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By O. Lundhede

Today, systems and machinery usually are designed to meet only one specific customer?s requirements. One reason for this is that underground automation and smart functions are often developed tightly together with a customer. This is natural, since risk and cost can be shared between the customer and the supplier. Nevertheless, when the automation product develops and the market increase this will cause problems: The highly specialized products will not fulfill the next customer?s demands. In order to cope with this problem, Atlas Copco works towards a common platform. Instead of designing solutions for specific customers, we will lift the abstraction and focus on standardized modules. These modules, or function blocks, can then be combined in a large variety of configurations. The benefits of combining modules into products are, for example: increased flexibility when options are available for many machines; easier commissioning and maintenance since less different spare parts and tools are needed; and easier operation since the user interfaces have a similar look and feel. This paper will present the ongoing work towards standardized modules. We will discuss how our Rig Control System (RCS) allows for modular design at Atlas Copco. RCS has number of standardized modules that are used in different surface and underground mining and tunneling equipment. These modules are also used for optional products such as, drilling, radio-remote control, and telematics systems.

Aug 1, 2013

By Michael T. McCaffrey

The wide range of potential feed materials, process steps, and products in metallurgical facilities means that standard equipment might not be available to adequately meet the project technical and economic needs. Custom designed equipment should be considered only after rigorous research precludes purchasing standard equipment. However, the decision to use custom equipment introduces a new element of risk into the project. To manage the risk, custom equipment design should be developed through the same front end loading (FEL) phases as project development. If more than incremental development of custom equipment is required, appropriate test work or pilot trials are required to test key uncertainties. Important activities during custom equipment design include maintaining clearly defined performance objectives, conducting appropriate reviews, carefully crafting commercial and intellectual property agreements with design and fabrication partners, and assembling a multidisciplinary team with sufficient development expertise.

Jan 1, 2015

By Paul A. Glapa

Quality is much more than providing a product that functions properly. True quality is a way of thinking, a way of doing business, and, ultimately, a way of satisfying a customer?s long-term needs. A true commitment to quality requires a top-down management commitment, with a willingness to change what needs to be changed and to expand upon ?best practices? that are already done well. Is there a cost to creating and maintaining a quality program? Of course there is, but the cost of not having a focused program is much greater. We have come to regard quality as an investment that pays dividends to both the supplier and customer. The lack of quality costs everyone and the customer pays the ultimate penalty. With modern, highly engineered surface mining equipment the end user calculates cost in terms of lost production (revenue), not simply the cost of the part. Bucyrus International, Inc. is a company that has listened to its customers and has dedicated itself to implementing an advanced quality program. The ultimate goal being the creation of a high quality product with extended reliability for the customer. The result is reflected in Bucyrus? current product offerings and highlighted by the new 495HF electric rope shovels at Albian Sands mine.

May 1, 2003

Background Chronology 2008 Positions May 8, 2010 Summit Going Forward Say one thing and do another ??Genuine passion to see our customers succeed?, ?A passion for exceeding our customer?s expectations? Self serving actions to gain competitive advantage at the expense of the customer No single supplier or technology can manage the overall mine and its integrated operation - April 2005: Informal meeting at Toronto CIM 2004 -Unanimous interest - July 2005: Formal Calgary Meeting, developed: - Scope and vision statement , - OEM/OTM communication plan, - industry communication plan - Aug?Nov 2005: Aligned with SMART - Nov 2005?May 2006: Direct OEM, OTM communication - May ?Sept 2006: Developed baseline standards - Sept -April 2007: Developed SMART document - Sept 2007: Document distribution and request OEM OTM response - Jan ?May 2008: Acquired OEM OTM feedback and positions May 2008: Results presented to SMART and discussions on next steps

May 1, 2010

IBI Alliances ? Government ? People ? Academic ? Associations ? Media ? Customers ? Agencies ? Shareholders ? Industry consultants ? Investment Authority ? Geological Survey ? Department of Mines ? People ? Local Residents ? Mineworkers ? Academic ? University of Guelph ? Uganda Vermiculite Institute ? Associations ? TVA ? Organic Certification ? Media ? Canada ? International ? Customers ? Advocacy role ? Agencies ? Regional International

May 1, 2006

By Evelynn Stirling

Agenda ? Emissions legislation ? Cummins Tier 4 Technology ? Cummins Experience with Technology ? Operation and Maintenance Impact The Emissions Challenge ? The 2014/5 emissions regulations present the most significant challenge to our customer?s diesel powered equipment design and operation in recent history? ? ?and Cummins has the solution.

Aug 1, 2013

By C. S. Parsons

Custom milling-plants have been operated successfully for a great many years on this continent. One of the outstanding examples in the United States is the Golden Cycle mill at Colorado Springs, which mills the gold-telluride ores from the Cripple Creek district. In eastern Canada, the Northern Custom Concentrators, Limited, at Cobalt, successfully treated the cobalt-silver ores of that area for a number of years. Flotation plants have entered the custom field in the past few years. The building of flotation concentrators to treat ores on a custom basis indicates the advance which has been made in flotation. In fact, three years ago it was considered almost impossible to treat successfully a mixture of miscellaneous ores by flotation. The methods used at that time were considered so delicate that any change, even in a single ore, would usually result in decreasing the effectiveness of the separation. Today we find four large custom flotation plants in the United States and one in Canada for treating complex lead-zinc ores from many different localities. The advent of these mills was brought about by the serious problem confronting the lead-smelting plants due to increasing amounts of zinc in the ores presented for treatment. It was necessary to penalize the mines shipping high-zinc ores. The penalty is justified, because high zinc in the lead blast-furnace charge not only decreases the tonnage of the furnace but increases the amount of flux necessary, as well as increasing the metal loss in the slag. It has been estimated that in the Salt Lake valley alone, 75,000,000 pounds of zinc was lost in the slag-dumps from the operations of three large lead blast-furnace plants. It has also been estimated that $150,000 worth of additional flux was required to slag this zinc. It was to avoid at least a part of this wste and to help maintain an ore supply that custom flotation concentrators were built by the smelters.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. D. Lindsay

Pamour Porcupine Mines, Limited has been actively engaged in the ''Custom Tolling'' of Gold-Bearing materials throughout the past decade. Experience acquired in this area was utilized to design and commission a custom gold milling facility at its operations in Timmins, capable of:(a) Accepting a bulk ore test sample at the rate of 150 t/d for crushing, sampling, and metals analysis;(b) Processing gold-bearing ores at a rated capacity of 150 t/d, to produce a goldbearing sulphide concentrate;(c) Processing free milling gold ores at a rated capacity of 80 t/d for total cyanidation;(d) Cyaniding custom gold flotation concentrates at a rated capacity of 80 t/d; and(e) Processing of complex gold/copper or carbonaceous ores, requiring an impurity flotation concentrate separation stage prior to cyanidation, at a rated capacity of 100 t/d.Items considered in the process design and development included:- various gold ore types available for processing;- flowsheet flexibility required;- sampling strategy as related to head grade determination and metals accounting; and- contract considerations.This paper highlights how these various considerations were used to design Pamour's ''Custom Gold Milling Facility''.

Jan 1, 1987

By G. Couture

In the introduction to this presentation, we will cover the market of motorized recreational products. We will introduce the public to what is produced and sold worldwide, what is the nature and general behaviour of the customers for such products. We will cover the evolution of this market and put in evidence how drastic must be the changes in the manufacturers organizations in order to, in one hand, constantly adjust to the customer demand, and in the other hand, react to the competitors' offensives on the market.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. Kachaniwsky, M. Bédard

"The Noranda Continuous Smelting Process at the Home smelter was commissioned in March 1973. The ability of the process to handle a wide variety of feed materials and a steady stream of technical innovations in recent decades has served to maintain the Home as an efficient and versatile custom smelter. This paper reviews recent technological development and capabilities in areas such as sampling and preparation of secondary and complex materials, as well as the smelting and related environmental control issues. Future trends and improvements are also addressed.IntroductionThe Noranda Home smelter commenced operations in 1927. It was originally designed to treat 910 tonnes per day of copper concentrates and ores coming from the new Home mine site. In the 19305, the company opened its doors to other mines in northwestern Quebec. Treatment of feed materials on a custom basis has, therefore, always been an important factor in the operation of the Home smelter. Throughout the years, the Home gradually increased its custom smelting capacity, while maintaining its production from the Home mine. By the early 1950s, 65% of the materials processed was from outside customers, and by 1974, this figure had increased to more than 85% . With the closure of the Home mine in 1976, the company extended its smelting operations beyond ore and concentrate, and began to treat more scrap metals and residues rich in copper and precious metal content.Corresponding with the ever-changing pattern of feed sources, the Home smelter has adopted technological improvements to meet new and challenging business conditions. The technology of the original smelter of 1927has been completely replaced over the years in the quest for improvement. One of these major changes occurred in 1973 with the start-up of the Noranda Process Reactor. This extremely efficient smelting system has been exploited to treat a wide variety of copper and precious metal (PM) containing custom materials. This paper reviews recent developments and improvements achieved at the Home smelter, in the receiving, sampling and treatments of copper and PM scrap and secondaries, with particular emphasis on the development of new technology and equipment in complex feed materials treatment."

Jan 1, 1991

By M. E. Coleman, G. Money

Pneumatic Conveying and Process Injection Technologies have been implemented in the metals markets for the last 40 years and have considerably improved the productivity and the performance of many processes. There have been many steps forward in handling technology and this paper seeks to consider those now offered by Clyde Materials Handling who as an established customer-driven solutions provider has turned its attention to supporting the Metals Market. Clyde seeks to utilise its knowledge, expertise and technologies to transform the production processes of its customers, who operate in the ferrous and non-ferrous metals industries.

Jan 1, 2008

By John Campbell, William Trahant

"Total Quality Management (TQM) is becoming a reality in the mining industry. Widely adopted in the manufacturing and services industries, TQM has become the operating style of choice in numerous mining companies across the Americas and Australia. Iron Ore Company of Canada, Inco, MSA, Graniterock, Magma Copper, and CRA's Hamersly Iron - all are pioneers of TQM. These companies and others are confronting the challenges of implementing TQM and are managing the changes required of their people and cultures. What these companies are doing, why they are doing it, and how they are successfully managing the changes are the subjects of this paper.Driving the need for change in these organizations are a host of issues, some of which all mining companies are facing. Requirements from customers for ISO 9000 certification is becoming one of the initial motivators for Total Quality Management. These standards, commonly used in manufacturing throughout the European Community (EC), emphasize quality in the processes that create outputs, instead of just the outputs themselves. Iron Ore Company of Canada, for instance, responding to the requirement of one of its customers, British Steel, has become one of the first mining companies to meet the quality standard. Suppliers who meet the standards are highly desirable to customers who are themselves operating under the ISO or their national quality guidelines."

Jan 1, 1995

By K. G. Stowe

"1. Introduction Mattagami Lake Mines and Orchan Mines operate zinc copper mines adjacent to one another near Matagami, Quebec, situated approximately 300 kilometres north-east of Rouyn-Noranda. (Note: Mattagami Lake and Orchan are in the process of being absorbed by Noranda Mines and will become Noranda Mines-Matagami Division). Both concentrators began operations in late 1963.The Mattagami Lake concentrator is capable of treating up to 3,500 metric tons per day of massive sulphide ore with a mineral composition shown in TABLE 1. The Orchan concentrator consists of two separate circuits - the Orchan circuit with a capacity of 1,050 metric tons per day and a custom circuit with a capacity of 825 metric tons per day. Throughout its operation, Orchan has custom milled ore from several smaller deposits in the Matagami district."

Jan 1, 1979

By F. Lindroos

A cornerstone in the LKAB Green Pellet concept is to produce pellets with a small footprint in terms of energy con-sumption, CO2 emission and emission of other elements harmful to the environment, like dust, sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, chloride and fluorine. The concept also encompasses our determination to make pellet products that contribute to low environmental impact and low energy consumption in our customer?s processes. The presentation will focus on the pelletizing process. It will describe both how we have attempted to decrease the generation of unwanted components in the process gas, and how we have tested or evaluated equipment for external gas cleaning. We will discuss and give examples from recent and on-going efforts and outline some of the future challenges we see, to meet our own environmental standards and also the tough demands imposed by EU and national legislation, while striving to boost production.

May 1, 2011

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 Peter Godbehere, Christian Desroches, Viken Baboudjian

"Noranda Copper Smelting and Refining is a unit of Noranda Metallurgy Inc., comprising the Home smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec and the C.C.R. Refinery in Montreal East. The Home smelter provides custom smelting services for a wide variety of copper and precious metal bearing concentrates and recyclable materials, producing over 200 000 tonnes of anodes and 450 000 tonnes of sulphuric acid annually. The C.C.R. Refinery has an annual production of 360 000 tonnes of copper cathode, and is a major refiner of precious metals.Over the past twenty years, Noranda Copper has developed innovative processes and operating techniques to treat the ever increasing complexity of primary feed materials, while improving the quality of its final products, working conditions and reducing environmental emissions.This paper presents an overview of the operating practices of Noranda Copper with particular emphasis on the impact of impurities in the smelting and refining processes.IntroductionThe treatment of custom materials has been practiced by Noranda Copper since commencement of operations at the Home smelter in 1927 and the CCR refinery in 1931. Copper concentrates from a wide variety of regional, North American and overseas producers account for the bulk of the 800 000 tonnes treated annually, although recyclable and secondaries have increased in importance as feed sources in the past two decades. The geographical disadvantage of the Horne smelter compared with most custom smelters located on tidewater has provided an important incentive for Noranda Copper to develop the necessary technology and operating practices at its smelter and refinery to treat high value complex concentrates and other feeds containing significant concentrations of bismuth, antimony, arsenic, lead, tellurium, mercury, etc."

Jan 1, 1995

By D. Pearcey, S. T. Vessey, V. Hegde, J. Staples

"Pellet quality has taken on a new dimension during the last ten years. Quality in the seventies was generally defined as adherence to certain physical and chemical specifications. Today, the talk is in terms of how the business is managed, how customer's expectations can be exceeded, not only in product quality, but in service responsiveness.Coke breeze and flux additions, lower silica levels, and improved furnace control practices have all contributed to the improvement of pellet physical and metallurgical properties. Statistical process control has provided additional insight into the parameters that affect pellet quality.Increased customer contact and product quality surveys have heightened our awareness of customer needs and also provide direction for quality improvement test work. Current work is focussed on improving reducibility and understanding the relationship between tumble, fired compression and metallurgical properties.This paper will review the Iron Ore Company of Canada's efforts during the past decade and describe some of its initiatives for the future.IntroductionThe Carol Pellet PlantThe Iron Ore Company of Canada's Carol Project is located in Labrador City in the southwestern portion of Newfoundland and Labrador , approximately 965 Ian northeast of Montreal. The project consists of mining facilities, beneficiation complex and a pellet plant, which began operations in 1962. The pellet plant consists of six Dravo-Lurgi straight grate machines, regrinding, filtering and balling facilities. The current capacity of the Carol pellet plant is approximately 10.5 million tonnes , while the concentrator has the capacity to produce about 18 million tonnes of concentrate.The orebody consists of specular hematite, magnetite and small quantities of limonite and goethite. The average grade of the orebody is approximately 39% iron."

Jan 1, 1991

Delivering Our Products On any given day in North America, 80 kilometers of rail cars are engaged in moving our product. Global Customer Base Our business accounts for more than 30% of all bulk goods moved through the Port of Vancouver

May 1, 2006

By W. Andrew Falls

Although we have yet to reach the midway point in the decade, the copper concentrate market has already witnessed some of the most volatile swings in history, moving from record high treatment and refining charges in 1991-92 to historic lows, in real terms, during the past year. What has been the cause for such volatility? By and large the swings can be attributed to factors of supply and demand in the "custom" copper concentrate market. For example, two relatively recent events which had a major impact on the supply-demand balance were the shutdown of the Bougainville copper mine in Papua New Guinea in 1989 due to rebel insurgency and the startup of the La Escondida mine in Chile in 1992. The first event, threw a balanced to slightly surplus concentrate market into a substantial deficit, forcing treatment terms down as smelters, caught short by the loss of concentrate supplies scrambled to cover their positions. The second event, brought over 300,000 mt per year of new copper in concentrate to the market, more than reversing the losses from the Bougainville shutdown. In combination with other additions to mine capacity via new mines or expansions, the custom concentrate market moved into a huge oversupply in 1991-92 and many mines found themselves unable to place uncommitted tonnage. But even this event was quickly overcome by the use of underutilized capacity at non-traditional buyers, such as those in the C.I.S., Zambia, or those which were not traditionally buyers of custom materials. All of this has happened in the space of five short years, a mere snapshot in the history of the market. I'll return to these points a little further on, but first I would like to review the fundamentals which govern the copper concentrate market.

Jan 1, 1995

By Jean-Luc Beaudoin

"In addition to the actual energy consumed, billing is dependent on the peak load and the power factor. The lower the power factor goes, the higher will be the penalty the consumer pays. The principles of a power factor regulator, the two ways of improving the power factor and methods for calculating the capacitor values required will be described.The rate structure of the utility company is founded on three cornerstones: the energy consumed during a given period of time and two penalties imposed when the power factor is low or the power demand is high. Even though the normal consumption of a customer might be 10 kW, with a peak demand of 20 kW only once a month, the wiring and associated equipment at the input to the customer's plant will have to accommodate this peak demand. The power company has no means of forecasting these demands and cannot therefore provide the additional equipment necessary. So it exacts a penalty, and the customer must take all possible steps to avoid these peak power demands. This can be accomplished by using an automatic peak load regulator which will selectively disconnect the loads which are not essential in the operation of a plant .The principles of such a controller will be described.Principles of power factor regulatorsThe operating principles of a power factor regulator will now be described. It might be asked why the power factor of an electrical installation in a mine, or a factory, should be corrected at all, but there is a simple answer. In addition to the actual energy consumed, the billing is dependent on the peak load and the power factor. The lower the power factor goes, the higher will be the penalty the consumer pays."

Jan 1, 1982