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By Alan E. Gallie

One of the requirements for the successful waging of war is an unlimited supply of iron ore. In the spring of 1941 the demand for iron ore was expected to exceed the supply. This was particularly so in the case of high-grade lump iron ore, essential to the open-hearth process of making steel. The bulk of Canada's iron ore was imported from the United States. At this time, Canada was making every effort to conserve United States funds for more vital purchases. For these reasons, the development of Canadian iron ore resources became of prime importance. Several companies undertook investigations and one of these examined the old Josephine deposit. Location The Josephine property is in the district of Algoma, in the Michipicoten area of the Sault Ste. Marie mining division of Ontario. It is 120 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie and 20 rail-miles east of Michipicoten harbour, on lake Superior (see Figure 1). Transportation in the area is furnished by the Algoma Central and Hudson Bay railway. The Michipicoten branch of this line passes within a mile of the Josephine mine. Michipicoten harbour provides a port through which iron ore is currently shipped. Power in the area is supplied by the Great Lakes Power Company, with generating plants on Michipicoten river, on Montreal river, and on St. Mary's river at Sault Ste. Marie. A series of transmission lines cover the district and one of these is connected to the Josephine mine by a 3 ½-mile branch line. History The Josephine property was staked by Alois Goetz in 1899. Before the claims could be recorded, the township in which they are located was given to the Algoma Central & Hudson Bay railway as part of a land grant. As a result, the ownership remained in dispute until August 24th, 1906, when a settlement was arbitrated by the Honourable Frank Cochrane. His ruling is interesting and is quoted in part.

Jan 1, 1947

• Phelps-Dodge Corp. signed an agreement with the Defense Materials Procurement Agency to increase copper production from the east ore deposit of the company's Copper Queen branch at Bisbee, Ariz. The company agreed to undertake a $25 million expansion program, including construction of a concentrating and leaching plant at the Bisbee mine and enlargement of the Douglas smelter. The Government agreed to buy the first 112,500 tons of the first 150,000 tons produced at 22e per lb if the company could not sell at a higher price. The new facilities will have a yearly capacity of 38,000 tons and should be in production by late 1954 or early 1955. • American Smelting & Refining Co. has started construction of a new building to house the Central Research laboratory at South Plainfield, N. J. It will have approximately 75 individual laboratories and an equal number of offices and shops. Modern apparatus to be installed will include electron microscopes, electric and fuelfired furnaces, miniature copper refineries and zinc plants, wire drawing machinery, and large pilot plant laboratory. In the new building scientists study the base metals, and the development of new uses for a number of Asarco by-products, arsenic, and little

Jan 11, 1951

By B. Schimm

Improve the mines productivity by simplifying the mining process, for these tasks the Wirtgen Surface Miner offers an attractive alternative. Surface Miners cut, crush and load material in one operation with only one machine. The cutting depth is controlled exactly.

Jan 1, 1997

By H. Sahay

This paper summarizes the history and ore-grade statistics of mining the Ming orebody, and then details the mining methods. Included are raising, stoping, drilling and blasting techniques. Particular attention is paid to ground support, ventilation and pumping requirements.

Jan 1, 1979

By D. A. Peacock

"INTRODUCTION Outer space technology and exploration have reached a tipping point so that mining and mineral processing in outer space is now a certainty and not a dream. Several competing companies, worldwide, are well on the way to building spaceships to land on the Moon and eventually mine the Moon and asteroids for volatiles, rare earth metals and Helium-3. The Google Lunar XPrize offers a $30 million prize1. China has recently landed a spacecraft on the Moon. The European Space Agency, with cooperation from the United States, has landed a spacecraft, Philae, on a comet. And, Mars One is planning a one-way trip to establish a settlement of humans on Mars. How and why are the Moon and asteroids and their resources of interest to private space industry and companies? Why are the Moon and asteroids viewed as a potential business venue? GEOLOGY OF THE MOON AND ASTEROIDS –WHY DO WE WANT TO MINE THERE? Space enterprises are actively working towards establishing and operating lunar and asteroid mining locations for resource extraction, resource processing, conversion to salable products, and distribution of the products and services in space and to Earth and beyond2. Forty-five years ago, the Apollo manned missions to the Moon returned rocks and regolith to Earth, which were studied and analyzed. What they found was that the Moon contains valuable minerals and resources. These minerals are largely due to meteor and asteroid impacts, which have, over eons, created this mineral rich regolith. These impacts have occurred on Earth as well, for billions of years, particularly early on in the history of the solar system. However, on Earth, wind, water, and vegetation have erased most of these impacts. On the Moon, in contrast, the only weathering is caused by subsequent impacts and the solar wind. The Moon regolith contains valuable rare earth minerals, platinum-group minerals (particularly where the Moon has been impacted by asteroids), volatiles (useful for processing and habitation), Helium-3 and titanium. Almost non-existent on earth, Helium-3 is abundant and accessible on the Moon and can be used in nuclear fusion power plants, producing much more energy than fission reactions and with much less radioactive waste. One of the main reasons Helium-3 is sought after as a fusion fuel is because there are no neutrons generated as a reaction product. Governments and private companies focus on mining of Helium-3 on the Moon as a basis for their economic models. Moon Express, one of the private companies who is planning on mining on the Moon, will recover moon rocks to fund its early operations25. Subsequently, it will recover Helium-3, platinum, and rare earth metals, as it engages in surface mining operations."

Jan 1, 2016

By Deborah A. Peacock

"Outer space technology and exploration have reached a tipping point, so that mining and mineral processing in outer space is now a certainty and not a dream. Several competing companies worldwide are on the way to building spaceships to land on the Moon and eventually mine the Moon and asteroids for volatiles, rare earth metals and Helium-3.The Google Lunar XPrize offers a $30 million prize1. China has recently landed a spacecraft on the Moon. The European Space Agency, with cooperation from the United States, has landed a spacecraft, Philae, on a comet. And, Mars One is planning a one-way trip to establish a settlement of humans on Mars.How and why are the Moon and asteroids and their resources of interest to private space industry companies? Why are the Moon and asteroids viewed as a potential business venue?Geology of the Moon and asteroids — Why do we want to mine there?Space enterprises are actively working toward establishing and operating lunar and asteroid mining locations for resource extraction, resource processing, conversion to salable products and distribution of the products and services in space and to Earth and beyond2.Forty-five years ago, the Apollo manned missions to the Moon returned rocks and regolith to Earth, which were studied and analyzed. What they found was that the Moon contains valuable minerals and resources. These minerals are largely due to meteor and asteroid impacts, which have, over eons, created this mineral-rich regolith. These impacts have occurred on Earth as well, for billions of years, particularly early on in the history of the solar system. However, on Earth, wind, water and vegetation have erased most of these impacts. On the Moon, in contrast, the only weathering is caused by subsequent impacts and the solar wind."

Jan 1, 2017

By R. B. Fuller, E. T. Casler

MANY changes were made in the methods and equipment used in the mining of pebble phosphate rock in the generation immediately preceding the present World War and it would be extremely interesting to note the improvements that will be made during the next generation. Literally, much water has gone over the dam since the days when we used local cordwood for generating steam and drying pebble phosphate rock. belt-driven centrifugal pumps operated by steam engines. and floating dipper or centrifugal dredges; when we removed overburden by small steam shovels and transported it by dinkey locomotives and six-yard cars; when washing machinery was installed on wooden structures the washers being replaced every four to six years. Those were the days when men were plentiful, and 47 different mining companies were selling their products, based on .decidedly meager information; and. like so many mining operations, little thought was given to conservation. As the importance of phosphate rock has become more prominent in the thoughts of our economists, a more intelligent approach has been made to mining problems. Vast improvements have been made in the technique and processing of the phosphate matrix and stripping of overburden, which, in turn, have brought developments in machines and equipment and a more

Jan 1, 1944

By Christine Hansen

?Kiss my Asteroid? Unofficial Title Human life is tied to minerals It?s worth noting that: The living human body consumes minerals. The minerals we take in multivitamins show the close linkage between human beings and mineral resources. Unlike tourism or specialized manufacturing, a human being could not live without mineral consumption. Minerals and their consumption is a tangible part of human life.

May 1, 2013

By Philip B. Bucky

WITH the exhaustion of the sections of iron ore bodies amenable to opencut mining the iron ore miners raise the question: "How can we mine the extensions of these ore bodies in depth with the same costs as obtained in opencut work?" This question brings to the fore the relationship between mineral exploration and research on mining procedures. The iron miners must either find new de? posits amenable to their known methods of mining or develop new mining methods for deep deposits. It is understood that the oil companies will spend $30,000,000 next year in the search for new oil fields. How much the metal mining companies will spend in the search for new ore bodies is unknown, but without doubt the amount will run into several millions of dollars. If the mining companies that concern themselves with metals, nonmetallics, and fuels will set aside a substantial sum for fundamental and applied research in mining methods, they can not only lower their costs but increase their reserves thereby. Any increases in mining efficiency automatically result in increased ore reserves at no cost.

Jan 1, 1947

By Chester Fulton

IN Polk County, Florida, the mining of raw phosphates began some 50 years ago with dredging operations on the Peace River, and in other near-by places by removal of shallow overburden with negroes and wheelbarrows, or with mules and scrapers, and the excavation and screen-ing of deposits found close to the surface. There were many individual operations of comparatively short life. Later steam shovels removed the overburden, and still later hydraulic methods were substituted for the steam shovel. Within the last 10 years large electrically operated drag-lines have almost entirely replaced hydraulic mining for overburden removal. The matrix is still mined by hydraulic giants and pumped to the washer or recovery plant. The many small operations have long since disappeared and the most desirable phosphate lands have gradually been acquired through purchase or merger by the seven companies that are operating in the field today. These companies are producing and selling about 2,000,000 long tons of phosphate per annum, or about two-thirds of what the industry likes to think is the normal output, with 1929 and 1930 in mind. To produce these 2,000,000 long tons of raw phosphate, they mine and treat about 1,000,000 tons of tailings from older and less efficient opera-tions, about 11,000,000 tons of matrix, and remove from above this matrix some 22,000,000 tons of overburden. The mining practice that has made possible the excavation and handling of 34 million tons of material to win but 2 million tons of merchantable product, selling for probably an average of only $4 per long ton when dried, should be of interest to the mining profession, though little has been written of it. The Florida Pebble Field, as it has come to be known, comprises an area (Fig. 1) within a radius of about 18 to 20 miles centering around Mulberry in Polk County, a small town 30 miles east of Tampa, Florida's largest port on the gulf coast.

Jan 1, 1936

By H. M. Park

Risk is a major factor in all mining activities, arising from many internal and external variables. The authors? research has resulted in a systematic method for the quantification of risk in mining projects (Park, 2012). This research will be presented in a series of papers, this one and two more that will be published on Mining Engineering?s web site, www.me.smenet.com. This paper identifies the variables associated with risk in mining projects, and their effects. The second paper discusses methods of assessing the overall risk associated with those variables, and presents a statistical model based on a survey of 31 experts. The third paper presents an evaluation of the statistical model, using data from previous mining investment decisions in which the authors have been involved. There are several major competing entities, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Xstrata, Freeport-McMoRan, Chinese government- run companies and Japanese trading companies, that have large foreign holdings, controlling deposits in most of the world?s established and productive mining districts. In general, the mining industry considers the United States, Canada, Australia and the European countries to have good mining investment environments, but because the major companies have already achieved market dominance in those countries, large investments are required there. Newcomers seeking to enter the industry, either as producing companies or as investing partners, often have difficulty breaking into these established markets. Thus newcomers are increasingly turning to new areas like South America and Africa, which are relatively less developed. The competition among businesses to secure a share of the new market is intense, but there are still good investment opportunities. However, because most of the countries in these areas are not well developed, several additional risks are associated with participation in mining projects in those areas.

Oct 1, 2013

By Staff

Minerals contribute to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) at several levels - from mining and processing to the manufacturing of finished products. In 2010, the estimated real GDP of the United States increased by 2.8 percent compared with 2009 and the estimated nominal GDP was about $14.6 trillion (Table 1).Trends in various sectors of the domestic economy are often rejected in mineral production and consumption rates. For instance, continued declines in the construction industry during 2010 were rejected in further reductions in the production and consumption of cement, construction sand and gravel, crushed stone and gypsum, which are used almost exclusively in construction. Performances in other sectors were mixed and less easily characterized. Recovery from the economic decline of 2008-2009 became apparent in 2010, as prices for many mineral commodities continued to rise with increasing demand for those materials or the products in which they are found.

Jan 1, 2011

This paper aims to increase our understanding about existing capacity-building approaches and their implications for obtaining a social license to operate in the mining industry. The notion of ?capacity building? is gaining increasing currency in the mining sector in developing countries due to a rapid rise in the globalisation of mining operations. Capacity-building is conceived here as a process that lasts after the mine-cycle, intended to provide local mining communities with tangible skills and knowledge to gain meaningful employment in mining or other industries relevant for the local economy. Building community capacity to understand and effectively respond to these transformations is vital for obtaining a social license to operate, as it promotes sustainable and locally relevant development. Accountability mechanisms such as global norms and international standards increasingly highlight the need to build capacity among stakeholders, particularly among local communities adjacent to mining operations. International frameworks and mining companies have embraced the notion of capacity-building as a driver to assist corporate social and operational performance. However, this narrow understanding of capacity-building through the prism of corporate social responsibility and ?best practice? is preventing the industry from meaningfully impacting communities and maintaining a social license to operate. This latter notion is being widely embedded across multiple industry sectors, as a social and economic reward from mining companies to compensate communities for natural resource extraction and gain social acceptance. Although both concepts are widely recognised in the minerals industry, insufficient attention has been paid to the implications of applying a top-down (mining-orientated) or a bottom-up (community-orientated) capacity-building approach for obtaining a social license to operate, or indeed how these two concepts are linked and applied in practice. At times, communities lack the necessary capacities in the form of education and skills to deal with mining-led livelihood transformations. This is preventing both mining companies and communities from forging sustainable livelihoods and responding to mining-led livelihood transformations, a situation that is creating discontent among communities and reducing the possibility of obtaining and renewing a social license to operate for the industry. Based on a review of current scholarly debates, accountability mechanisms in the mining industry and fieldwork findings in Colombia, this paper will contribute to an understanding of the implications of existing capacity-building approaches that support a social license to operate.

Aug 1, 2013

By Lawrence Lien

The reduced need for traditionally trained and educated personnel in the mining industry is systemic to the changing mining industry. Universities and other training institutions are meeting the traditional skill needs required by the industry, but are the skill needs going to be the same in the near future? The answer may be no. Mining is changing because of increased liabilities and costs of environmental and safety is-sues; lower grades of minerals in traditional mining activities and the advent of new bio-chemical processes and robotic equipment. More productive and economic alternatives, and larger, more sophisticated and automatic equipment, are also changing the industry. Engineering is more specific, accurate, precise and expensive. Measurement is more thorough and timely of progress, production, costs and productivity. And, the industry will likely be engaging in more undersea mining, possibly space-based processing, less human interaction and more remote control of events than was previously thought possible.

Jan 1, 2011

By J Fraser, M Scoble

Within the past decade, incidents of mining–community conflicts have grown dramatically and represent one aspect of a phenomenon known as social risk. Research published in 2014 indicates that a lack of social acceptance is now a leading and costly cause of delays for mining projects.The rise of social risk, complemented by the need to earn the trust of an increasing number of stakeholders so that mining projects can be developed effectively, is problematic for the industry. Conflicts are occurring in situations where companies are fully compliant with regulatory and legal requirements, despite initiatives by mining companies to earn social acceptance and despite the proliferation of tools to support corporate social responsibility. Intensifying the impact of social risk is the fact that it has increased during a time in the global mining sector when companies have had to grapple with declining commodity prices, increasing capital costs and debt levels and the challenges of mining lower-grade deposits.This paper will explore a hypothesis that in today’s interconnected society, social risk in the mining sector constitutes a legitimate business risk that must be managed strategically. The reality facing mining companies is that information, once considered confidential, now travels quickly on social networks and via a growing number of groups and individuals that have earned a legitimate right to be classified as stakeholders in projects that affect their communities. To be successful, it is suggested that companies will benefit from increasing internal collaboration and providing training to equip teams to mitigate social risk to mining projects and protect reputation capital. The paper is based upon PhD research being undertaken to assess the points of intersection between social risk and social responsibility during the construction stage of greenfield mining projects.CITATION:Fraser, J and Scoble, M, 2015. Mining–community conflicts – can the future mining sector transform social responsibility?, in Proceedings Third International Future Mining Conference, pp 159–168 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 4, 2015

By M. P. Adamson, Bryson D. Trexler, R. V. Ramani, Mark L. Koenig, V. Rajaram, Alan Burton, C. S. Crocker, Kim. Y. C., A. G. Law, William C. Larson

Another record year vas experienced by the mining industry as the value of nonfuel minerals production soared to $23.5 billion-up 15% from the previous year. Based on preliminary estimates by the Bureau of Mines, US mine output was the basis for about $225 billion worth of minerals-derived materials. Metal mining accounted for $8.5 billion, or 36%, of the total. Of the 22 metals produced in the US, 11 showed quantity increases, while 16 had value increases. Business Week's survey of 1200 companies (Mar. 17, 1980, pg. 81) revealed that 21 metals and mining companies had sales increases of 30% with earnings up 104%. Higher prices and increased demand for metals were primary factors behind the improved performance. The steel sector reported a 30% decrease in earnings for the year, but the slump was primarily the result of a $383-million loss for US Steel coupled with a 17% decrease in earnings at Inland Steel. Other firms did well in 1979, with earnings up 279% at Interlake and 269% at Kaiser Steel. Major obstacles facing the steel industry included substantial tonnages of dumped and subsidized imports, environmental expenditures, runaway inflation, and price controls. Turning to nonmetallic production, of the 49 commodities reported by the US Bureau of Mines, 29 had higher outputs and 39 had increased values. While production statistics may seem encouraging, government regulations continued to stifle industry efforts to develop needed new capacity. A case in point may be publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's simplified procedure to streamline five permit programs by consolidating them into one. The five included: hazardous waste management, national pollution discharge elimination, dredge and fill, underground injection control, and prevention of significant deterioration. The new procedure, published by EPA in the Federal Register, took 149 pages. AMC's J.A. Overton, Jr., noted that (MCJ, Nov. 1979, p. 39) to visually depict the complexity of the proposed regulations, Sell Oil Co. developed a flow chart mapping a path through one section. The chart required 10 days to map and two weeks for two draftsmen, using computerized drafting techniques, to plot the results. Overton said, "Perhaps the greatest service EPA has performed in preparing its proposal is to demonstrate again that federal regulations have become a complexity compounded by confu¬sion that culminates in a conundrum." While regulatory agencies promulgate new regulations, the lack of a cohesive government minerals policy remained a matter of significant importance to mine management. A non-fuel minerals study to provide input to the Administration for a national minerals policy program was a dismal shock, according to Rep. Jim D. Santini (D-NV). He said the first phase of the program, which was to identify industry problems, failed to come to grips with the hard decisions necessary regarding these problems, their impact, and their interrelationship. Santini said the report failed to acknowledge government's role in the process and absolved the government of any adverse influence on the domestic minerals industry. In response to the phase one report, eight senior mining executives testified before Santini's House Subcommittee on Mines and Mining concerning mineral supply, access to foreign sources, environmental protection, conservation and recycling, national security, and capital formation. By year's end, Rep. Santini promised to prepare a hard-hitting committee report on problems affecting the non-fuel minerals industry to provide a better base for subsequent policy recommendations (MCJ, Jan. 1980, p. 34). On the technological front, interest again centered on mechanization, automation, and scaleup to improve and expand production. Computer use increased for calculation of ore reserves, mine planning, operations research, and mineral processing.

Jan 5, 1980

By AIME AIME

APROXIMATELY one third of the world's iron ore is mined in the United States; and about 80 per cent of this third is mined in the Lake Superior ore region, and about 60 per cent in Minnesota. The Lake Superior iron ore region covers a vast area in the vicinity of Lake Superior that contained in early geological times large areas of iron-bearing sediments, which today form metamorphosed iron-bearing rocks, such as jasper, chert, taconite, and slates. Concentration of the iron content chiefly through solution and resultant removal of silica produced the ore bodies we find today in rock folds as on the Menominee range, at dike or impervious wall intersections such as on the Gogebic range, and blanket-type enriched ore bodies ly¬ing on or within the ore formation, such as occur on the Mesabi and in steeply pitching ore lenses elsewhere. In many places, folding and subsequent erosion of the tops of the folded areas has resulted in steep dips in the ore formation and contained ore bodies. The upper eroded edges are mostly buried under glacial over-burden. The slightly dipping Mesabi formation is the principal exception as to steeply dipping ore bodies.

Jan 1, 1941

To perform comprehensive economic evaluations on both existing and proposed mineral operations. Approach A comprehensive computer model was developed which is capable of evaluating the economics of an entire mineral recovery operation, including exploration, acquisition, infrastructure, mining, milling, smelting, refining, transportation, taxation, and return of and on capital. How it Works The MINSIM (MINe SIMulator) economic evaluation concept was developed by the Bureau of Mines in 1967. The initial versions used a continuous discounted cash flow rate-of-return (DCFROR) to measure the effect of changes in expected revenues and costs. Subsequent enhancements to the program have expanded and strengthened MINSIM, especially the addition of an option which determines total production cost (i.e., the commodity selling price that a mineral recovery operation would require in order to obtain a target rate of return), an expanded capacity for evaluating by-products from a mineral property, and significantly broadened taxation determining capabilities. The MINSIM computer program uses essentially the same procedures and calculations that are performed in a manual economic evaluation, although the program accomplishes its tasks much more rapidly and accurately, An experienced mineral economist may require a week to evaluate a single mining operation with the same detail and consistency provided by MINSIM in a matter of seconds of computer time.

Jan 1, 1983

By Nate Ober, Heath Rushing

"Mining companies want to be in a position to move quickly and seize a favorable market or to keep their key staff productively busy. One of the problems for these companies is the time required to compensate for unavoidable impacts that the mine will have on the natural environment and to gain environmental permits. All too often, circumstances that were favorable when the project was proposed have become less favorable by the time all the hurdles have been cleared.Accordingly, many mining companies are interested in ways they can inject more predictability into their timelines for gaining environmental permits, shorten those timelines, and be more certain of getting the permits they need to carry out their next project.One increasingly popular way to do this is through a relatively new kind of service — the mitigation bank.Mitigation banks purchase property or easements through property that has been impacted by agricultural, industrial or resource activity. They then turn it around from an environmental point of view. This might include restoring streams and wetlands so that fish and aquatic organisms can survive, and animals have habitat and food to flourish.Appropriate native species of plants including trees and shrubs are planted, and steps may be taken to introduce wildlife to the new habitat. In some cases, a special focus is placed on creating habitat for rare and endangered species of plants or animals.The property is inspected by regulatory authorities, coordinated through an interagency review team (IRT). If the property is determined to be effective as natural habitat, the mitigation bank is then issued credits that it can then sell to development projects that are creating an unavoidable permitted environmental impact elsewhere. A mining company, for example, would buy credits to offset the aquatic impacts due to construction of a mine, access roads and other infrastructure — as required by the Section 404 Clean Water Act permit that governs those unavoidable aquatic impacts. The mitigation bank used for offset must have an IRT-approved service area that includes the location of the impacts."

Jan 11, 2017

By Robin B. McCulloch

No producing mines are in the study area. Sample results indicate the only resources in the study area are low grade phosphate deposits associated with Cuyama Phosphate Mine (fig. 1). Within the study area, are more than 21.4 million tons of inferred subeconomic phosphate rock resources which would be reserves at an 80 percent higher phosphoric acid price; weighted average grade is 4.84 percent phosphorous pentoxide (P205). About 17.6 million tons of similar grade are outside the area to the northwest. The South Cuyama Oil Field, adjacent to the study area (fig. 1), produces petroleum from the Vaqueros Formation which underlies parts of the study area. Oil and gas potential was evaluated by U.S. Geological Survey. INTRODUCTION Location, Size, and Geographic Setting The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a mineral survey of the Fox Mountain RARE II area (No. 5120) during the summer of 1981. The area was examined to determine the presence or absence of mineral resources and reserves, and to estimate tonnage and grade where possible.

Jan 1, 1982