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By G. E. Wittur

"The twenty-one members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, comprising eighteen western European nations plus Canada, the United States and Japan. account for two-thirds of world steel production. The Special Committee for Iron and Steel was formed by the OECD to study trends and problems in the steel industries of member countries. The paper begins with a summary on the Organization, including an historical sketch, its structure, member-ship and objectives. The steel industry of the entire OECD is briefly described before proceeding to a more detailed discussion of various aspects of the steel industries of European OECD members, emphasizing practices and conditions that differ from those in North America. Benefits to Canada of representation at meetings of the OECD Special Committee for Iron and Steel are described."

Jan 1, 1967

By Paul Guliov

Preliminary investigations of stone resources were conducted in the La Range, Johnson Lake-Pelican Narrows-Deschambault Lake and Creighton-Amisk Lake regions of Saskatchewan. The work identified a rich variety of accessible, attractive and technically promising stone resources. Ordovician dolomites in various combinations of red, buff, yellow, grey and purple are very dense and take a very good polish. These are classified as marbles in the industry and some rival the famous marbles of Verona, Italy. A wide variety of attractive granites have been identified. Among these is a jade green stone (charnockite) and ornamental banded granites (gneisses). A dark greenish to black stone (amphibolite) with white and red veining resembles the well-known Verde Antique variety of Vermont and Italy and surpasses it aesthetically and in engineering properties. Some of these stones have been displayed at Canadian and United States expositions where they received an enthusiastic response from the international stone industry. More detailed evaluation and test quarrying of promising deposits are required. Such work could be rewarding to the industry as some stone varieties in the province have the potential for gaining international markets.

Jan 1, 2001

By G. Eaton

Safety management is an important mortal and business function in construction. Contractors have traditionally tracked and reported lagging indicators, e.g. fatalities and lost-time accident rates, to measure their safety performance and stay in compliance with relevant regulations. Over the last several decades, contractors became more proactive in their approach to safety and developed programs that track leading indicators, e.g. safety audits and safety climate. In particular, safety climate measures workers? perception of safety management and its effectiveness in the workplace. Past literatures indicated that, while some industrial construction contractors ignore safety climate measures, others are limited by a lack of a formal means to measure safety climate. In this study, a survey approach is used to measure an industrial construction contractor?s safety climate through three key areas: management commitment, job control, and general safety climate. As a pilot study, a total of 214 individuals at a fabrication facility participated in the survey to verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed survey approach. This survey study also confirms that job control and management commitment have a positive correlation and that worker demographics have an effect on respondents? perceptions of management commitment.

Aug 1, 2013

By Mike Fontaine

The success of a project is defined by meeting the financial performance objectives of the business case within a stipulated timeframe. Early in design, little information is normally available; the uncertainty introduces risk to the project outcome. Using a range of risk management tools and techniques, a project can be developed from front end loading phases 1 through 3 (FEL1–FEL3), and project implementation (FEL4) and then into operations with an optimized probability of success. For every project element, the risk management framework embodies: establishing a context; assessing risk (identify, analyze, and evaluate); and treating risk. Embedded within design activities, this process mitigates or eliminates risks. Monitoring and control, as well as extensive communication and consultation with stakeholders, is integral to the risk management process.

Jan 1, 2015

By C. Horstmann, D. Andreo, G. Barthold

"The concept of large single line grinding circuits provides a valid answer in project feasibility studies by reducing capital investment requirements compared to parallel lines for the same plant throughput rates. The benefits of this concept are reflected as well on the operational aspects, in terms of higher and greater process stability, and reduced operational costs mainly due to the associated lower maintenance expenditures. However, concerns exist in the minerals industry on whether large single line grinding could reduce the overall concentrator plant availability. The mechanical design and integrity, the mill and gearless mill drive integration, as well as assets management aspects of this type of equipment are the key to guarantee successful availability records. Together with an overview of the added value provided by large single line grinding circuits, this paper focuses on risk mitigation strategies during mill and gearless mill drive integration, as well as on the design of the equipment itself, for the key aspects which could put at risk the operations availability.INTRODUCTIONDespite a large long term demand for commodities, the mining industry has never faced complex challenges as it is doing today. Decreasing high-quality and accessible deposits, declining ore grades in existing mines, shortages of electrical energy (e.g. in Chile) and an aging workforce are the most significant among the megatrends affecting our industry. In addition to this, flat underlying commodity prices and high price volatility are currently posing strong requirements to miners when entering into the process of approving investments.Nowadays to get projects financially approved (optimizations, expansions, new plants), capital expenditure has to be reduced, as observed up to 30% compared to the last decade, and at the same time the plant design has to be such to demonstrate that operating costs will also be significantly lower than in the past.When it comes to the concentrator plant, the concept of large single line grinding circuits provides a valid answer in project feasibility studies by significantly reducing the capital investment requirements compared to parallel lines for the same plant throughput rates. The benefits of this concept are reflected as well on the operational costs, in terms of higher and greater process stability and reduced maintenance expenditures."

Jan 1, 2016

ABSTRACT This paper details the work of RISKGATE, the largest Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) occupational health and safety initiative to date. The program is an interactive online risk management system developed to maximize health and safety performance in the coal mining industry by implementing continuous improvement in managing major unwanted events. The comprehensive knowledge base covers tires, collisions, fires, isolation, strata control underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives, manual tasks, and slips/trips/falls. All major Australian coal mining companies contributed topic experts to this broad industry initiative: nine coal mining companies, more than 80 experts, and more than 400 days of individual time for knowledge-capture workshops.

Jan 1, 2014

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 P. Mundell, R. Torbin

"There are many physical and operational obstacles in pipelines that make the passage of inspection robots impossible including:•,Small radius bends•,Low operating pressure•,Plug valves•,Large changes in pipe size•,No permanent access to the pipeline.The inspection of unpiggable pipelines requires the marriage of a highly agile robotic platform with NDE sensor technology operating as an integrated system. Foster-Miller and GE/PII are developing a robot that is essentially a battery powered, train-like platform. Both front and rear tractors propel the train in either the downstream or upstream direction. Like a train, the platform includes additional ""cars"" to carry the required payloads. The cars are used for various purposes including the NDE sensor module(s), the power supply, and data acquisition/storage components. The robot is designed with a slender aspect ratio and the ability to change shape as required by the physical obstacle presenting itself. The MFL sensor module must also morph itself through the physical obstacles, and thus, will require some level of segmentation. The segmented MFL magnetizers and transformable sensor module represent a major advance in the science of sensor technology and pipeline inspection."

Jan 1, 2005

By Joseph U. Messenger

A method of applying ammonium hydroxide to a drill stem containing hydrogen sulphide gas and hydro-gen-sulphide-bearing oil and water so as to remove the hydrogen sulphide as ammonium sulphide is de-scribed. It was concluded that the method allowed trips with drill pipe filled with sour fluids to be made more safely, more rapidly, and more economically. INTRODUCTION THE DANGER of poisoning rig crews during drill stem tests of sour wells by exposing them to hydrogen sulphide gas is well known in Canada. Concentrations of hydro-gen sulphide in sour gases range from 0 to 40 volume percent. There have been numerous casualties from hydrogen sulphide exposure during drill stem testing. Some have resulted in permanent injuries; in some cases the injuries have been fatal. For example, in Alberta in 1957 there were four deaths and 100 exposures which required medical treatment. These fatalities and injuries indicate the need for a more effective way of handling hydrogen sulphide in oilfield operations.

Jan 1, 1958

By A. E. Hilder

Introductory The following pages present the results of field investigations, laboratory and commercial tests, drilling, surveying, and preliminary development of the refractory clays which have been discovered recently in the township of Kipling, at the foot of Long rapids on the west side of the Mattagami river about 57 miles north of Kapuskasing and approximately 7 miles north of Smoky Falls, the terminus of the privately owned railway operated by the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company, Kapuskasing (see Figure 1). Investigations on the clays of northern Ontario have been carried on over a period of seven years by officers of the Ontario Department of Mines, and I am indebted to the information published by that Department in reports by W. S. Dyer and A. R. Crozier, as well as?by Professor R. J. Montgomery, of the Ceramic Department, University of Toronto. It was, in large measure, the data given in the 37th, 38th, and 42nd Annual Reports of the Ontario Department of Mines that led me to make a personal investigation of the Mattagami River clays, with the result that we now have a commercial undertaking that will develop eventually into an industry of considerable importance in supplying the central manufacturing districts of Canada with refractories that heretofore have been largely imported from the United States. An extract from the 42nd Annual Report of the Department, Part III, 1933, page 75, reads as follows: "As for the refractory clay, the deposits are undoubtedly very large, but what is urgently needed is a deposit near the railway under sufficiently shallow overburden for recovery by stripping'. Having previously made an investigation of the clays adjacent to the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario railway, and these clays proving unsuitable, I turned my attention to the outcrops of refractory clays on the Mattagami river, first reported by Keele in 1919. This area offered possibilities within the economically permissible distance from rail transportation.

Jan 1, 1935

By J. G. Manchuk, M. Thurston

"The degree of uncertainty associated with a natural diamond resource is important to quantify from the time of discovery through the production lifetime. Data collection occurs during the discovery, exploration, delineation, and production or recovery phases. Quantifying the relationship between data and uncertainty is an important component of project valuation. The value of data is measured as their potential to reduce uncertainty if they are collected. A method is developed using Monte Carlo simulation for predicting resource uncertainty and valuing data during critical phases of development, particularly discovery and exploration. The technique is applied to diamond pipe deposits.RÉSUMÉ Il est important de quantifier le degré d’incertitude associé à une ressource diamantifère naturelle, depuis le moment de sa découverte et durant toute la durée de l’exploitation. La collecte de données se fait durant les phases de découverte, d’exploration, de délimitation, et de production ou de récupération. La quantification de la relation entre les données et l’incertitude est une composante importante de l’évaluation du projet. La valeur des données est mesurée en tant que leur potentiel à réduire l’incertitude si elles sont recueillies. Une méthode a été développée qui utilise la simulation de Monte Carlo pour prédire l’incertitude de la ressource et évaluer les données durant les phases critiques du développement, surtout celles de la découverte et de l’exploration. La technique est appliquée à des gisements de cheminées diamantifères."

Jan 1, 2015

By G. K. Quainoo

In the automotive industry, the awareness to meet Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards has evolved the need to reduce vehicular weight in new automobile designs, with the overall goal of reducing gas emissions into the atmosphere (Kyoto protocol), One efficient method has been to use lighter materials such as aluminum in outer body panels, Heat treatable AA6111 is one of the materials employed due to its unique combination of formability, paint bake strengthening and superior corrosion resistance characteristics, Researchers have applied various thermo-mechanical processes on 6000 series aluminum alloys and have found an improvement in the mechanical properties of these alloys, For a formed and painted automobile panel, the final mechanical properties involve a combination of strength components arising from cold work, strain aging and precipitation minus recovery. In this study, the evolution of microstructure resulting from the interaction of cold work and precipitation in AA6111 has been studied by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after subjecting samples to various heat treatments, tensile testing and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), This has been done to understand the evolution of microstructure and its influence on the properties of the alloy, The results show a considerable improvement in strength with a corresponding increase in strengthening precipitates with increasing level of cold work in the alloy. DSC results following the application of various levels of cold work also show acceleration in the precipitate phase formation, as precipitates are observed to form at lower temperatures, with increasing level of cold work/

Jan 1, 2005

Mineral resource development activities impact the health and well-being of many people, from workers, to families and surrounding communities. In the decade up to 2010, mining revenues increased from 6% to 14% of Australian GDP, and minerals contributed 55% of total exports, with a growth in mining employment from 1% to 1.7% of the national workforce (Connolly and Orsmund, 2011). The growth in Australia?s minerals operations is mostly located in remote areas, or in rural communities with a limited population. As a result, operations have increasingly implemented long distance commuting (LDC) programs, often called ?fly-in, fly-out? (FIFO) and ?drive-in, drive-out? (DIDO), as a staffing strategy to meet rapid industry growth in locations with limited local populations. The rapid expansion of the minerals industry has resulted in considerable public debate about the benefits and costs to all sectors of Australian society. In response to the concerns of constituencies from many parts of Australia, the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, The Hon Simon Crean MP, asked the House Standing Committee on Regional Australia on Tuesday 23 August 2011 to inquire into and report on the use of ?fly-in, fly-out? (FIFO) and ?drive-in, drive-out? (DIDO) workforce practices in Regional Australia. The recently published report highlights the national interest and the diverse opinions about this practice in Australia. Resource extraction companies have developed several options to meet the accommodation requirements of their long distance commuting workforce. In this paper, initial results are reported from an ongoing survey of FIFO (and other non-residential) resource industry workers (n = 286) in the Australian resource extraction industries. The purpose of this study was to better understand how accommodation arrangements may impact on the health, wellbeing and job satisfaction of non-resident workers; and to attempt to find a relationship between different accommodation variables and workforce wellbeing and retention. In doing this it investigates evidence for the linkage between accommodation factors, hours of work, health, well-being, job satisfaction and job retention in the LDC work force.

Aug 1, 2013

By H. S. Price, F. N. Kissell, R. C. McCulloch, J. C. Edwards

"The methane em1ss10n from deep coalbeds which are actively mined is a serious problem facing the mining industry today. Pinpointing the source of methane and predicting the emission of this gas from these coalbeds is necessary if preventive techniques are to be effectively used to control methane emission. In general, because most coalbeds have water associated with them, the system to be studied may be either single-phase (methane gas) or two-phase (methane and water). Because coal mine geometry is complex and the fluids have variable properties as functions of pressure and methane concentration, the differential equations describing the flow of methane and water are not amenable to analytic solution, but must be solved numerically using high-speed computers. This paper presents the development of such a complex mathematical model along with some preliminary applications of the model to methane emission from one- and two-dimensional coalbeds with and without water present."

Jan 1, 1973

By V. “Ram” Ramachandran

"In view of the increasing number of environmental regulations that have been promulgated all over the world in the last thirty years, non-ferrous smelters and refineries have had to learn and adapt to treating process bleed waste streams containing heavy metals. The result of such treatment invariably yields a gypsum-saturated solution containing salts such as alkali metal sulfates, chlorides and fluorides. Presence of anions such as sulfates, chlorides and fluorides in the discharge streams – presently not a major problem- are coming under increasing scrutiny and will have to be addressed in the near future. It is envisaged that discharge limits for sulfate ions will be in place in the near future. Treatment of brackish water to produce drinking water also results in brine streams containing alkali salts that have to be addressed for proper disposal. This paper reviews treatment options for such streams containing high levels of total dissolved solids with emphasis on sulfate removal. Areas covered would be: a) chemical treatment for removal of various constituents that make up the total dissolved solids b) processes for sulfate removal processes –thermal and non-thermal-to recover and reuse of treated water and c) brine use and treatment options.INTRODUCTIONThe rising cost of water and meeting the ever-changing stringent environmental discharge regulations make water recycling and reuse essential. The metallurgical industry has used water as a medium for dissolving and/or rejecting metals and chemicals in addition to removing thermal energy. Any excess process effluent is collected and sent to end-of-pipeline treatment and ultimately discharged to surface water for disposal under a permit. The conventional- and probably the cheapest way -of treating metal-bearing process effluent streams is lime neutralization followed by sulfide polishing for elimination of heavy metals to produce a stream that meets NPDES discharge limits. This results in a stream containing dissolved solids.These dissolved solids normally comprises of inorganic salts. The possible constituents are cations calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. The anions are sulfate, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, carbonate and bicarbonate. In addition to these constituents, the treated effluent streams contain very small amounts of heavy metals, oxyanions such as arsenites, arsenates, selenites and selenates. Process streams from gold operations contain residual cyanide. Small amounts of ammonium ions are also present in these streams based on the pH of the solution."

Jan 1, 2012

By A. M. Salomon de Friedberg

With respect to impurities, HBM&S' copper smelter, located in Flin Flon, Manitoba, is in an unusual position. In addition to the usual concerns, the fact that copper and zinc production at Flin Flon is closely integrated results in the unique situation where feed to the copper smelter typically contains 7% to 8% zinc. This paper discusses the ramifications to copper smelter operations resulting from the marriage of HBM&S' metallurgical plants. Distributions of impurities (specifically Zn, Pb, Ni, As, Bi, Sb, and Cd) are presented and operating practices designed to reduce the impact of impurities on anode copper quality are detailed.

Jun 1, 1993

By T E. Tibbetts

This paper deals with coal sampling in general and with mechanical coal sampling in particular. The necessity of obtaining representative samples is emphasized. Other sections of the paper are devoted to the design and selection of automatic samplers, with a consideration of the three main types, and the testing, operation and maintenance of these samplers. The cost of the installation of an automated sampling system must be related to the value of the material to be sampled, to the volume of coal involved, and to the savings in labour and economy which can be achieved. Introduction T HE Committee?:; on Coal Sampling of the Coal Study Subsection, Thermal Power Section (Eastern Zone), Canadian Electrical Association, was established in November, 1963, to "study the various problem areas of coal sampling." The first undertaking of the Committee was to at-tempt to survey the problem areas of coal sampling through an evaluation of coal sampling difficulties as experienced at both the plant design and operational levels within the electric utilities represented on the Committee. The results of this enquiry indicated that satisfactory answers to almost any conceivable

Jan 1, 1965

By C. S. R. Rondestvedt

In February 2010, Teck?s newest Concentrator at Mina Carmen de Andacollo (CDA), Andacollo, Chile was commissioned. The Concentrator is a single line configuration, comprising of one 36 ft diameter x 20 ft long SAG mill driven by an 18,000 hp gearless drive. The SAG mill feeds two ball mills each 25 ft in diameter x 40.5 ft long, each driven by a total of 19,000 hp through dual pinion drives. A series of four phases will be reviewed from operational readiness, mechanical completion, commissioning, and ramp-up. Also, now after 6 months of operation, this paper will review the significant steps taken during ramp-up enabling the announcement of commercial production, in October 2010.

Jan 1, 2012

By A. M. Salomon de Friedberg

"With respect to impurities, HBM&S' copper smelter, located in Flin Ron, Manitoba, is in an unusual position. In addition to the usual concerns, the fact that copper and zinc production at Flin Ron is closely integrated results in the unique situation where feed to the copper smelter typically contains 7% to 8% zinc. This paper discusses the ramifications to copper smelter operations resulting from the marriage of HBM&S' metallurgical plants. Distributions of impurities (specifically Zn, Pb, Ni, As, Bi, Sb, and Cd) are presented and operating practices designed to reduce the impact of impurities on anode copper quality are detailed.IntroductionHudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. (HBM&s), has been operating its metallurgical complex located in Flin Flon, Manitoba, since 1930. The smelter and zinc plant were originally separate entities with respect to production. The smelting operation consisted of traditional multiple-hearth roasters, a reverberatory furnace and Peirce-Smith converters. The zinc plant also utilized multiple hearth roasters and then followed with sulphuric acid leaching, purification and electrowinning. The zinc plant also recovered cadmium from a separate purification/electrowinning circuit.The two plants operated essentially independently of each other until rising zinc levels in the copper concentrate and large stockpiles of zinc-rich leach residues prompted the construction of the fuming plant in 1949. The smelter used pulverized coal to reduce zinc oxide present in the reverb slag and then captured the resulting zinc bearing fume in the fuming plant baghouse. The fume was sent to a separate ""oxide roaster"" in the zinc plant where it was first roasted to remove halogens and then leached to recover the contained zinc. This oxide fume became a major source of feed to the zinc plant accounting for roughly one quarter of the total zinc production. Furthermore, through the smelter's treatment of sulphide leach residue, both copper and zinc recoveries were improved for the over-all complex."

Jan 1, 1993

By C. W. Langenberg, D. E. Macdonald, R. S. Strobl

"The successful marketing of Alberta coals will increasingly depend, to a large degree, on an extensive coal quality information base. This information, at present, is generally based on a deliverable, cleaned coaland is confined to existing mine sites. Coal quality information is not as well understood for raw in situ coal outside of mine sites and even less is known about the geological factors that control it.If new uses and markets for Alberta coal are to be developed, such as gasification, coprocessing, and exploiting high rank coals for combustion, it will be imperative that the coal quality parameters important for these utilizations be known. These parameters need to be known for existing deliverable coals and, just as important, for as yet unexploited in situ coal. Factors such as the Cl, No, K, Co, P and trace element contents should be addressed to meet the requirements of these new utilizations.The geological characterization and explanation of what factors control these coal quality parameters is part of research being done at the Alberta Geological Survey. In-seam vertical profiling has been undertaken within the plains and foothills/mountains coals to determine exactly where coal quality variations occur and why. In the Ardley coal zone at the Highvale Mine it has been found, for example, that the ash content of the mined coal is made up of discrete partings and of microsized particles associated with inertinite macerals. The in-seam characterization of coal seams will lead to a better understanding of in situ coal quality variations, leading to new uses and markets for Alberta coal."

Jan 1, 1993