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By Robert O. Vernon

The discussion of water and pit mining together is most appropriate. In fact, water can be considered a mineral and a well a narrow pit. Thus, of all the mineral resources mined, water is probably the cheapest, most valuable and least valued. The delivered price, including mining, transportation, storage and marketing rarely exceeds ten cents per ton, and our economy would cease without it. The time has come when the public must recognize that the extraction of a mineral resource from the land is a necessary and inevitable result of the industries? attempt to meet the demands of a growing economy. In so much of Florida, the lands mined can, with forethought and planning, be left as improved real estate, water conservation and management lands. On the other hand, the mining industries must face up to the need for the reclamation of land and compact with themselves, appropriate governmental agencies and with the mining states to restore mined lands to usefulness. Of limestone, sand, and clay 90 to 100 percent of the mined material is used, but with planning and specing, these pits, if they penetrate the water table, become valuable as real property. Phosphate, which returns about 70 percent of the mined materials to the pit, can reclaim the land for many purposes.

Jan 1, 1966

By R. K. Singhal

A sizable surface mining industry exists in Western Canada. There are the surface coal mines in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan producing the bulk of Canadian Coal. The two oil sands plants in Fort McMurray, Alberta producing synthetic crude oil are surface mining operations. Much of the metalliferous mining in British Columbia is carried out by open pit methods. This paper discusses the current surface mining methods in both of these industries with particular reference to Alberta. Issues relating to environmental impact assessment, mine reclamation and mine site closure have been dealt with.

Jan 1, 1995

By A. D. Bas

Copper minerals present difficulties during the cyanide leaching of gold ores leading to excessively high consumption of cyanide (and oxygen) coupled with low extraction of gold. Copper cyanide species, if present at high levels, adversely affects the downstream processes such as the activated carbon adsorption and the effluent treatment. In this study, the extraction of gold from a copper-bearing gold ore by ammoniacal cyanide leaching was studied. Furthermore, ammonia leaching as a pretreatment process ahead of cyanide leaching was also examined. Only ~12% of gold was extracted by direct cyanide leaching of the ore. The addition of lead nitrate did not affect the leaching of gold. When ammoniacal cyanide leaching system was used, the extraction of gold was significantly improved to >90%. Similarly, the pretreatment of the ore by ammonia leaching was shown to lead to high gold extractions (98%), in subsequent cyanide leaching with significant reductions in the consumption of cyanide. This appeared to be linked with the ready dissolution/removal of copper during ammonia leaching.

Sep 1, 2012

By Vishal Shukla, Prateek Singh, D. P. Chakraborty

"Continuous thickening by an operation called sedimentation is the separation of suspended solid particles from a liquid stream by gravity settling. The primary purpose of thickening is to increase the solids concentration of the feed stream. High rate thickeners are designed specifically to maximise the flocculation efficiency. A detailed investigation has been carried out to understand the influence of ore type and operating parameters such as bed level, bed mass, rake arm torque and flocculent concentration on thickening operation. Tata steel’s Noamundi plant data shows that variation in ore type, and operating parameters are major contributors to fluctuation in thickener performance. A lot of research has been done earlier on thickening operation but effect of ore type and operating variables by using plant data was never touched before.In this context, the performance of thickener was evaluated by daily data to study the influence of ore type and operating variables on thickener operation. Investigation shows that friable ore % in feed mix is proportional to slime density because friable ore is porous & brittle in nature. As a result, friable ore generates more fines/ultrafine during communition process in wash plant. Increase in flocculant concentration and bed mass is showing a positive change on high rate thickener performance Investigation shows that optimum bed mass and flocculant concentration is required to achieve desired pulp density in thickener underflow at different feed pulp density (g/cc).INTRODUCTIONOver the years, Iron Ore Beneficiation at Tata Steel, Noamundi has seen varied changes. Depletion of high grade iron and with increasing iron ore throughputs coupled with lowering of the hard ore a subsequent increase in slime generation, slime management and clear water requirement for wet Plant has thrown up myriad challenges. To overcome these challenges, many improvements initiatives were taken by Tata Steel in last decade. One of the major changes is the recent High Rate Thickener commissioning at Tata Steel Noamundi to cater the high iron ore throughput requirement. Slime reporting to Thickener has increased from 1.4 MTPA 2.5 MTPA over the last few decades. The above changes further aggravate the poor settling and dewatering characteristics of the slurry which is being feed to HRT. Considering the above mentioned constraints and stringent environmental implication proper water management has become a major challenge to reckon with. The thickener is used to increase the concentration of the suspension by sedimentation, accompanied by the formation of a clear liquid. In most cases the concentration of the suspension is high and hindered settling takes place."

Jan 1, 2016

By M. A. Boucher

The purpose of my presentation is threefold: a) to make you aware of what is available in Canada in terms of refractory minerals. b) indicate the mineral deposits that have potential for development. c) show the advantages of Canada as a supplier of electrical energy necessary for the production of electrofused minerals. Canada is a producer of natural refractory minerals, electrofused minerals, and synthetic refractory minerals. Several deposits also have good potential for development. The natural refractory minerals produced in Canada are shown in Table 1. The major minerals by decreasing order of importance in terms of tonnage and values are: dolomite, graphite and magnesite.

Jan 1, 1992

By Kevin C. Milne

"The solution of problems associated with development of a sour gas reserve will be of increasing importance in tl1e next few years if gas export is approved •by the National Energy Board. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the history of the Carstairs gas field, and tCI describe in a general manner the reservoir, and the producing and processing facilities.HISTORYThe Carstairs gas field was discovered in April 1958 when the discovery well, Home Carstairs 10-17, was successfully completed as a gas well in the Elkton member of the Turner Valley formation. Geo-graphic location of the field is shown in Figure No. 1. Note that the field is about five miles west of the town of Carstairs, Alberta, which in turn is about 40 miles north of Calgary. Drilling subsequent to the discovery well resulted in three addition-al producing wells and one dry hole during I.958; two producing wells during 1959; and one producing well and one dry hole during 1960. Thus, seven producing wells and two dry holes have been drilled in the Carstairs field to date.In November 1959 a 12-section block in the Carstairs field was unitized on a surface acre basis. Mean-while, in June 1959, operators in the field executed an ""Interim Plant Agreement"" that provided the money needed to start construction of a joint venture processing plant and gathering system. Construction of the plant and gathering system was completed in February 1960."

Jan 1, 1960

By G. Belardi

A study has been conducted to assess a new wet beneficiation treatment for the recovery of the sulphuric-acid-soluble titanium oxide contained in the waste from an Italian TiO2-pigment facility. The waste is produced during treatment of a Ti-enriched slag and contains as main components TiO2 (54%, of which 42% acid-soluble and 12% insoluble), SiO2 (27%) and A1203 (6%). Eighty percent of the material is finer than 50pm. The first step was to ascertain the possibilities offered by size classification, wet gravity separation, froth flotation and wet high-intensity magnetic separation to improve the grade and recovery of Ti02 and reduce the SiO2 content. The next step was to optimize the operating conditions of the various separations and assemble them into a complete flow- sheet. Beneficiation ensures potentially 70% recovery of the TiO2 with a concentrate grade of 80%.

Jan 1, 1998

By W. J. Bronkala

Dense-medium circuits have been installed in many mineral treatment plants since its, original development about thirty years ago. In the intervening, period the process has been thoroughly evaluated and many innovations have been introduced. The Heavy Density. Cyclone is one of the newer systems which has extended the operating range of this process to 65 mesh size. Several different finely divided materials have been used to produce the separating bath but nearly all new plants use a ferro-magnetic medium. The, advantages of magnetic medium include: 1. Smaller recovery plant 2. Lower cost recovery plant both in initial and operating cost 3. Excellent medium stability 4. Dependable medium supply at reasonable and stable cost. Magnetic separators are used to recover this magnetic medium and the smaller plants and lower operating costs are directly related to their use.

Jan 1, 1964

By Abb Raymond

Finely processed industrial minerals in "powdered" form have long been utilized by the plastics, paint, rubber, paper, ceramics, and adhesives industries as fillers, extenders, coatings and special additives. These minerals, primarily calcium carbonate, talc, kaolin, titanium dioxide, and the like, have provided economic, uniform and consistent base materials which have, in turn, been used by the referenced industries to manufacture quality products. The focus of this paper will be the development of equipment and systems at ABB Raymond for the dry processing of such non-metallic minerals in order to meet what have become increasingly stringent requirements of the producers of these minerals. Changes in these requirements seem to have been accelerating rapidly during the last ten years, and it is expected this process will continue into the 1990's.

Jan 1, 1990

By Ltd Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Co., Shi Yunliang, Luo Yunbo, Chen Jun, Liu Miaohua, Xiao Jinxiong, Long Yan

"A refractory lead-zinc oxide ore located in Yunnan has hundreds of tons of metal reserves, which is hard to be recovered effectively by conventional oxide ore beneficiation methods. In this study, by sulfidation roasting of raw-ore, sulfide deposit is formed on the surface of the lead-zinc oxide ore, and then the roasted ore is processed with bulk flotation. The test results indicate that a bulk concentrate with grade of 7.85% lead and 34.24% zinc, recovery of 79.13% lead and 79.04% zinc, respectively, can be obtained by using conventional sulfide ore flotation method.The sulfidation process shows that pyrite in the raw ore releases S firstly, then S reacts with PbO and ZnO to transform into PbS and ZnS. When the mole ratio of sulphur:zinc is 0.59, the surface of smithsonite is covered with a layer of zinc sulfide. When the mole ratio of sulfu:zinc rate is 1.47, entire simthsonite particle is transformed into zinc sulphide. Thus the transformed particles can be recovered by flotation without complete sulfidation.INTRODUCTIONWith the increasing demand for zinc and decreasing of zinc resources, people pay more attention on development and utilization of zinc oxide ore. However, zinc oxide ore has wide range mineral kinds, complex mineral composition, disseminated fine-grained particle size, and high content soluble salt, so current study results about the zinc oxide ore with conventional flotation are not satisfactory. So far, process dealing with zinc oxide ore includes: sulfuration (Na2S)-flotation, direct flotation with fatty acids collectors, metallurgical methods, in which sulfuration flotation is the most widely used method. The basic principle of sulfuration flotation method is firstly roasting oxide ore with vulcanizing agent, and then recovering the sulfurated oxide ore with flotation, which is similar with recovering nature sulfide ore by using conventional collectors such as amines and xanthate."

Jan 1, 2016

By Richard E. Barrett

SOME YEARS AGO I was associated with a mining operation which, because of its isolated location, burned wood for heating purposes. Year after year the tractors and tucks hauled the cordwood in from the edge of the ever-growing clearing. Each year the cartage costs became greater. The degree to which transportation distances affect the economics of fuels obviously varies with many factors, but the main criterion is the amount of heat a unit weight of the fuel will produce. For in-stance, wood is limited in most cases to a haulage distance of a few miles. Coal can be shipped hundreds of miles, whereas petroleum and gas ?can be transported thousands of miles. The world is now on the brink of having a new fuel -uranium. It has the virtue of being so concentrated that transportation costs can, for all practical purposes, be disregarded.

Jan 1, 1958

By S. K. Kawatra, T. C. Eisele

"Recent advances in microbiology have made the application of biotechnology to metallurgical processes possible. Hydrometallurgy stands to gain the cost from the use of microorganisms, as they are useful for both dissolution aids and for removing metals from solution. The development of genetic engineering techniques promises to greatly increase the importance of bioprocessing of metals and minerals by the year 2000.In this paper, the basic effects of microorganisms on metallurgical processes are reviewed, and the applications which are currently either in use or near being used are presented. Representative data collected at Michigan Technological University is also given.IntroductionMany hydrometallurgical operations exist which are thermodynamically possible, but which are industrially impractical due to slow kinetics, high reagent costs, or the need for a highly corrosive environment. However, recent discoveries in microbiology indicate that in many cases these difficulties can be reduced greatly by the action of bacteria and other microorganisms (1-8).A major advantage of using living organisms in hydrometallurgy is that once the culture is established the microorganisms produce their own reagents either from the material being processed or from low-cost nutrient supplements. They thus allow extremely complex chemical reactions to be carried out at reasonable cost. The major drawback of using microorganisms is their inability to tolerate extremely high temperatures, excessive concentrations of toxic metals, or very highly acidic, alkaline, or corrosive conditions. However, the complex reactions which bacteria make possible frequently eliminate the need for such extreme conditions. Also, in recent years a number of organisms have been isolated from such exotic environments as hot springs and deep-ocean vents which can tolerate temperatures higher than was previously thought possible for any organism, and can catalyze a number of metallurgically important reactions (8)."

Jan 1, 1988

By G. G. Campbell

"HistoricalBARYTES was mined in Nova Scotia as early as 1874 from a deposit at Five Islands, on the north shore of Minas Basin. The first record of the presence of the mineral at the Walton site appears in a report by Selwyn in l893, who states: ""Barytes in considerable quantity occurs in veins in lime-stones at Walton and Pembroke"". The exact site of the present workings was marked •on a map published by Fletcher in 1905.The economic •possibilities of this deposit, however, were not recognized until 1940, at which time we were at war with Germany, who up to that time had supplied 50 per cent of the world's requirements.At that time the Nova Scotia Department of Mines, recognizing the need for certain strategic minerals, induced Canadian Industrial Minerals, Limited, to send prospectors into 'the area to look for manganese. No manganese deposits were found, but a deposit of barytes was directed to their attention, and exploration and development work on the occurrence was proceeded with.IntroductionThe south shore of Minas Basin between the Avon river at Windsor and the Stewiacke river at Maitland has long been known as a potential source of mineral wealth. It had attracted the attention of mineralogists and in the past had produced considerable tonnages of manganese ore and gypsum. Depletion of ore in surface and near surface deposits resulted in a dwindling production, until today only deposits of gypsum are worked."

Jan 1, 1952

The simulation study on the process of iron ore beneficiation plant of Essar Steel, Kirandul was carried out. The iron ore fines and slimes generated nearby Bailadila mines of NMDC are used as raw materials for this beneficiation plant. The capacity of the plant is 1400 TPH operating in parallel in two streams. The capacity of the plant was utilized about 60% of throughput capacity. To improve the plant capacity as well as quality performance, the simulation study was conducted to detect the bottleneck of the process. The process samples were collected from input and output of each processing unit operation to generate the data base for simulation study at the feed rate of 400 and 500 TPH of iron ore fines in a single stream. The characteristics data i.e., breakage and selection functions were generated using MILLSOFT package for simulation of ball mills. Then MODSIM package was used to evaluate the performance of each unit operation to identify the bottleneck. It was established by a simulation study that the intermediate thickener draws high current when the feed rate is more than 400 TPH due to high torque drawn by rotating rake because of presence of coarse particles in the input stream to thickener. The problem was sorted out by classification of input stream of thickener to remove the coarse particles. Then the process was simulated at its rated capacity, and experimental validation studies at the plant were also conducted at the feed capacity of 600 and 700 TPH by modification of process flowsheet. The experimental data was almost matching with simulated data. Finally, the processing plant is running with full rated capacity without any bottleneck. Keywords: simulation of ball mill, breakage function, selection function, iron ore

Sep 1, 2012

By Y. Posedko Eugene, S. S. Gudkov, Yu. E. Emelyanov, A. V. Bogorodsky, A. V. Boldyrev, S. V. Balikov

"The article presents the results of precious metals leaching using halogen solvents and their precipitation on a sorbent in the process of pressure oxidation. A technology of pressure oxidation – carbon-in-leach treatment (POX-CIL) of refractory sulphide gold-bearing flotation concentrates with the addition of a halogen solvent and a sorbent was developed based on the laboratory studies and pilot plant tests. The technology involves the following steps: oxidation of a flotation concentrate; precious metals dissolution and recovery on a sorbent; precious metals elution; electrolysis of eluates; smelting of cathode precipitates with producing Dore beads. This approach ensures oxidation at least 98% of sulphides and gold of more than 95%. The POX-CIL process have the following patents: a patent of the Eurasian Patent Organization No.017438 “A method of processing materials containing precious metals and sulphides” and a patent of the Russian Federation No.2625146 “A method of precious metals recovery from refractory sulphide gold-bearing materials”.INTRODUCTION Gold-bearing ores are classified as readily amenable to cyanidation, or non-refractory, and not readily amenable to cyanidation, or refractory [1]. Special attention should be given to the three most common technological types of gold-bearing ore materials, according to the Irgiredmet’s classification: pyrite-arsenopyrite ores with finely disseminated gold locked in sulphides (physical depression of gold in cyanidation process); cupriferous gold-bearing ores, when cyanidation comes along with chemical depression of gold by mineral compounds (cyanisides); carbonaceous ores showing higher sorption activity to precious metals dissolved in cyanide. Direct cyanidation of refractory sulphide gold-bearing materials does not provide high recovery of precious metals. There are the following methods of refractory gold-bearing ores and concentrates preparation to subsequent gold recovery: roasting, fine grinding, bacterial and pressure oxidation (POX) [2]. Existing POX-cyanidation flowsheets involve high costs due to a large amount of process operations and using expensive and environmentally hazardous sodium cyanide."

Jan 1, 2018

By K. A. Brunk

Newmont's research, operations, history and experience with pre-treatment of preg-robbing carbonaceous ores are described, with emphasis on the chemistry, physics and kinetics of chlorine treatment. Present operations, control strategy and projected changes are also described, including a summary of the adsorption of chlorine into pulps and off-gas scrubbing. Conditions of chlorination have been optimized by the use of Eh-pH diagrams of the gold-chlorine-water system, and have resulted in significant increases in gold recoveries and decreases in chlorine consumptions.

Jan 1, 1987

The Bluebell mine of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited extends under Kootenay lake, in southern British Columbia, and water control underground has always been a major problem. This paper gives a brief history of the operation, and then de-scribes the methods used by Cominco to keep the combination of lake seepage, ground water and thermal spring water under control. The pumping arrangements are de-scribed in considerable detail, with illustrations to show the various stages of development, and the power supply sys-tem is outlined.

Jan 1, 1966

By E. Pallumbo, N. Szwedska, R. Asselin

"This paper highlights the results of collaboration between geology, mining and mineral processing teams during the restart of the North American Lithium Project, located near La Corne, Quebec, Canada. This collaboration was central in ensuring a cross discipline harmonization of design parameters and key inputs, all of which allowed for the development of an optimized life of mine plan suited to the particular needs of the operation.INTRODUCTION In July 2016, North American Lithium Inc. (NAL) began the process of restarting operations at the former Quebec Lithium Mine, located in the municipality of La Corne, Quebec, Canada. The North American Lithium Project (the Project) as it is known today, is the latest chapter in the history of this property. In order to provide a robust foundation for the project, multidisciplinary collaboration was instituted between the geology, mining and metallurgy teams. Despite the intrinsic link between these departments, in many instances their work is completed separate from one another; in silos. This collaboration highlighted specific drivers in the mining value chain that could be exploited to ensure that a saleable product could be produced effectively. This paper explores some of the concepts and strategies that were developed during the feasibility study that supported the project restart (excerpts from the study technical report have been used throughout this paper). PROJECT HISTORY In 1942, prospectors identified the presence of numerous spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes on the Property. This led to additional interest and exploration drilling campaigns. In 1955, Quebec Lithium Corp. (QLC), who had acquired the property, began construction of an underground mine with mill facilities located on the surface. Operations began the following year at a production rate of 1,100 tonnes per day. A historical cross-section view of the underground mine is shown in Figure 1. In 1959, QLC began the construction of an on-site lithium refinery to produce lithium hydroxide. The refinery was finally operational by 1963. Mining and processing operations continued until 1966 when activities were halted due to a labour dispute. The property was sold and a few years later attempts to resume production were unsuccessful. Property ownership changed several times again until being acquired by Cambior in 1987. In the early 1990’s the existing mine and mill facilities were sold and the mine site rehabilitated"

Jan 1, 2019

By D. M. C. Valbom

The introduction of new diamond sorting technologies as well as additional manufacturers I vendors, has increased the equipment selection and combinations available for recovery flowsheet design. This paper describes the methodology used and the benefits realized in the design of recovery plants by ensuring a fundamental understanding of the advantages and limitations of the technology embodied in the equipment, a comprehensive knowledge of the ore body characteristics, and the effective matching of this information in combination with operational commercial requirements.

Jan 1, 2010

By Shiou-Chuan Sun, R. F. Wesner, J. D. Morgan

0. C. Ralston and F. Fraas—Dr. Sun and associates have presented an interesting paper not all of which is comprehended by us. The data assembled measure the deflections of particles in an electrostatic field as a function of a number of independent variables and some dependent variables that are not sharply differentiated. These data are all based on a Johnson type machine of definite, well-described geometry, something not often done in electrostatic separation literature. One new fact brought out by this technique is the effect of coal dust on admixed pyrite and quartz. The effects are opposite in character, as should be expected and we do not agree with the authors that these effects are negligible. Fraas' also used a multiple cell "distribution analyzer" and gives in fig. 5 of his paper a straight line plot with no humps or curves. This is not necessarily at variance with Sun's results because Fraas used a larger gap between electrodes and had no evidence of particles adhering to or dropping off the charged electrode. The section of Sun's paper on effect of surface conductivity contains a speculation that the dielectric constant "represents more or less the electrical conductance of the bulk body instead of the surface of the mineral particles." A simple picture of the meaning of the dielectric constant is that it is the specific inductive capacity of a dielectric when used as the dielectric between the plates of a condenser. It is at once evident that the above speculation confuses capacity with conductance—two definitely independent variables. We ask the authors to state in what group or subdivision their garnet belongs; what method and units were used in calculating the data of col. A, table I and their meaning; what was the temperature of the carrier roll and, finally, has any effort been made to investigate the effects of particle shape on distribution in the electrostatic field? S. B. Hudson—I have read this article with great interest. We have been engaged in research work on the principles of electrostatic separation in this laboratory for some time now, and our findings agree with those of the authors in many respects. The article shows evidence of careful and valuable research in the field of electrostatic separation. A "distribution analyser," very similar to that described in an earlier article by one of the authors," was incorporated in an inclined plate-type electrostatic separator designed and built in the Melbourne University laboratory in 1948 for investigation purposes.22 The actual splitting edges were machined from y! in. per-spex, and the paper hoppers were supported on linen thread immediately below the perspex dividers. These dividers fitted into machined slots in a framework to give accurate Yz-in. spacings. The hoppers (staggered) fed directly into a rack of test tubes, which is supported on a vertical pantograph arrangement. The rack was positioned with guides on the horizontal pantograph stand, and this ensured positive alignment when replacing the rack after making weighings. In later work, when much heavier feed rates were used, of the order of 30 to 40 Ib per in. per hr a rack fitted with rectangular metal containers and similarly aligned was used. Some work was done here on comparing the distributions of minerals when passed separately and when passed as a mixture, and it was found that there was quite an appreciable difference in the two results.= However, in our separator the particles do not pass down the plate in a single layer, and this difference is probably caused by collisions of one mineral particles with the other mineral particles. In most of the investigational work here, the change of the center point of the distribution is measured to establish the effect of a variable, such as voltage. Two minerals (zircon and rutile) have been studied rather exhaustively, and it was found that their distributions are very nearly normal. Owing to the sharpness of the distribution curves, the usual method of obtaining the mean or median was inaccurate, and was not used; instead the mean (also the median), calculated on the assumption of a normal distribution, was used to locate the center point of each distribution and proved satisfactory. The effect of polarity becomes very apparent in the plate-type separator where frictional charges play a very important part when using highly resistive minerals such as zircon. With rutile, a comparatively conductive mineral, polarity of the electrode has little effect. On the other hand, the magnitude of the voltage has a far greater effect on conductive than on resistive minerals. Shiou-Chuan Sun (authors' reply)—Thanks are extended to Drs. Ralston and Fraas for their keen interest in this paper. Their questions concerning coal dust,

Jan 1, 1951