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By Adrian Rosen

When one thinks of innovation and leadership in wireless communications, one would rarely consider a potash mine to be leading the way. Agrium Incorporated has proven that they are leaders and innovators, as is evident in their recent deployment of a large-scale 802.11 wireless network in their underground potash mine located at Vanscoy, Saskatchewan. 802.11 is an IEEE standard for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology. Rather than simply replace an aging communications infrastructure, Agrium chose to let technology provide the framework for future success

May 1, 2006

By L. R. Bottomer, G. M. Leary

"The Copper Canyon property is located in the Galore Creek area of northwestern British Columbia. Porphyry copper-gold mineralization on the property is notable for its high gold content and close spatial relationship with a distinctive suite of high level syenitic and monzonitic intrusions, and pseudoleucite-bearing volcanic country rocks. The style of alteration and mineralization is similar in many respects to the nearby Galore Creek deposits.The current geological resource of 32.4 million tonnes grading 0.75% Cu, 1.17 g/ t Au and 17.1 g/t Ag is insufficient to support a mining operation, but definition of additional reserves combined with improved transportation infrastructure in the region may change this in the future. The climate, topography and proximity to an active glacier indicate that the most likely production scenario is an underground bulk mining operation, with the ore being milled offsite.IntroductionThe property is located at 57°07' North latitude, 131 °21' West longitude, on NTS sheet 104G/ 3W, approximately 160 km northwest of Stewart and 90 km south of Telegraph Creek (Fig. 1). The Galore Creek camp and airstrip are located 6 km to the west. Current access to the property is via helicopter either from Galore Creek, or from the Bronson Creek airstrip 32 km to the south-southeast.The deposit occurs within the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains, on the north side of the east fork of Galore Creek, which flows northerly into the Scud River and thence westerly to the Stikine River.Topography is rugged. In the deposit area, elevations range from 1130 m to 1750 m. Valley glaciers and permanent snow and ice fields are characteristic of the region at these elevations, and at its southern limit, mineralization is truncated by the East Fork Glacier.The property is entirely above the treeline, and except for areas of moraine cover and talus slopes, outcrop is abundant."

Jan 1, 1995

By Edith Lafontaine

Modern underground mines operate fleets of mobile production equipment including drill jumbos, long-hole drills, load-haul-dump machines, trucks and bolters. Their availability has a substantial impact onto production cost and thus onto mine profitability. Through appropriate collection of pertinent data and information, use of adequate performance measures and their analyses, mine operators can identify the most promising and cost effective opportunities to get more from their equipment and to reduce the overall cost. This paper presents results of the study aimed to review and analyse means and measures used to quantify equipment availability and its contributing factors (reliability, maintainability and maintenance support) in several Canadian underground mines. It overviews current reporting procedures, sources, quality and quantity of the data and information collected as well as examines performance measures and their definitions used by the surveyed mines. Problems concerning data acquisition as well as meaningfulness and usefulness of the above mentioned metrics are also discussed. The paper concludes with some suggestions and recommendations concerning several aspects of equipment availability assessment. It is believed that the latter may become a more useful tool for mine operators in their efforts to reduce production cost than it seems to be the case at present.

May 1, 2007

By J. W. Reynolds

This paper describes the function of the research and development department of a large mining organization and the benefits which can be derived over the years. Examples are given of work done in rock drilling, ventilation, noise control and the development of backfill stowing machinery.

Jan 1, 1970

Why Innovate in Mining? ?Obvious, right? ?Increase productivity and profitability ?Improve safety and ergonomics ?Improve our environmental record and eliminate liabilities ?Implement process control methodology ?Introduce information systems technology to gain control ?Low hanging fruit ?Reference ?Heather Ednie, Innovation CIM Magazine Feb. 2006 ?Peck & Skinner, Getting better bang for your buck with technology

May 1, 2006

By T. P. Johnson, A. Vathavooran

"Conventional mining operations can produce a wide range of wastes containing gold and other precious metals but which are less suitable for processing by traditional methods. There are also types of ore that do not fit easily into a traditional processing flowsheet, e.g. because the refractory nature of their minerology or the combination of valuable metals is less suitable for traditional processes. Nevertheless, these potential sources of valuable metals remain unexploited resources that have attracted growing interest in the metals and mining industries over recent years. The challenge is therefore to develop and use alternative processing methods that have the flexibility of operation to cope with a wide variety of material types and tonnages, whilst providing high recoveries for valuable metals. Tetronics’ DC plasma smelting technology achieves industry-leading recovery rates for precious metals from a wide range of input materials and initial precious metal concentrations, whilst generating an inert slag-based material as a by-product (even when starting from a hazardous waste input material), approved within the EU for use in construction applications. This paper describes how this technology can be used as a key part of an overall process for the recovery of precious metals from these interesting materials.INTRODUCTION The extraction of gold from its ores by various forms of cyanide leaching has been practised by the mining industry for over a century (Minerals Council of Australia, 2005) and it remains the primary extraction method in a wide range of mining operations. The ability of cyanide to extract gold efficiently and quickly from lower grade ores without extensive additional processing, coupled with well-known methods to recycle the cyanide for re-use within the process mean it is often both the most economically preferable and environmentally acceptable method for recovering gold. As a result, 88% of all gold produced from mines in the USA in 2014 was recovered via leaching of open heaps or dumps (UGGS, 2016). Nevertheless, there are occasions where certain combinations of mineralogy and other circumstances reduce the effectiveness of cyanidation techniques, so that ever more elaborate additional processing steps are required, with inevitable increases in operating costs (Swash, 1988). In these circumstances, which are likely to be more common in future as ore qualities diminish, other methods of extraction may offer better alternatives. Whilst much less commonly used for Au extraction at present, pyrometallurgical methods are amongst the longest-established of these alternative approaches and merit serious consideration in such cases."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. Chlan

"Dryer DescriptionProctor and Schwartz Continuous Conveyor DryerThe Proctor and Schwartz Continuous Conveyor Dryer has been in operation since July 1958, and comprises six unit• - an 8• wide single conveyor with roller extruder, insulated housing, type 304 stainless steel circulating and exhaust fall system, steam heating coils, temperature controls and discharge crusher rolls. Entire dryer dimensions are 52’ x 12'0""weighing 53,000 lbs,Extruder rolls - setting is 1/8"" (Drive 3 HP 1800 RPM) clearance off the extruder screen.Conveyor - consists of 151 interlocking pans, measuring 8"" x 8' (2 HP 1200 RPM) One Exhaust Fan (5HP - 900 RPM)Steam Coils -- l"" steel pipe - with steel fins -- each coil measures 16' 2’’- 64 coils in the No, 1 Compartment- 64 coils in the No, 2 CompartmentDryer OperationThe yellowcake slurry at 28% solids is pumped to an 81 x 8' Peterson Filter. The filter media presently being used is a Neotex 4372 blanket, being 100% staple fibre nylon, 12 oz per square yard with air porosity of 9 CFM's. The cake discharge at 45 - 50% moisture falls into the roller extruder. Extrusions are formed by forcing the material by rolls through a perforated plate moving back and forth and depositing the spaghetti-like extrusion on onto the dryer-conveyor.The conveyor now carries the extruded material through the heating chamber•, The feed end of the dryer will be referred to as No. 1 Compartment, with temperature control set at 280""F. The circulating fans take the hot air off the coils and circulate the heated air through the perforated openings in the dryer conveyor pane, After passing through the set of steam coils and circulating fan in No, 1 Compartment, the material then goes through No, 2 Compartment where the temperature is set at 305'F, Final material then discharges through a set of crusher rolls set at ~"". Moisture of final dried product runs at less than 2%.The dryer conveyor load is usually run to a 3"" - 4"" depth load. Conveyor speed at approximately 90 minutes for load to pass through. Load onto the conveyor is controlled by boot level and speed of the 8' x 8' filter. The dryer steam coils are water-washed twice a month."

Jan 1, 1972

By J K. Irwin

The authors discuss the application of drum and friction hoists under modern conditions and give four examples of friction hoists proposed for various applications. The paper concludes with a summary of the advantages and limitations of friction hoists relative to drum hoists. Introduction T H~ introduction of the multiple-rope friction hoist m the late 1940's has complicated the se-lection of the right hoist for a given job. Once such considerations as rope safety factor, drum to rope ratio, hoisting distance, tons per hour and/or service duty have been decided upon, the selection of a drum hoist is relatively simple. We now ask our-selves "which hoist -drum or friction? (See Figure 1 and Figure 2). When a friction hoist is a possibility we are immediately concerned with how many ropes to use, whether to hoist balanced or counter-balanced, whether a friction hoist will be flexible enough for the application and, of course, what the relative costs will be.

Jan 1, 1964

By E A. Mitchell

In the fall of 1961, Cominco dis-carded its long-established system of feeding the lead blast furnaces by narrow-gauge tram and V-cars, and installed an elevated monorail bucket system. This system automatically loads buckets of sinter, along with the correct proportion of coke, and delivers them to any of several designated furnaces. Direct labour usage has been reduced by nine men per day; improved coke proportioning has been achieved; and a major safety hazard has been eliminated. Introduction I N THE fall months of l 961. the system of feeding the lead blast furnaces at the Trail, B.C., smelter of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited was altered from the tradition-al narrow-gauge railway and V-car method to one employing mono-rail carriers. The change was in keeping with a recent trend at Trail to replace narrow-gauge tramming with alternative methods of materials handling. In the case of the blast furnace feeding, the

Jan 1, 1963

By R. H. Wallis

Weighted moving-average contour maps have been constructed for molybdenum, copper and zinc using 7850 stream-sediment samples from 5430 square miles (14,063 sq. kms) of south-central British Columbia. Regional trends for molybdenum and zinc are northeast, north and northwest and those for copper are north and northwest. These trends are interrupted by zones markedly low in metals . The metal-rich trends cross rocks of different lithology and age and thus appear to be structurally controlled. The northeast trend may have exerted control on metal distribution at two different times.

Jan 1, 1978

By Georges Croisé, Les-Lee Thompson, Adrien Debergé

Membrane filtration systems have regained focus in recent years as an effective means of liquid-liquid separation to increase the concentration of valuable elements, recover reagents or remove impurities. ORANO Mining (formerly AREVA) investigated this cost optimization process opportunity as early as 2011 for implementation at the Trekkopje project (Namibia). The key focus was to separate and recycle bicarbonate from the uranium bearing eluate solution. The performance targets were successfully achieved at lab- and pilot scale with an ultrafiltration and nano-filtration configuration system. Early 2015, ORANO Mining further launched an investigation into the use of membranes for acid recycling at the KATCO In Situ recovery mine in Kazakhstan based on the favorable results from the original bicarbonate application. KATCO is the world leader in ISR uranium mining with an eluate processing capacity of 80 000 m3/yr. This site consists of two processing plants namely, Muyumkum and Tortkuduk, located 40 kilometers apart, both operating under acidic conditions whereas precipitation and packaging are based in Tortkuduk only. This paper serves to present the results from the integration of a nano-filtration system at the Muyumkum satellite processing plant. The project consisted of screening laboratory bench studies conducted at ORANO-CIME followed by process validation at KATCO through further bench and pilot test work. The feasibility study assessments were successfully concluded which led to the implementation at an industrial scale in Muyumkum of a nano-filtration process to reduce eluate volumes being sent to the uranium precipitation section whilst achieving effective separation of uranium from sulfuric acid. Nano-filtration technology has drawn significant attention due to the efficiency and reproducibility of the process and its moderate capital cost relative to operational savings. The reliability of the previous results is a great opportunity to reduce operative expenditures within ORANO’s next ISR mining project in Mongolia.

Jan 1, 2020

By Colin Jones

Canadian Clay Products Inc., which mines bentonite in Saskatchewan near Truax and operates a plant at Wilcox, is the sole producer of swelling bentonite, often called western bentonite, in Canada. Seven products produced by the company are used in binders, sealants, water and waste water treatment, plasticizing agents, foundries and absorbents. Reserves are reported at about one million tonnes for the deposit but the area in general contains significant additional reserves.

Jan 1, 2001

By F. C. Robles Hernandez

This paper presents the results of the electromagnetic semi-solid treatment of the 319 aluminum foundry alloy, Various levels of structure modification were achieved controlling the AC current used to create the Electromagnetic Field, thus manipulating the intensity of the field, The level of grain refinement, partial modification of the Al-Si eutectic, as well as cellular dendrites were observed, A quantitative analysis of the structure was performed using Image Analysis (IA) techniques. In addition a novel Thermal Analysis methodology was developed for the on-line determination of the microstructure modification level.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. Pepin

When using alternating current submerged arc welding (SAW) to produce pipes from microalloyed linepipe steels, it is critical to balance penetration depth and deposition rates, in order to minimize the number of weld passes while still maintaining good heat affected zone (HAZ) microstructures and properties. A series of bead-on-plate (BOP) submerged arc welds were performed on X70 steel, using different waveform variable settings (i.e., balance, offset and frequency). Weld bead cross-section profile deposition and penetration areas were measured, and both Vickers hardness and Charpy V-notch impact testing were performed. Both single electrode and tandem electrode welds were evaluated.

Jan 1, 2011

By Wei Sun, Jaewon Choung, Zhenghe Xu, Zhangming Cui

"High intensity conditioning has been demonstrated in a number of cases to enhance fine particle flotation. The improvement could be attributed to the enhanced formation of particle aggregates. However, the understanding of aggregation mechanisms remains rather limited. Recently, an enhanced particle aggregation was observed by the formation of small air bubbles resulting from high intensity agitations (HIA). In this study, a novel visualization system is designed and constructed for characterizing the fine bubbles formed in an HIA cell. The new design allows determination of gas evolution and bubble size distribution. With this system, the effect of dissolved air on fine bubble generation by HIA is investigated. The results show that HIA creates a favorable environment for the formation of gas nuclei and small size bubbles due to hydrodynamic cavitation.INTRODUCTIONFlotation is a dominant separation technique employed by mineral industry to recover the valuable mineral particles. However, in general, particles finer than approximately 10 µm are not effectively recovered by conventional froth flotation technique due to their low inertia and high specific surface area (Fuerstenau, 1988). Therefore, the fine particle flotation has been considered as the central challenge of flotation research. Substantial advances have been made for fine particle flotation from both a theoretical and technological point of view (Fuerstenau et al., 1979; Song and Lu, 1990; Subrahmanyam and Forssberg, 1990; Sivamohan, 1990; Sedat and Barry, 1991; Matis, 1995). High intensity agitation (HIA), for example, has found some success to improve fine particle flotation kinetics in laboratory tests (Chen et al., 1999a and 1999b; Valderrama and Rubio, 1998; Rubio and De Brum, 1994).The effect of mechanical agitation on flotation kinetics has been recognized for many years. In mid-1970s, Warren (1975) reported that increasing the shear rate of the pulp could improve the efficiency of ultra fine particle flotation. He attributed this improvement in flotation to the formation of aggregates. This concept of aggregation has been extended by Rubio (1978), and Bulatovic and Salter (1989), who employed high intensity agitation (HIA) method to promote aggregation. They found that HIA with the addition of collectors, frothers and suitable modifiers significantly improved both the flotation recovery and selectivity of ultra fine sulphide minerals. The improvement was explained by warren’s shear flocculation theory. Till now, many studies (Chen et al., 1999a and 1999b; Valderrama and Rubio, 1998) have been undertaken to improve fine particle flotation by HIA. However, most of these studies were focused on the relation between energy input and flotation efficiency. Less information was available for describing how the aggregate formed during HIA process."

Jan 1, 2006

By K. Gardner

"Many deposits have a geological model developed early in the project stages, which is not always reviewed or modified as the project matures and production commences. Conversely, ongoing pressures, due to a combination of declining head grades, a push for increased revenue and a multitude of other reasons, leads to processing plant modifications, with the primary aim being to increase production. Often, the ore deposit knowledge is not sustained or developed during the operational stages to the level carried out during the prefeasibility and feasibility study phases. This results in the variability within the deposit being poorly understood and a lack of data and knowledge being available to support (and ideally optimise) operations particularly in an environment where the flow sheet has changed and ore feed requirements are complex.INTRODUCTION This paper presents a case study of ore deposit knowledge development and corresponding process plant operating strategy at the Ladolam Gold Deposit, commonly referred to as the Lihir gold deposit in Papua New Guinea. The gold deposit is located in a tropical equatorial climate on the east side of Lihir Island in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. Gold mineralisation was discovered in 1982, and was followed by a major exploration campaign by a joint venture between Kennecott (Rio Tinto) and Nuigini Mining Limited. The first drillhole was drilled in 1983, and after an extensive period of drilling consisting of 343 holes for 83,500 m, the final Feasibility Study was completed in 1992. The feasibility study was based on a Reserve base of 37.9 Moz in refractory sulphide ore, with gold extraction proposed to occur via whole ore pressure oxidation due to the refractory nature of the mineralisation. The Lihir Special Mining Lease (SML) was granted in 1995 to a new PNG company – Lihir Gold Limited, and Rio Tinto established Lihir Management Company to develop and operate the mine on behalf of LGL. Mining and processing of the deposit commenced in 1997. Newcrest Mining Limited purchased Lihir Gold Limited in August 2010, and subsequently completed a major plant upgrade including the installation of additional grinding, autoclave and carbon-in-leach capacity. Post commissioning of the upgrade, Newcrest has continued to increase throughput and production. A reinvigorated ore body knowledge development program has significantly assisted this process in identifying operating strategies for the process plant and delivering recovery improvement projects to address declining head grade and recovery due to increased stockpile feed and flotation circuit use."

Jan 1, 2017

By Zihe Ren, Edouard Asselin, Marcus Tomlinson, Tianbi Zhang, Jing Liu

"Raman spectroscopy is used to quantify the extent of disorder in the carbonaceous matter associated with preg-robbing ores. Previous studies of Goldstrike ores showed that the height and width of the peaks for the “D” (disordered) and “G” (graphite) bands, the so-called “Raman ratio” had a strong correlation to the preg-robbing value (PRV) measured for various ore samples. A brief literature review on Raman spectroscopy as it applies to preg-robbing ores is presented. Further, recent studies, presented here, have shown no correlation between the Raman ratio and the PRV for a wide variety of ores. This suggests that the extent of organic carbon crystal disorder is not the main factor in determining preg-robbing characteristics.INTRODUCTION Valuable base metals, such as nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, vanadium and tungsten, are used in a wide range of important technological applications. The demand for many of these metals has increased significantly over the last few decades, driven especially by economic expansion in Asia generally and China in particular. This has led in turn to a large growth in the output of mines in order to satisfy this increasing demand, as shown by the data in Table 1 (USGS, 1994, 2014). These data reflect an even longer trend of growth of these metals, with nickel, for example, showing an average rate of 5.3% per year from 1980 until 2015 (International Nickel Study Group, 2017). This rapid and sustained rate of growth means that annual mine outputs for nickel, tungsten, molybdenum and vanadium have had to double roughly every 11 to 14 years, whilst cobalt mine output has had to double roughly every 7 years, over the period from 1994 until 2014. With the average working life of a nickel mine being between 17 and 22 years (Statista, 2017), this means that from the time a nickel mine opens until it closes, the industry needs to find the equivalent of another three or four mines of a similar output to satisfy this relentless growth in demand for the metal."

Jan 1, 2017

By N. Dahata

Earlier research has indicated that an addition of titanium master alloy to aluminum alloys, results in improved fillability, grain refinement and finer pores. B206 alloy differs from other alloys used in automotive industry, with lower titanium level. This paper examines the effect of alloy chemistry (copper and titanium levels) and grain refinement (A1-5`)oTi- 1%B grain refiner) on grain size, microstructure and microporosity in B206 aluminum alloy. In this study, characterization of grain size, microstructure and microporosity was carried out using light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results have shown that the addition of 0.05 wt % titanium resulted in grain refinement of B206 alloy. With an increase in titanium to 0.25 wt further grain refinement, much reduced pore size and uniform distribution of pores resulted. These results suggest that B206 with proper addition of titanium has a promise as an alloy for automotive casting.

Jan 1, 2007

By C. H. Buck, A. J. Taylor

"In 2015 Vale’s Clarabelle Mill began the process change to enable a higher degree of Cu separation. The flowsheet modification was part of a complete divisional flowsheet change being implemented in Vale’s Sudbury Operations. This paper will centre on some of the Operational Readiness (OR) work, culminating in the commissioning of the circuit in March 2017. The emphasis will be on the implementation of an integrated test plan to prepare for the process flow change through the mill.BackgroundClarabelle Mill (CBM) began making a saleable Cu concentrate in 2006 with the installation of the Cu separation circuit. Typical separation rate was 35-40% of Cu in feed reporting to Cu concentrate based on a target Ni concentrate Cu:Ni target of 0.7-0.8. The remainder of the recovered Cu (55-60%) reported to Ni concentrate and was smelted through the Copper Cliff Smelter.In 2013 a capital project, Surface Facility Upgrade (SFU), was implemented to focus on matching the surface plants capacities with the future mine plan to maximize revenues. This was to be achieved by redistributing the metal flow, specifically Cu, through CBM to increase metal unit content through the Smelter. The amount of redistribution of Cu was determined to be based on maintaining a stable Cu to Ni ratio (Cu:Ni) in the Ni concentrate.The change in Cu:Ni ratio in the Ni concentrate would affect the Sudbury divisional flowsheet, and required process changes across the all of the surface plants. The detail that surrounds the flowsheet changes as a whole will not be discussed, but the outcome of the decisions plays a large role in the operational readiness interactions between the mill, its suppliers and its downstream customers."

Jan 1, 2018

By Leroy G. Hagenbuch

"IntroductionAn integrated Truck Management Information System (Truck MIS) evolves as seemingly separate functions combined to yield a single homogeneous result / product. The concept of a computer integrated Truck MIS includes truck dispatch, truck maintenance management and truck weighing.A truck management system is only as good as the information / data bases input to it. The concept of an integrated system works best with automated data gathering. Automated data gathering provides timely and normally, the most accurate historical information/data bases. Data bases are, however, historical, which is a problem to be overcome in a computerized truck management information system, especially in regards to a truck dispatch system as loading sites / loading conditions and some dump site conditions continually change. As these changes occur, data base s must change as well, and thus the need for the continual update of data bases that the computer uses for a Truck MIS.For a truck dispatch system to achieve reliability / viability, dispatch decisions need to revolve around real time data gathered in an automated way. Integration of all truck management function s through automated data gathering lead s to the best over-all system.An integrated system is a combination of many different factors and is only as good as each factor / building block put in the system. With the proper building blocks, an integrated Truck MIS is very feasible - an MIS System that includes weighing, time and motion study, truck maintenance and maintenance management, as well as truck dispatch.Truck MISAn integrated Truck MIS provides for truck dispatch as the ultimate end result, a truly automated /integrated truck dispatch system (to function non-operator-dependent). The following comprises its central building blocks:-Time.- Haul Cycle Segments.Truck Status, i.e. Load on truck,- being loaded,- loaded,- unloaded,- in service,- out of service.- Vehicle Location.Loading Equipment Status.- in service,- out of service.Optional- distance travelled in each haul segment.With this data provided on a non-operator dependent basis, it is possible to build good data bases so a computer can make truck dispatch decisions. Knowing what information is needed as the central core to a good Truck MIS, how can this information be automatically gathered and fed into a central control computer?"

Jan 1, 1986