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By Gregory A. Johnson

Operations and Maintenance departments have long had an adversarial relationship. The widespread evolution and adoption of modern management techniques such as Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Lean Production however has driven interest in working co-operatively to optimize overall plant performance. Mining and minerals operations have long adopted RCM in maintenance, and are now adopting Lean throughout the organization. Modern management initiatives like these explicitly call for co-operation between the two disciplines of maintenance and production and many advances have been made in the realms of people and methodology. One area that has lagged behind in supporting these developments however is information systems. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems in maintenance and newer Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) in operations have not been truly integrated in the way needed. Complicated plants, different software architectures, continually changing conditions and many variables have lead to systems problems which have contributed to the maintenance/operations divide. Master data synchronization (the ?plant tree?) and integrated reporting of real-time data with transactional data are just two of the issues that are being solved by new approaches in information technology including web services and service orientated architectures. New technologies are coming on-stream to enable the final ?bridging of the gap?.

Feb 1, 2008

By Bruce Macdonald

Operational reservoir management activities such as cyclical steam, water or CO2 injections frequently cause surface micro-deformation. InSAR monitoring from space based sensors of this surface deformation has become a valuable approach to confirm and monitor extraction and injection activities. Sequestration of CO2 into deep saline aquifers is discussed as an important long term solution to slow future climate change. This method requires reliable continuous monitoring to assure that captured CO2 is sequestered in the substrate for ?all time? (typical minimum requirement by law is 20-30 years). We have shown that combining flow and deformation modeling with spaceborne synthetic aperture RADAR interferometry (InSAR) measurement of ground uplift caused by the underground release and spreading of the CO2 can be forged into a powerful tool to monitor sequestration. We used a novel InSAR approach to resolve the surface motion over the In Salah, Algeria CO2 sequestration site. Our approach exploits all information contained in an interferometric stack by exploiting both persistent distributed as well as persistent point scatterers. Displacement time series are obtained with a network inversion approach applied after topographic error and preliminary atmospheric correction of the network (dual-scale technique). After inverting the original network data to common master we then use an advanced spatio-temporal filtering scheme to remove the remaining atmospheric phase components down to scales of 1 km or less. By comparing final displacement series from multiple interleaving InSAR stacks we show that the accuracy of our refined solution to detect uplift outside of significant temporal data gaps in the InSAR stack is significantly better than 1 mm per year. We further show that accuracy and robustness to data gaps are both significantly improved by co-inverting multiple datasets with the same and different sensors. This co-inversion method also allows the seamless continuation of the monitoring from one sensor to another.

Jun 1, 2012

By F. M. Waldie

THE 2,538-foot belt conveyor recently installed underground at the Sullivan mine hoists ore from the 3,350-foot level to the 3,900-foot or main haulage level, a vertical distance of 680 feet. The design and planning of development work, under the direction of Mr. R. H. Stewart, Consulting Engineer, was begun in the spring of 1941. Development work was started in July of that year from the 3,350-foot level, and headings were started on the 3,650-foot and 3,900-foot levels later in the same year. It was the intention at that time to keep three headings going on development work necessary for the installation of the system: two on the conveyor incline, and one on the 3,900-foot level. This programme was modified in 1942 when there was some doubt whether the material for construction could be obtained. This problem of supply was eventually solved and the development work was pushed to completion in December, 1943. Construction was started in December, 1943, "'under the supervision of Mr. G. H. McKay, Superintendent of Construction and? Maintenance, and was completed in November, 1944.

Jan 1, 1945

By K. O. J. Sidwell

STRATMAT LIMITED, through its subsidiary, the Strategic Manganese Corporation, controls two adjoining iron-manganese properties five miles west of Woodstock, New Brunswick. One is a staked property of 77 claims traversed by one trunk highway, several secondary roads, and a branch line of the Canadian National railway. The other property, a 20-square-mile Concession immediately to the north-east, is also traversed by an excellent network of roads. Both proper-ties are situated in gently rolling farmland. The deposits were discovered in 1836 by Dr. C. T. Jackson. The first attempt to exploit them was made in 1848 when a blast furnace was erected with a capacity of 7 tons per day. The ore was mined by a series of deep trenches that followed the folds of the enclosing slates. In the late years of operation, bog iron ore from Burton and Maugerville, in Sunbury county, was used in conjunction with the Wood-stock ore. An additional 5-ton furnace was erected in 1863 and mining was carried on intermittently until 1884. No further extensive work was done until 1953. During the period of activity, approximately 70,-000 tons of ore are said to have been smelted ( 1). During these earl y operations the Iron Ore Hill and Moody Hill deposits were partially opened, with the ?bulk of the furnace feed being mined from the Iron Ore Hill workings. The low tenor and apparently limited extent of the deposits, the high. ?content of phosphorus, and the increasing scarcity of fuel, were the chief factors that brought the enterprise to an end.

Jan 1, 1957

By L. Henry Smith, David C. Arthur

"The Williams Mine is Canada’s largest gold producer, with annual production of 450 000ounces from 2 300 000 tonnes of ore. Highly mechanized and automated underground mining practices are employed in order to achieve and maintain high levels of productivity and minimize costs.The mine ventilation system is modified to include a new vent raise and variable pitchvane-axial fan. This addition allows several fan installations underground to be decommissioned. A substantial net savings in installed horse power is achieved.Heating costs associated with under-ground ventilation air are a significant portion of mine operating costs. Air heating costs are substantially reduced by recovering heat from upcast exhaust air, minewater and compressor cooling circuits. This waste heat is used to supplement propane fired air heating systems for underground ventilation air. An additional benefit is the availability of a heat sink for summer cooling of the compressors.System design, energy savings data and payback calculations are presented."

Jan 1, 1996

By D. Kalumba, S. Jjuuko

"Thin Spray-on Liners resist relative small deformations (< 1 mm) between rock blocks or fragments in terms of a combination of shear, adhesive and tensile-bond strengths. Shear-bond strength addresses the ability of a thin liner to resist stresses that act parallel to the rock-liner interface. Therefore quantification of shear-bond strength is essential in the formulation of design standards and requirements for Thin Spray-on Liners. In this paper Thin Spray-on Liner support mechanisms are reviewed. In addition previous methods of Thin Spray-on Liner shear-bond testing are discussed. The paper also explains the research being carried out at the University of Cape Town to investigate the effect of different parameters on the shear-bond strength.INTRODUCTIONRock surface support is widely used to combat rockfalls and resulting injuries and fatalities in the vicinity of active faces (Potvin, 2002), where workers spend most of their time (Adams & Baker, 2002; Potvin, 2002; Lacerda, 2004). The conventional (traditional) surface support systems in underground rock support include passive methods such as mesh and lacing and active methods such as shotcrete. However, rockfall sources between 1990 and 2000 in Nevada gold mines showed a steady increase in rockfall injury associated with mesh support as shown in Figure 1 (Lacerda, 2004). The conventional methods also negatively impact the mining operations with regards to costs, logistics and mining cycle times due to large material volumes (Tannant, 2001; Ozturk & Tannant, 2010; Ferreira, 2012). Therefore, these systems need to be substituted, with enhanced methods, in order to realize the business target of the mining industry of providing the planned return on investment made without harm and within budget."

Jan 1, 2015

By A. Shaak

The town of Hedley is some 200 miles due east of Vancouver and lies in the bottom of the Similkameen River valley, at the junction of Twenty Mile creek, at about the 1,700-foot elevation above sea level. The Nickel Plate mine camp is on Nickel Plate mountain at an elevation of about 5,600 feet, four miles slightly east of north from Hedley, to which it is connected by 9 miles of road, and by 10,000 feet of tramway and electric railway. The latter is used both to transport the ore to the 275-ton mill at Hedley and to furnish the mine with supplies. History The Nickel Plate claim was staked in 1898 to cover the sole outcrop of the Nickel Plate system of orebodies. Soon afterwards it was optioned by the Marcus Daly interests of Butte and underground exploration commenced. Early exploration was successful, and a power plant, tramway, and mill were constructed. The mill began operations in 1904. Production under Daly control ensued from June, 1904, to August, 1909, and amounted to 167,000 tons. The Hedley Gold Mining Company was organized and commenced operations in 1909. The capacity of the mill was increased by stages to 200 tons and a steady production, except for short periods in winter, was maintained until 1930. By 1930, gold to the value of nearly $10,000,000 had been produced since the discovery in 1898. The South American Development Company optioned the property in 1932. Active exploration was conducted during 1933 and 1934 by the Kelowna Exploration Company, a subsidiary of the South American Development Company. This work was sufficiently successful that, coupled with the increase in the price of gold from $20.67 to $35.00 per ounce, production re-commenced in December, 1934, and continued uninterrupted until July, i946, when, along with all B.C. gold mines, a strike closed operations. Under the present ownership, the mill capacity was increased to 275 tons.

Jan 1, 1946

By Brian G. Pewsey

Located in the northern part of the Province of British Columbia, the Cassiar Mine started development of its asbestos orebody in 1952, and is currently producing 105.000 tons of asbestos fibre annually. The townsite is nestled in a beautiful valley and supplies more than average facilities. The fibre is shipped to more than 40 countries and is used in many industrial products.

Jan 1, 1978

By C. Fleming, J. R. Goode

ABSTRACT: Data were produced from two uranium project studies that were conducted in 2008, both involving uranium recovery from leached slurry by resin-in-pulp (RIP) with strong base resins. In both studies, excellent metallurgical results were produced. The loaded resins were eluted with strong sulphuric acid and recycled through RIP circuits in an integrated process. Resin losses by either abrasion or mechanical breakage were immeasurably low. Metallurgical results from these two campaigns are presented, along with a case study economic analysis of RIP versus the alternative processes of counter-current-decantation or filtration and solvent extraction.

Jan 1, 2011

"The content of production reports has its origins in raw measurements taken in harsh production environments. The ensuing measurement/estimation errors always affect reproducibility such that, regardless of the fact that they are balanced through statistical data reconciliation, reported numbers are simply the most probable values of inferred probability distributions. This has important implications for how metal recoveries should be monitored and reported. Indeed, in a context where many process optimisation activities are based on small improvements in recovery, there should be no doubt that inadequate handling of measurement/estimation errors can easily exaggerate or mask actual changes in process performance. However, estimates of the reproducibility of reported metal recoveries are rarely reported to plant management. This situation persists despite the fact that a code compliant metal accounting system must inform management about business risks related to metal accounting. To this extent, this paper focuses on the continuous management of reproducibility level of metal recoveries in compliance with the best practices. Sensitivity analysis of primary and secondary metal accounting models is performed to show the resulting probability distributions for metal recoveries. Some guidelines are given for designing and managing metal accounting systems capable of achieving and sustaining predefined levels for the reproducibility of metal recoveries.INTRODUCTIONEach and every mineral processing plant produces daily, weekly and monthly production reports in which metal balances for payable and penalty elements are presented. While such production reports are usually consulted in offices, underlying raw measurements are taken in harsh production environments where mechanical vibrations, humidity, corrosion and dust, to name a few, disturb measurement procedures. It is thus no surprise that several authors (Francois-Bongarcon & Gy, 2002; Gaylard, Randolph, & Wortley, 2014; Holmes, 2010; Spangenberg & Minnitt, 2014) have reported pervasive issues related to mass/sampling measurements in the context of mineral processing."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. W. Govier

The origin and limitations of the conventional and empirical equation for the interpretation of the results of back pressure tests on gas wells are discussed. Difficulties in data interpretation arise from many causes, including Jack of flow stabilization, uncertainties in connection with the friction calculation, and the effect of turbulence near the sand face in the reservoir. A procedure is developed to ac-count for the turbulence effect. This is based upon the theoretical equation for laminar steady state flow and current knowledge of turbulent steady state flow. The procedure involves the expression of the equation for combined laminar-turbulent steady state flow in terms of a turbulence contribution factor. This factor. is shown to be dependent mainly upon the flow rate per unit of pay thickness and the reservoir permeability. The method of interpretation permits the use of judgment based upon the theory and present day under-standing of laminar-turbulent flow and is considered an improved method

Jan 1, 1961

By John A. Herbst, Alexander Potapov, Xiangjun Qiu

"High Fidelity Simulation is a name applied to the use of first principles modeling tools including Discrete Element Modeling (DEM), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Grain Breakage (DGB) to mathematically describe and study processing systems. Over the past few years, significant advances have been made in High Fidelity Simulation applications, particularly as many mineral processors have been drawn to the study and use of DEM of grinding mills for optimization purposes. This presentation provides an introduction to High Fidelity Simulation, with an emphasis on DEM. It will include insights into current applications of these tools including the optimal design (wear and throughput) of mill lining systems and media selection, the analysis and design (flow and efficiency) of the back-end of grate discharge mills. Advantages of full mill simulations versus individual sub-process simulations will be demonstrated for a SAG mill with different discharge system designs.INTRODUCTIONHigh Fidelity Simulation is providing mineral processors with the opportunity to analyze the behavior of mineral processing equipment from a fundamental or microscale point of view. In the past complex phenomena such as tumbling mill grinding had to be analyzed using black box tools such as residence time distributions for transport and classification functions for passage of particles through grates; while breakage had to be analyzed using PBM models who derived their form from theory but required direct measurement of kinetics. Today with the help of DEM, CFD and DGB these can be analyzed at a very fundamental level.The key element of DEM simulation is the application of Newton’s laws of motion to individual objects or discrete elements. Using this simulation method one can describe the position, velocity (both translational and rotational) of all objects and the transfer of momentum to other objects (Mishra and Rajamani, 1992; Cleary, 1998; Nordell et al, 2001)."

Jan 1, 2003

By James G. Lyons

All machines vibrate and make noise. An increase signals impending trouble. Vibration and noise analysis allows the condition of the machine to be determined without costly interruption in service for disassembly and physical inspection.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. A. Morris

It has been shown that Alberta oil-sands fluid coke can be effectively used to reduce SO2 to elemental sulphur while simultaneously producing sulphur-impregnated activated carbon (SlAC). In the capture of mercury from industrial flue gases, SIAC has proven to be a highly effective adsorbent material. The current research aims at developing an existing SlAC technology to meet the needs of copper smelters for mitigating both mercury and SO2 emissions, while making elemental sulphur as a co-product. The challenge behind this undertaking is that these flue gases generally contain percent levels of 02 and H20 vapour (2-12%). The focus of this study is therefore on the feasibility of reducing SO2 using fluid coke under copper smelter flue gas conditions, as well as the optimisation of SIAC properties for capturing vapour phase mercury. It is hypothesised that mercury capacity is strongly affected by the 02 potential of the activation gas due to changes in surface sulphur types arising from different reduced sulphur species. To verify this, gas chromatography is used to analyse the reaction products while XPS and XANES will be used to describe the nature of sulphur on the SlAC surface. CVAFS analysis of mercury capacity will finalise the hypothesis assessment. Preliminary results indicate that 02 at 5% does not play a significant role in SSA or pore development. As expected, increased residence time contributes to SO2 reduction and elemental S yield.

Jan 1, 2007

By E. Allen

Quebec Cartier Mining Company operates approximately two hundred and fifty pieces of equipment in a climate with a temperature that has averaged 27.5°F during the last seven years. The use of special-purpose lubricants, fuels, antifreeze, rubber compounds, and alloy steels have reduced the cold-weather hazards. In some areas, high-cost cold-weather protective heating devices are being eliminated with experience.

Jan 1, 1966

By A. Sokolov, E. Hasikova, V. Gostilo, V. Titov

Introducing online X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers in the mining and processing industries can lower costs and improve the representativeness and speed of analysis. The applicability of the CON-XTM industrial conveyor XRF analyzer for continuous measurement of potassium content in process materials was demonstrated at various stages of potassium muriate (MOP) production. The CON-X analyzer produced reliable and accurate results for sylvinite ore (27–36% KCl), MOP cake after flotation (88–97% KCl), and NaCl residue (1.5–5% KCl). Tests of the analyzer at an MOP-producing plant showed a < 0.5% difference between online and laboratory results.

Jan 1, 2014

Presentation Outline ERM ? corporate profile Background to sustainability reporting GRI G3 Guidelines (Oct 2006) Best practice examples Contact information ERM ? corporate profile Over 35 years of experience World?s largest all-environmental consultancy* 130+ offices in 40+ countries; 3,200+ professional staff Worked with >50% of the Global Fortune 500 (FY07) Annual turnover > US$500 M (FY07) 2008 Environmental Advisor of Year** Offices/Staff ? Canada (5/50) and US (65/1,350) *Source: Engineering News Record: July 2, 2007 ** Source: Acquisitions Monthly: December 2007

May 1, 2008

By Robert C. Stanley

The prominence of her mineral resources makes Canada a most fitting place in which to hold the Second Empire Mining and Metallurgical Congress, since in all probability the Dominion has more diversified mineral wealth than any other part of the British Empire. This paper is concerned with nickel, an important factor of Canada&apos;s mineral production. The richness and quantity of her nickel ores have made Canada the world&apos;s most important source of supply of the metal. Its history and diversified uses are, therefore, particularly interesting at this meeting. Early History Probably the first use of nickel by man was in the fashioning of implements, and later swords, from nickel-bearing meteorites, masses of metal that have fallen from time to time at many points on the earth&apos;s surface and which consist normally of iron carrying substantial amounts of nickel. Meteorites were perhaps the first metal known to man. The falling star, sought out with fear overborne by curiosity, was found to be a better stone than the earth-given, truly a boon from the gods. Archaeologists tell us there is good evidence that the ancient oriental peoples learned at an early date to make these stones into useful implements. The invincible blades of the great warriors of old, in China, Persia, and in northern Europe, were Heaven-sent, a fable which sounds significant of meteoric iron. Probably some of the ancient swords of Khorassan and of Damascus were of meteoric nickel-bearing iron.

Jan 1, 1927

By J. L. Collins

"Une recherche debutee en 1987 tente de cerner divers éléments ayant un impact sur la productivite miniére, de facon à améliorer la planification des operations souterraines. II a été possible de recueillir jusqu&apos;à trente variables dans sept opérations minières differentes du Nord-Ouest québécois. Cette présentation rend compte de quelques résultats préliminaires obtenus à l’une d&apos;entre elle. Entre autres, elle montre comment une association entre une analyse de régression multiple et un logiciel d&apos;optimisation (OPTIMUL) peut servir à une application particulière de la planification d&apos;une opération minière du Québec. Plus spécifiquement, la présentation montre comment une quantité appropriée de ANFO et de TOVEX peut maximiser la quantilé de minerai cassé, minimiser les couts de sautage ou encore minimiser les coûts d&apos;explosifs par tonne de roche cassée, en se basant sur une série de contraintes réalistes provenant de la mine.ABSTRACTA study, underway since 1987, tries to evaluate factors affecting mines&apos; productivity. Information has been collected from seven underground mines in Quebec and this paper shows preliminary results from one. In particular, it shows how a combination of multiple regression analysis, mathematical programming and a set of realistic mine constraints can be used for a particular application of mine planning. More specifically, the paper shows a parallel between maximizing production of tons of broken are, minimizing explosives costs or minimizing the costs of explosives per ton of broken are by an appropriate selection of ANFO and TOVEX quantity of explosives. Finally, the paper shows that minimizing the costs of explosives per ton of broken are is the best alternative to follow providing a special optimization program can be set up."

Jan 1, 1990

By Laxman M. Amaratunga

Laboratocy flarmnability tests were perfonned on dust samples from Fraser Mine in a 1.2 L Lindenburg horizontal tube furnace to detennine the percentage of sulphur oxidized during ignition. The explosion pot ential of sulphide dusts depends on their degree of spontaneous oxidat ion, which was measured by the quantitative analysis of so2 gas released during ignition. Test results indicated that dusts with low sulphur content could exhibit a higher degree of oxidation than a sample with high sulphur content. txlst characterisation using image analysis techniques suggests that the structure and the texture of dust are important factors influencing the explosibility of sulphide dust at ignition temperatures. Therefore for safe mine operations% sulphur content cannot be considered as a reliable single index that could be used to predict the potential of a sulphide dust explosion. Physical, chemical and mineralogical characterisation of dust plays an important role in the detennination of suitable indices for the prediction and prevention of sulphide ore dust explosions.

May 11, 1988