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By J. R. Maxwell

In 1970 expansion was completed increasing mill capacity from 2,000 to 3,000 T.P.D. Actual grinding capacity is 3,400 T,P,D. at a grind of 60% -200 mesh,The ore bodies are vein type, containing about 12% sulphides, with mill heads averaging 2.25% Cu, 0.015 oz.Au, and O.4O oz, Ag. per ton.Summary and Conclusions:During the period Jnnuar-1 1971 to December 1973 inclusive the use of large cells at Opeminka have shown that metallurgy is comparable to when using conventional cells, Operating and maintenance costs are lower, An on stream analyzer with reagents controlled by computer, are being assessed further.Opej1atljn Of Cells:!lo cell level adjustments are required when tonnage is adjusted 20 to 25%.Depending on mill heads and grade of concentrate reagents are adjusted to the first rougher for metallurgical control. Reagents to second rougher and scavengers are seldom adjusted as feed to this section has a maximum variation of about 0.2'~ Cu.Power – Maintenance and Space Requirement :Our total power consumption for 3,400 T.P,D. flotation circuit for operation and air supply is 280 H.P. Previous power drawn using conventional cells was 400 H.P. at 2,000 T.P.D.Total maintenance costs for flotation circuit has averaged $1,100.00 per year for the 3 years of operation, this cost should remain constant.Floor space required for cells and walkways is 2,000 sq.ft.

Jan 1, 1974

By Ali Hashemi, Anna P. Perry

The PQ Deeps (PQD) is a production zone located at Newmont’s Musselwhite Mine in northern Ontario. Development started for the PQD in late 2017, and the first stopes were mined starting in early 2021. Unlike most historic longitudinal stoping of narrower orebodies at Musselwhite, the PQD is a wider orebody following the plunge of a fold hinge and is extracted primarily by transverse stoping. Some geotechnical challenges were experienced during early stoping efforts, necessitating design changes throughout late 2021 and early 2022 to optimize the stope design. This work describes the mining methods and design changes to transverse PQD stoping based on geotechnical lessons learned during early stoping efforts.

Jan 1, 2023

By J. Petit, P. Girard, A-M. Gilbert, D. Faucher

L&apos;annee 2000 a été une année stratégique et significative pour l&apos; Aluminerie de Bécancour dans la réduction des gaz a effets de serre. L&apos; équipe s&apos; etait donne comme defi un jour d&apos;arriver a l&apos;objectif de zero effet d&apos;anode dans les sa11es de cuve (720 cuves au total). Le cha11enge s&apos;averait tres ambitieux car la fa<;on d&apos;alimenter une cuve d&apos;electrolyse pour obtenir son maximum de rendement faraday est de travailler le plus pres possible de l&apos;effet d&apos;anode pour eviter l&apos;embourbement de ce11es-ci. Ceci signifie que techniquement nous a11ons en moyenne, quotidiennement, 12500 fois pres de l&apos;effet d&apos;anode sur !&apos;ensemble de nos 720 cuves qui produisent aujourd&apos;hui environ 405 000 tonnes d&apos;aluminium liquide annuellement. Des 695 kg equivalent en C02 par tonne d&apos;aluminium produite en moyenne annue11ement, de 1990 a 2000, nous en sommes rendus ace jour a environ 35 kg equivalent en C02 par tonne produite. Nous sommes pres d&apos; atteindre notre objectif mais les demiers gains sont plus difficiles a atteindre. Les strategies d&apos;automatisme et d&apos;informatique, incluant l&apos;aspect de !&apos;implication humaine sur les bonnes pratiques de travail sur les cuves d&apos;electrolyse, sont les cles de ces resultats.

Jan 1, 2006

By Earl Gebhardt

The planning and design of mining panels in the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., Lanigan Division mine Block B involved a number of investigative techniques. The techniques utilized to gain insight into the viability of mining included 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys, longhole drilling, exploration wells, photolineament, magnetic and gravity surveys, and actual room excavation.

Feb 1, 1993

By W. F. Scott, K. L. Somerville

"This paper outlines the development and inplementation of functional training at the Thompson Mine of Inco Metals Company, Manitoba Division. This training is an extension of similar methods implemented throughout the company to meet safety and health and productivity objectives. It consists of the orientation to the mine, induction in the basic mining skills, and specific training in drilling and other skills in the mine. Initial results indicated a positive effect on the safety performance and proficiency of the mine workforce.IntroductionThe primary mining method at the Thompson Mine is mechanized cut and fill, with secondary recovery of pillars by undercut and fill . These methods require a workforce of about 900 hourly operating employees to obtain capacity production of 6500 tons of ore per day.Historically, turnover of mine employees has been high and large numbers of new recruits are introduced to the mine every year. These men are recruited primarily in Manitoba, but also from distant areas of Canada; most of the se people have no previous mining experience.Training has always been an important component of mine operations. Mine supervisors and experienced miners have committed an appreciable amount of time and effort to training these new recruits. As well, training efforts have been directed toward upgrading the skills of experienced workers.Recently, a growing awareness of the significance of this training effort and its impact on accident frequency, productivity, turnover and other important parameters of the mine operation has led to a review of training methods. The training program described in this paper has resulted from this review."

Jan 1, 1981

By W. D. Fogwill, P. J. Clarke

"The Dawn Lake uranium deposits are located 340 km north of La Ronge, Saskatchewan, in the Athabasca Basin between the Midwest Lake and Rabbit Lake deposits. Four zones of uranium mineralization, called the ""11, 14, 11A and 11B Zones,"" lie within the Athabasca Sandstone, at the sub-Athabasca unconformity and in the basement.At Dawn Lake, approximately 100 metres of Helikian Athabasca Group clastic sediments overlie Aphebian Wollaston Group pelitic and calcareous metasediments and pegmatites. Uranium with some nickel, cobalt and copper, occurs near the sheared stratigraphic contact between calc-silicate gneiss and graphitic, pyritic pelite. The mineralization lies in an area of low magnetic susceptibility which is thought to represent a rock sequence lying stratigraphically high within the Wollaston Group. There is no obvious vertical displacement of the unconformity by faulting, despite considerable brecciation, shearing and slickensides seen in the basement rocks. This suggests horizontal displacement on steeply dipping wrench faults as the main tectonic control along the 11, 11A and 11B trend.Below the Athabasca unconformity, the Wollaston Group rocks are altered to fine-grained mixtures of clays, chlorite and silica commonly called regolith. Along the mineralized trend post-Athabasca fracturing and (or) compaction have occurred through this clay-rich alteration zone, causing the steeply-dipping primary foliation to become contorted. This ""crenulated"" horizon can reach depths of 35 metres below the unconformity and is thickest along fault zones in the calc-silicate rocks. The ""crenulite"" is a distinctive unit which at Dawn Lake is commonly found above pods of ore located deep below the unconformity.Much of the mineralization in the 11A and 11B Zones occurs above, beside and below the thickest part of the crenulated zone, although the crenulated rock itself contains negligible amounts of carbonate, pyrite and uranium. Intense vuggy alteration and collapse breccias are found in calc-silicate rocks deeper and to the west of the 11A and 11B mineralization. There are at least two ages of uranium deposition in the basement zones, shown by small bright cubes of ""pitchblende /"" overgrown and replaced by duller botryoidal ""pitchblende II. ""Sooty pitchblende and yellow secondary minerals are the result of still younger reworking.The geological setting of mineralization, along the contact between carbonate-rich calc-silicate rock and pyritic pelite, suggests that the uranium was concentrated at a pH/Eh boundary located between deeply weathered, carbonate-rich and sulphide-rich basement rocks."

Jan 1, 1986

By Gordon R. Peeling

The Problem Five years after the consensus of the Whitehorse Mining Initiative the industry was losing public confidence Public opinion surveys ranked mining just above the tobacco industry Project opportunities were being lost to public and political opposition Operating practices called into question by a number of tailings dam failures CBC broadcast of "The Ugly Canadian" Our social licence was being lost

May 1, 2013

By F. Mallozzi

"With the requirements of air pollution codes becoming more and more critical, the role of the ventilation engineer in industry has become an extremely important one. The ventilation engineer must provide the expertise for the selection of equipment and the design of systems which will reduce pollution to an acceptable level. Because pollution control systems involve considerable capital and operating expense, he must have the ability to select, from a wide range of products, the collector which will provide the required performance with a minimum of down time for maintenance. This paper discusses the principles of wet collection and the forces used to separate particulate matter from a gas stream. Important factors in the selection of equipment, such as collection efficiency, horsepower requirements and water consumption for the various types of collectors, are discussed in detail, as well as the construction features normally incorporated to circumvent potential problems."

Jan 1, 1971

World copper electrowinning tankhouse plant practices have been surveyed. This survey is a supplement to previous surveys that have been carried out in 1995, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. On a world basis, process technology trends include the further installation of automated electrode handling systems including permanent cathode systems, automated cathode handling machines, fully automatic cranes and polymer concrete cells. Designs also have included larger electrode sizes and higher electrolyte flows and current densities. Overall these trends have further resulted in optimized tank house productivities and improved electrowon cathode purity. Most greenfield copper electrowinning projects are occurring in South America and Central Africa.

Jan 1, 2007

By E. Ettles

This paper features some of the spectacular new advances in the fields of fluorescent penetrant inspection and magnetic particle concentration. Casting fractures in the various stages -before the repair, during the repair and in the completed repair -using the cold process method will be discussed. This cold method of repair eliminates problems of pre-heating and cooling and the stress factors that are involved in any heat repair.

Jan 1, 1971

By Xiao Huang, Dongmei Wang, Prakash Patnaik

Further increase in gas turbine engine temperature necessitates continuous development and advancement to thermal barrier coatings. While tremendous effort has been devoted to developing new thermal barrier coating materials and processing methods in order to decrease the thermal conductivity, limited attention has been paid to radiative thermal transport through coatings. It is the purpose of this study to develop a new layered coating structure that can be used to effectively reduce the both radiative thermal transport as well as thermal conductivity, and to demonstrate the mechanism and effectiveness of the proposed multilayered structure. Mathematical modeling based on the multilayer quarterwave stack and simulation results are presented.

Jan 1, 2004

By Lassi Klemettinen, Ari Jokilaakso, Dmitry Sukhomlinov, Pekka Taskinen

The solubilities and distributions of molybdenum and iridium in iron silicate slag and copper-iron mattes were studied using an equilibration-quenching technique and subsequent direct phase composition analyses by EPMA (Electron Probe X-ray Microanalysis) and LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry). The equilibrations were carried out on a wide matte grade interval, ranging from 55 wt-% Cu to 75 wt-% Cu, in pSO2 = 0.1 atm at 1300°C. The results in equilibrium with a solid iridium-molybdenum alloy indicated an iridium solubility of 150–500 ppmw in the sulphide matte, depending on the matte grade, and a molybdenum solubility of 100–600 ppmw. Iridium was distributing predominantly in the sulphide matte with the distribution coefficient of 10+3 - +4 but molybdenum deported predominantly in the slag with Lm/s(Mo) = 0.02–0.1. The effects of alumina and lime additions in the smelting slag were also examined. INTRODUCTION Iridium is a highly siderophile element (HSE), which means that it is incompatible with the sulphide forming elements and possesses a small solubility in mattes, such as copper- and nickel-iron sulphide melts. Molybdenum behaves only modestly in that way (Walker & Li, 2008; Righter et al., 2017). They both are known to be trace elements accompanying copper and nickel sulphide ores. No solubility data, however, are available for them in copper-rich sulphide mattes. Geochemical data on the behaviour of Ir and Mo deal mostly with low-iron silicate systems, e.g. basaltic melts, and high-sulphur sulphide solutions and mattes (Ertel et al., 2008; Fonseca et al., 2007). They also indicate that Ir and Mo dissolve in silicate melts primarily as oxides and not as electrically neutral metal species. Most geological data of iridium focus on high-sulphur systems of the monosulphide composition and typically Fe-Ni mattes where copper is a trace element (Fleet et al., 1996; Sattari et al., 2002). Direct solubility measurements for mattes and iron-lean silicates have also been made using pure Ir or an Ir alloy as the saturation phase (Borisov & Palme, 2000; O’Neill & Eggins, 2002; Makovicky & Karup-Møller, 1999; Ertel et al., 2008; Mungall & Brenan, 2014). A recent summary about the solubilities of HSE’s in iron- and sulphur free silicates is available in Laurenz (2012). The thermodynamics of molybdenum partitioning between oxides and Fe-S-O melts was studied by Mengason et al. (2011). Their results indicate strong accumulation in the iron-rich sulphide in reducing conditions (pO2 = 10-9.6 atm in Ni-NiO equilibrium at 1050°C). Molybdenum dissolves in iron-lean silicate melts as MoO3 species in oxygen pressures above the Fe-FeO equilibrium and as MoO2 in more reducing conditions (Farges et al., 2006; Righter et al., 2017).

Jan 1, 2019

By Judith S. Chan

With the increasing awareness of the need for the reduction of carbon emissions globally, geothermal energy, which offers a potential for cleaner energy generation, is one potential new source. In Alberta, these geothermal resources are likely to be found in the sedimentary basin, or in the deeper crystalline basement rocks. Alberta exhibits a very low geothermal gradient compared to other existing geothermal fields located in areas of volcanic and tectonic activity. To mitigate this effect, the focus in Alberta will involve the development of engineered geothermal systems (EGS) in the target resource. The first goal for EGS research and development is to develop a detailed geological-geophysical characterization of selected sites to delineate potential geothermal reservoirs in Northern Alberta. One of the selected sites is in the Fort McMurray area. The deepest well drilled in the oilsands areas of Northern Alberta is located just west of Fort McMurray. It has a depth of 2363 m and as such can provide details on the physical properties of the rocks, the state of stress, and the existence of fracture porosity toward geothermal investigations. To date, we have acquired temperature logs to study the change in geothermal gradient with depth, and a series of petrophysical logs to study the finer scale structure of the rock formations with vertical resolutions in the range of 0.05 cm to 80 cm. Our aim is to identify geological features such as zones of fractures in the basin and/or basement that could provide an indication of enhanced fluid flow potential ? a necessary component for any geothermal systems to be viable. Zero offset and walkaway vertical seismic profiles (VSP) were also conducted to measure the seismic responses at the borehole. VSP data can be used to delineate the structural and stratigraphic features surrounding the borehole that could not be resolved from surface seismic reflection data that are also available near the borehole. The full integration of well logs, VSP data and surface seismic reflection data are expected to provide a detailed characterization of the sedimentary basin and crystalline basement rocks of the Canadian Shield in Northeastern Alberta and will assist in future planning for drilling.

Jun 1, 2012

By A. Burduk

The traditional approach to managing information flow between a mine underground and overground, applied in copper mines of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., is mostly based on exchanging spoken information using the mine telephone network and printed documentation. This way of information flow significantly influences effective use of time of a shift foreman employed at a mining division. In order to minimise multiplication of significant information generated as paper documentation, a concept of an IT system module to input basic data concerning operation of the mining division was developed. The idea is based on computer software that permits inputting data in the underground and their immediate sending to the overground. The above-mentioned solution will permit significant reduction of administrative work time that each foreman has to do on each shift. The time saved on filling forms and communication will permit the foreman and the other workers involved in information flow to spend more time for execution of their basic duties. In the case of the supervision employees working in the overground, the IT system will allow all the interested persons to be informed directly, with no necessity to transfer the information on the situation in the given mining division by turns from one to another. On the other hand, saving time on administrative works will permit the foreman employed in the underground executing more detailed inspection of workplaces in his subordinate mine division. Thus, availability of the foreman for the mining division operation will be improved. KEYWORDS

Aug 1, 2013

By G. Vibert Douglas

THE prospecter and geologist in the field, in the search for gold, are very often faced with a real difficulty. The: mineralized rock _frequently contains gold which is so finely divided or associated with sulphides that it is not recognizable in the gold pan. In recent years, the practice has been to take samples, send them to an assay office, and sit down and wait for results. This paper describes a method of solving the difficulty of proving the presence of this fine gold. The investigation is still in an experimental stage; but certain results have been obtained which would seem to justify publication. We do not consider that the method outlined is quantitative, but we believe that qualitative results are assured. The procedure has the great merit of simplicity. A sample of approximately two pounds of the mineralized rock should be taken and powdered as fine as is practicable. This powder is theo panned and the heavy minerals concentrated. Approximately two grams of these concentrates are taken for the test (one gram can be roughly gauged in the field by heaping up the powder on a Canadian twenty-five cent piece). The material is placed in a test-tube and 6 c.c. of a 10 per cent solution of iodine in alcohol are added (one-third of a test-tube full is approximately equal to 6 c.c.). Heat gently for about ten minutes over a spirit lamp, but without actual boiling. Allow to stand undisturbed until the sediment has settled to the bottom. Remove the clear iodine solution with an eye dropper. Allow it to fall, drop after drop, on a warmed pyrex watch-glass (the drops should be of equal size), taking care that the successive drops fall in the same place and that each drop evaporates before the next drop falls. Heat is applied to the lower side of the watch-glass by means of a spirit lamp. If gold is present in amounts of $2.00 or more per ton, a gold mirror will be formed on the watch-glass. This process of dropping and evaporating should be continued until no clear solution remains. If no mirror has appeared when all the solution has been used, another 6 c.c. of the iodine solution should be added to the powder and the process repeated. The absence of a mirror after the double treatment denotes an amount of gold less than two dollars per ton at the present price, or that the ore contains no gold. The mirror obtained must be washed with nitric acid ( 1: 1) to remove any copper, silver, lead, zinc, and iron. The yellow mirror remaining is pure gold.

Jan 1, 1937

By M. J. Baker

Energy and Minerals Australia Ltd are undertaking a study of the recovery of uranium from the Mulga Rock Deposits in Western Australia. Approximately 80-90% of uranium identified to date is present as tabular layer up to 5 m thick within a lignite seam 30 m to 50 m below surface. Other metals are also present. Metallurgical studies at ANSTO Minerals laboratories in Sydney have focused on identifying a suitable uranium leaching process and assessing the possible downstream impacts of the organic material in the ore. The extraction of other metals has also been examined. This paper provides the results of testwork performed at ANSTO to date.

Aug 1, 2010

By Antoine Fournier, Karen St. Seymour

"Responding to market developments, interest in locating deposits of wollastonite has grown significantly. The many occurrences in the Grenville marbles of Quebec can be grouped into disseminated type and discordant vein-type deposits. Disseminated-type wollastonite occurrences have the disadvantages of lower grade, the need for more elaborate mineral separation, and failure to meet ""long grain"" technical specifications. Vein-type deposits have better grades and technical characteristics; exploration should be focussed on these and in the contact-metamorphic aureoles of fluid-rich intrusions. SOMMAIREEn réactions aux nouveaux de bouches, l&apos;interet pour les gîtes de wollastonite a crû de façon marquée. Les nombreux indices sis dans la province de Grenville au Québec peuvent être regroupes en deux catégories soit: les indices dissémines et les indices en veines discordantes. Les indices dissémines ont le désavantage d&apos;être moins enrichis, de requérir une séparation minéralogique plus complexe, et leur wollastonite ne possède pas le degré d&apos;acicularité voulu. Les indices en veines sont plus enrichis en plus de rencontrer les critêres techniques; les efforts d&apos;exploration devraient se porter vers ce type de gites et aussi, sur les auréoles métamorphiques de contact d’intrusions riches en fluides."

Jan 1, 1992

By D. M. MacLean

THE property of Howey Gold Mines, Limited, is situated at Red Lake, Ontario, one hundred and seventy-five miles east of Winnipeg and eighty miles north of the Canadian National railway. The mine has been a continuous producer since April, 1930, and, at present writing, a total of 3,042,690 tons has been hoisted, giving a production of $6,422,858.55, for a grade of $2.32 per ton. From 1,064,477 tons mined during the past two years, however, the yield has been only $1,389,607.03, or $1.41 per ton (gold at $20.67). Present output is at the rate of about 1,470 tons. per day. THE ORE-BODY AND WALL-ROCK: The Howey ore-body is part of a quartz porphyry dyke, which has. intruded an area of greenstone. The dyke strikes north 65° east, and its dip varies from 85° to the south at the surface to practically vertical below the. 1,000-foot horizon. Both along the strike and on the dip, the width of the dyke varies from 25 to 200 feet, the widest portion occurring below the 1,000-foot level. To the east of the ore-body, the dyke increases in width and finally splits into tongues of porphyry enclosed in greenstone, diorite, and congloJ11erate. To the west, it passes into the adjoining property, its width at the boundary being 100 feet. The rock in the ore-body is hard to drill, but, because of numerous horizontal slip-planes, it breaks well when blasted. This characteristic makes it possible to break large breasts or benches with a relatively small number of holes. The ore broken in this manner is consequently quite coarse, a large part of it requiring secondary breaking.

Jan 1, 1938

By D. A. Peterson, R. Pakalnis, G. Peter Mah

"Laboratory and trial installations have been completed to determine the potential of composite cable bolt reinforcement in Canadian underground mines. Several prototypes of glass fibre cable bolts have been developed and tested, two of which are currently available to the mining industry. Their evalualtion consisted of lab testing in Canada and the United States, along with trial installations in several underground mines throughout Canada. The objective was to develop a cost competitive composite cable bolt equivalent in strength to that of a 16 mm (Ys in.) diameter steel cable bolt. In addition to achieving equal or superior load carrying characteristics in tension, the glass fibre cables generally experienced an increase in the rate of installation due to their lighter weight. Unlike conventional steel cables, composite cables may be installed within mines which utilize continuous excavation and which require cuttable support. A market analysis of cable bolt usage in Canada has been completed. Glass fibre cable bolts are an effective means of rock reinforcement in mining applications. They prove to be a viable alternative to conventional steel cable bolting. IntroductionCurrent cable bolting practice consists of cement grouting one or more steel cables within a drill hole in order to support the surrounding rock mass. Cable bolts are a form of internal support and are generally used as pre-support in open stope and cut-and fill mining methods. They can be either tensioned (active support) or untensioned (passive support) and may be of any length, though for underground mining applications, are generally less than 20 m (65.6 ft) and are untensioned. A major advantage of cable bolts is that they are flexible and can be coiled to approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) diameter coils. This allows relatively long lengths (>20 m, [65.6 ft]) to be installed in areas with limited head room (1.8 m)."

Jan 1, 1994

? A BARGE WILL BE INSTALLED IN THE BOTTOM OF A COMPLETED PIT. ? THE PROVEN BAUER CUTTER TECHNOLOGY WILL BE INSTALLED ON THE BARGE AND A DEWATERING PLANT WILL BE INSTALLED NEAR THE BASE OF THE PIT RAMP. ? THE WATER LEVEL IN THE PIT WILL BE RAISED BY 20- 40 METRES AND REMAIN CONSTANT OVER DURATION OF MINING. ? THE CUTTER WILL BE LOWERED TO MINE 10 METRE DEEP BENCHES ON A CHECKERBOARD PATTERN TO AN ULTIMATE DEPTH OF 200 METRES. ? THE 5? MINUS CUTTINGS WILL BE PUMPED TO THE DEWATERING PLANT, DEWATERED, AND TRUCKED TO SURFACE.

May 1, 2003