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By Louis Frost

MINE ventilation has for many years been the subject of intensive study by numerous investigators who have presented their findings in forms that are understandable to the average mining man, and all this writer hopes to do is to review those findings in relation to the 'manager's' problem in mine ventilation. It would not, perhaps, be wholly correct to acclaim practical mine ventilation as an exact science, because of the many variables entering into the problem. Each mine has its own particular problem and ventilation characteristics. Fan design, in contra distinction to mine ventilation, is an exact science, but the designer cannot always take into proper consideration the practical variations to which each mine is subject. Fan designers, accordingly, are forced to base their design on such data as the mine manager or engineer is able to supply, and, when it is borne in mind that the mine characteristic is constantly changing, it is not at all surprising that fans do not always show efficiencies hoped for. In many instances, fans work far beyond the de-signer's limitations, and, in consequence, are an economic disability in the colliery cost-sheet, and it is of paramount importance that the colliery manager evaluate all the factors involved in relation to fan performance for the colliery to receive full benefit from its investment.

Jan 1, 1941

By P. Latostenmaa, O. Forsén, M. Lundström, J. Aromaa

The history of electrolytic copper production in Finland is closely connected with the industrialization of Finland and events of the Second World War. Production of cathode copper by electrowinning from the processing of Outokumpu ore started in 1913 based on the Hybinette nickel process, however due to the poor performance of this process, the plant was closed in 1929. Outokumpu commenced copper smelting at Imatra in eastern Finland in 1936 producing blister copper for refining outside the country. Due to the threating military situation, a new electrolytic copper refinery was built in 1941 at Pori in western Finland to refine the anodes. This was the first electrolytic copper refinery in Finland. It was built with 108 cells having a capacity of 12,000 tonnes/y. In addition, the smelter was relocated to nearby Harjavalta in 1944–1945. To fulfill the war reparations included in the peace treaty with the Soviet Union, a doubling of the smelter capacity was realised, with the Pori refinery capacity increasing to 20,000 tonnes/y in 1946 by adding additional cells. The cornerstone of Finnish metallurgical technology — Outokumpu flash smelting — was invented with the new technology commissioned at Harjavalta in 1949 replacing the electric furnace and providing a further increase in copper output with subsequent enlargement of the refinery. By 1963, the plant consisted of 380 cells with a capacity of 48,000 tonnes/y of cathode copper. The Pori electrolytic copper refinery has operated continuously since 1941. Commencing in 2004 the Pori refinery has been part of the Boliden group of Sweden. The most recent plant upgrade was in 2007 with the installation of permanent cathode technology. In 2017, the production of the Pori refinery was 133,000 tonnes of copper cathode, 2,300 tonnes of nickel sulphate, along with 66 tonnes of silver and 4.6 tonnes of gold. This paper describes these outstanding achievements. INTRODUCTION In 1809 the Kingdom of Sweden was defeated by the Russian Empire in the Finnish War, and Finland was annexed by the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. Finland’s commercial and industrial interests were developed to serve the Empire’s needs. Finland had raw materials, but at the start of the 20th century Finnish industry was based on the use of wood as raw material and agricultural products. The mining industry was only a few percent of the country’s industrial production.

Jan 1, 2019

By Glenn Davis

In the world of large scale open pit mining, the majority of a mines operating cost is tied to the removal and transportation of the overburden waste material. Typically, many large haul trucks are employed to transport this overburden from each excavating face. The trucks transfer the waste material from deep within the pit to waste dumps on the surface incurring significant costs in operators, road construction and maintenance, vehicle maintenance staff and support facilities, fuel, tires, and spare parts, as well as the capital cost of the truck fleet itself. In addition, the haulage of the actual mined material carries similar operational costs. In both cases, these costs grow as the mine face advances and pit haulage distances increase. Reducing truck haulage is one key to the success of the Dual Truck Mobile Sizer (DTMS). Being the world?s first fully mobile truck dump station, transportation costs can be significantly reduced as the mine face advances. Furthermore, when used in conjunction with a shiftable face conveyor and a mobile overland hopper, substantial cost savings can be achieved. The mobility of the system allows for the considerable reduction in the haul truck fleet. Overall mine site emissions levels are greatly reduced by the fleet elimination, as well as keeping the majority of the hauls on a flat grade within the pit. Emission levels on a typical truck will dramatically spike as the angle and the length of the haul are increased. Moreover, comparing diesel engines versus electric powered conveyors to move the material contributes to the realized savings.

May 1, 2010

By K. Scholey, S. Marcuson

As high grade nickel sulphide ores are being depleted and with the continuing challenges experienced in economically processing nickel laterite ores, it is important to investigate technologies that can extract nickel from low grade ultramafic ores which are present in large quantities worldwide. In the Thompson Nickel Belt, there are some hundred million tonnes of mineralization that are potentially amenable to surface mining. Since the original discovery of the Thompson orebody, recovery of nickel from these ultramafic deposits has been an elusive goal. Research and development projects as well as commercial processing have been attempted. In the 2000's as other resources became scarcer, a major drilling, mine evaluation and research project was initiated at Vale. In 2007, Vale Base Metals Technology Development invited Cytec and potential academic partners to participate in an industry-university research consortium with the goal of developing new technologies and methods of processing the ultramafic deposits. Three university professors, J. Finch of McGill, P. Somasundaran of Columbia and R. Pelton of McMaster accepted, each group attacking the problem with a different approach. This paper describes the management of the research consortium and the significance of the results from Vale's perspective. The next four papers in this session will summarize the project and results from the partners' point of view. Vale is pleased to share the experience of the collaborative research and development with the mining industry.

Jan 1, 2011

By G. Lucas

"Material substitution occurs continuously in response to competitive and economic pressures. Technical development can accelerate or slow substitution by improving the performance of the invading or defending material. The choices are seldom simple and have to be made in the context of continuous commercial change.The development and commercialization of a new aluminum material is examined. The material has been introduced into· several different markets, so it is possible to compare and contrast the degree of success obtained in each.IntroductionAluminum-based materials have been in use for over one hundred years and , therefore, the development of a new family of alloys is rare. In the early 1970s, Dr. L.R. Morris and his coworkers at Alcan' s Kingston Research Centre started work on what was, at the time, something of a scientific curiosity-a family of alloys strengthened by an unusual mechanism.This paper deals with the development and commercialization of what became known as the Alcan 255 alloys"". These alloys have found uses in several markets, usually as improved substitutes for existing materials. Forecasting the usefulness of a substitute material in an existing marketplace is difficult, in part, because even material users are seldom able to specify precisely their requirements. This uncertainty can cause the failure of some substitutions but can also lead to opportunities which were not initially obvious.Technical BackgroundPure aluminum is a soft, weak material. It can be strengthened by the addition of various alloying elements and by work hardening. Alloying elements usually act by forming solid solutions which are stronger than the pure metal or by precipitating during heat treating or aging and so preventing the easy movement of dislocations during deformation. Elements which can perform either role had been investigated for decades and were thought to offer little chance of technical breakthrough in 1970. An outgrowth of the then new and exciting research on directional solidification seemed, however, to offer such promise.Some aluminum-iran-manganese alloys will solidify under certain conditions as 'coupled growth' eutectics (Figs. I and 2). The microstructure shows one phase growing as long rods through the other. This is an uncommon structure and it was investigated to see if it had equally unusual properties. On deformation by rolling the rods were broken up into small equiaxed , evenly-spaced particles (Fig. 3). Materials with this structure were found to be stronger than other alloys with similar amounts of alloying addition, and to resist thermal softening remarkably well. This combination of properties was thought initially to be due directly to the particles by a dispersion strengthening mechanism, but later this was found not to be strictly true."

Jan 1, 1987

By W. S. Dyer

Introduction In northern Ontario, refractory clay is found on four rivers of the James Bay watershed: the Abitibi, the Mattagami, the Missinaibi, and the Moose. The clay all belongs to the same geological formation ( the Mattagami of Lower Cretaceous age) , and occurs within a structural depression or 'basin', the boundaries of which have never been defined but which appears to cover at least 1,500 square miles of territory. The recently constructed James Bay extension of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario railway crosses the northeast end of the basin at the Onakawana lignite field, which by rail is 126 miles north of Cochrane, 605 miles north of Toronto, and 60 miles southwest of Moose Factory. Smoky Falls, the northern terminus of the railway owned by the Spruce Falls Power & Paper Company, Limited, is 7 miles south of one other point in the basin, i.e., the outcrops of refractory clay, sand, and kaolin at the foot of Long rapids on the Mattagami river. Smoky Falls is 50 miles north of Kapuskasing. In a very early report(l) , Dr. Robert Bell, of the Geological Survey of Canada, described '"light coloured marl in horizontal beds" from the Missinaibi river, and noted that the lignite also occurring in the river was probably :associated with the marls. This was undoubtedly the Cretaceous refractory day. Other early writers noted the occurrence of fire-clays, but it was not until Joseph Keele(2), of the Geological Survey, visited thee region in 1919 and studied the clays that their real significance was known.

Jan 1, 1933

By G. D. Bysouth, G. Y. Wong

"The Endako molybdenum deposit is located 160 km west of Prince George, British Columbia. It occurs within the main body of the Francois Lake Intrusions, a composite batholith consisting of early, middle and late intrusive phases. The ore deposit is confined to Endako Quartz Monzonite, a middle phase intrusion, which is bound on the north by Carey Alaskite and on the south by Francois Granite, both late stage intrusions. In the mine aretz, the Endako Quartz Monzonite has been intruded by pre-ore dikes of quartzfeldspar porphyry and porphyritic granite, and by post-ore dikesof basalt.The Endako deposit forms a west-northwest trending body that has a strike length of 3360 m and an apparent width of 370 m. It consists of four structurally distinct zones: Endako East, Endako West, Denak East and Denak West. Principal sulphide minerals of the deposit are pyrite and molybdenite, accompanied by magnetite and minor chalcopyrite. Galena, associated with wulfenite and bismuthinite, occurs in some ores of Endako West and Denak as minute inclusions in molybdenite. The sulphides and associated minerals are hosted by quartz veins which occur principally in vein systems. Hydrothermal alteration accompanying ore mineralization has pervasively kaolinized the quartz monzonite host rock, and has locally produced K-feldspar and quartz-sericite-pyrite envelopes on quartz veins.Primary structural controls of the deposit are southwesterly dipping vein systems which strike 110° in the Endako zones, 110° to 130° in Denak East and 170° in Denak West. Secondary structural controls are northeasterly striking vein systems that dip northwesterly in Endako East and southeasterly in Denak. Domal uplift accompanying the rise of latest stage magma is considered to have caused intense dilatant deformation along older west-northwest trending shear zones, producing an elongated structural host for ore deposition."

Jan 1, 1995

By J. P. Harrison, M. Grenon

"This paper summarizes the results of numerical studies on drift stability in moderately jointed rock masses. It investigates the relative pertinence of geomechanical factors such as joint orientation, spacing and stress regime. This is undertaken using a distinct element model and a series of parametric studies. IntroductionIn evaluating the stability of drifts in jointed rock, it is often necessary to compromise by employing models that capture the complexity of the rock mass, but which are still simple enough to allow for their routine implementation. The distinct element method can arguably provide an eloquent method to accomplish this. This paper explores the applicability of the method by means of a parametric study aiming to identify the dominant factors that influence the stability of drifts in moderately jointed rock. To this end a commercially available 2D distinct element numerical model was used. A series of techniques are presented in an effort to quantify the results of any instability predicted by the model.This paper also demonstrates a case study where a 3D joint network model was integrated into the distinct analysis software package. The advantages, as well as the current limitations of this approach, are discussed."

Jan 1, 2001

By Harry F. Weaver

WHEN 1 was assigned by the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines to present a paper at this annual meeting of the Mining Society of Nova Scotia, 1 was grateful, honoured, and elated to realize finally a life-long desire to see your beautiful land and visit with you who have the good fortune to live and work here. Naturally, in preparing for this important event, 1 wanted to give you something of special interest within the limits of the subject so I chose an area dose to my heart -the operation of our Federal coal mine inspection service, which has, as its fundamental purpose, the prevention of accidents in and around ?Coal mines. In 1957 the United States had 10,879 active coal mines scattered throughout 28 States and the Territory of Alaska. The production of coal for the year was about 515,472,000 tons, including 2.5,472,000 tons of anthracite and 490,000,000 tons of bituminous coal and Hgnite. Anthracite is mined principally in a comparatively small area of one State. AU the 28 States and the Territory produce bituminons coal and/or lignite. The beds mined range from 18 inches to more than 100 feet in thickness and from the horizontal to the perpendicular.

Jan 1, 1958

By W. B. Paton

Introduction For several reasons the accident history of Flin Flon has been quite unlike that of any other mine in northern Canada, and very much unlike that of the average American metal mine. Towards the end of 1928, the mining project that is now Flin Flon, and that is now in the very: forefront of Canada's big producers was launched; but, metaphorically, it was launched in a tempest of mining troubles. Each branch of the mammoth enterprise was beset with extraordinary difficulties, and the Safety Department had its relative share. Difficulties in Accident Prevention The unusually rugged contour of the plant site made roads, and even moderately safe pathways, out of the immediate question. The project established an industrial outlet for depression-stricken areas which hitherto had been essentially agricultural; but through that outlet poured labour whose working atmosphere had been the bald prairie, labour that knew nothing of safety consciousness, labour that had to be moulded to industrialism, labour in the raw. A considerable length of the ore-body lay under the eastern section of Flin Flon lake. Open-pit methods were adopted to work the upper limits of the ore-body, and consequently the eastern section of the lake had to be dammed and pumped dry. The subsequent difficulties and hazards created by silt deposit cannot be fully visualized. And, finally, there was a geographical hindrance: the ore-body was partly in the Province of Manitoba and partly in the Province of Saskatchewan. The workmen's compensation problem became intricate. Insofar as accident prevention is concerned, Flin Flon's young industrial life may be conveniently divided into three distinct periods, namely: (a) Construction (Nov. 1928-June 1930) (b) Tuning up, and production till the strike (June 1930-June 1934) (c) Production from the strike till the present time At the peak of construction, due to the usual labour fluctuations of big jobs, there was a weekly turnover of about a hundred men. A very large percentage were Central Europeans, most of whom could neither read nor write English. Consequently, an organized safety programme was out of the question.

Jan 1, 1935

By P. Diehl, M. David

"As shortage in the supply of mineral commodities become more probable, there is an increasing need for reliable and comparable reserve/resource data. It is therefore necessary to standardize the traditional classification procedure by quantifying the three basic criteria in resource evaluation: economic feasibility, geologic assurance and recovery. For the portion of fairly well documented deposits and as far as their geologic parameters are concerned, geostatistical methods can considerably improve the quality of ore classification. In respect of economic feasibility and recovery, approved geostatistical methods can be introduced directly into the classification procedure. The concept of geologic assurance, however, requires a new interpretation in terms of geostatistical error spread. As the ""risk"" in estimating an ore parameter is also a function of the respective block size, it is reasonable to define not only upper limits for the risk intervals for each class of uncertainty, but also block dimensions which reflect the typical stage of planning associated with the different ore categories. An algorithm has been developed to block out areas inside a mine or a large panel which satisfies the constraints of an ore category in respect of the risk intervals of a parameter and in respect of their size. The method has been computerized and is demonstrated on a massive copper-nickel deposit.IntroductionFacing an uncertain future with respect to the demand and supply of mineral commodities, both governmental authorities and the mining industries show an increasing interest in a useful framework for the assessment and classification of the remaining mineral resources"". This is reflected by the recently published appraisal and classification scheme of the United Nations as well as by the new or revised classification systems of the USA; Canada or Australia. Moreover there are various classification schemes which are currently discussed in major mining companies."

Jan 1, 1982

By Q. Liu, P. Katsabanis, J. A. Meech

A thermohydrodynamic computer code has been used to simulate dust explosions. For sulphide dusts, the thermodynamic predictions are used to investigate the effect of dust concentration, mineral content and inert materials as well as the quantity of sulphur dioxide produced. It was found that the amount of oxygen available for the explosion is very important and that the dust concentration which gives maximum explosion pressures is obtained at zero or slightly negative oxygen balance values. The sulphide minerals were found to have the following explosibility sequence: pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, covellite, chalcocite and galena, which is in agreement with mine experience. The results show that theoretical calculations can be used to predict explosion pressures and toxic gases produced by a dust explosion and therefore they can assist in the design of protective measures .

May 11, 1988

By Jeremy G. Berg, James B. Mulligan

"There is a very small fraction of wireless experts in the world with experience in underground installations and an even smaller fraction that have experience specific to building mine shafts. This is why in 2009, Redpath created its own system to meet the demands specific to shaft construction. Today, after a dozen shaft installations and several design iterations, Redpath has the expertise and experience required to implement a proper wireless system in any shaft configuration.This document will explain multiple proven wireless communication designs optimized for shaft construction and suitable for permanent use. This includes line of sight installations up to 1200m, short range mesh networks, and the latest patent pending Integrated Leaky Feeder Mesh Network. Additionally, this document will explore the lessons that Redpath learned in its effort to interconnect the people and tools needed to build a mine shaft.INTRODUCTIONAfter a decade of research, several design iterations and a dozen application examples, Redpath has resolved two wireless network architectures to best serve mine shaft construction projects.The long range line-of-sight (LOS) wireless network is the most cost effective and easiest to install, but requires an unobstructed line of sight between the working area and the shaft collar. As such, long range LOS is best suited for ventilation shafts or during the first phase of shaft sinking, before the shaft is equipped.Alternatively, a mesh network uses radios installed at pre-determined intervals in the shaft and on each conveyance. A wireless mesh uses antennas to bridge intervals between shaft radios, whereas Redpath’s integrated leaky feeder mesh network (patent pending) bridges these intervals with radiating cable, commonly referred to as a “leaky feeder” cable. Both of these mesh configurations can provide continuous reception for hoist conveyances travelling in shafts without line-of-sight, making them ideal for shaft equipping and even permanent installations in both mine shafts and lateral drifts.BACKGROUNDHoist operators receive operating commands using what are commonly referred to as “bell signals.” These instructions are delivered in a series of coded pulses on a spring returned pull cord or push button that is typically hardwired back to the hoist operator’s control room from one of many locations in the mine shaft. During the construction phase of a traditional mine shaft, a worker riding inside the sinking bucket would have to reach out to a pull cord installed on the shaft wall to send a stop command to the hoist operator. Today, Redpath’s modern shaft sinking projects use fully enclosed personnel carriers to protect the workers riding inside, specifically preventing workers from reaching out into the shaft while the hoist is in motion. The enforcement of this safety feature on all shaft projects in 2008 forced the engineering group at Redpath to find a suitable wireless solution for hoist communication to facilitate shaft construction.THE IDEAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR MINE SHAFT CONSTRUCTIONIdeally, the shaft communication system should not transform the tools to which the miners have grown accustomed. It should support the push-to-talk functionality of traditional VHF handsets and the standard belling system that has been used for decades. Additionally, it should be able to support a vendor independent framework upon which new devices and features can be added. The following paragraphs summarize some of the important requirements Redpath has identified.Support for voice transmission: Low latency is critical to prevent jitter during voice transmissions. The system must be compatible with commercially available mobile handsets and support several simultaneous conversations with the ability to broadcast a voice message to all users on a select channel using a “push-to- talk” microphone and loudspeaker.Transmission of PLC data: Low latency is required to"

Jan 1, 2019

By C. S. Parsons

Introductory The steady advance in the price of lead and zinc in the metal markets of the world during the past few years has resulted in an active search for new deposits of these metals, and to the re-examination of known properties that are now idle. There are a number of deposits of these metals in eastern Canada, the best known of which are the Tetreault mine at Notre Dame des Anges, Que.; the Reader mine on Calumet island, Que.; the Stirling property in Cape Breton, and the Federal mine in Gaspe district, Que. . The author has run concentration tests on the ores from the first three mentioned properties. The ores from Notre Dame des Anges and Calumet island presented problems in concentration which were not successfully solved until the past year. Although considerable experimental work has been done by the Ore Testing Laboratories on the ore from the Stirling mine we have not been successful in developing a satisfactory method of treatment. Character and Types of Ores Metallurgically the lead-zinc ores of eastern Canada may be classified into three distinct types as follows: First: - Ore in which the sulphide minerals are fairly coarsely crystalline and can be freed by crushing to 40 or 60 mesh. The zinc blend has a high iron content (not marmatite) and gives a dark brown colour on grinding. The ores of Notre Dame des Anges and Calumet island, Que., may be cited as examples.

Jan 1, 1925

The system of keeping geological plans and sections for the Geco Mine at Manitouwadge, Ontario, is described. Special methods employed to save draughting time with-out sacrificing accuracy, such as the extensive use of black line prints, are discussed. The uses made of the plans and sections by the mine planning engineers in their designs of stopes, and by the blast-hole engineer in ~is preparation of blast-hole layouts, are noted. An unusual scheme for portraying the distribution of .copper, zinc and silver values within the ore zone is de-scribed. The method of estimating the grade of ore to be "blasted in each ring of blast holes is outlined, as is the method of estimating the annual ore reserves. The design of an effective but simple transparent geo-logical and mine development model, used as a display for -visitors, is discussed. A large-scale model used for the study of problems in geological structure is also de-scribed.

Jan 1, 1964

By C. W. K

This little sketch of the late Willet G. Miller, Provincial Geologist of Ontario, is intended to be neither a biography of his career nor a eulogy of his life. His biography has already been written in an incomparable manner by Mr. T. A. Rickard, his eulogy by Canon Cody. What more can be said of Dr. Miller than is summed up in the words of that great Canadian divine, Canon Cody, that he was "Big in body, big in heart, and, as we learned, big in brain." This article, then, will merely record a few personal reminiscences of the man himself, and while they are necessarily disjointed, they may at least serve to illustrate certain traits in his character which are not generally known or appreciated outside of the circle of his intimate friends. In the latter part of May in the year 1904, Willet G. Miller, with two? assistants, set out for the small village of Haileybury to begin his geological work in the area a few miles to the south which he was soon to name Cobalt. At that time the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario railway was not finished, although the right-of-way was cleared and partly graded. The nearest railway station was on the Canadian Pacific at the south end of lake Timiskaming, from which point the old steamer Meteor carried passengers and freight up the long, narrow and deep waters of lake Timiskaming, a very pleasant trip of some sixty miles. On this particular trip there was a fairly large crowd on board consisting of settlers going into the clay belt north of lake Timiskaming, of lumbermen, and of a few merchants and commercial travellers who were interested in the small business centres of Haileybury, New Liskeard and Ville Marie. Scarcely any attention was paid to the reports of the newly found silver deposits, although the daily papers had announced discoveries in the district six months before. As a matter of fact, the chief excitement on board was afforded by a moose, which, in swimming from the Ontario to the Quebec shore of the lake, crossed the bow of the boat, the captain steering to within a few yards of the terrified animal.

Jan 1, 1925

By Robert B. Parsons

"Two recent decisions by the Canadian courts could reduce the taxes paid by many profitable mines in Canada. At a time when the mining sector is hurting from an ever increasing tax burden and soft prices, the results of two cases are welcome news. Mining companies are well advised to check prior years' tax returns in the context of these developments. IntroductionSince 1976, the income tax legislation has provided a reduced rate of tax for taxpayers engaged in the mining of mineral resources, through the mechanism of the ""resource allowance"". The deduction given for the resource allowance effectively reduces the federal rate of tax by one quarter on resource profits. In general terms, ""resource profits"" are defined to include a taxpayer's income from: the production and processing in Canada of ore to any stage that is not beyond the prime metal stage (or the pellet stage or its equivalent in the case of iron ore); and, royalties computed with reference to the amount of value of production from mining operations in Canada.In computing income from these sources, the taxpayer must deduct expenses that may reasonably be regarded as applicable to those sources, with the exception of expenditures for Canadian exploration and development or financing costs.As a result of the mechanics of the calculation of the resource allowance, one quickly realizes that the lower the expenses deducted from the resource profits, the higher the resource profits and consequently the higher the 25% resource allowance. The impact of the recent court cases is to narrow the range of expenses which are required to be deducted in the determination of the resource profits.The two cases are outlined below."

Jan 1, 1991

By Troy Boisjoli, Sean Hillacre, Matt Batty

Discovered in 2014, the Arrow Uranium Deposit has undergone rapid development through successive drilling programs informed by geostatistical drill hole spacing studies. An independent third-party geostatistical drill hole spacing study was completed by Clayton V. Deutsch Consultants Inc. in 2017, evaluating the uncertainty of thickness, grade, density, and areal limit of the Arrow Deposit to determine a drill hole spacing suitable for Indicated Mineral Resources. Indicated spacing was defined to be 24 to 32 metres (“m”) to be within 15% of predicted for a nominal quarterly production volume with a probabilistic tolerance between 75 and 90%. The study not only defined the Indicated Mineral Resource resultant from the 2016 drill program, but also provided drill hole targeting criteria for subsequent drill programs aiming to convert Inferred to Indicated Mineral Resources. A subsequent geostatistical drill hole spacing study on the Arrow Deposit was completed by Clayton V. Deutsch with Resource Modeling Solutions in December 2018 to define Measured Mineral Resource spacing in support of the 2019 drill campaign. The study resulted in a drill hole spacing of 9 to 17 m to be within 15% of predicted for monthly and quarterly production volumes using an accepted industry probabilistic tolerance of 90%.

Jan 1, 2020

By Joël P. T. Kapusta, Liam J. Watt

The last extended copper smelting and converting survey dates back to the 2003 International Copper Conference held in Santiago, Chile. The following year, the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society of AIME (TMS) started a new series in its Journal of Metals (JOM) called JOM World Nonferrous Smelters Survey devoting its first Part to Copper. The copper smelting landscape has significantly changed in the past 15 years, both in geographical terms with the shift of copper smelting production from the Americas to China and in technological terms with the growing adoption rate of Top-Submerged Lancing (TSL) technologies and the development and implementation of Bottom-Blowing technologies. A copper smelting survey update, even if not as in-depth as the 2003 Copper Smelting Survey, is therefore in order. The authors will review the latest trends in copper smelting technologies and production worldwide in comparison to the landscape of the early 2000s. INTRODUCTION This 2019 copper smelting survey is different from previous surveys as our data does not originate exclusively from responses to a questionnaire sent to all the copper smelters. Our data comes from several sources. We are therefore very thankful to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) and Wood Mackenzie for sharing some of their information and to ENFI, Outotec, and Glencore Technologies for helping us cross-check our numbers for the Chinese smelters, flash smelting, Ausmelt, and Isasmelt technologies. Our survey presents data reporting from a total of 96 operating copper smelters from around the globe, which is significantly higher than the 50 surveyed in 2003. Although secondary smelting numbers have steadily increased over time, this paper focuses on primary smelting operations with copper concentrate as feed material. The list in this survey is still far from complete, with missing information from several known smelting operations. The total primary copper production tonnage of the smelters we surveyed amounts to 18.3 million metric tonnes from 29 countries representing 92% and 94% of total world primary production for 2018 estimated by ICSG and Wood Mackenzie, respectively. This representation has increased from 2003 when the total was 9.71 million metric tonnes from 23 countries accounting for 73% of world production. The trends presented and analyzed within this paper have stronger significance because of the increase in production accounted for. The Chinese and Russian smelter information collected is more detailed than years past. Our complete dataset is summarized in Table 1 at the end of our paper.

Jan 1, 2019

By T. Haubold, K. Ortner, T. Jung, D. Roth-Fagaraseanu, C. Mattern

Application of integrally bladed disks (blisks) is of increasing interest in compressors of aero engines. Blisks are preferred due to their potential for size and weight reduction, for increased performance and for reduced manufacturing costs compared to conventionally bladed disks. Erosion of the blisk aerofoils in service reduces engine performance, and can result in short shop visit cycles. This significantly increases the life cycle cost of these components, particular when considering that eroded aerofoils can't be exchanged easily for blisks during refurbishment. Shop visit cycle times can be extended and maintenance costs can be reduced through the application of an effective protective coating. The ongoing development of an erosion resistant coating and deposition process suitable for coating complex blisk geometries is described here. The coating is a multilayered W /TiB2 system exhibiting superior erosion resistance compared to known single- and other multilayer concepts. A modified sputter process is used to enable coating even of blisk geometries with shadowed surface to competitive recurring cost.

Jan 1, 2006