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By J. Kalynchuk, R. Poulin, R. Pakalnis, D. Peterson

"A market survey of all underground mines in Canada (Fig. 1) was completed to determine the ex1ent to which cable bolts are being used as ground support. One hundred and nine questionnaires were distributed with 65% of them being returned completed. As a result, the quantity, types and locations of cable bolt installations have been determined. In addition, the grout pumps used, time required and cost of installations have been addressed. The popularity of other support types used in underground mines is summarized.IntroductionRock reinforcement consists of installing support within the rock mass (internal) or within the excavation (external). Within the past twenty-five years several new types of ground support have been introduced within the mining industry. Cable bolts were first introduced to the Canadian mining industry in the 19605 (Gramoli, 1975).Cable bolts have gained increased acceptance as a method of ground support during the past decade. The cable bolt is comprised of one central wire surrounded by six slightly smaller outside wires and typically having an over-all diameter of 15.2 nun to 15.9 nun (0.6 in. to 0.625 in.). The cable wires are made from high-strength steel with an ultimate strength of 26 tonnes (58 000 Ibs) (Goris, 1990). Current cable bolting practice consists of cement grouting one or more steel cables within a drill hole in order to reinforce the surrounding rock mass. Cable bolts are a form of internal support and are generally used in open stoping and cut-and-fill mining methods (Fig. 2).They can be either tensioned (active support) or untensioned (passive support) and may be of any length, though for underground mining applications, they are generally less than 20 m (65.5 ft) and are untensioned. A major advantage compared to previously used ground support is that the cables are flexible and can be coiled to approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) diameter coils allowing relatively long support to be installed in areas with limited head room (1.8 m).With the advent of bulk mining methods which require comparatively large stopes, it has necessitated the use of relatively long support tendons to stabilize the large spans being created. As a result, the use of cable bolts for ground support in mines has increased significantly within the past decade."

Jan 1, 1995

By Peter Price

Introduction The Horne mine, the property of Noranda Mines, Limited, has in the last six years become one of Canada's leading gold and copper producers. Since the smelter was blown-in during December, 1927, up to the end of 1933, it has produced approximately 1,200,000 oz. of gold and 35O,OOO,OOO lb. of copper. The property is situated within an area occupied entirely by pre-Cambrian rocks and characterized by the complexity of rock types and structures common in such terrain. But apart from this the mine also presents other features of unusual interest in the size, number, and variety of the ore-bodies, the mineralogical associations, and the rather exceptional values both in gold and copper. It is not surprising, therefore, that a study of the geology of the mine should bring to light many interesting problems. The present paper summarizes, as concisely as possible, the results of such a study. Actually, it is a much abridged version of a more comprehensive and detailed paper completed by the writer a year ago (1), but embodying certain corrections and additional data made possible as a result of further development at the mine and of field work carried out during the summer of 1933. Owing to limitations of space, the paper is, in the main, a presentation of conclusions arrived at in the course of the study. Much of the supporting evidence cited in the thesis referred to has, of necessity, been omitted here.

Jan 1, 1934

By G. Kolosay, J. Rajala, G. Deschênes, A. Romanov

ABSTRACT: The Kupol project, located in Far East Russia, treats a high-grade, free-milling ore containing 25.5 g/t Au, 298.3 g/t Ag, and 0.5% pyrite,with a P70of 53 microns. Most of the gold occurs as elec-trum and the silver is predominantly present in the forms of acanthite, stephanite, pyrargyrite, andproustite. The mill reached the design throughput of 3,000 tpd six months after start-up. AKnelson con-centratorrecovers10.4% gold and 0.5% silver. Leaching (14.5 hours pre-treatment and 116 hours cyanidation)of gravity tailings is performed with the CANMET Enhanced Leach Process (CELP),using only 490 ppm NaCN (cyanide consumption of 1.1 kg/t). The precious metals are recovered by counter-current decantation and the Merrill-Crowe process. Calcium hypochlorite destroyscyanide and thiocyanate. Overall, gold and silver recoveries for 2008 were 95.4% and 85.6%,respectively (2.8% and7.5% higher than targets). In the first eight months of 2009, gold and silver recoveries were 95.0% and82.6%, respectively. By August 2009, the mill processed 1.42 million tons of ore with production of 1.1 million ounces of gold and 11.3 million ounces of silver. CELP performance was not affected by changes in feed grade and ore mineralogy. Additional modifications to the leaching strategy allowed further reduction in cyanide consumption and effluent treatment costs.

Jan 1, 2011

IN 1932, the No. 4 shaft at Wright-Hargreaves mine was completed to a depth of 4,000 feet, and the lowest operating level at that time was at 3,900 feet. It was realized that the existing pumping system, using triplex plunger pumps at somewhat irregular depths in the mine, would be in-adequate to take care of the increasing volume of water that would have to be handled as mining operations expanded. Accordingly, in February, 1932, after a thorough study of the whole matter, it was decided to instal an entirely new, automatically controlled, system of pumping, employing centrifugal pumps, with their characteristically trouble-free performance, operated by off-peak power.

Jan 1, 1939

By G. F. Round

In order to obtain values of angle of shearing resistance and initial resistance for McMurray oil sand for use in general design calculations, the shear strength of this oil sand was measured in a controlled strain type tester, modified so that the rate of deformation could be varied between 0.01725 and 0.1869 inches per minute. Effect of temperature was investigated by adapting the equipment to operate at both 71 ° and 185 °F. The data are reported in terms of angle of shearing resistance and initial resistance for varying rates of deformation, composition and temperature. While the main sets of results reported here were obtained at a bulk density range of 108.7- 109.5 lb. / cu. ft., some results were obtained at a bulk density range of 101-102 lb. / cu. ft. Analysis of varance tables have been drawn up from the results obtained from least squares correlations and significance tests applied. It was concluded that oil content and temperature were significant variables for the degree of shear strength developed by the oil sand; increase of oil content and decrease of temperature each cause an increase in shear strength. The bulk density range 108.7 to 109.5 lb./cu. ft. gave angles of shearing resistance from 30° to 40° and initial resistance values of 0.37 p.s.i. to 0.85 p.s.i. For the bulk density range 101 to 102 lb. / cu. ft., lower values of shear strength were obtained, indicating that compaction density was also of importance

Jan 1, 1960

By Marc Boyer

Modern civilization, modern industry, and modern standards of living, bring into, sharp relief the present-day essentiality of metals .and minerals, and the wide and diversified use which is made of them. Any attempt, therefore, to appraise the international situation today must take into consideration the metal and mineral resources of the world. If, as some believe, the world is divided into two distinct ideologies of political belief, one unalterably opposed to the other, so that armed conflict is unavoidable, then the question of national strength in mineral resources becomes of paramount importance. If, however, it is possible to avoid war by raising the standard of living in the underdeveloped ?areas of the world, thus ensuring all peoples everywhere against the dread spectres of starvation and disease, then the development of the world's mineral resources assumes even greater importance. Today it is difficult to realize that, prior to the industrial revolution in Great Britain, only a few of the metals and minerals now in common use entered into the everyday life of the people. !iron and steel, copper, lead, tin, and zinc, usually in .their unalloyed forms, along with the more common industrial minerals, were those most widely used, and then only in limited amount. With the advance of technology in metallurgy and in fabricating skills, the list of commercial metals and minerals has expanded until today they number more than eighty.

Jan 1, 1951

By H. McLeod

Introduction In the period from 1939 to the present, Canada has experienced a remarkable industrial expansion, rising to probably seventh in rank amongst world countries. In the early part of this period, the desperate need for military supplies unloosed tremendous amounts of capital for building new factories and for expanding and converting existing facilities. Mines, factories, and other divisions of the industrial economy bent every energy toward greater and greater output. The result was an 80 per cent increase in the volume of the nation's production within a period of four years, a truly remarkable accomplishment and one in which the mining industry had a very vital part. After the critical year, 1944, the tempo of industry eased off a bit, dropping approximately 20 per cent by 1946. At this time the prospects or post-war industry were clouded by monetary and political chaos in overseas countries, by trade restrictions, and by market uncertainties. There was, of course, a pent-up demand, both at home and abroad, for civilian goods that had been curtailed during the war and for capital equipment that had been destroyed. In the midst of this world-wide uncertainty, if anyone had ventured to predict that by the end of 1950 Canada's industrial output would be back to the 1944 level and humming along at nearly twice the best pre-war pace, he would have been considered rash indeed. Yet this has been the case.

Jan 1, 1951

By Richard P. Curtin, John M. Goris, Lewis A. Martin

Cable bolt supports are being recognized as an effective ground control system in under-ground coal mines in North America, and their use has increased considerably during the past few years. The U.S. Bureau of Mines personnel are conducting both laboratory and field tests to evaluate the performance of these supports under a variety of conditions and to establish realistic design guidelines. This paper describes efforts to evaluate the capability of cable bolts to resist the high shear forces often present in longwall operations. Shear tests were conducted on pairs of 0.025 m3 (0.88 cu. ft) concrete blocks having joint surfaces ranging from rough to smooth. Tests were conducted on blocks both with and without reinforcement with 15.2 mm (0.6 in.) diameter steel cables. During each shear test, the loads and displacements along the normal and shear axes, as well as loads on the cable, were monitored. Cableloads were determined using strain gauges attached to the outside surfaces of the barrel-and-wedge anchors used for pretensioning the cables. Test results show that a cable bolt placed across a joint more than doubled shear resistance of shear blocks having both smooth and rough joints.

Jan 1, 1996

By Selwyn G. Blaylock

I.-THE HISTORY OF THE SYSTEM TO trace the history of the development of the Co-operative Committee System in The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited, one must look backward about twenty years. In 1915 and 1916, the first years of the W ar to really affect Canadian life, there were sixteen hundred men working in the Trail plant. These men were, on the whole, a splendid body of men and pa trio tic to the core. They were almost one hundred percent organized, ninety-five percent of them be-longing to the Union of the Western Federation of Miners. Most of the tradesmen belonged to their craft unions as well. For example, there were ? local machinist, steel workers', electrician, boiler maker, bricklayer, and carpenter unions. The Company had always maintained an open-shop policy and refused to enforce membership in any union, but recognized the right of every man to belong to unions. The only exceptions have been the I.W.W. and the One Big Union. Both of these organizations have always been fought by the Company. By 1916, membership in the Western Federation being practically 100 per cent, the Company recognized this organization's authority to make agreements, and a wage and hour agreement was drawn up and signed by the Company and the local officials of the Union, and ratified and signed by the Head Office of the Union in Denver, Colorado. This agreement was for the duration of the war.

Jan 1, 1936

By J. L. Jambor, R. W. Boyle

"The Magnet Cove barite-sulphide deposit is a raking pipe-like body that replaced and partly filled a large brecciated zone at the junction of two faults at the contact between sedimentary rocks of the Horton and Windsor Groups of Mississippian age. The principal minerals in the deposit are siderite, barite, hematite, pyrite, marcasite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tennantite, proustite, pearceite, acanthite and stromeyerite. The mineral assemblage and textural relationships indicate that the minerals were deposited from low-temperature solutions. The source of the elements in the deposit is believed to be the enclosing sedimentary rocks, with connate or ground waters as the transporting medium, and solubility products as the governing factor controlling the abundance and order of deposition of the minerals."

Jan 1, 1966

In 2009 Newmont Mining Corporation?s annual global spend on grinding media reached $94M USD, having doubled in the five years since 2004. The major contributing factor to the spend escalation during this period was unit consumable price, with total media consumption also rising as a function of annual ore tonnes milled. In an effort to better understand and manage the growth of this expenditure a significant supply chain management program was implemented. This was complemented by a series of technical initiatives focussed on grinding media specifications, quality management and the prediction of grinding media wear rate as a function of physical ore characteristics. This paper discusses the methodology and outcomes of these activities.

Jan 1, 2012

By Dr. O. M Solandt

CANADA is not an old country we are just now planning to celebrate our lOOth Anniversary. Nonetheless, we have already developed some well-established traditions. One of the minor traditions is the standard speech on the need for more research and development in Canadian industry. I am sure that you have all listened to it many times -I certainly have given it more than once. Much as I am tempted to honour this tradition by repetition, I shall only give you a thumbnail sketch of the ancient address for the benefit of any unfortunate visitors who have not heard it before, and also to provide a base for some further ideas that I want to leave with you. Briefly, the traditional story is that, for a variety of historical and environmental reasons that I shall not attempt to describe in detail, research and development in Canada has grown up in a pattern that is ill adapted to foster the expansion of our manufacturing industries. The story continues by saying that research in the universities is of excellent quality but that we are very short of money to meet the expanding needs

Jan 1, 1965

By Ahmad Ghahreman, Denver Cowan, Yeonuk Choi

"Testwork was conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of carbon based catalysts while oxidizing a gold-bearing pyrite concentrate under atmospheric conditions. Without the use of a catalyst the oxidation of pyrite was incomplete after 96 hours, resulting in roughly 60% pyrite oxidation. Furthermore the resulting sulphate yield from unassisted pyrite oxidation ranged between 72 and 84%. It is evident that atmospheric oxidation of pyrite is not viable due to slow oxidation kinetics and high sulphuric acid production when using a ferric sulphate media without a catalyst. The effect of two different carbon based catalysts, one Lewatit® AF 5 a new microporous carbonaceous bead, and the second a granular coconut shell based activated carbon, were tested under the same oxidation conditions as the unassisted pyrite tests. After 96 hours, Lewatit® AF 5 assisted oxidation showed approximately 96% pyrite oxidation with a sulphate yield ranging between 26 and 35%, while the activated carbon assisted oxidation reached approximately 100% pyrite oxidation with a sulphate yield between 36 and 37%. Testwork indicated that not only does the addition of a carbon based catalyst greatly improve the oxidation kinetics and lead to almost complete oxidation, the sulphate yield is also drastically reduced, resulting in very high elemental sulphur yields.INTRODUCTION Pyrite is an important sulphide mineral due to its ability to contain invisible gold concentrations up to 132 g/t (Chryssoulis & Cabri, 1990). As a result, ores composed of only a small amount of pyrite still have the ability to contain high gold grades. This refractory gold cannot be accessed via conventional gold leaching processes, such as cyanidation, and additional oxidative pre-treatment is required to liberate the gold, making it more amenable to extraction (Marsden & House, 2006). Current oxidative pre-treatments do exist consisting of both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes including high temperature and high pressure leaching within autoclaves, biological atmospheric leaching and roasting. Autoclaves are a proven process reaching desirable recoveries within approximately a 1–2 hour retention time, due to the increased temperatures and pressures, allowing for an increase in dissolved oxygen (Marsden & House, 2006). The typical reaction for pyrite oxidation within autoclaves is presented in Equations 1, 2 and 3."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. E. Hawley

"The zinc-lead deposit of the Lake Geneva Mining Company is on lot 7, con. VI, Hess township, Sudbury district, Ontario, about 10 miles northwest of the northern rim of the Sudbury Basin. Though a relatively small deposit, it shows some rather interesting relations to cross-cutting, pre-ore, quartz diabase dykes, which merit description.The deposit was discovered in October 1924 by J. H. Collins beneath iron-stained drift and oxidized sulphides. This proved to be the northwestern extremity of the orebody, the remainder of which extends southeast below swampy ground. Exploration began in 1927. In 1928 a vertical shaft was sunk to 250 feet and a level established at 235 feet. Later the shaft was deepened to 400 feet and new levels opened at 315 and 375 feet. In 1943 an inclined winze was sunk below the vein from the 315-foot level to a vertical depth of 640 feet, and two additional levels were opened at 525 and 615 feet respectively.The geology of the area has been described by T. T. Quirke (1), F. F. Osborne (2), F. J. Alcock (3), and Ralph Tuck (4). Private reports have also been made by Carl Tolman, J. E. Gill, and K. W. Fritzsche. Tuck's paper, covering the work completed to 1930, gives a detailed account of the character of the ore and enclosing rocks.Up to May 1944, when the property was closed, all ore above the 375-foot level and a small tonnage from below this elevation had been removed. Ore mined from 1941 to 1944 yielded the following:"

Jan 1, 1954

By Juergen Antrekowitsch, Stefan Steinlechner

"Within the last decades, mainly the base metals, like zinc, copper and lead were recycled from different industrial residues without taking into account that accompanied minor side-elements are often also present. A high supply risk for critical raw materials derives mainly due to the high share of the worldwide production in a limited number of countries. Examples include indium and germanium in China, PGM in South Africa and Russia or cobalt and tungsten in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By taking the market of critical metals into account, the recycling of potential residues does not only contribute to an economic treatment but also to the European strategy to decrease the supply risk of certain metals. Depending on the metal discussed, political unrest, decreasing primary resources leading to supply risks in different countries or also simply economic interests moved these mentioned side elements and with this the residues where they are present in, into the focus of the recycling industry.Because of this, the typical routes of lead, zinc and copper production are evaluated concerning generated residues and their typical contents of contained minor elements. Finally, the paper tries to answer the questions how a possible treatment of these wastes could contribute to the overall supply of for example silver but also other minor elements."

Jan 1, 2016

By K D. Conroy

For the past year, Lowphos Ore Ltd. has been operating two desliming hydroseparators on a fully automatic basis. Automatic operation is achieved by sensing the position of the silica-magnetite interface and automatically controlling the jet water addition to maintain a desired interface position. The system further provides automatic control of the underflow pump speed in order to assist in maintaining interface position when an <Ore change occurs. Interface position is maintained at 12 inches below the surface and is -controlled within plus or minus one inch. Metallurgical unit recovery is held above 98.5 per cent, and a 10 to 12 per cent increase in concentrate grade is normally achieved.

Jan 1, 1963

By James R. Hein

Manganese nodules form at the sediment surface of abyssal plains throughout the global ocean at water depths of about 4000-6500 m. The nodules form a continuum from purely hydrogenetic (all metals from seawater) to purely diagenetic (all metals from sediment pore waters), which will determine which metals of potential economic interest are enriched in the nodules. Another important factor in metal enrichment is whether diagenesis in the bottom sediment is oxic or suboxic. There are several nodule fields in the deep ocean that have received much attention with regards to economic potential, the most important being the Clarion-Clipperton zone (CCZ) in the NE Pacific, where the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has signed 12 contracts for exploration areas, each spanning 75,000 square kilometers. Those nodules are rich in nickel (mean 1.3 wt. %), copper (mean 1.1 %), and manganese (28%), with moderate amounts of cobalt (mean 0.2%), molybdenum (587 g/t), and lithium (129 g/t). A conservative estimate is that there exists 21,100 million dry tonnes of nodules in the CCZ, yielding more manganese, twice the nickel, three times the cobalt, and four times the yttrium than the entire land-based reserve base (economic plus marginally economic plus subeconomic reserves) for each metal. Total rare-earth elements (REEs) as oxides average 0.09% in CCZ nodules, a potential byproduct even at that grade because the heavy REE complement averages 26%, compared to less than 1% for the large land-based carbonatite REE deposits. The price for HREEs is much greater than for the light REEs. For comparison, the REEs in deep-ocean ferromanganese crusts are 3 to 5 times greater than nodules and the HREE complement averages 18%. Of the 12 CCZ contracts, 7 are with States (China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, and a group of States (IOM); and 5 are with companies: G-Tec Sea Mineral Resources NV, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI); Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd (TOML), UK Seabed Resources Ltd (Lockheed UK), and Marawa Research and Exploration Ltd. Three other nodule fields that have received attention are in the Peru Basin, which has nodules very rich in manganese (34%) and lithium (mean 311 g/t), the Penrhyn Basin (Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone), with nodules very rich in cobalt (mean 0.4%); and the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB), where India has an exploration contract with the ISA. CIPB nodules have mean nickel, copper, and manganese contents of 1.1%, 1.0%, and 24% respectively.

May 1, 2013

By D. W. Euler, D. G. Brophey

"In an attempt to address the issue of rising labour costs, and to improve productivity, a laser-based system to guide underground LHDs and trucks has been developed. This comprehensive system is known as the Opti-Trak system.Essentially, the vehicle is equipped with front and rear-mounted lasers which scan a reference strip mounted on the drift back. The vehicle follows this reference strip and in addition, based on reflective bar codes mounted beside the reference strip, initiates certain functions (i.e. dump cycle, speed change, brake check, etc.). Any programming that is drift-specific is handled by the positioning of the reference strips and bar codes. Consequently, the vehicle can easily travel to many different haulageways or branches, providing the reference strip and bar codes are in place.The advantages of this system are an immediate elimination of haulage operator costs and an increase in available hauling time to 7 hours out of an 8-hour shift as compared to the typical 5Y2 out of 8 hours that a manned haulage system offers.This paper describes the Opti-Trak system and the benefits to be realized from automation of mine haulage requirements."

Jan 1, 1994

By P. G. Dunn, J. Fitzgerald

ABSTRACT The scheduling of underground mining activities is a complex task that must simultaneously satisfy a large number of constraints. A schedule optimization tool (SOT) for underground mine planning is described, and its use for investigating strategic decisions is illustrated through a case study. The maincomponents of the SOT include (a) a genetic algorithm that searches for optimal schedules, (b) guidance for the application of heuristic rules, and (c) sliding, which implements just-in-time development. Findings indicated that preliminary scheduling performed before invoking the SOT, intended to provide a good starting point for the search, did not ultimately lead to higher value schedules.

Jan 1, 2010

By T. N. MacAuley

"The Ingerbelle and Copper Mountain deposits are located near Princeton in southern British Columbia. They are owned by Newmont Mining Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Similkameen Mining Company Ltd. The property includes the Copper Mountain mine, a former producer. Ore reserves recoverable by open-pit mining are estimated to be 76 million tons containing 0.53% copper. Production commenced during 1972 at a rate in excess of designed capacity (15,000 tpd). All of the known major copper deposits in this area lie in a 14,000- by 3,500-foot belt of Triassic volcanics (Nicola Group) that is situated between a well-defined syenitemonzonite- diorite stock on the south and a variable intrusive complex on the north. The Nicola rocks consist of andesitic tuffs and agglomerates with lesser amounts of flows and some lensy siltstone layers. The orebodies are essentially disseminated sulphide deposits, although fracture-fillings are also important in many areas. Total sulphide content is usually less than 5%. At lngerbelle, and at Pit 2 and most of Pit 1 at Copper Mountain, the sulphides are chalcopyrite-pyrite. In part of Pit 1 and most of the former underground mine they are chalcopyrite-bornite. At lngerbelle the predominant alteration associated with mineralization is a pale greenish-gray bleaching of the dark andesitic rocks. This has been identified as albitization, with lesser amounts of epidote, chlorite, biotite, scapolite and calcite. This bleaching is plentiful at Pit 2, but K-feldspathization is also evident here. These orebodies can better be classified with pyrometasomatic deposits than with typical porphyry coppers. Their relationship to intrusives, the probably extensive metasomatic replacements, the evidence of pneumatolytic activity, the formation and redistribution of magnetite, and the irregular distribution of mineralization are all characteristic of this class. Deep-seated faults probably acted as channelways for mineralization; fracturing, faulting and rock contacts influenced ore localization in detail."

Jan 1, 1973