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By R. Prioul, J. Kear, D. Chuprakov, A. P. Bunger

"Hydraulic fracture (HF) growth through naturally fractured rocks challenges the development of accurate predictive HF models. The authors present laboratory experiments differentiating behaviours associated with orthogonal and oblique intersections between HFs and natural fractures (NFs). HFs were created in sandstone and crystalline (gabbro) rock specimens, impinging orthogonally or obliquely on an unbonded machined frictional interface. Ultrasound monitoring was used to observe the rate of propagation through the interface. A contrast was observed between direct and offset crossing for orthogonal and oblique intersection, respectively. The stresses required to promote crossing depended on the intersection angle between HFs and NFs.RÉSUMÉ La propagation des fractures hydrauliques (FH) dans les roches naturellement fracturées pose un défi pour le développement de modèles prédictifs. Nous présentons des essais en laboratoire qui différencient les comportements associés aux intersections orthogonales et obliques entre les FH et les fractures naturelles. Des FH ont été créées dans des spécimens de grès et de roches cristallines (gabbro), heurtés de manière orthogonale ou oblique sur une interface machinée, non liée, de frottement. Un suivi par ultrasons a servi à observer le taux de propagation à travers l’interface. Un contraste a été observé entre un croisement direct et un croisement indirect des intersections respectivement orthogonales et obliques. Les contraintes requises pour promouvoir le croisement variaient selon l’angle d’intersection entre les FH et les fractures naturelles."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. R. Cope, J. S. Getsinger, K. D. Lund, T. Neale

"Mineral exploration in the Sicker Group, a belt of Paleozoic volcano-sedimentary rocks on Vancouver Island, has traditionally centred on auriferous polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits such as those currently mined by Westmin Resources Ltd. near Buttle Lake. Recently, however, the focus of exploration in the Sicker Group has shifted toward targets of structurally controlled gold concentrations, with notable success. Major north and northwesterly-trending structural features such as the Cowichan-Horne Lake break (one of several regional high-angle thrust fault s active throughout a long period of geological time) and related fault systems have contributed to localization of gold mineralization.Using the extensive information database compiled by MPH Consulting Limited during numerous exploration projects in the Sicker Group, two cross sections through areas with significant gold occurrences southeast of Port Alberni are presented. The cross sections combine geological, geochemical and geophysical data in an attempt to emphasize the relationship between structural trends and gold mineralization. Examples from specific properties, including gold discoveries along the Mineral Creek fault zone, are used to illustrate this relationship."

Jan 1, 1990

By Isabel F. Barton, J. Brent Hiskey

Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the earth’s most abundant copper ore mineral, but is refractory to leaching with sulfates, chlorides, and other common lixiviants and oxidants. This has led to increasing research into alternative lixiviants for recovering Cu from chalcopyrite. Here, we review the leach kinetics of chalcopyrite in glycine, ionic liquids, and methanesulfonic acid, compared to baseline ferric sulfate and ferric chloride. Glycine (CH2NH2COOH) has long been used in applications such as biocatalysis and electroplating, and has recently been examined as a lixiviant for whole ores and concentrates of both copper and gold. It is nontoxic, biodegradable, and capable of strongly complexing Cu2+. Compatible oxidants are peroxide, dissolved oxygen, and ferric sulfate. Chalcopyrite leaching rate in glycine is chemical reaction-controlled, but the effects of grain size and the reaction orders with respect to lixiviant and oxidant concentrations and mass transfer vary. The use of ionic liquids as a leaching agent for chalcopyrite has been extensively investigated in recent years. This system is based primarily on the use of the imidazolium molecule (C3H5N2), which is a planar 5-member ring structure. This lixiviant has been applied to the leaching of chalcopyrite in the form of pure mineral, concentrates, and ores. Kinetics of ionic liquid leaching of chalcopyrite vary substantially depending on the type and concentration of ionic liquid. Methanesulfonic acid (HCH3SO3) is one of the newest lixiviants available in leaching, having only been examined in the last decade. It has been examined as a substitute for sulfuric acid, since it is less corrosive, is biodegradable, and breaks down to carbon dioxide and sulfate over time. The rate of copper leaching from chalcopyrite by methanesulfonic acid is controlled by diffusion and exhibits a strong dependence on oxidant type and concentration. Despite promising reaction rates and total extraction by some of these novel lixiviants, comparison with baseline ferric sulfate and ferric chloride systems makes it doubtful that any will be commercially viable in the near term. Only at very high reagent concentrations and temperatures, and/or very fine grain size, did any of the systems perform comparably to the much cheaper ferric chloride at extracting Cu from chalcopyrite. Most had similar overall reaction rates and total extraction to ferric sulfate, which is relatively common and cheap. However, the leaching kinetics of these novel lixiviants offer valuable insight into the dissolution behavior of chalcopyrite in various systems.

Jan 1, 2019

By B. Arlyuk

On the basis of research of relations among the market participants the analytical model has been created which connects the price of industrial good at stock exchange with volume of sales and the stock of the sellers and buyers, Also a model was developed for assessment of these parameters of the market status by the actually fixed stock exchange and general market indicators. The composition of these models made it possible to create reliable system of short-term price forecasting for commodities or base metals up to one quarter ahead. Imperfectability of creation a model for reliable price forecasting by purely statistic methods (by the "black box" principle) was shown. A model of price behavior qualitative forecasting till one quarter ahead has been developed, which determines the probability of reaching in future of the given level as well as of the price maximums and minimums, Optimal values of threshold probability were determined for forecasting the future price maximums and minimums securing the maximum profit from the forecasting system application for commercial activity. The developed system of forecasting was identified for primary aluminium at the period of 1990-2003. The system was tested daily during 20 months period for speculations on 3M primary aluminium forwards at London Metal Exchange with high commercial result.

Jan 1, 2004

This paper details a brief history of the Australian gold industry from the 1980s gold boom to the present day, highlighting an industry characterised by innovation in plant design and junior companies prepared to "have a go", in contrast to the conservatism of many larger mining companies. Design flexibility, the innovation of new processes, the preparedness to exchange "process know how" and technology singularly differentiated the gold industry from other sectors during the 1980s to the present. The introduction of two stage crushing, semi autogenous (SAG) milling, and pebble crushing, mill innovations, carbon in pulp (CIP) and carbon in leach (CIL) and the North Kalgoorlie screen etc were all exciting changes in the industry.

Jan 1, 2011

By T. Gerritsen, T. Plikas, K. Ochoa, M. Loveless, R. MacRosty, J. Reichart, R. Pula

Sidewall accretion in a smelting furnace plays an important role in furnace integrity as it provides protection to the sidewall cooling elements and thereby extends the furnace campaign life. The extreme thermal and mechanical stresses in the furnace and changes in the slag chemistry can cause the sidewall accretion to melt or break away decreasing the lining protecting the cooling elements. Thin accretion is highly undesirable as it increases the risk of exposing the cooling elements to the molten bath and in the worst case may lead to a failure. Therefore, monitoring the sidewall accretion on an operating furnace is extremely important to manage furnace integrity and to support safe furnace operation. Operators often generate estimates for sidewall accretion and refractory thickness using either copper cooler temperatures or heat load into the cooling water circuits. Multivariate statistical models, on the other hand, have the capability to consider all the process measurements simultaneously to provide a more reliable estimate. This paper describes the application of multivariate statistical models for sidewall integrity monitoring on a Flash Converting Furnace (FCF) and also discusses the online implementation of these models as the Sidewall Accretion Monitoring System. INTRODUCTION Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper (KUC) smelter located near Salt Lake city, Utah operates a Flash Smelting Furnace (FSF) and a Flash Converting Furnace (FCF) to produce high-grade matte and blister copper respectively. Since the commissioning of smelter in 1995, several improvements were made to these furnaces to increase their efficiency and operational safety. At present, Kennecott smelter is known to be among the lowest-emission and highest energy recovery copper smelters in the world. Since the smelter start-up, Kennecott has invested in several advanced furnace monitoring practices to evaluate the integrity of the furnaces and improve their campaign life. An example is their temperature monitoring system installed for the smelting and converting furnaces, which continuously monitors the furnace sidewall temperatures and notifies the operators during temperature excursions. During an investigation on the converting furnace, it was revealed that there were frequent temperature excursions in the settler sidewall area towards the reaction shaft end of the furnace that caused significant furnace downtime. The reason for the sidewall temperature excursions was not clearly known.

Jan 1, 2019

By N. Ahern, M. Barbanell

Mercury is often present in gold ores and can be released during processing. In view of health and environmental concerns related to mercury, the mining industry takes leadership in the responsible management of mercury. This paper reviews various aspects of mercury management, including an overview of mercury deportment in typical gold processing flowsheets; trends in mercury legislation impacting the international flow and management of mercury in the gold mining industry; and treatment, storage and disposal options for mercury and mercury containing materials.

Jan 1, 2014

?Hydrothermal breccias-genetic models ?Deep drilling-underground potential ?Deposit variety-test new ideas Exploration Summary

May 1, 2006

By Z. Bibak, S. Banisi, A. Ghasemi, E. Nematollahi

"The use of large AG/SAG mills in the mineral industry has been on the rise recently due to a significant reduction in the capital and operating costs for achieving significant increases in plant throughputs. The major reason for downtimes in these mills is the time taken for the replacement of broken or worn liners. This loss of “availability” of these units has a significant impact on the productivity of these plant operations. The ability to predict liner life time and its evolving shape could help to optimize these comminution operations. In the past decades, various models have been proposed to estimate liner wear rate, but because of their empirical nature they could only be used within certain limited operating conditions. In this research, a phenomenological model which could predict the liner wear rate was proposed and tested. This model considers parameters such as; operating conditions, liner hardness, pressure on the lifter, and, relative velocity of particles and mill shell. Data from industrially measured liner profiles were taken during the liner life time at the Sarcheshmeh and the Gol-E-Ghohar SAG mills to provide a solid base to calibrate and validate the model. The comparison of the model predictions with the actual measurements of the liner wear rate showed that the results were in a good agreement at both, the Sarcheshmeh (R2=0.94), and the Gol-E-Ghohar (R2=0.97) concentrators.INTRODUCTIONAG/SAG mills are one of the most important technologies in the mineral processing industry in the recent decades. The “Availability” of these units in a plant operation is one of the most important economic parameter for evaluating their performance. The major reason for the downtime of these mills affecting their “availability”, is the time required to change worn or broken liners (Yahyaei, Banisi, & Hadizadeh, 2009; Maleki-Moghaddam, Yahyaei, & Banisi, 2012). The knowledge about the magnitude and profile of liner wear not only enables more accurate liner life estimation to prevent unwanted interruptions of the SAG milling in mineral processing plants and more strategically plan the scheduled mill outages for liner changes. It also could provide key information needed to select an appropriate liner design (Yahyaei et al., 2009; Rezaeizadeh, Fooladi, Powell, & Weerasekara, 2010a)."

Jan 1, 2016

By T. J. Bruce, G. E. Agar, R. Stratton-Crawley

"A technique by which the design of a flotation circuit may be optimized is described and examples of the application of this methodology are given.Three interrelated criteria are defined and the application of these criteria to the selection of the optimum residence time for each stage of a flotation circuit is demonstrated. The criteria are:(1) Add no material to the concentrate that is lower in grade than the feed to that separation stage.(2) Maximize the difference in recovery between the desired mineral and the gangue.(3) Maximize the separation efficiency.Three independent systems were examined experimentally and it was shown that application of any of the criteria yielded similar results.It was demonstrated how the application of rate measurements (Criterion #2) could lead to the selection of a set of optimized times for several stages in a flotation circuit and that these could in turn be used to simulate the results of a locked cycle test. The predictions were checked against the experimental results from a locked cycle test and there was substantial agreement between the predicted and observed results."

Jan 1, 1980

By S. Kelebek

Batch flotation tests were carried out using samples from stockpiles that were up to 1.5 months old as well as fresh samples oxidized in the lab for up to six months. Head grades and size distributions of samples were equalized whenever possible. The samples from stockpiles and oxidation experiments produced inferior nickel grade-recovery compared to the fresh sample. The poorer grade-recovery performance was attributable to two factors. First, a significant dilution effect was observed due to complete flotation of pyrrhotite. Secondly, the same stockpiling conditions caused nickel losses that were attributable to non-floatability of some pentlandite. Application of a high pH of 10 compared to the regular pH of 9.2 slowed down pyrrhotite flotation kinetics, but was not able to prevent complete flotation after 8 minutes. The samples oxidized in the lab did not match full characteristics of stockpile samples. They provided somewhat better selectivity for pentlandite. Some correlations were observed on a qualitative basis between surface characteristics such as elemental sulphur formation, activation and flotation behaviour. Oxidation conditions, which induce floatability on pyrrhotite while causing incremental loss in pentlandite floatability appear to be the root cause of difficulties in the processing of oxidized forms of these ores.

Jan 1, 2006

By Z. Bibak, S. Banisi, A. Ghasemi, E. Nematollahi

"The major importance of liners in grinding is their role in providing an appropriate trajectory for the charge. Since it is not possible to study the charge movement by direct observation in operating industrial mills, this task is accomplished by physical (laboratory), and/or, mathematical (software) methods. Because of the high cost and a longer time required for a physical analysis, mathematical simulations have become more common. Simulation of the effect of liner shape on the charge movement has provided a means to select a proper design based on the operational objectives and conditions. Furthermore, the liner shape changes due to wear and impact during operation, which will influence the charge trajectory. This adds more of an incentive to use simulation. These changes in liner could be predicted through liner profile measurements during operation and/or simulation. In this research, an inhouse developed DEM software called KMPCDEM © was used to simulate the charge movement in industrial plant SAG mills. A geometrical method of implementing the shell liners on SAG mills at the Sarcheshmeh (9.75×4.87 m) and the Gole-E-Ghohar (9×2.05 m) operations facilitated the software simulation. Point by point implementation of the measurements of liner profiles of these mills enabled the study to trend the change in the charge movement as the liners wear. Comparison of the simulation to a laboratory mill (1 m diameter) showed that the difference between the measured and predicted charge impact point, shoulder angle and toe angle were 6, 4 and 3°, respectively.INTRODUCTIONComminution is the most energy intensive operation constituting the major portion of operating and capital costs of a mineral processing plant. In the last decade, a vast number of research was aimed at studying various aspects of grinding with the aim of performance improvements (Davis, 1919; Mishra & Rajamani, 1990; kalala, Breetzke, & Moys, 2008). Mill liners transfer the input power to the charge and play a significant role in affecting the motion of the charge (Mclvor, 1983; Mishra & Rajamani, 1990; Radziszewski, 1997; Van Nierop, Glover, Hinde, & Moys, 2001; kalala et al., 2008). Lifters are usually used with mill liners to extend their life and to enhance the grinding and impact breakage efficiency. Mill lifters are used to raise the grinding media and ore to transfer the energy from the mill to the load (Rezaeizadeh, Fooladi, Powell, & Weerasekara, 2010)."

Jan 1, 2016

"Beneficiation of low grade ores is the process of increasing the grade of a mineral through unit operations that remove and separate the waste (or gangue) material from the valuable mineral that can then be used for further processing or direct use. Important factors when deciding upon a beneficiation program are the feed grade, mass yield and the metal recovery. As lower grade ores are being processed beneficiation is a critical process. How predictive is laboratory test work for “as built” operating projects? Beneficiation includes all or some of the available unit operations to produce a beneficiation flow sheet i.e. associated unit operations including but not limited to optical sorting, radiometric sorting, crushing and screening, coarse cobbing, jigging, dense media separation (DMS), spirals, magnetic separation, flotation, thickening, filtering and drying. Reference to specific projects and the approach developed in formulating a beneficiation flow sheet and a comparison of difficult and simple beneficiation flow sheets are cited. INTRODUCTIONReserves of high-grade iron ores are reducing all over the world, at an alarming rate, over the years as a result of the rapid increase in demand for steel particularly from Japan and then China. The recovery of mineral value from the low-grade ores using present technology is more expensive than DSO ores due to high energy and capital costs. Beneficiation is defined as a variety of processes whereby extracted ore from mining is reduced to particles that can be separated into mineral and waste.Various physical properties of an ore can be exploited to separate a low grade fraction including variation in hardness, density, reflectance, conductivity and magnetism.""Beneficiation"" of iron ores includes concentration, generally by physical removal of unwanted gangue. Also considered beneficiation is the regulation of product size, or other steps such as agglomeration to improve its chemical or physical characteristics prior to smelting."

Jan 1, 2012

By David R. Winfield

I would like to thank you for spending the time with me today to review the FLIR PathFindIR thermal imaging camera system: It is truly an innovative safety system that has the added benefit of offering increased efficiency Our company the Winsted Group, specializes in mobile video systems that are fully customizable to address standard and unique operational requirements in a variety of industries from heavy equipment cameras to police and military digital recording systems, high end video camera systems are a hallmark of Winsted?s product line. The use of thermal imaging camera systems to enhance mobile safety is a relatively new concept as it relates to their use in both transportation and heavy equipment operation. This technology, like so many before it, has been adopted for civilian use from its military roots. The identification of enemy combatants through their heat signature has given our troops a decisive edge in military operations in total darkness Likewise, the ability to discern people and objects that give off heat is a significant step forward in collision and accident avoidance. The PathFindIR camera system that I am demonstrating today is so advanced that it cannot be exported outside of continental North America without a US government approved export license I would like to commence my presentation with a short video clip that discusses the technology associated with the FLIR PathFindIR Thermal Imaging camera systems. The video demonstrates the operational effectiveness of thermal imaging camera systems installed on a vehicle operating on the roadway at night, of course there are definite parallels to use in a mining environment, primarily the fact that lighting is limited and the chance for vision limiting dust is ever present. We are, of course more concerned with personnel safety in our mines than encountering wildlife on the roadside. From the same perspective, the transport driver is just as concerned with encountering a stalled vehicle as our mine truck operators are with other mine traffic.

Feb 1, 2008

By Qian Liu

Mining in highly stressed ground conditions has been an increasing challenge at the Brunswick Mine. Two large regional pillars were established on the 1000 m Level to support the ground for safe extraction of the surrounding ore. The South Regional Pillar contains about 5 million tonnes of ore and the North Regional Pillar has about 3 million tonnes of ore. In the fall of 2000, mining activities were suspended following a series of ground movements around the South Regional Pillar along weak geological structures. After extensive geotechnical investigations, a decision was made to carry out a mass destress blast in the West Ore Zone (WOZ) to cut the principal stress across an area of 135 m along strike and 86 m high. At the end of July 2001, the WOZ mass blast was successfully initiated. Following this success the mine decided to take a similar approach to destressing the North Regional Pillar (NRP). The final mass blast was taken in early February 2003. Advanced blasting technologies, including state of the art electronic detonators and blast simulation, played an important role in achieving the successful blasts. The high precision of delay timing and long delay duration of the electronic detonators ensured accurate and reliable initiations of over 800 blastholes in the WOZ mass blast. Orica?s DMC_Blast (Distinct Motion Code) simulation code was used to study different blasting blocks for the desired timing in the initiation sequence. This paper describes the process of applying electronic detonators in complex blasts, and discusses how blast simulation results were interpreted to guide engineering design of the mass blasts.

May 1, 2003

By Mark Holdsworth

In 2002, Kennecott Utah Copper Copperton Concentrator installed an Expert Control system for optimization of their SAG and Ball milling circuits. The advanced process control has been well received and is utilized well over 95% of the time. In the years since, many lessons have been learned and many advances have been made. Improvements have produced millions of dollars of benefits and have included directly controlling feedrate with complex logic as opposed to using a bearing pressure controller, modifications to how sound is used for control, modifying logic for maximizing asset utilization and using advanced control for automating equipment restart.

Jan 1, 2012

By R. S. Boorman, L. J. Surges

"Ore reserves at Brunswick Mining and Smelting totalled 101(106) tonnes grading 97 grams tonne-1 silver at the end of 1981. Silver is recovered as a byproduct in the copper, lead and bulk concentrates and is lost to the zinc concentrate and plant tailings. Recovery of silver for the year 1981 was 58,5%. The loss of potential revenue is in excess of Cdn $50(106) year-1 at current silver prices and milling rates.Silver is known to occur in solid solution in galena and as tetrshedrite. Evidence indicating the identity and significance of a third silverbearing mineral assemblage is reviewed and the distribution of silver losses is detailed. Characteristics of each the carrier which may be responsible for observed distribution, including size, surface quality, liberation and composition are considered, and the third carrier is shown to have possible implications for improved silver recovery by other Canadian producers as well as by Brunswick Mining.Silver tetrahedrite tailings distributed tailings and losses occur as coarse, free and as very fine unliberated galena in losses of the third carrier are between the zinc concentrate and are concentrated in the finest size fractions. Process alternatives for enhanced silver recovery by physical and chemical means are reviewed."

Jan 1, 1983

By J. G. Martin, J. C. Campbell

THE VICTORIA JUNCTION 31,4-million-ton coal preparation complex went into operation in October 1976."' It is designed to produce a metallurgical coking coal by lowering the sulphur and ash content of the raw coal using a heavy-media cycloning process to treat deslimed crushed coal, with scavenging of fine coal by flotation from the primary minus-28-mesh screen product. A secondary H-M cyclone scavenges a thermal-grade coal from the primary H-M cyclone tailing.

Jan 1, 1985

By Takayuki Takasugi, Naoya Masahashi, Yasuyuki Kaneno, Satoshi Semboshi, Yusuke Kadoi

Cu–Ti alloy wires doped with and without a small amount of Ni were fabricated by over-aging and using intense drawing procedures. For both the Cu–Ti alloys with and without Ni doping, the over- aged microstructure was occupied fully with a coarse lamella of Cu solid solution and β-Cu4Ti plates precipitated discontinuously by grain boundary reactions. The full-lamellar microstructure was developed much more rapidly by aging in multi steps at 873 K to 723 K rather than by isothermal aging at 723 K. Ni doping in Cu-Ti alloy was also effective to accelerate the formation of the lamellar microstructure. When drawing the over-aged alloy with inferior hardness but superior electrical conductivity, the strength increased steadily and eventually exceeded that for the wires drawn from the peak-aged alloy. In addition, the electrical conductivity of the wires drawn from the over-aged alloy was always much greater than that from the peak-aged alloy. Eventually, the procedure of over-aging, followed by intense drawing, could enhance both the strength and electrical conductivity of Cu-Ti alloys, whichever they contain a small amount of Ni or not, rather than the conventional peak-aging and drawing process. INTRODUCTION Cu-based alloy wires, which have an excellent combination of strength and electrical conductivity, have attracted extensive attention for highly mechanically stressed electrical devices, such as conductive lead wires and wires in suspension springs. Cu-Be alloys are widely used for such electrical components owing to their combination of strength and electrical conductivity among industrial Cu-based alloys. However, since beryllium is potentially toxic and also a rare element, substitute materials for Cu-Be alloys have been searched for several decades. Age-hardenable Cu–Ti based alloys have been proposed as candidates because their mechanical and physical properties are comparable to those of Cu-Be alloys; however, their electrical conductivity is inferior (Datta & Soffa, 1976; Soffa & Laughlin, 2004). In order to satisfy the requirement of downsizing and streamlining electrical devices, further improvement of the mechanical and electrical properties of Cu–Ti alloy wires is needed. Age-hardenable Cu–Ti alloys, which contain approximately 3 to 6 at.% Ti, are typically prepared using a solid solution treatment above 1100 K and then aging at a moderate temperature of 700 K to 800 K. It has been revealed that the microstructural events during aging progress as follows (Soffa & Laughlin, 2004): (1) compositional modulation of the parent supersaturated Cu solid solution in an initial aging stage (Laughlin & Cahn, 1975), (2) continuous nucleation and growth of fine needle-shaped precipitates of metastable β’-Cu4Ti with a tetragonal structure in a peak-aged stage, and (3) discontinuous precipitation of cellular components laminating the plates of a terminal Cu solid solution and stable β-Cu4Ti with an orthorhombic structure at the grain boundaries in an over-aging stage. It has been also accepted that the highest number density of dispersed fine β’-Cu4Ti needles should contribute to maximal strengthening. On the other hand, decease of the strength in the over-aging stage occurs due to the replacement of the fine β’- Cu4Ti needles with cellular components containing coarse β-Cu4Ti plates, while the electrical conductivity is significantly enhanced due to the depletion of solute Ti in the Cu matrix. This suggests that a combination of strength and electrical conductivity for age-hardenable Cu-Ti alloys is in a trade-off relationship, and that innovative improvement of both properties might be limited to tuning the aging conditions.

Jan 1, 2019

By Carol Odell

This paper was prepared as a brief for Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) to guide input at a series of round tables carried out by the Federal Government in response to the 38th Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) report, on ?Mining in Developing Countries and Corporate Social Responsibility?. This document mandate is to provide background information, analysis and recommendations on the practice of Canadian exploration and mining companies abroad. This research was based on 11 case studies of Canadian companies which have experienced conflicts or controversies overseas. All case studies were assembled through an extensive literature review of publicly available documentation and communications with representatives of the mining companies to assist in deepening the insights into the drivers of the conflicts and the needs of Canadian companies in similar situations. The case studies include both exploration and mining operations. Our analysis begins with the identification of general and case specific drivers of conflict/controversy in each case study. Company names are kept confidential and only anonymous results are presented. We make ample use of simple flow charts and schematic diagrams to explain how contextual drivers and aggravators and company drivers and mitigators play varied and interrelated roles in conflicts. The diagrams also illustrate the cumulative analysis of drivers including the linkages among drivers/aggravators/mitigators across different domains (social, governance, NGO/media and company). Finally, we discuss needs of companies and propose recommendations for addressing social responsibility and human rights concerns.

May 1, 2007