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By W. A. Parks

Stone that may be applied to purposes of construction is available in nearly all the inhabited parts of Canada, the most important exception being the prairie region, but, even here, the deficiency is overcome in many parts by a wealth of glacial field-stones. In many parts of the country, also, the accessible stone is of a quality so poor that brick is more generally used. There is a great difference, however, between stone that 'may be used' and stone suitable for buildings of a monumental type or even for 'trimmings' on the better class of dwelling in the cities and towns. It is in the latter sense that the expression 'building stone' is commonly used. Thus restricted the term includes varieties of sandstone, limestone, and granite, using the latter word in the custom of the quarryman, not only for the true granite of the geologist but for many other igneous rocks as well. Building stone of high quality grades imperceptibly into stone suitable for monuments, particularly in the case of the granites. The present review will deal with building and monumental stone in this restricted sense and will omit marble, although that material has been used to some extent for building. For instance, the Great West block in Winnipeg is built of marble from British Columbia.

Jan 1, 1925

By G. M. Furnival

A PROGRAMME of structure drilling was commenced in the Southern Alberta Plains in June, 1943, for the purpose of determining the geological structure of the underlying sediments. More than 270 holes have been drilled throughout an area of some 1,800 square miles or 1,000,000 acres (see Figure 1). The Southern Plains of Alberta are covered by a mantle of glacial drift,' at places exceeding 200 feet in thickness. Only where this mantle has been dissected by deep drainage channels is bed-rock exposed to any great extent. Along such channels, surface geological mapping can be conducted to ad- vantage. Accordingly, geological mapping was commenced _in 1942 and continued each season to the present. To supplement this information, a survey of the water wells was carried on in conjunction with the mapping. However, to obtain more positive and evenly distributed structural control throughout the area as a whole and to define more adequately structural trends indicated by the preliminary mapping, it was necessary to resort to the use of drills to penetrate the glacial mantle. Various types of light drills are commonly used for this purpose and provide geological information in the form of drill cuttings, cores, drilling time rates, etc. Correlation of information is generally obtained through comparison of cored sections, drill cuttings, micro-fossils, and drilling time rates. However, in this case the holes were electrologged and correlations were made chiefly by comparison of such logs. The data so obtained is plotted and portrayed in the form of structure contour maps on recognizable stratigraphic horizons and in the form of isopach maps of the recognizable stratigraphic intervals penetrated in the holes. This method had not been widely used in Alberta previously and the technique employed was necessarily developed after the project began.

Jan 1, 1945

By Marvin P. Barnes

An attempt has been made to compile and code geologic data relating to twenty of the major porphyry copper districts of North America in such a manner as to permit the use of modern electronic digital computers to retrieve, compare, and build statistical mathematical models from the input. In the exploration process as part of his broader efforts to evaluate the potential of some prospective region, district, or ore body, the experienced geologist consciously or subconsciously compares and fits the observed geologic features to similar phenomena associated with known ore bodies with which he is acquainted. Thus an adequate conceptual "model" of the total geologic environment and type of ore body sought is an essential requirement for the successful exploration effort. Numerous such models of porphyry coppers already exist in the minds and notes of many experienced geologists today. These models are, of necessity, couched largely in qualitative terms and though they may be quite definite in the mind of the porphyry copper expert, the total concept of what constitutes a porphyry copper deposit and environment is difficult to convey in very precise terms. There probably is no such thing as a typical porphyry copper deposit. However, it is well understood that most of the deposits that have been studied have many geological characteristics in common. A logical question then might be: What characteristics are most common or how often do they occur in common, and what is their relationship to other common characteristics ?

Jan 1, 1970

By B. Bichel

For the last 70 years, molten blister copper has been transferred by rail in hot metal cars from the Copper Cliff Smelter to the Copper Cliff Copper Refinery (ex Ontario Refining Company) where it was processed in two (2) reverberatory anode furnaces by poling with logs, cast on four (4) wheels, and then electrorefined. This practice was modernized in 2001 with the installation of two (2) rotary anode furnaces at the. Copper Cliff Smelter which employ steam and. natural gas for reducing and which provide a significant reduction in emissions. A new casting shop with a single anode casting wheel is used to cast regular and stripper constant weight anodes which are transported by truck to the Copper Cliff Copper Refinery for anode preparation and electrorefining. This paper provides an overview of the copper circuit at the Copper Cliff Smelter and a description of the CDN$31 million capital project.

Jan 1, 2002

By C. Roos

Traditionally within the mining industry, the main functional process flow for resource and reserve evaluation proceeds from geologists who build the geological model, to resource estimation geologists (modelers) who estimate the grades, to mining engineers who develop the mine design and schedule. The interface between these three disciplines is not always seamless. Assumptions made during one stage of the process are not always communicated down the line, even though most mining companies have procedures in place to encourage communication across the various disciplines. These procedures do not always achieve their aim due to a variety of reasons including time constraints, appropriate people not being available, or a lack of understanding of what other disciplines require, and the handover process can degenerate into one of sending computer files on to the next discipline in the process flow. This paper focuses on the interface between the resource estimation and mine engineering disciplines, and outlines some of the common assumptions made when generating a resource model and the risks that engineers may be taking when elevating cutoff grades, optimizing schedules or generating forecasts. The case studies presented focus on openpit gold deposits, but the concepts should be applicable throughout the industry. A summary of key questions and recommendations is provided.

Jan 1, 2014

By Fraser M. Walsh

The objective of this program was to determine by laboratory experiments the kinetics and mechanics of the reactions that produce acid in coal mine drainage. The program was divided into three phases: In Phase I, five coil mines, representative of Appalachian coal mines, were chosen for sampling and an experimental design was identified suited to accomplish the program objectives. In Phase II, the five mines were sampled and test protocols applied. The results showed most pyrite weathering to be based on oxidation in the presence of water. Iron bacteria, especially Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, catalyzed the rate of pyrite weathering by a factor of three. An increase in initial iron concentration in a system that modeled the nine environment acted to inhibit bacterial catalysis of weathering. In Phase III, five tailings piles were sampled and the material obtained was used to evaluate this method of bacterial catalysis inhibition. The evaluation verified method effectiveness; inhibition of over 80% of the release of weathering products was observed.

Jan 1, 1982

By Henry Wurtz

HERACLITUS, a sage of antiquity, called the dark philosopher, who refused a throne, preferring a hermit's cell, propounded, twenty-four centuries since, the maxim : [ ] War (or strife) engenders all things. This, though probably intended by Heraclitus to apply especially to the internal forces of nature, is often said, with equal reason, of the affairs of men. Controversial strife, whether fortunately or unfortunately, is a crucible through which all new discoveries in science, and all technical applications of science must pass-a test which they must all endure before they can become so vitalized as to germinate, so to speak, take root in the human mind, grow tip, and overspread the earth. The greater the number and the power of the elements arrayed against such a growth, and of the influences hostile thereto, the greater should be the inherent vitality of the germ, the more strenuous, skilful, and persistent its cultivators and upholders. During the decade last past we have had, in spite of the severe stringency of the times, an active growth of this kind in progress, whose prospective importance it would now be difficult to overrate. This is the movement which has for its motive the idea that, generally speaking, fuel should be gaseous in form, and which has for its goal the introduction into general public use of gaseous products, made by cheap and rapid processes and on a gigantic scale, distributed throughout our cities and towns in distribution-systems which shall be proportionately gigantic, and sold at prices which will bring such fuel within the means of the poorest householders. Personally, for ten years past, the writer has never failed, on occasions public or private, to urge his belief that the realization of this idea, deemed by him a certainty of the future, will bring about

Jan 1, 1880

By R. A. May, P. J. Brooks, W. M. Smith

"Neill and Gunter Limited (NGL) has prepared a preliminary design and a cost estimate for a ferric chloride leach plant to recover copper, lead, zinc, and silver from a typical complex sulphide ore. This plant design is specifically intended to treat unconcentrated ground ore (flotation feed), but can be readily adapted to treat bulk concentrates. Samples of ground ore and bulk concentrate were obtained from Heath Steele Mines, Miramichi, New Brunswick, laboratory testing, and preliminary process flow sheet preparation was carried out by the Research and Productivity Council in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Approximately thirty drawings have been produced, including process and equipment flowsheets, process piping and instrumentation drawings, and preliminary general arrangements. Preliminary capital and operating cost estimates were prepared for a plant that would treat 1000 t/d of crushed and ground ore to produce about 30 000 tpy of zinc. Capital and operating cost estimates were also projected for plants up to 4000 t/d of processed ore. Recoveries of 99% for zinc, 98% for lead, and 96% for copper were achieved in laboratory tests on unconcentrated ore. These recoveries were higher than the overall recoveries obtained from bulk concentrate, yielding approximately 10% more revenue.A 1000 tonne per day plant was determined to have a low return on investment, however, depending on the size and type of mining operations employed and the FCL plant throughput. DCF-ROI projections of 20% to over 30% were calculated for 100% equity financed “green field” mine, mill and FCL plant operations of 2000 t/d and higher"

Jan 1, 1997

By G. Önal

Recovery of nickel and chromite from the tailings has been studied on the samples with 0.214 % Ni and 5.10 % Cr2O3 content and taken from Orhaneli Chromite Concentration Plant. Mineralogical examinations of the samples showed the existence of chromite, olivine, pyroxene, chrysotile, anti-gorite, chlorite, idingite, tremolite and calcite together with trace amounts of millerite, pentlandite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, hematite and limonite type iron oxide minerals in partially serpantinized dunite type particles. In order to recover chromite from Chromite Concentration Plant tailings Mozley Table and Knelson Separator are used and concentrates containing approximately 42% and 46% Cr2O3 are produced respectively with 40% recovery. Most of the nickel remained in the tailings. Therefore, acidic leaching tests are performed in order to dissolve nickel from these tailings. Effects of particle size, acid concentration, temperature, leaching time and solid/liquid ratio on the nickel leaching efficiency are investigated. The optimum leaching conditions are found as 250 g/L acid concentration, 1/5 solid/liquid ratio, 2 hours of leaching time and 60°C temperature, almost all nickel is dissolved at the optimum conditions and acid consumption is about 841 kg/t. Repeated leaching tests are carried out in order to have enough Ni content in the leach liquor for the further treatment of solutions. After repeated leaching tests, leach liquor contains 3 kg/m3 Ni, 48 kg/m3 Fe, 2.2 kg/m3 Si, 23 g/m3 Cr and 590 kg/m3 H2SO4. Ni is recovered from that solution by precipitating with H2S followed by HNO3 dissolution and precipitating Ni as hydroxide with 63% Ni content. Leach cakes are subjected to the gravity separation (Mozley table) to recover the remained chromite and a chromite concentrate with 47% Cr2O 3 content is produced with 53% recovery. As a result of the abovementioned tests, a conceptual process flow sheet is proposed for the treatment of these chromite concentration plant tailings.

Jan 1, 2014

By John P. Mahaffey

Thank you Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of SME-AIM? for this opportunity to talk to you about, one of the most interesting and challenging facets of our mining industry. Because the need was then -we built in 1964 what is still today, one of the most sophisticated AC mining machine simulators for this or any industry. It simulated the electrical controls and circuits of an AC shuttle car. The student activated the controls on the main console, which represented the elementary control and power circuits. Its accompanying slide-tape program, student manual and worksheets provided our customers with an effective and highly motivational means to teach their face mechanics: 1. practical AC circuit and motor theory 2. print reading 3. troubleshooting techniques Nearly 10,000 men have put in over 100,000 manhours of training on the AC panel and its DC counterpart. The DC panel was modeled after the 14BU10 Loader. The success of these larger panels pointed out the need in our industry for an orangized, basic electrical program designed around mining machinery components & circuits. But probably more importantly, they brought to light the tremendous thirst for upgrading by our industry's employees. We then turned our attention to developing programs around very basic panels. The resulting programs were designed also to assure maximum student involvement.

Jan 1, 1975

By R. S. Dean

The development of metallurgical processes may be divided into periods : First , the discovery of a basic reaction which brings about the production of the desired product from the available raw material ; second , a long stage of mechanical development during which little or no attention is paid to the reaction itself ; and third , a careful study of the reaction . Most metallurgical processes are to -day approaching the end of the second period . This we may illustrate by the steel process . The reaction of carbon with iron ore to produce pig iron and the subsequent refinement of the pig iron by an oxidation reaction is very old . Development in modern times has been almost entirely mechanical , the development of the blast furnace , furnace , the Bessemer process , the Siemens process , and even the Aston process for wrought iron being mechanical improvements almost entirely . Metallurgy is now entering a phase where the reactions are being considered . The question of how far can they be made to proceed is being repeatedly asked . As mechanical processes are improved , we approach a limit to which our basic reactions can be pushed which is determined by the nature of the reactions themselves . We want to know : How far can iron be decarbonized by iron oxide ? How low can the oxygen of copper be reduced by any given reaction? How efficiently can the fuel in a zinc reduction process be used ? The demand for purer metals and lower production costs has forced these and similar questions upon us . How are we to answer them ? The determination of these equilibria or end points of metallurgical reactions by direct means is fraught with difficulty because here we must overcome mechanical difficulties which too often become the limiting factors even in the laboratory and we do nottherefore get the actual limit to which the reaction itself may be carried . Further , there are so many reactions of metallurgical materials that to survey each separately is a job to give pause to any experimenter or group of experimenters .

Dec 1, 1930

U.S. Gold Commission Established. - The President, with the authorization of Congress, has named a gold commission made up of 17 individuals, most of them Government officials, to study U.S. policies related to the role of gold in domestic and international monetary systems and report its findings and recommendations to Congress. U.S. Lead Exposure Ruling. - On June 29, the Supreme Court upheld the Government's right to set lead exposure levels for employees at the workplace. The Court ruled in favor of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a challenge by a group that alleged that OSHA had failed to conduct a cost-benefit analysis prior to issuance of the lead standards. It was the Court's contention that Congress did not require such an analysis when it empowered OSHA to establish workplace standards. The petition to the Court was made by the Lead Industries Association Inc., Battery Council International Inc" American Iron and Steel Institute, St. Joe Minerals Corp., and other lead mining and consuming firms.

Jan 1, 1981

By Robert W. Gordon

The art of excavating tunnels with continuous, full-face boring machines began almost 90 years ago, in the early 1880's. At this time, Colonel Beaumont designed and manufactured a seven-foot diameter tunneler for boring under the English Channel, Despite the absence of modern materials and manufacturing techniques, Beaumont's tunneler, powered by compressed air piped in from the surface, was quite successful. During its short, but impressive existence, this machine set a record of advancing in chalk 50 feet per day for 53 days - which is impressive even by today's standards. Despite the apparent success of this early tunneler, almost 80 years passed before any further significant development was accomplished in this field. Demands from the construction and mining industry and society itself have motivated the development of the modern tunneling machine. Our rapidly growing civilization needs faster, less expensive and safer means of excavating tunnels. Space age technology and materials have played a major role in making hardrock tunneling machines possible.

Jan 1, 1970

By E de Necker, F D. I Hodg, L-M Cruywagen

The acid mine drainage (AMD) situation at three opencast collieries in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa, was evaluated from different perspectives. Twenty-seven test pits were dug into the spoils of these collieries to characterise the in situ conditions of spoils of varying age. Detailed static testing was done on surrounding drill holes and additional samples were taken from the test pits. Selected samples were tested using different techniques, namely ABA, mineralogy and kinetic tests. Groundwater monitoring boreholes from the areas surrounding these spoils were also used for characterisation. The ABA results compared favourably with the in situ determinations; acidic test pits proved to be potentially acid-generating from ABA, even when the samples had neutral paste pH. Kinetic test results showed these samples to yield low pH leachate over the test period. In several of these results, the theoretical depletion of neutralising potential and the onset of acidity were well matched. NAG pH-values and final observed water chemistry corresponded for the cells predicted by ABA to acidify, but compared poorly in cells that did not acidify. Results from the non-acidic spoils were consistent with the in situ observations. Alternative kinetic test methodologies were also employed. Duplicate samples were tested in humidity cells and in aerated trays that were manually wetted on a regular basis. Results from these tests showed an excellent correlation. Detailed mineralogical determinations using XRD and XRF were used for comparison to the ABA and, in some cases, humidity cell results. These comparisons show that the ABA results are consistent with the results expected from the mineralogy. The conclusion from these assessments is that ABA, in most cases, provides information that can be correlated to the field, mineralogy and to humidity cells. The use of multiple techniques leads to a higher degree of confidence in the use of the data.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Kahrger

This paper is written to convey the latest developments in compact bucket wheel excavators (BWE's) operating in medium-hard rock and will serve to indicate that BWE and compact machines in particular do in fact have application in materials other than loose sandy soils and soft rock. A recently run extensive three month field test in hard marl, which was previously considered too hard and difficult to be handled by a BWE, is used as an example to explain some of the design requirements and problems associated with digging harder materials.

Jan 1, 1990

By Cecil Q. Cupps

Results are presented of a comprehensive study of the characteristics of the original oil in the Weber sandstone reservoir, Rangely oil field, Colorado. Through the medium of subsurface sampling, adequately representative samples of the original reservoir oil were obtained from many parts of the reservoir over a period of 5 years concurrent with active development of the reservoir. Data of differential gas liberation, pressure-viscosity, and. pressure-volume-temperature relationships are shown for 12 subsurface oil samples. Data also are given of reservoir pressure and. temperature, composition of liberated or solution Gas, composition of 22 produced-gas samples, and Hempel analyses of crude-oil samples from 18 wells. The characteristics or physical properties of the 12 subsurface oil samples, as determined by laboratory analyses, were correlated with elevation of the top of the Weber sandstone. These relationships of oil characteristics to elevation in the reservoir show that only the oil in contact with the initial gas cap was gas-saturated at the existing pressure and temperature. The characteristics of the original reservoir oil were marked by an appreciable decrease of saturation pressure and solution gas-oil ratio and increase of viscosity and density with depth below the gas-oil contact. The composition of solution gas and of' produced was also was found to vary with elevation of the oil in the reservoir.

Jan 1, 1951

By P. Aguirre

Recovery of zinc, copper and nickel from electroplating waste solutions was achieved 'by using a Pulsated Percolated Porous Electrode "3PE" reactor on a pilot plant scale. Intensity - potential curves were used to study the possibility of metal removal and to define the working potential range. The present study describes the use of the 3PE reactors in several electroplating industrial units for the decontamination of their effluents. These effluents were issued from different industrial solutions such as cyanide, sulfate, chloride and Watts baths. Using the stripping curves, deposition rates and electrical efficiencies were determined as function of the metal concentrations in these effluents. Their decontamination could be achieved to the level of few ppm of metals with reasonable current efficiencies. The recovery rates of zinc and copper were about 93 and 99 %, respectively. The. treated effluents contained less than 7 and 1 % of the initial contents of Zn and Cu, respec¬tively. This process allows the recycling of the recovered metals and leads to water saving.

Feb 13, 2014

By S. C. Termes

To help develop the basis for new fine-particle separation methods, the Bureau of Mines has investigated the use of cross-linked starches containing four chelating groups--carboxylate, iminodiacetate, dietha-nolamine, and xanthate--as flocculants for selected metal oxide and hydroxide mineral fines. It was found that those starches capable of interacting with the mineral surface by a chemisorpti,on mechanism (as indicated by zeta potential measurements) produced the highest recover-ies and'grades of the metal oxide or hydroxide when flocculated from a binary mixture with quartz. The effects of pH, dispersing agent, stirring rate, stirring time, and starch dosage on selective flocculation were studied for binary mixtures of hematite and chromite with quartz. Floc strength becomes important in achieving maximum recoveries by mechanical postflocculation separations.

Jan 1, 1985

This paper discusses the requirements for a successful simulation modelling study, and the steps involved in the modelling process. Advantages and disadvantages of simulation are described, and a case study highlights how not to go about it. Two other case studies, for a decline truck haulage and a block caving production operation, are used to illustrate the types of variables whose impact may be investigated. Typical results are presented to indicate the sorts of presentation styles the author has found useful for conveying study results to project sponsors. Standard spreadsheet charting techniques can be very useful in this respect, but the possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the study team.

Jan 1, 2000

By Jue Kou, Lei Yu, Bern Klein, Lusheng Zhou, Chunbao Sun, Genzhuang Li, Reem Roufail, Amit Kumar

Magnetic liners can improve the performance of ball mills by increasing grinding efficiency, extending service life, and reducing maintenance costs. Despite their importance, the fundamental understanding and the quantitative investigation on the effects of the magnetic liners has not been addressed in the literature. This paper addresses this gap by studying charge motion, and how the use of a magnetic liner affects the breakage mechanism of the mill, using discrete element method (DEM) modeling and the Hertz-Mindlin contact model with relative velocity dependent (RVD) rolling friction. Charge motion was modeled under different mill speeds. Compared to conventional steel and rubber liners, the charge motion in the magnetic liner mill was predominantly cascading. Quantitative analysis of the energy dissipation within the mill was conducted to investigate mill breakage. Regardless of speed, over 50% of the total energy dissipation in the magnetic liner mill was in the form of abrasion and attrition. The results highlighted the appeal of magnetic liners in secondary and regrinding application, where abrasion and attrition are considered more efficient in the fine material breakage, and where impact is ideally minimized to reduce mill wear. A number of experiments were conducted to assess the effect of different model parameters on the performance of the magnetic liner mill. The highest abrasion/attrition intensity was observed with high values of the model parameters namely the restitution coefficient, static friction coefficient, and rolling friction coefficient.