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By K. Ananthanarayanan, R. I. L. Guthrie, S. A. Argyropoulos

"The low cost and availability of micro-computers and their peripherals provides the metallurgical engineer with the opportunity to use such computers in a wide variety of applications. In this paper, the authors describe the development of a low cost data acquisition system capable of measuring up to 8 analogue channels at a sampling rate of up to 5000 measure mentsper second. This system is equipped with proper hardware and software so that the micro-computer can be linked to a central computer facility such as the McGill System for Interactive Computing (MUSIC). This central computer facility is supported by an AMDAHL V7 computer. Using the present interface, communication rates between the microcomputer and the central computing facility can be as high as 9600 (baud).The above mentioned data acquisition system is currently used for monitoring dissolution kinetics of ferro-alloy additions in liquid steel. In addition to this, special software has been developed which enables the user of this system to monitor solidification rates of ingots, etc. As economic considerations are always important, comparisons have been made with existing recorders which show that the cost Of the present system is only 30 per cent more than a two-pen strip chart recorder.RESUMELa disponibilité et le bas prix des micro-ordinateurs et de leurs périphériques permet à l'ingénieur métallurgiste d'utiliser de tels ordinateurs pour diverses applications. Dans ce rapport, les auteurs décrivent le développement d'un système d bas prix pour l'acquisition des données, capable de mesurer jusqu'à huit canaux analogues jusqu’à une vitesse de 5000 mesures par seconde. Ce système est équipe avec son propre ""hardware"" et ""Software"" qui relient le micro-ordinateur d’un ordinateur central, comme le système de McGill pour computations réciproques (MUSIC). Ce central d'ordinateurs est soutenu par l'ordinateur AMDAHL V7. Utilisant cet "" interface"", la vitesse de communication entre Ie micro-ordinateur et l'ordinateur central peut atteindre jusqu'd 9600 (baud)."

Jan 1, 1980

By T. Warren, R. Pender

"Significant strides have been made during the past decade to integrate the traditionally separate administrative functions of financial management, materials management and maintenance management.In 1983, Key Lake Mining Corporation (KLMC) brought on-stream one of the most technologically advanced mining operations in North America. There was a requirement to support this new facility with state-of-the-art management information systems.This paper will discuss the development and evolution of the corporation's computerized information systems with specific emphasis on the utilization of computer systems to assist maintenance personnel in performing their work activities:Note: In August of 1989, the administration and operation of the Key Lake Mine was assumed by CAMECO - A Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation.IntroductionThe Key Lake Mining Corporation was incorporated in 1979 and operates a $500 million uranium mining and milling complex located in northern Saskatchewan.The feasibility study and environmental impact statements for the Key Lake Mine were submitted in 1979and in August of 1981, following a public inquiry, approval to proceed with construction was granted. Ore processing commenced in October of 1983 and during 1984 a total of 10.4 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) was produced. In 1987, an annual production of 13.5 million pounds was achieved clearly establishing Key Lake Mining Corporation as the world's leading producer of uranium oxide. Current ore resources are expected to extend production of the Key Lake facility into the year 2000."

Jan 1, 1990

By Da-Qiang Cang, Qingde Wang, Wei Wang, Wen-Bin Dai, Min Guo, Yu Li

Utilization of both slag and its heat for hot slag is a great challenge for iron and steel industry. Many methods of hot slag modification for directly converting hot slag into value-added materials were researched in recent years, and waste heat of hot slag could thereby be transformed into inner energy or chemical energy of the materials. In this paper, an experiment of converting hot slag directly into glass ceramics by hot slag modification method was conducted. A cooled modifiers mainly composed of fly ash were firstly heated though a cyclone furnace and then fell into a molten bath to mix with hot steel slag. Half of hot slag was used as raw materials and accordingly about half energy consumption, about 5MJ/kg for melting raw materials was saved in the process compared with that of traditional producing method. Frit quenched from the modified hot slag had a higher basicity of 0.6-0.7 than traditional frits in order to reduce the needed amount of cold modifiers and accordingly utilize more hot slag and its waste heat. Glass ceramics were further prepared from the frit and a heat treatment of one-stage method is more suiter to such frit than that of two-stage method. The glass-ceramics with basicity of 0.6 and heat-treated by one stage method had the best performance with bending strength of 146.46 MPa, Vickers hardness of 6.79 GPa, water absorption rate of below 2% and shrinkage rate of around 10%.

Jan 1, 2015

By Paul R. Terry

This paper presents a brief picture of the quality of coal produced in Eastern Canada for use in thermal generating stations. It describes, in particular, the characteristics of coals burned in six power plants -two in New Brunswick and four in Nova Scotia. Each station is dis-cussed in turn, and comments are made on the coals used therein with regards to origin and physical and chemical properties affecting station operation. A table of coal data shows, at a glance, the wide variation in the quality of coals received by these stations from producers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. "The promotion of improved coal quality for thermal generation can benefit our national economy." T HIS is the opening statement in a paper which was presented by Mr. D. A. Pirttinen at the Coal Division's Toronto meeting in April, 1960. In bringing the power engineer's viewpoint to the coal producers' attention, Mr. Pirttinen made a survey of utility steam plants operating in Canada, and the results of this survey formed the basis for his paper, which he titled: "Generating Station Coal Quality.

Jan 1, 1965

By D. Kong, A. Klyashtorin, L. McGilp, I. Wilson

This work reports on applying iron oxide coated sands media in an experimental permeable reactive barrier to remove uranium species from uranium containing water. A field experiment was conducted at the legacy Gunnar uranium mine & mill site that was abandoned in the 1960s with limited to no decommissioning. The flooded Gunnar mine pit presently contains about 3.2 million m3 of water contaminated by dissolved U (1.2 mg/l), Ra-226 (0.4 Bq/l), and minor concentrations of other contaminants (As, Se, etc.). The water is seeping over the pit rim into Lake Athabasca posing environmental and health concerns. Iron oxide coated sands can be used to immobilize uranium species through an adsorption process. Methods for preparation of hydrous ferric oxide sorbents and their supported forms onto silica sands are described. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD) were used to characterize the physical-chemical properties of the sorbent. The monolayer uranium uptake capacity (Qm) was estimated through the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Adsorption kinetic experiments were performed in a lab environment before moving to a field trial. Based on these lab results and the input on field-scale appropriate geometries, a pilot permeable reactive barrier was fabricated and a field test conducted near the Gunnar pit in June 2019. This pilot test provided technical data and information needed for designing a full-scale permeable barrier based on the iron oxide coated sands, which may be applied for in-situ water treatment at Gunnar and other legacy uranium sites.

Jan 1, 2020

By M. P. Sinha, Rashmi, Tata Steel Ltd., S. Jaiswal, A. Bhatnagar, P. Garg

Reagents form a crucial part of flotation process as they have the power to control the surface properties of minerals. In case of coal flotation, collectors and frothers are two the important and commonly used reagents. But other types of reagents such as promoters, modifiers and depressants are also finding wide applications because of their availability to improve selectivity and increase recovery. Because of these chemicals the scenario has changed from flotation being used mostly for high rank hydrophobic coals to low rank, oxidised or inferior coals. In the present work a case is presented in which two non-ionic surfactants (abbreviated as A & B) known to act as emulsifier have been studied to get a better flotation performance for a preparation plant with varying feed characteristics. Laboratory flotation tests were conducted with both the surfactants using three feed samples of the plant by varying the dosage at three different levels. The highest combustible matter recovery (more than 80%) was obtained for surfactant B at a dosage of 75 ppm (parts per million) for feed 1. But at the same dosage the recovery decreased by 21% and 10.2 % respectively for feed 2 and 3. On the other hand surfactant A showed a consistent result for all the three feed samples giving the highest value at a dosage of 50 ppm followed by a decrease beyond this point. The tests were complemented by contact angle measurements that demonstrated the same trend. In addition to this the reproducibility of data for Surfactant A was checked and found that the standard deviations for both separation efficiency and combustible matter recovery were within the permissible range (less than 5%). Finally an in-plant process optimization study to evaluate the performance and applicability of surfactant A at industrial level was done and has been discussed.

Jan 1, 2016

By Sanjeeva Latchireddi

"Deteriorating ore grade and high demand of metals has tremendously influenced the unit capacity of SAG mills. Pebble circuits have been added to the existing SAG circuits to increase their unit capacity. To make the pebble circuits justifiable, the grate openings are increased almost to 4.5 inches to draw large quantity of pebbles. The inherent transportation problems associated with SAG mills in closed circuit with pebble fraction are more complicated than the single stage SAG mill operation, because the coarse pebbles behave significantly different to that of slurry in pulp lifters. In addition, operation of mills at higher speed, to take advantage of precise design of high release angled shell lifters significantly reduces the discharge efficiency of the conventional pulp dischargers. The presence of a sizable quantity of pebbles in the pulp lifter limits the space available and reduces the flow gradient through the grate thus increases the load inside the mill and hence the mill power-draw. This paper analyses all the problems associated in discharge of slurry and pebbles in SAG mills with pebble circuits. The Outokumpu patented Turbo Pulp Lifter (TPLTM) aims at eliminating the inherent material transport problems to ensure good grinding conditions. Recent installation of TPLTM in a 26-ft SAG mill has proven these claims by reducing the specific power consumption while increasing the mill capacity.INTRODUCTIONThe conventional wisdom is to look at the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill as just another grinding mill in which ball charge, mill filling, and mill speed are varied to attain maximum throughput. Liner design for the SAG was also approached more from a wear perspective rather than a metallurgical and hydraulic-flow perspective. The extensive research work carried out by Latchireddi and Morrell (1997,2003a and 2003b) has demonstrated to think of the SAG as more of a pump in which the grates and pulp discharger end (“impeller”) were designed to efficiently discharge the product sized particles smaller than the grate size with minimal recirculation out of the mill.The rock load in the mill is essentially depends on ore characteristics and the discharge rate of broken particles. The discharge rate of the product material depends on how efficiently the discharge pump (grate and pulp lifters) is operating. Similar to the impeller design affecting the pump capacity, the pulp lifter design affects the discharge capacity (or mill throughput) of the SAG/AG grinding mills. The general arrangement of AG/SAG mills discharge system is shown in Figure 1."

Jan 1, 2007

By Hongpu Kang

The fully mechanized top coal caving mining method has been the main mining approach for thick coal seams with high output and efficiency in Chinese coal mines. The gateroads for the top coal caving mining faces should be driven along the floor of the thick coal seam with a part of the seam as roof. The support of the gateroads is commonly difficult because of the low strength and broken structures of the coal seams, and the increasingly large section of gateroads meeting the need of greater and greater face coal output. Based on the analyses on the geomechanics properties and production conditions of the top coal caving mining, the influences of the top coal caving mining parameters on the stability of gateroads, including mining thickness and face length, are studied. The deformation and damage features of the rock mass surrounding the gateroads with the top coal seam as roof are investigated, the interaction of the support with the surrounding rock mass, the support theory are studied. The bolting design method and criteria, bolting forms and parameters for the gateroads with the top coal as roof are put forward. The rock bolting components, including bolt bars, face plates, cable tendons, meshes, and steel straps, are introduced. Finally, the gateroad bolting effects are evaluated through a typical case study on the basis of field monitoring data, such as the displacement of surrounding rock mass and the forces along bolts and cables.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. H. D. Hargrove, A. F. Snowball

Atmospheric pollution control has become increasingly important in re-cent years with laws and public opinion having required the reduction of contaminants from industrial gas effluents. Treatment methods have advanced to make possible, with proper plant design and operation, a satisfactory removal of these contaminants. Gases from Cominco's metallurgical operations at Trail, approximating 900,000 c.f.m., are treated by baghouses, electrostatic precipitators, cyclones, or wet scrubbers. The tabulated data include gas and dust conditions, plant performance, and some details of plant equipment. Discussion emphasizes the special features, scope of application, and basic design principles of the treatment methods, all based on Cominco experience. Recovery of over 99 per cent of the fume and dust is achieved by the major installations from which effluent gases go to atmosphere. Cooling of gases for baghouse recovery and conditioning for electrostatic precipitation are mentioned. Co3ts are tabulated for some of the installations on the basis of a unit of 1,000 cubic feet of gas. Suggestions are made on the procedure for assessing a smoke treatment problem and for selection of suitable equipment.

Jan 1, 1959

By A. P. Yovanovic, P. Bonadia, M. N. Moraes, C. F. Matos

"The magnesite flotation operation of Magnesita Refractories, in Brumado – Brazil, has four parallel ball mills working in closed circuit with hydrocyclones to grind the ore for the reverse flotation of silicates in mechanical cells. The modification proposed here opens the circuit for three of the ball mills so that their products are collected together to feed a high frequency screen. The oversize of the screen feeds the fourth ball mill in closed circuit for secondary comminution. The product reports to dewatering and flotation. The undersize undergoes desliming and subsequent flotation operation. According to pilot tests performed, the modification on the magnesite flotation operation will promote a 20% increase in the productivity, 8.5% increase in mass recovery and a 26% reduction in water consumption. The gains are due to the fact that the silicates in the feed are concentrated in the smaller particles (<100µm) with over grinding in the existing closed comminution circuit, making it impossible to take advantage of this natural selectivity. The combination of open circuit, more selective milling, and the high frequency screen, ensures high efficiency particle size classification. This renders the process more effective, both to the screen undersize with its high contents of silicates and fines, and to the screen oversize, which is almost without fines and has a higher magnesite grade. This situation allows for the setting of specific parameters for the flotation of both the primary milling undersize and the secondary milling product.INTRODUCTIONMagnesita Refractories, with its operations site in Brumado, is the largest producer of high purity dead burned magnesia (DBM) in Latin America. The magnesite ore is extracted from an open pit mine, named Pomba, after which it is crushed and handpicked. Due to the presence of disseminated silicate the ore has to be ground and concentrated by means of reverse flotation, before feeding the high temperature kilns for sintering and conversion to DBM.The magnesite flotation unit has an impact crusher to reduce the size of the feeding ore, which is transported to the mills by conveyor belts. The milling operation is composed of four ball mills in closed circuit with hydrocyclones. The closed circuit generates a high circulating load with excess fines, which is detrimental to the selectivity of the desliming and flotation operations, reducing both mass andmetallurgical recovery.In the current scenario, the capacity of the flotation plant is insufficient to meet the demand of the DBM kilns, forcing the operation to work with high purity ores in order to attain the highest possible mass recovery in the concentration process. This is not an ideal situation as it requires the mining site to work with higher stripping ratios.The objective of this work was to improve the magnesite flotation unity to increase its productivity. After a detailed analysis, the milling was identified as the limiting process, which made the authors to focus on this operation."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. K. Afidenyo, J. Osei-Owusu

"The Obuasi Mine of AngloGold Ashanti Limited has been operating the world’s largest Biooxidation Plant at its Sulfide Treatment Plant (STP) in Ghana, using the Gencor Biox® technology since February 1994. The Biox® technology was preferred to other alternative methods of treating refractory sulfide ores such as roasting, pressure oxidation and nitric acid leaching due to among other reasons, its lower capital and operating costs, reduced technical risk, relatively benign environmental impact and its ease of operation and maintenance in a remote location.STP has since commissioning succeeded in operating this technology successfully but not without some operational problems. The Plant has seen a number of upgrades and modifications in its circuits which were motivated by cost, operational and throughput constraints.The objective of this paper is therefore to highlight the mine’s experience in the treatment of its complex carbonaceous refractory sulfide gold ores with emphasis on plant operations and improvements such as the Biox® reactors expansion, flotation concentrate upgrade project and neutralization circuit modifications. The Biox® Plant operating cost is also discussed.INTRODUCTIONThe Obuasi mine forms part of the AngloGold Ashanti Group of Gold Mines. It is located in the Adansi West District of the Republic of Ghana. The mine is primarily an underground operation, although some surface mining still takes place. Ore is processed by two main treatment plants: the Sulfide Treatment Plant (for underground ore) and the Tailings plant (for tailings reclamation operations). A third plant, the Oxide Plant, is used to batch-treat remnant opencast ore and stockpiles, of which there are adequate tonnages to keep the plant operational until 2008.Though reference is made in this paper to the Tailings and Oxide Treatment Plants, the main focus will be on the Sulfide Treatment Plant."

Jan 1, 2008

TRE ? worldwide leader in InSAR ? Spinoff of Polytechnic University of Milan ? Numerous patents for cutting edge technology (e.g. SqueeSAR?, PSInSAR?) ? Focus solely on InSAR with over 13 years experience ? ISO 9001 quality certification ? Powerful scalable parallel processor to handle all jobs What can InSAR provide for mining? An advanced suite of tools for monitoring ground deformation over mine sites: ? Deformation maps ? A dense network of measurement points ? Time series ? Cross sections of surface profile evolution

Aug 1, 2013

By Jochen Franke, Derek D. Lichti

"This paper gives a brief introduction and presents recent enhancements in the MillMapper technology developed for thickness gauging and condition monitoring of liners in grinding mills used for mineral comminution. It also introduces the recent expansion of MillMapper functionality aimed at mill operational optimization. MillMapper uses calibrated laser scanner data captured inside a mill to determine thickness at several million points on all liner surfaces at feed, shell, and discharge ends with millimeter accuracy. Data capture takes nominally 5 minutes, hence interruption to mill operation is negligible.The paper is structured as follows. First, a review of the technology and discussion of recentlyimplemented innovations such as liner change out forecasting, automatic ball charge volume and weight measurement, and automatic mill liner volume/weight measurement for mill operational control or load cell calibration are presented. Combined weight information provides control over load related issues such as load fill levels for relining, or start-up load after reline. Feature descriptions are followed by a listing of the numerous advantages over existing techniques and the benefits to operations. Results from the application of MillMapper are presented throughout.INTRODUCTIONThe need for thickness gauging of liners of grinding mills used for mineral comminution is well known but the task is rarely completed to a satisfactory standard. Liner failure resulting from excessive wear can have expensive consequences. Furthermore, mill performance as well as liner wear are known to be correlated to lifter bar geometry (Napier-Munn et al., 1999; Rajamanni et al., 2005). At present, the following techniques are routinely used to gauge the thickness of mill liners:1. Visual inspection;2. Ultrasonic thickness gauging (for steel liners); and3. Physical inspection (e.g. nail inserted in rubber liners)"

Jan 1, 2008

By A. Bois-Brochu, G. Morin, G. Marin, M. C. Parr, J. Carignan

The presence of an alpha case on titanium parts produced by investment casting is problematic and has to be eliminated. The traditional techniques for the evaluation of its thickness are metallographic measurements and micro-hardness profiles. To obtain a better understanding of how the alpha case is formed with the underlying objective of limiting its depth, the present study proposes to characterize the microstructure and the chemical composition of the alpha case. Electron microprobe analyzer (EMPA) linescans were used to quantify the oxygen and substitutional elements that come from the mould and promote the alpha case formation. The chemical profiles were correlated with metallographic and microhardness measurements. For microstructure, optical microscopy (etched and polarized light analysis) was used. For phase analysis, samples were mechanically polished step by step and analysed using X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy. Furthermore, surface analysis techniques such as XPS and Auger Microscopy were evaluated but results were found to be inconclusive because the formation of the oxide layer was faster than its ablation and the matrix could thus not be analysed. The alpha case was observed on a Ti-6Al-4V step block casting.

Jan 1, 2014

By K. B. Hodgins, P. Ouellette

"The North American mining industry faces challenging emissions regulations in the coming years with the introduction of new standards for off-road diesel engines. In order to remain competitive, industry stakeholders must invest in new technologies that are economically and environmentally sustainable.Westport Innovations Inc., Vancouver,British Columbia, has developed high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology that allows diesel engines to run primarily on natural gas with no intrusive engine modifications while reducing emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and CO2 with no loss in performance. This is accomplished through late-cycle, high-pressure direct injection of natural gas into a diesel engine combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke. A small amount of diesel fuel is injected first to initiate combustion, followed by the natural gas fuel main injection. The diesel cycle and its operating characteristics are fully retained including high combustion efficiency, lowspeed torque, high-power output, no engine knock, and fast response to load changes. Natural gas has not been an attractive fuel alternative in mining operations due to the reduced performance associated with spark ignition engines and the added weight and space required for compressed natural gas tanks. However, liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be stored with less impact on weight and space than compressed natural gas (CNG) by virtue of its increased energy density over CNG.Westport has applied HPDI technology to the Cummins QSK series engines for high horsepower applications such as power generation and mine haul trucking. HPDI can also be applied to other engine manufacturer platforms and market applications. Westport is interested in demonstrating the unique characteristics of HPDI in mine haul trucks to show diesel performance with low emissions levels using low-cost LNG fuel.Retrofitting a Tier 1 engine with HPDI would provide emissions reductions below the EPA 2006 Tier 2 standards while maintaining the performance and efficiency of the Tier 1 platform. The longer-term target is the Blue Sky voluntary standards of 3.8 g/kW-hr (2.8 g/bhphr) of NOx + non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and 0.12 g/kW-hr (0.09 g/bhp-hr) of particulate matter (PM) and future standards. Typically, an HPDI engine is capable of reducing NOx emissions by 40% over diesel operation at the same efficiency. On a mining truck meeting Tier 2 standards, this NOx reduction would translate into NOx emissions approximately 14 t per year lower than under diesel operation. PM emissions are typically reduced by some 60% with HPDI fueling, which would translate into a yearly reduction of 650 kg. Similarly, engine-out greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are reduced by 21%, resulting in a yearly reduction of approximately 950 t per vehicle.Above those of emissions reduction, efficient natural gas usage in mine haul operations would offer significant benefits in terms of fuel cost savings, which may be further combined with monetary emission credits. HPDI technology would enable operators to exercise environmental stewardship while gaining a competitive advantage in advance of new Tier 2 and Tier 3 emissions regulations. The advantages of natural gas use among mine haul truck operations can be replicated across a broad range of engines and applications."

Jan 1, 2005

"Polycom, a new approach to ore processing based on pressure comminution, is obviously a very attractive alternative to conventional processing methods.Since a full-scale pilot plant was commissioned in 1986, more than 125 commercial installations, with capacities up to 1000 t/hr, have gone ahead.Already successfully used in processing cement clinker, limestone, coal, and other minerals, Polycom high pressure grinding results in:o Significantly reduced capital costs, because smaller units can be used m new installations;o Capacity increases of up to 100% in existing facilities; and o Operating economies that include energy savings of 20% or more, and reduced wear parts consumption.1. IntroductionAutogenous or semi-autogenous mills in conjunction with rod or ball mills are used with preference for ore processing. Most ball mills are of closed-circuit design and operate with mechanical classifiers (spiral or rake classifiers) or hydrocyclones. In other words, the ores undergo wet primary grinding, since slurries are required for the downstream separation stages anyway. This paper presents a new grinding system based on high pressure comminution of ores. This grinding process allows:- Energy savings of up to 20 % or more- Capacity increases of up to 100 % and more- Reduction of wear costs- Smaller units for new installation and thus- Reduced investment costsThese advantages are highly interesting for both new installations and conversion projects, particulary in cases where an increasing hardeness of the ore, i.e. rising Bond Work Index, reduces the output of the plants or where the metal assay of the ore decreases and the capacity of the existing systems has to be increased. POLYCOM high-pressure grinding rolls have established themselves with great success already for grinding cement clinker, granulated blast furnace slag, limestone, cement raw materials, coal and other materials.Meanwhile more than 250 high pressure grinding rolls have been installed worldwide. Capacities up to 1.000 t/h with roller diameter up to 2.8 m and drive units up to 2.400 kW are installed."

Jan 1, 1991

By Claude Deveau

"Studies on the performance of Falcon batch type concentrators treating ultrafine tantalum at Tanco have revealed that very fine heavy minerals are concentrated within certain areas of the concentrate bed. This information led to the design of a bowl which would allow entrapped lighter low grade particles to escape while providing more space for heavier particles to be recovered in the bed.Numerous tests were then completed with a modified batch-type and non-fluidized Falcon bowl in which the diameter of the discharge lip was adjusted downward manually in steps. This allowed for the gradual building of a higher grade concentrate bed.This work ultimately led to the design of a new Falcon with an automated continuously variable lip. In April 2005, Tanco commissioned the first Falcon UF600.This paper will discuss laboratory scale results and also plant performance of the Falcon’s UF technology.INTRODUCTIONTantalum Mining Corporation of Canada, also known as Tanco, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cabot Corporation based in Boston, Mass. Operating since 1969, the underground highly mechanized room and pillar operation produces tantalum, lithium and cesium minerals and is located a 2 hour drive east-northeast of Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada.At Tanco, tantalum is recovered using conventional gravity concentration, enhanced gravity concentration and flotation. This paper will discuss how the need for improved equipment to treat very fine tantalum particles was filled by a machine which was modified to the point of creating a completely new technology.In November 2003, Tanco began the investigation for the potential use of a high g-force smooth walled concentrator for treating ultra fine tantalum produced by its flotation circuit. Until then, the tantalum flotation concentrate had been treated by a circuit which consisted of a Mozley Multi-Gravity Separator 902 (MGS), a Mozley MGS 900 and a Bartles cross belt concentrator. Through QemScan analysis, it was found that the majority of the losses from this circuit were of an extremely fine nature which exceeded the recovery limits of equipment on hand. Mean particle size of the tantalum losses was less than 10 µm."

Jan 1, 2006

By B. Krysa, J. Qiu

The zinc pressure leach plant at HBM&S&apos;s operations is now in its fifteenth year of operation. Current pressure leach operation is steady at a concentrate processing rate of around 26.5 tonnes per hour. A new cellhouse with a design capacity of 124,000 tonnes per annum and the capability of expansion of up to 154,000 tonnes per annum was commissioned in July 2001. The potential to expand the capacity of the pressure leach circuit and associated processes, as well as the purification circuit and casting plant, to meet the maximum capacity of the cellhouse has been investigated. This paper reviews current operation of the zinc plant, as well as the possibility of a capacity increase without major process modifications or major capital expenditures.

Jan 1, 2008

Despite the fact that mined minerals and gemstones have allowed human beings to continuously improve their standard of living throughout the ages, mining has also been implicated in violent conflict for two principle reasons. The first is that mineral resources have been used or traded to conduct or finance violent conflict from small to large scales. The second is the substantial social, economic and environmental changes that occur in a community or a region as a result of mining activity which can either precipitate or re-awaken latent conflict. A modern complication of mining-related violent conflict is the trend for activists, international NGOs and intergovernmental organisations (e.g. the United Nations) to regard any human consequences of resource extraction in terms of Human Rights violations. Acknowledging but not labouring the Human Rights implications of mining-related violent conflict, this paper explores whether or not there is a relationship between the actual or perceived value of mineral resources and the level of violence that occurs in mining-related conflicts. Key to the investigation is a mapping exercise of mining related conflict from 2005 ? 2012: to see where mining related conflict is happening; to identify precipitant causes of mining related conflict; and, to discover what correlation ? if any ? there might be in the degree of violence and the value of the mineral(s) implicated. Findings of the analysis are presented in this conference paper.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. K. Daneshmend

The mine of the year 2020 will need to be based on a new way of mining. It will employ technology in a paradigm that assumes responsibility for sustainable development: taking account not only economic but also ecological and social issues. This will require a holistic approach to mine design and planning, considering all controlling factors and impacts (technical, economic, environmental and social). A national collaborative strategy is required to address the several options that exist for the development and application of 2020 mining technology. Key issues in implementing 2020 mining technology will also relate to human resources, in terms of employment, skills and education. A need exists to proactively prepare for 2020 through development of a comprehensive education and training strategy.

Jan 1, 1998