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By K. G. Chipman

The Geological Survey is the oldest map making department in the Canadian Government service, and when organized in 1842, one of the first principles to be recognized was the absolute necessity of having good maps. The primary purpose of the Survey has always been geology; but because a graphic representation by means of maps makes the written report .more readily intelligible; because the correlation of known geological facts is often difficult or nearly impossible unless they can be represented on a map; and, because the public demand information shown in this way, the Geological Survey must continue to supply maps; and the supplying of these maps must be considered as an essential part of the work of the Survey. It is a commonly recognized principle of pedagogics that an appeal to the eye is quicker than one to the ear; that children (and others) learn more quickly when a thing is presented to them through the eye rather than through the ear. The application of this principle to the work of the Geological Survey is that, to a large number of people, the message of a map is more quickly grasped, is more readily intelligible, and is in many ways of more interest and value than is the same information in a report. I do not mean that the maps are of more importance than the reports.

Jan 1, 1924

By M. Mirnezami, J. A. Finch

The McGill component of the consortium contributed detailed examination of the electrokinetic properties of the constituent minerals, primarily pentlandite and serpentine. Mineral specimens were derived from an ore sample; mineralogical examination showed the serpentine was predominantly clinochrysotile, a fibrous mineral responsible for much of the flotation separation problem. The study included design of a novel sedimentation potential measuring device to classify the surface charge of the ore and electrophoresis measurements on single and mixed minerals which progressively approached flotation conditions. The sedimentation potential measurements provided a general association between surface charge and the visual state of aggregation as a function of pH. The electrophoresis experiments started with single minerals in a background of indifferent electrolyte and progressed to mixed minerals in a background of supernatant derived from an ore sample. The single mineral tests supported the suspected electrostatic interaction, i.e., hetero-coagulation, at flotation pH 9-10. The mixed mineral tests demonstrated this interaction and also revealed hetero-coagulation with Mg(OH)2 precipitates, derived from the supernatant. This interpretation was confirmed by optical and electron beam imaging. A series of agents, CMC, polyphosphate, soda ash, EDTA, were examined to disperse the system. To accommodate the small mass of single mineral available a novel turbidity measurement using a UV/Vis spectrophotometer was introduced. Selected conditions were used in contact angle and small-scale flotation tests.

Jan 1, 2011

By Angus W. Davis

The case of the P. G. E. railway is a peculiar one. Traversing, as it does, to a large extent, a mineralized country there are as yet no producing mines along its route although I am convinced that mines will be developed in the region tributary to the railway. The Fitzimmons group of claims, a copper property near Mons station, 37 miles from Squamish is now (unless recently relinquished) under bond to the Granby Company. On Cadwallader creek, in the upper Bridge river country, certain gold properties, referred to later, are being developed. Prospectors are fairly active in the Pemberton meadows area. There are also a large number in the Bridge river, Gun creek, and Whitewater districts. East of Marguerite station some development work is being prosecuted on some copper claims located there. In addition here and there throughout the entire route of the railway prospecting is being undertaken. At Hat creek, 15 miles from Pavilion station there is an enormous deposit of lignite. It is by no means certain that this coal can be profitably mined and hauled to the railway, but as a cheap fuel it offers possibilities in the recovery of by-products by destructive distillation. Logical procedure would ? indicate the expenditure of considerable money on development and, if results justify, the construction of a spur from the main line to the deposit.

Jan 1, 1925

By A. K. Debnath

Mining being a site specific activity, land becomes the prime requirement for starting, successful execution and closure of any mining project. Many important mining projects are not progressing satisfactorily just because land is not easily available or environmental/social issues are not addressed properly. This is especially true in the case of open-pit mining, which requires large areas for mining, dumping of waste and additional land for other mine facilities. Mine closure & post mining land use exercises, though funded generously, may not achieve their objectives owing to uneven land profile after mineral extraction is over. One of the prominent solutions to these issues is application of steep angle conveyors in large open pit mines that will result in more space for internal waste dumping and enhanced slope stability of the dump. Additionally, such applications will result in economic extraction of mineral in deep open pits. Land reclamation exercise may start concurrently during early years of mine development as mineral evacuation is limited to a specific part of the mine. Surface mining facilities can also be advanced along with the pit by using modular/portable structures. The paper presented here attempts to address specific land related issues by developing suitable schemes and plans that can be practically implemented in open pit mines using advanced technology i.e. steep angle conveyors.

Aug 1, 2013

By Garth D. Kirkham

The Problem The Don deposit is a series of two sub-vertical zones that pose a number of challenges with respect to modeling and interpolation. The first challenge is that, based on data and observations, the mineralization and, more importantly, the grade is layered or banded and is stratigraphically controlled. The second challenge is that, due to the undulations of the deposit and extreme changes in dip, using a standard oriented ellipse to guide the estimation process is not appropriate and does not result in an estimate that is representative on a local scale. In order to solve this problem an adapted methodology of relative elevation modelling, has been devised to effectively model and estimate deposits faced with these challenges. Relative Elevation Designed for bedded seam and gridded surface With variable dip and vertical grade variability

May 1, 2013

By George P. Demopoulos

In a departure from the traditional domain of hydrometallurgical extraction processes we consider new R&D opportunities for innovative application of solution processing into the advanced green energy and clean technology fields. It would not be an exaggeration if we state that protection of the environment via advancement of clean technologies on the one hand, and harvesting and utilizing renewable energy in a sustainable and cost-effective way on the other hand are clearly among the top pressing global priorities. When hydrometallurgy is approached on the basis of its aqueous chemistry and reactive processing fundamentals, it can indeed provide a highly fertile ground for innovation outside the "box". In this context therefore we will present highlights from our recent research that is directed towards the development of new generation HCl recycling, environmental, and solar energy conversion/storage technologies. In all systems the research is approached via the innovative integration of aqueous process engineering and material chemistry principles. The presentation will include discussion of (i) the development of crystallization-based HCl regeneration technologies; (ii) the supersaturation-controlled production and encapsulation of scorodite that was recently commercialized; (iii) the aqueous synthesis of nano-TiO2 and its electrophoretic deposition into solar cell electrodes; and (iv) the hydrothermal synthesis of nanostructured lithium titanate and lithium iron phosphate materials to make lithium-ion batteries destined for electric cars.

Jan 1, 2014

By Mohammad Mehdi Salarirad

Fouling of activated carbon by different organic species is a great concern in carbon in pulp and carbon in leach circuits. The rate of gold adsorption onto activated carbon from synthetic gold solutions which contained different amounts of potassium ethyl xanthate (PEX), potassium isobutyl xanthate (PIBX), and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) were evaluated through batch adsorption tests. The results of these experiments showed that the gold sorption rate rapidly decreases by increasing the concentration of collectors including PIBX and PEX up to 20 mg/L and at higher concentrations, the kinetic rate constant (i.e., k value) gradually leveled off to 53 h-1 for PIBX, which is 46% lower than the 99 h-1 for PEX. At low concentrations of up to 15 mg/L of MIBC, a gradual decrease of the rate constant was observed, while at higher concentrations, the decrease was found to be more pronounced. The gold loading capacity and the rate of gold adsorption onto activated carbon from a gold cyanidation pulp in the presence of flotation reagents were also evaluated. The results of these experiments showed that the flotation reagents have no significant effect on the gold loading capacity of activated carbon at prolong adsorption period, meanwhile the rate of gold adsorption continuously decreases by increasing the concentration of flotation reagents in the leaching solution.

Oct 1, 2011

By Larry M. Southwick

Processing of ores to recover metals usually generates large amounts of waste materials, such as rejects from concentrating operations, tailings from leaching and slags from smelting. These wastes often contain substantial amounts of iron and other metals, recovery of which are often considered to be of commercial value. Earlier versions of this paper investigated a number of processes built to recover iron from a variety of copper processing residues. This paper will extend that coverage to residues from nickel/cobalt, aluminum, asbestos and oil shale processing and coal plant fly ash. Products of interest are iron, ferroalloys, magnesium and aluminum. While none of these processes achieved long-term commercial success, their efforts cover the gamut of problems that must be addressed in treating dirty and difficult materials to recover generally low-value products. An Adept is an alchemist who can create a Philosopher's Stone, which could transmute base metals into gold. In 1701 in Berlin one Johann-Freidrich Böttger, a nineteen year old apothecary's apprentice, told King Frederick I that he could discover how to make the Stone. He failed and fled Frederick's wrath to Poland. He failed again, and King Augustus II threw him in jail. Then, in 1709, he discovered instead the secret of making Dresden china, certainly a more practical search. His failures in alchemy led to the nickname Adeptus Ineptus.

Jan 1, 2004

By Barbara Kirby

Mining Industry Human Resource Council Who we are: National Sector Council for the Minerals and Metals Sector 18-person Board of Directors Over 100 Industry Volunteers PPP - Funded by HRSDC and industry What we do: Identify national HR challenges and opportunities for the Canadian mining industry Create national solutions through collaboration, partnerships and Synergy

Oct 1, 2010

By John E. Udd

"In this paper the author presents the results of the 1992 CIM survey of graduates in minerals and technology programs in Canadian post-secondary institutions. As usual, the trends are out-of phase with the economic state of the industry. People who chose a minerals career in the prosperous days of the late 1980sare now entering a labour market in recession.The cyclical nature of enrollments is illustrated in a series of figures showing the trends since the CIM survey Wa5 begun in 1956 (and even earlier for mining engineering).In the survey, the respondents were asked to provide comments on their perceptions of the problems specific to minerals education in Canada. The large number of responses have led the author to the conclusions and recommendations given in the final part of the paper."

Jan 1, 1993

By Ahmad Ghahremaninezhad, Noelene Ahern, Yeonuk Choi

Arsenic (As) is a toxic element and is a major contaminant in the extraction processes of some metals (e.g. gold and copper). Due to the toxicity of arsenic species, its removal from As-containing streams from extractive metallurgy processes and safe disposal is absolutely necessary. For nearly complete removal of waste arsenic species from metallurgical process streams, it is required to have arsenic in its pentavalent state (As5+ species). This study presents an oxidation process for arsenic species with air or oxygen gas as oxidant. Activated carbon (AC) or other carbon based materials are used to catalyse the oxidation reaction. Air or oxygen gas is the only consumed reagent which makes the economy of the process very attractive. The oxidation reaction can be carried out at ambient conditions (room temperature and atmospheric pressure) in less than 24 hours.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Bigdeli Karimi

In this study, the effect of strain level and holding time in semisolid temperature range via SIMA process on AS21 Mg alloy was investigated. Some cylindrical samples of this alloy with 1cm in height and 2.5cm in diameter (H/D=0.4) were compressed to 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% at 300-C. Then, the samples were reheated in semisolid temperature range at 614°C for various times. The results of optical microscopy and image analysis showed that with increasing of strain and holding time, dendritic structure changed to equi-axed structure, gradually. Also, the best conditions to obtain good globular structure were achieved. Furthermore, it was seen that after compression and reheating, Mg2Si intermetallics with Chinese script morphology converted to dispersed-fine particles which were distributed into the ci-Mg grains.

Jan 1, 2007

By M. Kellner

Due to continuously growing resource demands and increasing requirements for sustainability, safety and environmental protection on the other hand, the mining industry is being subjected to these additional requirements. Over the past few decades progress has been made in all topics. In 1987, the United Nations published the following in the Brundtland Report: ?development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.?[5] The term ?Blue Mining? means to work sustainably, economically, ecologically, and efficiently while also improving ergonomics, for example by increasing automation. An example of how mining can actively be involved in energy management will be shown. Initial evaluations of underground cavitites were done for purpose of energy storage. The planning and construction of underground pump storage plants both in active and inactive mining operations was also investigated.

Aug 1, 2013

By X. Cao, M. Xiao, M. Jahazi

Magnesium alloys have low hardness, wear, erosion and corrosion resistance. The repair of service-damaged aerospace components made of magnesium alloys is an attractive solution in terms of time and cost saving. The feasibility of applying laser beam technology to repair ZE41A-T5 magnesium alloy sand castings in the machined surface conditions was studied using a continuous wave 4 kW Nd:YAG laser system. The influence of process parameters such as laser power, cladding speed, wire feed rate and defocusing distance on the shape, size and area of single cladding beads is discussed using a process optimization software. Sound single clad beads with good geometric characteristics were obtained using strictly controlled laser process parameters. The overall results indicate that laser surface cladding using filler wire has the potential for repairing aerospace components made of cast magnesium alloys.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. J. Desroches, E. Ozberk, M. J. Collins, B. D. Krysa, I. M. Masters

The zinc refinery of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd. went through a major modernization in 1993, when the roaster and the calcine and fume leach circuits were replaced by a new Sherritt zinc pressure leach plant. The HBMS plant, in Flin Ron, Manitoba, represents the first commercial application of the Sherritt two-stage zinc pressure leach process, with /00% of the zinc concentrate feed processed in autoclaves. The process design of the new plant required definition of the deportments of elements such as antimony, arsenic, chlorine, cobalt, fluorine, germanium, magnesium, manganese, selenium, tellurium and thallium. This paper describes the deportment of these elements in the commercial zinc plant during the first nine months of pressure leach operation, and compares these results with operations prior to the introduction of pressure leaching, and with the results of tests carried out in the She"itt laboratory during the process development phase.

Jan 1, 1995

By P. Hubert, J. P. Ildefonse, F. Qafssaoui, J. Poirier

Corrosion tests by corrosive alumina-lime slags were carried out on commercial high alumina bricks used in steel ladle linings and model refractories (with different raw materials : bauxite, andalusite, and different microstructures). Using (SEM) scanning electron microscope and (EDS) energy dispersive spectroscopy, microstructures of slag-corroded refractory interfaces were studied in detail. The monomineral and glassy phases, the composition of reaction products and chemical profiles were determined. A thermochemical analysis based on phase equilibrium diagrams has permitted to estimate the proportion and the composition of the high temperature intergranular liquid phase. These data were compared to the experimental microanalysis results. The viscosity of the high temperature liquids were calculated according to Urbain 's model and the relationship between the viscosity and the penetration of liquid phases were discussed. These theorical and experimental results were used to understand the complex phenomena of slag penetration and corrosion of andalusite and bauxite refractories at high temperature and to propose new ways of improvements for the formulation of high alumina refractories.

Jan 1, 2004

By D. L. Babbitt, Sniezek

"This paper deals with the varions methods for the rapid Joading of unit trains which are being: used by ore procossors to move their product to dock-s1de storage facilities or their ultimate customer. Some of the techniques that have been used include (1) volumetrie loading, both in motion and static, (2) batch weighing into moving cars and (3) batch weighing into cars that have been stopped. Particular emphasis shall be placed on the two systems now in use at the Adams Mine facility of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation and at Cliffs of Canada's Sherman Mine. Typical ""turnaround"" times, loading rates, types of cars, weighing accuracies, material handling concepts and maintenance considerations shall be discussed."

Jan 1, 1969

By J. Seidel

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 J. Seidel

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 T. Takahashi, K. Oyamada, Y. Miyata, T. Isoo

The carbonation reaction of steelmaking slag has been known for many years. However, the size of blocks manufactured from this by-product material has been limited due to the difficulty of achieving a uniform reaction throughout the block. Using newly developed conditions, large porous slag blocks (1.0 x 1.0 x 0.5 m) were produced by car¬bonation of steelmaking slag with the optimum amount of water and supplying CO2 deep into slag powder compacted in molds. The development of these blocks has great poten-tial to solve the problem of slag utilization, for example, by recycling slag in large car¬bonated blocks for artificial fish reefs and seaweed cultivation beds. This paper de¬scribes the carbonation reaction, the new process for producing large slag blocks, and the utilization of blocks in past and recent years.

Jan 1, 2004