Search Documents

By D. Djokic

One of the most attractive features of electron beam curing as a process for manufacturing composite structures is the potential for attaining very low levels of residual stress as compared to thermal curing. This residual stress reduction is important both for the potential to reduce composite failure strains at low operating temperatures and the associated reduction in process-induced deformation. Previous work has demonstrated that it is possible in some cases to significantly reduce residual stress development during irradiation and also avoid development of additional residual stress during post cure. In this paper, simple L-shaped composite laminates were used to study the development of residual stress and deformation during thermal post-cure of specimens that were already partially cured using different radiation doses. Following post-cure, these specimens were also subjected to high-temperature loads to study creep behaviour under service conditions. Aerospace

Jan 1, 2006

By John Taylor

"The Highvale Mine in Alberta is owned by TransAlta Utilities Corpora/ion and operated by Mana/fa Coal Lid. It is the largest coal mine in Canada and in 1982 supplied 8.6 million 1onnes of sub-bituminous ""B"" coal to TransAlta's Sundance Ceneraling Plan/. Annual produclion is scheduled to increase in 1983 when the firs/ unit of the new Keephil/s Generating Plant comes on stream and is expec/ed to exceed 11 million tonnes by 1985 when the second unit is commissioned. Coal is mined from several pits in a multi-seam operation. Comprehensive maintenance, drainage and environmental programs form a major part of the operation.IntroductionThe Highvale Mine is located eighty kilometres west of Edmonton, Alberta on the south shore of Lake Wabamun (Fig. I). The mine is owned by TransAlta Utilities Corporation (T.A.U.) and is operated by Manalta Coal Ltd. In 1982, 8.6 million tonnes of coal were supplied to T.A.U.'s 2100 MW Sundance Generating Plant, making it the largest producing coal mine in Canada. By 1985, with two 375 MW units on line at T.A. U .'s new Keephills Generating Plant, annual production is estimated to exceed eleven million tonnes. The generating plants accept crushed unwashed coal from the mine via the coal handling plant system conveyor belts. The coal is classified as sub-bituminous ""B"" and has an average heating capacity of 18.6 MJ I kg.HistoryPrior to 1943 only small scale mining took place in the Highvale area. Between 1943 and 1961 two strip mining companies, Mount Royal Collieries and Continental Collieries operated on the present mine site. Both operations excavated coal along the south shore of Lake Wabamun."

Jan 1, 1985

By G M. Thorpe

This paper discusses mine research at Inco, giving specific examples of research projects which illustrate the approach to mining problems. The first example covers the development of a new mining method, "undercut and fill," which was originated for mining badly broken-up pillars, but which is now rapidly replacing the square set method of pillar recovery. In the new method, ore is extracted in a series of successive horizontal cuts, progressing downward, a cut being completely mined and filled before the cut below is started. In the second example, improvements to the "cut and fill" method of mining are discussed. These improvements are the result of improved techniques and improved equipment, etc., with, in many cases, the former being made possible by the latter. The advances made have permitted the use of the "cut and fill" method at much greater depths than before. The third example is presented to illustrate research undertaken to obtain the earliest maximum advantage of the introduction of a new piece of equipment or material. For this purpose, the development of the "Under-ground use of AN /FO Blasting Agent " has been selected. Work on this project started in May, 1960, at a time when there was very little in-formation regarding the potentialities of AN /FO for underground blasting, either primary or secondary. By the end of 1961, AN /FO made up 64 per cent of the explosives used under-ground at Inco mines.

Jan 1, 1963

By S Romanchuk, V N. Macvkiw, D. J. I. Evans

The paper describes the processes developed and piloted by Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited for recovering copper, in the form of specification copper powders, from Lynn Lake sulphidic copper concentrates and Fort Saskatchewan Refinery by-product copper sulphides. The process includes ammonia pressure leaching and hydrogen reduction from solution. Nickel and cobalt present in the con-centrates dissolve in the leach solution and a method was developed for separating these metals from the cop-per. Methods are described for con-trolling the physical properties of the copper powder produced in the reduction vessel. The chemistry of the process is briefly discussed and the effects of some of the more important process variables are described. SHERRITT Gordon Mines Limited have developed and proven on a pilot plant scale, a process (I) for the production of copper powder

Jan 1, 1961

By I. Soosaiprakasam

This work investigated inhibition performance of copper carbonate (CuCO3), which is less toxic than conventional heavy-metal corrosion inhibitors in amine treating plants, The investigation was experimentally carried out in a bench-scale electrochemical corrosion cell under an atmospheric pressure, The inhibition performance of CuCO3 in an aqueous solution of monoethanolamine (MEA) was examined under a wide range of operating conditions and reported as a function of process parameters including inhibitor concentration, temperature and solution velocity, The results show that CuCO3 functions as an anodic inhibitor. The addition of CuCO3 decreases corrosion rate of carbon steel but might induce pitting corrosion/

Jan 1, 2005

By C. S. Parsons

Ore-Testing laboratories are maintained by the Mines Branch, Department of Mines, at Ottawa for the purpose of conducting experimental test and research on ore treatment. Sample shipments of a few hundred pounds to car-load lots of Canadian ores are received on application for experimental tests, and all possible methods of treatment are investigated. Reports are issued to the shipper, containing the results, with recommendations as to the most economical method of treatment. These reports have been of valuable assistance to mining companies in the preparation of plans for the design and equipment of their treatment plants. Investigations have been conducted on ores and metallurgical products from all parts of the Dominion. The ores from practically every producing mine and important mineral occurrence have been investigated in these laboratories.

Jan 1, 1931

By S. Gheibi, H. S. B. Duzgun, N. Dadashzadeh

It is widely recognized that there are various uncertainties in the analysis of rock slope stability owing to inadequate information for site characterization and inherent variability and measurement errors in geological and corresponding parameters. Therefore, reliability-based approaches that allow the systematic and quantitative treatment of these uncertainties have become a topic of increasing interest in rock slope engineering. There has been extensive reliability analysis of rock slope stability in the literature. However, all of these analyses are based on the First-Order Reliability Method (FORM). The probability of failure of a rock slope in the First-Order Reliability Method is provided by a linear approximation of the failure function. The FORM is most commonly used because it is efficient; its accuracy, however, deteriorates when the nonlinearity of limit-state function increases. A better approximation of the failure function can establish a more accurate value of the probability of failure. The Second-Order Reliability Method (SORM) overcomes this drawback with a cost of lower efficiency in terms of the number of function calls and computation expenses. Despite considerable studies of the application of the SORM in other engineering fields, a few attempts have been made in the slope stability studies. In this study, a recently published Second-Order Reliability Method with First-Order Efficiency (SORM-FOE) is implemented on a selected rock slope in Amasya, Turkey. The SORM-FOE overcomes the low efficiency of the SORM by decreasing the number of function calls. The probability of failure of both FORM and SORM-FOE are obtained and the results are compared. It is shown that, in high value of failure probability, SORM’s do not significantly affect the analysis and design. However, in very low failure probability, the discrepancy between FORM and SORM-FOE becomes pronounced. It is also shown that, where the second order methods are required, the SORM-FOE is more efficient than the conventional curvature fitting methods in terms of computational costs.

Jan 1, 2015

By Zoë Mullard

Just as a mine has a lifecycle, employees working within the mining sector also make several transitions throughout their career, from initial recruitment to retirement from the industry. Throughout the employment lifecycle, employees bring skills and knowledge that significantly contribute to the global economy. These skills are developed through education, professional training, coaching and through hands-on experience. Despite the current economic conditions and the demand for minerals, the mining industry is facing a substantial skills shortage due to the disparity between the number of new workers entering the mining industry and a largely ?graying workforce?. Although educational programs continue to evolve to attract people with a wide range of skills, the diversity of jobs and the strains of working in remote mining operations continue to present challenges for recruitment and retention of employees. This gap also presents challenges around knowledge transfer at a corporate and mine-site level; employers will require cultural and techno-sociological approaches to ease through these transitions. At the same time, there has been an explosion of social media tools that facilitate information sharing, cross-organizational collaboration, distance learning and knowledge capture. These tools have become increasingly popular in the last few years and their applications vary widely. The mining sector has started to adopt these tools for a number of purposes, including opportunities to harness social media to enhance human resources interactions, outreach and oversight. This paper will outline several case studies that explore leading practices for how the application of new media can assist organizations and individuals as they progress through their careers. This paper will illustrate how new social media communication technologies can be used to increase employee engagement and build organizational capacity in the mining industry. The paper will also include strategies for how to implement social media to enhance human resources applications and will cover ideas for monitoring and evaluation.

Aug 1, 2013

By W. F. Scott, K. L. Somerville

"This paper outlines the development and inplementation of functional training at the Thompson Mine of Inco Metals Company, Manitoba Division. This training is an extension of similar methods implemented throughout the company to meet safety and health and productivity objectives. It consists of the orientation to the mine, induction in the basic mining skills, and specific training in drilling and other skills in the mine. Initial results indicated a positive effect on the safety performance and proficiency of the mine workforce.IntroductionThe primary mining method at the Thompson Mine is mechanized cut and fill, with secondary recovery of pillars by undercut and fill . These methods require a workforce of about 900 hourly operating employees to obtain capacity production of 6500 tons of ore per day.Historically, turnover of mine employees has been high and large numbers of new recruits are introduced to the mine every year. These men are recruited primarily in Manitoba, but also from distant areas of Canada; most of the se people have no previous mining experience.Training has always been an important component of mine operations. Mine supervisors and experienced miners have committed an appreciable amount of time and effort to training these new recruits. As well, training efforts have been directed toward upgrading the skills of experienced workers.Recently, a growing awareness of the significance of this training effort and its impact on accident frequency, productivity, turnover and other important parameters of the mine operation has led to a review of training methods. The training program described in this paper has resulted from this review."

Jan 1, 1981

By J. E. Dutrizac

"The end of an era in zinc metallurgy took place on July 31, 1976 when the horizontal retort furnaces of the National Zinc Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma were permanently shut down (1) . For more than a century, horizontal retorting had been the most common method of producing zinc in the United States; it was a thriving industry in many parts of that country, especially in the natural gas belts of Oklahoma and Texas. With the Bartlesville closure, yet another metallurgical process has become an object of historical interest for North American metallurgists. Although shrouded in controversy, the origins of zinc metallurgy seem to date back at least 2000 years. Pyrometallurgical methods with carbon reductants are capable of producing zinc from oxidic zinc ores, but only above the boiling point of the metal. Although slow cooling results in re-oxidation of the zinc vapour by air or carbon monoxide, quenching yields liquid zinc; some form of rapid cooling, either accidental or intentional, was likely used by ancient metallurgists to liquify the metal. Zinc metal found in Athenian objects of the Roman era was likely of accidental origin. The Romans employed brass extensively for coins and ornaments(2) , and this was intentionally produced by the calamine process whereby oxidic zinc ores were added to molten copper under strongly reducing conditions. Zinc appears to have been known in China and India as early as 1000-1300 A.D., and was probably smelted commercially in those countries from the 14th century. Although the early metallurgical procedures were probably inefficient, they were able to produce zinc metal in significant amounts. The large heaps of zinc residues with clay retorts bear testimony to an early smelting industry of impressive magnitude. It is estimated that the heaps at Zawar, India alone represent the extraction of 100 000 tons of metallic zinc(2) In the 1730s the smelting of oxidic zinc ores was developed in England using a vertical retort method. In 1788 a British patent was granted for making zinc from zinc blends (ZnS) by roasting the ore in a coalfired reverberatory furnace, mixing the calcine with charcoal and smelting the mixture with suitable zinc condensation. The English process was very energy intensive, however, and early in the 19th century the Belgians developed a horizontal retort process for the reductiondistillation of zinc that was more fuel efficient. This technique was gradually developed into what came to be known as the Belgian process, the forerunner of the ""modern"" horizontal retort furnace."

Jan 1, 1999

By Lebeau M., P. Duguay

"The cost of occupational injuries and diseases in the mining industry in Quebec was estimated for the period of 2010 to 2012. The method used takes into account the financial and human costs assumed by employers, workers, and the community. To better direct research and prevention toward issues with the most significant consequences, the results are presented in various ranking tables, which stakeholders might find useful.RÉSUMÉ Le coût des accidents du travail et des maladies professionnelles dans l’industrie minière au Québec a été estimé pour la période 2010-2012. La méthode utilisée prend en compte les coûts financiers et humains endossés par les employeurs, les travailleurs et la communauté. Afin de mieux orienter les recherches et la prévention vers les problèmes ayant les plus graves conséquences, les résultats sont présentés dans divers tableaux de classement, qui seront d’une grande utilité aux parties prenantes. INTRODUCTIONThe mining industry is much safer today than it was 30 or 40 years ago, mainly due to a more qualified workforce, the use of automated equipment, and a corporate culture more focused on occupational health and safety (OHS); however, the number and the severity of occupational injuries and diseases continue to make this industry one of the most hazardous. In the province of Quebec, the mining industry accounts for approximately 0.4% of paid workers but is the source of 4% of fatal work accidents. It is, therefore, important to continue the prevention efforts already underway in the mining industry.The difficult global economy, which has affected the mining industry in the last few years, is an opportunity to reaffirm that sound management of OHS can have a positive impact on companies’ productivity and profitability. Occupational injuries and diseases are costly for the companies concerned and for society as a whole. Reducing their occurrence makes it possible to reduce not only the size of workers’ compensation board contributions but also several other financial and human costs."

Jan 1, 2018

By W. W. Bake

INTRODUCTION IN IN JUNE, 1943, the main pillars of the Beattie Mine glory hole failed, allowing over a million yards of wet clay and debris to flow into the mine, completely filling all workings to within seventy feet of the 3rd level. The resulting Job of clearing these workings and rehabilitating the mine represents a unique and hazardous operation, seldom, if ever, previously encountered in Canadian mining. The purpose of this paper is to describe one phase of this operation -that of cleaning and rehabilitating the mine from the 6th to the 9th level -to outline briefly the events which led up to this work and to describe the techniques and costs involved. It will be noted that such costs, methods, and performance figures as are dealt with in this paper refer only to work in the internal shaft and adjoining workings from the 6th to the 9th level, previous work having been done under other supervision and management. The Beattie mine is in Duparquet township, northwestern Quebec, twenty miles northwest of the town of Noranda and twenty-three miles southeast of the town of La Sarre. The mine and the town of Duparquet, which it?supports, are accessible by highway from Noranda throughout the year. Production at the Beattie mine began in May, 1933, and up to June, 1943, twenty-one million dollars in gold and silver had been recovered from five and a half million tons of ore.

Jan 1, 1951

By L. O. Thomas

THE Alaska Highway, in its course through British Columbia, traverses parts of two great physiographic divisions of Canada which are also distinctive geologically-the Cordillera in the western section and the Interior Plains in the eastern. The Cordilleran region in the portion of the Province with which this paper deals can be divided into four major northwest systems, known respectively from west to east as Coastal, Plateau, Cassiar-Omineca, and Rocky Mountains. The Coastal system consists solely of the Coast range except in the extreme northwest, where a part of the St. Elias range is included. The Coast range, characterized by mountains of great ruggedness,. is made up of an igneous complex of granitic rocks intruded chiefly as a great batholith. In places, spurs of these rocks extend into the Plateau heft, a partly mountainous tract largely occupied by quartzites, quartzose mica schists and their gneissic phases, and crystalline limestone with interbands and broad areas of chlorite, _hornblende, and sericite schists and bodies of intrusive granite gneiss-an assemblage of rocks known as the Yukon group. The Cassiar-Omineca system marks the divide between the Pacific and Arctic drainages. Its eastern boundary is well defined in the south by the Rocky Mountain Trench (see p. 229). The rocks of the system are, miainly, highly altered Palaeozoic sediments, but there are also Precambrian and Mesozoic rocks, the latter largely volcanic. The core of the system is granitic and there is evidence (see p. 221) to support the belief that it is of such a length as to constitute a batholith comparable to that of the Coastal system.

Jan 1, 1944

By K. Scholey, S. Marcuson

As high grade nickel sulphide ores are being depleted and with the continuing challenges experienced in economically processing nickel laterite ores, it is important to investigate technologies that can extract nickel from low grade ultramafic ores which are present in large quantities worldwide. In the Thompson Nickel Belt, there are some hundred million tonnes of mineralization that are potentially amenable to surface mining. Since the original discovery of the Thompson orebody, recovery of nickel from these ultramafic deposits has been an elusive goal. Research and development projects as well as commercial processing have been attempted. In the 2000's as other resources became scarcer, a major drilling, mine evaluation and research project was initiated at Vale. In 2007, Vale Base Metals Technology Development invited Cytec and potential academic partners to participate in an industry-university research consortium with the goal of developing new technologies and methods of processing the ultramafic deposits. Three university professors, J. Finch of McGill, P. Somasundaran of Columbia and R. Pelton of McMaster accepted, each group attacking the problem with a different approach. This paper describes the management of the research consortium and the significance of the results from Vale's perspective. The next four papers in this session will summarize the project and results from the partners' point of view. Vale is pleased to share the experience of the collaborative research and development with the mining industry.

Jan 1, 2011

By David J. Forrester

"CANMET’s research into underground coal mining is primarily conducted at the Cape Breton Coal Research Laboratory (CBCRL), established in 1981 to conduct safety research in underground coal mines. Located close to Canada’s largest underground coal producer, in the Sydney Coalfield of Nova Scotia, CBCRL’s program also includes the two western underground coal operations. CBCRL is a relatively small laboratory with a staff of thirteen — eight professionals and five support staff — with an annual budget of over $1 million. In order to maintain effective research response, flexibility is key and staff are increasingly working in project teams, crossing traditional section ties and also drawing from specialist expertise elsewhere within CANMET.CBCRL’s research activities have had a substantial impact on the Canadian underground coal mining industry, particularly in Cape Breton. CBCRL contributed to Cape Breton Development Corporation’s (CBDC’s) threefold reduction in lost-time accidents in the 1980s. Also, in the last four years alone, CBCRL’s work has enabled CBDC to save over $17 million in improved utilisation of reserves and cost savings. The work embraces the three traditional areas of mine environment, strata mechanics and mining technologies, however the current direction has been strongly influenced by recent external and internal factors. It is timely to review progress and recent directions."

Jan 1, 1996

By E. Krause

The oxidation of Fe(II) with S(IV) and oxygen can be used advantageously in leaching systems requiring both Fe(III) and sulfuric acid; e.g., heap leaching of sulfide-containing ores or concentrates. The oxidation of Fe(II) with SO2/air is several orders of magnitude faster than with air alone; rates of up to ?20 g/L'h were observed at 25°C. The reaction proceeds via an intermediate orange-red mixed-valence Fe(II)/Fe(III) sulfite complex, which is present at an essentially constant concentration throughout most of the oxidation process. The oxidation rate of Fe(II) is approximated by the formula -d[Fe(II)]/dt = k [S(IV)] [02]0'3. The concentration of the mixed-valence complex, and thus the iron oxidation rate, decreases with increasing acidity. Certain impurities, such as SCN- and thiourea, negatively affect the rate. The oxidation reaction 2Fe2 + SO2 + 02 4 2Fe3+ + S042- is accompanied by the side reaction H20 + SO2 + 1/202 4 H2SO4. The side reaction becomes particularly important at low temperatures and whenever the oxygen mass transfer is insufficient with respect to the rate of addition of S(IV). Thus, effective oxygen mass transfer is essential for achieving high oxidation rates with minimal acid formation. The activation energy was estimated as 141 kJ/mol over the temperature range 10-35°C.

Jan 1, 2006

By H. M. Roscoe

Fifty per cent. increased lump coal production and at the same time a reduction of from 20 to 40 per cent. in explosive consumption. These results were achieved by the use of the rock-dust cartridge method of stemming shots in the Ruhr coal mines, as announced by Dr. Alfred Stettbacher in the September 1923 number of the Explosive Engineer. Immediately, the explosive and the coal-mining industries on this continent became intensely interested. Considerable experimental work has been carried on in a number of American and Canadian mines during the past year, by which our engineers have become assured that the use of rock-dust cart-ridges for stemming shots increases the efficiency of explosives and promotes safety in coal mines.

Jan 1, 1924

By A. S. Baillie

THE subject of taxes appears to engage our attention altogether too lightly. At least it would seem that, notwithstanding the increase in the cost of government, and its concomitant increased taxation, little constructive work is being done with a view to solving the problem of increased taxes. I believe that the inattention of the public generally to the subject of increased taxation is due largely to the fact that shareholders are not advised of the amount of taxes paid by industry. Were companies to advise their shareholders the amount of monies paid or payable out of each year's earnings for taxes in one form or another, and were such amounts compared with the amounts available for distribution to shareholders, the effect would be a general demand for more equitable taxation methods. While I am not unmindful of the burdens and inequities in taxation confronting industry generally, I believe that the mining industry in this Province does not fully appreciate the burden represented by the costs of taxation. My reason for this belief is based partly upon1the fact that no serious effort has so far been made to devise some means By which the mining industry in British Columbia might protect itself against the ever-increasing burden of taxation. In addition to this fact the widely diverse nature of mining in British Columbia makes the accumulation of comparable data a problem which, so far as I can ascertain, has never been attempted in a manner which would be authoritative. It should not be necessary to cite the effects of this burden upon any one mining company or upon any branch of the mining industry, such as coal mining, placer mining, base-metal mining, or the precious-metal mines. In my opinion, the operation of our mines by large corporations is conducive to the payment of taxes with much less protest than would be the case were the taxes being taken out of the earnings of just a few partners or a very few shareholders. We appear to be too unmindful of the taxes, paid by mining companies, of a kind that are not so prominently brought to our attention as are the taxes which are calculated upon the taxable income of the company at the end of its fiscal year. British Columbian mining companies pay many other taxes besides those which are calculated upon taxable income. Among these are school taxes, property taxes, gasoline taxes, mineral taxes, coal royalty, to say nothing of fuel-oil tax, sales tax, and excise taxes.

Jan 1, 1935

By Jean-Marie Fecteau

The gold mine sector is presently facing low gold prices as well as technological challenges. Its competitiveness and survival will depend on new mining methods and equipment to improve ore extraction. In 1999, Natural Resources Canada has invested new funds over a period of three years at CANMET?s Experimental Mine to establish the Narrow-Vein Mining Project. A team of engineers and researchers specialised in mining, mechanics and electronics engineering are working to meet the critical need of ore-extraction technology. CANMET?s program in mechanisation and automation for narrow vein mining had, prior to 1999, realised several important achievements, many in co-operation with a consortium of mining companies (Soredem). The investment of new funds in this area will contribute to develop technologies to improve the productivity, as well as health and safety conditions of the narrow vein mining industry. Several important impacts of this project will be monitored. Specifically, a database of methods and equipment used in narrow vein mining is being developed. A key thrust is to identify operators? needs with respect to the development and automation of mining methods and equipment. Based on those needs, research and development projects will be created. The main problems identified following meetings with mine operators are described with a few elements of solution and the Web site created for the broadcast of the results is presented.

Oct 1, 2001

By I. R. Jonasson, R. W. Boyle

"Current interest in the distribution of mercury in the natural environment comes from quite different, though not unrelated, sources. Mercury has long been an important metal in many industries and has, therefore, been much sought after by mining interests. The presence of mercury traces in the various media of the natural environment, namely soil, rock, air, water and vegetation, is exploited by geochemists not only to find mercury and polymetallic ore deposits, but also to find most other types of economic metal mineralization. More recently, however, mercury has caught the attention of health authorities and environmental scientists who are becoming increasingly concerned over the hazards of mercury wastes and the danger these present to the environment and to man. It is now apparent that the trace quantities of mercury, considered so important and helpful to exploration geologists, can be concentrated in the biosphere to such levels as to present considerable problems for ecologists. This article summarizes most of the available data on mercury contents in materials of geological interest and presents average normal values for rocks, ores, minerals, soils, sediments, waters and plants. The geoch.emical cycle for mercury in nature is presented and the mechanisms of mercury migration around the cycle are discussed."

Jan 1, 1972