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By Michel Grenier, Robert Scott, Mahendra Gangal, Andrew Dasys

This research project which took place at Brunswick Mining and Smelting's Brunswick mine, was undertaken to assess the ability of new diesel engine technology to meet current and anticipated underground worker exposure limits to diesel exhaust contaminants. Concentrations of CO, CO2 NO, NO2 SO2 and respirable combustible dust (RCD) were measured in a remote mine area where a haulage truck was operating under simulated duty cycles. The 26 ton haulage truck was equipped with a 300 hp, electronically controlled engine. Fresh air was supplied to the area as per the MSHA certification document for this particular engine. Results showed that while the vehicle operated in a normal and realistic duty cycle, the concentrations of contaminants remained well below the ACGIH guidelines for the threshold limit values (TLV)for exposure. While operating at 630/0 of maximum horsepower (26 tons of ore in the dump), the time-weighted average exhaust gases concentrations (CO, CO2 NO, NO2 and SO2) never exceeded 150/0 of their respective TL Vs. ReD concentrations in this instance were measured at 0.59 mg/mJ or 39.30/0 of the exposure limit suggested by the Canadian ad hoc Diesel Committee. The Air Quality Index was 1.55 or 520/0 of the maximum suggested value for exposure.

Jan 1, 1994

By Norman B. Davis

THE ceramic group of industries is comprised of those engaged in the manufacture of cement, glass, artificial abrasives, whiteware, including earthenware, stoneware, porcelain tableware, porcelain sanitary ware, electrical porcelain, floor and wall tile, porcelain enamel on metals, refractories of all kinds, sewer-pipe and structural clay products, such as terra cotta, brick, and hollow tile. The various sub-divisions of the industry produce a wide range of articles on which we depend for our creature comforts from day to day, perhaps to a greater extent than we generally realize. The industry, in turn, depends on a great number of minerals, and chemical products derived from minerals, and it is the object of this brief paper to present a list of these with notes indicating the particular applications. In order to bring home the importance of the industry to your daily life, stop and consider the many things around you accepted as a matter of course. Cement provides the smooth surfaces of many of our highways, city streets, and sidewalks. It enters into nearly all types of construction, alone or in combination with other clay products. Glass we hardly appreciate because we can see through it so easily, but it is there to serve us in windows, doors, and other light-transmitting structures. Glass is the universal means of transporting liquids and beverages, our beverages are usually served in it, and, with the recent development in fine spun glass textiles, there is a possibility of glass clothing in the future. Chinaware, a general term for table dishes, may be earthenware (not vitrified), semi-porcelain, or bone china, but it is before us three or more times a day ?and we seldom think of the minerals that have made these products possible. Floor tile, wall tile, and other ceramic specialties for interior and exterior use and decoration please the eye and provide sanitary surroundings.

Jan 1, 1938

By S. Fuentes, J. Cáceres

"During the past fifteen years, mines utilizing the block caving method have improved performance and systematically reduced total mining costs.This paper describes improvements in mine design, mine planning, and mine management, including methods enabling the Chilean and international mining industry to ensure cost savings and productivity growth while using the block caving method. These improvements have encouraged the re-evaluation of underground operations at operating and closed open pits, and challenge surface mining applications as the only low-cost mining method. This paper describes a strategy to estimate the optimum open pit to underground transition time during the life of a mine. IntroductionDuring the last fifteen years, block caving mines have experienced huge changes in designs, planning and administration. These changes have permitted operators to drastically reduce costs, improve equipment productivity, and improve overall business performance. As a consequence of this situation, the block/panel caving mining system is challenging actual open pit operations to maximize the net present value (NPV)."

Jan 1, 2004

By J. D. Bosman, L. J. Gardner

"The Bushveld Complex is a large layered igneous intrusion, located in the northern parts of the Republic of South Africa. The complex hosts the largest known reserves of Platinum Group Metals in the world. On the western limb of the complex, mining of the Merensky economic horizon and UG2 chromitite layer has been conducted for many years by several mining companies, including Impala Platinum Limited. Over the past decade, Impala has planned a new generation of greenfield vertical shafts, commencing with comprehensive geological and geotechnical studies. As part of the geotechnical studies, numerous tests have been conducted to quantify the mechanical properties of the various near-reef rock types. These tests include point load tests conducted in the field, as well as uni-axial compressive strength, triaxial compressive strength, and Brazilian disc tensile strength tests conducted in specialist laboratories. The authors have compiled an extensive database containing a large number of tests for different rock types, ranging from felsic Anorthosite to mafic Pegmatoid. The database was analysed to quantify the mechanical properties and values for Mohr Coulomb and Hoek Brown failure criteria for each rock type typically exposed by mining. The paper will provide a data set of rock mechanical properties typically used in numerical modelling and other design processes. Using the significant number of tests available, data describing the variability of the various parameters will be included."

Jan 1, 2015

By S. M. Taghavi, M. Halali

This paper investigates the possibility of zinc oxide production from zinc ore concentration residues, and also the effect of temperature, time and depth of bed on waste materials reduction percents. The results obtained show a significant increase of the reduction percent as a function of time and temperature. With increasing in depth of bed, reduction percent will decrease. Maximum zinc oxide percent in products was 93.5%.

Jan 1, 2004

By Stuart J. Schofield

Introduction The study of the ore deposits of British Columbia is one of fascinating interest not only from a scientific but also from a commercial standpoint and certain wide problems in connection therewith have interested me for some years. Several of these problems have been set forth in papers presented before this Institute on previous occasions. In 1918 it was pointed out that the commercial ore deposits of British Columbia, with one exception, were associated with the granodiorite batholiths of upper Jurassic age. This was followed, in 1922, by a discussion of the ore deposits of British Columbia in which the mineral belts of the province were defined and named, showing a zonal arrangement of ores in which the Pacific coast deposits are characterized by the presence of copper, while the interior belt is marked by the presence of silver, lead, and gold. Methods Of Investigation In reading various reports on the economic geology of British Columbia one is struck with the fact that the mineral veins may be arranged as a system and further examination will show that such a system follows two main directions, one northeasterly and the other northwesterly, both related in origin to the same force.

Jan 1, 1925

By Gerald H. Luttrell, Lance Christodoulou, Jaisen N. Kohmuench, Michael J. Mankosa

The efficiency of the froth flotation process has long been known to be strongly dependent on particle size. For sulfide minerals, good recoveries are typically achieved in industrial flotation circuits for particles in the 30 to 200 µm size range. Particles outside this critical size are typically lost in industrial operations and rejected to tailings streams due to inherent constraints associated with the physical interactions that occur in the pulp and froth phases of conventional flotation equipment. In response to these limitations, a series of experimental studies were conducted to determine whether particles previously lost as tailings could be economically recovered using a suite of novel flotation technologies developed for upgrading ultra-coarse and ultra-fine particles in the industrial minerals industry. For the case of ultracoarse particles, a fluidized-bed flotation system called the HydroFloatTM separator was tested. The data obtained using this novel flotation device in both laboratory- and pilot-scale trials showed that good recovery of previously lost sulfide values up to 850 µm diameter could be achieved. Similarly, for ultrafine particles, a high-intensity cavitation-based column cell was tested. This technology, which utilizes highshear contacting of slurry and gas, was capable of recovering valuable ultra-fine sulfide that were previously lost due to the low capture efficiency of conventional flotation processes. The objectives of this article are (i) to describe the unique operating principles of these two advanced flotation technologies and associated ancillary classification equipment, (ii) to present laboratory- and pilot-scale experimental test data showing the metallurgical benefits of the proposed novel flowsheet for sulfide tailings processing, and (iii) to provide a generic cost-benefit analysis of the proposed system for recovering lost values in existing sulfide tailing streams.

Jan 1, 2016

By B. Dubreuil, J. -M. Lalancette, D. Lemieux

Arsenical bearing deposits are posing an increasing challenge for the mining industry. In particular, mineral processing of arsenical sulfidic ores for base and precious metals recovery tend to produce problematic arsenical tailings. This arsenic being present as sulphide or oxide, tends to dissolve, contaminating surface and underground waters. To meet the environmental regulations, it is often required to stabilize the arsenic in a more insoluble form. Dundee Sustainable Technologies has developed a new patented technology using vitrification of the arsenic oxide in an economical way, giving a stable solid, well below the environmental regulations upon leaching. This technology involves oxidation of As (III) to As (V), by using a low cost natural oxidizer and transformation of the produced arsenic oxide into calcium arsenate, which is not volatile at the melting temperature of the glass. This technology would be advantageously applied on most cases around the world where sulphide concentrates are oxidized in a fluidized bed or smelted.

Jan 1, 2014

By B. Dubreuil

Arsenical bearing deposits are posing an increasing challenge for the mining industry. In particular, mineral processing of arsenical sulfidic ores for base and precious metals recovery tend to produce problematic arsenical tailings. This arsenic being present as sulphide or oxide, tends to dissolve, contaminating surface and underground waters. To meet the environmental regulations, it is often required to stabilize the arsenic in a more insoluble form. Nichromet has developed a new patented technology using vitrification of the arsenic oxide in an economical way, giving a stable solid, well below the environmental regulations upon leaching. This technology involves oxidation of As (III) to As (V), by using a low cost natural oxidizer and transformation of the produced arsenic oxide into calcium arsenate, which is not volatile at the melting temperature of the glass. This technology would be advantageously applied on most cases around the world where sulphide concentrates are oxidized in a fluidized bed or smelted.

Aug 1, 2013

By A. Vien, B. C. Flintoff, R. P. Edwards

"This paper provides a critical review of the development and application of advanced controls in mineral processing at the industrial level. These algorithms can be sub-divided into four broad categories: Kalman filter, self-tuning, extended horizon, and knowledge based or expert systems. Applications from each category are described outlining the benefits derived, the relative advantages of that particular controller, and potential limitations of the controller which may inhibit their more widespread application. The paper will conclude with a description of control algorithms which are currently in the rudimentary design stage, but may hold tremendous potential for mineral processing control systems in the next decade. INTRODUCTIONThe Canadian mining industry has a large installed milling base and many plants are run with manual or low level automatic process control. The competitive pressures imposed by the market will not allow these operations to ignore the significant increase in efficiency that can be achieved through the effective application of advanced process control. These improvements will come in the form of better quality, higher productivity and reduced costs.There have been quite a number of reports of successful applications of advanced control in mineral processing applications. As this trend continues, and more of the work is documented, the technology will be more effectively transferred to process and control engineers. It is the authors' opinion that the most difficult problems facing process control are not really technical in nature. Rather, they lie more in process control education. This extends from management, through engineering to the operators.The purpose of this paper is to provide a tutorial type overview of some of the more frequently encountered advanced control algorithms. The assumption is that the reader has a superficial knowledge of this technology. In the discussions which follow, several techniques are explored within the framework of simple process examples. Industrial examples are cited for each and an evaluation of the expected longer term potential is given."

Jan 1, 1992

By D. Moffat

Rio Algom Limited has mined uranium at Elliot Lake, Ontario for 20 years. The production of this energy-generating element results in the need to dispose of low-level radioactive solid wastes and liquid effluents. Because of the wet-temperate climate at Elliot Lake, the liquid effluents are of particular importance. Radium-226 is the isotope which requires most attention, and the current practice for its control is by addition of barium chloride and retention of the resultant precipitates in large settling ponds. Analyses of typical effluents and waste streams are discussed and typical levels of radium-226, thorium-230, thorium-232, thorium-228, lead-2iO, polonium-2iO, and uranium isotopes are presented.

Jan 1, 1979

By H. F. Zurbrigg

"The Frood-Stobie Mine is by far the largest metal producer in the Sudbury area. Its efficient development was made possible by the consolidation of three mining properties that covered parts of the same ore body. They were known as the Frood Mine, the Frood Extension, and the Stobie Mine.The southwest or Frood portion of the orebody was discovered by Thomas Frood and A. J. Cockburn in 1884. Cockburn's interest was acquired by J. H. Metcalf and W. B. McAllister and patents were issued to Frood, Metcalf, and McAllister in 1884. The property was purchased by the Canadian Copper Company (lnco) in 1886.James Stobie discovered the northeast or Stobie part of the orebody in 1885. In 1886 Stobie and Rinaldo McConnell applied for the location and patent was issued in 1886. They sold the property to the Canadian Copper Company (lnco) the same year.The Frood Extension property included very little of the ore zone at surface but it covered ore down the dip from Frood. Frank Cochrane was granted title to the property in 1908 and sold it to the Mond Nickel Company in 1910. The title was transferred to the International Nickel Company in 1929 at the time of the Inco-Mond merger.Prior to 1930 the three properties produced a total of about 1 ,000,000 tons of ore from mining done during the periods 1887-1903, 1913-1915 and 1925-1929. Since 1929 the Frood-Stobie operation has produced more than 120,000,000 tons of ore, about half from open pits and half from square set and blast hole stoping. The current production rate is in excess of 6,000,000 tons per year.The principal products from the ore are nickel and copper. The by-products are iron ore, cobalt, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, gold, silver, selenium, tellurium, and sulphuric acid."

Jan 1, 1949

By Thomas M. Barczak

A critical safety component for all underground mining is intrinsic and standing support systems. Specifically, tabular hardrock mining exploits a wide variety of deposits that require various methodologies to safely mine the ore material. Several new support systems have been developed in recent years for hard rock applications which have been modified or applied in a variety of ground control applications. These include prestressing devices, improved cribs, and free standing supports. Various standing support and prop-type systems have been designed for hard rock applications with seismic loading conditions to accept prestressing. The prestressing, using water-filled cells, creates an active load upon installation and is considered essential to maintain support during and after the blasting of the mine faces. Heavy seismic activity is also present in these mines and the prestressing units can provide some energy absorption capability to help preserve the integrity of the support. This paper presents an overview of these innovations in support technology.

May 1, 2007

By R. Roufail

Mineral liberation is accomplished by comminution and is the first step towards achieving successful downstream processes such as flotation or leaching. In metal mining, one of the most effective comminution methods that is used to grind particles below 10 microns is stirred milling. In this paper the study of particle breakage mode vs. mill operating parameters is addressed. Stirred mills' grinding action is mainly attrition, but operation can be manipulated to include breakage by compression or impact loading. Macro and micro analysis of particle breakage and grinding mechanisms are correlated. Macro analyses convey information that relates grinding mechanism to particle size and shape. It is speculated that the breakage mechanism in the horizontal stirred mills is massive fracture for the coarsest particles and attrition (abrasion) close to the grinding limit where the size reduction ratio approaches 1.0. For micro analysis, the particle breakage mode has a direct impact on fracture type either transgranular or intergranular. Intergranular particle breakage leads to higher mineral liberation compared to transgranular breakage. Similar minerals would have more homogeneous properties that convey a stronger bond compared to dissimilar, heterogeneous mineral bonds. Transgranular fracture requires higher energy than inter granular fracture; trans granular fracture toughness of pure single phase mineral is about 10-14 % higher than the intergranular fracture toughness. This communication presents the results of an investigation to assess how operating conditions can affect trans- vs. inter-granular breakage.

Jan 1, 2009

By C. Phan

This paper outlines opportunities provided for enhanced management and process control by ISA PROCESSTM technology. ISA PROCESSTM technology has the core advantage of offering the potential for vastly improved electrode handling systems. This fundamental characteristic has enabled ISA PROCESSTM technology to develop management and process control systems that are modular, minimalist in their complexity and tailored to a tankhouse operating environment. A review will be presented on the current status of management and process control in ISA PROCESSTM tankhouses covering the central issue of electrode handling as well as electrolyte circulation systems, voltage monitoring, cathode plate tracking, and product tracking. Particular reference will be made of the recent development by Xstrata Technology (XT) and their technology partners, VRT Systems, of an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based solution for tracking ISA PROCESSTM cathode plates. The system encompasses fixed readers which identify plates passing through the stripping machines and the use of sophisticated tracking and database software enabling the development of cathode asset management and operational strategies. The performance of individual plates and batches of plates can be tracked through a full service history.

Jan 1, 2007

By Jo Render

Expectations of your management approach ??Life of mine applicability ??Tailor scale of activity to scale of project ??Assess impacts, risks, and opportunities ??Use global good practice, backed up by rigorous analysis ??Support with trained monitoring and evaluation team ??Information infrastructure to allow ongoing trend analysis and tracking of progress ??Public reporting using standardized indicators Yes, we are talking about a ?management system?

May 1, 2011

A series of fault slip seismic events have occurred at Garson mine. The events have occurred during development advancement exposing faults, after the extraction of single stopes due to mining induced stress change, and due to time effects after delays of many days during which no mining had been conducted. This paper discusses the study completed consisting of a global or holistic approach aimed at mitigating some of the risks associated with the structurally controlled rockbursts at Garson. Background Garson mine is located in the south east area of the Sudbury Basin (Ontario, Canada). Mining occurs in two main ore bodies (the #1 Shear and the #4 Shear) which are copper-nickel-sulphide and occur within shear zones that (as well as the ore bodies) strike approximately east-west and dip steeply south. From the north (footwall), lithologies progress (Figure 1a) from norite (NR), to greenstone (GS), and finally to meta-sediment (MTSD). A generally WNW-ESE striking, bifurcated sub-vertical dyke of olivine diabase (OLDI) cuts the series. The current active mining block at Garson is between 4700L and 5100L (levels denote depth in feet below surface).

May 1, 2009

By Nav Dhadli

Tailings from Oil Sands MiningWhat are they? Challenges Solutions Regulatory Environment Definition of the AFD Tailings Treatment Process 2010 AFD Pilot/Demonstration ProgramTechnical challenges Performance and Results Next steps Oil Sands Industry Collaboration on Tailings Technology TAILINGS ?WHAT ARE THEY? Mixture of remaining water and solids following bitumen extraction process Composed of water, sand, silt, clay, small amounts of hydrocarbon (bitumen, solvent, and asphaltenes) A necessary part of production in excavation of oil sands and removal of bitumen

May 1, 2011

By W. E. Johnston

At last year's Annual Meeting a paper by Haultain and Johnston was presented entitled Is the Gold in Tellttrides Soluble in Cyanide? Since then the writer has continued the study of various phases of this problem. Samples and specimens of ore from some of the Kirkland Lake mines have been studied and non gold-bearing tellurides have been found in these that are not soluble in ordinary mill solutions. Samples of tailings, both old and recent, from this district have been examined with apparatus and methods that have proved very successful in detecting the presence of extremely minute quantities of tellurides. Tellurides, both base-metal and gold-bearing, have been discovered in these tailings, but only in such minute quantities that their presence would not affect the ordinary assay results. More free gold particles have been found in the tailings than gold-bearing tellurides. Much experimental work has been done on tellurides, concentrated from high-grade material and from ordinary run-of-mine ore. The gold-bearing tellurides behave very much as does gold itself. Finely divided particles are dissolved fairly rapidly, coarser particles more slowly. All the tellurides are soft and brittle and also have a high specific gravity, with the result that they are extremely finely divided in ordinary mill practice. The ordinary high-lime solution of Kirkland Lake practice is suitable for the dissolving of the gold tellurides. Oxygen is necessary, but apparently not more so than in dissolving gold. Some particles have been found that appear under the microscope to be ordinary metallic gold particles, but on heating they show a small telluride content. These appear to dissolve more slowly than gold. There is considerable variation in the ratio of tellurides to gold from different points in the mines. So far the writer has failed to find any connection between this ratio and the richness of the ore. Generally speaking, the base-metal tellurides predominate. Some of these contain gold but this may be due to a mixture of tellurides in the one particle.

Jan 1, 1933

"The Detour Lake Mine is located in northeastern, Ontario, approximately 300 kilometres northest of Timmins and 185 kilometres by road northeast of Cochrane. The mill processes a free milling gold ore using both gravity circuit and leaching with a state-of-the-art carbon-in-pulp circuit. The grinding circuit is a conventional SABC circuit with a tonnage of 55,000 mtpd at 95 microns with the addition of pre-crushing upstream of the SAG mill.The present paper will describe the methodology used to successfully prove that gold of the Detour Lake Mine ore is mostly concentrated into the fine size fraction of the blasted rocks. It will describe the various options possible to create value from this ore property.IntroductionThe purpose of this test work was to determine the grade of the pebbles and consider if there was value into discarding the pebbles and replacing the material by fresh feed.1. Pebble samplingThe pebbles were sampled and assayed for grade every day for 3 months. After 3 months of sampling, the results showed that the pebbles only carried 28% of the fresh feed grade. This phenomenon can possibly be explained by the fact the gold is located into area of fracture in the rocks.January-March 2014 – Pebble assay average• Line #1 = 0.222 g. Au/t• Line#2 = 0.275 g. Au/t• Head grade = 0.88 g. Au/t2. Crushing and grinding circuit surveysWith the above information, a grinding circuit survey was planned. The purpose of the survey was to build a JKSIMMET model of the grinding circuit for mill optimization but also to understand the deportment of gold into various size fractions that may explain why there is so little gold in the pebbles. All streams and size fractions was analysed for particle size analysis and for gold.Since Detour has dual grinding lines, both circuits were sample at the end of May. Two supplemental survey of the secondary crushers were also done and a survey of the gyratory crusher."

Jan 1, 2016