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By Ahmad Ghahreman, Lin Li

"In this study, the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox reaction kinetics on the surface of pyrite, have been investigated in a 0.5 mol L-1 sulfuric acid solution for a temperature range of 22 to 65°C. Based on mixed potential theory, chronoamperometry is introduced to study the Fe(II)/Fe(III) kinetics by subtracting the current density of pyrite oxidation in an iron-free acidic solution from that in an iron-containing solution at the same applied polarized potential. Tafel behavior was established by this method to analyze the kinetics of the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox reactions. The results showed that exchange current densities increased slightly with temperature, however remained on the order of 10-5 A cm-2. The activation energy for Fe(II) oxidation and Fe(III) reduction on the pyrite surfaces was calculated to be 102.0 and 32.7 kJ mol-1, respectively. Anodic transfer coefficients also increased, from 0.24 to 0.39, with increasing temperature, which indicates a weakened n-type semiconductor property at higher temperatures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements have indicated that at lower anodic over potentials the charge transfer is the rate determining step of pyrite oxidative dissolution in sulfuric acid solution. In the presence of Fe ions, the major contribution of the total current density comes from the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox reaction. INTRODUCTION Pyrite, an abundant sulfides mineral in the nature, is commonly considered a valueless gangue mineral frequently associated with other valuable sulfide minerals such as chalcopyrite, or metals such as gold, or coal (Lin & Say, 1999). Pyrite oxidation has been the subject of extensive research in view of gold metallurgy, as oxidation of pyrite is the initial step to break down the pyrite lattice and expose the encapsulated fine gold particles (Gasparrini, 1983). Fe(III) ion and dissolved oxygen (DO) have generally been considered as the two most important oxidants with respect to pyrite oxidation, having been studied extensively in previous research (Zheng, Allen, & Bautista, 1986; King Jr & Lewis, 1980). The process of pyrite oxidation can be viewed as a series of reactions amongst pyrite, ferrous, ferric and oxygen in which pyrite is initially oxidized by the dissolved oxygen in water forming ferrous (Eq. 1), and then the ferrous also is oxidized by he dissolved oxygen to form ferric (Eq. 2). The ferric, produced by reaction 2, then could potentially oxidize pyrite (Eq. 3) and convert to ferrous."

Jan 1, 2017

By C. G. Williams

IN preparing this paper on Canadian mine taxation, there has been no attempt to detail the requirements of the various taxing bodies; but rather to consider the matter from the standpoint of its underlying principles and give a general idea of the methods adopted. I have added an Appendix setting forth the principal features of the various Acts, which should be used for general reference only, since new rulings alter minor details from time to time. In current legislation, many important points are left to the discretion of the Ministers and their deputies. We are, indeed, fortunate in having in Canada an able and conscientious body of permanent officials, who bring a sense of justice and courtesy to their work which is most commendable, and which has done much to simplify the working out of general problems. The production of metals may rightly be deemed a form of manufacture, but differs from the average manufacturing business in three important respects: (1) In its early stages, it is wholly speculative, since it is impossible to make any definite appraisal of value or possibilities. (2) The principal asset of any mine, i.e., the ore in the ground, is a wasting asset, and is irreplaceable. (3) Any additional burden by way of taxation cannot be passed on to the public but must be borne entirely by the producer. Having regard to the first of these differences, it is apparent that, since the risk of loss is great, the reward in case of success must be correspondingly great. This fact seems to be constantly overlooked by those who regard the all too few outstanding successes in Canadian mining history as fit prey for predatory legislation. As an illustration of the speculative nature of early mining development, let us consider the Province of Ontario-and I take this illustration simply because I am more familiar with conditions there, and not because I believe it differs greatly from any other province. From 1907 to 1933, 165,243 claims were staked and recorded, from which 43 mines were developed which paid one or more dividends. There was, of course, some duplication through re-staking; also, on some claims very little work was done, and most mines have more than one claim. But, since staking and recording cost real money and effort, each of these claims must have been considered to have had merit.

Jan 1, 1935

By Max W. Ball

YOU have been kind enough to ask me to speak to you on "The War and Anglo-American Relations." A speaker always takes the liberty of putting his own interpretation on the scope of his subject. I am going to exercise that privilege, and try to look back over a generation of Anglo-American relationships and forward beyond the present war. I should like particularly to consider responsibilities as well as relationships. A more accurate caption for what I am going to say would be "Anglo-American Responsibilities.?? THE WAR WILL BE WON I am assuming that sooner or later we shall win this war. History and economics point to the same conclusion, that Germany has attempted the impossible and that the seeds of defeat are already sown. As to one ecof1:omic factor, I am already on public record as believing that Germany's oil supply is inadequate for the war she has launched. That opinion is unchanged. Aside from such tangible factors, moreover, I am convinced that the spirit of freedom is unquenchable, and that no combination of powers will be able to rout it from the British Commonwealth of Nations and the United States. Stronger even than this conviction is my faith in a God who will not suffer the defeat of man's aspiration to be master of his own soul. I am sure that all of you share that faith, and that we need not argue it. We can start with the assumption that the war will end in victory. The subject we are to consider, then, is the relationship of the English-thinking peoples during the conflict, and their joint responsibilities in the difficult days that will follow it. A CANADIAN-AMERICAN No talk on such a subject is worth listening to unless the audience knows the background and fundamental beliefs of the speaker. No human statement stands alone; behind and beside and within it are the ideals and the bias of the man who makes it. Because I am a stranger to most of you, I am constrained to talk about myself before I talk about more important matters. The review may be profitable, not because of the subject, but because it may illustrate the evolution of an attitude toward England.

Jan 1, 1941

By I. Stefanou, J. Sulem

"In the last thirty years, the study of earthquake mechanisms has emphasized the major role of rock friction. Earthquakes appear to be the result of a frictional instability and occur by sudden slippage along a pre-existing fault or a plate interface. Multiphysics couplings play a major role in earthquake nucleation and seismic slip. The effect of shear heating and thermal pressurization may be of prime importance in the control of the stability of shear deformation inside the slipping zone. Other mechanisms in relation with thermal decomposition of minerals affect the pore pressure and the temperature evolution of the system, and can play a significant role in the extreme strain localization observed in field. The actual width of the localized zone is a key parameter for understanding fault weakening mechanisms. On the basis of field observations, laboratory experiments and recent advanced modeling, these phenomena are analyzed and discussed in order to bring some new insights in the understanding of earthquakes nucleation.INTRODUCTIONIn the last thirty years, the study of earthquake mechanisms has emphasized the major role of rock friction. Earthquakes appear to be the result of a frictional instability and occur by sudden slippage along a pre-existing fault or a plate interface (Scholz, 1998; Sykes, 1978). The conceptual model of spring slider system is commonly used to represent the interaction between an elastic crustal block and a fault zone. Stick-slip instability is possible if the softening rate of the shear resistance of the fault zone is high enough as compared to the stiffness of the crustal block. Therefore, weakening mechanisms that can explain how the frictional resistance of a fault decreases with slip and/or slip rate is of prime importance to understand how an earthquake nucleates. In recent years, several drilling programs in active faults (e.g. the Nojima fault in Japan, Boullier, 2011; the Aigion Fault in Greece, Cornet et al. 2004, the Chelungpu fault in Taiwan, Ma et al. 2006, and the San Andreas fault in the U.S.A. Ellsworth et al. 2000) as well as high velocity friction experiments (e.g. Tanikawa et al 2012a; Tanikawa et al. 2012b) have highlighted the physico-chemical processes involved in the nucleation of seismic slip (see for the example the review paper of Niemeijer et al. 2012)."

Jan 1, 2015

Risk management has taken on renewed vigor since the economic crisis of the late 2000s. The resources of governments, individuals, and corporations are being stretched to a point where only the most promising projects move forward. Risk management is a crucial part of the decision making process, yet it remains a broad term that includes disciplines from engineering to finance. A collaborative effort will be necessary to ensure that the most auspicious and appropriate projects are the ones moving forward. Risk management can be quantified to an extent by comparing the likelihood of an instance with the result of consequence of the instance occurring. In this manner it is possible to assign risk factors to instances and ultimately, begin to associate monetary value to the instance. Carbon sequestration is an emerging field that has a number of unique challenges. Risk management and mitigation must be an integral part of the overall picture. This begins with the planning and design phase, continues through implementation and production, site closure, and does not cease until termination of liability. The ability of carbon sequestration projects to successfully assess, mitigate, and recover from leaks will be a decisive characteristic of overall success. The costs of mitigation and failure will need to be analyzed on a test level, but will still need to be reliable enough to extrapolate to a commercial level operation. This paper will build a risk management profile based on case studies and field tests in Tennessee and Virginia. These tests are scheduled to commence in late 2013 and consist of small-scale injection tests in unconventional storage reservoirs with an emphasis on enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery and enhanced gas recovery. The ultimate goal will be to provide a clear and concise direction to move carbon sequestration from the test phase to commercial scale. While it is necessary from a risk management perspective to analyze all risk points, the scope of this paper will focus on pre-injection risk assessment for carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage potential. Despite the differences between the two tests, CBM compared to shale among other differences, a framework for analysis and mitigation can be developed pertaining to leakage risk. The probability of each type of failure will be assessed and analyzed, and plans to mitigate or reduce these risks will be reviewed.

Aug 1, 2013

By S. Yadav, T. G. Murthy, C. Saldana

"An experimental study has been carried out in order to study the deformation of porous brittle materials under plane strain indentation. Gypsum, which is well known model system for understanding the behaviour of soft rocks, is used in this study. The effect of wedge angle is investigated in this research through this series of experiments, using wedges of 3 different apical angles. High-speed, high-resolution images are captured using a CMOS camera during the experiment. The images obtained are analyzed using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) algorithm in order to obtain the evolving velocity, strain-rate and strain fields.INTRODUCTIONThe problem of indentation, which is usually referred to in the context of hardness testing is ubiquitous as a material characterization technique for a large class of solids. Mechanical properties of materials such as yield stress, flow stress, fracture toughness, elastic moduli etc. can be related to the hardness of a given solid. The indentation problem involves a given material or solid (whose properties are to be determined) indented by a relatively harder material (indenter) allowing the solid to undergo plastic deformation, which is then related to the yield stress of the material. The problem of indentation and its variants see many applications ranging from mining and petroleum industry, infrastructure industry, manufacturing, and biomedical sectors. Indentation has been extensively studied in metals, with accurate measurement of deformation parameters, stresses and comparison with analytical solutions. On the other hand, understanding of indentation in other class of solids such as cellular solids, porous solids, rocks, and soft solids is still nascent. In case of rocks, a comprehensive understanding of the indentation problem is very crucial because of the obvious applications in mining, petroleum and infrastructure sectors. The inherent porosity, the brittle nature of the rocks, adds to the complexity of indentation in these porous brittle solids. Various theoretical models with degrees of simplifying assumptions have been proposed to study the indentation in rocks. The most common model used in the study of indentation in rocks is a cavity expansion model, wherein a blunt indenter indenting into a rock is approximated with the expansion of cylindrical or spherical cavity in an elastic-plastic material. Complementary studies in understanding fracture initiation and propagation due to indentation has been largely based on the studies of traditional brittle materials such as glass."

Jan 1, 2015

By Alan E. Gallie

FOR many years the Witwatersrand has been the leading gold mining r camp in the world and, to a Canadian mining student, could not fail to be of overwhelming interest. The vast scale upon which the operations are conducted, the enormous production accomplished, and the perfection of the operative technique, have all so forcibly impressed themselves on his memory that it is difficult to select any one feature as more outstanding than another. For the purposes of this paper, however, the author has selected the very first feature of mine operation with which he came in contact, namely, shaft sinking, as it reflects, quite as well as any other, the spirit of mining in South Africa. Early mining in Johannesburg was by open cuts or trenches, dug along the outcrops of the reefs. The ore was thrown from bench to bench to the surface. As the depth increased, rock was hoisted by bullocks. In 1887, the first shafts were sunk and true underground work began. At the same time, boreholes were put down to test the continuity of the reefs at depth. The first was at the Village Main reef. It cut the South reef at 517 feet and the Main reef leader at 581 feet. The Main reef leader assayed eleven penny-weights. Subsequent boreholes proved the reefs down to thousands of feet. Many companies secured deep-level claims as a direct result of the information obtained from the early holes. These companies then held land on which there was no readily available ore. In order to get to their pay rock, vertical shafts through the upper strata were necessary. Shareholders were impatient, and shafts had to be sunk as speedily as possible. The old methods of shaft sinking were investigated, new methods developed, and soon all records were being broken. In the last thirty-five years, the record has been slowly advanced, and last summer it was again broken to stand at 430 feet in a 31-day month. During the period from 1915 to 1935 inclusive, in the Witwatersrand district, 96 miles of shafts were sunk. Today, with the advance in the price of gold and the increase in the mining area, there are over twenty-five major shaft-sinking operations being carried on.

Jan 1, 1937

By Marvin J. Udy

THE preparation of this paper is in response to many requests for in-formation on the mining and smelting developments which have been carried on for the past three years or more by the Chromium Mining and Smelting Corporation of Canada. By way of introduction, the following paragraphs, relating to the early history and present status of the chrome-mining industry in the United States, are of interest. They are quoted from Bulletin No. 76 of the California State Mining Bureau, published in August, 1918: 'Chromium was discovered about 1797 by a French chemist, Louis Nicolaus Vauquelin, in ore from Siberia. From that time until 1827, the Urals, in the region of Ekaterinburg, supplied the chromium used in . Europe. In the summer of 1827, as the historian advises us, Isaac Tyson, Jr., saw in a Baltimore market-place a cart containing a cider barrel, which was held from rolling about by some heavy black stones. He had made a study of such stones at the first-known American locality, the Bare hills near his father's home, six miles from Baltimore, and he recognized the black stones as chromite. On inquiry, he found the chromite came from the Reed farm in Harford county, 27 miles northeast of Baltimore. At this time, Tyson was one of the very few men in the country who knew the value of chromite, and in the next few years he took full advantage of this knowledge. He immediately bought the Reed farm. He found about 30 tons of float-ore on the surface, but there was no outcrop of ore in place. Never-theless, he sank a shaft, and at a depth of eight feet struck an ore-pocket which proved to be 80 ft. long, 25 ft. wide, and 8 ft. in maximum thickness. His next discovery was of placer chromite in the sands in the beds of brooks on an estate called Soldiers' Delight, 16 miles northwest of Baltimore. Thus far, Tyson's observations had shown him that chromite occurred apparently only in serpentine areas. His explorations were now leading him farther afield. In 1828, he found on the Wood Farm, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, a deposit of float chromite which led him to lease the ore-right of the farm, which he finally purChased in 1832. Here he developed the famous Wood mine, the largest single producer of chromite in the world.

Jan 1, 1938

By A. Brian Hawkins

"When pyrite oxidizes in dark grey/black, calcareous, mudrocks or in argillaceous limestones, ferrous sulfate is formed and sulfuric acid is released. The sulfuric acid combines with the calcite present in the rock and calcium sulfate (gypsum) develops. When this occurs on the outer edges of aggregate particles, the gypsum forms in the matrix hence there may be little expansion of the general material. However, when the chemical reactions occur within the rock fragments, particularly on microscopic, clayrich, laminae, the developing crystals exert a significant pressure on the host material. If the rock is medium strong to strong, the force of crystallization splits the rock along the weaker planes, facilitating the ingress of the oxidizing agents and the continuation of the chemical reactions. In addition to causing dilation/heave, some of the engineering properties of the material are changed, including the strength, Los Angeles value, water absorption etc. As a consequence material, which at the time of quarrying would be acceptable for use beneath floors or hardstandings, would no longer be considered suitable.INTRODUCTIONMudrocks accreting in aerobic environments are frequently disturbed by organisms and as a consequence there is often little sign of bedding. In contrast, sediments which have formed in anoxic environments commonly have distinct bedding planes which, because of the grain size of the accreting material, are often smooth and planar. These rocks are frequently referred to as shales, which O’Brien and Slatt (1990) define as “characterised by a finely laminated structure, which imparts a fissility approximately parallel to the bedding.” This should not be confused with rhythmic bedding where the variation in grain size results in lithological laminations or colour changes.Early geologists, in the stratigraphic naming of rocks, often used the term shale for material which is now more likely to be described as mudstone or mudrock (Hawkins and Pinches, 1992). In many contexts, the width of the bedding is an important factor, not only in determining the rock name but also in indicating the potential engineering characteristics. Until recently a shale was considered to have bedding separations of less than 20mm, i.e. the bedding was described as laminated. However, in an engineering context, EN 14689: 2003, Annex A, defines shale by specifying a bedding thickness of < 6mm; such a material would be described as thinly laminated in BS 5930:1999. Ideally the term shale should be abandoned and be replaced by fissile mudstone or fissile mudrock."

Jan 1, 2015

By T. V. Nethery

Introduction A brief account of the East Malartic fire is essential if this paper is to serve the purpose implied by its title. The fire originated in the timbers of No. 4 shaft at the 10th, or 1,570-foot, level; this was the top or collar of the underground sinking operations. At the time, sinking was in progress and the shaft bottom was 242 feet below the 12th station horizon, or 618 feet &apos;below the l0th level. Above the l0th level, the shaft was not in use as the surface plant was not yet completed. The shaft crews descended from surface in No. 3 vertical shaft to the l0th level, where they transferred to No. 4 shaft, a distance of 1,450 feet. Of the sixteen shaftmen mucking at the shaft bottom, four were able to reach safety. One shaftman was overcome by fumes midway between the two shafts on the l0th level, while attempting his escape. The remaining eleven men climbed as far as the 11th station and there succumbed to carbon monoxide. No. 4 shaft, inclined at 61 degrees, bad been raised and timbered from the 10th level to surface; this bad been followed by sinking operations below the l0th. Two air hoists had been set up in the footwall of the shaft, 110 feet above the 10th level, and directly behind compartments No. 2 and No. 4. The waste from the shaft bottom was hoisted in 28-cubicfoot buckets on mono rails and dumped over standard shaft sinking doors into waste chutes built into No. 1 and No. 3 compartments. The five-compartment shaft, 7 ft. 8 in. by 34 ft. 6 in. overall size, was heavily timbered. In addition to the standard shaft timbers of 8 in. by 8 in. and 8 in. by 10 in. B.C. fir, the hanging-wall and ends of the shaft were laced with 4-inch spruce lagging. This represented approximately 300 board feet of timber in placee for every foot of shaft. The cause of the fire bas never been determined, despite every effort to do so. The inquest held for those who lost their lives in the fire was an extremely thorough one, but only the location of the origin, and not the cause, was established.

Jan 1, 1950

By H. Kim

"IntroductionThe Hat Creek coal field contains low-grade coal deposits which are the thickest in the world. The diamond drilling and geophysical surveys conducted by B.C. Hydro over the last six years have indicated in excess of 2 billion tonnes of sub-bituminous to lignitic coal. The coal field is in the Interior Plateau Dry Belt, about 240 km northeast of Vancouver, and contains two explored, nearsurface coal deposits amenable to surface mining (Fig. I). The No. I deposit contains approximately 740 million tonnes of coal at 17.71 MJ / kg, or 7,600 Btu/lb, at 34.82% ash and 24% moisture. The No. 2 deposit to the south contains appreciably more coal resources at somewhat lower grade, but it has not been explored so extensively because of its higher stripping ratio. Therefore most of the exploration activities to date have been directed toward the development of the No. I deposit. The No . I coal deposit has been selected as the source of fuel for a proposed thermal powerplant to be built about 5 km east of the deposit. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the data obtained from the diamond drilling and the geophysical logging in the No. I deposit between 1974 and 1979. An attempt is made to explain the depositional environment of the Hat Creek coal measures. Because the understanding of the depositional environment in.a particular basin is essentially an evaluation of all the geologic properties of the area, the available geological information in the No. I deposit has been compiled on the basis of consistent criteria. This includes data on the lithology of the coal measures, thickness and areal distribution of the elastic sediments, and on the changes in the megascopic stratigraphic profile based on geophysical correlation. The palynopetrographic relationship and detailed sedimentological aspects are not examined in this paper. Such studies should provide important information relating the causal vegetal and chemical responses of the coals to -environmental changes. Extensive deposition of surficial materials during de-glaciation left most of the area of the Upper Hat Creek Valley devoid of bedrock exposures. Structural and stratigraphic features are hidden beneath glacial deposits and/or post-Eocene volcanics. As a result, the geological interpretation of the Hat Creek coal basin has been based primarily on drilling and geophysical data. Because of this, any explanation of the depositional environment details is tentative until the deposits are stripped for development."

Jan 1, 1985

By R. A. Halet

"The Malartic Gold Fields mine is a good example of the association of ore deposits with a major fault zone. It also exemplifies the control exerted by the physical and chemical character of the host rocks on the localization of orebodies.The mine is in Fourniere and Dubuisson townships, Abitibi county. It is 6 miles east of the town of Malartic, 9n the main highway and railway from Noranda to Val d'Or.The discovery of the mine is due largely to the enterprise of the late J. P. Norrie, who organized the present Company in 1935. The ground is entirely covered by overburden, but Mr. Norrie believed that the extension of the Cadillac-Malartic 'break', the principal ore-bearing structure of the district, would be found on this group of claims. This belief was supported by the discovery of gold-bearing float in the area, and was confirmed by a dip-needle survey and a few pilot diamond drill holes that showed that the favourable Malartic greenstone band passes through the centre of the property.In this way the most favourable area for prospecting was narrowed to a zone 2 ½ miles long by ½ mile wide underlain' by greenstone. The remainder of the property is underlain by sedimentary rocks, which, from experience elsewhere in the camp, were not considered as promising. However, as the entire surface is covered by deep overburden, the location of orebodies even within this more or less restricted area could be accomplished only by a long campaign of diamond drilling. Systematic diamond drilling began in 1936.The contacts of the greenstone band were considered to be the most promising places to begin the work, and the early drilling was concentrated on the south contact, because the orebody of the East Malartic mine, 4 miles to the west, had been discovered on this structure and it was reasonable to hope for a repetition of these conditions. Although the south contact was very thoroughly explored, with a certain amount of encouragement, the work did not prove the existence of deposits of ore grade, and attention was shifted to the north contact zone of the greenstone band. In this locality much more promising results were obtained, and a number of good orebodies were outlined."

Jan 1, 1954

By G. Vibert Douglas

"Gold occurs in Nova Scotia in three ways, saddle reefs, fissure veins, and fossil placers. Of these the saddle reefs are the commonest. They have been the source of most of the gold and have also been the subject of most of the literature on the gold occurrences.The Meguma or Gold-bearing series of Nova Scotia is a conformable succession of quartzite's and slates, possibly Precambrian in age, which have been folded into a number of anticlines and synclines that strike (Fig. 1) roughly east and west. This folding has been termed Acadian and is probably a westward continuation of the Caledonian revolution in Britain. It may have started in the Ordovician and continued through the Silurian and into the Lower Devonian. It was followed by the intrusion of the great Devonian granite batholiths. It is thought that the mineralization is connected with the late phases of the cooling of the granite. As the name saddle reef implies, the veins form on the crests and flanks of the anticlines, possibly in the synclinal troughs as well. The beds favoured by the solutions are the slates. The reason for this is apparent when it is realized that in order to fold over 30,000 feet of sediments (the thickness of the Meguma according to E. R. Faribault) through p radians of arc it is necessary to have a differential movement between the top and bottom beds of p times the thickness of the sediments. In the case of the Gold-bearing series, in which strong quartzite beds lie between incompetent slate beds, most of this differential movement was taken up in the slates. The evidence for this is the remarkably fine drag folding and the intense shearing and comminution of some of the beds of slate (Fig. 1). The quartzites exhibit some shearing and faulting, but there is little doubt that the greater permeability lay along the incompetent slate beds. The mineralizing solutions followed these beds and also passed from one slate bed to another through a joint or fault in the intervening bed of quartzite. These joining veins are called angulars in Nova Scotia. Within the veins the gold is in shoots and the real problem is to find out what controls the position and extent of the shoots."

Jan 1, 1954

By J. F. Wright

Introduction Previous to 1924 the mining fields of Manitoba and adjoining territory had not been prospected in detail, and the reports of the exploration of the mineral discoveries to that date had been discouraging. As a result of the apparent failure of all the mining operations, some considered that geological conditions in the country westward from lake Superior extending across western Ontario, eastern and northern Manitoba, and northern Saskatchewan, were different from those in the northeastern part of Ontario, where large gold mines had been developed. Discoveries of importance thus were necessary to renew interest in the mining possibilities of this part of the Canadian Shield, and the successful operations at Flin Flon and Howey in large part were responsible for the beginning of the present activity in what may be described as the part of the pre-Cambrian Shield within central Canada. In Manitoba, the more important developments at present are in the Central Manitoba, Gods Lake, and Knee Lake fields. The large area from west of Flin Flon east to Herb Lake, also, is being explored carefully for gold deposits of merit. A number of properties in Red Lake, Woman Lake, and Pickle Crow areas are being drilled and explored underground. Many of the mines of the Lake of the Woods area, that were producing gold 30 years ago, are re-opened, and new prospects in this field and in the country to the east are being explored. The recent development of Little Long Lac mine in an area near the railway, and considered by some to have been thoroughly prospected years ago, has stimulated interest in the areas formerly prospected. In the autumn of 1934, the belts of greenstone and sediments in the country east of lake Nipigon were staked, and deposits in these fields will be explored in detail this year. This paper is presented to discuss the general features of the geology and gold deposits of the various prospecting fields in Manitoba and adjoining territory. Details of a number of the areas and mines will be presented at this meeting in papers by Barton on Little Long Lac, Tanton on Sturgeon River, Baker on Gods Lake, and Brownell and Kinkel on Flin Flon. Although mining was not active in most of this territory previous to 1930, geologists of the various government departments continued field studies and interesting reports were issued.

Jan 1, 1935

By A. McLean, X. Men

"With high quality sulphide ores diminishing, nickel production from low-grade oxide ores becomes increasingly important and a major concern is the high sulphur level in the resultant ferro-alloy. So, desulphurization of the ferronickel becomes an important consideration. Red mud is a waste product of alumina industry and causes adverse effects on environment. In the present study, experiments were conducted to determine feasibility of using red mud as a major ingredient of refining fluxes for ferronickel desulphurization. In view of their influence on slag-metal separation, contact angle measurements between ferronickel alloy and molten slag made from red mud were also determined. INTRODUCTIONNickel is a very important metal that finds a variety of applications including consumer products, building, automotive and electronics. There are two kinds of ores containing nickel, namely oxide and sulphide ores. Anthony and Flett [1] reported that about 55% of the world’s nickel production originates from sulphide ores while the balance of new nickel is derived from oxide ores. However, oxide ores count for about 70% of the worldwide reserves. Apparently, oxide ores will play a significant role in the production of nickel in the future. Most of nickel produced using oxide ores is from pyrometallurgical processes namely ferronickel smelting or matte smelting. So, we can draw such a conclusion that using nickel oxide ores to produce ferronickel will become more and more important .Before used to make stainless steel or other materials, the ferronickel need pretreatment to remove impurities especially sulphur and phosphorus that will cause negative influence on the properties of steel product. Red mud is a by-product during alumina production. Usually, about 1 to 1.5 tons of red mud will be produced when we get 1 ton of alumina. About 90 million tones of red mud are produced every year in the world [2].Red mud is deemed as a toxic industrial waste which needs treatment before discharge because of alkalinity and chemical and mineralogical properties. Until now, the main means to deal with red mud are to store it in impoundments or dump it in the sea depending on local environment. Nowadays, how to recycle red mud has become a pretty hot topic around the world. The last 40 years have witnessed a lot of patent applications concerning the ways of red mud utilization. However, a little amount of red mud is consumed until now due to the limitations of recycling red mud."

Jan 1, 2012

By W. R. McQuarry, M. E. Wilson

"The structural relations of the ore deposits of the Staclacona mine are of considerable interest, for they not only illustrate the effect of a change in competence of the wall-rock, but also the effect of either the convergence together of two faults, or a change in the clip of a fault, or both of these factors, on ore deposition.The mine is in claim M.L. 1818 near the eastern end of Pelletier lake and lies about 2 miles south of the town of Rouyn. The Company was organized in 1926 to explore claims in Rouyn, Dufresnoy, and Beauchastel townships, but attention was directed mainly to those in Rouyn. Underground work began in 1928 with the sinking of the main shaft to a depth of 300 feet. Except for 1930 and 1931, the mine has been in operation continuously since that time. Production, which began in 1936, up to the end of 1946 has amounted to 1,381,422 tons of ore from which gold and silver having a total value of $7,861,860 were recovered. The average grade of the ore milled in 1946 was $6.68.GEOLOGYThe rocks in which the Stadacona ore deposits occur are mainly volcanics of the (Keewatin) Abitibi series intruded here and there by numerous dykes, sills, or masses of diorite. Single dykes of olivine diabase and lamprophyre are also present in the property and are intersected in the mine workings. The volcanic rocks are part of a wide belt of northward dipping lavas and pyroclastic rocks, having a thickness of over 16,000 feet, that extend from the east-west trending belt of Timiskaming sediments on the south northward to the Horne Creek fault and form the south limb of a large syncline. The volcanic rocks within the property consist of numerous, east-west trending, northward dipping flows of andesite and a few flows of rhyolite interbedded with rhyolite ruff and agglomerate. The angle of dip throughout most of the property is 60° to 80°N., but in the main cross-cut on the 850- and 975-foot levels stratification in rhyolite tuff was noted dipping 35°N. The tuff at this point lies above an intrusive mass of diorite and it is probable that the change in dip results from the way in which the tuff and agglomerate have been thrust aside by the intrusive."

Jan 1, 1954

By A. E. Aho

"The Pacific Nickel property lies 7 miles northwest of Hope and 100 miles east of Vancouver, in the Coast Mountains of southwestern British Columbia. Nickel-copper sulphides were discovered in ultrabasic rocks on this property in 1923 and the deposits were explored by Pacific Nickel Mines until 1937, then again between 1951 and 1954 by Pacific Nickel Mines and by Newmont Mining Corporation through its subsidiary,Canadian Ore DepositsWestern Nickel. The property was studied by C. E. Cairnes (1) in 1924, by W. E. Cockfield and J. F. Walker (2) in 1933, by H. C. Horwood (3), (4) in 1936 and 1937, and by the writer in 1951 and 1952. Except for a few thousand tons for trial shipments, the property has never been mined. Indicated ore reserves now total somewhat over one million tons averaging about 1.4 per cent nickel and 0.5 per cent copper, with lesser values in precious metals and cobalt.GEOLOGIC SETTINGThe nickeliferous ultrabasic rocks form part of the core of a 15-milewide block of Late Palæozoic metamorphic rocks and Mesozoic intrusives which extend north-south between the coast batholith of British Columbia and the Chelan batholith of Washington. Margins of this block are faulted in part against less metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks largely of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous age (Geo/. Surv., Canada, Map 737 A, 1942). Serpentinites, suggestive of deep transgressive structure, occur within the block, and also at its east margin along faults which are southern extensions of the regional Yalakom-Fraser River fault zone. Some of the other mineral deposits in the Hope area appear to be spatially related to these major faults.The mineralization at Pacific Nickel occurs almost exclusively within a stock-like mass of ultra basic rocks which mingle with, and partly cut, a larger batholithic mass of genetically related diorites and norites of late Mesozoic age (Figure 1 ). The ultra basic mass consists essentially of fresh, medium-grained hornblendic pyroxenite with peridotitic cores and with a remarkable margin of pegmatitic hornblendite. The most hornblendic rocks appear to be chiefly products of reaction and replacement of the pyroxene and olivine rocks. The mineralization consists of disseminated and massive pyrrhotite, with subordinate pentlandite and chalcopyrite, amongst fresh olivine, bronzite, and, Jess commonly, augite and hornblende. Both the ultrabasics and mineralization are cut by small hornblenditic and dioritic dykes, and by veins and alteration zones."

Jan 1, 1949

By A. M. Bell

"The property of Gaspe Copper Mines, Limited, is in the Gaspe Peninsula some 60 miles west of the town of Gaspe and 20 miles in from the north coast. The Copper Mountain deposit was first discovered in 1921 and first optioned and drilled by Noranda in 1938. The Upper Needle Mountain showings a mile south were found in 1938, but it was not until after a delay of 10 years that the more important deep ore at Needle Mountain was located by drilling. Production started in 1955, and the smelter commenced operation in December. Mining is by open stope methods with first production coming from the Lower Needle Mountain orebody, of which only a small portion has been exposed in underground openings.Stratigraphy and AlterationThe country rock is composed of limy siltstones of Devonian age. Away from alteration these are dark and generally carbonaceous. Throughout the drilled area numerous narrow layers of tuffaceous fragmental material occur, and such beds are found to provide excellent horizon markers by virtue of their uniform thickness and wide lateral distribution. These markers are valuable for stope control in mining the bedded replacement deposits.Intruding the sediments at Copper Mountain are porphyry dykes, and one drill hole encountered granite 1,400 feet below the valley. Solutions responsible for the rock alteration and ore deposits seem to have emanated from this intrusive centre.On the mine claims strong hydrothermal alteration has completely obscured the original character of the sediments. The unaltered formations are all very similar in appearance, but following alteration rocks that are very dissimilar in physical characteristics are produced, and such differences have an important influence on ore deposition. The alteration effects are known to extend over a vertical range in excess of 3,000 feet and have a surface area of two square miles. All known ore bodies are within the zone of alteration. In this, rocks are strikingly bleached to a white colour in contrast to the normal dark-coloured sediments, and are much harder and more abrasive, with bedding often obscured. The first effect of alteration is driving off of carbonaceous matter, followed progressively by silicification in the acid rocks and by the formation of lime silicates in the lime rocks, with an accompanying gain in silica and a corresponding loss in lime. Extensive analysis has shown that there is an actual addition of silica involved in the alteration."

Jan 1, 1949

By N. E. Nelson

"The Hidden Creek mine is about l~ miles north of the north end of Granby bay; a nearly landlocked body of water on the west side of Observatory inlet; 90 miles north of Prince Rupert; British Columbia.The main haulage way of the mine at 385 feet above sea-level has been driven north into the somewhat precipitous end of a north-south ridge that rises from the tide flats between the east and west forks of Hidden creek. The outcrops of the principal orebodies, two prominent bluffs of stained rocks and sulphides, were higher on the face of the ridge and extended from about 530 to 850 feet elevation. North from the bluff tops, the ridge comb rose gradually to about 1,200 feet elevation. The name of the discoverer and the date of discovery of the Hidden Creek orebodies are probably unknown, but the discoverer is believed to have been an Indian from one of the reservations along Observatory inlet. The deposit was brought to the attention of John Flewin, Government Agent at Post Simpson, near the beginning of the present century. Mr. M. K. Rodgers, developer of the Nickel Plate mine at Hedley, did the first organized work on the deposits. Next the Hidden Creek Copper Company prospected the property. Rodgers acquired the prospect a second time, did more work, and finally in 1910 optioned the property to the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company, Limited, at that time operating at Phoenix and Grand Forks in the Boundary district of British Columbia. The optionees stepped up the development work and brought the property to production in 1914. The ores were direct smelted until 1924. In that year a mill was built. From 1930 until the end of the productive life of the properties in 1935, all of the ore was milled and the concentrate smelted. From March 17, 1914, until July 31, 1935, the production from the Hidden Creek mine was, in round numbers, 18,000,000 tons of 1.70 per cent copper ore and 6,000,000 tons of low grade dilution rock. The Hidden Creek mine ""died with its boots on"". During 1934 the average monthly production was 146,377 tons of 1.06 per cent copper ore. For 7 months of 1935 the average was 161,750 tons of 1.03 per cent ore, and for the final month, July 1935, the production was 156,950 tons."

Jan 1, 1954

By Michel Aubertin

Mining activities can produce large volumes of waste rock, which are typically deposited in piles on the soil surface, above the water table. Such piles can cover areas of several tens of hectares and can reach over a hundred meters in height. For hard rock mines, the waste rock grain size can vary from silty particles to metre-scale blocks. The internal structure of a pile constructed on a relatively flat surface typically includes two main zones. The first zone corresponds to the heart of the pile, and is formed by several sub-horizontal stratifications (with dense and loose layers) due to the heavy mine equipment traffic which induces local compaction and degradation of the waste rock. The second zone corresponds to regions where waste rocks are deposited by push-dumping or end-dumping close to the external flank of the pile, inducing grain size segregation along the slope. Depending on the deposition sequence, grain size distribution and bench height, a gradation may then be observed, with coarser particles (with cobbles and blocks) near the base and finer particles near the crest, together with inclined stratifications due to the advance of the deposition face. These internal features affect the distribution and flow of water (and air) in the pile. To assess the internal distribution of material properties within the pile, a combination of several tools is usually required which can provide information on the hydrogeological and geochemical characteristics of the waste rock. In this regard, geophysical tools are very interesting because they can lead to a threedimensional mapping of property variations. The information gathered from a combination of appropriately selected techniques can be used to construct numerical models to further study unsaturated water flow and reactive transport. Such simulations help better understand the pile response in its actual and future states, which in turn provides input to adjust the deposition sequence, to plan for closure, and to select an in situ groundwater monitoring strategy. The presentation will give an overview of techniques that have been developed to characterise material properties in the laboratory and in the field, and to obtain a general picture of a pile?s internal structure. Additional results on unsaturated reactive transport modelling will also be shown to illustrate how the internal pile structure may influence its hydro-geochemical and environmental response.

Nov 1, 2008