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By Bennett McLaughlin

The Penna Shaft is the deepest single?lift shaft in North America. AGNICO-EAGLE started sinking the Penna shaft in 1995 with a hoisting plant capable of hoisting 1 800 tonnes per day from a 2 240-metre deep shaft. Exploration success at depth lead to the replacement of the existing double drum hoist by another double drum hoist capable of hoisting 7 000 tonnes per day. The use of another double drum hoist, instead of a Blair Multi-Rope winder, to hoist 24,5-tonne skips was only made possible by lowering the safety factor. This paper describes recent experiences at Penna and in South Africa, and examines the possibility of extending the double drum hoisting system to a depth of three kilometres.

May 1, 2003

By B. McLaughlin

"The Penna shaft is the deepest single-lift shaft in North America. Agnico-Eagle started sinking the Penna shaft in 1995 with a hoisting plant capable of hoisting 1800 t/d from a 2240-m deep shaft. Exploration success at depth led to the replacement of the existing double drum hoist by another double drum hoist capable of hoisting 7000 t/d. The use of another double drum hoist, instead of a Blair multi-rope winder, to hoist 24.5 t skips was only made possible by lowering the safety factor.This paper describes recent experiences at Penna and in South Africa, and examines the possibility of extending the double drum hoisting system to a depth of 3 km. IntroductionThe original Penna production hoist was a 4.88 m (16 ft) diameter double drum and single clutch machine. Béliveau (1996) and Scott (1996) have described this hoisting plant. In 1998, a decision was made to increase mining capacity from 1800 t to 4500 t of ore per day from the shaft bottom. Final capacity had to include an allowance of 1800 t of waste per day for future capital projects. While daily capacity was to be 6300 t, it would, by taking into account the different rock densities, be equivalent to hoisting 7000 t of ore.The steps taken to lower the safety factor were presented by McLaughlin and Scott"

Jan 1, 2004

By Terry A. Lee

The grade of mineral resource estimates underpin all major economic considerations of mining prospects. While there are reporting requirements to satisfy when stating a mineral resource estimate, an examination of NI 43-101 style reports suggests that authors believe that there are a number of ways of addressing these requirements. As a reader of these reports, some processes are helpful and others are not so in getting a real appreciation of how realistic is the mineral resource estimate. Critical to the quality of the mineral resource estimate is how realistic is the economic mineral concentration component. In many cases, this parameter is called grade. The industry experiences increased difficulty in achieving realistic grade estimates as the sample grade variability increases. The level of transparency in a mineral resource estimate is very much a function of the competence of the author. An objective presentation of the critical data, such as grade sampling variability can assist a reader in determining if the geology of the mineral concentration is adequately understood and how realistic is mineral resource grade estimate. This paper has considered 75 NI 43-101 style reports released in the past 2 years. The review demonstrates features that were helpful in determining how realistic the mineral resource grade estimate is. If there is insufficient transparency in a report, there is a high probability that the mineral resource grade estimate will not be realistic.

Apr 1, 2005

By Robert Boutilier

For more information on what the social licence means, see the following: Joyce, S. and Thomson, I. 2000. Earning a social licence to operate: Social acceptability and resource development in Latin America. The Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin, 93(1037) Nelson, J. and Scoble, M. 2006. Social License to Operate: Issues of Situational Analysis and Process. Vancouver, BC: Department of Mining Engineering, University of British Colombia. Thomson, I. and Boutilier, R.G. 2010. The Social License to Operate In P.Darling, (Ed.), SME Mining Engineering Handbook: Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. Much of what has been written and said about the social license to operate focuses on what the company has to do or not do. But the social license is a two-sided relationship. We also need to look at what the community has to do, or not do, in order to be capable of issuing a social license that is meaningful.

May 1, 2010

By John D. Campbell

"IS YOUR MANAGEMENT CONTROLLOOP FUNCTIONINGMineral processors make use of hundreds of control circuits in their mills, process plants, smelters and refineries, to optimize throughput and recovery and minimize cost. This afternoon, I would like to discuss what is probably the weakest circuit in any mineral processing operation - the management control loop.In their recent book ""The Winning Streak"", Goldsmith and Clutter describe extensive research on unsuccessful companies. They conclude that ineffective control, which does not immediately identify the problems, is one of the main failings of unsuccessful companies.We will look at the three key components of control which, from the manager's point of view, ensure that the loop is complete. These three are:• measuring what's happening,• assessing its significance, Rnd• altering performance.If we compare management control to process control as shown in this first figure, ""We see that parameter sensing by the analyzer in a process circuit is analogous to performance monitoring by management in a responsibility centre. The analyzer senses temperature, pressure, flow, weight or some surrogate indicator such as colour to indicate ion concentration. For manage1nent, the performance to rnonitor is dependent upon the objectives of the responsibility centre, and the key factors which affect these objectives."

Jan 1, 1985

By Deborah A. McCombe

"One of the cornerstones of NI43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects is the technical report. The purpose of the report is to provide a summary of the scientific and technical information concerning mineral exploration, development, and production activities on a mineral property that is material to an issuer. The reports must be prepared in accordance with NI43101 and Form 43-101F1 Technical Report and the information must be current as of the date of the filing of the technical report. As these reports provide important information to the investing public, qualified persons preparing these reports should, as much as possible, write in plain, simple language that can be easily read and understood by people who are not geoscientists or engineers. So let’s review some of the common deficiencies with technical reports. Non-current technical report Some of the factors you should consider when determining if your previously filed technical report is still current are as follows: •,Is there new technical information on the property, such as drilling, assays, metallurgical testwork? •,Have you made changes to key assumptions, parameters relating to mineral resources or mineral reserves, or economic analysis? If you have completed the previously recommended work, are your recommendations still current? Similarly, are your report recommendations consistent with what you are telling your shareholders or disclosing in the use of proceeds in your offering documents? For example, if the recommendations in the report consist of further exploration and metallurgical test-work prior to completing a preliminary feasibility study and you have completed the proposed work and are now raising money for a final feasibility study, the report is probably not current."

Jan 1, 2003

By Michael Young, Peter Allum, Mingwei Gao

"Tough economical conditions and high grade but fine-grained ore processing have forced the mining industry to look for more efficient processes. Isa Mill Technology for ultra-fine and fine grinding is one such process employed at several mining operations in Australia including Mount Isa Mines Limited in Australia. Mount Isa Mines is a business unit of MIM Holdings Limited. MIM is an Australian-based international mining and mineral processing company with around 8000 employees worldwide. Major products include copper, gold, zinc-lead-silver, coal and technology sales.The Isa Mill is a horizontal stirred mill with sizes up to 3 m3 chamber net volume and 1 120 kW installed motor. It was jointly invented by Mount Isa Mines of Australia and Netzsch Feinmahltecknik GmbH of Germany for ultra-fine and fine grinding duties in the minerals industry. Isa Mill operations started in 1994 at the Mount Isa Mines Leadzinc Concentrator and then at MIM’s McArthur River Mine in 1995. These Isa Mills have been used to liberate sphalerite and galena at Mount Isa and silica at McArthur River by grinding to less than 7 micron.This paper discusses the Isa Mill Technology and reports on the metallurgical performance of the Isa Mills at Mount Isa Mines, including work done over the last 9 years to improve mill design, process efficiency and maintenance, which has resulted in the current state-of-the-art Isa Mill Technology.INTRODUCTIONThe current leadzinc deposits at Mount Isa Mines (George Fisher, Hilton and Isa) have an average grade of 10.5% zinc, 7.2% lead and 165g/t silver. Fine grinding, in particular in the zinc retreatment circuit requiring a milled product P80 of 7 micron, is essential to treat the ores from the Mount Isa Mines deposits. Every one micron size reduction in the zinc retreatment circuit below a P80 of 10 micron improves the overall plant zinc recovery by 1%, resulting in an increase in revenue of about 1 million dollars per annum."

Jan 1, 2002

Originally developed as a step change in ultrafine grinding efficiency, the IsaMill? has made inroads into conventional ball mill and tower mill mainstream grinding duties during the last 5 years - beginning with the Anglo Platinum mainstream grinding projects in South Africa. At the 2006 SAG Conference, plant testwork on the incorporation of IsaMill? technology into the McArthur River (Northern Territory, Australia) Pb/Zn primary grinding circuit was reported. The IsaMill? has now become an integral component of that circuit, treating up to 1mm top size feed and directly producing P80 45 µm rougher flotation feed. Two 1.1 MW IsaMills? are now used in this duty contributing to a 27% increase in overall plant throughput and a reduction in rougher feed size distribution. In this paper, we report on the current state of development and performance of the IsaMill? in the primary grinding duty at McArthur River and also consider future directions.

Jan 1, 2012

By D. T. Smith, S. J. Strohmayr

Originally developed as a step change in ultrafine grinding efficiency, the IsaMill™ has made inroads into conventional ball mill and tower mill mainstream grinding duties during the last 5 years - beginning with the Anglo Platinum mainstream grinding projects in South Africa. At the 2006 SAG Conference, plant testwork on the incorporation of IsaMill™ technology into the McArthur River (Northern Territory, Australia) Pb/Zn primary grinding circuit was reported. The IsaMill™ has now become an integral component of that circuit, treating up to 1mm top size feed and directly producing P80 45 µm rougher flotation feed. Two 1.1 MW IsaMills™ are now used in this duty contributing to a 27% increase in overall plant throughput and a reduction in rougher feed size distribution. In this paper, we report on the current state of development and performance of the IsaMill™ in the primary grinding duty at McArthur River and also consider future directions.

Jan 1, 2012

By Biplop Das, E. Herrera, A. Burrows, P. J. Mackey, G. R. F. Alvear Flores

Since the first commercial plant was built at Mount Isa, another twenty ISASMELT™ furnaces have come into commercial operation, and construction of new plants continues. The primary copper ISASMELT™ top submerged lance (TSL) technology continues to attract interest from potential users who seek to smelt productively. In addition to the known benefits of productivity and flexibility, ISASMELT™ operators have also achieved improvements to energy efficiency when switching from their previous technologies. The recent production statistics for operation at Tuticorin, India show that ISASMELT™ has taken the first steps into territory beyond 400,000 t/y (copper cathode basis) and this will likely be the scale chosen by future new copper smelters operating purely on a toll smelting basis. Highly energy-efficient technologies will be expected at these smelters

Jan 1, 2015

By Chris Brown

"The Island Copper plant was designed and built by Fluor Utah Ltd, in conjunction with Utah design staff, Originally designed to treat 33,000 tons/day (t/d) of ore, the current average milling capability is 38,000 t/d (Nov'74). The first of six semi-autogenous grinding lines was brought on line in October 1971, startup of the remainder being governed by equipment delivery schedules.The summer of 1973 saw the start-up of an additional three ball mills, and attainment of the present production level. The current process flowsheet is shown in simplified form.CRUSHINGThe crushing circuit is relatively simple, comprising single stage crushing of the ore followed by screening to fine and coarse fractions.The crusher is a 54 x 74in. Allis Chalmers Superior Gyratory with a setting of 9-lOin., driven by a 500-hp motor. Trucks dump on three sides of a rectangular dump pocket. An 84in. x 20ft. link belt apron feeder draws crushed ore from a 250-ton surge bin below the crusher, discharging onto a 72in. wide inclined steel cord conveyor belt. A fixed splitter box at the conveyor discharge separates feed to two parallel Jeffreys 6 x 20ft. vibrating grizzlies for screening into +4in. and -4in. fractions. The fractions are collected on short reversible conveyors which feed the coarse and fine ore stacker conveyors. Trippers distribute ore to outside stockpiles adjacent to, and above, the concentrator grinding 'floor."

Jan 1, 1975

By R. W. Davis

INTRODUCTION CHURCHILL river was named for John Churchill, first Duke of Marl-borough and third Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, in the latter part of the 17th century, some fifty years after the ill-fated Danish expedition, led by Munck, had abandoned the site of the now famous seaport of Churchill, as a worthless, cold, disease-ridden country. No other attempts were made to explore the interior until the river basin became a part of the grant to the Hudson's Bay Company and began to play its part in furnishing the luxury of fine furs to civilized people as it had furnished the necessities of food and dress for untold centuries to uncivilized natives. This was the sole contribution of the region to the economic life of the country for some two hundred and fifty years, until 1926, when the power site at Island Falls was discovered by engineers seeking a cheap power source to make possible the development of the great ore-body at Flin Flon. DRAINAGE BASIN OF CHURCHILL RIVER The river is some 1,325 miles long. Rising in the headwaters of the Beaver river, in east-central Alberta, it flows in an easterly direction across Saskatchewan and northeasterly across Manitoba to Hudson bay, through a remarkable basin of some 115,500 square miles, only 6,000 square miles less than the area of the British Isles. A journey down this river leads one through three distinct belts of country, each vastly different from the others geologically and in surface characteristics. For the first five hundred miles the river flows through a basin of 36,000 square miles of the great central-plains country, which is covered with fertile soil and carpeted in its southern part with prairie grass, which gradually gives way to the mixed forests of poplar, spruce, birch, and jackpine in the northern and eastern sections: About midway across Saskatchewan, bald-headed knolls and ridges begin to make their appearance as the river meets the western margin of the Canadian Shield. Then, for some seven hundred miles, it passes through country underlain by the pre-Cambrian rocks of the Shield, which continue to within one hundred miles of Hudson bay. Here the character of the country again changes to a low, clay plain underlain by sandstone, and through this 'clay belt' the river flows between steep clay banks, to empty into Hudson bay.

Jan 1, 1935

By P. C. Benedict

"The Island Mountain mine is at the southeast end of Island mountain; across Jack of Clubs lake from the Cariboo Gold Quartz mine.; The orebodies consist of quartz veins and pyritic replacement deposits in limestone. To December 31; 1944; there has been mined 296; 273 tons of quartz-vein ore averaging about 0.34 oz. gold a ton; and 101; 002 tons of sulphide ore averaging about 0.83 oz. gold a ton; a total of 397; 275 tons averaging 0.46 oz. From this; 175; 985 fine oz. of gold and about 26; 450 fine oz. of silver were recovered; having a value of $6; 510; 521.More than 95 per cent of the production has come from a band 500 feet wide along the contact of the Rainbow and overlying Baker members and extending about 100 feet into the latter. Evidence that the Rainbow belongs stratigraphically above the Baker is presented later in this paper. Both members are most variable lithologically, and individual beds and whole series of beds pinch out in short distances. In part, at least, this is due to squeezing out incidentally to intense folding. No section can be claimed with assurance to be really representative. However, both memb.ers are composed predominantly of quartzitic rocks. Both contain argillaceous quartzite, argillite, limy quartzite, limy argillite, limestone (marble), and minor amounts of highly ankeritized rocks believed to be igneous sills possibly originally approaching diorite in composition."

Jan 1, 1954

By Christopher A. Jacobs

Project managers aim to maximise the NPV of their projects, but don't always appreciate the relationship between mine throughput, project value and the discount rate being used to evaluate their projects. Rate of production or throughput is perhaps one of the most crucial decisions a project manager must make, but if this choice is made arbitrarily, much effort may be spent on a feasibility study that does not optimise project value. The timing of the study in relation to the stage of exploration is examined and simple techniques are presented that project engineers and managers can use to home in on a production rate which will give their project the greatest chance of success.

May 1, 2006

By Joanne G. Petrini

ISO 26000 Unique Process Unique Personality ?Almost 10 years in the making ?What type of standard is this? Different type of ISO Standard ISO 26000 Structure and Substance ?Principles ?Core Subjects ?Implementation Guidance ISO 26000 Impact ?Same old, same old? ?So Is there really anything NEW? ?Should I care??

May 1, 2011

By Keith Eldridge, Robert Kelly

"Quality management has a/ways played an important role at the Iron Ore Company of Canada; particularly since the early eighties when the iron ore markets favoured buyers as opposed to sellers.Since thot time, IOC's quality system has evolved from basic quality control to the Deming philosophy and its 14 points, and on through various other phases to the ISO 9000 series.ISO 9002 Registration was' first requested by IDC's customers and development plans were prepared in 1988. At this time, Quality System Registration was unheard of in the mining sector and TDC found itself struggling with the concept. The 1U!Xt three years saw the company develop a Quality System to meet ISO 9002 in a two phased approach, setting new standards for the mining industry when registration was achieved in December 1991.The company now sees ISO Registration as the cornerstone of its future quality efforts. IOC's quality system has been integrated with several other initiatives such as loss control and functional training, both of which focus on training and management the workforce to do the job safely, the right way.This paper addresses the steps required to develop a quality system for the mining industry within the guidelines of the ISO 9000 Series and the subsequent integration of other quality related initiatives."

Jan 1, 1994

By A. Taylor, E. Thorn Corthay, R. Storey

In response to requests from its stakeholders, the International Standards Organisation is engaged in development of an international standard for Energy Management Systems (EnMS) which will become "ISO 50001". This new standard will build on the successes of both the EN16001 EnMS standard that has been used by dozens of European companies, as well as the ANSI/MSE 2000:2008 EnMS standard that is currently being used in several pilot projects in the USA and Ontario. This paper provides an overview of the key points of the EnMS standards, and describes how they can be used to drive sustainable energy reductions in the metallurgy industry.

Jan 1, 2010

By Andrew Abraham

Continual improvement is the key to success in today?s competitive global arena. You require tools that promote dynamic quality management, deliver cost savings to your bottom line and provide the foundation for process improvement. ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 management systems and OHSAS 18001 are those tools. Since their inception, the benefits of ISO management systems and registration have been touted as the way to achieve better bottom line results. This spurred many companies to embark upon the road to registration with high expectations. The potential benefits of ISO management system implementation and third party registration that are commonly provided by Registrars and consultants are compelling adverts for success. ISO 9001:2000 is promoted as an essential tool for systematic efficient and affective management controls that provide a framework for analyzing errors and improving a company?s internal operational processes. It also allows companies to comply with internal and external customer and regulatory requirements thus continually improving the quality of their products and services and thus enhancing customer satisfaction. This, in turn, leads to greater customer recognition and increased market share. ISO 14001 implementation and registration may assist your company in reducing its litigation risk, raw material and energy consumption, waste disposal costs and possibly non tariff trade barriers. It should also provide continuity of operations, enhanced operational efficiency and consequently a competitive advantage in the market place. Registration of your ISO 14001 management system should also improve your company?s profile and credibility leading to regulatory flexibility and improved community goodwill. All of this will be a catalyst for improved morale and pride by employees and management alike. Likewise, OHSAS 18001, the latest certification specification for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems supports Occupational Health and Safety legal and regulatory obligations and compliance, manages & controls Occupational Health and Safety risks and improves performance, safety culture and efficiency. OHSAS 18001 is an audit certification, and not a legislative requirement. Suggested benefits of implementation include reduction in accidents, lost time and associated liability and insurance costs and improving reputation and credibility through demonstrated commitment to health and safety. The foregoing increases access to new customers, joint venture partners and financing The skeptics say these are motherhood statements and lack corroborative evidence, i.e., ?Show me the money!?

May 1, 2003

By W. Kempson

"Mining Companies have producing assets in increasingly diverse portions of the world. It is not uncommon that the owner, the design team, the mine contractors and the operators are all based in different countries. While these assets are always subject to the regulatory requirement of those countries there have not been international standards available to review and evaluate these assets. This becomes particularly important when considering safety critical items such as tailings dams, vertical shaft systems and autonomous vehicles to highlight a few. The work currently being completed in ISO ensures these standards will be available and will be generated by and subscribed to on an international basis, thus removing the potential for patriotic partisanship and ensuring safe and predictable systems are installed. This paper will discuss the benefits of the international standards, the structure of the teams and working groups who are generating these standards as well as the process by which the standards are generated. This will allow insight into the creation of the standard and will aim to demonstrate the “neutral” and technically strong manner in which the generation of these standards is achieved. In addition, the paper will discuss the standards which have been produced in the last five years as well as the current standards which are in place. The finale will discuss upcoming work and the timelines in which it is anticipated these will be completed. INTRODUCTION Mining Companies have producing assets in increasingly diverse portions of the world. While these assets are always subject to the regulatory requirement of those countries, there have not been international standards available to review and evaluate these assets. This becomes particularly important when considering safety critical areas such as vertical shaft systems, tailings dams and autonomous vehicles to highlight a couple. The work currently being completed in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ensure these standards will be available and will be generated by and subscribed to on an international basis, thus removing the potential for patriotic partisanship and ensuring safe and predictable systems are installed. The ISO/TC 82 – Mining was founded in 1955. This was an active committee until it was thought that the standards at the time were adequate and the Technical Committee was put on “Care and Maintenance”. In 2012 countries lobbied ISO to pull this committee from dormancy and restart it, this happened in in the same year."

Jan 1, 2019

By Chuck Crowell

ISO Standards ?Provide Information to Address Commercial and Safety Needs for Standardization: ?Definitions and Terminology ?Test Methods ?Performance Criteria ?Conformity Assessment Process ?Developed by Global Experts ?Promote Global Harmonization

May 1, 2013