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By T. A. Rickard

In " The Genesis of Certain Auriferous Lodes "* Dr. Don makes a reference to a curious vein-formation known as the "Indicator," which characterizes a portion of the Ballarat mining district,, in Victoria, Australia. During 1890 and again in 1898 I had an opportunity of making a few notes, which, although somewhat belated,t may be worth adding to the observations recorded in the Transactions of the Institute. The country of the Ballarat gold-field consists of the Lower Silurian slates and sandstones, which also enclose the reefs of Bendigo; but it is noteworthy that the successive anticlinal folds, and accompanying saddles of quartz, which distinguish Bendigo are not characteristic of Ballarat, the geological structure of which presents greater complexity. That part of the district known as Ballarat East became famous early in its history on account of the large nuggets which were found in the alluvium, and subsequently it became further known because of a peculiar persistent black seam, traversing the bed-rock underlying the alluvial deposits, which was found to be associated with rich bunches of gold-ore, not only in the gravel that capped it at the surface but also in the quartz-veins which crossed it underground. The name of " Indicator " was early given. In 1871 Mr. Morgan Llewellyn directed attention to it as influencing the distribution of the gold. In the government quarterly report for December, 1888,

Jan 1, 1901

By Henry M. Howe

in Cast-Iron. It has been generally accepted that the presence of silicon in cast-iron leads to the formation of graphite; and this has been explained by saying that the silicon lowers the solvent power of iron for carbon at and somewhat below the freezing-point, so that, in the presence of silicon, the iron is unable to retain in solution or combination the whole of the carbon with which it has united while molten, and therefore expels the excess of carbon in the form of graphite, during and immediately after solidification. Probably the best way to study this question would be to examine pure cast-irons, i.e., those containing nothing but iron, carbon and silicon, which at the same time should have been saturated with carbon when molten. But the data for such a study are not at hand; so we must turn to commercial pig-irons as they are made in the blast-furnace, and before their composition has been changed by remelting. Much evidence has been offered of late, tending to oppose the theory of the action of silicon above set forth. Some of this evidence will be examined here. 1. Mr. Bachman's Results. In particular, Mr. F. E. Bachman† has published a collection of analyses of cast-iron, in which the proportion of graphite at first appears to be nearly independent of the proportion of silicon present. Thus, in his Table LI., we find that with pro-

Jan 1, 1901

By H. M. Chance

The iron-ore deposits of the Hartville district are located near the new town of Guernsey, about 100 miles north of Cheyenne. The writer has been familiar with them since 1887, having visited the district several times for different clients— his last examination having been made in November and December, 1897. The deposits extend in a general N.E.-S.W. direction from a point in Section 33, Range 65 W., Township 28 N., on the west side of Whalen cañon, through Sections 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Township 27 N. in the same Range, and over into Sections 1 and 12 of Township 27 N., Range 66 W. General Characteristics. The ore is a remarkably pure red hematite, extremely low in phosphorus, and carrying a small percentage of silica, as shown by analyses given below, and similar in many respects

Jan 1, 1901

By S. S. Hartranft

FuRnace-men of the present day agree very nearly as to the best cooling-devices for the protection of blast-furnace hearths and boshes, and the best location of the cooling-system in the brick-work for the maintenance of favorable furnacelines throughout the blast. The replaceable bronze and copper plates are practically faultless; and there seems to be no reason why a furnace-hearth and bosh should not be held in good condition, by intelligent management and the use of replaceable plates, for a period several times the length of the average blast of to-day. While furnace-men have taken these .precautions to protect the hearth and bosh beyond the life of the lining, the portion of the lining above the mantle has been partly protected by some and wholly neglected by others. Some would not construct a furnace without mantle-plates, and others would not construct a furnace with them. In most cases, furnace-men have either trusted to Providence or to the bosh-plates for the continuance of favorable working-conditions above the mantle, and the prolongation of the life of the lining; consequently furnaces are constantly blown out for repairs to the lining, or for relining, when the hearth and bosh are in good enough condition to last through another blast. The following extract from one of Mr. James Gayley's con-

Jan 1, 1901

By Frank H. Probert

The mining laws relating to winding-ropes in some of the German provinces are very strict, and severe tests have to be periodically made to see that the ropes in use come up to the prescribed standard. A few notes on the method of testing the ropes and the results obtained may be of interest to the members of the Institute. Permission must be given by the Inspector of Mines to put up a winding-plant; and previous to installation a full report made by the manager, clearly setting forth all details of the shaft, the pit-head, engines and appliances appertaining thereto has to be sent to the mining officials. Accompanying each subsequent report, further details, such as the name of the firm supplying the rope, construction, quality of steel, date of installment, weight per meter, length, particulars of the safetycatches, cages, etc., must be given. At least one spare rope must be kept at ever? shaft ready for use in case of emergency. The rope must hang in the shaft, with cage attached, not less than twenty-four hours before it is used for winding; and it must have undergone a severe test in the manner hereafter described. The laws prescribe that when a rope is continually in use it must be tested every three months; but if the rope is only used every few days it must be tested at least every six months, in the presence of the superior officer; and notification of the date of testing has to be sent to the Bergrath two days before the test is made, in order that he can personally superintend the operation if he chooses. Should winding have been stopped for a long time, it is not necessary to test every six months; but before the rope can be used again it must be tested.

Jan 1, 1901

By Ancel St. John

Defects in the interior of metal objects are troublesome to both manufacturer and user. For the former, they frequently increase manufacturing cost through the rejection of material when defects appear after considerable work has been done. For the latter, they often cause damage to equipment, personal injury, or loss of life when a part, which has passed all inspections and has been put in service, gives way because of a hidden flaw. Methods of testing that locate such flaws without subjecting the specimen to possible, if not actual, destl-uction are few; x-ray examination, whether fluoroscopic or radiographic, is one. Hitherto, however, x-ray examination has been restricted to objects of nearly uniform thickness and regular outline; the inspection of such articles as those shown in Fig. 1 has been inconvenient and unsatisfactory. This figure represents a group of 5/16-in. hexagonal-head machine bolts,

Jan 1, 1923

By Ancel St. John

Defects in the interior of metal objects are troublesome to both manufacturer and user. For the former, they frequently increase manufacturing cost through the rejection of material when defects appear after considerable work has been done. For the latter, they often cause damage to equipment, personal injury, or loss of life when a part, which has passed all inspections and has been put in service, gives way because of a hidden flaw. Methods of testing that locate such flaws without subjecting the specimen to possible, if not actual, destl-uction are few; x-ray examination, whether fluoroscopic or radiographic, is one. Hitherto, however, x-ray examination has been restricted to objects of nearly uniform thickness and regular outline; the inspection of such articles as those shown in Fig. 1 has been inconvenient and unsatisfactory. This figure represents a group of 5/16-in. hexagonal-head machine bolts,

Jan 1, 1923

By R. J. Heath

Potassium, together with nitrogen and phosphorous, is one of the essential nutrients required for growth. All living things need potash and so the major demand for potash (approximately 95% of, total demand) is as a fertilizer. Traditional agricultural techniques relied on the return of organic materials to the soil to provide nutrient requirements and maintain soil fertility, and the prevailing low crop yields required little in the way of added fertilizers. But agricultural productivity has increased dramatically in recent times, and this increase in crop yields requires substantial amounts of added nutrients to keep the soil fertile. It follows that there will always be a demand for potash. There is no substitute. Other fertilizers that contain N and P are complementary and not competing products.

Jan 1, 1987

By C. M. Bartley

In world-wide mining circles countries become known by the principal minerals they produce. The production of iron, copper, phosphate and sulphur in the United-States-has-been particularly significant and has provided the base for aggressive developments in heavy industry, agriculture and chemicals. Mention diamonds and gold-and you will think--South Africa; silver-Mexico; nickel and asbestos--Canada. The main purpose of this paper is to point out that potash mast be added to the list of minerals by which Canada is known in the mining World. The potash deposits of western Canada must be classed as a major world source of chemical fertilizer raw material. We believe that they are both the largest and the richest of all known deposits in the world. The most knowledgeable people in the industry avoid making estimates of reserves because even where the arithmetic is correct the total is so large that it appears to be ridiculous. In 1957 Marion Goudie made a carefully qualified estimate of 6 billion tons of recoverable potash above 3,500 ft, and grading 25 per cent K20 or better. This figure can now be increased by the amounts available through solution mining. No one has bothered to estimate how much this is because it is so large that the actual amount is not significant.

Jan 1, 1966

By F. Liu, S. Rezaei, M. Muinonen, M. Barati, V. L. Lakshmanan, S. Marcuson

Canadian nickel-copper ore deposits have been a major source of nickel, copper, cobalt and precious metals for more than 100 years. The two main minerals of interest, pentlandite (Pn, (Ni,Fe)9S8) and chalcopyrite (Cp, CuFeS2), are usually accompanied by large quantities of pyrrhotite (Po, Fe1-xS). Until the 1950s, Po containing small amounts of nickel was routinely smelted as part of the valuable Ni concentrate. The rapid growth in Ni demand following the Second World War created impetus to treat the Po separately. This action would liberate a valuable smelting capacity for higher value Pn, allow for recovery of Ni locked in Po, convert the Fe to iron oxide or metallic iron pellets, and recover S as sulphuric acid or elemental sulphur. The roasting process also has the potential to produce energy due to the highly exothermic oxidation of Po. The Ni industry would then have a “waste-free” process. Both Inco (now Vale) and Falconbridge (now Glencore) developed processes and built large industrial plants for this purpose that operated with some success. But technical issues and tenuous economics were continual challenges. By the early 1980s these industrial operations were closed. Sophisticated froth flotation methods of rejecting Po were developed, and Po containing up to 1% Ni became a waste material reporting to the tailings stream. As part of a major study on possible processing methods of Po for both value recovery and waste remediation, this paper presents a historical perspective on Canadian Po tailings with regards to their generation, inventory, value, and attempts to process them.

Jan 1, 2017

By J. R. Goode

"Canada developed pioneering rare earth solvent extraction methods to recover the rare earths and thorium as by-products of uranium recovery operations in Elliot Lake, Ontario, and was a major supplier of these key elements from about 1960 until 1990. At one stage, Elliot Lake was supplying perhaps one third of the world’s yttrium as well as much of its thorium. This paper reviews the development of Canada’s early rare earth and thorium production facilities. INTRODUCTIONThe rare earths and thorium were first identified in the early 19th century but were little more than curiosities for the next century. However, in the mid-1960s the invention of rare earth-based phosphors for the cathode ray picture tube used in colour television sets launched a major demand for certain rare earths.The use of thorium as an alloying agent in aircraft and missiles grew rapidly in the late 1950s. In the same period, demand for uranium for both weapons and power production soared. Also in the late 1950s, the Elliot Lake uranium-thorium-rare earth deposits (also known as the Blind River deposits) were discovered. This conjugation of events led to uranium production in the Elliot Lake camp, quickly followed by the co-production of thorium and, later, the rare earths.Uranium production in the Elliot Lake camp continued from 1955 to 1996. Thorium was produced continuously from 1959 to 1969. Rare earths were produced, intermittently, from 1965 to 1990. Complete production records are not readily available but unquestionably Elliot Lake made a significant contribution to world thorium and the rare earth production. This paper, presented earlier in an abbreviated form (Goode, 2012), is intended to present as much of the information that is available."

Jan 1, 2012

By Janice Zinck, Ian London

In recent years, the secure supply of critical and technology metals has become increasingly important tomajor industrialized economies that seek to sustain their industrial base and develop advanced technologies, such as clean energy. Canada, with its significant reserves of rare earth element (REE) and other metals, has an opportunity to supply some of the global demand for these materials. However, to transition from promising mineral deposits to marketable products, investment in strategic research and development (R&D) and expertise is needed to address the complex technological challenges around the production, separation and processing of these metals, and to better understand the global market for these key commodities. To this end, in its April 2015 budget, the Government of Canada committed to invest $23M over 5 years to accelerate production of REE and chromite/ferrochrome. The goal of this program, developed in close association with industry, is that Canada contributes a sustainable supply of REE to the global market. The research and development program will provide the technological capacity to establish a Canadian REE industry. This paper will discuss REE R&D advances achieved in the first year of the program in areas of mineral characterization, beneficiation, leaching, separation and environmental management and will highlight the Canadian model of collaboration where industry (e.g. prospective producers, technology companies), government, academia and other stakeholders work closely to ensure that the R&D is targeted, innovative and effectively deployed and commercialized.

Jan 1, 2016

In 1556, Agricola noted that "a prudent owner, before he buys shares, ought to go to the mine and carefully examine the nature of the vein, for it is very important that he should be on his guard lest fraudulent sellers of shares should deceive him"(1). In today's world, the owner rarely has the opportunity to visit the mine and, instead of reading about the `nature of the vein' in annual reports, prospectuses, government publications, et cetera he sees the words `reserves' and `resources'. Unfortunately, the subject of reserves and resources has become increasingly complex and Canadians, along with their counterparts in Australia and elsewhere, are still struggling with definitions which will attempt to cover all conceivable circumstances from national or regional resource endowment to the material to be extracted next week from a given stope or open pit bench. The providers and recipients of reserve and resource data are: - Government agencies who are concerned with questions of national endowment, strategic use of raw materials and other questions of public policy. - Stockholders who have a vested interest in the basic assets of their companies. - Financiers who are concerned about the security of their loans. - Regulatory bodies whose function is to protect a frequently naive investor from unscrupulous practices. - Management, at head office and on-site, who need basic information for decision-making, whether it be to open up a new mine, expand or close an existing operation, acquire or merge with other entities, or, more mundanely, for routine mine planning. To satisfy their demands with unanimously accepted definitions is a formidable task but, it is my impression that, little by little, a concensus appears to be growing within the industry.

Jan 1, 1987

By David A. Fawcett

"This paper presents a summary compilation of current Canadian coal research projects in the areas of exploration, mining and preparation. The compilation forms the basis for a review of present operations and technology, and of current research efforts. General research areas, requirements and priorities are suggested along with a discussion on achieving the research goals in terms of funds, facilities and staff. The current level of research funding in these areas is assessed. IntroductionCanada's coal production is expected to undergo major expansion over the next two decades in response to domestic demands on coal for electrical power generation, industrial uses and conversion to synthetic .fuels, and in response to export demands for both thermal and metallurgical coal s. Surface mining will continue to dominate, but underground mining will contribute an increasing proportion to total production.In Canada, coal research, particularly in the areas of exploration, mining and preparation (E, M & P), has been limited. Increased impetus has recently been given to this research with expansion of CANMET's activities and with the establishment of the Coal Mining Research Centre (CMRC). University researchers are branching into coal research; strata mechanics and preparation are popular in mining-related fields.With the increase in number of organizations and individuals involved in coal research, a means of keeping abreast of the ongoing work is necessary. An annual summary of the status of and developments in current research assists in providing this information. The CMRC prepared such a summary for Canadian coal E, M & P research in 1979 and it received favourable response, justifying the effort. A 1980compilation has been prepared and pro vides the basis for this paper; it is presented with a brief discussion on background, format and content.The compilation forms a basis for an examination of the current status of Canadian technology in E, M & P and of the ongoing research in each area. General research requirements are reviewed and programs and tasks are suggested, followed by a discussion of research goals in term s of priorities and achievement. An assessment is made of the level of research funding in Canada, with comparisons drawn from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia."

Jan 1, 1980

By P. R. A. Andrews, R. K. Collings

"SUMMARYIn cooperation with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, selected deposits of Potsdam sandstone in the Ottawa-Kingston area were core-drilled and evaluated by CANMET as potential glass and foundry sand. Analyses of cores ranged from 84.6 to 98.5% Si02, 0.09 to 0.65% Fe203' and 0.07 to 2.10% A12°3' The cores were largely composed of white to grey, relatively tough sandstone. Impurities included iron as pyrite, iron oxides and staining on the quartz grains; carbonates as calcite; and aluminum oxide as feldspar. Beneficiation included size reduction to grain size, about 600 um, by jaw, roll and cone crushers, and grinding in a muller-mixer. Removal of fines was achieved by attrition scrubbing and washing. Further removal of impurities was achieved by reverse flotation of pyrite, iron oxide, feldspar, and carbonate minerals employing both anionic and cationic collectors. Flotation resulted in a substantial improvement in the quality of most samples; analyses of quartz concentrates showed 98.5 to 99.7% Sial> 0.022 to 0.156% Fe203' and 0.07 to 0.62% A1203. Further reduction of the iron content by wet magnetic separation and acid leaching also was investigated. On the basis of the samples submitted, sands/ones from six of the seven deposits studied have potential as sources of glass sand. Foundry sand tests were inconclusive because of the small quantities available for study."

Jan 1, 1986

By P. R. A. Andrews, R. K. Collings

"In cooperation with le Ministère de l'Énergie et des ressources, Québec, le Centre de Recherches minérales, Sainte-Foy, Québec, and various silica producers, selected deposits of Quebec silica were identified in the southern region of the province and sampled to provide material for evaluation as glass and foundry sand by CANMET. The samples included both sandstone and quartz/quartzite. Head sample analyses ranged from 94.66% to 99.54% SiO2, 0.038% to 0.230% Fe2O3, and 0.16% to 4.51% Al2O3.Impurities included pyrite, iron oxides, and iron staining on quartz grains; carbonates as calcite; and alumino-silicates as clay and/or feldspar. Processing included size reduction to grain size, about 600 µm, by jaw, roll and cone crushers, and grinding in a muller-mixer. Removal of fines was achieved by attrition scrubbing and washing. Further removal of impurities was achieved by reverse flotation of iron oxide and alumino-silicate minerals employing both anionic and cationic collectors. Flotation resulted in a substantial improvement in the quality of most sands, the quartz concentrates analyzing 99.08% to 99.80% SiO2, 0.014% to 0.048% Fe2O3, and 0.06% to 0.49% Al2O3. Removal of iron oxide minerals was also investigated using the Sala HGMS. Iron oxide analyses of the non-magnetic fractions were comparable to the iron oxide analyses of the quartz concentrates obtained by flotation, 0.013% to 0.054% Fe2O3. On the basis of the samples submitted, silica from 5 of the 6 deposits studied has potential as source material for glass sand. Foundry tests showed that 3 of the 4 samples submitted for evaluation have potential as foundry sand."

Jan 1, 1987

By Deborah McCombe

"and Bill Roscoe, Consulting Geologist and Principal with Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle AssociatesMineral property valuations are carried out for a variety of reasons, such as mergers and acquisitions, non-arm’s length transactions, initial public offerings of stocks, support of audited financial statements, fairness opinions, determination of vendor considerations, litigation, expropriation, income tax matters and insurance claims.The CIMVal Committee was formed in 1999 to review and advise on approaches to the valuation of mineral properties. CIMVal is a special committee of CIM formed on the recommendation of the Mining Standards Task Force of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Ontario Securities Commission.After solicitation of views and consultation with various interested parties, the CIMVal Draft Standards and Guidelines for Valuation of Mineral Properties were released for comment in February 2002 and were finalized in February 2003. CIMVal’s objective was for the standards to be used by the mining industry in general and to be adopted by Canadian securities regulators and Canadian stock exchanges. To that end, the standards contain many of the definitions and concepts of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, which came into force in February 2001.The intent of the CIMVal Standards and Guidelines is that mineral property valuations be carried out by appropriately qualified individuals and that all relevant information be fully disclosed. It consists of two parts: standards, which are mandatory in the valuation of mineral properties, and guidelines, which elaborate on the standards and provide guidance and recommendations for the valuation process and for reporting."

Jan 1, 2003

By S. L. Gertsman

Canadian steel foundry practice has made marked progress during the past decade. Equipment suppliers, development engineers, and foundry personnel have focussed their attention on every phase of the foundry operation, with a resulting lower demand on manpower and materials. Also, more rigid specification requirements as to dimensional tolerances and quality have necessitated improvement and increased control at every stage from the pattern shop to the cleaning room. The growing trend toward mechanization is clearly evident. Equipment such as sand mixers, sand reclamation systems, material handling devices, moulding machines, core blowers, etc., is being increasingly employed by the steel foundryman. This equipment not only increases production but also tends to lessen the human variable so prevalent and disconcerting in the early days of steel founding. The result has been an improved and more reliable steel casting, which is gradually obtaining wider acceptance by design engineers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss briefly some of the practices being used, and also the direction of development that is being pursued by Canadian steel foundrymen.

Jan 1, 1948

By C. M. Bartley

Canada has been a producer of sulphur in various forms for about 100 years, Pyrites, as a source of sulphur dioxide for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, were being mined in the 1860's. Smelter gas, for the same purpose, has been recovered since 1928. Between 1935 and 1943, and from 1952 to the present, elemental sulphur has been produced in Canada from two raw material sources and by several methods. This paper attempts to present a view of the current status of the elemental sulphur industry in Canada based on the sour gas fields of Alberta and British Columbia. Production from this source has increased rapidly in the past 12 years to make Canada one of the major sulphur producers of the world. The present industry in Canada relies mainly on sour gas sulphur and it is expected that it will continue to grow in the future. However, before describing current activity relating to sour gas it may be of interest to outline briefly the early pyrite activities, the roots of the sulphur industry in Canada.

Jan 1, 1964

By G. A. Gordon

For the purpose of examining a specific problem, it is important that we look at the context, to obtain an appreciation of the general area of which the particular problem forms a part. It is my task today to speak on a particular relationship between the nations of Canada and the United States of America. What is the background? Almost two hundred years ago we both belonged to a family of nations -- the British Empire. There was a serious family quarrel in 1776 and the United States left the family and set out to make its own independent way in the world. Canada, which was not as grown up as the united States, remained with the mother country, and in 1812 resisted a vigorous attempt by the United States to get it to leave home too. With the passing of the years the bitterness of that family quarrel has faded and, aside from occasional differences, we have been getting along very well ever since.

Jan 1, 1962