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By Robert D. Brown

"Important tax changes, many of them of direct interest to the mining industry, were contained in the budgets brought down by federal and provincial finance ministers across Canada this spring. This month, Tax Notes presents a brief summary of important tax changes introduced at the federal and provincial levels in the last few months.IntroductionIn the March 1980 issue of the CIM Bulletin, Tax Notes surmised that the short-lived 1979 budget proposals of the former Conservative government offered a unique glimpse of budgetary changes that might be unfolded in 1980. Scene II of this ""now you see it-now you don't"" drama opened on April 21, 1980, when Finance Minister Allen MacEachen, in an ""economic statement""' reintroduced a selection of tax proposals taken from the ill-fated Conservative' budget of December 11, 1979, but refused to bring forward major new proposals in tax and finance.Mr. MacEachen proposed a 5% surtax on federal corporation income tax to apply in the 2 years from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1981, as a slightly modified version of the same surtax proposed by former Finance Minister Crosbie in his December budget address. Mr. MacEachen also reintroduced a number of technical amendments which would affect the taxation of mining income in certain instances. In addition, a large number of other tax proposals suggested in the previous Conservative budget were also reintroduced, although there are some notable omissions."

Jan 1, 1980

By K. John

"THE most recent estimate of minteable coal reserves in Saskatchewan was made by the Federal Royal Commission on Coal (1944- 6). Saskatchewan was then estimated to have some 24 per cent of the Canadian reserves and two-thirds of this is located in what is called the Souris-Estevan area, which lies in the southeast corner of the Province and border's on the International boundary. It is also estimated that there are some 61/2 million thousand-tons in this area of lignite coal which grades 8,000 B.t.u. or less and has a moisture content ranging from 30 to 33 per cent. Ownership of coal rights in the Province is widely dispersed between the Crown, individuals, and corporations, and a recent survey disclosed that 40 percent of ownership was vested in the Crown and 60 per cent in private individuals and corporations. Coal rights on Crown lands may be leased at an annual rental of $ 1.00 an acre. Under such leases, a royalty of 5 cents a ton is levied on all coal mined. A royalty of 7 cents a ton is levied on coal produced from lands where mineral rights were purchased from the Federal Government prior to the transfer of jurisdiction over natural resources to the Province, in 1931. An annual mineral tax of 50 cents per acre has also been imposed by the Provincial Government on all coals within a defined producing areas."

Jan 1, 1952

By S. S. Burns

"AbstractShovels of 18 cubic yard capacity and larger are described which incorporate advanced technology and techniques providing performance and operation tailored to meet the needs of open-pit mining.To achieve the goal s of increased production at lower cost with consideration of maximum availability, lower energy consumption per ton and low •impact on pit power, Harnischfeger Corporation developed a solid -state drive system (""Electrotorque"" - P&H trademark) and applied unique transmission methods.To date, more than 250,000 hours of experience in different parts of the world under varying operating and environmental conditions has proven that the ""Electrotorque"" shovel is the shovel of the future, today.This paper will discuss the electrical features and touch briefly on some mechanical features.Introduction to ""Electrotorque""THE hoist, crowd, propel and swing machinery of an electric mining shovel are driven by direct-current motors.A D.C. motor is used instead of an A.C. motor because the torque output per ampere input is at a maximum and the fact that it is doubly-fed (armature and field ) provides optimum flexibility in control.The power that is available in the pit is alternating current power. It is therefore necessary to change or convert this A.C. power to D.C. power so that the D.C. motors can be used."

Jan 1, 1977

By Wignall. T. K., J. De Geoffroy

Statistical models are fitted to the observed distributions of eighteen characteristics of the population of commercial porphyry deposits of North and South America. The statistical base required for the formulation of the statistical models includes 58 commercial porphyry-copper-molybdenum deposits of the Cordilleran Belt from which geological, geometric and economic data were collected. Predictive and composite models are derived from the statistical study to assist explorat10n. planning, engineering studies and fmanc1al analyses as required for the development of new porphyry deposits in the Cordilleran Belt.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. W. Wevers

Fatigue failure and accompanying brittle failure occurs frequently in heavy mining equipment. This paper discusses how fracture mechanics can be applied as a tool for crack control and crack management. Information is provided to determine if particular components are prone to brittle failure. By using existing fracture mechanics formulae, an estimation of the critical crack size can then be made. It is explained that for a successful application of fracture mechanics, both the actual engineering stress in the component and the mechanical properties of the applied material must be known. The importance of toughness at low temperatures is quantitatively illustrated by calculating critical crack sizes at room temperature and at below-zero temperatures. Understanding the possibilities of fracture mechanics will also produce a climate in which the purchaser of equipment can more precisely analyze the relative quality of components with respect to crack tolerance and failure prevention. In this manner, communication between the user and manufacturer of equipment may also become more precise and effective, leading to improved design.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. E. Grier, H. H. Aronson, H. F. Coffer

"Nuclear explosions are currently being planned for use in oil and gas production, the recovery of oil from oil shale, gas storage and copper leaching. The current status of each of these projects is discussed, with emphasis on the economics of each application. The first commercial application of nuclear explosives will be in gas stimulation. Project Gasbuggy will be rapidly followed by two additional shots, also related to gas production. These three events, each in a different formation, will be described in this paper with a discussion on their significance to the world's oil and gas industry. The use of nuclear explosives in oil and gas stimulation should be a standard accepted practice within a few years. Calculations based on explosions in media such as tuff, alluvium, granite and dolomite predict large increases in productivity when nuclear devices are used in tight, thick formations. The broken-up rock resulting from the explosion becomes the new well bore, with a production rate of six to twelve times that of a normally completed well.Also included in the paper is a discussion of the real or possible problems associated with nuclear explosive engineering. The only major foreseeable problem is the seismic shock wave. This limits the size of explosive which can be used near important surface structures. A discussion is included on the radiation problem, which we believe to be largely psychological in the case of contained explosions."

Jan 1, 1968

By J. O?Shea

From the characteristics of the new (1976) electronic components and units that are being marketed, the author has tried to foresee the types and the performances of the near-future slope-monitoring equipment. Much-improved sensors, instruments and systems for pit use can now be developed - sun-powered telemetry remote stations are feasible, very sensitive as well as precise and drift-free liquid level inclinometers will be available, new techniques for distance measurement with lasers obviate the need for atmospheric corrections and the latest generation of desktop calculators have become easily programmed minicomputers. Thus, it is realistic to assume that fully automatic pit-slope monitoring systems will be operational in the foreseeable future.

Jan 1, 1978

By A. Scheltema Beduin, H. Oterdoom, A. Haaks, C. Kempe, A. Liedtke

"For the Kazchrome DC Ferrochrome plant, SMS-group specifically designed an electrode column that would minimize downtime. Special features include the possibility for on load electrode jointing, on load slipping, and back-slipping. Electrode consumption is strongly related to furnace load and impedance, and is very low at high loads, which makes the graphite electrode an alternative to consider even in AC applications. The electrode could also be applied in other DC applications, as for example TiO2 slag, the novel Conroast process, or (twin) DC FeNi furnaces, and could possibly be installed during bigger shut downs. This paper will describe some of the design considerations and operational performance data on this novel column in the FeCr industry that could also be of interest for the FeNi or PGM industry if these would continue to develop towards DC technology.INTRODUCTION Every DC furnace has a cathode and an anode. The anode applied is commonly known as the Concast design, though the original design was by ABB who handed it over to Concast, subsidiary of the SMS-group. Some well-known DC furnaces outside the steel industry where the Concast bottom has been installed are listed in Table 1 as well as a few other key design features.Sidewall cooling and some other data have been left out for reasons of space, and being a lesser relevant design feature to this paper. HES stands for Hollow Electrode System, in which feed is charged through an electrode. Table 1 is built up chronologically according to first start-up date. Below comments are given to briefly explain some of the columns in Table 1: •,“Arm” in the “Cathode” column means that the design of the cathode holding and regulating mechanism consists of an electrode arm as depicted in Figure 1. •,Charging is relevant as some operations started with HES charging, whereas recently most new operations have started without HES but only charging chutes, of which at least some are close to the electrode and possibly others installed closer to the sidewall. •,“Dome” in the “Roof” column means that the design of the roof involves a center piece that can be exchanged if worn. •,The optimal roof design still seems to be a topic of debate, where no design is without problems."

Jan 1, 2017

By Vicken Aprahamian

"The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) operates a gold and silver refining toll operation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The silver refining line is a recent addition and was commissioned in 2005. One source of silver in the refinery is from gold doré which undergoes Miller chlorination before electrorefining to 99.99% cathode gold. Treatment of the Miller salt or silver-copper chloride produced consisted of a 2-stage high temperature reduction process step using soda ash prior to 2005. Copper-rich silver bars were produced and shipped offsite for further refining.The copper-rich bars could not be blended into sufficient high grade silver doré to dilute the copper and allow electrorefining in a silver nitrate medium. A new wet process was developed and commissioned to replace the high temperature reduction and allow removal of bulk copper. Thus upgraded impure silver produced was cast into anode for electrorefining to 99.9% purity silver flake. The 2005 RCM Hydromet Slag process is presented as well as its more current version. In addition, mention is made of a novel processing scenario for the introduction of Miller chlorination silver into the electrorefining circuit."

Jan 1, 2015

By C. H. G. Bushell, G. Brown, C. J. Krauss

1N FLOTATION, copper sulphate is used universally for the activation of sphalerite and marmatite and, to some extent, for the activation of other minerals. The copper activated surface readily adsorbs standard collectors such as the xanthates and dialkyl dithiophosphates whereas untreated zir~ sulphide does not. With the host of reagents available, making a mineral float is seldom difficult. The problem is to achieve selective flotation. In zinc flotation, the great value of copper sulphate results from its ability to activate zinc sulphide preferentially to gangue minerals. At the Sullivan Concentrator of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited, the most abundant gangue mineral in the lead-zinc ore is pyrrhotite, and the zinc mineral is marmatite of somewhat variable zinc to iron ratio. For this Cominco study, selectivity between marmatite and pyrrhotite was therefore the most interesting aspect of copper sulphate activation.

Jan 1, 1961

By M. J. Sapko, R. W. Watson, E. S. Weiss

The relative incerdivity of several blasting agents was evaluated in the Bureau's Bruceton Experimental Mine (BEM) . The minimum charge weights resulting in the ignition of predispersed oil shale dust clouds were measured for each of the explosives. A 400 g unstennned charge of ANFO (ammonium nitrate-fuel oil) was sufficient to initiate an oil shale dust explosion, whereas a 1000 g unstenuned charge of an emulsion blend did not ignite the dust even with the addition of 4% methane gas. Several stenuning materials were evaluated in the BEM for their effectiveness in preventing the ignition of near stoichiometric methane-air mixtures. Water stenuning was superior to all other inhibitors tested against methane. Explosibility testing of fine sulfide ore dust in a 20 L chamber and in the BEM show that the dust is capable of propagating an explosion given nominal concentrations of 700 to 800 g/m3. Results are encouraging and irrlicate that there is merit in pursuing explosive composition as a means of reducing ignition probability of oil shale and sulfide dust clouds generated during nonnal blasting operations. The proper selection of explosives and stenuning materials should significantly reduce the probability of secondacy dust explosions in oil shale and sulfide ore mining.

May 11, 1988

By E. S. Allen, P. R. Kruesi, J. L. Lake

An electrochemical process is described for converting concentrates of base-metal sulphides to the corresponding pure metals and elemental sulphur. The application of the process to chalcopyrite is discussed. The process is also of potential interest in processing copper-nickel sulphides, and laboratory data concerning this potential are presented. The process creates neither air nor water pollution.

Jan 1, 1973

By W. Petruk, D. R. Morris

"The lead concentrate produced from the volcanogenic base metal ore of Brunswick Mining and Smelting in New Brunswick contains major to trace amounts of iron, zinc, cadmium, arsenic, antimony, copper, silver, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, sulphur, tin, indium, mercury and manganese as impurities. When the concentrate is sintered some of these impurities enter a variety of oxide phases, whereas others precipitate as metals. In the lead blast furnace the oxide phases decompose and the impurities recombine 10 form new phases, most are eventually discharged to the slag. The metals of the sinter remain as metals in the lead blast furnace where even more are produced, and are discharged largely with the lead bullion,IntroductionMany lead concentrates are produced from volcanogenic base metal ores . Such ores contain a wide variety of trace minerals and trace elements , therefore, concentrate s obtained from them will contain the trace elements as impurities . The impurities in the lead concentrate from one such ore, the Brunswick No. 12 deposit of Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation (BM S) in the Bathurst area in New Brunswick , were studied as pan of a larger investigation that was conducted to determine the extent of chemical reactions of the sinter within the lead blast furnace(1,2) The lead concentrate was investigated to identify the host mineral s for the impurities, the lead sinter was studied to identify the host phases, and frozen products from different depths within the BMS blast furnace at Belledune, New Brunswick were studied to determine the behaviour of the impurities.T he investigation was performed by pre pa ring polished sections o f the samples and studying them with a reflecting microscope, a scanning electron microscope (SE M) equipped with a Kevex energy dispersive X-ra y analysis system, a microprobe, and a Quantimet 720 image analyzer. The samples were also analyzed by X-ray diffractometer, and individual grains were analyzed by the Debye-Scherrer X-ray powder film method."

Jan 1, 1985

"4.1. IntroductionThis chapter reviews the geochemistry of the platinum-group elements (POE) in sulphur-poor silicate rocks, and the limited data on POE in silicate, oxide, sulphide, arsenide and sulpharsenide minerals. The earliest geochemical studies of POE in silicate rocks, minerals and meteorites were carried out mainly by Goldschmidt, the Noddacks and their co-workers, and are reviewed in Crocket (1969). These researchers established the siderophile character of the POE, emphasized the common association of the group with sulphides in ultramafic-mafic rocks and suggested that very low concentrations of POE are typical of sulphur-poor silicate rocks and minerals. Much of these data were for Pt and Pd only and are more than 50 years old. Because of the poor sensitivity typical of the available analytical methods, few reliable data were obtained on silicate rocks in these early studies. Surveys of POE geochemistry demonstrate that the data base for sulphur-poor silicate rocks is very restricted, although considerable highquality data for Pd and Ir have been accumulated (Wright and Fleischer 1965, Yushko-Zakharova eta/., 1967, Mertie 1969, Crocket 1969, 1979, Keays 1981).Two recent publications, Vol. 71, No. 7 (1976), of Economic Geology (An Issue Devoted to Platinum-Group Elements) and Vol. 17, Part 2 (1979), of The Canadian Mineralogist (Nickel-Sulphide and Platinum-Group-Element Deposits), are of special interest. These volumes are clear testimony to the impressive progress made in the last decade toward describing the mineralogical and geochemical aspects of POE ore deposits, but at the same time demonstrate the constraints in modelling POE ore genesis due to our meager knowledge of the. POE content and distribution among minerals in the source rocks of ultramafic and mafic magmas. It is clear that the phases hosting POE in mantle source rocks are poorly understood. Nevertheless, Naldrett and Duke (1980) have shown that the absolute and relative concentrations of POE in magmatic sulphide ores are related to the degree of partial melting of mantle peridotites, and subsequent processes of batch equilibration and fractional segregation of sulphides."

Jan 1, 1979

By D. B. Haas

THE HYDRAULIC TRANSPORT of solids is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout the world. Major long-distance slurry pipelines currently in operation transport commodities such as coal and various ore concentrates distances of up to hundreds of miles. In the United States, a number of large-diameter, high-tonnage pipelines are under consideration for the transport of Western Plains coal to markets up to 1000 miles away. In these and other applications, the solids are generally quite fine, with 14 mesh being a typical limit of particle size for long-distance (over 100 miles) slurry transport. There are applications where it might be practical to transport solids consisting of larger particles distances of up t o 100 miles. Deposits of high-quality metallurgical coal are found in the inner foothills belt along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains on the Alberta-B. C. border. There are few existing railroad s and the possibilities of constructing extensions are limited because of environmental and economic factor s. In these circumstances, the most efficient transportation system might consist of a pipeline to transport the coal from the mine to beneficiation plants located near existing railroads 50 or 100 miles away. Such systems would minimize environmental effects, capital cost s and operating costs. To determine whether such a system would be technically feasible, experimental testing is needed to determine the energy requirements for transporting coarse coal in a pipe line. Currently, run-of-mine metallurgical coal is crushed to less than 1 1/2 inches before going to the beneficiation plant. In the proposed scheme, coal of this size would be transported through a pipeline to the beneficiation plant located at the railroad. The Transportation Development Agency and the Department of Supply and Services have awarded a contract to the Saskatchewan Research Council to study pipelining of coarse coal in pipelines ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches in diameter.

Jan 1, 1977

By B. Erdem, N. Çelebi

An important problem associated with tandem dragline systems is that of matching the productive capability of individual draglines in the combination. In this paper, a dependence mechanism among draglines in a tandem system is described, and possible consequential problems in a poorly-matched system are defined. The rate of linear advance and the cost of stripping are determined as two major indications for an efficient operation. The proposed decision criteria and the underlying mechanism to select a synchronous couple are introduced and used in simulating tandem dragline systems. The developed model is tested on a hypothetical strip mine where pullback stripping is applied with a tandem dragline system.

Jan 1, 1999

By R. P. D. Graham

It is almost exactly two hundred years since the foundations of the mining and metallurgical industries in Canada were laid. There '."'as nothing spectacular about this early start. It had to do with the most basic phases of these industries-the mining of coal and iron ore, and the manufacture of cast and wrought iron. At several points along the coast of Cape Breton island, coal seams may be seen outcropping quite conspicuously, and it is probable that they had been observed, and possibly worked in a small way, in very early times. However that may be, these coal seams have the distinction of being the first in North America of which there is any printed record, reference to them appearing in a volume by Nicolas Denys which was published in Paris in 1672. Regular coal mining in the district did not commence until about fifty years later, however. The metallurgists started their operations along the north shore of the St. Lawrence river. Here, at many points between Montreal and Quebec, are to be found deposits of bog iron ore, and in 1 730 a furnace for smelting such ore was established on the St. Maurice river. The St. Maurice forges continued in operation until 1880, and throughout that long period they were famed for the fine quality of castings produced, and also for a-superior wrought iron.

Jan 1, 1924

By Peter McBride

Human excellence in all areas of endeavour is acknowledged and recognized. Establishing role models and spreading the word on best practices helps broader audiences. For on-the-job safety, recognition awards are a component of successful programs. In Canada?s mining industry since 1941, the John T. Ryan Safety Trophies initiative has contributed to the sector?s improving record in this area. The much sought after and rich in history John T. Ryan trophies are recognized symbols of safety excellence in Canada. The effectiveness of the Ryan safety recognition program in Canada has led to its export to other mining countries seeking to improve their overall safety performance.

May 1, 2008

By John J. Jonas, Hong Qin

Cylindrical samples of pure titanium were subjected to uniaxial compression at room temperature, leading to the formation of three generations of twins. Many primary contraction twins were observed as the initial texture was favourable for their formation. Numerous secondary extension twins formed within the primary contraction twins and some tertiary contraction twins within the secondary extension twins. The orientations of these three generations of twins were determined by electron backscatter diffraction techniques and their associated Schmid factors (SFs) were calculated. The formation of the twin variants selected in each generation and the absence of certain potential variants are accounted for by rotating the twinning displacement gradient tensor expressed in the twin system reference frame into the crystallographic reference frame of the relevant neighbouring grain. The presence of the observed primary, secondary and tertiary twins is explained in terms of the ease of imposing the required accommodation strains on the neighbouring grains. By contrast, certain first, second and third generation potential high SF twins were absent because their formation would have required accommodation by the most difficult deformation mode: pyramidal glide.

Jan 1, 2015

By R. A. King, B. G. Hunt, C. E. T. White

"This paper reviews the history, occurrence, properties, and uses of indium, and describes the commercial production and fabrication of that metal by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited (Cominco), at Trail, B.C'. Indium is produced commercially at Trail from dross retreatment furnace D.R.F.) slag, a complex by-product of the lead smelting operations. Furnace feed prepared from this slag is smelted with coke and limerock in an electric furnace. The e1ectric furnace bullion is parted electrolytically, producing a market-able lead-tin alloy containing about 8 per cent tin, and leaving the indium in the anode slime. Recovery of indium from the anode slime involves roasting the slime with sulphuric acid, followed by leaching with water, purifying the leach solution, recovering the indium by sponging with zinc or aluminum, and re-fining electrolytically. This process yields standard grade (99.97+ per cent) indium which is either sold or refined •to high purity ( 99.999 per cent) indium for special uses requiring higher purity metal."

Jan 1, 1959