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By David Forrester

"At the 95th CIM Annual General Meeting in Calgary, 1993, a paper entitled “Progress on Futuristic Mining Technologies” was presented(Matthews and Sarin), in which they outlined the goal of continuous excavation of hard rock and some of the technologies being developed to achieve it. The subject continues to be featured in periodic reviews and articles in the literature, (Gertsch, 1994; E&MJ, 1995). Matthews and Sarin note the considerable success of the development and application of continuous mining technologies in the soft rock under-ground mining industry, especially those in coal and potash, with major benefit to overall production, productivity and economic viability. It is the belief that similar achievements can be realised in the underground hard rock mining which continues to drive the development of hardrock continuous mining technology.This overview has been prepared specifically for this issue of the CIM Bulletin. It attempts to tie together current advancements in continuous mining in soft rock (where remote control and automation are already well established) with the background and status of development in hard rock continuous mining. Following a brief review of key factors and machine types, soft rock aspects are discussed, then a more detailed review is given of hard rock technology, with particular reference to Canada’s HRDK Mining Research Ltd. and their key role.The mining industry has long been at the forefront of technology development, for example, the application of the early steam engine to reach reserves at greater depth for dewatering mines in the industrial revolution. By necessity, the individual characteristics of seams and orebodies dictate the mining method, continually presenting mining engineers with new challenges. One of these is the extraction process itself and the goal of replacement of the drill-blast-muck cycle by continuous excavation. Very soft rocks have always been mineable using some form of cutting, even with primative tools. However, as the challenge has been taken up, technologies have evolved to steadily increase the hardness of rock that can be mechanically excavated. It may surprise some readers that at least three machines have successfully cut and loaded rock with an unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of 250 Mpa to 300 MPa (36 000 to 43 500 psi) in field trials (Table 1)."

Jan 1, 1996

By Scott Hean

"Environment and the economy are interwoven irrevocably. They need to be publicly discussed, and discussed often so that new approaches can be understood and developed - approaches which are complimentary, not confrontational.Discussion on the environment is timely, from the perspective of mining engineers and developers, from that of bankers and from their shared perspective as people concerned with enhancing the quality of life, the environment and the economy.This paper will touch on how what is called the ""environmental economy "" that has evolved has become entangled with regulatory and financial issues in a way that is dangerous for all of us. It will also look at some of the promising possibilities that a world-wide and continuing concern for the environment holds out for us.For many decades, British Columbia has provided some of the key examples of the intertwining of environmental and economic issues, and, very importantly, providing the people prepared to do something about them.Canada's first environment minister, the late Jack Davis, came from British Columbia. He led this country's delegation to the Stockholm Environment Conference in 1972, a conference that laid the groundwork of principles necessary to establish some international certainty as to the legal liability for causing trans-national environmental damage.Another British Columbian who was also a national environment minister, John Fraser - now the Speaker of the House of Commons - was one of the first to dramatize the importance of acid rain and force it into the international public arena.Some 20 years ago, British Columbians made Vancouver and their province one of the major centres of opposition to the Alaska Pipeline and Tanker System - with some justification, it now seems.That a British Columbian , then MP David Anderson, was given legal recognition to sue in a United States' court against a system that was either in U.S. territory or international waters was an important precedent in, and of, itself in terms of environmental law. That old controversy is now a very current case study - in terms of dealing with the question of liability.-"

Jan 1, 1991

By L. E. Puddington, A. L. Mular

"Since the inception of spherical agglomeration, few investigations to exploit commercially the technique in the metallurgical field have been conducted. Of these, none appear to have been carried sufficiently far to demonstrate commercial feasibility.This paper describes a continuous agglomeration-separation process that can rapidly handle large tonnages of ore material. A small pilot plant de-signed from information obtained with the semi-batch unit described herein is currently in operation.In the absence of a reagent recovery system or cheap reagents, the process is probably not economically attractive for many common ores. However, for iron ores, the fuel content of the agglomerates can be used in a subsequent step such as direct reduction."

Jan 1, 1968

By R. O. Loutfy, J. C. Withers

"Titanium powder is produced from a small fraction of sieved sponge, HDH of sponge or gas blown from a melt produced billet. Ore from foreign sources is chlorinated in a very high temperature fluid bed to make TiCl4, then vacuum distilled purified and then reduced to sponge by Kroll processing. Domestic ores of ilmenite or perovskite can be carbothermically reduced to Ti2OC which can be chlorinated at low temperatures of 250–400°C to produce TiCl4 which can be electrolyzed in a fused salt to Ti powder, or the Ti2OC used as an anode in electrolysis to produce Ti powder. The electrolysis process can be operated continuously to produce Ti powder at a lower cost than Kroll processed sponge including produce control size powder. Electrolysis processing was scaled up and operated at the commercial demonstration stage on a continued basis that verifies the potential of a low cost process to produce Ti powder.INTRODUCTIONTitanium and alloys of titanium powder have been elevated to strategic status resulting from a focus of producing meltless titanium components as well as a feed for additive manufacturing processing. However, the high cost of titanium powder has limited wide scale implementation of using titanium powder as a feed to any process to produce titanium components. Titanium powder free of alloying is available as sponge fines from the Kroll process as illustrated in Figure 1. Titanium alloy powder is much more expensive, also illustrated in Figure 1 produced from an alloy ingot or mil product as the feed and then transformed into powder by one of several melt form processes which accounts for the high cost of titanium alloy powder at approximately $60–150/lb. Ton lots of titanium alloy powder (i.e. Ti-6Al-4V) from one source is quoted at $120/lb. in the U.S. It appears that alloy powder production cost by current processing is not sensitive to volume."

Jan 1, 2016

By Duanyou Li, Qing Xiao, Zhiwang Wang, Xiaoqing Gan

"Seepage is a major cause of earth-rockfill dam failure. Numerical simulation of infiltration process, distribution of drift, flow velocity and direction after the impoundment can guide seepage control and evaluate its effects. A double field coupling model is established based on soil consolidation theory and the interaction between the seepage field and the temperature field. The simulation is implemented under the situation of core wall setted, core wall not setted, and core wall setted with concentrated leakage. The results indicated that the saturation line height was significantly reduced due to impervious core wall, and the temperature distribution is uniform above the saturation line. If concentrated leakage occurs, temperature distribution of dam was significantly changed, which is consistent with theoretical inference.INTRODUCTIONEngineering seepage field distribution must be calculated in seepage control design, optimization, and correction of new engineering construction of earth dams, as well as in seepage monitoring and evaluation of existing earth-rockfill dams. The aim of calculation is to identify the important parameters in seepage field, such as the coefficient of permeability, seepage flow, pressure, head, and allowable seepage slope, for effectively implementing seepage control design, correction, safety assessment, and anti-seepage reinforcement. These seepage parameters usually can be obtained by in-situ test and back-analysis based on reliable monitoring data.In order to obtain reliable monitoring data and reflect the earth-rockfill dam seepage state and change process, appropriate monitoring technology and monitoring method is necessary. The traditional seepage monitoring method is through site inspection and sensors (e.g., osmometer, piezometric tube and measuring weir) that buried in the structure and its foundation. However, there are still some disadvantages:"

Jan 1, 2015

By Nur Hossain

Analysis of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) parameters via the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) has been obtained for SENT specimens of AM6OB magnesium alloy. It is found that the ratio of initial crack length to initial monotonic plastic zone size is one of the critical factors in establishing the limit of using LEFM concepts. If this ratio is below a certain limit (i.e. when crack lengths are small in comparison to the plastic zone size), loss of similitude stress intensity factor range would occur. This ratio, therefore describes the limit below which the use of LEFM would no longer be admissible. In this study, the above limit was established for AM6OB magnesium alloy. In addition, fatigue crack propagation tests were conducted to ascertain the fatigue response of the alloy and determination of the coefficients of Paris model.

Jan 1, 2010

By R. H. Andrews, F. J. West

"Jones & Laughlin Mining Company, Ltd. operate the Adams mine at Kirkland Lake, Ontario, where they mine approximately 4,000,000 tons of extremely hard iron-formation and 3,500,000 tons of volcanic waste rock annually in order to produce 1,100,000 tons of iron pellets. This paper will discuss the maintenance of the four Model 1600 P & H shovels and the two 50-R drills used to obtain this production. The chief maintenance problems at the mine are due to the hard, abrasive ore and the cold winter weather."

Jan 1, 1970

By Russell Spry

THE cyanide plant of the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company, Limited, at Wells, B.C:, in the Barkerville section of the Cariboo mining division, was erected during the latter part of 1932 and placed in operation in January, 1933. The initial capacity of the plant was about 50 tons daily. This was increased to 100 tons at the end of 1934 and stepped-up to 150 tons in September, 1935. It is expected that further plant extensions, for milling a total of 200 tons daily, will be required during the early part of 1936. Recent additions to the mill have been so planned as to permit ready expansion to 275 tons daily when underground development warrants the milling of this tonnage. It is the purpose of this paper to outline briefly the steps taken to bring the plant to its present capacity and to comment on possibilities for further plant expansion. The gold in Cariboo Gold Quartz ore occurs as free gold in the quartz and on pyrite surfaces. Some of it is very finely divided, specks l/10,000 inch having been observed microscopically, according to Dr. G. Hanson. In addition to pyrite, which comprises probably 15 to 20 per cent of the mill feed, galena and sphalerite are present, with small amounts of arseno-pyrite and chalcopyrite. Sulphobismuthites-chiviatite, galenobismutite, cosalite, etc.-occur more or less frequently in certain sections of the mine. Following tests on Cariboo ore by the Mines Branch, Department of Mines, at Ottawa, treatment of the ore by straigh t cyanidation was recommended and a 50-ton plant employing continuous counter-current decantation was erected. This plant was built as a pilot mill, the intention being to erect a larger mill after metallurgical treatment had proved successful over an extended period. This original installation, however, has been enlarged and retained as an operating unit, additional equipment being added to it as capacity increases have been required.

Jan 1, 1936

By J. D. Botsford

Westmin Resources Limited's H-W orebody on Vancouver Island is a copper/lead/zinc massive sulphide deposit that has been in production since 1985. The sulphur content of the ore averages 28% and in some stopes is as high as 53%. Several minor secondary sulphide dust explosions have occurred in development headings and cut and fill stopes, but as yet no known explosions have occurred in blasthole stopes. This pa:per reviews the history of sulphide dust explosions in the H-W Mine, factors contributing to the explosions and the preventative measures taken to control them.

May 11, 1988

By H. Wilton Clark

"IntroductionTHE CANADIAN use of short-period delay-action detonators in coal shooting has been carried on for about two years, mostly in British Columbia, and this is a preliminary report on progress to date. Entire coal faces are being shot successfully with one application of electric current.The electric blasting cap came into use about the beginning of the century. The low-tension electric cap, the type most commonly used, consists essentially of a metal tube containing an initiating explosive. Two wires lead into the end of the cap and are connected inside the cap with a short 'bridge wire .of very high resistance. This •bridge wire is buried in a match-head of a readily ignitable powder composition. When current goes through the lead wires, the bridge wire becomes extremely hot and sets• off the match-head which, in turn, ignites the powder just below it in the tube. This explosion sets off the main charge of explosive. Thus, by connecting a group of caps to a source of electric .current, a number of charges could be exploded simultaneously. This immediately became of great value to mine and quarry operators. Explosives could now be used to break up large masses of material at one time, as against the older, slow method .of blasting small amounts with single charges.The next step was to develop a delay detonator which would allow charges of explosive to fire one after the other, one or two seconds apart. Such detonators allowed first blasts to relieve some rock burden before the next charge fired, giving the second charge an easier task in forcing out more rock, and so on for the rest of the series of charges."

Jan 1, 1953

By J R. O Walli

Large production shafts can be successfully sunk through the ubiquitous Blairmore formation of southern Saskatchewan by employing the freezing process and by the installation of a cast iron tubbing lining. Although the freezing technique for shaft sinking and the use of cast iron tubbing to preserve the shaft are new to the North American continent, these procedures have been employed in Europe for the past eighty years. More than 200 shafts, covering a wide variety of ground conditions, have been sunk by the freezing process, and most of these have been lined with cast iron tubbing. The No. 1 shaft of International Minerals and Chemical Corporation, near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, comprises the first major example in Canada of the employment of European methods to overcome extremely difficult ground conditions. The Blairmore formation was solidified by the deep freezing process, employing a lithium chloride solution as the refrigerant, with input temperatures ranging to -55°F

Jan 1, 1964

Overview n Why we audited the IRS n How we did it n What we discovered n What we learned n Where we are going next The unbroken chain of safety The Internal Responsibility System (IRS) The network of roles and relationships in a workplace, through which everyone works with mutual commitment to reduce or eliminate hazards.

May 1, 2003

By J. F. J. Thomas

"AbstractBoth the quantity and quality of waters available as raw materials are important to Canadian industry and to the national economy. The huge demands of many Canadian industries is illustrated by tabulated figures, based on the 1950 Canadian production of certain products, and on United States figures for the gallons of water required to produce a unit quantity of each product. It is suggested from comparison with American survey results and figures that Canadian industrial water consumption is 1 to 11/2 billion Imperial gallons per day. Since present information on Canadian usage is meagre and it is not certain that American survey results can be directly applied to Canadian industry, this estimate must await confirmation in future studies.The hydrologic cycle and the principal factors affecting the quantity and quality of water, namely, climate and season, topography, geology, vegetation, and human activities, are discussed and the principal salts dissolved in water which affect industrial use are enumerated.The present survey studies by the Mines Branch on water quality are outlined. Besides chemical analyses of municipal water supplies within a watershed, periodic sampling and analyses of major surface waters for a one-year period is being carried out. The importance of studies on seasonal variation in quality is stressed by comparing the dissolved salts in various river waters with river flow. Figures showing such relationships in the Rideau river and Ottawa river at Ottawa, the Columbia river at Trail, B.C., and the Battle river at Unwin, Sask., are presented. Different rivers show different quality changes with changing flow, and possibly only after long-term studies can the relationships be predicted.Quality studies on water may be as important as studies on many other raw materials. The quantity of the raw material, water, is not inexhaustible nor is the quality indestructible, and more realization of its importance, followed by conservation and intelligent use, is desirable."

Jan 1, 1952

By Jerry M. Whiting, Neil J. Duncan

"Does Canada need a mining industry? Isn't it a chronically depressed collection of businesses that pollute the air and water and tear up the countryside? Wouldn't it be better if Canada's investors devoted their attention to high-technology endeavours, tourism, and other relatively pleasant tasks?Probably the answer to whether Canada needs a mining industry in the 21st century is to look at the real mining industry that is in operation today. The facts indicate that mining is a very important contributor to Canada. It has certainly encountered some challenging times during periods of recession, and it face s severe and continuing problems of cost and competition in world markets. However, uneconomic mines have been closed, others suspended, and productivity has risen dramatically with employment at 77 000, down from 101 000 in 1981. The country's metal and non-metal mines, metallurgical plants and semi-fabricated metals industries employed an estimated 378000 workers in 1986, and paid wages than any other sector of the Canadian economy. This effort resulted in the production of 60 different metals, non-metals and structural minerals valued at $13.5 billion.The trade aspects of the mining industry are of paramount importance. If there is a reason for this situation to change during the next century. it eludes the authors. Canada has the well-developed expertise to discover, evaluate, develop, operate and profit from existing and new businesses based in an enormous area endowed with a nearly unbelievable variety of mineral resources. Many countries throughout the world must rely on producers like Canada, if they are to maintain and/or improve their standard of living."

Jan 1, 1988

By F. Y. Grepe

"THE MOST common type of mine hoist is, as is very well known, that in which the a.c. wound rotor motor is the driving medium. The reasons for the use of the wound rotor motor are, of course, economic. This type of equipment has, during the years, proved to be very reliable and reasonably satisfactory. It is, in fact, still being installed and in some places where a very hard and exacting duty cycle is demanded. As an example, a 600 h.p. 2,300-volt job was recently installed at the Caledonia mine (1) at Glace Bay. This is a vertical. hoist in a shaft only 175 feet deep but it is, nevertheless, working hard bringing coal to the surface and in making a trip at a speed somewhat better than every 20 seconds.The control equipment for such installations usually consists of a pair of primary reversing contactors which are interlocked both mechanically and electrically, together with some form of secondary controller. This, in the case of small hoists, can be a drum controller and metallic resistors or, in the case of larger hoists, a magnetic contactor panel and metallic resistors or, alternatively, can be one of the various forms of liquid rheostats which are available. The liquid rheostats, if of the dipper type, may be manually operated or it may be operated by some form of servo motor mechanism. In the weir type of liquid controller, the electrolite is, of course, pumped in and out of the rheostat."

Jan 1, 1954

By C. -K. Fang, T. H. Chuang

"Temperature effects on the erosion of the 6063 aluminum alloy were investigated. Erosion experiments were performed by sandblasting silicon carbide particles of 80 grit size. The target volume loss, and worn depths of the eroded material were investigated at different temperatures. It was found that the temperature had only a minor impact on the peak attack angle. The effect of temperature on erosion damage depended on the relative humidity (RH) of the environment. IntroductionThe synergy of wind and sand or dust may result in the erosion of materials. However, the severity of erosion damage in different areas and in different seasons might be varied, depending on environmental variables such as temperature and humidity. As a result, determining the effect of environmental variables on erosion damage is important in selecting or ranking materials for their suitable applications in diverse areas.The relationship between erosion wastage and temperature is governed by many factors including temperature dependent properties of the material (strength, ductility, toughness, and dynamic hardness, etc.), mechanical erosion characteristics, the rate of oxidation, and the mechanical properties of oxides. Although the effect of temperature on erosion has been studied for engineering materials (Smeltzer et al., 1970; Gat and Tabakoff, 1978; 1980; Levy et al., 1986; Levy and Man, 1986; Chinnadurai and Bahadur, 1995; Howard and Ball, 1997; Colclough and Yeomans, 1997; Suckling and Allen, 1997), published literature dealing with aluminum alloy is rather limited."

Jan 1, 2000

By G. B. Hudson

Previous papers (1, 2) pertaining to the treatment of uranium-bearing ores were concerned with the flotation of the radioactive minerals. In this investigation, the application of flotation to the removal of acid-consuming minerals from uranium ores was considered. Two pitchblende-bearing ores, which, because of the presence if dolomite were abnormally high acid consumers, were studied. In both in-stances commercial reagents of widely varying fatty acid composition proved satisfactory as flotation col-lectors, particularly at a pH of 10.5, for the carbonate minerals. From an economic viewpoint, however, Neo-Fat 42-12 was favoured. A mixture of sodium tripolyphosphate and citric acid was an effective depressant for the pitchblende in the ores. The tailings remaining after the removal of the dolomite by flotation contained, in one case, 88.5 per cent of the uranium in the original sample, and, in the other, 93.8 per cent. Analyses conducted on these tailings and on the original ores showed that

Jan 1, 1963

By C. J. Cattarello

"The Langmuir Mine is located seventeen miles south-east of South Porcupine in Langmuir Township.The property was developed as a Joint Venture between Noranda Mines Limited and the International Nickel Company of Canada with Noranda responsible for the operation of the property.The Mine came into production in June 1973 at a rate of 700 tons per day of nickel ore.MINING The mining method selected for the Langmuir Project was a sub-level retreat method. This consisted of driving sub-levels longitudinally in the ore body at 35 foot, intervals with the sub-levels being connected by a ramp from each main level for the use of trackless mining equipment.GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE LANGMUIR MINE The deposit is situated about 1,000 feet west of the shore of Carmen Bay at the south of Nighthawk Lake in Langmuir Township. The area is underlain by andesite and rhyolite flows with iron formations which are intruded by gabbro, diorite, peridotite and late precambrian diabase dikes."

Jan 1, 1975

By Dillon. Patricia

Business Growth ?Coal ?Targeting 30 million tonnes by 2013 compared to 19 million tonnes produced in 2009 ?Expanding Energy Business unit (Oil Sands) ?Copper -Strong growth potential for existing operations and development projects ?New gold strategy recently launched ?New markets for zinc Need to retain existing and attract new employees to support growth Engaged Employee ?Has a positive attitude towards the organization and its values ?Is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work Engaged employees are more likely to stay with the organization.

May 1, 2010

By Henri-Loui Jacob, Suzie Nantel

"Depuis la fin des annees 1800, la province de Grenville represente pour Ie Quebec une source importante et diversifiée de minéraux industriels. Le Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources du Québec, dans Ie cadre de I'entente auxiliaire Canada-Québec, et les compagnies minieres y ant multiplié, surtout depuis 1983, leurs travaux d 'exploration, de cartographie, et d'évaluation pour les minéraux industriels. Ces travaux ant conduit ala découverte et ala mise en valeur de gisements de granite architectural, de graphite, de dolomite et ant aussi permis de repertorier des gîtes et des indices prometteurs de wollastonite, de silice, de calcite. de dolomite, de silicates d'alumine et de terres rares. Les gisements récemment découverts sont actuellement exploités au sur Ie point de l'être et les gîtes et les indices les plus prometteurs ant été jalonnés.ABSTRACTSince the late 18oos, the Grenville Province in Québec has been an important and diversified source of industrial minerals. The Ministere de l'Énergie et des Ressources du Québec, under the Canada-Quebec Mineral Development Agreement, and the private sector have put an emphasis on exploration, mapping and evaluation programs in the Grenville Province for minerals, particularly since 1983. These programs have led to the discovery and the development of deposits such as architectural granite, graphite and dolomite, and have also led to inventories of occurrences and prospects of wollastonite, silica, calcite, dolomite, alumina silicates and rare earths. The deposits discovered lately are presently being quarried or will be in the near future. The most promising occurrences and prospects have been claimed."

Jan 1, 1990