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By PAULL. BROUGHTON

Commercial deposits of sodium sulphate are harvested from alkaline lakes that are widespread throughout semi-arid southern Saskatchewan and adjacent southeastern A lberta. Concentration of sodium sulphate occurs in undrained basins under semi-arid conditions. Precipitation runoff from land adjacen1 to 1hese basins leaches 1he mineral from the soils and carries it in solu1ion 10 the basins. The process may be largely subsurface, wherein spring seeps feed basins associated with buried (preg/acial) river valleys. Evapora1ion during summer concentrates salts in the brines, and chilling of water below sa/Uration poin1 during win1er resu//s in deposi1ion of sodium sulpha1e (mirabili1e) crystals on lake bo//oms. Sodium su/pha1e, commercially known as sa/1 cake, ranks second only 10 po1ash in cen1ral-wes1ern Canada's nonme1allic mineral production. // is recovered from su,face brines, directly from intermittenl salt beds, and, until recently, by solution mining of shallow subswface deposits. Sodium sulphate is extrac1ed from seven alkaline lakes and sail f/a1s in Saska1chewan and one in Alberta. Annual produc1ion is approxima1e/y a halfmillion tonnes. Manufacture of kraft paper is the mos1 significanl marke1 for salt cake, but addi1ional quantifies are used in the glass and detergent manufac1uring indus1ries.

Jan 1, 1984

By C. Ayora

The Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain and Portugal) contains one of the largest reserves of pyrite in the world with mining activities dating back to prehistoric times. About one hundred abandoned mine wastes and galleries release a huge acidity and metal load to the Tinto and Odiel rivers. Once the mining activity is over, polluting discharges can persists for decades or even centuries with no specific responsible entity. In-situ passive remediation technologies are especially suitable for these orphan sites. The concept is to insert a reactive porous material in the natural flow path of contaminated surface and ground waters, and it is implemented through infiltration ponds and reactive barriers, respectively. Calcium carbonate pea-size gravel is the common alkalinity supplier to neutralize acidity and precipitate metals. These remediation systems have been traditionally implemented in coal mines. However, the acid drainages from the Iberian Pyrite Belt contain metal concentrations one to two orders of magnitude higher than those from coal mines and require special designs to avoid quick clogging or passivation (coating) of the grains of reactive material. To overcome these problems, a Dispersed Alkaline Substrate (DAS) mixed from fine-grained limestone sand and a coarse inert matrix (e.g. wood chips) was developed. The small grains provide a large reactive surface and dissolve almost completely before the growing layer of precipitates passivates the substrate. The high porosity and the dispersion of nuclei for precipitation on the inert surfaces retard clogging. However, limestone dissolution only raises pH to values around 6.5, which is sufficient to precipitate the hydroxides of trivalent metals (Al, Fe), but it is not alkaline enough to remove divalent metals. Magnesium oxide, which hydrates to Mg hydroxide upon contact with water, buffers the solution pH between 8.5 and 10. A DAS system replacing limestone with caustic magnesium oxide has been tested to be very efficient to remove divalent metals (Zn, Cd, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, Pb) from drainage previously treated with limestone.

Aug 1, 2013

By M. Piard

The scarcity of literature referring to mines in the Rockies has compelled the writer to co-ordinate information and advice taken at the very source. Help was gladly given by active inspectors and mine bosses. Although the field is unimportant at the present time, due to its distance from markets for raw coal, it is quite worthy of the attention it is receiving from two continents; for, with the commercial synthesis of liquid fuels, it would become the largest fuel laboratory in the world, provided, of course, that freight cost drops to a low comparative level. As explained below, there are no obstacles to economical and safe operation under anything like the typical outcrop shown in Figure 1. Although coal dust is probably more dangerous in the Rockies than anywhere else, the damp outcrops afford means of control. The abundant gas may be bled to the open air, and the rigid roof will settle gradually under a wide span of opened outcropping. The Panel Retreating Wall The Measures: Coal measures having an attitude similar to that shown in cross-section in Figure x are characteristic of the active coalfield on the Alberta side of the Rockies, and they are also found on large tracts of undeveloped land west of the divide. The small anticlines, not shown in the cross-section, do not affect the progress of a pillar line, provided their crests are connected to the atmosphere by drainage bore-holes.

Jan 1, 1928

By Gordon A. Gross

During the last half century major steel industries of the world have become dependent on iron and manganese resources derived from siliceous ironformation sediments. More than two billion years ago vast amounts of iron and manganese were deposited in ironformation sediments on all continents and until recent years their genesis was considered to be a uniquely Precambrian phenomenon. Research work has demonstrated that the origin of the banded ironformations was related to major tectonic features and associated volcanogenic processes that were active throughout geological history. Similar sedimentary-tectonic environments are being explored on the seafloor where metalliferous sediments are forming today. Ironformations are now considered to be a major part of the stratafer group of stratiform metalliferous deposits. They developed in sedimentary basins in areas where deep tectonic fracturing intersected high thermal gradients in the earth?s crust and gave rise to profuse volcanism and the hydrothermal effusive discharge of metals in the vicinity of the volcanic centres. Concepts for the genesis and metamorphism of stratafer deposits as revised in the last half century have had a profound impact in the development of iron ore resources and have had a dramatic impact in the use of metallogenetic concepts for guiding exploration for other mineral resources. They are based on the tectonic history and stratigraphy in the sedimentary basins, the role of hydrothermal volcanogenic processes , as well as environmental and sedimentation factors which influence the deposition of silica, iron , and other metals that were emphasized in the past. Topics of special interest in the genesis of ironformation and stratafer deposits and for guiding mineral exploration are: biomediation in their sedimentation and genesis, the significance of metamorphism in the processing and beneficiation of iron ore and in the genesis of iron ore by natural enrichment processes, syngenetic concentrations of Mn, Ti, Cu. Zn, Pb, Ni, Co, REE, F, Ba, B, As, Hg, W and Au in ironformations and stratafer lithofacies, and the mobilization of gold and other elements by alkaline solutions during diagenesis of ironformation and other stratafer metalliferous sediments.

May 1, 2003

By W. Beres, R. E. Miller, B. Shiari, L. R. Zhao

A dynamic multiscale simulation method has been developed to study the material scratching processes on nanoscale single crystals. The model simultaneously captures the atomistic mechanisms near the free surface and the long range mobility of dislocations and their interactions, without the computational cost of full atomistic simulations. The method also permits the simulation of system sizes that are approaching experimentally accessible systems, albeit in 2D. Simulations are performed on single crystal aluminum to study the atomistic details, surface evolution, and generation and propagation of dislocations for a variety of scratching depths at room temperature. Simulations demonstrate the power of the developed method in capturing both long-range dislocation plasticity and short-range atomistic phenomena during tool advance. Variations of scratching normal and tangential forces are investigated and related to plastic deformation and dislocations generation during the simulation process.

Jan 1, 2006

By Walter F. Atkins

Fair market value, in the legal sense , is the price which a prudent and knowledgeable buyer and a prudent and knowledgeable seller, acting without constraint or compulsion , will agree upon to exchange an asset. In the ordinary commercial or engineering usage, the term may imply simply the market value or a reasonable and equitable price. The engineer evaluator who is called upon to express an opinion about the fair market value of an asset may be able to base his estimate on the sale price of similar assets or on the market values of stock. Frequently such indicators of value are not available and the evaluator must devise other means of appraisal. Mineral resource properties may be thought of as having value by virtue of the existing or potential ability to produce at a profit. Conventional procedures permit the computation of the present value of future revenues having due regard for the time value of money and the risks attendant upon the realization of the venture. Such computations have gained wide acceptance as a basis for the estimation of fair market value.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. A. Bell

The Carboniferous system of rocks in the Maritime Provinces include as workable mineral and organic substances, gypsum, anhydrite, salt, coal, building stones, grindstones, limestones, brick-clay shales, fire-clay shales, oil shales, etc. The system is, therefore, pre-eminently of economic value to the provinces in which it occurs, and the more knowledge we may gain concerning it, the more we may be prepared to aid in the development of these useful substances. For this purpose it is not sufficient to state that the ground upon which we stand is underlain by Carboniferous rocks. In-discriminate digging or drilling will not open many new mines of wealth, however difficult it may be to dampen the optimism of gamblers. For mineral wealth has not been scattered in the rocks haphazard, now here, now there, but its distribution has been the result of natural earth forces acting at intervals throughout the countless millions of years that have elapsed since our planet was born. As regards the majority of metalliferous deposits, the earth forces involved have resulted in the penetration of surface or sub-surface rocks by molten rock-matter and associated mineral solutions from deep-seated sources. But the economic Carboniferous deposits that have been mentioned are themselves types of bedded surface rocks rather than immigrant deposits, and their formation and geological history is closely related to that of the rocks with which they are interbedded.

Jan 1, 1924

Éléonore Project Highlights Éléonoreis a multi-million ounce, high grade gold discovery in Québec Currently at the advanced exploration and engineering studies stage Excellent potential for expansion Underground mine with potential for small open pit Excellent infrastructure including road and high quality/low cost electricity within 70 km Les Mines Opinaca Ltée, a 100% subsidiary company of Goldcorp, was created to manage and operate the Éléonore Project

May 1, 2007

By K. Baris

Methane (CH4) present in coal seams, generally known as Coalbed Methane (CBM), Coal Mine Methane (CMM) or Coal Seam Gas (CSG), is a major energy source, as it is the primary constituent of natural gas. At the same time, released methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and a major safety hazard in underground mining operations. Therefore, a considerable effort has been undertaken to develop coal bed methane extraction and utilization technologies that can achieve both environmental and safety benefits. Countries with significant coal reserves and gassy seams, i.e., USA, Australia, Canada, China, India, Poland and Germany have developed mature methodologies and practices to extract, before and during mining, and utilize significant amounts of methane from coal seams. Nevertheless, on a global scale, methane recovery remains untested and many technical and economic challenges require urgent attention. The research presented in this paper, sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is focused on the Zonguldak Basin, the only hard coal region in Turkey. The basin is known to contain very gassy coal seams and consists of three major regions: Armutcuk, Zonguldak and Amasra. Among the three, the Amasra coalfield is considered as the most favorable for CBM recovery, as it comprises of deeper coal seams and where a private company, Hema Enerji A.S. (Hema) is already developing coalbed methane production facilities. This study aims at developing a reservoir model to predict the potential CBM recovery from the CBM-2 well, the only producing CBM well drilled by HEMA Enerji A.S in the Amasra coalfield. History matching was utilized to model the 15-day production data and uncertainty analysis was performed to estimate the optimum values for the reservoir parameters. The produced model yielded an average production rate of 143 m3/day for 10 years. The total amount of CH4 to be produced during this period was 0.53 million m3. Furthermore, the total amount of GHG to be avoided was estimated at 6585 tCO2e.

Aug 1, 2013

By A. G. Doll

"This paper expands the SAG mill survey database published by the Author at Procemin 2013. The new database includes 49 published SAG/AG mill surveys and includes mills from all over the world. The paper will compare the survey database to SAG mill models by Austin, Morrell and Hogg & Fuerstenau with the purpose of demonstrating the degree of fit of the models to surveys and validating any empirical “fitting factors” used in the models.SAG mill power draw models are used in mill design and grinding circuit modelling to predict how much power will be consumed by a particular mill geometry and operating configuration. The importance of conducting surveys suited to model calibration will be highlighted because the review of literature shows that survey information important to modelling is often missing or omitted. A recommendation for the collection of data during a mill survey is presented, along with some assumptions used by the Author in the absence of certain data. The benefit to mining companies of publishing their survey data, and thereby allowing modellers to improve their model calibration, is discussed.The comparison of models requires a discussion of the measurement of power in a mill drive system as the models use slightly different position in the electrical network for ""where power is measured"". The benchmarking of models against plant operations requires a similar discussion of power measurement."

Jan 1, 2016

"The Waite-Amulet, an important copper-zinc mine, lies astride the Duprat-Dufresnoy township boundary about 8 miles northwest of Noranda, Quebec. It is an amalgamation of two properties, that of the former WaiteAckerman- Montgomery Mines to the north and that of Amulet Mines, Limited, to the south. This amalgamation took place in 1933. The description that follows is confined to the Amulet section.Ore was first discovered on the Amulet property in the autumn of 1924. The C Shaft and Upper A orebodies were found in 1925 and the F orebody in 1929, the latter by diamond drilling under a swamp. Under the present management, Lower A ore body was discovered by diamond drilling at a depth of 700 to 1,200 feet in 1938, and new ore was found from the old C Shaft workings between 1943 and 1945.From April 15th to October 20th, 1930, 60,291 tons of ore was produced from the Amulet. During the second half of this period, the ore averaged 4.2 per cent copper, 16.3 per cent zinc, and 0.02 oz. gold and 3.35 oz. silver per ton. Due to the prevailing low prices of metals, there was no further production until July, 1937. Output was greatly accelerated in 1940 when the newly found Lower A orebody assumed the main burden of production. Up to January 1st, 1946, mill reports indicate the treatment of the following ore: GENERAL GEOLOGYFig. 1 shows the geology of the entire property. To the east is the Lake Dufault granodiorite stock and to the west the Flavrian Lake granite mass. Around the granodiorite and separating the Waite from: the Amulet section is an older diorite intrusion. The ore occurs in a series of lavas that form a broad anticline pitching eastward at a relatively low angle into the Lake Dufault intrusives. There are several steep east-west faults. The late Powell diabase dyke is shown, also the general areas of strong dalmatianite alteration, a type closely associated with the sulphide mineralization."

Jan 1, 1954

By Corby G. Anderson, Caelen D. Anderson, Patrick R. Taylor

"The United States contains a variety of domestic rare earth element mineral sources containing such as ancylite, bastnasite, monazite, and xenotime. Research has been performed to investigate the fundamental surface chemistry involved in the froth flotation of these minerals, and apply the knowledge gained to substantiate the results through experimental testwork on a domestically sourced rare earth ore. This paper will outline the fundamentals and literature of rare earth mineral flotation, review its industrial applications and provide some recent research updates.THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTSRare earth elements (REE’s) are a unique family of elements with nearly identical physical and chemical properties. They account for approximately 1/6th of all naturally occurring elements, but the entire group occupies only one position on the periodic table. These 15 elements make up the lanthanide series (atomic numbers 57–71), and all but one (promethium) occur naturally. In addition to these 15 elements, yttrium and scandium are also considered rare earths since they tend to occur in the same deposits as the rare earths and share similar physical and chemical properties as seen in Figure 1. In particular Figure 2 denotes, a cartoon of the subtle differences in each caused by the 4f atomic sub shell (Gschneidner Jr., 1964). These subtle differences result in very difficult challenges in the selective concentration and final separation of each rare earth. (Anderson, 2015, Kronholm, Anderson, Taylor, 2013)Rare earths are separated into two different subsections; the “lights” or LREE’s (lanthanum57 through europium63) and the “heavies” or HREE’s (gadolinium64 through lutetium71). Yttrium is generally considered a heavy rare earth since its ionic radius is close to that of the HREE’s, while scandium is not considered either a light or a heavy."

Jan 1, 2016

By K. Tarr

Acid-producing mine tailings are present at many active and inactive mine sites and pose an environmental liability due to the potential for acid rock drainage. Acid rock drainage originating from a tailings pile, a waste rock pile, or exposed sulfide-rich rock, can cause discoloration and turbidity in receiving waters, and the loading of ions mobilized by the acid can cause a decrease in aquatic flora and fauna, and reduction in the quality of groundwater. The primary cause of acid generation is the oxidation of sulfide minerals, predominantly pyrite and pyrrhotite. Considerable mine tailings are being stored on surface in vast tailings impoundment areas across Canada. In the tailings within this study, from the Sudbury, Ontario area, the sulfide mineral of primary concern with respect to acid generation is pyrrhotite. Different tailings types show varying and progressive degrees of oxidation correlating to their specific sulfur contents. The degree of oxidation is determined by the relative extent to which the sulfides have reacted as well as the depth of oxidation within the tailings. Natural Resources Canada, CanmetMINING is dedicated to research supporting the Green Mining Initiative, a program reducing business risks by demonstrating practices that reduce environmental impacts. In cooperation with the Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC), applied research aims to reduce land disturbance, waste volumes, and releases to the environment. By reutilizing tailings from vast impoundment areas as a component in backfill, the potential environmental impact would be lessened considerably, due to the reduced tonnage stored on surface long-term. From an operating perspective, there is a need for supplemental feed for backfill from time to time. The reclamation of old tailings for use in backfill is also driven by the fact that old tailings ponds may not be structurally stable, and it may be more cost effective to remove the tailings than to upgrade the impoundment structure. However it is imperative that these old tailings be fully characterized to determine their suitability for use underground, in order to ensure the long-term integrity of the resulting backfill matrix. A study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of tailings reclamation from old impoundment areas as a significant component in backfill. The materials were first physically and chemically characterized, followed by preparation of samples to determine optimal mix proportions for strength development for both paste and hydraulic fill compliance. It was found that the amount of oxidized tailings included in the backfill material had a profound effect on both the segregation and settling properties of the backfill matrix, as well as the mechanical properties of the samples. The strategies for decision-making, based on the criteria for material characterization, mining plan, and cost effectiveness are discussed.

Aug 1, 2013

By D. A. Barr

"Most of the lode and placer gold production in the Canadian Cordillera has been derived from mines and placers in the Intermontane and Omineca belts. Gold has been produced from rocks of Precambrian to Eocene age, but the preferred host environment contains Upper Paleozoic to Upper Jurassic eugeosynclinal or arc-type sedimentary and volcanic rocks adjacent to plutonic complexes which have a wide variety in both size and composition. Auriferous quartz lodes occur in fissures and shear zones which are commonly subsidiary to strong fault zones. In common with most vein-type deposits, structural complexities are an essential part of the mine environment.Gold production from the Canadian Cordillera to the end of 1978 totals 35.0 million ounces, of which 47 per cent has been produced from placer mining, principally in the Klondike and Cariboo districts. The balance has been derived from lode gold (80 per cent) and base metal (20 per cent) mines.Gold reserves in producing mines and deposits committed for production as of January 1, 1978 were 87.4 tons, or 21.6 per cent of total Canadian gold reserves contained in all types of deposits. Although more than 100 lode mines have operated in the Canadian Cordillera since the turn of the last century, over 75 per cent of the lode gold produced by 1978 was recovered from five mining camps, namely the Rossland, Hedley, Bridge River, Premier and Barkerville.The average grade of the principal producers in these camps was about 0.45 ounce of gold per ton. Individual camps yielded from 3 to 8 million tons during their operating lives, which varied from 28 to 43 years. The last of these mines ceased operating in 1971.Most of the total lode gold production has been derived from quartz veins, frequently with associated carbonate and ankerite, occupying fractured and faulted zones in Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks closely associated with a variety of intrusions. A review of the literature suggests that several deposits may have evolved by remobilization of ore constituents from earlier concordant gold-bearing formations. The principal metallic minerals in the deposits are native gold, electrum, tellurides, pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite.As the mineralogy suggests, many of the Cordilleran lode gold deposits have yielded important co-products or byproducts, including silver, copper, lead, zinc, cadmium and tungsten. Significant by-product gold production has also been derived from porphyry copper, volcanogenic, replacement and pyrometasomatic deposits, particularly in recent years.No major lode gold discovery has been made in the past 67 years, although little exploration activity for gold has taken place during the last 30 years. Several relatively small lode gold and gold replacement deposits have been discovered in recent years, either serendipitously (Chappelle) or on very low initial budgets (Northair and Carolin). Based on well-established precedents, one or more of these may eventually be developed into a large mine.A detailed study of the Canadian Cordillera gold deposits based on recent genetic models could prove rewarding, not only in up-dating information on their origin and depositional characteristics, but in stimulating the search for undiscovered gold deposits, in the Cordillera and other parts of Canada."

Jan 1, 1980

By W. J. Weymark

"The Gregg River project is located 40 kilometres southwest of Hinton, Alberta, adjacent to and east of Jasper National Park. This metallurgical coal mine has been developed as a joint venture between Gregg River Coal Ltd. (a subsidiary company of Mana/ta Coal Ltd.) and seven Japanese companies. This 200-million dollar project consists of a conventional truckshovel open-pit operation and a coal preparation plant rated at 2.14 million tonnes of clean coal per year. Mining operations started in October 1982 with plant start-up following in April 1983. Introduction This paper is an overview and update of the Gregg River project, a metallurgical coal mine being developed as a joint venture between Gregg River Coal Ltd. (a subsidiary of Manalta Coal Ltd.) and seven Japanese companies. The Gregg River Coal leases cover 3440 hectares and are located 40 kilometres south of Hinton, Alberta, adjacent to and north of Cardinal River Coal Mine (Fig. 1). This 200-million dollar project consists of a conventional truck-shovel operation and a coal preparation plant rated at 2.14 million tonnes of clean coal per year. A total of 31.5 million tonnes of clean metallurgical coal will be sold to the Japanese over a fifteen-year term. At present, mining operations are ahead of schedule and the plant started up on schedule in April 1983. Access and Climate An all-weather road, Highway 40, connects the minesite with Hinton (the nearest commercial centre) and a Canadian National Railway (C.N.R.) spur line connects the minesite with the C.N.R. main line in Edson. Hinton is accessible by road chartered airline and rail. ' ~h~ rug~ed and varied topography in the area creates large vanations m temperature and precipitation over short distances. The region is characterized by precipitation throughout the year long cold winters and short cool summers. The mean temperatur~ of the area range from a low of -14°C in January, the coldest month, to a high of 12°C in July, the warmest month. Long-term precipitation data indicates a mean yearly precipitation of 870 mm of which 620Jo occurs during the summer months."

Jan 1, 1985

By E. Landry, W. Naudts

"The amenability theory was developed by Alex Naudts and considers grouting operations as continuous permeability tests where Newtonian test fluid water, is replaced by a cementitious or solution grout. It utilizes hydraulic conductivity and grouting data to establish the amenability coefficient of a particular grout zone. The amenability coefficient reflects the quantity of apertures or voids accessible to the selected grout, divided by the number of apertures accessible to water, in the zone intersected by the grout hole. By calculating, in real time, the effectiveness of a particular grout at the start of a grouting operation, the most appropriate grout to match design criteria can be targeted. By incorporating the amenability theory in every grouting operation, schedule savings and an increase in productivity are typically achieved. Three short case studies illustrate different enhancements in productivity: At an underground mine during the construction of declines, a cement based suspension grouting program was highly ineffective and did not appear to affect the inflow into the mine workings. The amenability theory was utilized to evaluate the grouting program and based on this evaluation, changes to the grouting program were made which allowed the grouting to meet the project’s objectives. On another project, a pre-excavation grouting program implemented during shaft sinking operations utilized the amenability theory to select the most suitable grout for the program. Schedule constraints also influenced the selection of the grout. In the third case history presented, the amenability theory was used to select the grouting sequence of every individual grout hole for a grouting project in a highly heterogeneous soil formation. INTRODUCTION The amenability of a given soil, civil structure or rock formation for a particular grout formulation is a measure of the ability of that grout to permeate the pores, fissures and apertures water will flow through. The amenability coefficient of a particular grout for a specific zone equals the percentage of apertures, pores and fissures accessible by water that are also accessible by grout. Grouting should be viewed as a continuous permeability test, where the apparent in-situ hydraulic conductivity value for a particular grout zone is continuously evaluated, using grout instead of water as test fluid."

Jan 1, 2019

By W. M. Brewer

Introduction This paper describes some of the mineral resources that are tributary to that portion of the Pacific Great Eastern railway included in the Western Mineral Survey District, No. 6, of British Columbia. This district extends 38 miles northerly from Squamish, the ocean terminus of the railway at the head of Howe sound, to Alta lake. Beyond Alta lake the railway continues northerly through two other mineral survey districts: the Central Mineral Survey District No. 3, and the Northeastern District No. 2. District No. 6 includes that section of the Coast Range from which the waters flow southerly towards Howe sound. The division between District No. 6 and District No. 3 is represented by an imaginary line across the summit between the headwaters of the Cheakamus river, flowing south into the Squamish, and the Green river which flows north and empties into the head of Lillooet lake near Pemberton meadows, about 20 miles from Alta lake. History: - The history of the route of the P. G. E. railway dates back to the old Cariboo days when a pack-horse trail traversed the country northerly from Squamish to the Pemberton meadows, and also south-easterly from Squamish to the head of Seymour creek, thence southerly down that creek to the north arm of Burrard inlet.

Jan 1, 1925

By D. Ofstie, B. Kargutkar

BIM, or Building Information Modeling, is transforming the way metallurgical facilities are built, operated and maintained. BIM provides a digital representation of the facility, complete with all physical and functional characteristics - enabling collaborative planning, concurrent design, construction simulation, sustainable operations and predictive maintenance through a connected information model. Building on experience gained in other industries, Hatch is aggressively applying the BIM process to the mining & minerals processing industry to address inefficiencies inherent in traditional document-based information management. Intelligent 3D models support real-time quantity forecasting and cost trending by commodity type and construction work package. By linking procurement and schedule data, material availability and constructability reviews are visualized to verify construction critical path, ensure work front safety and minimize craft downtime. The BIM digital information model connects engineering, construction, commissioning and vendor data, aiding timely asset-centric handover to plant operating and maintenance systems.

Jan 1, 2015

By Richard Morland

The Ekati Safety Guarantee is a conversation that has been taking place at Ekati for the last two years. It is a challenging, confronting, inspiring conversation which encourages people to see and pursue the possibility of guaranteeing that nobody who works at Ekati will be seriously injured or killed at work. The conversation takes us out of the normal, incremental approach to safety improvement; it takes us out of the world of striving, of seeking, of trying, and allows us to stand in, and be a stand for the future possibility of Zero Harm. It requires an unreasonable stand for, and commitment to, our own safety and the safety of our colleagues. A Powerful Conversation The safety guarantee began with conversations between executive team members and has been propagated regularly through the line through management meetings, pre-shift meetings, during workplace inspections, job safety observations, job and project planning, orientation and induction sessions, and when opportunities present themselves. This is a conversation that continues outside of Ekati with family, with government, with community members. It is a stand for safety as a value. The conversation about the safety guarantee is now pervasive at Ekati and forms part of a framework of initiatives that have led to sustained improvement in safety performance. During the last two years, the recordable injury frequency at Ekati has dropped to its lowest level in Ekati?s history. At the same time, job safety observations have increased from 500 per month to 4000 per month, whilst the overall number of people at Ekati has reduced by 30%. It has led to new ways of thinking about the conduct of operations. It influenced the 2008 upgrade of the Ekati process plant, resulting in the development and implementation of a crane lift protocol that eliminated injuries during over 100 lifts in two weeks, in an area of difficult geometry and with multiple entrances. It created space to successfully conduct a challenging commissioning period for the process plant crusher, during which time the machine was disassembled and reassembled several times, without incident or injury. No production pressure was permitted to interfere with this work, in line with our stated aim that we wanted everyone involved to guarantee that they would not be seriously injured or killed?our people had the space to do the work at a pace, and in a way, that guaranteed this outcome.

May 1, 2010

By Jocelyn Bouchard, Claude Bazin, Sami Makni, Rolando Quispe

"Finely disseminated minerals in ores require intensive size reduction to achieve sufficient liberation for the subsequent concentration process. The use of small grinding media in conventional ball mills as a replacement for the usual 2.5 to 3.8 cm balls (1.0 to 1.5 in) produces a finer size distribution at a lower power drawn by the mill motor. However, the conditions ensuring a successful application of using small media for fine grinding are still not fully understood and some plants faced issues to keep the newly introduced steel charge inside the mill during industrial trials. The retention conditions of small media are investigated in this paper using a continuously operated 40 x 40 cm laboratory grinding mill. The tests assess the effect of the steel charge level, the slurry solids concentration and the feed rate on the rate of ejection of the grinding media. The dominant variable is found to be the filling of the mill with the grinding media, followed by the mill feed rate. Results show that increasing the slurry solids concentration within a grinding mill may be favorable for the retention of the media inside the mill.IntroductionProcessing of complex ores often requires the use of fine grinding to liberate finely disseminated minerals. Grinding requirements for a P80 of less than 0.02 mm are not uncommon, and different grinding mills are available for such application (Leonida, 2014; Pease et al., 2006; Davey, 2006; Orford et al., 2006; Nesset et al., 2006). Even conventional horizontal ball mills charged with of 2.5 cm or larger grinding media can be used for fine grinding. However, simulation (Orford and al., 2006) and plant observations (Alves and L-Bouchet, 2005; Brisette, 2010; Brisette and Roman, 2012) demonstrated the advantages of using smaller grinding media in terms of size reduction and energy consumption."

Jan 1, 2015