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By A. E. Lehmberg

"IT IS KNOWN that some ores of sulphide type, such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, and bornite have an electrical conductivity comparable to that of metals, and accordingly much higher than the conductivity of any unmineralized rock. This physical property has long been used for the detection of orebodies of this kind by means of electrical measurements made at the surface of the ground.The present paper will deal with a new electromagnetic instrument for the investigation of subsurface conductors, which has been recently introduced into field practice and has already led to successful results in Canada.The principle of the instrument will be described. How it operates, and how the observations made can be interpreted will be explained. Field examples will •be shown to illustrate its application.Description of Instrument and of Operating TechniqueThe equipment (1) includes a low-frequency alternating current generator. The a.c. is supplied to a transmitter coil and generates a primary field which induces eddy currents in the ground, the intensity of which is proportional to the ground conductivity."

Jan 1, 1952

By H. R. Oliveira, C. R. Aragonez de Vasconcellos

Pipeline operation and maintenance necessarily involves geotechnical studies at points and areas with deflagrated instabilities or still to map and monitor areas prone to geotechnical problems. Landslides, erosions and debris flows are some examples of natural hazards, that not rarely, can bring high consequences to pipelines, sometimes leading them to high stresses levels and ruptures. Bolivia-Brazil Natural Gas Pipeline has 2.593 kilometers since Rio Grande City in Bolivia until Canoas City, in south Brazil. The pipeline crosses a lot of types of geological fields and difficult topography. The south spread of the pipeline has the most prone areas to geotechnical hazards because of its hard topography combined with the variety of geological materials, such as, colluvium deposits and debris flow areas. The aim of this paper is to present the right-of-way geotechnical risks that affect pipelines, presenting some practical remedial works done by TBG at Bolivia-Brazil Natural Gas Pipeline as well as the integrity plan and the adopted actions in way to prevent geotechnical accidents.

Jan 1, 2005

By B. Panton, J. Carvalho, E. T. Brown

High-capacity, post-tensioned anchors have found wide-spread use in initial dam design and construction, and in the strengthening and rehabilitation of concrete dams to meet modern design and safety standards. Despite the advances that have been made in rock mechanics and rock engineering during the almost 80 years in which post-tensioned anchors have been used in dam engineering, some aspects of the rock engineering design of high-capacity rock anchors for dams have changed relatively little over the last 30 or 40 years. This applies, in particular, to the calculations usually carried out to establish the grouted embedment lengths required for deep, post-tensioned anchors. These calculations which involve a number of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties, usually make simplified assumptions about the distribution and values of rock-grout interface shear strengths, the shape of the volume of rock likely to be involved in uplift failure under the influence of a system of post-tensioned anchors, and the mechanism of that failure. The resulting designs are generally conservative. These aspects of the rock engineering design of large, post-tensioned rock anchors for dams could be improved by making greater use of modern, comprehensive, numerical analyses in conjunction with 3D models of the rock mass structure, realistic rock and rock mass properties, and the results of prototype anchor tests in the rock mass concerned.

Jan 1, 2015

By Jr. Carmichael

"THE MAYO AREA was prospected as early as 1887. The first major activity started in 1898, when the Stewart River and its tributaries were examined for placer deposits, and in succeeding years the district became a small producer of placer gold. The first discovery of the lead-zinc-silver mineralization which has become the main interest of the district occurred in 1906, when a vein was found in the canyon of Galena Creek on the northwest slope of Galena Hill. This deposit was later known as the Silver King mine. In 1919 further discoveries were made on Keno Hill, approximately 15 miles east of the Silver King, the most important being the No.9 vein. Directly or indirectly, these finds are attributable to the search for placer gold, as galena was frequently found in the stream gravels.The 1919 Keno Hill discoveries were acquired by Yukon Gold Co. and operated through a subsidiary, Keno Hill Ltd., from 1920 to 1923. Most of the production came from No.9 vein. In 1921 Treadwell Yukon Corporation entered the field and acquired the Ladue mine. This company continued to operate for 21 years. It acquired in succession the Ladue, Sadie, Friendship, Lucky Queen, Elsa, Silver King, and Calumet mines. Its record of successful operations is very largely the achievement of the late Livingston Wernecke. Under his direction, the Treadwell Yukon Corp. produced metals with a gross value in excess of $21,000,000, in the face of greater transportation problems than exist today and with considerably lower metal prices.Treadwell Yukon ceased operations in 1942. Its entire assets were acquired in 1946 by United Keno Hill Mines Ltd., which has substantially increased the original holdings. It has drawn the bulk of its production from the Hector mine, adjacent to the Calumet. The Hector was not developed by Treadwell Yukon because of legal disputes among the vendors. It has proven to be the largest deposit yet discovered in the district."

Jan 1, 1949

By D. C. Fraser

Copper occurs invisibly in a geo-logical environment characterized by swampy conditions and an accumulation of forest peat. This swamp, located in southeastern New Brunswick, contains up to ten per cent cop-per (dry weight), in the organic sediments. This occurrence appears unique in that the metal is apparently organically combined in a chelate compound. Unlike the acidic nature of most peat bogs, the pH of the cup-riferous peat is nearly neutral. Analyses of the peat and associated soils have indicated that the bulk of the copper is contained in the organic sediments. It appears that the cop-per distribution is affected by capillarity, evaporation and the growth of frost crystals, and that the copper fixation is effected by organic sequestration resulting in the metal being bound to the nitrogen or oxygen components of the forest peat. While such a fixation mechanism is not definitely established as responsible for the immobilization of the metal, the facts at hand are compatible with

Jan 1, 1961

By Alex McEachern

MINING LEADS WAY TO PROSPERITY THE year 1937 will stand out in the history of mining and metal products in Canada as one of which we shall always be proud. The combined contribution of these industries played a large part in leading Canada back to prosperous conditions after years of stress and strain that left their mark upon business the world over. A review of general industry shows a marked improvement over recent years. The upward trend continued un-abated most of the year and not a few of the industries had all they could do to supply the demands. A fact that should be appreciated in a year of wheat failure over an extensive area of the Prairie Provinces is the shifting of the basis of Canadian prosperity from agriculture to that of mining and the use of metals. To the great demand for minerals of all kinds, our mines have well responded and many new high levels were reached. This reflects great credit upon the men who direct the activities of the Canadian Mining Industry. Possessed by a spirit which refused to accept defeat in 1931-1932, they began to increase the efficiency of their departments, explored all channels hitherto untried, and won through to a crowning success. Who among them dreamed that their country's extremity would be their Alex. McEachern opportunity, and that through their united efforts our young nation would be enabled to hold that high position she has attained in world affairs?

Jan 1, 1938

By A. W. Jolliffe

DESPITE the widespread occurrence of scheelite in Canada, domestic production of this strategic mineral is still quite insufficient to meet wartime needs. Two difficulties have invariably arisen in prospecting for or developing scheelite deposits: scheelite is a difficult mineral to identify, and secondly, its distribution is commonly so erratic that the value of a deposit cannot be determined without arduous and expensive methods of sampling and wet assay. Scheelite's property of fluorescing under certain ultra-violet lamps overcomes the first difficulty and is the basis for a quantitative method developed to overcome the second. It is found that, by use of an ultra-violet lamp, the value of many scheelite deposits may be accurately and speedily determined. The method requires neither elaborate apparatus nor exceptional skill on the part of the operator, and is most applicable to those deposits where the bulk of the scheelite occurs in fairly pure aggregates that are at least one-tenth of an inch across. It has been used in grading some two hundred scheelite-bearing veins in the Yellow-knife-Beaulieu region, Northwest Territories, and various occurrences in the Porcupine district, Ontario. The method requires the measurement of the total area of scheelite exposed in any reasonably large measured cross-section of a deposit. From the areal percent of scheelite so obtained, the tungstic oxide (WO,) content of that part of the deposit may be calculated by means of equations of simple derivation.

Jan 1, 1942

By L. Heber Cole

In making this plea for a better and more sympathetic understanding of the non-metallic industry, I do not for one minute wish to give the impression that I in any way belittle the wonderful strides that have been made in the exploitation of our metallics. We in Canada can be justly proud of our Sudburys, Norandas, Flin Fions, and of the remarkable growth of the Consolidated in British Columbia, and at the same time, without in the !east detracting from these worthy undertakings, be equally as proud of our asbestos, gypsum, salt, and coal deposits, as well as of our building-stone and limestone industries. If, in my remarks, I have occasion to compare the metallic with the non-metallic industry, I do so, not with any idea of dimming the glory which the metallics of Canada have gained- not only in our own country, but in the world at large-but for the purpose? of bringing to your attention the fact, perhaps not very well recognized, that Canada contains deposits of non-metallics well worth y of your serious consideration. In the past 33 years, namely, since 1895, the value of non-metallics produced in Canada has exceeded the value of metallics in 19 of the years, and for the last three years has been increasing rapidly. The war years (1915-1918 inclusive) naturally saw an intensive metallic production, but since that time, with the exception of 1925, when there was a general depression throughout the whole country, the non-metallics have been in the ascendency.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. S. De Lury

The metalliferous areas of Manitoba have been described in more or less detail. Since the descriptions were written some new prospects have come to light and considerable mining development has taken place in two or three localities. No attempt will be made in this paper to give an account of recent activities or to describe the several areas in detail. In a general way, geological conditions are similar in all metalliferous areas of the province, a similarity that invites a discussion of the prospects as a whole, the features that are common to all deposits and the reasons for their uniformity. Modern theories of metallogenesis have a direct bearing on such a discussion and an effort will be made to show their application.

Jan 1, 1925

By Fazel G. Jahromi, Ahmad Ghahreman

"Atmospheric leaching of arsenical sulfide concentrates, and especially enargite leaching, is one of the major challenges within the current hydrometallurgy research area. One of the recent processes developed for sulfide ore treatment is atmospheric leaching in the presence of AF 5, a novel carbon based catalyst, in chloride media. The quantification of different ion concentrations during enargite and chalcopyrite leaching in the presence of AF 5 were measured and the copper recovery rates of 97% and 96% were achieved. The objective of this study is to shed light on the leaching mechanism of the sulfide minerals. Based on the speciation of iron and copper by different titration methods, the AF 5 catalyst first reduced ferric and cupric ions and then oxidized ferrous, cuprous and arsenite ions. The oxidation behavior of the catalyst enhanced the leaching results. The AF 5 catalyst also caused in situ precipitation of scorodite in leaching experiment. The speciation of ions in the chloride media were simulated by Phreeqc software and the dominant species in the leaching solution were determined.INTRODUCTION The hydrometallurgy of copper has been used for several decades and is still under development for more complex copper sulfide minerals due to their refractory nature. Most of the world copper reserves are in the form of chalcopyrite; and enargite is known as a major contaminant. Pyrometallurgical processing of enargite is problematic due to arsenic release and tight environmental regulations (Peacey, Gupta, and Ford n.d.). On the other hand, lower recoveries in the hydrometallurgical processes make most of these processes impractical. Several leaching processes have been developed for the leaching of copper sulfide minerals. Some of the common treatment methods for copper sulfide minerals are pressure oxidation leaching (POX), CESL, Activox, Albion process, atmospheric ferric sulfate leaching, Dynatec, Galvanox, and Hydro copper process (Barr, Defreyne, and Mayhew 2005; Conner and Anderson 2013; D.G. Dixon, Mayne, and Baxter 2008; Hyvärinen and Hämäläinen 2005; Palmer and Johnson 2005; Rohner, Bartsch, and Ngoviky 2012). Generally it is not viable to dissolve copper sulfide minerals at ambient pressure in mild acidic media and dissolution of these refractory minerals requires harsh conditions in the presence of oxidant materials (Biswas and Davenport 2002). Ferric ions have been used as an oxidant in different media in copper sulfide leaching processes. U. S. Bureau of Mines’ Reno Metallurgy Research Center in 1969 (Haver and Wong 1971) investigated ferric chloride leaching of chalcopyrite. Dutrizac and Macdonald (1972) studied ferric sulfate leaching of enargite. Based on this study, 50% of the copper was recovered at 80-85 ºC after 7 days of leaching. Cupric ions can also be used as an oxidant. Parker, Paul, and Power (1981) stated that cupric/cuprous couples are more effective than ferric/ferrous couples in chloride media because they are rapid and reversible. The Hydro Copper process leaches copper sulfide minerals in chloride solution catalyzed by cupric ions. In this process, copper dissolves as cuprous ions in presence of cupric ions (about 10 g/L) (Hyvärinen and Hämäläinen 2005)."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. Aiello

"Introduction Byron Creek Collieries Limited Corbin mine is located in southeastern British Columbia approximately 180 air kilometres southwest of Calgary (Fig. I), twenty four kilometres south of Highway No. 3 via a newly constructed provincial road (Fig. 2). The development of the area began July 30, 1905, when D.C. Corbin, a prominent businessman from the northwestern U.S., and his associate E.J. Roberts first visited the site of Coal Mountain on horseback. Coal was in great demand by railways and other industrial users, so the Corbin Coal and Coke Co., after acquiring 6,000 hectares of land in the area, began to develop a mine. Mr. Roberts was responsible for the construction of the 22-kilometre rail spur, the Eastern British Columbia Railway, which joined the mine to the CPR main line at the McGillivray Loop. Rail access to the mine and its developing community, Corbin, B.C., was completed in September 1908, the same year that the first underground mine began production. The Corbin Coal and Coke Co. operated six mines on Coal Mountain (Fig. 3) and production from 1908 to 1930 inclusive totalled 2,120,800 tonnes. This production was allocated to the mines as follows:"

Jan 1, 1985

By Dr. Ralph W. Edie

The limestone reef reservoir at Swan Hills consists essentially of a "buildup" of successively smaller atoll-like layers. Precipitation of calcium carbonate within the lagoonal area of each layer essentially kept pace with growth of the outer organic lattice. Within the reef mass, six de-positional environments characterized by specific suites of fossils (or fossil fragments) and associated limestone textures are recognized as follows: ( 1) Aerated moderately agitated water of normal marine salinity (widespread shelf or submerged reef-built platform). Thamnopora-type corals, Amphipora, "pancake" stroma-toporoids, crinoids, articulate bra-chiopods, rare rugose cup corals, and ostracods occurs in light gray-buff skeletal microgranular limestone of low permeability. (2) Semi-stagnant quiet water of normal marine salinity (leeward side of reef). Crinoids, articulate brachio-pods, rare thamnopora-type corals, Amphipora, pancake and bulbous stromatoporoids, rugose cup corals, ostracods and gastropods occur in impermeable dark brown argillaceous skeletal calcilutite with thin black bituminous shale beds and rare dark chert nodules.

Jan 1, 1961

By F. Ebbutt

The copper-bearing waters now treated successfully at Britannia for the recovery of their copper content are almost entirely derived from what is known as the Fairview mine; this was the first extensive copper producer of the Britannia ore-bodies, and consisted of a number of almost parallel veins, carrying good copper values, the ore consisting of chalcopyrite and pyrite in a quartz gangue. These veins occur in what is known as the ?Britannia shear zone' (Schofield, S. J., G.S.C. Sum. Rept., 1918, Pt. B), developed for roughly five miles in a roof-pendant in the well-known Coast Range batholith. This .pendant is made up of Palxozoic rocks known as the 'Britannia Formation' (LeRoy, O.E., Portion of Main Coast of B.C. and Adjacent Islands; G.S.C. Memoir No. 996, 1908). These consist of dark carbonaceous slates, quartzites; and tuffs or basic flows, and within them are large quartz porphyry siJls. These Britannia rocks are sheared and altered, the resultant rock being a fissile quartz-sericite or quartz-chlorite schist. The mineralization invariably occurs in this chlorite schist, which in the more productive areas has mottles or blobs of chlorite developed. A narrow, though persistent, band of grey slate forms the footwall of the productive portions of the shear zone.

Jan 1, 1928

Keeping the sediment on the mine site and out of the water course is essential from the regulatory, environmental and sustainability perspectives. Regulation of this aspect of mining is embedded in environmental legislation and government receiving water quality standards, and government control has apparently been considered to be the most appropriate method to define mine site discharge standards and the environmental implications of sediment in downstream watercourses. A literature search for guidelines for the site specific design and operation of sediment ponds treating mine site runoff to remove total suspended solids, turbidity and flocculant-induced toxicity, revealed little information on the mining industry?s and government?s roles in defining the ?how to achieve? related to sediment pond design. Is there a need or reason for an industry-driven leadership to clearly define the ?how to? keep the sediment on the mine site and out of the water course? Currently, this issue is addressed in Canada by a federal mining regulation for metal mines which specifies discharge quality for sediment. This paper focuses on the method used in British Columbia, Canada, to regulate and provide a scientific methodology to control the discharge of sediment from mine sites. Management plans relative to this topic are discussed and are considered to have value from the exploration, construction, operation and the onset of closure phases. In addition, the balance and linkage between the erosion control management plan and the sediment pond management plan are discussed in terms of how they may be designed to complement each other to lower the risk of exceeding discharge and receiving water quality standards. If there were an industry-driven standard, or guidance document relative to addressing sediment release, it would benefit mining companies by eliminating the repetitive analysis of this topic for each new mine, mine expansion, and mine modification; also, government may often replace certain aspects of permitting with a regulation, if there is a government/industry established standard defining Best Achievable Technology (e.g. the Canadian Metal Mining Effluent Regulations).

Aug 1, 2013

By R. I. Kraydenko, A. N. Dyachenko

"The possibility of SiO2 5N production by staged purification of ammonium hexafluosilicate (NH4)2SiF6 is discussed. High-purity silicon dioxide can be obtained with fluoridation of quartz concentrate by solid NH4F at 100 °C, with further sublimation of the product at 320 °C, its dissolution, ammonia hydrolysis, filtration and drying of SiO2•nH2O. This is accompanied by regeneration of the processing reagent - NH4F.INTRODUCTIONProduction of high-purity silica-5N (SiO2 content over 99.999%) is an important and urgent task of the modern chemical industry. This material is used in the manufacture of optical glass, optical fibers for internet cables, silicon for solar power and electronics.Quartz concentrate is raw material for the production of silicon dioxide. The existing technologies of synthetic silicon dioxide were introduced in the mid-twentieth century. These methods are energy-consuming, multi-step and do not meet stringent environmental requirements. In fact, as some conventional technologies became obsolete; it became necessary to develop new methods for the production of synthetic silica. We believe that the fluoride technology of processing of quartz materials by ammonium fluoride is the most promising direction.In industry, silicon dioxide marked ""Silica White"" is obtained by liquid-phase method. The method consists of the precipitation of amorphous silica from sodium silicate solutions with acids. The resulting product is filtered, washed and dried. Depending on the deposition conditions and nature of the coagulant the ""Silica White"" is acidic, neutral or alkaline. The dry product is subjected to grinding. The degree of dispersion and porosity of the particles of Silica White depends on the nature of decomposition agent (a substance that decomposes the silicate) and coagulant, conditions of sedimentation, filtration and drying. During the drying process the silica particles are sintered into aggregates of a few millimeters."

Jan 1, 2012

By I. A. Kovalevska

Considered problems: elaboration and implementation of resource-saving technologies, low-cost support systems improvement, openings security and support, based on wallrock condition control with supreme implication into the rock pressure occurrence counteraction work. Results of analytic and underground investigations using computer simulation of the finite elements in order to calculate stressstrain state of the multivariable geomechanical systems are presented. Solutions of concrete objectives are found using spatial geomechanical model of solid motion around openings, considering real geomechanical parameters formation of support forms with proper conditions of their contact and real mechanical characteristics. Ultimate solutions of resource-saving technologies implementation based on the analysis of multivariate vertical, horizontal, and reduced stresses components calculation and also near-contour rock, support bearing components and security constructions movements are found. Results of experimental investigations of combined supports and security constructions, which increase openings' stability in difficult conditions of flat coal seams are presented.

Aug 1, 2013

Over five decades ago Kitchener et al. in England and La Mer and Healy in the US were advancing our understanding and application of flocculants, primarily related to water treatment and filtration of sludge. This paper identifies the beneficial uses of flocculants in the mining industry and revisits some less common applications. Flocculants are used in unique ways in the mining industry: (a) to increase the effectiveness of sediment ponds to achieve discharge compliance; (b) to eliminate air emissions and costs associated with concentrate drying; (c) to reduce soil loss by applying a flocculant to erodible soils, and reducing wind and water erosion; (d) to remove/thicken metal precipitates in acid rock drainage treatment; and (e) to enhance clarification and thickening in mineral processing. The mechanism of how flocculants, coagulations and potentially-determining ions function is described and how their use can be controlled and optimized. The potential toxic effects of flocculants and coagulants when used to achieve effluent permit discharge compliance for suspended solids is discussed. A review of numerous best management practice (BMP) guidelines for the design and operation of sediment ponds treating mine site runoff to remove total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity revealed an absence of a predictive methodology to address regulatory discharge compliance for TSS concentration, turbidity and flocculant-induced toxicity. An essential component of pond design is the need to determine whether flocculants and/or other settling aids are required based on the site-specific soil particle size distributions upslope of the pond. Procedures are provided to predict the need for settling aids and estimate pond discharge quality and downstream impact for TSS, turbidity, toxicity and sub-lethal toxicity. The need to develop BMP guidelines are discussed for (a) the application of flocculant to surface soils to reduce erosion, (b) the application of flocblocks to increase the ?sediment control? aspects of erosion and sediment control, as part of the mine site erosion control plan strategy and (c) the application of flocculant to silt socks to treat mine site runoff.

Aug 1, 2013

By K. L. Azinger

Successful relationships between mining companies and local stakeholders are now an essential part of the social contract of “doing business” (Prescott, 1995). The methodology presented in this paper is designed to assist mining companies in understanding and building relationships with diverse stakeholder groups. The methodology starts by recognizing that mining projects have a natural life cycle which can be used to identify when new external affairs strategies are required. In designing an external affairs strategy, the first step is to set objectives that are compatible with the overall objectives of the mining project. The management team then identifies the main stakeholder groups and seeks to understand the priorities and inter-relationships of the individual stakeholders. The result of this stakeholder analysis is an understanding of the Degrees of Influence of each of the stakeholder groups along with a relationship map which illustrates the strong interactions between stakeholders. The company is then prepared to take a proactive approach to building relationships with the primary stakeholders. This methodology was developed by BHP to assist with the federal government environmental approval process for the development of Canada’s first diamond mine. BHP has successfully used the methodology in three different phases of the NWT Diamonds Project and is now applying the methodology to mining and development projects around the world.

Jan 1, 1998

By Stephen Se

Geological assessment of active mine faces enables ore grade control, geological modelling and exploration planning. Monitoring of the mine advancement at every drill-blast-muck cycle allows for effective production management. However, geological assessments are performed infrequently due to the need to travel to active mine faces, and detailed surveys to map the mine progress are performed at the end of the month. Instant Mine Modeller (iMM) is a portable ruggedized stereo-vision system that creates photo-realistic three-dimensional models of underground mine faces on-site. The 3D models are generated automatically within minutes and can be viewed underground and annotated with geological information. The overall ore percentages of the face are calculated automatically for grade control. Annotated 3D models are located in the mine coordinate system and can be imported into mine management systems. iMM allows for daily monitoring of the mine progress and geology, and for re-visiting the mine virtually as it existed. iMM has been deployed in an underground hard rock mine for 18 months, and it effectively brings the underground work face into mine management offices enabling the right decisions at the right time. iMM has demonstrated benefits to various mine processes including grade control, geological mapping, 3D photo-realistic as-built and production volume.

Oct 1, 2009

By Craig Roberts

"While various methods are available to estimate a mining project's value, value is only established through a transaction. Comparable methods allow the value estimated for a mining project to be benchmarked against mining project values established in the market. Comparable methods thus are a key tool for ensuring value estimates are congruent with what the market would actually pay. For example, if the value estimated for a mining project using discounted cash flow analysis differs significantly from the value implied using comparable market methods, the valuator may be using metal price or discount rate assumptions that differ significantly from those the market is currently willing to pay for.The paper provides an overview of market comparable valuation approaches, and discusses some of the difficulties and limitations that arise in using these approaches. The types of market values that are typically utilised are discussed, including asset sale prices, share prices (market capitalisations), and values established in corporate mergers and acquisitions. Topics discussed include methods used in estimating a mining project's value based on the market value of the company that holds the asset, and limitations that arise because of unique features of mining projects and of companies that hold them.It is concluded that market comparable and fundamental (e.g. NPV) approaches to project valuation should not be viewed as alternative approaches to estimating project value, but rather can and should be integrated to derive a single value estimate based on both market andfandamental data. A method for integrating these approaches is discussed, and illustrated by example."

Jan 1, 2003