0.04, the recoveries of PGMs showed more than 99.97%. The use of liquid iron and carbon saturated liquid iron as the collector metal is advantageous for the PGM recycling of the three-way auto catalyst. We found that PGMs are enriched to the molten iron or the carbon saturated iron and the slag loss of PGMs is negligible small."

Jan 1, 2014

By Jack J. Ayotte, Michael R. Nadon

"Today's demand for better and more efficient methods inspires new approaches to construction and mine development.A project at Asarco's Aquarius Mine provided a challenge that resulted in the adaptation of a civil construction technique to a mining application.This paper describes the construction of an escapeway shaft to surface from the mine's 150m level. The prime consideration was to provide the most cost-effective method of establishing a shaft collar in the 145 ft (44 m) of water-bearing overburden. This problem was resolved with the employment of the drilled in-caisson method.The remainder of the 500ft (152m) deep shaft was raise bored and portable hoisting equipment was used to install a permanentmanway and shaft liner.IntroductionHaving completed the first phase of exploration development in 1982, J.S. Redpath Limited was engaged to carry out an engineering and cost study to investigate the feasibility of re-opening Asarco's Aquarius Mine near Timmins, Ontario. The scheme was to develop the proven ore reserves and proceed with shrinkage stoping while carrying out further exploration development and diamond drilling.One significant and costly component of the project was the provision of an escapeway shaft to supply additional ventilation as well as a second means of egress from the mine. The major complication to this task was the presence of 145 ft (44 m) of water-bearing overburden at the site. The first and obvious approach was to use conventional ground-freezing methods as had been employed previously on .this property for the initial development shaft. This being the only ""sure"" method available at the time of the budget estimate, it was used as a basis for the study but its considerable projected cost and time demand inspired further investigation into other possible solutions.After considerable research and several brainstorming sessions, a Redpath team came up with an approach whose basic procedures had been used extensively in the civil construction field, although they were novel to the mining industry."

Jan 1, 1987

By R. L. Bailey

"The Acheson D-3 Pool was discovered in August 1950, and contains 88 producing oil wells on 40 acre spacing. Initial oil-in-place was 118 million stock tank barrels and initial well potentials averaged 2,000 barrels per day.In early 1956 studies of hydraulic interference between the Acheson and Leduc D-3 Pools were conducted on the Carter Petroleum Reservoir Analyzer. These studies indicated that the natural water drive to Acheson would be incapable of replacing reasonable withdrawal rates over the life of the pool. To avoid shrinkage losses a scheme of pressure maintenance by water• injection was therefore instituted in March 1957.This pressure maintenance scheme is notable because pressure is being effectively maintained by high volume injection through one well located on the flank of the pool. Close control on reservoir behaviour is maintained by regular bottom-hole pres-sure surveys and observation of water cuts on producing wells. No evidence of pressure gradients or channelling of the injected water has been observed to date, and the water-oil contact has remained level over the whole field. It is possible to control the average reservoir pressure within very close limits by varying the rate of fresh water injection.Ultimate recovery estimated from the rise of the oil-water contact and calculated water influx to December 31, 1958, is 335 barrels per acre foot, or a total of 91.4 million barrels from the pool. This compares to 217 barrels Per acre foot or a total of 59.4 million barrels indicated from laboratory test data."

Jan 1, 1961

By Bassam Kattaa

"Abstract - A heavy mineral survey of beach and dune sands including geochemical analysis for trace elements was undertaken to evaluate the economic potential of the sands and to understand the nature and distribution of the heavy minerals relative to potential source rocks. Results indicate that heavy minerals are generally derived from outcropping volcanic rocks that comprise a proportion of the hinterland in the south part of our survey area. The most abundant minerals are magnetite and pyroxene. The morphologies of the heavy mineral grains are angular to subangular, suggesting that they were transported short distances from the source rocks. Factors controlling heavy mineral distributions include wave and wind action, proximity to provenance, the fluvial drainage network, and longshore currrents.The most economically important mineral is ilmenite. Zircon and rutile concentrations are relatively minor and thus have lower economic potential."

Jan 1, 2002

By Hans Lundberg

Introduction Today, geophysical exploration is recognized as a special science wedged between geology and mining. Universities and technical institutes have special professors teaching geophysics applied to oil and ore prospecting. The list of literature on geophysical exploration has grown from practically nothing at all some twenty-five years ago to ~ several thousands of books, some of them very imposing volumes. Most of the methods now used have been developed since the first World War, and very large systematic exploration campaigns have been carried out in many places, in many countries. It has been rather difficult to obtain enough information as to what is going on in Canada. However, since the Associate Committee on Geodesy and Geophysics of the National Research Council became more actively engaged in promoting geophysical research, it may be easier to obtain information and, in the future, the quarterly issued Canadian Geophysical Bulletin may throw considerable light on the current geophysical activities in Canada. Some twenty crews have been engaged the last few years in geophysical prospecting for ore. In the United States, between 500 and 600 crews are employed exclusively in geophysical prospecting. Most of these, however, are engaged in oil exploration. During the winter 1942-1943, the German Government employed some fifty crews on geophysical exploration, and some ten crews were working for private enterprises.

Jan 1, 1948

Session 1 ? Intro to MiHR ? Business Case for Aboriginal Inclusion ? Overview of the Mining HR Guide for Aboriginal Communities ? Two presentations of Programs featured in the Guide ?? The RAP Program from NWCC ?? First Nations Youth Employment Program PDAC-MM Session 2 ? Presentation from MAC ? Taking up the AFN Corporate Challenge ? Presentation on Mastering Aboriginal Inclusion in Mining About MiHR Who we are: ? National Sector Council for the Minerals and Metals Sector ? 18-person Board of Directors ? 100+ Industry Leaders volunteer on our project committees ? PPP - Funded by HRSDC and industry What we do: ? Identify national HR challenges and opportunities for the minerals and metals industry ? Create national solutions through collaboration, partnerships and Synergy

May 1, 2009

By Tom C. Palangio

The mining industry has come to rely on imaging devices to monitor and record all kinds of activities. We use them to measure, improve the process, ensure security, increase production and automate machinery. Cameras can be installed in locations most people wouldn?t want to live and be our ?eyes? to record the events at that location. This paper discusses digital imaging, the equipment, methods, techniques and information that can be learned from digital devices used in mining operations. The guy who said ?a picture is worth a thousand words? probably understated it. Images are the perfect way to document conditions before, after and even during mining activities. Today?s wide choice of cameras, camcorders and other digital devices allow us to record most activities and events. The technology is advancing at a high rate. Digital cameras and camcorders are marvels of technology with high resolution optics, compact size, automatic time and date stamp, great battery life, shutters to freeze motion and computers to auto focus and eliminate jitter (image stabilization). Add to this the economical price and ease of use and everyone in this industry should be aware of the possibilities.

Oct 1, 2010

By Karl J. C. Harries

"11.1. INTRODUCTIONA royalty is the most common form of interest retained by an owner who is disposing of his property or by a joint venturer who ceases, voluntarily or otherwise, to participate in the joint venture.1 Rarely does a non-participating party have a direct interest in the property and/or assets of a project, except during the period when a non-participating joint venturer may be having his interest diluted.2 In fact, it is most unwise to permit a non-participating party to have such an interest. It may give rise to significant problems that could prevent or substantially delay the development of an orebody and require a considerable amount of time, effort, and money to correct.3In negotiating a royalty, it is important to be aware that there is no law or convention that says, “You just don’t do that in a royalty agreement.” As with any agreement, inventiveness and flexibility on the part of the negotiator are not just assets, but virtual necessities. It is also for this reason that it is essential to read the royalty provisions, particularly the definitions, fully and carefully, especially if you are the recipient. On the other hand, if your inventiveness and flexibility cause your accountant to question the advisability of one of your ideas, pay close attention to him.4 He will, no doubt, have had experience with many royalties, and no competent professional adviser disparages a client’s ideas without good reason. Besides, he will probably be the person who will be determining the royalty or certifying the determination of it. At the very least, he will be auditing your general financial statements, which must, of course, reflect the royalty determination. Heeding his advice not only may make the determination easier but also will probably save you money in professional fees later on. Nevertheless, do not simply accept his comments or recommendations without understanding what they mean, why they have been made with respect to your royalty agreement (sometimes professionals have comments that they make as a matter of course and, even though they may be valid, you should require them to be justified to you), and how they will affect your royalty determination.It is surprising how many corporate payors insist that their standard royalty provisions5 be used as a matter of policy, thereby effectively tying the negotiator’s hands. It is even more surprising, and to professional advisers frightening, how many of the senior employees who insist that such a policy be adhered to, virtually without variation, do not know what is in the standard provisions and would be hard-pressed to explain them to a property owner. If standard provisions are appropriate, by all means use them, but do allow experienced and sensible negotiators some flexibility and make sure that everyone within the corporation who may have to use such provisions – negotiator and supervisor alike – knows what they contain and why they are as they are. For example, there are often good and convincing reasons to describe a deduction in a certain way or to include a certain specific type of deduction. On the other hand, quite often the answer to the question “why?” is that “it has always been there”; this is, or should be, an unacceptable answer. In any event, if you, as the negotiator, appear to know what you are talking about, are familiar and comfortable with your royalty provisions, and are backed up by your boss with the same words or reasoning, a property owner cannot help but be satisfied that you are knowledgeable, even if he still does not agree with your provisions. Finally, if you do use standard provisions, make sure that they are reviewed and updated regularly."

Jan 1, 2003

By E. O. Abrokwah

Directionally solidified (DS) Rene 80 Superalloy was tested in thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) over the temperature range 500-900°C and plastic strain levels from 0.2 to 0.8% using a DSI Gleeble thermal simulator. Thermo-mechanical testing was carried out on the parent material in the conventional solution treated and aged condition (STA), as well as gas tungsten arc welded with an IN-738 filler, followed by solution treatment and ageing. Comparison of the base TMF unwelded alloy with that of the welded and heat treated alloy showed that varying crack initiation mechanisms, notably oxidation either by stress assisted grain boundary oxidation, or associated with grain boundary MC carbides fatigue crack propagation along grain boundaries and creep deformation were operating, leading to different "weakest link" failure initiation points.

Jan 1, 2011

By G. Major-Marothy

"INTRODUCTIONA beneficiation plant to upgrade earthy iron ores is being installed by the Iron Ore Company of Canada in Sept-Iles, Quebec.The crude ore for the plant will come from the Knob Lake area, located in Northern Quebec, where mining has been in progress since 1954.Some 170 million tons of ""direct 11 ores have been mined and shipped in the past eighteen years, with an overall silica content of 7 to 8 percent. No beneficiation - except the reduction of the top size to about 2 inches - took place during this period, but extensive research work has been carried out, in order to find a feasible process.Since “washing"", gravity separation, roasting and magnetic separation experiments did not indicate positive enough results, flotation was tried and found to be feasible.The beneficiation complex being installed will consist of grinding, flotation, dewatering - i.e.: thickening, filtering and drying - balling feed preparation, and agglomeration - i.e.: balling and induration.This process will result in a product superior to the ""direct shipping"" ores and will also expand the ore reserves by allowing material with a higher silica content to be utilized.THE OREThe Knob Lake ores are grouped by mineralogical composition and by grade.BLUE ORES, representing roughly two thirds of the reserves, carry their iron content mostly in the form of massive, blue hematite and martite.YELLOW ORES, about one sixth of the reserves, have predominantly hydrated iron oxides as the iron bearing minerals.RED ORES, the other sixth of the reserves, carry the iron mostly in the form of red hematite.The gangue in all ores is mainly quartz, but aluminum oxides and hydroxides are also present, particularly in the red ores."

Jan 1, 1972

By Kevan J. R. Ford, Chris A. Fleming, Robert D. Henderson

"Kinross Gold Corporation’s Maricunga mine in Chile presents an ideal opportunity to apply the SART process to a heap leach operation. Given increasing levels of cyanide complexed copper in current pregnant solutions from Maricunga heaps (over 300 ppm Cu), there is a need to reduce these levels and decrease cyanide consumption and cost. Additionally, a means of disposing of this copper is required, preferably as a saleable product. The well published SART process applied to gold-copper cyanide solutions was selected as it allows rapid precipitation of cyanide soluble copper as a relatively pure copper sulphide. The process also allows effective recovery and recycle of cyanide back to the heap leach operation.This paper reviews the SART process chemistry and presents a summary of SART bench-scale and pilot plant testwork completed by Kinross. Key design parameters and engineering aspects of the proposed plant at Maricunga are discussed. SART plant operating costs and net revenue analysis are included and illustrate the compelling economics of installing a SART process plant. INTRODUCTIONMaricunga OperationCompañia Minera Maricunga (CMM), fully owned by Kinross Gold Corporation, operates the Maricunga mine (formerly Refugio) which is located 120 km due east of the city of Copiapó at an elevation of 4,200m above sea level in the Andes mountains of northern Chile. Figure 1 shows a map of the location of the Refugio mine relative to other gold and copper mines in the region."

Jan 1, 2008

By G. M. Hutt

Introduction The major development of industrial minerals in Manitoba has been in building materials. 'The building-stone industry is developed far beyond the needs of the Province, and the well known Tyndall limestone is marketed over a wide area throughout the other provinces to Canada. Similarly, gypsum and gypsum products are produced in excess of local requirements and are exported to adjacent provinces. The crushed-stone, sand and gravel, limestone, and lime industries are sufficiently developed to supply the needs of the Province and, notably in the case of lime and lime-stone, there is a surplus for export to the adjacent provinces and to the United States. The manufacture of common brick is well established, but for face-brick and other clay products the Province is dependent largely on importations. Production of silica-sand will increase as Canadian markets become available through recognition of the utility value of the Black Island sand as foundry-sand and for other purposes. There is some possibility of the export of feldspar, of lithium ore and concentrates, and perhaps of salt. A considerable part of the Province has not been seriously prospected for industrial minerals and it may be expected that, as time goes on, other deposits of non-metallic minerals will be discovered and opened up, especially as the prairie provinces become more industrialized. At the present time, there is some activity in the southern part of the Province based on gas and oil indications. Whatever may be the outcome of this work, it should yield valuable information concerning the geological structure of the area.

Jan 1, 1934

By Charles Taschereau

The statements made in this presentation contain certain forward-looking statements concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of Canada Lithium Corp. The actual results of the specific items described in this presentation, and the company?s operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of Canada Lithium Corp. management as of the date of this presentation, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the Company?s dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Canada Lithium Corp. disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement. Toronto Stock Exchange: CLQToronto CLQOTCQX: CLQMFOTCQX: CLQMF

May 1, 2011

By Jean-Pierre Côté, Alexandre Noiseux

"Hatch and ArcelorMittal Mines Canada have combined their expertise to develop a dynamic model of the latter’s Iron Ore Pellet Plant in Quebec, Canada. This model was used to predict the benefits of different expansion projects, as well as asses the best implementation sequence.Two modelling tools were used: a discrete-event simulation software used to develop the dynamic model of the Pellet Plant and an in-house process simulator. The latter was based on operational data and known behavior of the process, and was calibrated with historical data gathered under different operating conditions.The results of the process simulator were used as input values for the dynamic model, which included all of the operation steps of the pelletizing process, from concentrate beneficiation to baking of the pellets. The model has been validated by assessing its capacity to represent adequately the operation of the plant during a 20-month operating period. It was able to reproduce the plant capacity within a precision of 1.2%.Simulated “what-if” scenarios allowed quantifying the production increase associated with the addition of new equipment such as ball mills or balling discs, implemented individually or in combination. Results revealed a potential 10% increase in the annual plant production by adding additional equipment in the two most limiting sectors of the plant, grinding and agglomeration. The simulation results made it possible to quantify the synergistic effect of two projects on plant throughput; the model showed that the combination of two projects resulted in a greater production increase than the sum of the same projects evaluated individually.Now that it has proven reliable, the simulation tool can readily be used by ArcelorMittal Mines Canada process engineers to perform simulations for equipment optimization, and to evaluate the impact of various operating parameters such as equipment availability and tonnage, product mix or concentrate quality. This work showed that a reliable model can be developed based on known parameters in combination with the proper integration of the process knowledge."

Jan 1, 2010

By André van Wageningen

Long-term mine scheduling is one of the most difficult optimization problems. The problem is said to be NP-complete in that the best possible solution cannot be found any quicker than checking all possible permutations and combinations. Although a number of techniques have been used in the past, many include significant simplifications or fail to produce acceptable results within the required timeframe. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are among the most promising optimisation techniques within operations research. They are based on natural selection and evolution of solutions to complex problems. They have been known to quickly converge within a few percent of the optimal solution by examining only a fraction of the solution search space. The GA itself contains very little problem specific information and as such, has been linked to a discrete-event simulation (DES). The DES feeds information regarding the feasibility and quality of the solutions back to the GA during the optimisation process. In this paper, GAs and DES are described and the coupling of the two methods is outlined. The GA coupled DES is then used to ?optimise? a problem and the results are discussed.

May 1, 2004