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By J. L. Huisman, G. Schouten

After pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, bio(hydro)metallurgy is the latest development in the ongoing search for efficient and economic metal winning processes. In addition to bioleaching, other biotechnology-based applications are getting more and more accepted. In this paper a number of proven and commercial processes will be presented that can be applied for nickel and cobalt recovery and refining. These processes are based on the ability of biomass to convert the redox state of sulphur compounds under ambient conditions. They can be applied to recover sulphate from effluents or SOx from off gases and convert it to H2S or dissolved sulphide that can be reused in production or effluent treatment. Not only does this minimize the costs on resources but it also reduces waste production and improves the quality of discharges even to the point where reuse becomes feasible.

Jan 1, 2005

By John M. Karhnak

The Bureau of Mines has a long history of research in Ground Control. For many years, this work was done at Bureau facilities by Bureau researchers. As the tiles changed, however, the area of research interest broadened, and additional methods of implementation, such as con- tracts, were added. 'Ibis paper outlines the organization, goals, and methods of implementation of the Bureau Ground Control Program, along with procedures for project selection. This program organization is followed by several specific examples of Bureau research that will be soon ready for use in the mines.

Jan 1, 1981

By G. K. Lee, Whaley. H., F. D. Friedrich, I. C. G. Ogle

"IntroductionCurrent coal combustion activities at the Canadian Combustion Research Laboratory (CCRL) reflect the increasingly important contribution that coal is expected to make in meeting our future energy requirements and in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Widespread use of coal will, however, be heavily dependent on the ability of conventional and emerging combustion systems to cope with the disruptive conflicts caused by variations in fuel quality, on requirements for better equipment availability .and on the implementation of progressively more stringent environmental constraints.To minimize these conflicts, Energy, Mines and Resources Canada has embarked on a systematic sequence of research, development and demonstration- scale (R, D and D) initiatives to stimulate the utilization and competitiveness of thermal coal in both domestic and export markets through a number of complementary in-house projects and external contracts, considered to have short- to intermediate-term benefits to industry and society.Many of the in-house projects are funded in part by industry, whereas the external contracts are either fully funded (100070 government funding) or jointly funded (50% government - 50% project proposer).External contracts and shared-cost projects are an important adjunct to the CCRL in-house effort on coal combustion, because research data can be more effectively transferred to industry and because the commercialization of novel combustion systems can be accelerated significantly."

Jan 1, 1980

By Luke Clarkson, David Williams

The intent of this paper is to provide overview context to allow broader understanding of conventional tailings dam failure mechanisms. The research leverages global knowledge, experience, and data collection and interpretation for the safe and controlled management of the geotechnical stability of a tailings storage facility. The motivation for this review is to facilitate transparent access to tailings dam background and understanding. This paper addresses the core understanding of geotechnical failure mechanisms, and how these eventuate to instability and failure of tailings dam structures. This research focuses on foundation failure, internal erosion and piping, overtopping, seepage, seismicity, and slope instability and provides insight into what factors contribute to failure, how failure progresses due to such failure, anticipating and monitoring for the aforementioned failure modes, and designing to mitigate their risk.

Feb 15, 2021

By Phillip J. Mackey, Rodney T. Jones

"Copper and copper alloys remain key materials for society today, with important uses found in the electrical, transportation, and construction industries. Copper demand is rising, with projections indicating that by 2025 global refined copper demand will increase to 29.5 million tons, up from the 22.4 million tons anticipated for 2015. This will require the opening up of dozens of new mines and numerous new smelters over this time period. Fortunately, Africa has significant reserves of copper, and African copper can once again play a key role in contributing to meeting the rising global demand for copper. This paper provides a brief overview of the current copper smelting operations in Southern Africa. INTRODUCTION Copper and copper alloys are essential materials for today’s modern world. The familiar green copper patina colour seen on buildings and other structures sometimes belies its true “green” characteristic – copper is essential for key emerging technologies such as wind turbines, tidal generating systems, solar energy systems, electric cars and the like. Consequently, it is believed that there will be continued growth in copper demand in the years ahead. Projections indicate that by 2025, as an example, global refined copper demand will increase to 29.5 million metric tons, up from the 22.4 million ton level anticipated for 2015. This will require dozens of new mines, and of the order of the equivalent of 10 to 12 new 0.5 million tons of copper/year-sized copper smelters (after factoring projected copper produced by electrowinning (EW))—overall, a huge undertaking. Fortunately, Africa has significant reserves of copper, and African copper can once again play a key role in supplying this rising global demand for copper. Africa’s share of global mined copper production was about 10% in 2014; however this will increase significantly in future if announced new projects eventuate. Southern Africa has an important role to play in this process. The present paper provides a brief overview of copper smelting in Southern Africa."

Jan 1, 2015

By Dara L. Hrytzak-Lieffers

Canada has long since been a place that has led the world in mining development, in a safe, clean, and sustainable manner. This has led to the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) philosophy in corporate governance, policy, and programming. The paper will identify the basis of CSR practise in Canada?s mining industry and provide a Canadian example of CSR implementation. Biography Dara Hrytzak-Lieffers is the manager, corporate social responsibility at Cameco Corporation. She oversees corporate CSR initiatives including the Sustainable Development report and public engagement programs. Dara received her BA in International Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and an MA in International Conflict Analysis from the Brussels School of International Studies. She is a recent graduate of the World Nuclear University summer institute.

May 1, 2011

By V. I. Zhuchkov, L. A. Smirnov, E. I. Arzamastsev, A. A. Babenko

A brief analysis is given for state-of-the-art of manganese and chromium ferroalloy production in Russia and their consumption by metallurgy plants. The main causes of low output of manganese and chromium ferroalloys, and ways to resolve the issue of ferroalloy production development are considered.

Jan 1, 2004

By M Gwynne

McArthur River Mine is located approximately 50 km south-east of the NT township of Borroloola and approximately 120 km from the Gulf of Carpentaria. The mine hosts a series of layered shallow dipping tabular orebodies, with current reserves of approximately 22 Mt, grading 13.6 per cent zinc, 6.3 per cent lead and 65 g/t silver. Owing to economic considerations, the lower most orebody (No 2 orebody) has been selected for initial mine production. Following the completion of the No 2 orebody, mining will transfer to the lower grade and metallurgically more complex No 4 orebody. The mine employs a total of 235 people throughout the underground and surface areas. The majority of the workforce work a fly-in/fly-out, seven-day- on/seven- day- off roster with 12-hour shifts. Presently, a further 18 contractors are involved in trial mining areas. An apparent dip room and pillar technique has been selected as the primary mining method. Officially opened in September 1995, the current production rate of 1.2 Mt per annum will eventually escalate to 1.5 Mt per annum. Though most production is achieved through the use of conventional loaders, trucks and jumbos, the recent development of methods utilising scrapers, hand held machines and modified jumbos has produced encouraging results in steeper dipping areas of the mine. Initial production has been hindered by several factors including extensive and largely unpredictable faulting, worse than expected ground conditions and difficulties with some mining equipment. Compounded by the relatively thin 3 m ore seam, initial mining resulted in high dilution and poor production. This paper describes the development of unique planning and production systems that were evolved in order to overcome these problems and achieve the targeted production rates and head grade.

Jan 1, 1998

By James E. McNulty

Today's energy era is the beginning of a transition from the Petroleum Age to a future age of renewable fuel resources. Fuels for the transition era will come from unconventional sources and conversion technology. Affecting the practicability of transition technologies are attitudes of the public, capital requirements and availability, patterns of fuels utilization, producibility of fuels and the actions of governments. Primary energy sources to replace deficiencies of oil and gas and provide growth in the period of transition will be coal, oil shale, nuclear energy and peat.

Jan 1, 1981

By Ian Baker, Xavier Pierron

"Iron aluminides hold great promise for intermediate temperature applications (to ~ 600°C) because of their excellent oxidation and sulphidation resistance and good strength. However, they have poor low temperature ductility, a feature which is exacerbated by water-containing environments. This paper presents an overview of the effects of environment on the ductility of iron aluminides, including the effects of iron aluminum ratio; ternary alloying additions, particularly boron; strain rate; and temperature. The mechanisms involved in water-induced embrittlement are discussed.IntroductionOver the last few years, it has became increasingly evident that the ductility and fracture toughness of many intermetallic compounds, particularly aluminides, are reduced dramatically if they are mechanically tested in either air or in hydrogen-containing atmospheres (1-5). For FeAI and Fe3AI, it has been shown that water vapor, for example in air at room temperature, can form atomic hydrogen by reacting with the Al atoms (1, 2). As a result in iron aluminides, the environmental embrittlement process is quite similar to traditional hydrogen embrittlement. This can be easily demonstrated by either testing an iron aluminide in an environment free of the deleterious species or by testing at high strain rates, both of which result in greater ductility. The purpose of this paper is to review recent progress in understanding environmental embrittlement in FeAI and Fe3AI, and to consider possible environmental embrittlement mechanisms. Greater understanding of this phenomenon will lead ultimately to remedies to this problem which is a major reason for preventing the practical application of these materials. First, some background on the iron-rich aluminides."

Jan 1, 1996

By Miguel Reyes, Chenming Zhou, MATTHEW GIRMAN

Electromagnetic energy emitted from electronic devices has been known to interfere with other electronic systems, hindering their ability to function properly. Mines have many electronic devices critical to the health and safety of mine workers that could be negatively affected by electromagnetic interference (EMI). To ensure that devices are electromagnetically compatible, tests must first be conducted to measure emissions and check for immunity. Standards are available across multiple industries that prescribe emission limits and test methods for electronic devices. A literature review was conducted in this study, and an overview of EMI standards in other industries is provided. Also, an example of how a standard can be applied to mining equipment is presented.

Nov 1, 2022

By Miguel Reyes, Chenming Zhou, MATTHEW GIRMAN

Electromagnetic energy emitted from electronic devices has been known to interfere with other electronic systems, hindering their ability to function properly. Mines have many electronic devices critical to the health and safety of mine workers that could be negatively affected by electromagnetic interference (EMI). To ensure that devices are electromagnetically compatible, tests must first be conducted to measure emissions and check for immunity. There are many standards available across multiple industries that prescribe emission limits and test methods for electronic devices. Due to the unique environment of an underground mine, it may not be enough to simply adopt a standard from another industry to mining. A literature review has been conducted, and an overview of EMI standards in other industries will be provided in this paper. Also, an example of how a standard can be applied to mining equipment is presented. Finally, recommendations on standards which could potentially be applied to mining will also be included. This work will inform the mining industry of EMI standards in other industries so that mine workers and technology manufacturers have guidance of the steps that can be taken to investigate and reduce the impact of electromagnetic interference and potentially work toward electromagnetic compatibility. The findings and research involved in this effort can also be used to explore the need to develop mining-specific EMI recommendations and standards.

Nov 25, 2021

By G. T. Austin

This is an overview of the gemstone industry with special attention on particular states within the united states. The U.S. Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior compiled and analyzed the information contained in this report. The report should be viewed as a current "still photograph" of a dynamic system. The information presented on a specific gemstone or for a specific state can and will change with time. This overview presents historical and reference information on the principal gemstones and their production in certain states. The report is not a definitive work on gemstones within the select states or United states.

Jan 1, 1995

By M P. Sandy, J B. Albrecht

"Narrow vein mining can be loosely defined as mining operations involving orebodies with a true thickness of less than 4 m. Some authors have limited the term to steeper-dipping orebodies where the ore will rill under gravity. However, ænarrow veinÆ can also legitimately refer to some of the flatter orebodies, such as many of the platinum, chrome and gold deposits of Southern Africa, and several in Australasia including Bullen (at Norseman), Sunrise Dam, Telfer (Patterson, 1993) and the famous æflatmakesÆ at the Emperor Gold Mine in Fiji (Gordon and Harmse, 1993). Where the orebody dip is less than about 40¦ additional effort is usually required to remove the broken ore, including the use of scrapers, hydraulic monitors or remote-operated excavators (Tombs, Buckingham and Hancock, 2008).Working in such narrow orebodies presents particular operational and geomechanics challenges. A range of mining methods have been developed or adapted to exploit narrow orebodies including:cut-and-fill,narrow vein bench or longhole stoping,Alimak stoping,shrinkage stoping, and methods for shallow dipping orebodies (including Airleg and mechanised methods).The paper discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of each method with a focus on geotechnical aspects including mining sequence options, stress management, ground support requirements, dilution and recovery.CITATION:Sandy, M P and Albrecht, J B, 2012. An overview of geotechnical issues in narrow vein mining, in Proceedings Narrow Vein Mining 2012 , pp 185-194 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 26, 2012

By François Robert

"The Eastern Abitibi Sub province (Quebec segment), contains two main types of gold deposits: the common quartz-vein type and the rare pyritic type. Both occur in areas dominated by volcanic rocks and are spatially associated with major fault zones.Quartz-vein gold deposits consist of simple to complex networks of quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins in reverse shear zones and extensional fractures. They occur in areas dominated by mafic volcanic rocks and are commonly associated with small syn- to late-tectonic porphyritic felsic intrusions. Associated alteration, which postdates peak metamorphism, is dominated by carbonatization, sericitization and pyritization of the wallrocks. These deposits formed late in the geologicalevolution of the Abitibi.Pyritic gold deposits range from deformed massive sulphide lenses to zones of syntectonic pyrite-rich veinlets and associated pyrite disseminations. These deposits occur in environments dominated by felsic volcanic rocks that are typically converted to sericite schists near the deposits. The associated pre-metamorphic aluminous alteration is now characterized by metamorphic sericite, andalusite, kyanite and chloritoid, overprinted by a late retrogression of alumino- silicates. These deposits probably represent deformed volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, but the timing of gold introduction in these is not fully understood.The differences in geological attributes reflect significant differences in the genesis these deposits: the pyritic deposits probably have a multistage genesis, including a pre-tectonic stage, in contrast to a single stage late-tectonic genesis for the quartz-vein deposits.RESUMELa partie Est de la Sous-Province de l’Abitibi( segment québécois) renferme deux types de gites d' or: ceux de type ""veine de quartz"" et ceux, plus rares, de type ""pyriteux"". Ces deux types se trouvent dans des secteurs particulièrement riches en roches volcaniques et mantrent une association spatiale avec des zones de failles majeures.Les gites de type ""veine de quartz"" correspondent à des réseaux de complexité variable de veines de quartz-carbonate-pyrite se développant dans des zones de cisaillement inverse et des fractures de tension. Ils se concentrent dans les régions dominées par des roches volcaniques mafiques et s’associent fréquemment à de petites intrusions porphyriques felsiques syn- a tardi-tectoniques. L’altération associée ace type de glte est postérieure à la phase majeure du métamorphisme et consiste en une carbonatisation, une sericitisation et une pyritisation des épontes. La mise en place de ces gites est tardive par rapport à l'évolution géologique de l'Abitibi.Les gites d' or de type pyriteux consistent en des lentilles de sulfures massifs déformes, des zones d' abondantes veinules pyrite uses syntectoniques, et des zones de pyrite disséminée. Ces gites se retrouvent dans des empilements contenant surtout des roches volcaniques felsiques qui sont transformées en schiste à séricine pres des gisements. L’altération a l’umineuse pre-metamorphique associée a ce type de glte a donné naissance, lors du metamorphisme regional, a la sericite, a 'andal ousite, a Ia lcyanite et au chloritoi""de; par la suite, les alumino-silicates ont été affectes par une alteration retrograde tardive. Ces gites representent probablement des depOts de sulfures massifs volcan gènes déformes, mais la chronologie de la mise en place de l'or dans ceux-ci est encore mal comprise.Les caractéristiques géologiques propres à chacun de ces types de gites reflètent des conditions de formation différentes: le type ""pyriteux"" montre une histoire génétique polyphasée, incluant une étape pre-tectonique alors que le type ""veine de quartz"" s’est développe au cours d’une seule phase tardi-tectonique."

Jan 1, 1990

By M. Connell, S. Bedrossian

Alkali cracking followed by chloride-based leaching is one of the prominent methods for rare earth element processing. Regeneration of the leach lixiviant, namely hydrochloric acid, is a critical operation in the process. A number of different process routes are available for recovery of hydrochloric acid from chloride solutions. The objective of this paper is to discuss various recovery routes and analyze the impact of several input variables on the variable operating cost.

Jan 1, 2014

By A. Adu-Acheampong

Photogrammetry and laser scanning has been employed at a number of Newmont mine sites to mitigate risks associated with conventional structural mapping, determining the geometry of voids from old underground workings, and generating topography in areas of slope instability. Laser scanning has also been used to evaluate as-built pit slope configurations with respect to design assumptions, operational practices, and rock fall potential. Recently, remote sensing applications carried on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were used to generate base topography at some Newmont sites. UAV are generally more convenient and less expensive and can be utilized in areas where cloud cover prevents manned aerial photography missions. This paper discusses these applications, and provides commentary on their benefits and limitations based on recent experience.

Feb 27, 2013

By J. R. Donald, K. Scholey

"Nickel has been mined and processed from the Sudbury basin for over 100 years. During this period, the process has evolved into what is one of the largest and most complex mining and metallurgical facilities in the world. This paper will describe the geology and mining of the Sudbury basin as well as the Copper Cliff metallurgical flowsheet circa 2005, including:•,Clarabelle Mill,•,The flash smelting furnaces,•,The bulk converters,•,Matte casting, separation, and processing•,The carbonyl refineries•,Carbonyl residue processing•,Copper processing•,Sulphur productsThe challenges of today and the opportunities for the future are discussed."

Jan 1, 2005

By Hugh D. Olmstead

Typical operations necessary to develop oil and gas reservoirs are reviewed, including exploration, drilling, cementing, completion, work over, sand control, stimulation, enhanced recovery and production. The role of industrial minerals in these operations is described. Some of the opportunities and problems affecting increased use of industrial minerals in drilling and stimulation are discussed.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. R. Gunter

"INTRODUCTIONThis article documents the current non-metallic mineral s resources of Manitoba (Fig. I), and makes comparisons with currently producing deposits in North America and elsewhere in the world. Industrial minerals may lack the glamour of gold, silver or the base metals, but they contributed approximately 20070 to the value of Manitoba's raw materials, and even out-performed our petroleum industry, except during the oil boom of the early eighties (Fig. 2). Values per tonne of industrial commodities can be as high or higher than for base metal ores. Commodity prices (Canadian), listed in the February 1988 issue of Industrial Minerals magazine, are: talc $202.00 - $306.00, sillimanite $427.00; kaolin $69.00 - $270.00; garnet $175.00 - $250.00; and mica $405.00 - $540.00. The prices are converted to Canadian dollars using the prevailing exchange rates of February I, 1988. Some commodities are not sold by weight. Building stone, for example, is sold by the cubic foot. An average rough granite block, 4 ft by 4 ft by 8 ft, is worth approximately $2000 sitting on the quarry 1100r in southeastern Manitoba (Fig. 3).Thus, not all rocks that do not contain sulphides are worthless. Some may be extracted more profitably than either the base or precious-metal bearing varieties.Industrial Mineral CommoditiesThe commodities available in Manitoba are described in two categories: (1) those already in production that have additional development or expansion potential, and (2) those not in production logical information available at this time.Current Industrial Mineral ProductionThe commodities described herein are currently in commercial production in Manitoba (Fig. 4). These mineral products also have good market expansion potential provided additional geological and market research is conducted. The use of company names in reference to sundry products and locations should not be interpreted as specific endorsement by the Government of Manitoba. The numbers following the commodity name refer to Figure 1. that have good development potential on the basis of geo-"

Jan 1, 1989