Search Documents

By W. S. McDonald

PRACTICALLY all dusts derived from organic matter are explosive and instances are recorded of explosions-some of them extremely violent-having occurred in grain elevators and flour mills. While a discussion of the explosibility of dusts in general, doubtless, would be of more than academic value, it will be of greater interest, on this occasion, to consider various phases of the problems connected with the hazards arising from coal dust. Extensive and valuable research has been carried out during the past few decades on the subject of coal-dust explosions and a great part of this work has been concerned with the preventive effect of stone or other incombustible dusts. Four men have been outstanding in this very substantial achievement. The first is Dr. W. Galloway, who succeeded in demonstrating by experiments that one pound of coal dust mixed with 150 cu. ft. of air formed an explosive mixture. The next is Sir W. Garforth, who proved that stone dust is an effective preventive for coal-dust explosion. The third is G. Haon, and last but not least, L. G. Hill, both of whom laboured incessantly to produce a suitable stone-dust and a satisfactory method of application. Today, mining men all over the world are satisfied and convinced that stone dust, if properly applied, will prove effective in greatly minimizing, if not completely preventing, explosions of coal dust, as has been demonstrated in experimental mines, as well as in actual explosions, in practically every coal mining industry.

Jan 1, 1938

By Ronald G. Hamm

"With the advent in Canada of large open-pit equipment, the associated wire rope required must keep pace, especially in design and construction, along with the field that leads to increased rope life.This paper will first describe the various types of shovels and draglines in use today and also the unique characteristics of the wire rope required to efficiently service this equipment.Emphasis will be placed on the special equipment and techniques required in the wire rope manufacturing, along with the maintenance procedures required for a profitable operation.IntroductionOpen-pit and strip mining is increasingly playing an important role in the Canadian mining industry.An integral part of the surface mining industry is the excavation equipment used both to strip the overburden and remove the actual orebody. Two of the more prominent pieces of equipment are the electric power shovel and dragline. These two types of equipment have increased significantly both In size and number over the last decade.Wire rope plays a significant part in the operation of these machine s. Proper selection of the correct wire rope as well as proper maintenance procedures, can result in a major saving of a mine's wire rope consumption.The most prominent ropes for shovels are the hoist ropes. Some shovels also employ crowd and retract ropes. Boom pennants are manufactured from both wire rope or galvanized bridge strand.The most prominent ropes for dragline excavators are hoist, drag, and dump ropes. Some dragline excavators have boom hoist ropes, and most large dragline excavators have a boom suspension system using galvanized bridge strand."

Jan 1, 1983

By Sarah Bélair, Denis Beltrami, Deka Moussa Ragueh, Valérie Weigel

"Scandium is a highly valuable element belonging to the rare earth elements (REE) but it has different chemical and physical properties from those of lanthanides. This metal is generally used in aluminum-scandium alloys and in fuel cells but the development of its market is slowed down by its high price (more than 1000 US$/kg for a 99.0% grade product). Indeed, the low scandium content in the continental crust (an average of 22 ppm) and the difficulties to extract it selectively from solutions containing high impurity concentrations increase the cost of the recovery processes. Nowadays, scandium is primarily recovered as a byproduct.ERAMET is developing a hydrometallurgical process in Gabon (Mabounié) in which the scandium content in the deposit reaches 10 to 100 ppm. The Maboumine project consists in the extraction and purification of uranium, niobium, tantalum and REE from Mabounié ore. In the frame of this hydrometallurgical project, ERAMET had also studied the feasibility to recover scandium as a byproduct. During the ore leaching, uranium and rare earth elements including scandium are solubilized into the pregnant leach solution (PLS). Among the various methods investigated to recover scandium from the PLS, liquid-liquid extraction using Primene JM-T as extractant was chosen and tested first at laboratory scale and then at pilot scale. Selective stripping of the loaded organic was carried out by using phosphoric acid solution, allowing the selective recovery of scandium from thorium and zirconium partially extracted from the PLS by Primene JM-T under the process conditions."

Jan 1, 2016

By O. Moselhi

This paper describes a method for selection of most suitable project delivery systems for capital projects. It expands upon the method advanced by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in 2003, and incorporates additional decision criteria and project delivery systems in a multi-tier decision computational platform. The paper integrates the analytical hierarchy process to alleviate the inherent subjectivity associated with the assignments of relative weights to selection criteria used in the CII method. It also expands the range of project delivery options to include Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Integrated Project Delivery (IDP). The range of selection criteria was expanded by 60, beyond the 20 criteria of the CII method. Relative effectiveness values are proposed for the added project delivery systems making use of recent project cases in Canada and the USA. The method was implemented in a spreadsheet application. Multiple scenarios were considered for one of the cases presented in the CII study and a sensitivity analysis performed based on the developments made in this paper. The differences in outputs between the CII method and the proposed method are discussed. This is the first decision framework that incorporates both the presently used PPP and the recently introduced IDP, along with the widely used project delivery systems. The developed method allows users to filter out the factors and alternatives that do not apply to the case at hand, based on key inputs at the upper tier. The method is flexible and can easily be expanded upon and customized by the user.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. E. Danoczi, J. A. Herbst

"Shore Gold Inc. (Shore) is presently designing a diamond processing plant for the Star and the Orion South kimberlite deposits in the Fort à la Corne (FalC) area in central Saskatchewan. The first step in the plant is diamond liberation and occurs in the comminution section. Diamond liberation is the process of breaking up the kimberlite rock, as gently as possible so as not to damage the diamonds.Autogenous grinding mills (AG mills) use a combination of impact crushing, abrasion and attrition to break up the kimberlite. The forces that occur during the actions of abrasion and attrition cause the kimberlites to break up preferentially along lines of weaknesses which offers a “diamond friendly” method of comminution.Hard competent kimberlite is commonly found in the diatreme zone as well as the root zone of the volcanic pipe and is the source of kimberlite for most of the Southern African diamond mines. Softer kimberlite is typically found in and around the crater area of a volcanic pipe and it is this kimberlite that makes up the majority of kimberlite for both the Star and Orion South deposits. These softer kimberlites can be readily broken up using abrasion and attrition imparted by AG mills. In order for Shore to benefit from the softer kimberlite found in the Star - Orion South diamond project, two large (10.97 m diameter x 7.10 m long) AG mills were designed for the comminution section based on extensive test work and simulations by Metso Minerals (Metso)."

Jan 1, 2012

By D. H. Whiting, A. J. Sinclair

"The San Antonio gold mine, in the Archean Rice Lake Greenstone Belt, was in continuous production from 1932 to 1968, during which period the mine yielded 1.35 million ounces (41 985 kg) of gold and 195,000 ounces (6065 kg) of silver from 4.88 million tons (4.44 Mt) of ore for average grades of 0.28 ounces per ton (9.0 g/t) gold and 0.04 ounces per ton (1.3 g/t) silver. After the 1968 closure, several publications appeared implying that gold grade of ore decreased with increasing depth.Recent observations by the authors show that the relatively low grades in the middle levels of the mine are controlled geologically. However, the reduced average are grade in the lower levels of the mine was due to inadequate mining control that led to a high level of dilution. The similarity of geological factors such as vein styles within structural domains, variations in mining control, recent ore muck sampling results and lithogeo chemical profiles all indicate the similarity of ore in both upper and lower levels.Strict mining control should yield improved grades of gold for future production from the lower levels at San Antonio, in contrast with the production grades of the late 19605that represented extensively diluted ore. High-quality production records are an essential component in re-evaluating a past producer, particularly where workings are accessible. Poorly founded conclusions which cannot be checked by access to workings can have a negative impact on the evaluation procedure."

Jan 1, 1990

By F. Ford, J. Dong

"Laboratory and miniplant testwork was carried out to reject uranium from an Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) deposit that contains an average of 60-70 ppm uranium with high variability. The dominate copper bearing mineral is chalcopyrite with minor bornite and trace covellite. The main gangue minerals are iron-rich chlorite, quartz and magnetite. The main uranium-containing mineral is uraninite (UO2). Downstream processes require the maximum uranium level of no more than 80 ppm in final copper concentrate.Mineralogical examination reveals that uraninite particles are finely disseminated with grain size of less than a few microns in the deposit requiring fine regrind in order to liberate uraninite from chalcopyrite particles. A lab flowsheet was developed to include ultrafine regrind of the rougher concentrate to the particle size of 80% passing 11-13 µm with up to four stages of recleaning in flotation columns. Finer regrind to 80% passing 5-6 µm may continue to improve liberation but does not decrease uranium level in the final concentrate. In each of the successive recleaning stages by flotation column after fine regrind, uraninite is rejected into the column tailings, with the final copper gold concentrate containing less than 70 ppm uranium from a feed containing 83 ppm uranium. The conceptual flowsheet was further tested in an integrated, continuous miniplant showing average 94% copper recovery with average 74 ppm uranium. The uraninite particles that report to the final concentrate are either locked with chalcopyrite or entrained as liberated particles of less than 5 µm in size."

Jan 1, 2016

By M. W. Mikhail, R. J. Mikula

"Funding has been made available through the National Energy Program to build a mobile fine coal treatment plant. The plant is intended f or field application and also to upgrade the existing pilot plant facilities.Western Canadian coals with high proportions of fines (due 10 their friability) cause high losses of fine coal to the reject and in turn reduce the over-all recovery of saleable coal. Eastern Canadian coals with high amounts of sulphur of ten require crushing to fin e sizes to liberate pyrite and therefore need effective and efficient separation of these fine sulphur particles. The difficulties involved in solving these problems are two-fold. One is the reluctance to experiment in an operating wash plant and the other is that laboratory scale testing often cannot be extrapolated to the plant environment. The mobile fine cleaning plant with its ability to operate at existing coal preparation plants across Canada and with its flexibility in implementing flowsheet option s and close monitoring of fine coal circuit variables, is ideally suited to solve these fine coal cleaning problems. The mobile plant objectives are to design and optimize flowsheets, evaluate and improve fine cleaning circuit operations and 10 lest new process monitoring and control equipment.The schedule for construction and the required resources will be outlined along with flowsheet options and the general R&D philosophy of the mobile plant.IntroductionIn relation to coal preparation technology, Canadian coal s can be grouped as Eastern coal, Rocky Mountain metallurgical coal and Foothills high volatile bituminous coal. The eastern coals have high sulphur contents and in some cases require crushing or even grinding to liberate the fine pyrite . Rocky Mountain metallurgical coals often occur in highly sheared seams which have been subjected to rapid coalification. The high friability of these coals means that degradation during mining, handling and processing is extensive and results in large amounts of fine s ranging between 20 and 60% by mass of the wash plant feed. The widely varying geo logical structure and exposure to the elements results in partially oxidized coals which perform inconsistently in the traditional method of fine cleaning by flotation . Foothills high volatile bituminous coals for thermal use are frequently interbedded with soft shales and bentonitic clays. These clays disintegrate during washing and swell, producing large volumes of tailings. The presence of clays in plant circuits, particularly fine circuits, tends to increase the viscosity and may cause deterioration of the fines density separation and increase magnetite losses. In view of the fact that fine coal cleaning is the most difficult aspect of coal preparation , a research program is being established to study the factors involved and to offer some solutions.A recent performance evaluation of Canadian washeries showed that yield losses in the minus 2 mm coal circuits were approximately ten times those occurring in the coarse coal circuits(1). Because 2 mm x 0 coal represents 30 to 70 per cent of the raw coal, these losses can be considerable . The operating and capital costs of beneficiating minus 6 mm coal are about four to five times higher than for plus 6 mm coal. In the case o f minus 2 mm coal the costs are even higher. The economic importance of the fine coal cleaning cannot be over emphasized and as a result, the CANMET R&D program is geared for fine coal beneficiation."

Jan 1, 1984

By F. Barriga-Ordonez, J. A. Finch, L. Calzado, S. R. (Ram) Rao

Sludge, formed by lime treatment of acidic drainage and stored in tailing ponds of the Sudbury region, contains 5-7% Ni, mostly in a mix of hydroxides with Fe (~ 10%), Mg (~ 10%) and Cu (-0.5%), and Ca (-3.5%) as sulphate. Investigations were conducted to recover nickel by a 2-stage process. In the first stage, the sludge was leached with sulphuric acid at pH 3.2. About 90% of the nickel was extracted, producing a solution, which contained mainly nickel (2 g/L) and magnesium (3.7 g/L). In the second stage, nickel was separated by treating with ozone which recovered 99% of the nickel in the Ni(III) oxidation state as -85% pure nickel oxide-hydroxide (NiOOH) precipitate. The oxide settled and filtered readily. A potential use of the product in battery making is suggested. The leach residue contained 0.5% Ni making it less toxic for disposal. Some physical properties of nickel oxy-hydroxide and process parameters including ozone consumption will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By M. S. Badollet, N. W. Edgerton

"A study of the physical properties of long grades of asbestos fibers imported into the United States during the past eight years has disclosed information that will contribute materially to effective selection and use of fibers for electrical products. The study embraced fiber lengths, volume resistivity under three different conditions, total iron by chemical analysis, magnetic rating, conductivity of an aqueous ex-tract and its sodium chloride equivalent.The fibers examined included chrysotiles from Rhodesia, British Columbia, and Barberton area; marlime from Bechuanaland and Province of Quebec; amosite and crocidolites from Africa and Australia; and anthophyllites from Mozambique and from Georgia in the United States. Volume resistivity values provide a relative basis for estimating the electrical performance of end products; magnetic rating -an estimate of the quantity of iron compounds present in excess of those in the asbestos structure; conductivity of an aqueous extract; and an estimate of the ionizable impurities in fibers.Tests of these factors yield in-formation, not heretofore generally known, which may serve as a guide in the evaluation of asbestos fibers for electrical products."

Jan 1, 1960

By H. Sano

Most of the dust generated from the copper smelting process in Chile has been stored after the stabilization by hydrometallurgical process because it contains high concentrations of arsenic. However, in recent years, the dust generation has increased because of degrading the quality of concentrate. In addition, the environmental regulations become stricter. On the other hand, valuable metals such as copper and zinc are contained in the dust at high concentrations and it is desirable to recover them. In this study, the effect of dust recirculation to the smelting process was examined in order not only to decrease the amount of dust but also to recover copper. Dust generation and the distribution of arsenic, lead, zinc etc. among the matte, slag and gas phases were evaluated as a function of the amount of recirculated dust, partial pressure of oxygen and temperature. It was found that the direct dust return to the smelting process was quite effective for the recovery of copper and the reduction of dust generation, but the acceptable dust amount was limited by the produced matte quality.

Jan 1, 2007

By J. Xie

In underground coal mining, the potential for an outburst of coal and gas is considered to be one of the major hazards. As such, considerable emphasis is given to understanding and preventing such events. A number of indices are used in the prediction of the outburst in a coal mine. The main indices include initial gas desorption rate, gas pressure, gas content, coal strength, gas flowrate from a borehole drilled in a coal seam, and combinations of the above. Some of these indices are considered to be inadequate, inappropriate or impractical for some coal seam conditions, such as those with soft and friable coal. The Huainan Mining Group (Huainan) in China and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia have been jointly developing gas content based technologies to predict the risk of the outbursts. One of the major progressive achievements is a new method for determination of outburst gas content threshold values. The method utilizes empirical analyses, numerical modeling, and seam-specific knowledge . This paper describes the method and its application for the #11 Seam at Guqiao mine, Huainan.

Aug 1, 2013

By B. Zeifert, C. Martínez-Morales, A. Romero-Serrano, A. Pineda-Rivera, H. Martínez-Gutiérrez, G. Diaz-Sandi

In this work, the effects of CaO/SiO2 ratio and the FeSO4 and FeS2 contents on the stability of the mineralogical species in chromium-based slags were studied. The chemical stability was evaluated by leaching with an acid solution. The main Cr-compounds in slags with FeSO4 and CaO/SiO2=1 were FeCr2O4 and Ca3Cr2Si3O12, while Cr3S4 predominated in slags with FeS2. The slags with CaO/SiO2=2 mainly contained CaCr2O4. The highest Cr concentration levels in the leaching liquors corresponded to slags with CaO/SiO2= 2, and the lowest Cr concentration corresponded to slags with high FeSO4 or FeS2, owing to the stable binding of chromium in the compounds FeCr2O4, Cr3S4 and FeS•Cr2O3.

Jan 1, 2011

By N. W. Martison, J. E. Hawley

"The Moulton Hill deposit is in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, 3 miles northeast of Sherbrooke. It is complex, both structurally and mineralogically, consisting of a narrow, irregular, mineralized zone that has been traced for a length of 600 feet, and in places to a depth of 1,000 feet, containing copper, lead, and zinc sulphides with a low content of gold and silver. It lies in a series of highly schistose micaceous rocks, believed to be of Ordovician age, but the mineralization is probably post-Lower Devonian. New details of the structure of the ore have become available since it was first described (1) , and as these show some striking peculiarities a further discussion is here merited .As detailed elsewhere, the deposit was discovered in 1942 as a result of regional geological studies followed by the application of electrical geophysical methods.Actual production began in July, 1944, and ceased in June, 1945. During the period July, 1944 to June, 1945, 75,643 tons were milled§, yielding the following:"

Jan 1, 1954

By Han Xing, Cui Jianzhong, Qin Ke, Shao Bo, Zhang Haitao

In this paper, a new approach that uses hot-top DC casting process to producing multi-alloy ingots is present. The different type and size of composite and coated ingots (4045/3004/4045 three-layer composite ingots with section 630mm by 1500mm and 4045/3003 coasted ingot with F140mm/F110mm in diameter) are cast by this approach. The macro-morphologies and microstructures of the composite ingots, the temperature distribution and the element distribution in the interface zone were investigated, also and the interface bonding strength was measured. Results show that the solid supporting layer formed on the cooling plates plays a key role in the casting process of composite ingots. The solid supporting layer can prevent the blending of two melts by resisting the impact of alloy melt, which ensures the stable casting process and casting high quality composite ingots, because the contact height is increased using hot-top DC casting. In addition, fabrication and properties of 4045/3004/4045 three-layer composite ingots with section 630mm by 1500mm are reported in detail.

Jan 1, 2015

By Changyoon Kim

Technological advances in mobile systems, such as smartphones and tablet computers, provide engineers with new opportunities to enhance the current facility management processes. Equipped with powerful system processors, touch screens, and wireless communication capabilities, mobile systems enable the experience of omnipresence of facility information. Building information modeling (BIM) also enables improvements in facility management. With an advanced data structure and visualization capacity, BIM can be used in numerous applications for facility management. This study aims to incorporate the strength of mobile systems and BIM in facility management. The proposed system, which utilizes smartphone technology, allows engineers to conduct facility management functions, such as maintenance planning, inspection, and assessment, irrespective of a user?s location. The integration of building information modeling in a system provides detailed visual information of the building components. A case study was conducted to verify the applicability of the mobile system in terms of the hardware functions, system design, and user interface. This proposed system, with its study results, provides a guideline as to how mobile systems can be effectively integrated with BIM for improved management of facility information.

Aug 1, 2013

By Robert S. G. Chapman, Kieran M. J. Downes

The Sulphide-Preview Lakes area is located 45 km northeast of La Ronge in northern Saskatchewan. It lies within the southern portion of the Proterozoic La Ronge Volcanic-Sedimentary Belt. Two styles of gold mineralization are present in the Sulphide Lake area , stratabound gold mineralization is intimately associated with a pyrite-pyrrhotite-arsenopyrite-bearing graphitic argillite unit within a sequence of intermediate to felsic volcaniclastics. Past operators established three mineralized zones along this horizon with combined reserves for two of the zones, of about 175,000 tons at 0.22 oz/ton Au. In the Preview Lake area , gold mineralization occurs in variably sheared gabbro/quartz diorite sills within a mixed sedimentary-felsic volcaniclastic sequence. Gold occurs with arsenopyrite, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite associated with quartz veins and stringers. A sulphidebearing graphitic argillite unit occurs in close proximity to the mineralized shears. Past operators delineated seven mineralized shear zones, two of which were drilltested. Average gold grades reported are in the 0.1 to 0.2 oz/ton range with erratic values up to 5.0 oz/ton.

Jan 1, 1986

By R. C. Bryce

"Accident prevention has been an on-going priorty for five years. In 1987, adherence to the ILCI five-star rating loss control program was started, and a first star was awarded. Extensive training programs have been undertaken to establish standard procedures and upgrade employee skills. Due to its location, Selbaie owns and rents housing in the town of Joutel and contracts a busing service to and from the mine. Employees from other areas are lodged in dormitories and fed in the site dining room. Accounting and warehousing services are carried out in efficient fashion. Employee relations are structured to provide prompt resolution of complaints and differences. No lost time due to industrial relations differences has been encountered during the history of the mine.Safety and Loss ControlAll mines are concerned and occupied with a wide range of activities to ensure the safety of its employees. Selbaie is no exception. Programs to achieve success in safety and loss control have been implanted since the start of construction and development at Selbaie and have followed three interesting stages of evolution."

Jan 1, 1990

By Carol E. Jones

?Reclaiming the land? in the Athabasca Oil Sands is becoming a household phrase in Canada. Advances in soil salvage and placement, increasing biodiversity of forest ecosystems and improved design of the landforms are beginning to change the trajectory of the ?reclaimed land? towards a boreal forest. The boreal forest is much more than just a forest; in the area of Fort McMurray AB, roughly one half of the boreal forest is composed of organic wetlands, often called muskeg. How important is muskeg to the boreal forest ecosystem and to the local aboriginal people? Should muskeg be reclaimed? Can muskeg be reclaimed? Ten years ago it was broadly accepted that organic wetlands could not be re-established; in fact this was so well accepted that reclamation of organic wetlands had not been attempted. Over the past decade this conclusion has been re-evaluated and research projects have been undertaken to examine the potential to create organic wetlands in a reclaimed oil sands landscape. This paper examines these questions and the research initiatives necessary to reclaim the other half of the Athabasca Oil Sands.

May 1, 2011

By D. S. Cronan, S. P. Varnavas

Abstract - Metalliferous precipitates from submarine hydrothermal discharges have been investigated at four inshore locations off Milos in the Hellenic Volcanic Arc. The fine fraction of the sediments shows considerable variability in the concentrations of elements frequently associated with hydrothermal activity. Manganese varies from 30 ppm to 2500 ppm, encompassing the entire range of values found off Santorini also in the Hellenic Arc. Iron occurs in lower concentrations than off Santorini and Yali, while other elements often associated with hydrothermal activity such as Pb, Zn, As, and Cu also show enrichments in sediments from the hydrothermal vent areas. Selective leaching studies have shown that most elements are variably distributed between the different phases of the sediments but with enriched Pb, Zn, and Mn mainly in easily soluble secondary phases. Hydrothermal inputs are strongest at Palaeochori Bay, less at Voudia Bay and lowest at the Airport Springs and Rivari. The weathering of sulfide and possibly other orebodies is also thought to contribute to some of the elements enriched, while background concentrations are largely supplied from detrital sources.

Jan 1, 1999