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By Leslie B. English

"HistoricalWHILE DIGGING caves and underground passages for living quarters, primitive man must have had some means of illumination. Most likely he used pieces of wood or slim bundles of reeds or grasses as torches, perhaps steeped in animal fats to give more light. If this is so, we may accept these as the first means of underground illumination. Very little was clone to improve lighting devices for many generations, but slowly there was developed a fount holding fatty oils, with a spout in which was inserted a form of wick.Actual mining. for metals first of all, was started about 3,000 B.C. Some of the old Greek and Roman records refer to the use of torches underground, and some evidence of clay lamps has been found. Candies came into use some time during the first century A.D. When coal mining began about the 14th Century in England, candles were used for illumination because of the ease of manufacturing and handling them. Open oil-lamps came into use early in the 16th century -Agricola, in his De Re .Metallica, written about 1540. pictures a miner with such a lamp. However, the expense of these was so great that candies still continued as the general means of underground lighting.Unfortunately, as miners went deeper underground, they encountered a mysterious gas which. upon coming in contact with open lights, flamed violently, resulting in explosions and accompanying loss of life. The first reference to the results of these gas explosions appeared in 1621. No help seemed to be available. The gas was given off when the coal was mined and the miners could not see without lamps. Attempts were made to use the phosphorescent glow from partly decayed fish, fish skins, and fungus, also to bring daylight clown into the workings by means of a series of • mirrors; •but these means of illumination proved to be impracticable."

Jan 1, 1955

By G. D. Garland

"IntroductionALTHOUGH the presence of rock salt in the Carboniferous basin of northern Nova Scotia has been known for at least one hundred and twenty years, and salt has been mined at Malagash continuously since 1919, certain characteristics of the deposits make exploration by drilling or surface examination difficult. The surface rocks of the basin are, in general, of Pennsylvanian age, while the salt occurs in the Mississippian Windsor group. The latter rocks are brought to the surface only along anticlinal folds, or as irregular fault blocks. Because of the limited areal extent of these Windsor exposures, and their complicated internal structure, geophysical surveys, especially gravimetric, can be of considerable aid in outlining the more favourable areas.The present paper describes the results of recent investigations by the Dominion Observatory, in cooperation with the Nova Scotia Department of Mines. It includes a regional study of that section of the Cumberland basin lying between Springhill and Malagash ( Figure 1), and a much more detailed survey of the immediate vicinity of the Malagash deposit itself. This deposit had been studied by Miller (6, 7) with the torsion balance nearly twenty years before, and a direct comparison between the results given by the two types of instruments is therefore possible."

Jan 1, 1955

By Stefan Planeta

On discute les performances techniques et économiques des méthodes d'exploitation à haut rendement dans les mines métallifères au Canada. L'accent est mis sur la dilution et pertes des réserves minières et sur les coûts opératoires et totaux. Une analyse technique de quelques opérations minières est également effectuée. Il ressort de cette analyse que les résultats réels des opérations minières en cours diffèrent souvent de ces planifiés suite à la dilution du minerai et aux pertes importantes des réserves minières. On propose, définit et discute un certain nombre des facteurs de performances technologiques et économiques pour pouvoir mieux apprécier les problèmes rencontrés dans plusieurs mines en opération. À l'aide des études de cas on démontre impact négatif de la dilution et des pertes additionnelles des réserves minières sur la rentabilité des opérations en cours et sur les nouveaux projets miniers. On conclut, que l'application des indicateurs proposés donnerait un outil valable, aux opérateurs miniers, aux niveaux de la planification, du suivi des travaux d'exploitation et d'éventuelles études comparatives entre les différentes situations minières. ABSTRACT The paper discusses technical and cost performance of bulk mining methods in Canadian U/G metal mines. It focuses on ore dilution, ore reserves losses as well as on operational and total cost. Technical analysis of some mining operations has been performed. It indicates that due to dilution and significant reserves losses, the actual results of mining operations often differ substantially from those planned. The paper proposes, defines and discusses several indicators quantifying technical and economical performance in order to assess better the problems encountered in several operating mines. The case studies presented here have demonstrated an adverse effect of dilution and additional reserves losses onto profitability of existing operations and new mining projects. It is concluded that the application of the above mentioned indicators may be beneficial for mine operators. They may become a very useful tool at the stages of planning, follow-up of mining works and with regards to comparative studies between different mining situations.

May 1, 2001

By Eugen Gluck, Gus Van Weert, Peter Kondos

"Microwaves have the capability to heat up sulphides, especially clusters of particles of approx. 1 mm. Some sulphides absorb microwaves more readily than others. Molybdenite is especially effective in this regard, possibly due to its flaky nature and/or electrical conductivity. Even where it occurs in low concentrations in a deposit, individual rocks may be ore grade due to the high monetary value of MoS2. Such rocks often result from crushing mined veinlets or stockwork, or are contained in the cutoff grade fraction of ROM. Machine segregation of rocks high in MoS2 by infrared sensors after microwaving could therefore advantageously be used to upgrade lower grade ore between Mine and Mill. This would reduce the size of the latter, and thus its CAPEX and OPEX. Such upgrading could also yield shipping ore for a distant Mill, or extend ore reserves.Barrick Gold Corp. has been supporting the development of MW/IR sulphide sorting for the past three years. The results of MW/IR sorting work on molybdenite and other (pyritic) ore samples from a variety of sources are being presented here.INTRODUCTIONThis paper looks at mechanized, i.e. machine ore sorting technologies currently available and under development, and what conditions would be needed for the potential application of such ore sorting to sulphide mining and milling. Current machine sorting involves no-contact sensing technology for rocks, and signal processing after sensing to activate airblast segregation of certain rocks, normally the smallest mass to keep compressed air costs down.The forerunner of modern sorting is probably magnetic separation, which utilizes an inherent property of certain ores to divert it into mag and non-mags fractions. Radiometric ore sorters, which have been applied successfully for decades in the pre-concentration of uranium ores (Wotruba and Riedel, 2006) initiated modern sorting. In the 90’s, sensor-based machine sorting became a viable means of increasing the overall economic recovery of a resource. This technology became driven by the availability of low cost computing equipment and the concurrent development of algorithms, and by the availability of extremely fast response sensors and air actuators, allowing the sorting equipment to run faster, dropping the cost per tonne. It has been in industrial minerals processing that rock sorting has been most widely adopted, not really surprising. Liberation occurs on a different scale than in the base metal industry. Most industrial minerals are mined from massive deposits, requiring (in the past) no upgrading. Many of these operations now run into product contamination problems, which ore sorting can solve. One illustration: in Finland, a quarry is separating limestone from dolomite at 500 tonnes / hour, with individual rocks weighing up to 15 kg. Many of these industrial minerals operations have stockpiles of earlier discarded below-quality rocks, now being reprocessed with the help of ore sorting. The economics of this are very favourable, going from zero or negative value (stockpiles can not be left when closing the mine) to full product value for at least a portion of the stockpile. This suggests that in the future the economics of overburden sorting could become attractive under the right circumstances and such treatment could well become an integral part of open pit mine development."

Jan 1, 2009

By Frank W. Cole, Sharanjit S. Dhillonn

A new method has been developed for calculating flowing bottom hole pressure in a gas well, using as a basis the general energy equation. Fundamentally, the method shows that a plot of flowing pressure versus depth for a gas well can be represented as a series of incremental .straight lines, with the accuracy in-creasing as the number of increments increase. It is shown mathematically that for most cases the slope of the flowing pressure versus depth curve is essentially constant, in which case a single calculation based on surface conditions will yield acceptable results. In all cases studied no more than two iterations were required for very good accuracy, and in most cases only one iteration was necessary. Several example calculations are shown and the results are compared to other commonly used methods of calculating bottom hole pressures These examples show that the method provides answers which are at least as accurate as other methods usually used, and results in a considerable reduction in computation time.

Jan 1, 1960

By Nn Li

Energy consumption in commercial buildings has been increasing rapidly in the past decade. The knowledge of future energy consumption can bring significant value to commercial building energy management. For example, prediction of energy consumption decomposition helps analyze the energy consumption patterns and efficiencies as well as waste, and identify the prime targets for energy conservation. Moreover, prediction of temporal energy consumption enables building managers to plan out the energy usage over time, shift energy usage to off-peak periods, and make more effective energy purchase plans. This paper proposes a novel model for predicting heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption in commercial buildings. The model simulates energy behaviors of HVAC systems in commercial buildings, and interacts with a multiagent systems (MAS) based framework for energy consumption prediction. Prediction is done on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Ground truth energy consumption data is collected from a test bed office building over 267 consecutive days, and is compared to predicted energy consumption for the same period. Results show that the prediction can match 92.6 to 98.2% of total HVAC energy consumption with coefficient of variation of the root mean square error (CV-RMSE) values of 7.8 to 22.2%. Ventilation energy consumption can be predicted at high accuracies (over 99%) and low variations (CV-RMSE values of 3.1 to 16.3%), while cooling energy consumption accounts for majority of inaccuracies and variations in total energy consumption prediction.

Aug 1, 2013

By S. Nagamatsu

Alumina supported gold catalyst prepared by spray reaction method (spr) provides gold particle with about 20 nm of diameter. The gold particle size is larger than conventional gold catalysts. However, the spr catalyst shows higher catalytic activity for NO-CO reaction. In the present paper, we have discussed the local structures of spr-Au/Al2O3 catalyst by using Au L3-edge XANES spectra. In order to investigate the local structures of Au-sites, multiple scattering approach to XANES analysis was applied. Calculated Au L3-edge XANES spectra for fcc-Au and Au2O3 were in good agreement with the observed spectra. XANES spectra for spr-Au/Al2O3 were characterized by 4 types of Au sites (bulk, interface, surface and peripheral). In this case, almost all gold sites (> 90 %) are bulk site. The other sites are less than 10 % of gold particle. However, the experimental and the calculated results of Au L3-edge XANES spectra for spr-Au/Al2O3 require about 30 % of gold oxide or hydroxide. Bulk of Al2O3 contains a certain number of gold nano-particles, which was incorporated in the bulk Al2O3 support. In the interface area, gold oxide forms a few layers. This result was also supported by DV-Xa electronic structure calculations. The comparison of the catalytic activities of the spray catalysts and the impregnation catalyst for the NO-CO reactions imply synergy effects between gold nano-particles and alumina support.

Oct 1, 2003

By V. L. Gravitis

Radioisotope X -ray techniques of analysis for nickel have been tested in laboratory and plant trials. In the laboratory tests. a comparison was made of radioisotope and conventional analyses for nickel in solid s samples taken from streams of a nickel concentrator. Coefficients of variation of 1.7% for feed and concentrate samples , and equal to 10% for final tailing samples, were obtained. Continuous determination of nickel in final tailing slurries was demonstrated in a trial lasting 20 days at a nickel concentrator (Western Mining Corporation), nickel being determined with a standard error of 0.036% Ni in the slurry solids within the range of 0.24 to 0.68% Ni. This error, obtained by comparison of on-stream probe analyses with assays of samples taken from the stream, includes errors in sampling and assay by conventional techniques.

Jan 1, 1977

By Bob Drew, Goran Vukovic, Bojan Zivanovic, Klaus Gamweger

Reaction bath temperature is a major factor in processing liquid metals and in many applications where a balance between process duration and temperature has to be found to run a procedure efficiently. Also extremes of temperature can decrease the output of a process if too cold or even make it impossible, conversely overheating can be detrimental to both the product and furnace integrity. With the help of the new online temperature measurement system very accurate monitoring of the process is possible in contrast to the current routine practice where the temperature is measured periodically with dip thermocouples. The system works with a digital, fiber optic pyrometer, which is embedded in a refractory housing. Installation in the lining is possible below liquid level as nitrogen is blown to keep the system open and to ensure continuous sight from the optical head of the pyrometer to the molten metal through the tuyere. This permanent temperature measurement gives optimal process control with the potential of taking appropriate actions at an early stage enabling proactive process control. Therefore energy savings and even process endpoint detections can be realized.

Jan 1, 2015

By E. J. Burrough

MR. J. J. McIntyre (International Coal & Coke Company, Ltd., and McGi1livray Creek Coal & Coke Company, Ltd., Coleman, Alta): Mr. Burrough's excellent paper, Metallurgical Coals of the Crowsnest Area, seems especially timely now, when the need for developing iron industries in the west, as well as in the east, is receiving so much attention. His -thorough review of the 'coking' industry is an especially valuable contribution, along with which the following brief remarks on coking in the Crowsnest Pass area of British Columbia and Alberta may be in order. When the Crowsnest Pass line of the Canadian Pacific railway was built there were great expectations for the non-ferrous metal industry; quite a number of smelter's were al-ready in operation in British Columbia and the northwestern United States, and further expansion was confidently expected. The suitability of the medium-volatile coking coals of the Pass for making metallurgical coke had been recognized from the time the fields were first explored. By the time the mines were fairly well developed there was already a market to war-rant the building of coking plants, and a common belief that expansion of the market would require a large coking industry. The first coke production was from plants built by the Crowsnest Pass Coal Company, Ltd., at Fernie, B.C. in 1903, and the International Coal and Coke Company, Ltd., at Coleman, Alberta. These plants were followed by others built by the Crowsnest Pass Coal Company, at Michel, B.C., by West Canadian Collieries, Ltd., at Lille, Alberta, and by Leitch Collieries, Ltd., at Passburg Alberta, and by a plant at Hosmer, B.C.

Jan 1, 1951

By M. Sakata, H. Hata, K. Haiki

"Most of the secondary ZnO contains fluorine (F) in large quantities. Serious troubles at the zinc electrowinning are occurred by the cathode corrosion caused by F, therefore we developed iron compounds as F-adsorbents used in zinc sulfate solution. The iron compounds can be reused repeatedly as F-adsorbents because they can adsorb/desorb F alternatively depending on the pH. Moreover, if the adsorptive capacity decreases, we can dissolve and re-synthesize them easily. In this paper, results of the experimental process which consists of five steps (leaching, F removal, Cl removal, purification and electrowinning) to produce high purity electrolytic zinc from the secondary ZnO are reported. INTRODUCTIONThe recycle material for zinc, secondary ZnO, contains large amounts of fluorine (F) and chlorine (Cl) which are halogen elements, compared with calcine obtained by roasting of zinc sulfide concentrate. The halogen elements cause adverse effects in the zinc electrowinning process and particularly F causes corrosion of aluminum cathode plates and eventually sticking of electrodeposited zinc and therefore, F concentration in the electrolyte is controlled to less than approximately 20 mg/L. There are several methods to remove F from secondary ZnO, such as leaching with Na2CO3 or NaOH solution [1-2], vaporizing in a rotary kiln by roasting at 1000 to 1200 degrees C [3-4]. However, up to the moment, there has been no effective method for the removal of F from zinc electrolyte and it has been a big obstacle in treatment of secondary ZnO in electrowining of zinc.The authors, therefore, developed an iron compound used as an adsorbent of F in the zinc sulfate solution [5-8]. This iron compound is Akaganeite that has a crystalline structure of ß-FeOOH. Akaganeite is synthesized by neutralization of FeCl3 solution containing a small amount of SO4 2- with Na2CO3. When this iron compound is immersed into weak acidified zinc sulfate solution, F in the solution is adsorbed. F adsorbed in the iron compound is removed by immersing in weak alkaline solution and the iron compound can be reused as F adsorbent."

Jan 1, 2012

By R. A. Halet

"The Malartic Gold Fields mine is a good example of the association of ore deposits with a major fault zone. It also exemplifies the control exerted by the physical and chemical character of the host rocks on the localization of orebodies.The mine is in Fourniere and Dubuisson townships, Abitibi county. It is 6 miles east of the town of Malartic, 9n the main highway and railway from Noranda to Val d'Or.The discovery of the mine is due largely to the enterprise of the late J. P. Norrie, who organized the present Company in 1935. The ground is entirely covered by overburden, but Mr. Norrie believed that the extension of the Cadillac-Malartic 'break', the principal ore-bearing structure of the district, would be found on this group of claims. This belief was supported by the discovery of gold-bearing float in the area, and was confirmed by a dip-needle survey and a few pilot diamond drill holes that showed that the favourable Malartic greenstone band passes through the centre of the property.In this way the most favourable area for prospecting was narrowed to a zone 2 ½ miles long by ½ mile wide underlain' by greenstone. The remainder of the property is underlain by sedimentary rocks, which, from experience elsewhere in the camp, were not considered as promising. However, as the entire surface is covered by deep overburden, the location of orebodies even within this more or less restricted area could be accomplished only by a long campaign of diamond drilling. Systematic diamond drilling began in 1936.The contacts of the greenstone band were considered to be the most promising places to begin the work, and the early drilling was concentrated on the south contact, because the orebody of the East Malartic mine, 4 miles to the west, had been discovered on this structure and it was reasonable to hope for a repetition of these conditions. Although the south contact was very thoroughly explored, with a certain amount of encouragement, the work did not prove the existence of deposits of ore grade, and attention was shifted to the north contact zone of the greenstone band. In this locality much more promising results were obtained, and a number of good orebodies were outlined."

Jan 1, 1954

By B. R. Conard

Copper refining at Vale Canada (previously known as Inco) has been associated with Ni production. Because Cu and Ni carry risks for adverse health endpoints through inhalation exposure, it is critical that their aerosol levels, and the metallurgical processes through which they enter the air, are understood. Because certain Ni substances have been linked to respiratory cancers, it is also important to characterize the amounts and types of Ni compounds in occupational settings. This paper describes electrorefining and electrowinning operations near Sudbury, Ontario (1930–present), and gives aerosol measurements (1978–present).

Jan 1, 2014

By A. G. Scobie

A spectrographic method for the determination of small amounts of gold and the platinum metals in ores has been developed. By means of this method, an assay of 0.001 ounce per ton on one assay ton samples is possible, and by seecrrographic adjustments the sensitivity may be increased to 0.0001 ounce per ton. All the prec10us metals may be determined from one spectrographic arcing with an accuracy of about 5 per cent average deviation from absolute values, and the complete analysis of an ore or similar product may be reported five or six hours after receipt of sample.

Jan 1, 1945

By D. B. Dreisinger, M. R. Tavakoli

"Vanadium has been produced from a variety of sources. This metal is known to make aqueous solutions of complex speciation as a function of vanadium concentration and pH. Considering the method of leaching, the impurities in the pregnant leach solution, and the planned vanadium product, different extractants and flowsheets can be applied for solution purification. This paper reviews the purification of vanadium leaching solution using organophosphorus, solvating, and amine extractants. This review focuses on vanadium separation from iron, molybdenum, and uranium, which are often present in vanadium resources such as primary ores, fly ashes, and spent catalysts.RÉSUMÉ Le vanadium est produit à partir de diverses sources. Ce métal est connu pour permettre des solutions aqueuses de spéciations complexes en fonction de la concentration du vanadium et du pH. En tenant compte de la méthode de lixiviation, des impuretés dans la solution mère de lixiviation et du produit de vanadium planifié, divers agents d’extraction et schémas de traitement peuvent être mis en oeuvre pour purifier la solution. Le présent article étudie la purification de la solution de lixiviation du vanadium au moyen d’extractants organophosphorés, solvants et aminés. L’étude cible la séparation du vanadium du fer, du molybdène et de l’uranium, lesquels sont souvent présents dans les ressources de vanadium telles que les minerais primaires, les cendres volantes et les catalyseurs usés."

Jan 1, 2016

By Dale Lens, W. S. (Wayne) Cusitar

"The use of continuous loading and conveying technology for mining is currently practiced in relatively few mining environments and, even in these cases, on a non-exclusive basis. For the most part, and particularly in hard rock mining, appropriate equipment technology has only recently been developed for continuous loaders, mobile low profile crushers and flexible face conveyors. Mining R&D work by Inco Limited has promoted the development and proving of a loader suited to hard rock conditions and capable of sustained loading rates of500 tonnes per hour. Current R&D work at Inco will test the production capabilities of a low profile mobile crusher by CMS/Eagle and a flexible/ mobile face conveyor system by DME. This follows successful production testing of the Belt Bender concepts in potash mining in Saskatchewan and the development of enhanced extensible conveyor equipment features by DME. Numerous applications are seen for variations of the LCC technology in soft rock, hard rock and surface mining environments. Introduction In some respects, this paper is an announcement of new technology which has the potential to bring revolutionary change to the mining industry. It is also the story of technology transfer, in which mining concepts that have developed independently in underground soft rock and hard rock mines and in surface mining operations are being brought together for a common benefit. It is also the story of key developments in equipment technology which 'complete the cycle' of cooperating technical capabilities to enable the revolution to begin. The phrase ""technological revolution"" requires some defmition: an equipment innovation, or invention, or improvement, will only be revolutionary if its use gives rise to a significant new mining practice."

Jan 1, 1987

By Sangjian Zhang, Zhu Xiao, Lairong Xiao, Rushi Chen, Mei Fang, Zhou Li

The copper-graphite metal matrix composites were fabricated by two different production methods: directly sintering with copper and graphite (Cu-Gr composite), and in-situ sintering with cuprous copper and graphite (Cu2O-Gr composite). During the in-situ reaction sintering, a redox reaction occurs at the interface of the Cu2O particles and Gr particles, resulting in the improved physical and mechanical properties of Cu2O-Gr composites. Compared with Cu-Gr composite, Cu2O-Gr composite has a higher compression strength at any given graphite content due to the improved interface bonding and uniformly distributed fine graphite particles in the matrix. Increasing graphite content decreases the mechanical properties of the copper-graphite composites. The compression strength of Cu2O-Gr composite is 50-100 MPa higher than that of Cu-Gr composite. INTRODUCTION Copper-graphite composites have been widely used in industry due to their low density, relatively high strength and hardness, good thermal and electrical conductivity, arc ablation resistance and self- lubrication ability (Grandin & Wiklund, 2018; Han & Xu, 1999; Huang et al., 2017). Electric sliding contact friction pair in the high-speed railway system and motor brush in electric contact components have a very high demand on electrical conductivity and self-lubrication ability of materials. The electric devices need to bear both mechanical load and high electric current. Copper-graphite composites with good mechanical, electric and self-lubrication properties are the best candidates for application in multifunctional electric sliding contact frication components. The relative sliding speed of friction pair is developing towards 100 m/s or even faster, which can withstand the electric flow of more than 800 A, and it is often accompanied with vibration and impact (Guo & Ding, 2008). Conventional wear-resistant materials can no longer meet the current requirements and this promotes the development of copper- graphite composites with excellent comprehensive properties (Ding, Chen, Zhu, Zhang, & Zhou, 2009; Yasar, Canakci, & Arslan, 2007). There are many ways to fabricate copper-graphite composites, mainly including powder metallurgy method, liquid immersion infiltration method, rapid sintering method and electrodeposition method (Kalin & Poljanec, 2018; Kim, Lee, & Han, 2014; Liu et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018). Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the powder metallurgy method is the most commonly used one due to its simple process, high economic benefit, and industrial production applicability. The common steps of the powder metallurgy method are as follows (Samal, Parihar, & Chaira, 2013): firstly mixing the copper (copper alloy) powders and graphite with a certain ratio, following by die-forming, and then sintering at the high temperature with or without pressure. The advantage of copper-graphite composites is that the graphite distributed in the copper matrix uniformly and it can form a carbon diaphragm preventing the wear of the composite (Fu & He, 2010). However, the bonding strength of the interface between the copper matrix and the graphite is relative low as the combination between them is mechanical interlocking but not metallurgical bonding (Ma et al., 2008). It is meaningful to develop new fabrication technology of copper-graphite composites with better interface bonding, which could provide guidance for the design of copper-graphite composites with excellent comprehensive properties.

Jan 1, 2019

By J. I. Carroll, J. A. Walker

"Abstract - Camelback is a small (=200 000 tonnes), moderate grade (5%-7% Zn+Pb), volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, which occurs within the Nepisiguit Falls Formation of the Ordovician Tetagouche Group. The host rocks are tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (Little Falls member) that overlie quartz-feldspar porphyritic tufflavas (Grand Falls member). The hanging-wall sequence comprises rhyolite of the Flat Landing Brook Formation, overlain by the Forty Mile Brook tholeiitic basalt. A dike of unaltered andesite was intersected beneath the massive sulfides, but was not found in the hanging-wall sequence in the vicinity of the deposit. The stratiform part of the deposit is made up of two, steeply south dipping, subparallel massive lenses that average approximately 4 m in thickness. Each lens is zoned, with an upper part consisting mainly of a pyrite and a basal part containing pyrite, sphalerite, and galena, with Ag values. The Au content in the massive sulfides is low (average = 52 ppb for 271 samples), but tends to be enriched in the massive pyrite near the top of each lens. Oxide facies iron formation is spatially associated with the massive sulfides, and has been traced up to 1800 m along strike. Footwall hydrothermal alteration is typical of VMS systems, and is characterized by depletion in K2O and Na2O, and enrichment in MgO and Fe2O3T with proximity to massive sulfides. The massive lenses are underlain by intensely chloritic, fine-grained, tuffaceous sedimentary rocks containing locally significant sulfide (chalcopyrite > pyrite > pyrrhotite) veins, which are interpreted to represent feeder zone mineralization. Unlike many VMS deposits, there is no evidence of silicification beneath the massive sulfides at the top of the feeder zone. The oxygen isotopic compositions (d18O = -1.5‰ to -0.3‰) of hydrothermal chlorite coupled with sulfur isotopic compositions (d34S ˜ 12‰) of the massive sulfides suggest that seawater was the dominant fluid in the hydrothermal system. Normalized rare earth element diagrams show flat Ce profiles and positive Eu anomalies, indicating that modified seawater was involved in ore formation; i.e., high-temperature (=350ºC), acidic, and reduced prior to entrainment into the hydrothermal cell. Although, seawater was the dominant fluid in the sulfide-forming system, d34S values of stringer zone sulfides (8.5‰) coupled with elevated Sn (400 ppm) in one massive sulfide sample indicate that there was at least some magmatic component in the hydrothermal cell."

Jan 1, 2006

By David W. H. Ellis

This presentation will discuss over 2 dozen past, present and future oils sands projects in Alberta. The very early projects as well as the most recent along with the ones that never got off the ground and the ones in production are all included. For each, the following will be given (where known): owners, location, type (mining/SAGD/refinery), production, capital budget, spent to date, status. Some overall impacts will be discussed.

May 1, 2004

By M. E. Holuszko

Although there is no widely accepted rigorous definition of handleability, the handling coal characteristics often referred to as handleability define whether a coal has the ability to flow unhindered through the processing and transportation systems. The handleability may be severely affected if fine coal particles tend to aggregate. In the pelletization process, the rolling action of the drum is applied to bring the individual particles into proximity with each other so that they can aggregate and form pellets. Because of apparent similarities between these two processes, the pelletization tests are carried out in parallel to the handleability tests in this project, and the pelletization results are used to explain coal handleability properties.

Jan 1, 2004