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By P. Lind, A. Gagnon

"Goldcorp has embarked upon an ambitious, industry-leading, multi-year water use reduction effort. This is a proactive, voluntary effort that reflects our commitment to truly sustainable mining. This effort will focus on increasing water re-use and recycling, and reducing water inputs ultimately towards zero. All of our operating mines are expected to contribute to this effort and are currently in the process of developing plans to meet short and long term objectives. One of the largest needle movers to increase water re-use and recycling is in the area of tailings management. Within five to ten years at Goldcorp, it is envisioned that the need for wet tailings dams will be eliminated and that all new tailings facilities will consist of only filtered or dewatered tailings. Filtered tailings is developing into a mature technology with wide application in mine waste management. This paper describes a conceptual level evaluation on the transition from a slurry to a filtered tailings operation at the Cerro Negro mine in southern Argentina. Key benefits and challenges are highlighted.INTRODUCTION Goldcorp’s Cerro Negro operation is located in the Santa Cruz province in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Cerro Negro has been in operation since 2014 and commercial production was achieved on January 1, 2015. The processing capacity of the plant is 4,000 tonnes of ore per day and in 2016 produced 363,000 ounces of gold and 3.1 million ounces of silver (Goldcorp Inc., 2017). As the mine is located in a semi-arid area, it is important to evaluate technologies that could reduce freshwater consumption and maximize water re-use and recycle rates. The current tailings operation at Cerro Negro incorporates pumping of tailings slurry into a conventionally lined Tailings Storage Facility (TSF). Water is reclaimed from the tailings supernatant pond to the process plant via pumps, however, water losses occur due to evaporation and solution retention within the slurry tailings voids. Converting to a filtered or dewatered tailings operation would allow for increased water recovery prior to tailings disposal, and decreased water losses from evaporation and from retention in the tailings solids void space. This paper describes a conceptual level evaluation on the transition to filtered or dewatered tailings with the primary objective of moving closer Towards Zero Water."

Jan 1, 2017

By Reginals W. Burroughs

Diatomaceous or infusorial earth, also called diatomite; fossil meal, or kieselguhr, is derived from the lowest form of vegetable life, the unicellular alga:. It consists of the siliceous remains of extremely minute aquatic plants, which exist in both salt and fresh water. Light i~ a prerequisite to their development. These very small particles secrete silica in much the same way that molluscs secrete lime to form their shells. The diatoms at death sink to the bottom of the body of water in which they lived, and the organic matter gradually decays and is washed away, leaving the skeletons. Thousands of years are required by this means to develop bed5 of sufficient thickness to be of commercial value. The siliceous remains vary in size according to the species, but all are very minute and, as a general rule, they can be identified only under a high-power microscope. Over one thousand types have been distinguished and named. They are all composed of a hydrous or opalescent form of silica, with silica content ranging from seventy to ninety-five per cent. Magnified, they present an attractive sight, a very fragile structure with many interstitial openings known as cells. Many of them consist of two parts, defined as valves, held together by means of a girdle. Certain species, belonging to the Pinnularia family appear as a long comb, in half longitudinal section. The spaces between the teeth are the cells. This particular genus is very common in Nova Scotian deposits.

Jan 1, 1928

By L. V. Kin, V. V. Lodeischikov, A. V. Byvaltsev, IRGIREDMET JSC, O. D. Khmelnitskaya, S. V. Petrov

"Irgiredmet Institute carried out the study on the development of gold recovery technology from refractory ore from a Russian deposit. The ore contained 1.1 g/t Au, 1.5% of pyrite and 2.4% of pyrrhotite. The recovery of gold achieved was 84.7% using gravity with generation of high grade recoverable gold concentrate and gravity middling. In the course of lime treatment, cyanidation of the middling followed by tailings detoxification the consumption of reagents was 13.0 kg/t CaO, 95 kg/t NaCN and 72 kg/t Ca(OCl)2 of the concentrate. This was capital intensive.In order to decrease the consumption of reagents, magnetic separation of the middling of the concentrates from gravity separation was added to this flow sheet. Pyrrotite recovered to magnetic fraction, which did not contain gold in accordance to this advanced flow sheet. The mass yield of pyrite goldbearing non-magnetic fraction decreased down to 1.5 times in relative to gravity middling. The slurry filtration prior to and after cyanidation allowed the organization of cyanide solution recycling.The results of pilot plant tests using the developed flow sheet showed that the content of pyrrhotite in the non-magnetic fraction decreased from 59.1% to 11.3%. The reagents consumption was 12 kg/t CaO, 3 kg/t NaCN and 16 kg/t Ca(OCl)2 of the pyrite concentrate. The total gold recovery using this flow sheet was 83.4%. Due to a decreased consumption of reagents, cost efficiency of the process was achieved. Based on the results of this research, a project design criteria was developed. A processing plant with the annual throughput of 2.6 million tonnes of ore is being designed."

Jan 1, 2016

By Penny C. Stewart

Narrow vein underground stope design engineers in Australia have expressed significant interest in the requirements and methodology for developing site-specific stability charts. This is largely due to a concern that existing stope stability charts inadequately take into account factors influencing narrow vein stope stability, such as the effect of backfill abutments and the effect of in stope pillars. This paper presents conclusions from a comprehensive statistical examination of case history requirements for a site specific stability chart and critiques literature arguments for site-specific charts. A new statistical analysis technique and a large comprehensive stability database enabled the authors to quantify case history requirements and any site-specific effects the model exhibits. The analyses indicated that a reliable stable-failure boundary requires at least 150 case histories, of which a minimum of 10 percent should be unstable stope surfaces. Marginal site-specific effects were observed for the operating conditions captured within the database. The authors conclude that the apparent site-specific effects noted in previous literature are attributable to operating conditions inadequately represented in the database. Such operating conditions could induce erroneous stability predictions at any site, and are therefore not truly site-specific. Following from these conclusions, a strategy for taking into account operating conditions particularly relevant to narrow vein mining has been proposed. In particular, the development of a chart that accounts for the effect of backfill abutments on stope stability. Backfill abutment effects are particularly relevant to mechanised narrow vein mining methods such as modified Avoca. Collaboration from at least five sites is required to obtain access to relevant data and underground drives for geotechnical mapping. Preliminary estimations indicate that approximately three months fieldwork is required to meet case history requirements. CMS data in conjunction with 3-dimensional design software will be used to calculate equivalent linear overbreak/slough (ELOS). In contrast to stable, failure, major failure and caving categorical variables, ELOS is an objective and continuous stability variable and is therefore, more conducive to mathematical modelling.

Oct 1, 2001

By R. Tipman

"In 25 years, processing of tar sand progressed from two small pilot plants to two major commercial operations owned by Syncrude and Suncor. These plants mine tar sand and extract the bitumen which is then converted into a synthetic crude oil. Considerable research on extraction of bitumen from tar sand has been undertaken by these two companies as well as other major oil producing companies, private individuals, universities and the federal and provincial governments. These studies have produced a number of alternate processing schemes which have yet to be commercialized. The producing companies are focusing their efforts on achieving increased processing efficiency, which includes improved bitumen recovery, reduced unit cost, energy conservation, and equipment reliability. In this review, the Syncrude process and examples of new process developments will be briefly described. IntroductionTwenty-five years ago, tar sand processing was limited to two pilot plants owned by Cities Service Athabasca Ltd., and Great Canadian Oil Sands. Earnest Manning was Premier of Alberta and was inviting proposals for the construction of a commercial tar sands plant. The invitations called for a much larger operation than those which had been undertaken in the past. All of the previous attempts at commercial operations up to 1960's had failed, largely because of a poor technical understanding of the process requirements, lack of suitable equipment, and lack of adequate capital. The previous record was not good. The pending new large scale plant was based on improved but not proven technology and equipment, which were developed from the pilot plant studies. In addition, the surplus of conventional oil in Alberta and low world oil prices were factors reducing the need for such a plant."

Jan 1, 1987

By James R. Lang

The Xietongmen deposit is located 350 km west of Lhasa, Tibet. It is a new, high-grade porphyry copper-gold discovery and the first deposit to be systematically explored by a western company in southern Tibet. In 2005, Continental Minerals Corporation drilled 21,332 m of core in 63 holes and demonstrated excellent lateral and vertical continuity of high-grade copper-gold mineralization over an area 750 m by up to 350 m in size which remains open in all lateral directions. Drill intersections repeatedly yield grades >1% Cu equivalent (based on gold and copper prices) and include 308.5 m at 0.87% Cu and 1.25 g/T Au (1.60 CuEQ%), and 315.6 metres at 0.61% Cu and 1.11 g/T Au (1.26 CuEQ%). Extensive drilling in 2006 will expand and delineate the deposit, and metallurgical, engineering, environmental and socio-economic evaluations will begin. Xietongmen is hosted by volcanic and intrusive rocks of the Gangdese belt, a magmatic arc active between 120 and 30 Ma along the southern margin of Eurasia. Pervasive alteration is dominated by a well-mineralized K-feldspar and biotite assemblage, and by a more peripheral sericitic assemblage also with strong chalcopyrite. Major vein stages include chalcopyrite-bearing quartz, biotite, magnetite and pyrite-pyrrhotite types.

May 1, 2006

By S. Southall, F. McCaffrey, F. Stober, M. Darini

Electrode Columns are commonly used in electric furnaces to deliver current and regulate furnace power to the smelting or melting process. Hatch has developed an innovative patent-pending system for lowering ("slipping") and/or raising ("back-slipping") the electrodes through an electrode column, without requiring the release of any clamping devices. All clamping forces are applied by springs. Unlike systems employing hydraulically applied clamping forces, (e.g., water bladders) the spring system is failsafe. Its inherent simplicity virtually eliminates the need for maintenance. The Hatch system is particularly applicable to Soderberg electrodes, and comprises two axially movable slipping clamps and a stationary power clamp, each of which apply a distributed, radial clamping force to the electrode. The magnitudes of the slipping sleeves' clamping forces and sequencing of their axial movements are selected such that the slipping clamps, in conjunction with the weight of the electrode, provide slipping or back slipping without release of any clamping force.

Jan 1, 2005

By A. S. Baillie

THE subject of taxes appears to engage our attention altogether too lightly. At least it would seem that, notwithstanding the increase in the cost of government, and its concomitant increased taxation, little constructive work is being done with a view to solving the problem of increased taxes. I believe that the inattention of the public generally to the subject of increased taxation is due largely to the fact that shareholders are not advised of the amount of taxes paid by industry. Were companies to advise their shareholders the amount of monies paid or payable out of each year's earnings for taxes in one form or another, and were such amounts compared with the amounts available for distribution to shareholders, the effect would be a general demand for more equitable taxation methods. While I am not unmindful of the burdens and inequities in taxation confronting industry generally, I believe that the mining industry in this Province does not fully appreciate the burden represented by the costs of taxation. My reason for this belief is based partly upon1the fact that no serious effort has so far been made to devise some means By which the mining industry in British Columbia might protect itself against the ever-increasing burden of taxation. In addition to this fact the widely diverse nature of mining in British Columbia makes the accumulation of comparable data a problem which, so far as I can ascertain, has never been attempted in a manner which would be authoritative. It should not be necessary to cite the effects of this burden upon any one mining company or upon any branch of the mining industry, such as coal mining, placer mining, base-metal mining, or the precious-metal mines. In my opinion, the operation of our mines by large corporations is conducive to the payment of taxes with much less protest than would be the case were the taxes being taken out of the earnings of just a few partners or a very few shareholders. We appear to be too unmindful of the taxes, paid by mining companies, of a kind that are not so prominently brought to our attention as are the taxes which are calculated upon the taxable income of the company at the end of its fiscal year. British Columbian mining companies pay many other taxes besides those which are calculated upon taxable income. Among these are school taxes, property taxes, gasoline taxes, mineral taxes, coal royalty, to say nothing of fuel-oil tax, sales tax, and excise taxes.

Jan 1, 1935

By T. Billotte, G. Tirand, J. Zollinger, V. Robin, B. Rouat, D. Daloz

The grain structure prediction of metallic alloys during a welding process is often an issue. In addition to the welding parameters and the alloy nominal composition and properties, the base metal grain structure and chemical homogeneity also play an important role in the formation of the final microstructure. In this paper intensive characterisation of solidification structure in gas tungsten arc welding of Ni base alloy 600 are described. It is shown that in transverse section of the weld, while the grain structure shows some texture following constrained solidification growth, grain density in the weld is similar or greater than grain density in the heat affected zone. This suggests that simulation of the welding structure needs, in order to be predictive, to take into account : epitaxial growth, secondary nucleation events and 3D growth inside the weld pool.

Jan 1, 2015

By R. A. Ford

The paper outlines: methods used for the determination of wear metals in motor and transmission oils; contaminents in motor, transmission and crusher lubricating oils; and viscosity determinations. Case histories and costs are presented to illustrate the value of an oil analysis program. Introduction NORANDA MINES LIMITED (BELL COPPER DIVISION) is located on the shores of Babine Lake, approximately 450 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia. Access to the mine is by road from Topley, B.C., about 40 miles away. When a preventive maintenance analysis program was first considered, it was obvious that if samples were to be sent out for analysis, results would not be available for at least a week, due to the distance from any commercial laboratory. The assay laboratory was asked to investigate the possibility of determining wear metals on site. A limited program was started soon after production commenced, and this has now grown to include all large mobile equipment as well as crushers and grinding mills. The laboratory also now determines viscosity, fuel dilution, dirt and abrasives, glycol and water. All these results are ready within two days. This paper will outline the methods used, data interpretation, several case histories and the benefits from such a program.

Jan 1, 1977

By S. J. Cook

The subject of capital and the Canadian mining industry is so broad as to be impossible of comprehensive treatment in brief form. The purpose of the present paper therefore will be only to outline in a meagre and somewhat sketchy way the nature and extent of the mineral industry in Canada and to point out those features which are likely to be of general public interest. Canada's mineral industry has a long and creditable production record. The? value of the output per capita rose from $2.23 in 1886 to a maximum of $26.40 in 1920 and the value of the products from ten million dollars in the former year to almost two hundred and twenty-eight million dollars in 1920. Compared with other primary industries and on the basis of the value of production, mining held third place in Canada in 1920, the premier position going to agriculture and the value of forestry production placing that industry second in the list. In the mineral industry, between six and seven thousand properties are operated annually giving employment to up- wards of sixty thousand employees to whom about seventy-five million dollars is paid in salaries and wages. During 1923, seventeen mineral products reached a production value of one million dollars or over in Canada and in order of the values assigned these were: coal, gold, nickel, cement, cop-per, silver, clay products, lead, asbestos, natural gas, stone, zinc, lime, cobalt, sand and gravel, gypsum and salt.

Jan 1, 1924

By M. Knot

Fans delivered to the Russian Federation, and eventually to countries of the former U.S.S.R., for mine ventilation must meet the legislative requirements of local jurisdictions. This paper presents a discussion of these legislative requirements and presents examples of fan equipment designed to meet the requirements. The legislative obligations discussed include four (4) separate requirements, including: ?Technical design requirements ? The Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology is responsible to issue a GOST R certification declaring conformance to the requirements ?Operational requirements ? A ?License for Application? must be obtained prior to operation ?Explosion risk requirements ? If the area of operation includes potential for explosion a special certificate must be obtained ?Technical condition requirements ? Market segments within the mining industry require special conditions that must be satisfied Examples of fans designed specifically for use in the Russian Federation are also discussed and examples provided. Designs for fan volume flow control will be highlighted.

Aug 1, 2013

By P. M. Chapman

Risks to aquatic receiving environments from uranium mining and milling fall into three categories: physical (habitat change), chemical (e.g., uranium, selenium, total dissolved solids [TDS], metals including vanadium), and radiological. Although all categories of risk need to be managed, chemical risks are the most significant and are typically chronic rather than acute. For instance, selenium toxicity is primarily manifested as reproductive impairment due to maternal transfer, resulting in embryotoxicity and teratogenicity in egg-laying vertebrates. Risk is best assessed using a weight of evidence approach focused on ecosystem services. Risk management should be based on both risk assessment and adaptive monitoring.

Aug 1, 2010

By R. J. A. Fricker

IT is the purpose of this essay to give a reasonably complete description of shaft sinking under a rock pentice in a small Northern Ontario gold property. Hallnor is in many ways an exceptional mine, but the sinking operations here described are but typical examples of the excellent practice for which Canadian mines and mining engineers are justly famous the world over. The worth of the subject lies, therefore, nor in its originality, but in its soundness; not in the spectacular, but in the economical and safe. Attention is particularly drawn to the excellent safety record and to the exceptionally low overall sinking cost. INTRODUCTION Prior to April, 1939, the Hallnor No. 1 shaft had been sunk vertically to a depth of 997 feet below the surface. It is a three-compartment shaft, 19 ft. 10 in. by 7ft. 7 in. outside the timbers (see Figure 1).

Jan 1, 1941

By J. Visman

"The Compound Water Cyclone is a concentrator for the wet processing, in bulk, of finely divided materials such as slack coal, fine ores and mineral sands. It was originally developed by the Fuels and Mining Practice Division of the Mines Branch, Department of Mmes and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, for the cleaning of friable slack coals and slurries.Since its introduction in the coal industry in 1962, its application to other materials has also been studied, with special emphasis on simplicity of operation and low over-all cost per ton of finished product .In this paper, a description is given of commercial two-stage units presently available for the processing of granular materials, including wastes a1:1d other low-grade products. A pneumatic control system is used for operating the cyclone under back pressure .and for automatic cut-point adjustment. An account is given of results obtained on coal mineral sands and ores in the Wes tern Regional Laboratory of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. Results of several industrial applications are discussed."

Jan 1, 1966

By W. S. Szolga, M. Moser, M. D. Soderstrom, L. Cohen

"CYANEX® 272 is a phosphinic acid-based solvent extraction reagent used commercially since the early 80’s to recover and purify cobalt from sulfate solutions. Historically, the design of CYANEX 272 circuits has involved the selection of an optimal pH profile during pilot-scale testing using mixbox pH control. The desired pH profile is required to be carefully controlled in the same manner during commercial operation. To assist operators in the design and optimization of their circuits, Solvay developed CYANEX 272-specific solvent extraction modeling software, which has enabled determination of the ideal pH profile and staging configuration. Solvay’s recent advances in modeling capabilities have allowed the simulation of circuits without direct mixbox pH control. Modeling has indicated that circuits operated without direct pH control can achieve the desired metal separation while simplifying the commercial operation significantly. This paper reviews a number of potential circuit configurations for the use of CYANEX 272 and demonstrates the separations achievable under the right design and operational conditions, some of which have historically been considered too difficult.INTRODUCTION CYANEX® 272 is a phosphinic-acid based reagent designed specifically for the separation of cobalt from nickel by solvent extraction from weakly acidic sulfate solutions (Rickelton, Robertson, & Burley, 1982; Rickelton, Flett, & West, 1984; Rickelton & Nucciarone, 1997). Following commercial introduction in the 1980’s, CYANEX 272 has been used in a number of hydrometallurgical flowsheets for cobalt purification and/or recovery. CYANEX 272 metal extraction occurs by means of a cation exchange mechanism. Extraction of a divalent metal ion M2+ is represented by the following equation where RH represents the CYANEX 272 ligand and MR2 represents the ligand-metal complex."

Jan 1, 2017

By R. B. Harkness

Many of us are familiar with the history of oil in the Province of Ontario, but for the benefit of those who have never heard the story I will repeat it. In 185 7 J. H. Williams, of Hamilton, an old-country Scotchman, who had the advantage of experience gained from the primitive methods used for refining the oil collected at seepages in Roumania, heard of the "gum beds" along Black creek in Enniskillen township, Lambton county. He erected a small plant in the bush and refined illuminating oil, where the village of Old Springs now stands. The labor of collecting this thick ?gummy substance from the sluggish water of the creek, prompted him to dig a well, the next year ( 1858), in the hope of obtaining a greater quantity. When his excavation reached a gravel bed on top of the rock, oil, resembling "lubricating oil of commerce", rose several feet. Several of these wells were dug and his refining business flourished. The following year the Drake well, in Pennsylvania, was drilled into rock, resulting in an oil find which encouraged one James Shaw to make a similar attempt on Black creek. With a spring-pole drill he completed his well in the spring of 1861 to a depth of 160 feet, and at that depth struck a gusher that flowed uncontrolled for several days. Great excitement followed and the village of Oil Springs had a mushroom growth. The Petrolia field was discovered in 1865. Lick followed up the Thames with a spring-pole rig testing the formations along that river and discovered the original Bothwell field in 1865. During the sixties wells were drilled in many counties in southwestern Ontario.

Jan 1, 1924

By D. Campbell Mackenzie

THIS paper is submitted primarily to put on record the results of a number of experiments carried out at the Wingdam mine of Consolidated Gold Alluvials of B.C., Ltd., with the object of establishing a reliable method of concentration of 'wash' and a maximum recovery of gold from the concentrate. It will be generally admitted that, during the last two decades, a tremendous amount of research work has been carried out, both by private companies and Government departments, with a view to improving the technique of the recovery of gold .from quartz veins or lodes. So thorough have been these investigations that milling practice at a modern quartz gold mine is almost an exact science, carried out with meticulous accuracy. In placer mining, on the other hand, very little departure from old traditional methods can be noted, with the exception perhaps of the more modern gold dredges. This may be due to the fact that the concentration of placer gravels, up to a certain point, is comparatively easy. Only a simple equipment of sluice box and riffies seems necessary where the gold is coarse and the gravel free from clay. In the early days of placer mining, when claims were rich and fairly 5hallow, nobody worried very much about fine gold; and, if clay was present, an enlarged dump box was constructed in which the gravel was subjected to a rather desultory puddling. That large quantities of gold are lost in normal placer practice is generally admitted. Some 26 years ago, I had inspectorial charge of many bucket dredges on the Ovens river, in Australia. Occasionally it was necessary for a dredge to work through its own tailing to reach a new section, and almost without exception enough gold was recovered from these tailings to defray the total cost of moving the dredge. Since those days, the technique of gold recovery in dredging has been considerably improved and it is still receiving close attention. Outside of dredge mining, most placer operations, deep or otherwise, are as they were-notorious gold losers, paying little attention to the recovery of fine gold and taking an absurd amount of time over each clean-up. In the Cariboo district of British Columbia, the alluvial gold is usual y associated with varying quantities of black sand (magnetic) and grey sand (non-magnetic); and it can be taken as axiomatic that, if you save all the black sand and grey sand, you save practically all the gold. It is on this hypothesis that we have carried out our research work and brought our recovery system up to its present highly satisfactory standard.

Jan 1, 1937

By W. J. Farley

Location and History The Sherritt Gordon mine is in northern Manitoba, one hundred miles north of The Pas and forty miles northeast of Flin Flon. The original discovery was made by a Cree indian, Philip Sherlett, in 1922. The claims lapsed in 1924 to be re-staked and optioned by various mining groups who carried out a certain amount of development work before relinquishing their options. In 1927 the present Company, Sherritt Gordon Mines, Limited, was formed to take over the property. Production commenced in 1931, but in the following year operations were suspended and it was not until 1937 that the prevailing price of copper pemitted resumption as an economic operation. The mine has operated continuously from that time to the present. Total production to the end of 1947 has been: Copper . . . . . . . . . 301,813 . .,345 pounds Zinc . . . . . . . . . . . 112,636 tons of concentrat (50% zinc) Gold . . . . . . . . . . 83,070 ounces Silver . . . . . . . . . 2,651,317 ounces General Geology The consolidated rocks in the vicinity of the mine, all of Precambrian age, are a series of gneisses and form a part of a great area of what are known as the Kisseynew gneisses. The Sherritt is the only known economic base-metal deposit to occur within the Kisseynew series. Extreme metamorphism has produced recrystallization that has imparted a decided igneous-like texture to many of the units. However, the gneisses are predominantly of sedimentary original although the most basic member, a hornblendegarnet gneiss, is considered to be an altered basic flow. Figure 1 illustrates the intricately folded structure and the succession of roe types. The footwall enclosing members are of sedimentary origin and represent quartzite and arkosic and greywacke derivatives. The contact footwall member is gneissic quartzite, a medium to coarse grained rock composed mainly of quartz with minor altered feldspar (orthoclase and plagioclase), muscovite, chloritized biotite, and magnetite. Most phases of this unit show varying degrees of granitization.

Jan 1, 1949

By C. Denis Thibodeau

Outline Introduction 402 OB Mining Sequence Trial to Verify Sequence Change Monitoring Observations Numerical Modelling Conclusion

May 1, 2013