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By Gunther F. Leichtle, James A. Finch, Colin A. Hardie, Cesar O. Gomez

"The recycling of wastepaper has become an important and common process worldwide. Techniques similar to those used in the mineral processing industry are used to produce high quality recycled fibers for use in newsprint. The mineral processing group at McGill University in conjunction with the Pulp and Paper industry (Mechanical and Chemi-mechanical Wood Pulp Network) has adapted one of these techniques, column flotation, for the purpose of deinking wastepaper. This article describes the typical process of recycling wastepaper from a mineral processing point of view. It also presents results from McGill University's flotation column test work at a Quebec wastepaper recycling facility.IntroductionThe recycling of wastepaper has become an important and common process worldwide, including Canada which is now the world's largest importer of wastepaper (CPPA, 1996). Much of the current drive to increase the utilization rate of recovered paper is a reaction to the solid-waste disposal problem that faces many Canadian and U.S. municipalities. The real problem in the disposal of solid waste is not the absolute amount of garbage that must be disposed of each year but this amount in relation to available disposal capacity.Environmental restrictions on the creation of new landfill sites and incinerators (the two main options for disposal of municipal solid waste) have tightened the demand/supply balance in the solid waste disposal market. This shrinking availability of waste disposal sites in the face of increasing population with greater disposal requirements defines the Developed World's solid waste crisis. Not only are there fewer disposal sites available, but the costs of using them is skyrocketing. These factors have increased government regulations mandating recycled paper content in newsprint. Conservation and environmental issues make the current drive for wastepaper recycling a real issue and business opportunity.A key to the success of producing quality recycled fibers from wastepaper is the deinking technology. The production of tissue papers, paper towels and newsprint requires regenerated fibers which are substantially free of ink particles. Of the various options available, mineral processing techniques can offer the most economical, environmentally acceptable and versatile strategies (Yoon, 1993). Today, it is recognized that flotation is one of the most effective processes for removing ink particles in the production of a high quality product. In a collaborative program with the Pulp and Paper industry, the mineral processing group at McGill University has adapted column flotation technology for this purpose. This article will describe the typical process of deinking from a mineral processing point of view (Part A). It will also present some results from McGill University's flotation column test work at a nearby paper recycling facility (Part 8)."

Jan 1, 1998

By T. V. Nethery

Introduction A brief account of the East Malartic fire is essential if this paper is to serve the purpose implied by its title. The fire originated in the timbers of No. 4 shaft at the 10th, or 1,570-foot, level; this was the top or collar of the underground sinking operations. At the time, sinking was in progress and the shaft bottom was 242 feet below the 12th station horizon, or 618 feet 'below the l0th level. Above the l0th level, the shaft was not in use as the surface plant was not yet completed. The shaft crews descended from surface in No. 3 vertical shaft to the l0th level, where they transferred to No. 4 shaft, a distance of 1,450 feet. Of the sixteen shaftmen mucking at the shaft bottom, four were able to reach safety. One shaftman was overcome by fumes midway between the two shafts on the l0th level, while attempting his escape. The remaining eleven men climbed as far as the 11th station and there succumbed to carbon monoxide. No. 4 shaft, inclined at 61 degrees, bad been raised and timbered from the 10th level to surface; this bad been followed by sinking operations below the l0th. Two air hoists had been set up in the footwall of the shaft, 110 feet above the 10th level, and directly behind compartments No. 2 and No. 4. The waste from the shaft bottom was hoisted in 28-cubicfoot buckets on mono rails and dumped over standard shaft sinking doors into waste chutes built into No. 1 and No. 3 compartments. The five-compartment shaft, 7 ft. 8 in. by 34 ft. 6 in. overall size, was heavily timbered. In addition to the standard shaft timbers of 8 in. by 8 in. and 8 in. by 10 in. B.C. fir, the hanging-wall and ends of the shaft were laced with 4-inch spruce lagging. This represented approximately 300 board feet of timber in placee for every foot of shaft. The cause of the fire bas never been determined, despite every effort to do so. The inquest held for those who lost their lives in the fire was an extremely thorough one, but only the location of the origin, and not the cause, was established.

Jan 1, 1950

By J. C. O'Rourke

"Gibraltar Mines Ltd. has been operating its open pit copper mine for fifteen years. In that time over 140 million tons of waste and low grade material has been placed on the mine waste dumps. Laboratory and in-situ testing indicated that enough leachable copper was recoverable from the dumps to justify a leaching operation which would include the construction of a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant. The plant, which was commissioned in October, 1984 was designed to process 3,000 usgpm of dilute copper solution to produce 5,000 tons per year of high quality cathode copper.This paper deals with the start up and initial year of operation of Gibraltar's SX-EW plant. The three areas: leaching solvent extraction and electrowinning are presented with emphasis on the innovations which were made to help overcome the problems unique to die Gibraltar operation.THE LEACHING CIRCUITThe mines waste dumps are leached to produce a pregnant copper solution as feed to the SX-EW plant. To achieve this the dumps are sprinkled with a mildly acidic solution which percolates through the dump. In travelling through the dumps the solution contacts the surfaces of the liberated copper minerals and disolves the soluble copper into the form of copper sulphate. The leaching reaction is achieved by a combination of bacterial action to oxidize the suphides and solublization of the copper into the acid solution.For the bacterial action to occur the dumps must be at or near the ideal pH of 1.9 - 2.1 and the necessary elements of the reaction must be present. Because a bacterial reaction is involved there is a lag time between the time when the conditions for bacterial growth are achieved and when the bacteria are in their active growth phase. Laboratory tests with Gibraltar ore indicated that bacterial action takes two to three months to reach its maximum rate. See figure 1.The expected lag time for the planned rate of bacterial leaching prompted Gibraltar to start irrigating the dumps in late June 1986 for a plant start up in early fall. The lag time proved to be longer than expected and the dumps took until November to start producing copper at the expected rate. See figure 2."

Jan 1, 1988

By Etienne Roy Grégoire

Since the early 1990s, the Canadian mining industry has been increasingly defined by the signing of Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) between mining companies and Aboriginal peoples. While these agreements are intended to complement the legal system, they also serve to establish the legitimacy of mining projects and to encourage the harmonious integration of these projects into their social and environmental contexts. Beyond their practical implications, what are the effects of such agreements on the ability of Aboriginal communities to access the institutional space where the authorization of mining projects and the conditions of their implementation are decided? Can we view IBAs as a preliminary step towards the operationalization of the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent? This paper aims to explore the potential of IBAs as a sustainable solution to the legitimacy issues that result from the implementation of the formal regulatory framework governing mining activities in this jurisdiction. We highlight what constraints and opportunities the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) engenders for local communities and draw attention to the ways in which the negotiation of the Raglan IBA and the environmental evaluation processes act upon each other. We find that certain structural problems - and problems of legitimacy ? related to mining in Northern Quebec cannot be solved by the sole signature of an IBA, which suggests the need for caution when considering such agreements as a panacea. The Raglan case demonstrates that IBAs, like other modes of regulation relying on the direct interface between companies and communities, would benefit from a stricter framework and more explicit ties with official regulation channels.

Aug 1, 2013

By Lawrence Devon Smith

"The Management and Economics Society has undertaken a survey of industry practice in the evaluation of mineral projects. The survey addresses a number of issues relating to evaluation techniques, discounted cash flow methodology, and risk. Completed during the spring and summer of2005, the results provide a record of opinion at an active and vital time in our industry.The 2005 survey questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to groups and organizations around the world. There were 22 respondents out of several hundred questionnaires distributed (we gather this small proportion of respondents is typical for such surveys). The responses, although a small number, show a consistency that suggests that the survey has captured the views of the industry. The results of the survey are summarized below in series of tables and graphs.The reader is cautioned that the results are a snapshot of industry practice at a point in time as represented by a small sampling of the industry's practitioners. These results should be viewed as indicative values."

Jan 1, 2003

By Peter A. Witt

Highland Valley Copper is a conventional truck-shovel mining and flotation concentrator operation located some 75 kilometres southwest of Kamloops, B.C. (Figure 1). The ore is located within a porphyry copper deposit and is mined at a rate of 135,000 metric tonnes per day from two separate open pits. The nearby mill produces concentrates containing 375 million pounds of copper and 5 million pounds of molybdenum metal yearly. In the Valley pit, head grades are roughly 0.40% Cu at a 0.23% Cu equivalent cut-off. The Valley pit strip ratio currently sits at 0.55:1 with waste quantities made up of separate rock and unconsolidated overburden units. From the mill, concentrates are trucked to nearby Ashcroft and then hauled by rail to ocean port facilities in Vancouver. The mine employs 950 persons and is planned to operate until 2009. The operation is a partnership between TeckCominco with a 63.9% interest, BHP Billiton holding 33.6%, and others 2.5%. Management is shared by the two principal owners and directed by a management committee.

May 1, 2003

By J. Standen T.

The main purpose of this publication is to present relevant advances in processes and technologies of importance for consideration in the design of new refineries and the modernization of existing refinery facilities. Operation at current densities of between 300 A/m2 and 350 A/m2 is already part of the criteria customarily implemented on recent projects. This is due in part to the development of permanent cathode technology. In recent years, this technology has also been integrated with process control and automatic electrode handling and preparation machines. The combined implementation of these technologies has the advantage of enabling the process to be monitored, thus assuring traceability and allowing greater knowledge of the process to accrue.

Jan 1, 2007

By Mohammad Mehdi Salarirad

Fouling of activated carbon by different organic species is a great concern in carbon in pulp and carbon in leach circuits. The rate of gold adsorption onto activated carbon from synthetic gold solutions which contained different amounts of potassium ethyl xanthate (PEX), potassium isobutyl xanthate (PIBX), and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) were evaluated through batch adsorption tests. The results of these experiments showed that the gold sorption rate rapidly decreases by increasing the concentration of collectors including PIBX and PEX up to 20 mg/L and at higher concentrations, the kinetic rate constant (i.e., k value) gradually leveled off to 53 h-1 for PIBX, which is 46% lower than the 99 h-1 for PEX. At low concentrations of up to 15 mg/L of MIBC, a gradual decrease of the rate constant was observed, while at higher concentrations, the decrease was found to be more pronounced. The gold loading capacity and the rate of gold adsorption onto activated carbon from a gold cyanidation pulp in the presence of flotation reagents were also evaluated. The results of these experiments showed that the flotation reagents have no significant effect on the gold loading capacity of activated carbon at prolong adsorption period, meanwhile the rate of gold adsorption continuously decreases by increasing the concentration of flotation reagents in the leaching solution.

Oct 1, 2011

By Xiaoxing Hu, Guibing Zheng, Yangge Zhu, Xingrong Zhang

"In China, more than 90 percent of titanium resources are reserved in vanadic titano-magnetite deposits. In this type of ore, the same elements such as Ti, Fe, Ca, Mg exist on surface of both ilmenite and titanaugite (the gangue mineral) because of isomorphism, which makes selective flotation difficult. Therefore, how to enlarge the floatability difference between these two minerals has always been a research emphasis and still needs to be studied further. In this paper, the pre-treatment methods using ultrasonic wave were proposed. The results indicate that ultrasonic treatment shows beneficial effect to enlarge the floatability difference, and the effect will be strengthened by extending the ultrasonic treatment time or increasing the ultrasonic power. The mechanism was investigated through infrared spectroscopic (FT-IR) analysis. Collector interacts with Ca and Mg which results in titanaugite flotation, after ultrasonic treatment, the dissolution of Ca and Mg is intensified, which leads to the lack of active points on mineral surface, so the floatability of titanaugite is depressed. Meanwhile, collector mainly interacts with Fe which results in ilmenite flotation, and the present of ultrasonic might promote its oxidation (Fe2+ to Fe3+), so the floatability of ilmenite after sonication is increased.INTRODUCTIONUltrasonic is the sound wave with frequency of 2 × 10-4 Hz~2 × 10-9Hz. Since the first International Symposium of Sonochemistry in 1986, the application of ultrasonic wave is more and more extensive. In researches about mining and metallurgy, various investigators have shown that intensive acoustic fields can modify the state of a mineral, leading to chemical or dispersive effects. Generally, the effect of ultrasonic vibration depends upon the nature of the mineral and also the way ultrasonic wave is applied (Celik, 1989; Ozkan, 2002). In addition, ultrasonic treatment usually plays roles of removal of reagents adsorbed layer from minerals and emulsification of flotation reagents when it is used in flotation (Nicol, Engel, & Teh, 1986; Slaczka, 1987; Djendova & Mehandj, 1992; Farmer, Collings, & Jameson, 2000; Gurpinar, Sonmez, & Bozkurt, 2004)."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. S. Hume

Introduction O WING to the mineral discoveries which have recently been made in the Great Bear Lake region and the possibility of the need for fuel for transportation and development, it seems.timely ro review available information regarding the oil prospects in the vicinity of Great Slave lake and Mackenzie river, where a vast area is underlain by Palreozoic and younger sediments that undoubtedly are petroliferous. Exploratory surveys were carried out in this area by the Geological Survey and others in the latter part of the 19th century, but it was not until 1920, when drilling for oil actually began, that any serious attention was paid to the oil prospects. This is readily accounted for by the remoteness of the region, the lack of quick transportation facilities, and the shore summer season. Numerous and copious oil seepages had been reported, however, from widely separated localities, and interest was stimulated by the knowledge that these occurred in Devonian strata which had given a remarkable record of sustained production of high-grade oil in the oil-fields of southwestern Ontario. . Accordingly, during the four years 1920 to 1923, inclusive, several parties sent out by the Geological Survey made as thorough an investigation of various parts of the area as seemed warranted at that time, and from these surveys most of our information regarding the details of the stratigraphy is derived. In such a large area, it is inevitable that the lithology and thickness of rocks of the same age would show wide variations, and hence it should be recognized that conditions as regards oil prospects in the vicinity of the west end of Great Slave lake are quite distinct from those that occur near Fort Norman, 400 miles farther to the northwest, and these again are in all probability quite different from those in the less well known Arctic Red River area, 250 to 300 miles still farther north.

Jan 1, 1932

By P. R. A. Andrews

"The sillimanite group minerals, kyanite, sillimanite and andalusite are identified as alumino-silicate minerals with the common chemical composition AIP3.Si02' so that each possesses similar physical properties. Kyanite is the most abundant mineral and mainly occurs in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia; sillimanite occurs in Ontario and Manitoba; and andalusite in Nova Scotia. The main use for the sillimanite-group minerals is in refractory applications for the production of refractory bricks and shapes. In refractory applications, the main performance criterion is the relative percentage of mullite formed within the material during firing. This phase gives a greater degree of resistance to creep deformation and slag attack, and improves the ability of the refractory to withstand high temperatures under load. The beneficiation of refractory silicate minerals has been the subject of many investigations at CANMET, and the former Mines Branch. Eighteen kyanite, two sillimanite, and three andalusite evaluation studies were conducted between 1933 and 1987. A review of some of the more important studies is presented, which includes information concerning mineralogy, beneficiation methods and flotation data."

Jan 1, 1995

By E. C. De Matos

The Uranium Province of Lagoa Real is located in the mid-south region of Bahia State, Brazil. Uranium is the only mineral wealth, occurring mainly in the form of uraninite. The region has been searched for uranium since 1971 and 35 anomalies were detected, distributed over 1200 km2. Seven are now taken as deposits, accounting for reasonably assured resources of 100.000 tons of U3O8. This paper describes the geological aspects of the area, the exploration and mining activities done so far by the state company INB and the perspectives for the near future, when a raise in the country?s uranium demand is expected.

Aug 1, 2010

By M. Nakai, G. Itoh, R. Yamada, A. Kurumada

In order elucidate the mechanism for poorer fatigue properties of 7000 series aluminum alloys than those of 2000 series alloys, the effect of the test environment on the fatigue crack growth of the two series alloys was investigated, considering the relationship to hydrogen embrittlement. Two 7075-type and four 2024-type alloys were T6-tempered and T4-tempered respectively, and subjected to fatigue crack growth tests in moist and dry environments. When tested in moist air, fraction of intergranular crack path was higher in the 7075-type alloy with coarse equi-axed grains than in the 2024-type alloy with similar microstructure. This was in accord with the larger crack growth rate in the 7075-type alloy. Both the intergranular crack path fraction and the crack growth rate were decreased by changing the environment to the flow of nitrogen gas. Thus, the large fatigue crack growth rate of the 7075-type alloy is attributable to hydrogen embrittlement.

Jan 1, 2015

By W. Petruk

A study was undertaken to determine whether interrelations between mineral grains affect ore breakage during grinding, and to establish a correlation between ore breakage and mineral liberation. A base metal ore from the Brunswick No. 12 deposit in New Brunswick was ground for different periods of time in a laboratory ball mill, and both the unbroken ore and the ground products were analysed by image analysis. The results show that the mode of breakage is strongly influenced by the behaviour of pyrite. Similar size distributions were obtained for material from the 15 minute grind in a laboratory ball mill, for the grinding circuit discharge from a commercial mill, and for pyrite grains in the unbroken ore. This similarity indicates that a 15 minute grind breaks poorly bonded pyrite grains along grain boundaries, and represents the limit of easy breakage for the ore. Such a grind liberates both large separate grains of ore minerals and poorly bonded mineral grains that occur in interstices among pyrite. On the other hand the 15 minute grind does not separate moderately bonded mineral grains nor release moderately bonded interstitial minerals from pyrite; a 45 minute grind in a laboratory ball mill is required. It is assumed that, for Brunswick No. 12 ore, a 45 minute grind in a laboratory ball mill is equivalent to regrinding in a commercial mill. Grinding beyond 45 minutes in a laboratory ball mill breaks the ore by fracturing pyrite across grain boundaries and by chipping grain edges. Such intense grinding does not markedly increase sphalerite liberation from Brunswick No. 12 ore, because most of the sphalerite that can be released was liberated at the 45 minute grind. In contrast the intense grinding increases galena liberation because a significant proportion of the galena occurs as minute inclusions in pyrite. These findings show that ore breakage and coincident liberation depend upon size distributions, intergrowths, and mode of occurrence of the minerals in an ore.

Jan 1, 1988

By N. Kubo

Sumitomo Toyo Copper Smelter and Refinery was commenced in 1971, and its production capacity of sulfuric acid was 550tpd at the beginning. In 2001 Toyo Copper Smelter and Refinery projected to expand its copper production capacity to 450,000tpy, and now the project is still in progress. To achieve this expansion project, 4,000tpd of sulfuric acid production capacity is necessary to the acid plant. So as a part of this project, the construction of the new converting and absorbing line and the improvement of the existing converting and absorbing line were carried out from 2001 until 2005. Then the production capacity of these 2 lines has already reached the target, 4,000tpd of sulfuric acid. Moreover, at the design of the new line, we adopted several latest technologies and materials in order to construct the world's leading acid plant. Basing on the operation performance of the new line, we have improved the existing line in 2005. Both of these 2 converting and absorbing lines are working quite well and contribute to big energy saving and excellently stable operation. Cu2007

Jan 1, 2007

By R. J. Young, S. J. Tennant, A. D. Drummond

"Gibraltar Mines is located on the western slope of Granite Mountain, 230 air miles north of Vancouver, B.C. and 38 miles north of Williams Lake, B.C. There are four mineable zones within the copper-molybdenite deposit: Gibraltar East, Gibraltar West, Pollyanna and Granite Lake. Open-pit reserves are 358 million tons which average 0.37% Cu and 0.016% MoS2 at a 0.25% Cu cut-off. The Granite Mountain pluton is one of the several Jurassic-Cretaceous intrusions which outcrop along the east side of the Fraser River fault system between Williams Lake and Prince George, B.C. The original Granite Mountain quartz diorite has been metamorphosed by a cataclastic deformation which foliated the rock on a regional scale. Attendant to the development of the foliation, the rock was saussuritized such that the present mineralogy is compatible with that of the greenschist facies. The presence of garnet-bearing assemblages is explained by a restricted increase in water pressure. Pre-mineral intrusive phases within the saussuritized quartz diorite are: (1) leucocratic quartz diorite, (2) aplite and (3) quartz-feldspar porphyry. A late chloritized hornblende dacite dyke is post-mineral. Quartz-feldspar porphyry and leucocratic quartz diorite are locally present on the inner sides of the Gibraltar East, Pollyanna and Granite Lake pits. Their presence suggests a core around which occurs an elliptically shaped sulphide-bearing stockwork. The stockwork, which comprises four ages of vein development, is imposed on and partly controlled by the regional foliation of the samssuritized quartz diorite."

Jan 1, 1973

By C. Jay Hodgson, Adrienne C. L. Larocque

Abstract -The Mobrun VMS deposit in northwestern Quebec does not fit the classic Noranda­ type model, but exhibits characteristics more consistent with a Mattabi-type deposit. The orebodies are underlain by fragmental volcanic rocks indicative of explosive volcanism in shallow water. Felsic volcanic rocks are more abundant than mafic rocks. Alteration assemblages comprise chlorite, carbonate, sericite, and quartz. Broad semi-conformable alteration occurs high in the footwall to the 1100 lens. Mobrun occurs higher in the stratigraphic sequence than most of the other deposits in the Noranda camp. In this part of the stratigraphy, zones of pervasive carbonatization may be more useful guides for exploration than zones of silicification.

Jan 1, 1993

By S. R. L. Harding

"Introduction0N MAY 2th, 1953, Socony Seaboard Pembina No. 1 well, located 70 miles west-southwest of Edmonton, was completed as a producer of high-gravity oil from the Cretaceous Cardinm sand. This event is possibly the most significant in the development of the oil industry in Western Canada since the Devonian discovery at Leduc in 1947. The result of the Pembina discovery and the follow-up drilling has been a tremendous increase in interest in the Cardium formation.Descriptions of the Cardium formation, as it occurs in the 'Central Foothills' and in the 'Southern British Columbia Foothills' have been presented by R. E. Folinsbee (9)-and C. R. Stelck (21), respectively. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the more regional aspects of the subject.The name Cardium was first used .as a stratigraphic term in 1863. Dr. James Hector ( l2), geologist attached to Captain John Palliser's exploratory expedition, gave the name 'Cardium to the whole section of marine Cretaceous beds exposed along the Bow river west of Calgary."

Jan 1, 1955

By Unknown

With the present-day trend of rising labour costs and a lowering of production efficiency of workmen, it has become imperative that every effort be made to use manpower to the greatest advantage and to mechanize mining as much as possible. During the past few years this trend has gained much prominence in the Porcupine camp. In view of this, the executive of the Porcupine Branch considered that the Mechanical Movement of Muck would be a very timely subject for a Symposium. Accordingly a Committee was formed, with A. K. Douglass, Mine Superintendent for Delnite Mines, Ltd., as Chairman, and the Symposium was held in the Auditorium of the McIntyre Community Building, Schumacher, on March 25th last. Papers dealing with shovel loader and mechanical scraper operation at six of the larger mines of the camp were presented and discussed, and a tabulation was prepared giving data on the machines in operation at a total of eleven mines. The papers and tabulation, reproduced below, will doubtless be of considerable interest to operators of mines in all parts of Canada.

Jan 1, 1948

By Dieter Birk

"The Atlantic Coal Institute illustrates the potential for high technology employment in Maritime Canada, by using local talent and the latest equipment to address a national market. Since I983, contract research for industry and government has generated 31 man-years of high-tech employment, added $2.3 million to the local economy and contributed new technology for Canadian coal. Industry now has access to new procedures for coal minerals analysis, pyrolysis, and geochemistry applied to industrial problems of exploration, beneficiation, conversion and combustion.Research at the Institute is market-driven, based on cost recoveries from contracts. The financial performance to date exceeds that of similar industrial research institutes in major cities and demonstrates that small isolated laboratories are cost-effective. Economic renewal of Canada's resource industries will require increased R&D which in turn can be a source of local employment and pride. Small research teams are more efficient but require an enlightened policy of contracting-out by big business and big government."

Jan 1, 1987