Search Documents

By Y. G. Seredkin, A. A. Vasiliev, A. Y. Senchenko, A. V. Aksenov

"Autoclave oxidation, bacterial and chemical liberation, roasting, acid oxygen processes, atmospheric oxidation prior to cyanidation are applied to process refractory sulphide concentrates. It is obvious that the processes with the maximum effect regarding gold recovery are those in which complete destruction of sulphides takes place and gold becomes accessible for further cyanidation through liberation from sulphide “capsula”. But the significant recovery increase is often accompanied by a process complexity, high expenses for equipment purchase and maintenance. It makes material processing costinefficient. Process optimization has led to progress in ultrafine grinding, bacterial and autoclave oxidation processes. In our opinion sulphide atmospheric oxidation processes are the most interesting as oxidation there runs without high temperature (up to 100°?) and excess pressure (open units), and with acid environment close to neutral. The process of sulphide concentrates treatment named “Albion” (Albion Process™) represents a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxygen oxidation without pressure and external heating. The process has a number of advantages: sodium cyanide consumption decrease during gold leaching and high ecological compatibility. TOMS institute in collaboration with Glencore Technology Pty ltd (Australia) tested Albion technology aiming at liberation of finely disseminated gold from flotation concentrate produced from refractory ore of one Russian deposit. The testing has shown that Albion technology makes it possible to process refractory products with quite small capital investments. It enables involving medium and small refractory gold deposits into processing.INTRODUCTIONThe considerable part of the world Au-bearing reserves is present by refractory ores with finely disseminated gold. Gold in such ores is often associated with sulphide minerals and locked in so called “sulphide capsula” since it is closed inside dense sulphide grains and inaccessible to recovery by cyanidation. To treat refractory sulphide concentrates containing gold a number of processes were developed and they can be divided into three groups (Figure 1)."

Jan 1, 2016

By Marc Bétournay

This article examines how fuel cell technology and related power distribution system fits within mine operating requirements. Considerations for improvement of power plant architecture and functions to yield production advantages are presented. Improvements to conventional mining approaches are also discussed.

May 1, 2007

By B. Holaday, H. McLaughlin

Orano Canada Inc. (Orano) operates the McClean Lake mill, located in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. It processes high concentration uranium ore, delivered in slurry form from the Cameco Corporation operated Cigar Lake mine. After the ore slurry is leached at the McClean Lake mill, the leach residue solids are washed in a process known as counter-current decantation (CCD). This process uses six thickeners to facilitate counter-current washing of solids with diluted acid, flocculation and settling, as well as pumping the washed leach residue to the tailings neutralization circuit (TN), and the uranium laden aqueous to the solvent extraction circuit (SX). Challenges in settling the slurry in CCD started in early 2017. This is largely due to the variation in fines content of the slurry (D80≤75μm), and clay content. There are several changes that have allowed the mill to adapt to the evolving challenges of settling leached Cigar Lake leach residue. Flocculant selection and mixing, temperature effects, bed level management philosophy, and centre-well feed density are key parameters that have been explored as part of adapting to changes in Cigar Lake ore quality.

Jan 1, 2020

By E. P. Evoy, A. W. Jolliffe

"The Uranium deposit of Gunnar Mines, Limited, is on the south shore of Crackingstone peninsula in the Beaverlodge area of northern Saskatchewan.The ore consists of disseminated pitchblende and uranophane in brecciated syenite, and forms a tubular or pipelike body, outcropping at the surface and plunging southward at about 45 degrees for a known length of1,400 feet (see Figure I). The upper portion is being removed by open-pit mining to a depth of 300 feet below adjacent Lake Athabasca. The remainder will require underground mining methods (see Figure 2).The property was staked in July, I 952, and the orebody was subsequently defined by about 70,000 feet of diamond drilling. A 1,250-ton mill was completed in 1955, and production commenced in September of that year with ore from the open-pit operation. The mill is presently being increased to 1,650 tons capacity, and a three-compartment vertical shaft is being sunk to 1,250 feet in preparation for underground mining.GeologyThe mine property is underlain by an assemblage of Precambrian metasediments known locally as paragneiss, granite-gneiss, and syenite. These lie on the southeast limb of a southwest-plunging anticline, strike about north 75 degrees east, and dip southward at about 45 degrees. Para- gneiss outcrops in the northwestern half of the claim group, and again on the islands south of St. Mary's Channel. The granite-gneiss lies conform-ably within the paragneiss and makes up the southeastern part of the property. The syenite forms an irregular, triangular-shaped mass within, and near the footwall of, the granite-gneiss band. Small lenticular bodies of mafic rocks are also present, the former being most prevalent in the paragneiss.The granite-gneiss is coarse to medium-grained, pink to grey, well foliated, and composed of feldspar (65 per cent), quartz (20 per cent), chlorite, and minor mica. The general concordance of its contacts with paragneiss and the absence of intrusive relationships along these, the presence of uniformly oriented inclusions of obviously sedimentary origin within the granite-gneiss, and the variation in colour and texture across the strike all strongly suggest that this member represents a granitized sedimentary rock."

Jan 1, 1949

By Bert Taylor

"The Mining concessions of Quemont Mining Corporation, Limited, are located at 48°16'N latitude, 79°00'W longitude, in Rouyn township, northwestern Quebec. Six hundred and forty acres in area, they lie directly north of, and contiguous to, the Horne mine of Noranda Mines Limited. The north arm of Osisko Lake covers a large area of the southern part of the property. The orebodies lie below the Jake with one body extending through to the bedrock surface.The property was staked in 1922, and was originally known as the Murray Claims. The group attracted interest from numerous exploration companies because of the proximity of the Noranda orebodies.The United Verde Extension Company, of Arizona, optioned the claims in 1926. They sank a shaft to a depth of 235 feet, at a short distance from the Noranda boundary. From a level established at a depth of 215 feet they completed 3000 feet of exploratory driving from which 6000 feet of diamond drilling was done. Only a small body of siliceous gold ore was found before they dropped their ·option.In 1928, The Mining Corporation of Canada purchased a 90 per cent interest in the property. An operating company, later named Quemont Mining Corporation, was formed. An electrical survey was carried out on a portion of the property, followed by deepening of the shaft to 922 feet. Levels were established at 500 and 900 feet, and 4,800 feet of driving and more than 3000 feet of diamond drilling were carried out from them.Geological knowledge at that time recognized that a major break, the Horne Creek fault, lay not far inside the south boundary. Striking north 80 degrees east, the fault dipped south at 85 degrees. The rock on the north side of the fault was massive rhyolite; to the south, meta-diabase and a little rhyolite. A left-handed movement was indicated by a 600-foot offset on a north striking diabase dyke. The small body of siliceous gold ore, referred to previously, was confined to the 215 level."

Jan 1, 1949

By Robert J. McCarthy

Mining has a record of achievement in developing and adopting new technology to facilitate the extraction of increasingly challenging resources. Certainly larger, or more capable, mining equipment has allowed mining companies to mine mineral deposits at lower unit costs; however, there has also been the advent of computerized systems that aid in the management and tracking of mining operations. Unfortunately, the latter computerized systems have not always had the success anticipated with their implementation. This paper explores the view that increased transparency of the planning and operating cycle in a mine, as provided by certain computerized systems, can result in some resistance from those whose work becomes ?exposed?. Examples are drawn from industry-leading technologies for both mine management and reconciliation that illustrate the issues and challenges that result. The adoption of appropriate change management principles is suggested as a best practice in planning and mitigating the challenges in implementing technologies which increase transparency in the mining environment.

May 1, 2011

By Md. Rashedul Islam

Magnetic data was collected from the Yeoju historical sites using the fluxgate gradiometer through six sites & several grids. We measured the vertical gradient by the FM256 Fluxgate gradiometer. The readings were logged every half meter. The obtained data were processed and treated to introduce a high quality magnetic image. The gradiometer results defined various positive and negative magnetic anomalies, which revealed the existence of several archaeological features of different shapes and sizes. The study of the process magnetic images give us a concept that the subsurface features are caved shape stone chamber tombs, burial mounds, deep room structure, Yeoju mausoleum, pagoda?s square foundation stones, walls etc. All these are superior work of early Goguryeo inheriting orthodox Silla style. So, the study area may have great archeological interest.

May 1, 2009

By B. Dubreuil, J. -M. Lalancette, D. Lemieux

Arsenical bearing deposits are posing an increasing challenge for the mining industry. In particular, mineral processing of arsenical sulfidic ores for base and precious metals recovery tend to produce problematic arsenical tailings. This arsenic being present as sulphide or oxide, tends to dissolve, contaminating surface and underground waters. To meet the environmental regulations, it is often required to stabilize the arsenic in a more insoluble form. Dundee Sustainable Technologies has developed a new patented technology using vitrification of the arsenic oxide in an economical way, giving a stable solid, well below the environmental regulations upon leaching. This technology involves oxidation of As (III) to As (V), by using a low cost natural oxidizer and transformation of the produced arsenic oxide into calcium arsenate, which is not volatile at the melting temperature of the glass. This technology would be advantageously applied on most cases around the world where sulphide concentrates are oxidized in a fluidized bed or smelted.

Jan 1, 2014

By Shigeomi Nishigaki

This paper presents quantitative indexes to evaluate operator?s bearing, difficulty in a task, and machine operability when an operator remotely controls a backhoe, and reports the use cases. The quantitative indexes would give her/him the opportunity to reflect on her/his works, and enable us to gain in-depth insight into the teleoperation, and furthermore give us with promising hints to improve it.

Aug 1, 2013

By C. Y. Lim, H. W. Kim, M. S. Kim, J. H. Cho, Y. S. Lee

Al - 5.5 wt% Mg - 0.3 wt% Cu alloy strip was successfully fabricated by horizontal-type twinroll casting (TRC). For producing sound strips with no surface defect, the casting was conducted at various roll rotation speed, and the sound strip could be obtained at relatively low casting speed (3 rpm). The cast strip was homogenized at 450 °C for 10 hours, and then cold rolled with a reduction rate of 78%, followed by a final annealing at 450 °C for 1 hour. The annealed sheets showed good mechanical properties with approximately 330 MPa in tensile strength and 27 % in elongation, but exhibited strong anisotropy depending on the tensile directions. For the homogenized sheets, warm rolling was also conducted at 200, 300, and 400 °C. The tensile test results of the warm-rolled sheets showed that the rolling at medium temperature (300 °C) was proper to fabricate the sheets with relatively good mechanical properties and low anisotropy.

Jan 1, 2014

The use of roof bolting gave promise of substantial economic benefits to Continuous Miner operations at Michel Colliery. As the first step in the adoption of bolting, 142 anchorage tests, employing six types of anchor shells, were made in three mines. Significant differences were found in the anchorage capabilities of the various shells and the various roof rocks. Introduction S PORADIC attempts at roof bolting had been made at Michel Colliery over a period of ten years. Results were indifferent or inconclusive. A concerted effort was not made, because a compelling need for bolting did not exist. By 1962, however, the advent of Continuous Miners had brought a new significance to roof bolting and, at the same time, the increasing price and scarcity of mine timber made bolting materials more competitive in cost. A fresh appraisal of bolting, therefore, became justified and necessary. The potential benefits of roof bolting at Michel are several.

Jan 1, 1963

By C. Edwards

"The processes for rare earth (RE) extraction include the decomposition of RE ore concentrate minerals, and the concurrent or subsequent leaching of the rare earth elements (REEs) from the decomposed minerals. Ore beneficiation concentrate can be decomposed by, for example, acid roasting, caustic cracking, and chlorination. The REEs can be selectively extracted. The nature of the REE extraction process depends on the concentrate mineralogy and the targeted products. Based on the experience of the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in RE processing, this paper reviews REE extraction from the major RE minerals, including bastnaesite, monazite, xenotime, ion-adsorption clay, allanite, cerite, and eudialyte. An update on the development of RE extraction processes is also provided.INTRODUCTIONRE processing usually involves two operation stages, physical processing and chemical processing. Physical processing, also known as ore beneficiation, separates the RE minerals from gangue minerals to produce an RE mineral concentrate. Chemical processing, which includes extraction and separation processes, converts the RE mineral concentrate to an RE compound which is either an end product or an intermediate product for the subsequent production of individual REEs or other compounds. The RE extraction process uses one or more reagents to decompose the RE minerals and to leach the REEs into solution. The RE separation process uses solvent extraction, ion-exchange, or chemical precipitation to produce either rare earth oxides (REOs) or individual REEs. The authors have previously reviewed RE ore beneficiation processes (Zhang & Edwards, 2012). This paper focuses on extraction processes for a variety of RE minerals. Table 1 gives the chemical compositions of the RE minerals mentioned in this paper. The varieties of RE extraction methods use many different reagents. These reagents are mainly inorganic acids, alkalis, salts, and chlorine gas. The commonly used acids include sulfuric acid (H2SO4), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and nitric acid (HNO3). Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) are the most common alkalis. Salts include ammonium sulphate ((NH4)2SO4), ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), and sodium chloride (NaCl). HCl is normally used to extract RE from silicate ore minerals such as allanite and gadolinite. The alkalis and H2SO4 are mainly used to leach REs from phosphate ores minerals like monazite and xenotime. The carbonate ore RE minerals such as bastnaesite can be treated using either acids or alkalis. HNO3 is mainly used to leach eudialyte and apatite. The extraction of REs from ionadsorption clay deposits uses salt solutions. Chlorine gas (Cl2) is exclusively used in the RE chlorination process which can be used to treat any RE minerals."

Jan 1, 2012

By S. Pietruszczak, G. Su, T. S. Nguyen, E. Haghighat

"In this paper, the mechanical properties of Tournemire argillite are modeled using a mathematical framework which employs the microstructure tensor approach (Pietruszczak & Mroz, 2000). The experimental data incorporates the results of a series of triaxial tests (Abdi & Evgin, 2013) conducted at different orientation of bedding planes relative to the direction of loading. First, a plasticity framework is presented which involves the specification of the conditions at failure as well as the description of the irreversible deformation process. Later, a systematic procedure is outlined for identification of material functions/parameters involved. The paper is concluded by presenting the results of numerical simulations of the triaxial tests. It is demonstrated that the model can adequately reproduce the primary effects of anisotropy in the stable deformation regime as well as the onset of fracture.INTRODUCTIONThe understanding of the mechanical behaviour of argillaceous rocks is important in many types of geotechnical projects, including petroleum extraction, carbon dioxide sequestration as well as deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. In all these cases, the primary concern is the onset and propagation of damage due to excavation, transport of pore fluids and/or elevated temperature. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Canada’s nuclear regulator, will be responsible for the licensing of future deep geological repositories. In order to evaluate the safety of deep geological repositories, CNSC staff keep abreast of scientific developments by collaborating with national and international partners on experimental and theoretical research on the long-term performance of those engineered and natural barriers. Through that collaboration, the CNSC has access to data resulting from experiments performed at different Underground Research Laboratories (URL). Such an URL is situated in Tournemire, France, in an argillaceous rock formation, the Tournemire argillite. The Tournemire argillite is characterized by the presence of closely spaced bedding planes and exhibits a strong anisotropic behaviour, so that its strength as well as deformation properties are directionally dependent."

Jan 1, 2015

By T. Boiselle, C. Gielen, P. Henry, J. M. Bier

"Hydrometal is specialized in the production of zinc sulphate from complex secondary raw materials. Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) dust is one of the more interesting potential sources to produce zinc sulphate. In order to minimize waste quantities generated from EAF dust treatment, our R&D team has developed and patented a new process to recover the Fe contained in the dust as iron oxide product to be used and sold into the pigment market. The process is based on a specific reductive leaching step of the zinc ferrite contained in EAF dust, followed by a purification step to remove impurities (Ni, Cr, Cu...) and finally the controlled precipitation of the iron oxide. The aim of the iron precipitation step is to obtain the right shape and length of crystals in order to guarantee the right color and tinting strength of the pigment. The innovative aspects of the process results in the controlled oxidation of the iron to get the right crystal size and good purity material. The iron product can be valorized as red or yellow pigment often produced by the Penniman-Zoph process.INTRODUCTION A Few Words about HYDROMETAL Hydrometal SA (Engis, Belgium) is a subsidiary of Jean Goldschmidt International SA (JGI) in Brussels. JGI is mainly involved in metal trading activities (Goldschmidt, 1995). In 1985, JGI acquired the leaching circuit of a Belgian electrolytic zinc producer located in Engis, a few kilometers south of Liège, near the river Meuse and it was decided to name this plant: SA HYDROMETAL. Hydrometal is well connected by water, rail and road from its central location in the industrial region of Liege, in the heart of Europe. The company received in 1997 an additional license to process and recycle toxic and hazardous waste. Figure 1 shows a picture of the plant."

Jan 1, 2016

By H. Huang, R. N. Gow

Acidic treatment of enargite (Cu3AsS4) dissolves both arsenic and copper from the mineral and then attempts to separate them in the leach solution. The reactivity of enargite was examined in acidic to neutral solutions, over the pH range 1-7, to determine a potential range for co-dissolution. Enargite mineral samples from Butte, MT and Quirivilca, Peru were used as working electrodes in a cyclic voltammetry corrosion cell setup, which were then cycled multiple times over -1000 to 1000 mV. Surface reactions and transitions were characterized using in-situ Raman spectroscopy, which were then compared to updated EH-pH diagrams for the copper-arsenic-sulfur-water system from a previous study done under alkaline conditions. The region of co-dissolution is limited to > 600 mV vs. SHE and pH < 1 under the proposed diagram.

Jan 1, 2014

By W. G. Worcester

IN the presentation of this paper to the Institute, three objects are in the mind of the writer: first, to set forth the close relation which, of necessity, exists between ceramics and the industrial minerals; second, to clarify the apparently hazy understanding which many have of ceramics in general; and lastly, of equal or even more importance, to stimulate a greater interest in the industrial minerals, especially in those used and required by the ceramic industries. While Canada is now producing in large quantities a fairly wide variety of the ceramic industrial minerals, there are some which are not known to occur in the Dominion. Hence it is to be desired that our geologists, prospectors, and others, while on field work, should be on the look out for commercial deposits of such minerals as diaspore, bauxite, ucts of a value in excess of $600,000,000, a figure which places ceramics as kyanite, massive topaz, and sillimanite. A find of any of these in quantity would prove of very great importance and value to the country as a whole. At this point it seems desirable to introduce formally the word ceramic or the plural of it, ceramics. In doing so it may be stated that the origin of the word dates far back in history in that it was derived in part from the Greek word Keramos, &apos;a potter&apos; or &apos;pottery&apos;, which in turn has been traced back to an older Sanskrit root meaning &apos;to burn&apos; or &apos;burned stuff&apos;, having reference, no doubt, to burned pottery or other clay wares; and the word was so used until near the close of the last century, when the world&apos;s first schools of ceramic engineering were established in the United States. The use of the term ceramics was then expanded to cover a much larger field the entire field of the silicate industries and products. At one time it was suggested by a limited number of ceramists that the term &apos;ceramic engineering&apos; be changed to &apos;silicate engineering&apos;. This proposal, however, gained little support and was soon abandoned.

Jan 1, 1945

By C. W. Eggert

This paper gives an account of the E.V.O.P. tests made at the Copper Rand mill of the Patino Mining Corporation in Chibougamau, Quebec. The runs were made to acquire an understanding of the method. A description of events, along with conclusions, observations and opinions, is out-lined.

Jan 1, 1967

By F. Roemer, D. Goldmann, T. Elwert

Tantalum is an important minor metal for the production of high performance capacitors. Approximately 60% of the annual tantalum production is used in this application. Despite its high price of 298 US$/kg (average price 2010–2014), at the moment, no recycling from end-of-life products takes place. In the established recycling processes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), tantalum is lost in the slags of copper smelting, where it is highly diluted. An economic recovery is not possible at that point. Although tantalum must therefore be extracted from the WEEE stream before it enters smelting, no industrial recycling processes exist. The main reasons are its low concentration in the WEEE stream, lack of information about tantalum bearing devices, technical difficulties of extraction, and conflicts of interests regarding the recycling of other valuable metals in WEEE. In this paper, the results of a cooperation research project are presented. The aforementioned challenges are addressed and a novel tantalum recycling process is developed. Small pilot scale experiments show that a mechanical processing route can produce marketable tantalum-concentrates of 30% tantalum with yields between 60 and 70%. This is reached through a manual pre-sorting of potentially tantalum bearing products followed by a combination of an optimized comminution, sieving, air classifying, eddy-current (EC), and two stage magnetic separation. Key to the implementation of this process was a detailed survey of the tantalum concentrations in different products carried out by the industrial partner.

Jan 1, 2016

By Richard Hurteau

Design and validation of an integrated guidance system for articulated ground vehicles is investigated. The development of an autonomous industrial vehicle must take into the account the specific geometry of these vehicles; they can be composed of a tractor with 1 or 2 trailers or of articulated type like LHD. Moreover the tractor-trailers type vehicles can have on-axle hitch configuration or positive/negative off axle configuration. The path-tracking of a tractor-trailer vehicle in restricted space is presented and discussed in this paper. Recent results obtained in simulation and validated by experimentation are also presented. These studies can lead to better ways of maneuvering an articulated vehicle in a restricted space or automatically executing of docking and parking maneuvers

May 1, 2002

By A. Saigal

The effect of temperature on the cutting forces during machining of alumina reinforced aluminum composites was investigated, Aluminum 6061, 10% Al2O3 reinforced composite and 20% Al2O3 reinforced composite were tested, A 5/8-inch diameter high-speed steel end mill, a Micro 100 TiN coated single edge endmill cutter and a two-fluted solid carbide insert cutter were used for tooling, The results, in general, showed an increase in the cutting forces as the temperature of the material increased, From the raw data, there are temperatures ranges in which the force data did decrease but they were insignificant with regards to predicting a downward trend. A regression analysis was used to understand which variables had the greatest affect on the forces being generated, The correlation and regression analysis showed that at 600 rpm (velocity: HSS- 98,2 sfpm, Micro 100 cutter - 78,5 sfpm, solid carbide cutter - 192,4 sfpm) the tooling, the workpiece material, built up edge, and temperature were statistically significant factors in the test, Tooling was a significant variable in all testing, The smallest forces recorded during machining were generated with the solid carbide two-fluted endmill cutter, Visually, the solid carbide tooling produced a better surface finish during the testing which made it the tool of choice, In addition, the force data proved that as the cutting speeds were increased, the cutting forces decreased.

Jan 1, 2005