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By D. J. MacKinnon

Zinc metal was first produced in India around 1100 A.O. and a zinc industry based on retorting gradually developed in both India and China(1) . The vertical retort method for smelting zinc ores was developed in England in the 1730s; this was followed by the more fuel efficient horizontal retort process developed by the Belgians in the 19th century(2) . The horizontal retort process was the standard method of zinc manufacture until the 1950s when it became obvious that it could not compete with electrolytic zinc technology(2). The present day extractive metallurgy of zinc is dominated by the electrolytic process which now accounts for almost 80% of the world's primary zinc production. In recent years the electrolytic zinc process has seen significant improvements: the fluid-bed roasting of zinc concentrates, improved leaching and residue treatment techniques such as the jarosite and goethite processes, improved solution purification procedures, mechanization of the zinc electrolysis step and of the zinc melting and casting operation. In addition, new leaching processes have been implemented for the treatment of oxidized ores, particularly silicates, and the pressure leaching of zinc sulphide concentrates is now a commercial reality. Although the electrolytic zinc process was first used on a commercial scale in 1916, its history can be traced back to the 1860s. The purpose of the present paper is to outline the early history of the electrolytic zinc process and to trace the significant developments which led to the first successful commercial electrolytic zinc plants.

Jan 1, 1999

By Alan Galley, Tom Hynes, Michel Plouffe

"Mining in Canada’s economy• Employs 320,000+ workers; Wages 30-60% above other sectors• Operates 220 producing mines, 33 smelters and refineries• Paid $8.4B in taxes and royalties to governments in 2010• Invests about $30B in capital projects annually • Largest private employer of Aboriginal Canadians 2• Core supplier to clean-technology sectors• Attracted 18% of world exploration spending in 2010• Efficient TSX processes - 1400 mining companies listed, ~50% of mineral projects are outside Canada• Estimated 1000 Canadian companies in 100 countries• Minerals account for 21% by value of Canada’s goods exports• Top 5 World Producer in uranium, potash, nickel, platinum, aluminum, diamonds, zinc, met coal"

Jan 1, 2012

By David J. McDougall

"The production of pig iron, wrought iron bars and castings in Quebec during the 18th and 19th centuries has been so closely identified by historians with Les Forges du St. Maurice on the St. Maurice River a few miles north of Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers), that one is sometimes left with the impression that it was the only iron works that ever operated in the province. There were however, about twelve others, one of which was so completely re-built that it should probably be considered as a separate entity. All but two were constructed after the midpoint of the 1800s, coinciding with the growing Canadian demand for ""charcoal pig"" for railway car wheels and castings for industry, and about half of them were technically, if not economically, successful. The misconception about Les Forges du St. Maurice may have come about either because of its long history of somewhat less than continuous production over a century and a half, or a tendency of Quebec historians to concentrate on events in the French-Canadian milieu, but whatever the reason, the other Quebec iron works have been generally ignored. All but one of the Quebec blast furnaces could be described as ""pre-industrial"" with capacities ranging between three and ten tons per day, the exception being the Radnor furnace built in 1892 with a maximum production of about 35 tons per day and an alleged capacity of 50 tons per day. Until a railway network was completed in the 1880s, the location of all the Quebec iron works except the Grantham Iron works was dictated by close proximity to adequate ore reserves because horse transport was of little use beyond a ten-mile radius. The other essentials of forest resources (mainly soft woods) for charcoal, limestone for flux and water power, were generally available except within a few miles on either side of the St. Lawrence River. Among the dozen iron works established in Quebec between 1732 and 1880, seven used bog iron ore in charcoal-fired furnaces. Five of these, including Les Forges du St. Maurice, were located on or near the St. Maurice River which enters the St. Lawrence River from the north, and two, the St. Francis Forges and the Grantham Iron works were on or near the St. Francis River which enters the St. Lawrence from the south. In a general way deposits of bog iron ore in the St. Lawrence lowlands of Quebec were contained within the limits of the post-glacial Champlain Sea, with many clustered along the flanks of the St. Narcisse recessional moraine which is crossed by the St. Maurice and other near-by streams, and the Drummondville recessional moraine which is crossed by the St. Francis River."

Jan 1, 1999

By P. L. Drake

This paper comprises a discussion of the role which mineral resources will play in Canada's future export trade and the growing demand for minerals in Canada.

Jan 1, 1979

By H. R. Bullis

"Abstract- This paper discusses what appears to be a flaw in the current belief, widely held within the gold mining industry and investment community, that the creation of ever-larger gold mining companies is desirable for mining companies and investors alike. The basis of the flaw is in the underlying assumption that very large gold producers can discover or acquire new gold deposits of the size necessary to replace extracted reserves on a year-on-year basis over the intermediate to long term (i.e., five to ten years and longer). As it will be noted in this paper, deposits of the size required to replace annual production of very large gold producers (VLGPs) are relatively few in number. Although discoveries of new gold deposits continue to be made, they are predominantly in the 0.5 to 2.0 million ounce range. Data represented here suggest that, although gold production from individual VLGPs continues to increase, the change is due to merging or acquiring other companies or projects with similar reserve life profiles. Therefore, the reserve life profiles of VLGPs have remained flat or have decreased.The paper will note recent changes in the industry and the remarkable increase in gold production reported by individual mining companies over the past several years. It will provide an overview of the geographical and geological distribution of known gold deposits and the range of deposit sizes. Finally, the paper will discuss the challenges that face large gold producers in replenishing their reserves that are being depleted at an ever-increasing rate. Unless otherwise stated, all production and reserve data have been taken from company documents in the public domain or publicly available information."

Jan 1, 2001

By Robert J. Kuhne

The Iron Ore Company of Canada has successfully employed advanced process control (APC) to optimize the operation of their induration machines. A significant increase in machine throughput and a reduction in fired pellet quality giveaway were observed following the APC implementation on all six machines. This paper discusses the opportunity for process control optimization in induration, reviews the property estimation and multivariable control technologies, and describes how the IOCC control strategy captured this opportunity. APC performance data is presented. The dependence of APC performance on control room operator acceptance, process equipment and instrumentation is highlighted.

May 1, 2007

By W. G. Miller, J. D. Scott, D. C. Sego

ABSTRACT The influence of using different extraction processes (caustic versus non-caustic) on thethixotropic strength of oil sands fine tailings is examined, as is the influence of adding a coagulant tocaustic fine tailings. The thixotropic strength of fine tailings at large void ratios manifests itself as a bonding or gel strength that has been widely noted both in the laboratory and in the field. This gel strength has a significant influence on preventing the initial consolidation or settlement of fine tailings. Differences between the fine tailings’ thixotropic strength development are explained based on their physical and chemical characteristics.

Jan 1, 2010

By Akiyoshi Horiuchi, Manabu Kanno, Shigeki Sato, Taro Aichi

"AKITA ZINC Co., Ltd. (Iijima Zinc Refinery), jointly owned by DOWA METALS & MINING Co., Ltd.(DMM), has used the company’s own hematite process for iron control since the beginning of operations in 1971. The hematite process consists of reductive leaching with SO2 gas and iron removal in autoclaves by high temperature hydrolysis. This process enhances not only zinc recovery but also the recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead and rare metals, which is carried out at another DOWA metallurgical plant. All by-products produced in the hematite process are marketed and sold. This paper presents an overview of the hematite process and the recent process improvements made.INTRODUCTION DMM carries out mining and smelting activities for precious metals, PGMs, rare metals and base metals such as copper, lead and zinc. It owns KOSAKA SMELTING & REFINING, producing copper and lead, and the AKITA ZINC Co., Ltd. (AZC) in Akita Prefecture. DOWA is a specialized smelting company which has established a metallurgical complex for copper, lead and zinc, including a recycling business. AZC was established in 1971 at a production capacity of 72,000 t/y zinc; it is jointly owned by DMM and five other non-ferrous metal companies. AZC has increased its capacity continuously and now produces 210,000 t/y of zinc. Figure 1 shows the changes in zinc production and capacity at AZC."

Jan 1, 2016

By Staff

This paper contains an outline of the history of the Sullivan mine, now owned and operated by the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada, Ltd.; some account of the various methods by which the ore has been treated in efforts to solve the metallurgical problems which its complex character presents, and, finally, to give, as concisely as possible, an outline of the present mining and metallurgical practice along with a description of the mining and milling plant at Kimberley and the smelter and refineries at Trail, in British Columbia. EARLY HISTORY In May, 1892, Pat Sullivan, John Cleaver and Mike Holland left the Coeur d'Alene country, in the State of Idaho, to seek their fortunes in the Kootenay lake district in British Columbia. They were aided in their venture by James Cronin, afterwards locator and owner of the St. Eugene mine at Moyie. Two months later the party broke up, Sullivan and Cleaver crossing the mountains from Crawford bay on Kootenay lake to the head waters of the St. Mary's river, the course of which they followed down to Fort Steele. Here they found a good deal of excitement about the North Star mine, and, joined by "Ed." Smith, who was familiar with this part of the country, they determined to return and prospect in its vicinity.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. H. Claudet

PROBABLY the first flotation mill for treating molybdenite ores was put into operation .in Norway during 1913, when the writer was employed to introduce and apply the Elmore vacuum flotation process at a mine in southern Norway. These operations proved successful and led to other similar installations in that country. It remained, however, for Norwegian engineers themselves to iron out their difficulties and establish the molybdenum industry on a basis which ultimately attained world importance. Just as today, an urgent demand for molybdenum arose during the world war of 1914-18. By 1916, many molybdenite properties were in operation in Canada and several small concentrating mills were under construction. At one of these, in the Ottawa Valley district, the opportunity came for applying the Elmore vacuum flotation process, using a flow-sheet similar to that adopted in Norway. Later, as one of the staff of the General Engineering Company, who had already developed a highly efficient flowsheet for treating molybdenite ores, using the Callow pneumatic flotation process, the writer devoted considerable time to research work and investigations on a number of molybdenite projects and deposits in eastern Canada. The bulk of Canada's production of molybdenite was coming at that time from the Moss mine at Quyon, Que., where concentration of the ore was effected by water-film flotation. It is of interest to note that this process, based on the principle of surface tension, had been developed and introduced by the late Henry E. Wood, of Denver, Colorado- one of the original owners of the Moss mine-at the time he was investigating the Elmore vacuum process in his Denver plant. The process, with certain modifications, was used at several other properties in eastern Canada, and notably in the ore dressing laboratories of the Department of Mines at Ottawa and in a plant at Renfrew, Ont., in both of which ore from deposits in various parts of Canada was treated, with recovery of very appreciable amounts o much needed molybdenite. During the summer of 1917, the water-film flotation mill at the Moss mine was dismantled and the plant was re-modelled by the General Engineering Company to include the Callow system. This installation, using improved flotation methods, was highly successful both as to recovery and grade of concentrate, and proved a decided advance in molybdenite concentration, a recovery of upwards of 90 per cent being obtained, with a concentrate grading over 90 percent MoS2.

Jan 1, 1944

By C. George Miller

"As the influence of governments has become more widely felt, the use of research techniques to analyze policy has increased. Mineral economics, as one of the foundations of mineral policy research, has grown accordingly. Policy research and analysis has been carried out within governments, university departments and the private sector. Each of these institutional environments has characteristics which influence the topics of study, the approach, the methodology and the output of the research. A brief survey of recent research activities provides illustrations of trends and developments occurring within this organizational framework.A radically different organization, the independent research institute, has begun to make an impact on policy research in recent years, and will have an increasing importance in the future. Combining certain features of the traditional research organizations, it nevertheless has important differences which are essential to its effective functioning. An overview of the formation, goals, organization and operation of one such institute is presented."

Jan 1, 1976

By Jacob W. Young

A casual reading of the geological literature extant to-day would give one the impression that carbon is an element which by some chance or another always existed at or near the surface of the earth, and was never of a magmatic origin. The carbonaceous matter in shales is said to be of vegetal derivation; petroleum is stated to have been derived from vegetable matter or from marine animal bodies; if carbon or bituminous matter is found in igneous rocks or associated with metallic ores, the statement is made that deeply buried carbonaceous sedimentaries were undoubtedly the source from which such carbon or bituminous matter was derived. This, I do not consider a reasonable or common sense view of the matter. Carbon is one of the elements of which the earth is composed. In the table giving the periodicity of the elements it comes sixth in the order of increasing atomic weights. It is an element formed like all the rest were formed, and must be as common to the interior of the earth as the rest of the eighty-odd elements so far discovered. The spectroscopic analysis of light from the sun, and the stars, shows the presence of carbon in the sun and in the colder stars. Thus with carbon, an element, found throughout the universe as well as on the earth, it is entirely reasonable to consider it as present in the interior of the earth with the other elements. Such being the case, the magmatic origin for the various forms of carbon in rocks and ores is a rational and logical conclusion. If but a small fraction of thought and effort was made along these lines, which is made in fostering the idea of the organic origin of the carbon found in the earth's crust, untold advances in this phase of geological science would result.

Jan 1, 1925

By G. N. Carlson, C. H. Hazelroth, D. R. Dorrance

"Located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at Pointe Noire, Quebec are the agglomeration and ship-ping facilities of the Wabush Mines complex. Here, the specular hematite concentrate from the Scully Mine is received for further processing. Modern facilities for handling the ore, either to the 1plant or to stockpile, provide quick and efficient operation of the ore receiving station. Physical preparation of the ore for balling is accomplished with regrind ball mills, filters, bentonite crushing and drying facilities, pumps and related conveying circuits. Rotating table feeders deliver the reground and de-watered ore from storage bins to balling drums, where green ball or green pellet formation is achieved. The green balls are then conveyed to the indurating section. Three Dravo-Lurgi travelling grates, producing a total of 6,000,000 long dry tons of pellets per year, are used in the indurating phase of the operation. These grates, having 38 windboxes and firing at a temperature of 2,500°F, harden the pellets for shipment to various blast furnaces throughout the world."

Jan 1, 1969

By J E. Gordon

For many years, it has been known that certain loud noises may, with prolonged exposure, temporarily or permanently damage a person's hearing ability. Pneumatic rock drills, al-though among the offenders, have, until recently, remained unaltered and unrestricted as to noise output. Now, there are drills available with higher rates of penetration and yet with noise levels reduced to those of previous models or less. Use of such drills, when proved to be superior in noise attenuation and of acceptable performance, should be encouraged in order to reduce future hearing losses to a minimum. People Have the Right to Hear P ERHAPS the earliest recognized indication of hearing loss due to industrial noise was the deaf-ness developed by the workmen in boiler factories. Here, the vibration set up in the shells by the riveting hammers gradually deteriorated the workmen's hearing, especially those whose job it was to hold the dollies inside the drum, where the sound is greatly intensified by reflection

Jan 1, 1963

By L. van Hijfte, A. Piché

"Drilling and blasting are fundamental operations in the mining cycle and constitute an important component of the mining costs. Problems associated with improper drilling and blasting practices can create losses of several millions of dollars per year. For this reason, a Blasting Technology program was initiated in 1984 at the Noranda Technology Centre (NTC). In this paper, advances made at NTC in drill and blast technology are reviewed. Impacts of drilling and basting for Noranda are assessed in terms of dilution and ore losses. Future challenges are addressed. IntroductionUp to 1997, Noranda was a diversified natural resources company that operated in three sectors: mining and metallurgy, forest products, and oil and gas. The company employs more than 33 000 people in operations and sales offices around the world. Today, Noranda has returned to its roots in mining and metallurgy. The new vision of Noranda is to be dedicated to the responsible and profitable development of mineral resources around the world for the benefit of its shareholders. In so doing, Noranda will continue to be deeply committed to the environment, health, workplace safety, cost competitiveness and return on capital. Technology is an integral part of Noranda’s success strategies. For this reason, the Noranda Technology Centre, formerly known as Noranda Research Centre, was founded in 1963. Since then, it has undergone four expansion phases to keep up with the increasing needs of the businesses. Today, NTC employs more than 220 specialists who work in partnership with different Noranda companies to identify, develop, and transfer technology to the operations, as well as to explore new sectors of activity."

Jan 1, 2000

Building off the enthusiasm generated by Credit Suisse First Boston on the potential benefits of an industry-wide effort to market gold jewellery, a group of gold producers, led by Randall Oliphant, CEO of Barrick Gold, decides to investigate the long -term impact of launching a significant marketing initiative to stimulate demand for gold jewellery. The group establishes an international Steering Committee representing producers of differing sizes, members and non-members of the World Gold Council. This Committee comprises representatives from AngloGold, Barrick, Gympie Gold, Kinross, Randgold, and Sons of Gwalia and is supported by the Australian Gold Council, the Gold and Silver Institute, and CSFB. The Steering Committee hires McKinsey to assist it by conducting an independent review of whether investment in a large-scale marketing initiative for gold jewellery would be effective in increasing demand for gold, and ultimately of significant economic benefit of the gold industry. Based on McKinsey?s review* and its own discussions with key stakeholders across the industry, the Steering Committee strongly believes the case for marketing is compelling and sufficiently proven to persuade the industry to undertake a major initiative over the next few years. The Steering Committee, supported by McKinsey, conducts briefings with a range of gold producers to share its findings and to understand producers? perspectives on an industry-funded marketing campaign. The Steering Committee is asking for your support to bring this industry-funded marketing campaign to life.

May 1, 2002

By Gerry Roblesky

"IntroductionWestar Mining Ltd. is Canada's largest producer of metallurgical coal for the export market. It currently operates two mines, the Balmer Mine at Sparwood, British Columbia producing 6 000 000 tonnes per year and the Greenhills operation at Elkford, producing 2 100000 tonnes per year. Approximately 1600 people are employed between the two mines which operate independently but share common administrative services.Like most mining companies in Canada over the past three or four years, Westar has faced rising production costs along with flat or declining prices and demand for its products. In order to survive under these conditions it has become necessary to strive for decreased costs in any way possible. Over the past two years there has been a widespread introduction of microcomputers across the company. In order to satisfy increasing demand for accurate and pertinent information while at the same time increasing productivity, the microcomputer has become an invaluable tool.This paper describes some of the problems faced by a mine maintenance department in this operating climate and how they were solved with the help of a microcomputer. It also describes some of the problems that may be encountered both with equipment and people and recommends some ways that these might be minimized or avoided. Finally, an assessment of whether or not the move to microcomputers was a current and economical one, and a brief description of future plans and projects is given.The Maintenance OrganizationIn order to appreciate fully the role that microcomputers are playing within the Maintenance Department at Westar Mining, a little background on the organization and operating philosophies is in order. Most of the comments apply directly to the Balmer operations, however, the Greenhills operation is similar in concept.The mine maintenance organization operates on a fleet based concept with these departments reporting to the maintenance superintendent: haulage trucks, shovels and drills, loaders and Caterpillar equipment, maintenance services, and rebuild services.Each of these departments is headed by an assistant superintendent and is responsible for all maintenance on the equipment on the respective fleet. Shift foreman, planners, specialists and clerical staff are assigned to each fleet. A central engineering and administrative group consisting of one engineer and three clerical positions is responsible for maintenance engineering and centralized administrative services"

Jan 1, 1988

By K. E. Waters, C. Marion, T. Grammatikopoulos, A. Jordens

"The Nechalacho deposit, located in the Northwest Territories, Canada, is a heavy rare earth element (REE) deposit. The main REE-bearing minerals in the deposit are zircon, allanite, bastnäsite, synchysite, columbite (Fe) and fergusonite. Previous work investigated the use of gravity and magnetic separation in the processing of this ore and showed that coarse particles following grinding were enriched in zircon, suggesting the potential for selective comminution. The current work investigates the possibility to selectively comminute gangue minerals and concentrate REE-bearing zircon into coarser size fractions. The ore was ground wet in a laboratory rod mill for various lengths of time (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 min). The resultant products were analyzed using ICP-MS, to determine the distribution of zirconium and REEs in the different size fractions produced after grinding, and QEMSCAN, to identify mineral phases, mineral liberation and the distribution of minerals. Optimum grind sizes for the upgrading of zircon due to selective comminution were then proposed, and dense medium separation was investigated as a means to further concentrate zircon.It is important to note that this process is not representative of the currently selected process design or recovery for the Nechalacho deposit. Any application of this process to this deposit would require optimization in order to ensure appropriate grade and recovery targets are met.INTRODUCTIONThe rare earth elements (REEs) are the fifteen elements in the lanthanide series of the Periodic Table, as well as yttrium (scandium is excluded in this work). Traditionally, REEs are categorized into two groups: the cerium sub-group of “light” rare earth elements (LREEs); and the yttrium sub-group of “heavy” rare earth elements (HREEs) (Golev et al., 2014). The LREEs comprise the first six lanthanides (lanthanum through samarium) and the HREEs comprise the remaining nine lanthanide elements (europium through lutetium) coupled with yttrium (Golev et al., 2014). HREEs are much less abundant in the earth’s crust and on average are more expensive than LREEs (Seredin, 2010). Of the fifteen REEs, the production of neodymium, europium, terbium, dysprosium and yttrium has been determined to be most critical due to their scarcity, high demand and criticality in many high-technology and clean energy applications, such as in illuminated screens for electronic devices and permanent magnets in wind turbines (Seredin, 2010; U.S. Department of Energy, 2011). These five elements are classified as critical rare earth elements (CREEs) (U.S. Department of Energy, 2011)."

Jan 1, 2016

By W. O. Karvinen

"In the Timmins area, a close spatial and chronological association exists between gold deposits and two major stratabound carbonate-rich members and related quartz-feldspar porphyries. Synvo/canic and metamorphogenic are the two main types of mineralization recognized. Synvolcanic ores include the stratiform quartz-ankerite ""veins"", pyritic carbonates and chert-carbonate-tuff sedimentary rocks and epigenetic ventrelated breccias and stringer zones. Metamorphogenic ores consist of quartz-carbonate fracture fillings in dilatant zones developed during various phases of regional deformation and metamorphism. They are classically epigenetic in character.The evidence suggests a primary syngenetic enrichment of gold on the ocean floor and in vent areas during submarine felsic volcanism and related exhalative-hydrothermal activity followed by further enrichment into quartz-carbonate stockworks during regional deformation and greenschist metamorphism.Although normally thin (a few hundred metres), carbonate members in Archean volcanic terrain represent intense hydrothermal activity which could have transported and enriched gold. They should be used to locate fossil vents and structurally favourable zones where economic concentrations of gold may be found."

Jan 1, 1982

By W. E. Bawden

Situation: Creighton mine, situated about twelve miles west of Sudbury, Ont., on the Algoma Eastern railway, is owned and operated by the International Nickel Company, incorporated in the United States under the laws of New Jersey. The ore is smelted at Copper Cliff, near Sudbury, and the matte is refined at Port Colborne, Ont., on lake Erie. Geology: The ore occurs in what is known locally as 'the basin' near Sudbury (Figure 1) the central part of which is composed of the Animikie series of sediments, consisting of sandstones, slates, tuffs and conglomerates. The basin is about 16 miles wide and 36 miles long. The Animikie sediments are surrounded by a sill of norite - a gabbro rock in which the pyroxenes are orthorombic. On the outer contact of this norite the sulphide deposits occur and the Creighton deposit, similar to others, lies on the southern edge of this basin. There are two orebodies at the Creighton, the upper one called the footwall orebôdy, and the lower one the hanging-wall orebody. The hanging-wall of both of these bodies is norite, and the footwall of the upper one is granite. The two are separated by an intrusion of greenstone which forms the footwall of the lower body. The ? maximum length of the deposit is 1000 feet and the maximum width is approximately 300 feet. It narrows at the ends and is somewhat lenticular in shape. The dip is about 45 o to the west, and the strike is north and south. The orè is a mixture of three minerals - pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pentlandite. The pentlandite, which is distinguished by its cleavage from the other two, is apparent to the naked eye only in the lower orebody and is more finely disseminated in the upper one. The lower body contains a little higher percentage of nickel.

Jan 1, 1925