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By I. T. Oramah

Despite the abundance of solid mineral deposits, Nigeria only earns about 0.5-1% of its current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the solid minerals sector. This is as a result of the dominance of the oil and gas industry, which has negatively affected the competitiveness of other sectors of Nigeria’s economy. The dominance of this industry has resulted in unemployment, poverty, hunger, domestic price inflation, corruption, unstable government, and higher exchange rates. These impacts are typical for economies suffering from the effects of "Dutch Disease" and the "Resource Curse". Community-based small-scale mining offers hope as an economic activity that can create wealth, employment, reduce hunger and poverty, and provide basic amenities for rural communities with solid minerals endowment. This study presents preliminary results of ongoing research into the prospects of using community-based small-scale mining in a developing country like Nigeria to move towards rural sustainable development.

Jan 1, 2011

By L. Lipsett

"Human rights can contribute to sustainability in the mining sector, both in theory and in practice. Both human rights and sustainability share a common concern to improve economic prosperity, environmental health and social equity by avoiding negative impacts and conflict, as well as by engaging with and empowering affected communities. Globally, there is an emerging consensus that companies have a responsibility to respect international human rights standards. Respecting human rights means that mining companies are responsible to ""do no harm"" to the people and communities affected by their operations. After a discussion of the Protect, Respect and Remedy framework for business and human rights, this paper illustrates some examples of how international standards for human rights and sustainability interacted in a recent assessment of Goldcorp's Marlin Mine in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. The final section explores how human rights should be integrated into broader policies and procedures for corporate sustainability. This includes integrating human rights into ESIA processes, legal compliance, corporate governance and grievance mechanisms. Pressures on mining companies to respect human rights will not disappear; therefore, a proactive and integrated approach to human rights is a fundamental component of a broader strategy for sustainability"

Jan 1, 2011

By Fernando J. A. S. Barriga

"Recent concerns over the availability of many mineral raw materials, and newly available technological developments, produced renewed interest in deep-sea mining. However, environmental concerns, with variable degrees of justification, are raising opposition to the concept. The forecast for the behavior of consumption versus availability of many raw materials, nearly all critical metals, arguably show that consumption will grow much faster than resource discovery onshore. Finding new sources of raw materials seems inescapable. The deep seafloor stands out as the only likely candidate.Sea Floor Mining and the EcosystemMarine mining has already started, decades ago, for diamonds, currently up to depths near 400m. Although the industry recognizes there is a footprint, it considers the footprint quite minor, because the area mined is small: in Namibia, where offshore diamond mining is now 70% of the country’s total, only 3% of the concession of 3,700 sq miles (9600km2) have been mined. As plans to mine deep-sea massive sulphide deposits and polymetallic nodules progress, the environmental concerns grow. Some of these concerns are as follows:?The deep-sea ecosystems are composed of long-lived species, with low rates of reproduction. The environment may not recover from mining on a human time scale;"

Jan 1, 2017

By R. D. Brown

In his April 10, 1978 budget address, Finance Minister Chretien declared that the federal government will restrict the growth of its spending to less than the trend growth of the gross national product; over the past year, both the federal and a number of provincial governments have taken action to cut back on spending policies. This new emphasis in restraint would seem 10 be a response to a mounting public reaction to the rapid growth of government spending - and taxation - over the past 25 years. Although this relatively new government posture on public spending may be admired by many, to others it raises the question: "Can the growth in government spending really be stopped?" This article comments on just how government revenues - and spending - have grown over the past few years in Canada, and mentions some of the issues relating to a slowdown in that growth.

Jan 1, 1978

By F. Habashi

Asbestos, an extremely useful natural resource, has been studied extensively mineralogically and for industrial application. Its extraction from ores has been greatly improved with respect to safety in the work place. In spite of that, there is a decisive effort in many countries to ban its use on the grounds that it is a toxic substance. This action resulting in drastic decrease in production and the possibility of destroying the industry. The chelation of asbestos with organic dyes seems to be a promising way to abate its toxicity. Dyeing can be done when the fibers are slurred in water at ambient conditions in the same way as textile fibers.

Jan 1, 2009

By PC Pistorius, DR Groot

The South African base metals industry has been one mainly focused on the production of metals or metal compounds from primary ores. This is true for metals such as titanium, vanadium, chrome, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and aluminium. The steel making industry has traditionally used a substantial portion of scrap steel, and could thus be considered to be somewhat of an exception. Secondary sources have played much less of a role, possibly due to at least some of the following factors. Scrap material is often of unknown composition, and thus it requires additional chemical analysis, and possibly special treatment. Tonnages are relatively small, and the incorporation of secondary materials is possibly seen to carry undue risk and inadequate benefit. South African consumers are still not very conservation and recycling conscious, which limits the amount of scrap made available. This attitude might also be expected to influence decision makers in these industries. Finally, pressure from environmentally motivated activists locally has not been unduly large. This landscape has been changing, and is continuing to do so. Various municipal authorities such as those of Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town are reporting increasingly limited landspace for waste (Bondolfi, 2007). There are increasing concerns regarding the leaching of hazardous metals such as chromium, mercury and cadmium from landfill waste, especially electronic and electric wastes ? the so-called eWastes. In more developed countries such as the United States of America and Western Europe the problem of eWaste has grown to the extent where legislation has been enacted, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation of the EU (European Union Directive 2002/96/EC). The 19th and 20th centuries have seen major technological advances. Relevant to this paper is the availability of centrally generated electrical power, telecommunication, entertainment through recorded and transmitted music and images, the growth and pervasive influence of electronics, and the handling of digital data by computers and microprocessors. These developments have placed ever increasing demands on resources for the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment, as well as on the generation of electrical power. Most of the resources required are non-renewable: copper, steel, aluminium and other metals, various thermoplastic polymers such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), polyethylene and ABS ( acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), thermosetting polymers such as epoxies, elastomers such as butyl rubber, glasses and ceramics, and composites such as fibre reinforced plastic (fibreglass). The conservation of non-renewable resources inevitably includes recycling. To a certain extent, recycling of materials locally is well established. Thus glass, paper, used oil, car batteries, ferrous scrap such as beverage cans and non-ferrous scrap such as

Jan 1, 2007

By W. Lee Daniels

Significant deposits (> 4,000 ha) of heavy mineral sands were discovered in the USA Coastal Plain of Virginia and North Carolina in 1989. The majority of these lands support highly productive row crop agriculture, and the development of restoration protocols that would return these lands to agricultural use was deemed to be critical to the long term sustainability of mining operations. Virginia Tech worked closely with all stakeholders to develop appropriate restoration protocols and to coordinate their implementation. Full-scale mining operations at the Old Hickory Project in Virginia were initiated in 1997 by Iluka Resources Inc., and restoration protocols have continued to evolve in response to a variety of economic, technical, and social issues. Approximately 750 ha of land are in various phases of backfilling and final reclamation. Return of these lands to agricultural row-crop production has been complicated by lateral variability in mine soil physical conditions, excessive compaction, and limited topsoil return. However, within the past two years, a series of tailings deposition and soil reconstruction practices have been developed and implemented that significantly improve post-mining soil productivity. Deep ripping and appropriate use of organic soil amendments have been particularly effective at restoring post-mining soil productivity.

Jan 1, 2005

By P. D. R. Maltby

"The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy has undertaken to host the XIV International Mineral Processing Congress to be held in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel from October 10 to 16, 1982. The theme of the Congress will be ""Worldwide Industrial Application of Mineral Processing Technology."" The program will include 10 sessions and numerous field trips to the different mining areas of Canada.For prospective authors, the preliminary program includes sessions on,1. Flotation - plant practice, equipment design, simulation, control and economics.2. Comminution - plant practice, equipment, design, simulation, control, wear, energy consideration and economics.3. Round table seminar on large grinding mills.4. Round table seminar on modern and future plant design.5. Mineral processes to recover precious metals.6. Mineral processes to recover energy minerals (coal, uranium).7. Mineral processes to recover industrial minerals.8. Round table seminar on the environment and ecology and how the different countries cope with associated problems.9. Materials handling with an emphasis on agglomeration techniques ereconentration methods, solid-liquid separation.10. Open session to deal with topic emerging from general demand."

Jan 1, 1980

By H. G. Rushton, A. S. Romaniuk

"The opening chapter of this volume, by A. Ignatieff, places in perspective Canada's coal resource base as part of the world scene. This chapter will focus on the Canadian scene.Units of measurement in this report are in the International System of Units (SI) as approved for official use by the Canadian Standards Association and Metric Commission Canada. These units have been adopted by the Mining Association of Canada and the Coal Association of Canada. To assist with the shift to metric units these two associations have published ""Metric Practice Guide for the Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Industries"", 1978(1J, Appendix ""A"" lists some useful conversion factors along with SI prefixes. The last official assessment of Canada's coal resources and reserves was done by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and presented in Report ER 79-9 ""Coal Resources and Reserves of Canada"", published in December 1979 and authored by H.U. Bielenstein, L.P. Chrismas, B.A. Latour and T.E. Tibbetts(2). The Geological Survey of Canada has a continuing project concerned with coal resource assessment as does CANMET, whose concern is with coal reserve assessment and coal quality. As well, Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has a continuing assessment program for coal in Alberta and publishes an annual reserves report, the current issue of which is cited as reference No. (3). The difference in resource and reserve terminology as used by EMR and ERCB has a major effect on derived tonnages for Alberta. This difference will be discussed later. In 1982 the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources produced a map titled ""Canada-Coal""<4J which outlines coalfields and illustrates coal import and export movements for the years 1981and1980. A copy of this map is contained in the map pocket of this publication. Two other resource assessment reports are noteworthy, the first is ""Coal Resources of Southern Saskatchewan: A Model for Evaluation Methodology"", by J.A. Irvine, S.H. Whitaker and P.L. Broughton<SJ which is one of the major outputs of a joint federal-government study of southern Saskatchewan's lignite deposits. (Another output from this same study' is the Geological Survey of Canada's SASCO file, a computer processable file holding borehole and coal quality data.) The second is ""Deep Coal Resources of the Interior Plains, Estimated from Petroleum Borehole Data"", by G.D. Williams and M.C. Murphy(6) which identifies coal resources from nearly 4,000 petroleum exploration boreholes distributed uniformly over an area spanning Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia."

Jan 1, 1985

By J. S. Ross

Few Canadians realize the role of their domestic industrial minerals industry because it is over-shadowed in production value by a large metallic minerals industry. But since 1960, Canada has had a reasonably well balanced, mature industrial minerals industry; and although the nation&apos;s sparsely scattered population has not been able to support an industrial minerals industry in a manner comparable to the domestic and foreign support given the metal mining sector, Canada is, nevertheless, exporting large quantities of higher priced nonmetallic minerals. Production of many of the basic minerals had been firmly established long before 1960, but it was not until the late 1950&apos;s that the output of cement, salt, titanium dioxide pigment and slag, sulfur, gypsum and sodium sulfate reached relatively high levels. Shortly after 1960, the significant potash and lithium chemicals industries were established and their effect is just now being realized.

Jan 11, 1964

By D. du Plessis, R. Stobbs

The Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC) was created in 2001 to protect and enhance Canada’s vast coal and other carbon-based resource wealth, and to ensure that environmental public policy decisions recognize that these resources are a Canadian asset, not an environmental liability. To achieve its mandate, CCPC has undertaken to demonstrate technologies for use in new coal-fired power plants to control air emissions including carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxides (SOx), mercury (Hg), and particulates (PM). The first phase of the demonstration project assessed three existing technologies for coal-fired power plants that reduce all emissions, including CO2, to levels equivalent to or below that of gas-fired power plants. The technologies considered in this phase included integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), ‘oxyfuel’ combustion, and amine scrubbing of pulverized coal. These technologies were evaluated with three coal types: Eastern bituminous, western sub-bituminous, and lignite coals. This paper presents the studies, conclusions concerning the capital and operating costs of these technologies, the cost of electricity produced (with CO2 removed), and the cost per tonne of CO2 avoided. It also discusses the potential for using captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, and possible technology enhancements for improving the competitiveness of gasification of low-rank western Canadian coals. The second ongoing phase of CCPC’s work includes the design and construction of a commercial-scale plant to demonstrate the feasibility of integrated gas combined cycle (IGCC) and/or polygeneration technologies and the potential for using the CO2 generated for enhanced recovery of conventional oil.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. K. Singhal, H. Sahay

Introduction In terms of the world&apos;s recoverable coal reserves, Canada ranks 10th, providing 0.6% of the world&apos;s total. The US is first with 27.8% and the Soviet Union follows with 24.1%. Figure 1 shows the principal coal mines in Canada. Several provinces contain substantial coal deposits, but the largest deposits are found in the western provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. Conservatively, 90% of the lignitic, 80% of high volatile bituminous, and nearly 100% of subbituminous, and low and medium volatile bituminous coals are located in these three provinces. During the past decade, Canadian coal production of all types increased from 18.8 Mt (2 million st) in 1972, to 25 Mt (28 million st) in 1975, to 61 Mt (66 million st) in 1984. About 38 Mt (43 million st) of this output was classified at thermal and 23 Mt (25 million st) as coking and metallurgical coal (Table 1). The three western provinces currently produce 57 Mt (62 million st) of coal - 95% of Canada&apos;s total. The remaining 3.6 Mt (4 million st) (5%) is produced in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the east coast. The majority of western coal (98%) is produced by surface mining methods. On the east coast, though, mining is predominantly underground and only 15% is produced on the surface. In 1985, Canada exported close to 28 Mt (30 million st) of metallurgical coal and thermal coal. During the same period, 15 Mt (16 million st) of coal were imported, mostly from western US for use in Ontario and Quebec. Almost 60% of the imported coal was used for thermal applications. The remaining 40% was metallurgical coal for the steel industry. It is generally cheaper to import coal into central and eastern Canada from the eastern US to augment local supplies rather than from western Canada. This is mainly because of high transportation costs. Mining methods The suitability of mining methods in a particular area depends largely on the geological setting. Geology, therefore, simplifies or adds complexities to mining operations, directly affecting the economics. It also influences the flexibility required from the min-

Jan 9, 1986

At the Prospectors and Developers Annual Convention (PDAC) in Toronto, Canada mining and exploration companies of all sizes were on hand to discuss the year that was and those that will be. The following is a look at some of the companies with Canadian operations that were on hand for PDAC 2009. Iamgold Corporation is a leading mid-tier gold mining company producing approximately 31 t (1 million oz) of gold from seven mines on three continents. With record revenues of $870 million ? up 28 percent when compared to 2007 ? the company is focused on growth with a target to reach 56 t (1.8 million oz) gold production by 2012. During 2008, the company acquired the Essakane project in West Africa. The project is fully permitted, under construction and will contribute more than 9.3 t (300,000 oz) of lower cost production by late 2008. Iamgold increased its reserves by 55 percent, to 385 t (12.4 million oz) and its resources in-creased by 16 percent to 821 t (26.4 million oz) in 2008. Going forward, Iamgold has three areas of focus ? West Africa, Guyana Shield and Quebec ? with seven gold operations, five advanced projects and the Niobec niobium mine included. The Rosebel Mine in Suriname is Iamgold?s fl agship property. With measured and indicated resources of 300 t (9.6 million oz), it accounts for 30 percent of Iamgold?s production. Production there was up 20 percent compared with 2007 and further production increases are expected in 2009 and 2010. Mill expansion and optimization increased throughput from 8.9 Mt/a (9.8 million st) to 10 Mt/a (11 million stpy). In West Africa, Iamgold has joint ventures at Sadiola in Mali; Tarkwa in Ghana; Yatela in Mali and Daman in Ghana. Iamgold also has 100 percent ownership of the Mupane gold mine in Botswana and the Doyon gold mine in Quebec, Canada. Also in Quebec, Iamgold has 100 per-cent ownership of the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. Niobium is used in high strength specialty steels.

Jan 1, 2009

The Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada has emerged as a major new province for diamond mineralisation in less than three years. This is primarily the product of a diligent search in the form of a scientifically based exploration effort. However other factors, including positive aspects of the business and the legal environment have also been identified as assisting the exploration process. In my view these have increased the likelihood of diamond mining becoming a major new industry for Canada. The supportive role of various government agencies has been important. In addition, the character of many of the joint venture deals that have been done has provided an attractive setting for the capital intensive evaluation and development work that is now required to bring the diamond discoveries into production. Perhaps of equal importance is that with the recognition that is being given to the success of the NWT diamond ventures, Canadian explorers are continuing to attract new risk capital for further exploration. This paper attempts to model and quantify the probability of exploration success translating into successful mine development.

Jan 1, 1994

By Robert Boyd

The Diamond Markets ? Supply has continuously increased over the past 25 years ? However, global supply is expected to drop by 1 to 2% by 2015 ? Demand Driven Market ?Demand is expected to grow 3% annually through to 2015 ? Supply Squeeze Anticipated (2010 to 2015) ? Consumption is exceeding rate of discovery, mine development and reserve replacement ? These fundamentals are driving increased capacity and production at existing mines in South Africa, Botswana and Russia and new areas such as Canada ? Canada is now the third largest diamond producing country in the world ? These fundamentals are also driving record levels of exploration expenditures throughout the world with particular focus on Africa and Canada

May 1, 2006

By R. K. Singhal

Canada is a world class producer and exporter of minerals and mineral products. Today&apos;s highly mechanized Canadian open pits use state-of-the-art equipment and support technology. They are taking advantage of larger equipment, including in pit crushing and conveying, truck dispatch systems and electronic management tools. Mine planning is computerized. Environmental issues are dealt with in all phases of planning, and equipment modifications are pursued to keep them functioning in the hostile Canadian north. In 1991, Canada&apos;s mineral production (excluding fuels but including coal) totaled $C 16.9 billion, a decline of 13.8% from the 1990 total of $C19.6 billion. It is a major producer of nickel, zinc, asbestos, potash, molybdenum and uranium. Canada is also an important source of copper and iron ore (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1995

The Jeffrey operation of Canadian Johns -Manville Co. , Ltd., at Asbestos, Quebec, is considered to be the world&apos;s largest asbestos mine. It accounts for approximately 37% of Canadian production of chysotile asbestos and about 13% of world production. Rated capacity is over 600,000 stpy (540,000 mtpy) of fiber, of which well over 90% is exported to the United States and seventy other countries. During the early 1970&apos;s the company completed a five-year modernization and expansion program which included the installation of a unique 72 in. by 93 in. gyratory crusher to handle the extremely blocky serpentinized peridotite ore. Because of the large diameter of this crusher the top ring of the shell was made in two halves which were bolted together. Hundred-ton trucks dump from two sides of the crusher into the 200 st (180 mt) dump pocket which is equipped with dust collecting ducts in the walls of the other two sides. The installation was designed to accommodate the eventual use of 200 -ton trucks. Crushed ore at a. size of 7 ½ in. (191 mm) falls into a uniquely designed crushed ore pocket equipped with three sloping steel sides and one vertical side, which make it totally live. Infrared heaters installed in back of the hopper sides prevent the ore from sticking to the steel. Another interesting feature is an eccentric removal bridge which is permanently mounted inside the crushed ore pocket. The two halves of the bridge are let down by electric winches to form a platform on which the eccentric cart travels and from where maintenance is done. Level indications in the crushed ore pocket are by radioactive indicators. Under the crushed ore pocket is a 72 in. by 28 ft (1.83 m by 8.5 m) apron feeder which operates at 7. 2 to 50 fpm (2. 3 to 15. 3 mpm). Crushed ore is discharged to a picking belt for tramp removal. A crossbelt magnetic separator is also mounted over this belt. Permanently mounted belt reels are also situated over the picking belt to facilitate the changing of this unit. A 60 in. (1. 52 m) wide takeaway belt then elevates the crushed ore to t.he surface facilities. Instead of discharging to a crushed ore stockpile, the takeaway conveyor delivers the ore to a 300-ton distribution bin. The ore is then screened and secondary crushed; and the plus ¾ in. (19 m) is "stored in a 3,000 ton bin while the minus ¾ in. is dried and then sent to storage. This system of directly screening primary crushed ore is similar to that used at both the Endako molybdenum and Gibraltar copper operations in British Columbia. While it would seem connecting processing equipment directly to a primary crusher would have an adverse effect on the crusher availability, the 94% of scheduled time this crusher

Jan 1, 1978

By R. B. Toombs

In describing the Canadian mineral industry in a world setting, this paper examines the industry from four points of view. First, mineral industry growth is related to trends in economic activity thereby providing a measure of the industry&apos;s importance in the Canadian economy. To give perspective to the Canadian scene, reference is made to economic trends in several of the world&apos;s leading mineral producing and mineral consuming countries. The Canadian mineral industry is next examined in terms of its major developments of the past 20 years and the resultant size, structure, and production diversity of 1964. The position of the Canadian mineral industry in the world industry is then analyzed by tracing changes in mineral supply and demand patterns. Growth of the Canadian industry depends greatly on expansion of export markets because three fifths of the value of production is accounted for by exports. Finally, attention is directed to the outlook for the Canadian mineral industry. Problems facing the industry are surveyed, and an appraisal is made of economic policies that have encouraged industry growth. A forecast of mineral production value in 1970 is included.

Jan 1, 1964

By Sylvie Brassard

Available information ?? InfoMine: mineral properties ?? Metals Economics Group: budgeted exploration expenses ?? MineScan: Canadian and American Mining Companies ?? Statistics Canada: Canadian Direct Investment Abroad, by Sector in the world OR all sectors by Country

May 1, 2008

By Graham Bright

Before the arrival of central-station power, all coal and metal mines generated their own power and, in many cases, these isolated power plants gave a fair continuity of service. In coal mines that produce considerable gas, it is essential that power be available at all times for operating the ventilating fan and the hoist, if the mine is of the shaft type. In the case of an isolated power plant, if trouble should develop with the fan the men can be hoisted quickly when the mine is of the shaft type. On the other hand, if trouble develops with the hoist, the fan can be kept in operation, and there will be no necessity of haste in getting the men from the mine. Now that central-station power is being used so extensively for mine service, the continuity of service with gaseous mines is very important. : Inherently, the central station is much more reliable than any isolated plant, but trouble may occur on the transmission lines which may prevent the transmission of power for a considerable time. : Some mines have kept their steam equipment intact and ready for operation in case the purchased power should fail. This is expensive procedure, for the boiler plant must be fired at all times so that the emergency power will be quickly available. In a number of instances, gasoline-engine driven generators have been installed to furnish emergency power for the service hoist. As most service hoists are of the alternating-current type, the generator of the gasoline-engine driven set is usually of the a.c. type and is arranged to drive the service hoist motor at full speed, or an extra motor that can be thrown into gear on either the main or service hoist and the hoist operated at a greatly reduced speed. This arrangement is used because it is difficult and expensive to obtain and install large gasoline-engine driven units. The author has recently developed a plan by which the main hoist and the fan can both be operated at reduced speeds, in case of loss of power from a central-station power system. In this plan a gasoline-engine

Jan 1, 1923