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By L. C. So, S. Faucher, S. Mostaghel, A. Triwahyuono, D. Sauter, S. -Y. Oh, S. K. Lee, K. Aswin

"Molten hauling and water granulation are the commonly used slag treatment methods in the production of nickel. Water is present in these processes either to accelerate cooling of the dumped slag or in the granulation itself which creates an inherent safety risk of explosions. Even good design and operation are not sufficient to prevent explosions or injuries from occurring. Several dry methods to treat slags have been intensely studied. However, most of these technologies have never been commercialized due to numerous challenges including scalability, cost, low heat recovery efficiencies, and difficulties in heat utilization. Ecomaister-Hatch has recently developed and commercialized a reliable and simple Dry Atomization process, which eliminates water and allows for heat recovery. As part of the development towards other sectors, laboratory-scale and pilot-scale trials have been completed in a number of base metals and PGM facilities. Recently, Dry Atomization of a nickel laterite slag was successfully demonstrated at the laboratory-scale. The current paper introduces the technology and reports the test results obtained from atomization of the nickel slag.INTRODUCTION The processing of nickel laterites produces vast amounts of slag with over 90% of the feed to the furnace reporting as slag. Slag handing is therefore of critical importance to a laterite smelter. Traditionally there are two ways in which the slag is handled (1) Molten hauling, dumping, cooling and quarrying (2) Water granulation, dewatering, stockpiling. There are inherent disadvantages of both methods that will be outlined in this paper. An alternate route of Dry Atomization provides distinct advantages over the two conventional routes that are of particular interest to the nickel producer such as elimination of molten hauling, dumping and quarrying, elimination of water and improved safety. There is also the potential to convert the slag, which is typically regarded as a waste product, into a value added product and the continuous nature of slag tapping makes it amenable to heat recovery. Hatch has recently conducted laboratory-scale test work on laterite slag to demonstrate its viability for Dry Atomization. Results of this work are presented."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. ?H. Chen

Remote sensing technologies have been applied to numerous fields and already benefited those in improving efficiency and recognition accuracy. Change of streamflow can be devastating to residents living along riversides. Still it is difficult to detect such deathly change in large area scale by traditional field surveys. The research aims at provision of detecting streamflow change using a mathematic method based on remote sensing technologies. The scope is on remote sensing stream images taken during the invasion by Typhoon Morakot, bringing one of the major catastrophes to Taiwan. An algorithm was adopted to deal with streamflow recognition on RGB images. The algorithm is capable of yielding change measured by meters and illustrates how main streams shift. An practical example for the Baolai area surrounded by Laonong stream shows that the streamflow moved 88 meters (36 pixels) toward the downtown area during the invasion by Typhoon Morakot. In addition, the results highlight all dangerous zones (scouring zones) for residents to prevent further potential damage.

Aug 1, 2013

By E. W. Vekris

Patents are playing an increasingly important role in the business world. A diverse patent portfolio can enable a company to secure a monopoly within the market, which can provide a competitive advantage over competitors. At the same time, possessing a diverse patent portfolio greatly increases the value of a company's intangible assets. This paper provides an overview of the patenting process as it pertains to the fields of metallurgy and mining, and summarizes some general patenting strategies. A review of new "green technology" initiatives recently adopted by Patent Offices around the world is also provided.

Jan 1, 2011

By P. Chollet, A Constant

THE RESULTS of a previous investigation ( 1) on the work-softening of some heat-treated steels have led to the conclusion that the occurrence and intensity of the phenomenon is possibly governed by the work-hardening capacity of the material, and the relative amount of retained austenite. The first assumption is compatible with Polakowski's theory (2) that the absence of work-softening, in steels quenched and tempered at relatively low temperatures, may be attributed to the high rate of work-hardening which compensates for, and even out-weighs, the loss of internal energy associated with the simultaneous rearrangement of the original system of internal stresses. Indeed, Polakowski first considered the work-softening as a manifestation of a partial release (by cold-working) of the latent strain energy stored in

Jan 1, 1962

By A. F. Sirianni

The Peace River iron ore deposit represents the sole source of raw material for an integrated steel industry in Alberta. The ore has proved refractory to beneficiation by a number of techniques. A selective oil-phase agglomeration technique is described. Medium-grade concentrates, analyzing 48-53% Fe and 10-14% SiO2 were obtained with recoveries of about 75% of the total iron. These results appear to represent the optimum possible for this ore body.

Jan 1, 1977

By C. Cano

One of the main concerns within the mining industry is to minimize the impact of tailing facilities to the environment and nearby communities. Since the implementation of the first thickened tailings disposal (TTD) methodology at Kidd Creek in 1964, the thickened tailing disposal has been growing alternative disposal technology to mitigate the environmental impacts. Technical investigations on the TTD technology have been studied in detail to counteract the increasing shortage of water resources. One of the benefits observed with TTD is its resistance to potential earthquakes, particularly in zones with high seismic activity (Los Andes). TTD technology optimizes the maximum possible density for the material and generates a negative internal pore pressure in the material due to the surface and sub-surface water evaporation. This internal pore pressure should be enough to resist the pores pressure to which tailings are subject due to an earthquake action. The objective of this study is to verify the Shrinking Limit (SL) of thickened tailings during initial deposition and in the long term and the ability of tailings deposited by TTD would resist liquefaction. Fresh tailings coming from a flotation process of a copper plant concentrator were used. The samples put under cyclical three-dimensional tests associated with maximum credible earthquake magnitude range of 7.0 8.0 to develop a curve for the safety factor v/s depth for dry densities related to the maximum density obtained at the SL. At a dry density of 1.65 t/m3 liquefaction did not occur at any depth. At 90 % of dry density of 1.51 t/m3, liquefaction did not occur at earthquake magnitudes of 7.0 or 7.5 nor at any depth but liquefaction occurred at magnitude 8.0 between 0 m and 14.5 m; below 14.5 m, liquefaction does not occur.

Jan 1, 2007

By J. B. Rubenstein

This work demonstrates the feasibility of using confocal surface profilometry to measure and characterize wear of graphite anode surfaces. This method was tested using anode samples that were electrolyzed for 24 hours in a laboratory-scale magnesium cell with a high oxide molten salt electrolyte. The oxide produced accelerated wear on anodes designed for low oxide electrolytes. Contour maps, which are effective at displaying non-uniform wear, and total graphite consumption values were generated from the collected surface coordinates. Along with both qualitative and quantitative analysis capabilities, this measurement system was shown to have a fine resolution and a low detection limit.

Jan 1, 2004

By M. Savich

A graphical method has been developed for the evaluation of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act Noise Exposure Index and the Equivalent Continuous Sound Level. The method makes use of a noise survey form and a mechanical integrator with two sliders, and is less tedious and susceptible to error than alternative methods. The graphical method is adaptable to various codes for noise exposure and may be used with any instrument that measures noise level. One example of its application to a practical situation in a Canadian mine is given to demonstrate the procedure .

Jan 1, 1978

By Marcel Vallee, D. C. Gagnon, C. CARBONNEAU, P. ST-JULIEN

The Magdalen Islands archipelago, a cluster of fifteen islands, is located near the centre of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the thickest portion of the Carboniferous Fundy Basin of the Maritime Pro vinces. The bedrock of the Magdalen Platform includes a thick succession of evaporites of Visean Age, occurring as a series of thickenings, ridges, domes and diapirs reaching a probable vertical thickness of close to 6000 m. The emplacement of 1hese salt structures by flowage has much dislurbed 1he SlrOligraphic sequence of the rocks of the Windsor Group, particularly 1he Havre-aux-Maisons Formation. Subsequent tectonic movemenl has broken the overlying Cap-auxMeules Forma1ion info an assemblage of panels and blocks now slightly tilted. Following detailed gravimetric surveys and more than 30,000 m of diamond drilling, SOQUEM has discovered, at various dep1hs, seven salt domes on four of 1he main islands of the archipelago. These evaporite bodies generally are localized near the cemre of complex anticlinal struclUres where diapiric movements and faulting have disturbed the original stratigraphic succession. At Rocher du Dauphin near Grosse 1/e, in 1he northern part of the archipelago, Seleine a SOQUEM subsidiary is developing a mining complex with an annual capaci1y of 1,250,000 1onnes of deicing salt for 1he Canadian and Eas1ern United Swtes marke1s. The stan of operations is scheduled for April 1982.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. B. Agocs

"AbstractThe airborne magnetometer data of the Marmora iron ore deposit at Marmora, Ontario, have been used as an example to show the mapped results obtained by the use of line spacings of from 1 mile to 14 mile. The maps are illustrative of the results which could be obtained from such line spacings for any type of geophysical survey, and they show the probability of 'missing' a feature of economic value if the line spacing is too coarse.The probability equations are given for the crossing of randomly oriented features whose maximum dimension is less than the spacing of the control lines for circular, elongate, and rectangular outlines. The equations are P = D/S; P = 2L/S; P = 2(L+W)/,.S; P = A/,.S; P = (2L(S+T)-L2),.ST; and P (D(S+T-,.D)) ST, respectively; where P is the probability; D is the diameter; L is the length; W is the width; and S and T are line spacings.IntroductionTHE EFFECT of station spacing, and the effect of the distance between the plane of observation and the plane of the source of the potential field anomalies, have been studied by geophysicists in the past.The purpose of this paper, however, is to illustrate the effect of line spacing •on the resultant mapped magnetic anomaly for a known magnetite mass, and to present the elementary probability equations for determining the optimum control spacing for detecting a particular type of feature. The effect of line spacing which is illustrated by the magnetic maps presented herewith would be comparable to results which would be obtained by any geophysical survey, since the contours between lines are of necessity interpolated."

Jan 1, 1955

By Pascal Turcotte

_ Introduction _ LaRonde _ Controlling Instability in Haulage Drifts _ Failure mechanism in drifts walls _ Failure mechanism in drifts back _ Field Behaviour of Support Elements _ The ?Hybrid Bolt? _ Conclusions

Feb 1, 2008

By J. B. Hadaway

The operation at Phu Kham commenced design and construction in early 2006 and was commissioned in May 2008. This paper will examine and discuss the project from the inception of flow sheet development and equipment selection, equipment design and manufacture, construction, commissioning and ramp up to full production. The paper will touch on the strategies employed to achieve a short schedule and the efficient use of capital, but with the main emphasis on the grinding circuit. Various challenges during the early years of operation will be discussed including the effect of ore characteristics, including competency, on the performance of the grinding circuit. Actions to overcome these challenges and to enhance performance will also be discussed. Finally, current and future plans to improve the performance of the grinding circuit and the overall plant will be summarised.

Jan 1, 2012

By G. J. McTeer, D. L. Verhelst, D. J. Rioux

Teck Metals Ltd. operates an integrated zinc-lead complex at Trail, British Columbia, Canada. Since 1997, KIVCETTM flash smelting technology has been utilized for the treatment of zinc plant residues and lead concentrates. Trail Operations’ furnace uses four water-cooled jackets for bullion tapping. This paper provides an overview of KIVCET bullion tapping for the past 16 years, and discusses successes and challenges encountered with respect to operations, training and monitoring.

Jan 1, 2015

By L. Shasko, M. Hurlbert

As climate change is increasingly perceived as a problem, and fossil fuel based power production options are increasingly limited through regulatory restrictions and public distaste, future options become constricted. Reflexivity and social learning elicited through qualitative and mixed research methods offer important insight into what future power production pathways might be. Given factors of cost, baseload requirements, and energy density, options such as nuclear may be increasingly accepted. This paper explores this literature and possible methods of pursuing the reluctant acceptance of nuclear energy.

Jan 1, 2020

By K. Sun

The exothermic behavior of the intermetallic reactions inside an Al-Mn metallic powder compact and its assimilation fundamentals in molten aluminum were examined. In this study cylindrical compacts were manufactured and tested. The experimental work involved simultaneous temperature measurements of three thermocouples as well as detection of the apparent weight of the cylindrical specimen during its assimilation in liquid aluminum. The details of the intermetallic reactions prior to the compact complete disintegration were investigated by microscopically studying the morphology and local composition in a partially reacted compact. The variation of manganese concentration in the melt was determined by chemically analyzing the samples taken from the molten aluminum at specific time intervals. The exothermic reaction increases the compact's temperature above that of the liquid aluminum. In tandem with this exothermic reaction, the compact is suffering a swelling action. This swelling action disintegrates the cylindrical specimen, which is assimilated into the liquid aluminum. The intermetallic reactions proceed in a stepwise manner. Both the bath temperature and the compact composition impact on the exothermicity of the intermetallic reactions. However, when the amount of Mn in the compact is greater than 75-wt%, the maximum centerline temperature rise is slightly reduced as Mn amount increases.

Jan 1, 2004

By Phillip Mackey, Elmira Moosavi-Khoonsari

L'industrie du cuivre traverse une période passionnante, marquée par une forte demande, de bons prix et l'ouverture de nouvelles grandes installations. L'année 2022 a battu des records de production de cuivre, ce qui laisse entrevoir un potentiel de croissance supplémentaire. De grands projets sont en cours, comme la technologie Double Flash à Manyar, en Indonésie, qui peut produire plus de 500 000 tonnes de cuivre par an. À Munda, en Inde, on a construit la plus grande usine de cuivre du monde, qui produit plus de 1 000 000 tonnes de cuivre par an en combinant deux phases. De plus, l’installation de cellules de flottation de dernière génération au Mexique, au Chili et dans d'autres pays témoignent de la volonté de l'entreprise d'utiliser les technologies les plus récentes [1]. L'importance du cuivre dans la transition énergétique est évidente, l'accent étant mis à la fois sur la croissance et sur la protection de l'environnement. Cela se traduit par le développement d'usines de premier ordre dédiées aux pratiques durables.

May 2, 2024

By Richard Frentress, Dave Donelon, Robert Henderson, Mike Warnert

"The Round Mountain gold mine is an open-pit mining operation located 97 kilometres north of Tonopah in Nye County, Nevada. Gold has been produced from the property since 1906.Gold is currently recovered using a combination of four independent processing operations. These include a 10,000 ton per day mill, a 30,000 ton per day, crushed ore heap leach, a 150,000 ton per day, run-of-mine ore heap leach and a small high-grade gravity concentration circuit. In 2002, Round Mountain Gold Corporation produced 755,494 troy ounces of gold at a total direct operating cost of US$2.14 per ton ($193/oz).This paper presents a summary of the Round Mountain operations and discusses some of the processing innovations that have enabled the mine to profitably recover gold from a large low-grade ore body.INTRODUCTIONRound Mountain Gold Corporation is a 50/50 joint venture between Kinross Gold Corporation and Barrick Gold Corporation. Kinross acquired its ownership interest in the Round Mountain mine upon completion of combination with Echo Bay on January 31, 2003. The joint venture partners continue to support an aggressive exploration program in the vicinity of the mine in order to add reserves and extend the mine life.The Round Mountain mine currently operates a conventional open pit that is approximately 8,200 feet long, 4,900 feet wide and 980 feet deep. Mining is conducted on 34-metre benches by electric shovels and front-end loaders paired with 150, 190 and 240-ton haul trucks. Blasthole samples are collected and assayed and provide the control for ore segregation. Based upon these assays, blasted pit rock is determined to be run-of-mine Dedicated Pad ore, crushed Reusable Pad ore, high-grade ore or waste.Gold is recovered using a combination of four independent processing operations. These include run-of-mine ore heap leaching (Dedicated Pad), crushed ore heap leaching (Reusable Pad), milling and the gravity concentration circuit. Non-mineralised rock is delivered directly to the waste dumps. Low-grade ore is trucked directly to the Dedicated Pad and medium-grade ore is crushed and placed on the Reusable Pad. High-grade ore is handled in one of three ways: 1) leached on the Reusable Pad and offloaded to the mill; 2) sent directly to the gravity plant with tails reporting to the mill; or 3) sent directly to the mill or mill stockpile. The gold particle size distribution of highgrade ore determines the processing method."

Jan 1, 2005

By Colin E. Dunn

The high mobility of gold within the plant kingdom results in detectable accumulations of gold in many plants. Concentrations vary within individuals, among species, and with seasons. From an evaluation of the chemistry of easily acce sible organs of common pecies in the northern forests, it is concluded that alder twigs (or leaves) and conifer bark scales are the vegetation components of greatest use in the earch for concealed gold mineralization. Maximum anomaly enhancement is obtained from twigs collected in the spring. Examples are given of urvey conducted in the La Ronge Domain using 1) jack pine bark (A nglo-Rouyn and Upise Lake areas) ; 2) alder twig (McLennan Lake) ; 3) black spruce bark (Rod Zone near Mallard Lake, and at Waddy Lake) ; and 4) multi-media (Tower Lake). At the latter two sites gold-bearing till is blanketed with late glacial material. Gold enrichment in the plants suggest that the roots are ab orbing gold from the underlying till. Complex processe control the uptake and retention of gold in plants. An understanding of these processes pem1its biogeochemistry to assist in locating near- urface mineralization .

Jan 1, 1986

By Y. Guglielmi, C. Gout, P. Henry, P. Dick, C. Nussbaum

For a decade, observations and experiments conducted in underground environments worldwide (mines, underground research laboratories - URL) made it possible to bridge the scale gap between laboratory scale and large scale faults. Indeed, underground rock laboratories allow developing decameter scale relatively well constrained experiments at the smallest distance from the hypocenters. URL’s experiments allowed developing new monitoring technologies coupling pressure-strain-seismic measurements and reproducing complete earthquakes sequences analogous to natural ones. They also allowed exploring past movements of faults and sometimes also paleofluids in three dimensions and characterizing different fault architectures and hydromechanical properties in unaltered conditions. This is particularly important in the study of faults affecting clay formations which could not be observed at the Earth’s surface because of the high alteration. Here we show how examples from the Mont Terri (Switzerland) and Tournemire (France) The URLs may help in (i) defining the concepts of fault architecture in shales, (ii) estimating fault hydromechanical properties from field decameter scale experiments. Some key results are that faults which are critically stressed or at the rupture limit can reactivate for stresses variations within the range of those produced by shallow underground excavations, and that slight micrometer-to-millimeter scale reactivations may lead to large factor-of-10-to-1000 permeability increases. Such promising results show that URL’s experiments may bring new insights on some key processes that control the relations between fault stability and permeability evolutions in very permeable layers.

Jan 1, 2015

By Douglas M. Smith, G. A. Maki

"The initial development of the massive potash deposits of the prairie evaporite formation took place over a decade ending in 1970. The potash mining and refining facility near Rocanvi11e, Saskatchewan was the 1ast of ten mines to come into production during that era. This operation, known as Sylvite of Canada Ltd., was designed to produce 1. 2 million short tons per year of KCl product in granular, coarse, standard and special standard grades.In 1977 the parent company, Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting, sold the Sylvite property to the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Shortly thereafter PCS slated its new Rocanville Division for a two phase program of expansion. The first phase, completed in the spring of 1979, was relatively small, involving mill debottlenecking and additional equipment in the compaction circuit and the product and ore storage areas. The second phase was a major undertaking which included additional mining equipment and a new 300 STPH milling circuit. This work was completed during the fall of 1981 and has increased the Rocanville Division's nameplate capacity to two million STPY.Thickening equipment operating in the Saskatchewan potash industry is generally situated within the main refinery building or a separate insulated and heated structure due to the harsh winter climate and the need to closely control plant brine temperatures to ensure good flotation circuit performance. Since these thickeners process large volumes of slurries, conventional basin type designs tend to be large, ranging up to 150 feet in diameter or more. As part of the general effort to minimize capital costs, the potash industry has begun investigating the use of alternate high capacity, compact thickener designs. In this regard, PCS Rocanville undertook a program in 1978 to evaluate a Lamella™ Thickener and one other type of 'High Rate' thickener* as alternatives to a conventional design for the phase two expansion project."

Jan 1, 1983