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By Robert B. Parsons

"New tax rules that can apply to the repayment, extinguishment, or other settlement of a company's debt are finally taking shape. These new rules are far-reaching in their application, and can affect mining companies in a serious, negative way.IntroductionIn his February 1994 budget, Finance Minister Paul Martin announced changes to the Income Tax Act that could have an adverse impact on a company that restructures its debt. Since then, the new rules have undergone considerable transformation during their fetal stage: draft legislation was introduced in July 1994; revised draft legislation was introduced December 1994; and a third version of draft legislation was introduced February 1995. It seems that the new rules have now been pretty well finalized, and they contain some serious traps that the unwary could fall into. The new rules are of particular importance to mining companies, because a mining company's resource pools will be caught under the new rules, whereas these pools escaped the wrath of the old rules. The following commentary summarizes the new rules that are generally referred to as the ""debt forgiveness"" rules."

Jan 1, 1995

By D. M. Doyle

"In this paper I will summarized the Falconbridge Nickel Mines1) energy costs and consumption data by fuel, process, cost centre and estimate our future costs and consumption patterns 2) detail the distribution of electrical energy 3) distribution of other forms of energy 4) describe present and planned energy conservation schemes; and 5) discuss economic justification and responsibility.There is sufficient material in this presentation to warrant several technical papers, however we felt that an overview of all our data and endeavors on the subject, would be most beneficial to those companies formulating energy conservation plans. The data briefly referred to in this slide presentation can be found in the technical paper.Over a five year period, total energy costs will vary between $63 and $94 MM depending on the future rate of energy cost escalation. An unrealistic 32% reduction in energy consumption is required to hold our own in the years ahead whereas an attainable 10°;, reduction in energy consumption would save $9 MM over this five year period.Total energy consumption, tonnage of ore delivered to plants and their ration BTU’s per ton of ore, are graphed for the years 1973 through 1976 and forecasted for the 1980’s. In 1974 we along with other member companies of the Mining Association, determined our purchased energy per ton consumption rate and set, as our goal, a 20% reduction by 1980. The dotted lines calculated from the energy audit, based on 1976 data shows there is a potential for a 10% increase in energy per ton. This could result from a lower than forecasted mining rate and operation of the new roasting, electric furnace and acid recovery facilities installed for environmental considerations at designed capacity."

Jan 1, 1978

By G. Thom, A. Kay, J. B. Hyde

"This paper will initially outline the specific types of copper castings used in blast furnace iron production. Tuyeres, tuyere coolers and stack cooling plates will be discussed in some depth, with particular reference to their dimensional configuration and purpose.Following this, the failure of such cooling members will be discussed, with special focus on tuyeres. Tuyeres are the most common casting which often requires replacement. Reasons for failure and its effect on operations will also be included.The latter sections of the paper will deal with the strict specifications demanded by ironmakers regarding copper castings. The justification for such rigid demands will be explained through the material presented earlier in the paper.IntroductionThe modern 5000-tpd blast furnace, worth millions, is a large capital investment to be sitting idle. Consequently, ironmakers strive to minimize the loss in iron production and revenue from furnace downtime. Two major causes of downtime are furnace relines and shutdowns to replace damaged tuyeresor tuyere coolers. Copper ancillaries are important items in the production of iron. They are consumable items, therefore they contribute to the campaign life or to the downtime in blast furnace production.Several combinations of lining and cooling systems have been used with varying degrees of success. Blast furnace refractories have evolved from ceramic to carbonaceous linings. The Russians and Japanese have successfully introduced stave-cooled furnaces that may have several forms, such as evaporative cooling. Stelco has two furnaces which use the Russian-designed cast iron system. However, this paper will be confined to the use of copper cast cooling members in a conventional internally cooled furnace.Figure 1 is a schematic cross section of the E blast furnace. The three major sections of a blast furnace-the stack, bosh and hearth-are identified. Further, the locations of the various copper members are indicated. This furnace produces an average of 5300 tons of hot metal per day."

Jan 1, 1982

By E. G. Baltuch

Natural Ventilation in mining and metallurgical processing applications is key to proper operation function. There are number of ventilator designs available to a project team or design engineers, the selection of which will affect both the type of building structure required, project costs and design performance which is difficult to rectify or re-engineer once implemented. Research and applied results, such as that performed by Air-Therm Inc., demonstrates that computational fluid dynamic simulation allows for 5 dimensional observation, analysis and optimization at significantly lowered cost than previously possible. These results have been fully implemented on a number of mining and metallurgical applications and the company continues to study, optimize and innovate as new tools become available to provide the best possible engineered solutions for particular applications.

Aug 1, 2013

By Brian Penney

"The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOCC} has mined and processed an iron deposit in Western Labrador along the Labrador-Quebec border since the early 1960' s. Current capacity is approximately 19 million tonnes of concentrate, 70% of which is converted to pellets at these facilities.The ore deposits are located in hills rising 150 to 300 meters above the adjacent lakes, and most of them are covered by very little overburden. The iron minerals are mainly specular hematite and magnetite hosted in a quartz formation. Crude ore averages 40% Fe that is concentrated to 65.5% Fe. IOCC is an extensive operation extending from Labrador City NF to Sept-Iles Quebec. It consists of open pit mining, concentrating, pelletizing, railway, and dock loading facilities.The Concentrator liberates iron from the silica by crushing and grinding the ore to -14 mesh (-1190 microns}. Ground ore is concentrated in spirals and filtered for transportation. Spiral tailings are treated in a Magnetic Recovery Plant (Mag Plant} that recovers lost magnetite. Mag Plant tailings are treated in a Hematite Spiral Plant (Hem Plant} that scavenges fine iron remaining in this stream.This report deals with ongoing iron recovery initiatives within the ConcentratorIron Losses in the ConcentratorIron recovery at IOCC is approximately 70.5%. This compares with recoveries that range from 65% to 86% for other iron mines in our area. Other world large iron ore producers dig and ship concentrate quality ore directly out of the ground and have an effective recovery of 100%. With increasing costs for labour, equipment, and supplies an increase in iron recovery is required to keep the operation viable.More than 90% of our iron concentrate is produced by gravity separation using spirals. The physical characteristics of the iron minerals that most effect recovery are mineral grain size and degree of liberation. We divide ground ore into three size categories -coarse, intermediate, and fines. A brief description of each size fraction follows:"

Jan 1, 1996

By Derek V. Ellis

Coastal and marine mines affect the seabed?s biological resources, eg fisheries, when large volume wastes such as tailings are placed on the seabed, and by the extraction processes from marine mining. Worldwide monitoring of such effects for the past 30+ years now provides information to describe Best Practice design, construction and monitoring procedures. The critical environmental factors for submarine tailings placement (STP) are the selection of an appropriate deposition site and discharge depth, the deposition rate of the tailings, and the speed of biodiversity recovery to a sustainable ecological succession. These should be predictable at new sites using current modeling and experimental procedures. Prediction procedures are still needed to minimize potential destabilization of deposited tailings, and consequent biodiversity recovery setbacks. Comparable environmental information is needed from marine mining sites.

May 1, 2002

By S. W. Marcuson

In the late 1960's concerns about the natural environment reached high levels within North America and provided activists with suitable platforms for exerting influence over the general public and politicians. In response a host of regulatory mechanisms were developed, statutes, voluntary measures, land grants, codes of practices etc. Emerging environmental awareness from the era provided impetus for rapid technological change that encompassed all industries, especially the base metal business. The resulting clean up impacted all aspects of copper production, dealing with issues such as waste disposal, water and air quality with specific impact on emissions of sulfur dioxide and particulate. This paper provides a perspective of these changes reviewing the macro-economic impact of environmental movement in mining with its specific implications to the copper smelting industry. The fundamental challenges that were faced by the old, but capital-intensive North American plants and the approaches taken to deal with the changing times are reviewed with special emphasis on the conceptual approach to smelter S02 abatement and different paths taken in the USA and Canada. The role of economics, sustainable R&D and presence of technical infrastructure that facilitated the change process is elucidated, and speculations are made about the future state of pyrometallurgy and the natural environment. Cu2007 -

Jan 1, 2007

By Robert J. Shank

This paper describes the Federal Government assistance available for northern mining development. The paper commences with a discussion of why the Federal Government should give assistance to northern mining development. It then uses a hypothetical case of a company which has a property it wants to develop to list the sectors within the . Federal Government that would have to be consulted in order to obtain federal financial assistance. The paper also outlines the type of information a company must be willing to provide the government in order to qualify for such assistance.

Jan 1, 1978

By K. Bartholomew

The Functional Performance Equation for ball milling circuits provides plant staff with a new means to improve circuit performance. However, successful execution of a plant processing performance improvement project, with verifiable improvements, requires a significant number of accompanying steps beyond using this equation. In order to identify and articulate all these steps, a study was undertaken with the metallurgical staff from two milling operations and process application specialists from a grinding media manufacturing company. “Task analysis” of improving plant grinding performance was carried out. This analysis identified the required steps, and ultimately yielded a “Plant Grinding Circuit Processing Performance Management/ Improvement System.

Jan 1, 2015

By A. S. Dawson

Introduction The purpose of this paper is to discuss, in a general way, the application of geological principles in the exploration for, and development of, deposits of industrial minerals. Mention of geological factors pertaining co specific minerals will be by way of illustration only. Since many prospectors are little acquainted with the geological setting and mode of occurrence of deposits of these minerals, some prospecting possibilities in the field will be pointed out. Geology is a tried and proven tool in the search for and exploitation of metalliferous deposits and of oil and gas fields, but, so far at least as Canada is concerned, only very rarely has a directed, intensive search been made for deposits of industrial minerals. Examples might be cited, however, where, in other countries, such investigations have yielded rich rewards. Thus, development of the vitally important potash deposits of New Mexico was the result of a deliberately planned programme of geological investigation, first by United States Government agencies, and later by private interests. War or the threat of war, or peace-time industrial expansion, can render concentrated exploration for specific minerals desirable or even essential. Such exploration is, primarily, a geological problem. Admittedly, there is in general less scope for the application of geology in the search for, and development of, deposits of industrial minerals than of metalliferous minerals, oil, etc. Where the latter are concerned; the objective of exploration is to find a material that is valuable, within broad limits, no matter where it is located or how it occurs. The unit value of the material is limited only by the amount of the valuable constituent in the formation- its possible upper limit is tremendously high. On the other hand, many industrial minerals constitute in themselves 90 per cent or more of the formation- their amount cannot increase and their unit value is commonly low. Moreover, for commercial exploitation, the deposit must, in general, be reasonably close to markets or to plant or other facilities for processing the raw material, since, owing to its low value, this cannot be transported any great distance. As a consequence, intensive geological search for and investigation of such deposits has been restricted to industrialized areas. Obviously, however, it is good insurance for any operator to understand the geological background of his deposit, particularly in the case of new developments.

Jan 1, 1949

By C. R. Kato, G. Proulx

"Within the continuous scenario of reduced aluminium price and plants production costs increase, the energy consumption optimization in the aluminum electrolytic pots continues as the main focus for the producers. Energy consumption was chosen as a key performance indicator to drive the efforts and actions for improvements. Alcoa improved the energy consumption by approximately 3% from 2005 to 2015. This improvement was a result of best practices implementation, new technologies introduction, strategic actions with plant curtailments and management practices. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of the management practices for planning and operational improvements beyond the technology changes. About 10 years ago, Alcoa reorganized its approach to retain knowledge in the Smelters by using a Best Practices format. For each specific subject, a skilled team defined the minimum requirements and the Best Practices for several aspects of operation and maintenance, which affect the environment, safety, cost, customers and performance. These Best Practices were deployed to all Smelters combined with training sessions to process and operation professionals. We will describe how the Best Practices were organized, the deployment strategy used, and the approach to measure the plants’ success. We will describe the management approach that includes Manufacturing Analyses focused on 3-year potential, annual planning, and weekly monitoring of plant stability. A manufacturing analysis is organized at select plants with cross-functional participation of specialists from technical, operational, procurement and finance. The output of a manufacturing analysis includes a roadmap of enablers to improve energy efficiency. A quarterly follow-up of enabler deployment is held with the plant and resources that participated in the analysis. Annually, there is a Planning Process where energy consumption enablers are selected to be implemented during the next 3 years for each plant. A monthly critical analysis is made by the plants with regional best practice support. On a weekly basis, key performance indicators are reviewed with determination of a stability index for each plant. Any deviation signal of unstable condition is alerted and supporting resources are diverted to the plant to reverse trend with countermeasures.INTRODUCTIONDue to factors like excess aluminum in the market and lower consumption in China, the LME price is declining along the last years, as showed in Figure 1. In 2011, the price peaked at US$ 2,400/ton and since then, continues to trend down and approaching the lowest level at US$ 1,500/ton in the last 5 years."

Jan 1, 2016

By Jeanie Wills, Theresa Nyabeze, Samantha Espley, Donna Beneteau

This presentation reports survey findings that aim to modernize the definition and understanding of the term 'mining.' The survey, conducted via LinkedIn in Winter 2024, garnered responses from a diverse group of individuals, including current or former employees of mining or exploration companies, mining consulting firms, service providers, supplier firms, as well as students and retirees with industry experience. The data, ethically approved by the University of Saskatchewan, offers valuable insights into satisfaction levels within the mining sector and suggests an expansion of the identifying characteristics of definitions of mining. This marks the third CIM gaining insights paper by Beneteau, Espley, and Nyabeze, following previous works on 'Career Satisfaction for Women in Mining' (2010) and 'Mentorship Initiatives in the Canadian Mining Industry' (2018*)."

Oct 1, 2024

By K. Adham, T. Buchholz

"Significant capacity increases to meet new production demands can often be fulfilled through debottlenecking of an existing production facility, rather than the more expensive option of building new plants and facing new environmental and infrastructure challenges. To achieve that goal, it is important to model and calculate the existing ultimate capacity of each processing plant area, and that of each key equipment sector within the plant areas. This paper describes a methodology of how process modeling tools can be used to simulate the processing steps, how to estimate their existing and ultimate capacities, and how to determine the sweet-spots (minimum cost points) for a plant expansion – leading to a road map of the subsequent debottlenecking project implementation.The debottlenecking technique is presented through a generic work-flow narrative which can be applied to different mineral processing studies, starting with establishment of heat-and-mass balances, drawing a bottleneck diagram, brainstorming capacity increase options, and preparing a cost-capacity curve. Hatch has successfully applied this technique to a number of plant capacity studies, with great benefits to our industrial clients.INTRODUCTIONWith the softening of the metals and minerals prices, and the escalated costs of building new processing plants, it is now economically more viable to improve and debottleneck the existing facilities, rather than build new ones. However, spending new money on old plants requires careful considerations, in order to identify the most economically advantageous incremental steps of improvement and the best potential returns on investment. Process modeling, hand in hand with plant measurements, can identify the best scenarios to balance the three aspects of plant capacity (nameplate, utilization and yield), both at the global and the individual system and subsystem levels."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. R. Dinn

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 23rd last; there was an unusual occurrence at the surface plant of the Dominion Coal Company's Caledorria mine, Glace Bay, which operates on the Phalen seam, here lying at a depth of 170 feet from the surface. On that day, the writer, who was attending a business conference in the General Office about a mile distant from the Colliery, received a telephone call to the effect that there was a strong odour of gasoline or kerosene in the wash-house and lamp-house of the Colliery, and that the attendants in both the wash-house and the lamp-house had become ill and had had to be sent home. Instructions were given at once to cut off the electric current, and to close all doors to prevent access to the building. When the writer arrived at the plant and questioned the workmen, he was led to the belief that the gasoline tank in the lamp-house (used in connection with flame safety lamps) had leaked and that the gas, having volatilized, had displaced sufficient oxygen to cause the trouble. Emphasis was being placed on the kerosene, or, as some said, the gasoline, odour. In the lamp-house, there is a small shuttered window which opens on a corridor. Here the workmen receive their lamps from the lamp attendant. An examiner, with a flame safety-lamp, proceeded to test the atmosphere within the building by passing his lamp through the open window, since, if the trouble was due to volatilized gasoline, a gas cap would be shown on the flame of the safety-lamp. After holding the lamp for a few seconds inside of the window, he withdrew it and remarked, "There's no gas cap" . Almost immediately the lamp fell from his hand and he dropped unconscious to the floor of the corridor. The writer, who was standing beside him, felt no ill effects and removed him at once from the corridor. Steps were immediately taken to revive him ( artificial respiration) , and in about ten minutes he became conscious and was breathing naturally. In making the examination, his head was not inside the window, but in line with the frame of it. It was apparent that some gas more deadly than the hydrocarbons from gasoline was present.

Jan 1, 1934

By Eugene (Gene) Bounds

The Mining industry faces many challenges, one of which is the demand to communicate over a variety of media, be it visual, sound, voice, data or any combination. Over the years multiple infrastructures have been put in place to overcome environmental obstacles and address these communication needs. A mine is an aggressive environment for electronic equipment and as such only the best quality equipment can perform under those special conditions of e.g. temperature, dust and humidity. Siemens Canada and its partner LComm will discuss a mining solution using a unique combination of technologies based on fibre optics, standard communication interfaces, passive antenna infrastructure and wireless services. The presentation looks at maximizing the use of infrastructure, reducing costs, addressing difficulty of communications coverage above and below the surface and the capability to future proof the capital investment as new requirements and applications are identified. Discussion will address: Wireless voice, high speed data Data acquisition for process control from sensors Video for remote control and security Miner safety and location Timely receipt of large volumes of information

Apr 1, 2005

By D. B. Dreisinger, M. Mokmeli, B. Wassink

Dissemination of selenium and tellurium in sulphide minerals results in the contamination of pregnant leach solutions and electrolytes in the hydrometallurgical treatment of sulphide ores and residues. The selenium and tellurium content of the copper sulphate-sulfuric acid solution may be reduced into insoluble precipitates of copper selenides and tellurides using cuprous ion. This study presents the use of the thermodynamics and kinetics for the removal process of selenium and tellurium in real life application. Dominant species of selenium and tellurium in acidic copper sulfate solutions were identified and the reduction rates of species were compared. The findings were applied to industrial conditions by modeling the Vale’s CRED (Sudbury, Canada) plant’s selenium and tellurium purification circuit. Rate reducing factors on selenium and tellurium removal were identified and discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. M. Rios

Without conscious effort and understanding, a number of factors peculiar to mineral exploration campaigns conspire against building sustainability in host communities. These include the episodic and transitory presence of an exploration team in the community and the inherent uncertainty of outcomes; most projects fail. Given these circumstances, there is a strong tendency to apply a simple formula of providing employment, pragmatic philanthropy and supporting infrastructure improvements (roads, schools and clinics) to demonstrate that mining provides benefits. Experience in rural native communities of Mesoamerica has shown that it is possible to create positive, sustainable outcomes quite rapidly within communities, which build capacity, improve quality of life and support a strong social license to operate. Success comes from an understanding of community structure and dynamics; engaging with all segments of the community; creating healthy, transparent and accountable relationships based on clearly defined roles and responsibilities; and supporting and strengthening the role of women in a culturally appropriate way. To this are added innovative and culturally appropriate ways of incorporating sustainability through genuine social investment in areas more typically addressed by exploration companies; health, education, and environmental management.

Aug 1, 2013

By N. Bahrani

Photogrammetry surveys were used to document a footwall slab failure that occurred at a surface coal mine located on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Photographs taken before and after the failure provided the pre- and post-failure geometry of the slope and the failed slab. A 2D finite element model was constructed using slope profiles. The model contained joint elements that represented the bedding surface upon which the slab slid and the model was used to analyze the footwall slope. The in situ stresses, rock properties and the bedding surface shear strength and stiffness properties are discussed. The process of mining out a valley and exposing a highwall was modelled. As expected, elastic valley rebound occurred in the model, but shear stress and shear displacement reversals along the slip surface were also observed. The modelling results provided new insight into shear strength degradation that occurs when the pit floor approaches and then passes a specific point in the highwall.

Jan 1, 2009

By Norman A. Grant

"Location and Transportation FacilitiesTHE BEAVERLODGE area of North Saskatchewan is on the north side of lake Athabasca, 500 air miles northeast of Edmonton.The main Eldorado operation and townsite are on the north •side of Beaverlodge lake, which is immediately north of lake Athabasca and is separated from it by only a mile long portage at Lodge bay. The once famous town of Goldfields. Saskatchewan, and the Box property of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited, are located on lake Athabasca nine mines from Beaverlodge townsite.Previously, all Eldorado freight was delivered by barge at the Lodge Bay portage, hauled across the portage, and across Beaverlodge lake by small Northern Transportation Company barges, which involved many handlings.In 1952 the port of 'Bushell' was established at Black bay. This is a particularly snug harbour, well protected from the main body of the lake and with good foundations for docking facilities. A Butler building, 300 ft. by 60 ft., and tank farms provide storage at the port. A •road from Bushell to the main Beaverlodge operation, a distance of twelve miles through rugged terrain, was built by the Saskatchewan Government. The cost was shared by the Saskatchewan Government, the Federal Government, and Eldorado and other mining companies.Along this road are located the properties of several enterprising mining companies and near the midpoint lies the ambitious budding town of Uranium. This road has made portaging unnecessary and palletized freight loaded at Waterways, Alta., is now loaded directly on trucks at Bushell and delivered to the point of consumption."

Jan 1, 1953

By H. Oterdoom, S. Pilger, T. P. Bui, J. Rotarius

"Most FeNi furnaces used to rely on post-combustion and off-gas cooling inside the furnace to eliminate the produced CO gas, and control the off gas temperature. As furnace load, capacity, and thus gas volumes increased over the years, this led to increased instabilities that can cause problems in controlling the operation. Some of the large capacity furnaces nowadays work with partial or full combustion outside the furnace, more similar to the steel industry. Forced combustion with or without enriched air and other additions can support in controlling post-combustion, stabilizing and even reducing off gas amounts, and affecting composition. This paper presents some of the possibilities and advantages of having a specially designed post-combustion system for the FeNi laterite industry, but that could also be applied to other processes as well.Large Scale Furnaces In the FeNi industry, the Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) process is still going strong in spite of continuous hope that hydrometallurgical processes will one day make the RKEF plant obsolete. Within the pyrometallurgical plants there is a continuous trend for larger scale furnaces. The development for a number of furnaces that were started before 1985 and increased capacity by “natural growth” is given in Figure 1. Natural growth refers to the development of the plants that after having mastered a certain level of operation, were ready for a higher load that could be installed either with a new furnace on the same site, or during a revamp. The advantages of natural growth are numerous, for example: •,Deep knowledge of the ore and its’ behavior, no need for testing, and little risk of surprises. •,Mining, laboratory, equipment, etc. is all proven technology for the conditions on site. •,Starting a furnace with increased capacity is a re-start, not a green-field commissioning. •,Typically, when increasing the production capacity of an existing plant, not the entire plant is commissioned for the first time, but only a part. In the FeNi laterite industry for example, the kilns may already have had the capacity to provide enough material."

Jan 1, 2017