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By Bert S. Hall

"The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence at hand concerning the earliest centuries of cast iron in Europe, from roughly 1400 A.D. until the second half of the sixteenth century. For the most part it is concerned with the relationship between two technologies which emerged first in China and then later appear in Western lands, gunpowder weapons and iron founding. We should not assume, as I hope to show later in this discussion, that weapons constituted the only product for which the iron founder had any market, but it is clearly true that attempts to produce weapons constituted the most severe technical challenge for the early founder. Firearms appear for the first time in Europe in the 1320s and develop into significant weapons on the field of battle by the end of the century. Theirs is a complex history, subject neither to easy summary treatment nor to simplified models of development. I hope to be able, through the analysis of the evidence concerning cast iron, to show that one important strand in the fabric of gunpowder's history concerns the materials from which cannon could be made. This question is subject to a number of shades of meaning, because ""cannon"" can be made for many purposes under a profusion of different names, and under sharply varying conditions of use. As a result, the question of materials is frequently really a question of competing materials, and involves a complex set of factors, of which production costs and the ultimate safety of the user seem the most important. Judged in this manner cast iron was an important but unsatisfactory metal for weapons purposes until 1543, at which time English founders learned to make iron muzzle-loading cannon which could rival bronze ordnance in most important performance criteria, but which cost much less to produce. With that event, the history of cast iron and the history of weapons entered into the close relationship that persisted until the advent of rifled artillery made of steel in the middle of the nineteenth century."

Jan 1, 1999

By A G. Rogers

This paper discusses the lubrication of surface and underground mining machinery and equipment from the standpoint of machine components. The machine components considered are bearings, cylinders, gears, chains, couplings, fluid drives, hydraulic systems, screws and wire ropes. The best selection of lubricants for these machine components, and for sub-divisions of the components, are outlined. They form general recommendations, for average operating conditions in both surface and under-ground mining operations. The American Petroleum Institute's service classification of both engine crankcase oils and gear oils is de-scribed and used in recommending products for these applications. The practical aspect of lubrication is kept foremost in the recommendations, which are designed to meet the requirements of a wide variety of equipment with the minimum number of lubricants. THE lubrication of mining machinery and equipment presents a variety of problems peculiar to the industry. The type of mine, the ambient temperature, water, dust, and operating and maintenance practices, as well as the age and condition of the equipment, are variables which have to be considered in making lubricant recommendations.

Jan 1, 1963

By D. P. R. Smyth

The limestone reef reservoir at Swan Hills consists essentially of a "buildup" of successively smaller atoll-like layers. Precipitation of calcium carbonate within the lagoonal area of each layer essentially kept pace with growth of the outer organic lattice. Within the reef mass, six de-positional environments characterized by specific suites of fossils (or fossil fragments) and associated limestone textures are recognized as follows: ( 1) Aerated moderately agitated water of normal marine salinity (widespread shelf or submerged reef-built platform). Thamnopora-type corals, Amphipora, "pancake" stroma-toporoids, crinoids, articulate bra-chiopods, rare rugose cup corals, and ostracods occurs in light gray-buff skeletal microgranular limestone of low permeability. (2) Semi-stagnant quiet water of normal marine salinity (leeward side of reef). Crinoids, articulate brachio-pods, rare thamnopora-type corals, Amphipora, pancake and bulbous stromatoporoids, rugose cup corals, ostracods and gastropods occur in impermeable dark brown argillaceous skeletal calcilutite with thin black bituminous shale beds and rare dark chert nodules.

Jan 1, 1961

By R. Biss

"Niobium or columbium, as usually called in North America is becoming a more and more important metal in the industrial world because of its attractive properties.Eventhough discovered in the early nineteenth century, it was not until the 1930's that its use became more widespread. The discovery of large commercial deposits in the late 1950's and the demand of industry for steel with high strength and toughness further promoted its use. To assure its adequate supply new or-e processinr technologies had to be developed. So, beside the traditional gravity concentration, the flotation process was employed for the partial upgrading of pyrochlore concentrate at S8ve (Norway) plant in 1953. The flotation process was equally used at St-Lawrence Columbium plant in the province of Quebec, Canada. The new plants at Araxa and Catalao in Brazil and at St-Honore, Canada, which supply almost of all niobium used today in the non-Communist world, also adopted the flotation process. The processes using long chain aliphatic rnonoarnines, diamines or sulfonates as collectors proved to be difficult especially on weathered types of ores or on those having a substantial content of silicate gangue minerals. They almost completely failed in case of alkaline intrusive rocks as syenites, nepheline syenite, ijolites and pyroxenites, composed almost entirely of silicate minerals. A lot of effort was devoted all around the world on research of new, more efficient flotation processes. So in 1982, Les Services T.M.G. Inc. (Niobec), sole producer of pyrochlore concentrate in North America, developed the direct pyrochlore flotation process from carbonatites. In 1983, at about the same time, the Quebec Department of Natural Resources Laboratories and Les Services T.M.G. Inc. announced a successful recovery of niobium Minera1s from a low grade nenheline syenite ore."

Jan 1, 1984

By J. A. C. Ross

Introduction To enlighten those who may be wondering where anyone could find sufficient data to write a paper on underground concrete work, the author would like to explain that, at Copper Mountain, we have found it necessary to line numerous headings with a layer of concrete in order to keep them in a safe and serviceable condition. The majority of these headings are scram drifts and ore-pass raises. This paper will therefore deal, in the main, with the methods of and reasons for placing concrete in these headings. During recent years, radical changes have been made in the methods of mining ore at the Copper Mountain mine. After considerable experimenting, a mining system has been developed making use of diamond drills for primary breaking and transfering such broken ore through scram drifts with slusher hoists. With the advent of scram drifts, it soon became apparent that some substantial means of reinforcement and protection for the scram drifts themselves would be necessary. Since the orebodies in this mine are cut by numerous dykes or faults, and often both, it was anticipated that some means of support would be required where headings necessarily passed through these incompetent zones. Further, as experience was gained, scram drifts were driven into pillars and in close proximity to old workings so as to recover the maximum amount of ore. In such places, the ground is often severely fractured, either as a result of previous mining or from the effect of excessive rock pressures.

Jan 1, 1950

By V. Gregoire

THE DEVELOPMENT by the Iron Ore Company of Canada of the Quebec-Labrador mining project, which eventually led to 'Iron Ore in 1954', involved, from the start, several distinct undertakings. Among them, the most important were: The construction of a 360-mile railway, linking Knob Lake with Seven Islands. The erection of a railway terminal, and harbour facilities, at Seven Islands itself. The building of an entire townsite at Schefferville (formerly Knob Lake) The construction of two hydroelectric plants; and, finally, The development of a sufficient number of orebodies to enable a production of 10 to 15 million tons of ore a year. Since these phases of the project have already been the subject of previous discussions, this paper will not elaborate further on them but will rather concern itself with a brief outline of the Company's current mining practices.

Jan 1, 1958

By Norman A. M Macleod

FOR the past seven years, all flotation at the Britannia mill has been done in Forrester Air-Lift cells. Prior to 1931, the roughing and part of the cleaning operation had been performed in four 21-cell and two 14-cell M.S. machines. The resulting economies in reagent, power, maintenance, and general operating costs, and the increased recovery, more than justified the exclusive use of the Forrester machine. About three years ago, the possibility of still further improving the efficiency of the flotation section was the subject of considerable discussion and experiment. Arising from these experiments, tests were made of the practicability of using a cell of greater depth than that of any pneumatic or mechanically-agitated machine in common use. Cells were constructed with depths of 7 .5 feet, 10 feet, and 15 feet, and, in all cases, a very definite improvement in operation was indicated. The cell now being used in the mill treats from 5,500 to 6,200 tons of dry feed per day. It is 100 ft. long by 5 ft. wide by 8 ft. deep, and has replaced a total length of over 500 feet of standard Forrester machine. The choice of a depth of 8 feet was governed by the type of blower which was available-in this case, a Roots-Connersville blower, driven by a synchronous motor and delivering 6,000 c.f.m. of free air at 4.0 pounds per square inch. At the Chelan Division of the Howe Sound Company, where a new mill was recently built, all flotation is carried on in cells 10 feet deep, with good results.

Jan 1, 1938

By Robert D. McKellar, Luke Frawley, Okrasa. Richard

"The resource industries in Canada are facing increasing global competition and stringent environmental regulations. This has made it essential for companies to lower operating costs wherever possible. Electrical energy rep-resents one variable cost that may be better managed and utilized, providing the user with lower operating costs, improved productivity and better yields.The utility industry is also facing changes in the way it must do business. Utilities in North America are facing the prospect of deregulation that will eliminate the monopoly they have traditionally held. This will force them to strive for lower operating costs, to maintain a competitive position and to improve customer ser-vice so as to maintain their customer base.Ontario Hydro has been working with industry for several years. Many opportunities for cost savings have been identified involving energy efficiency, process improvements and the use of new electro technologies. One useful service that the utility can offer industry is to increase the awareness of potential opportunities suited to their operations. This paper will provide an overview of some of the projects that have been implemented and those that are presently being evaluated. An electronic data-base of electro technology applications that is under development will also be described."

Jan 1, 1996

By T. L. McCall

A short description of mining practice in the Sydney coal field in general is followed by a discussion of the operations in the No. 12 colliery of the Dominion Coal Company, Limited, as being typical of the trend in operating methods obtaining throughout the field. Development of longwall mining to the present system of three walls in line is outlined, together with a summary of the cycle of operations involved in systematic operation.

Jan 1, 1944

By J M. Anderson

The cable belt conveyor installation at Craigmont Mines Limited, Merritt, B.C., has the greatest one-stage vertical fall of any conveyor installed overland in Canada. Since the late summer of 1961, this conveyor has carried more than 5,000,000 tons of copper ore from open pit to concentrator site. When the conveyor is loaded, the drive motor acts as an induction generator, delivering power to an external circuit. This paper covers the selection, the operation, the performance statistics, and the installation and operating costs of this conveyor system. Introduction T HE Craigmont mine is located in the south-western interior region of the Province of British Columbia, approximately 240 miles northeast of Vancouver. A moderate climate, good roads, service by the Canadian Pacific Railroad, power from the British Columbia Hydro Authority, gas from the nearby main line of the Inland Natural Gas Company and close proximity to the village of Merritt provide a favourable location for this mining operation. The ore occurrences at Craigmont have a vertical extent of 1,500 feet,

Jan 1, 1965

By R. J. Balfour, T. L. Papucciyan

"INTRODUCTIONCapital Cost considerations are basic to feasibility in the achievement of success for Mineral Processing Projects as much as or more than in many other industries. Capital cost is an important factor ae it 1R the unit of measurement for process engineering economic decisions. As a result of ever increasing complexity, alternatives of process and remoteness of site, there is an ever increasing emphasis on accurate estimating and the attendant cost control systems in the international market of today for the Mineral Industry where initial plant costs are becoming a more important factor than operating costs. An undervaluation means trouble ahead. An over-cautious assessment may bring an unnecessary abandonment of a project. Consequently, the ultimate cost must be predicted early and accurately and must be controlled to this parameter during the design and construction phases. Cost Est!~ mating is one of a variety of project management tools used to assist in planning and achieving the optimum balance between Quality, Cost and Time, the eternal triangle of evaluation, namely obtaining a project of acceptable quality at minimum cost and on time. In order to attain these established objectives, proper planning, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, adjusting and controlling the design, procurement and construction elements of the project are essential.This project management approach based upon the principle of a Task Force under single management, comprising a complete service organization, requires a substantial number of qualified individuals specialized in their own field and capable of working together as a team to perform their various functions effectively. The Task Force is supported by their chiefs of discipline and performs in accordance with established procedures and standards under the leadership of a Project Manager.General Engineering Company Limited with the backing of the full resources of Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert and its total staff of approximately 1,0009 offers the complete project management service to the Mineral Processing Industry of North America and the rest of the world. As mine sites become more remote and difficult of access, the need for an experienced team of specialists who work under the Task Force principle, with well established standards and procedures becomes even more important. Our long history of successful pro1ecta in this field has been our training ground for the fulfillment of this need."

Jan 1, 1972

By J. Tuzo Wilson

"AT ANY TIME, it is a pleasure to me to be invited to address The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy because it represents an industry and men with whom I have been happily, if peripherally, associated continuously for forty years. This year, it is a particular pleasure because I believe that an important subject has arisen which I propose to discuss.This is a major discovery in the earth sciences, first fully revealed this winter, but already widely accepted. The basis of this revolution, for it is no less, is that measurements of three different features of the earth all change in exactly the same ratios. These ratios are the same in all parts of the world. The results from one set are thus being used to make precise numerical predictions about all the sets in all parts of the world. No such accurate correlations and predictions have ever been found before in geology or areal geophysics. The whole subject of earth science has thereby been radically altered.The first of these measurements is that of the direction of magnetic polarity in lava flows. When piles of young lavas are examined with the aid of a pocket compass, it is noted that some flows are magnetized in the direction of the earth's field and some in the reverse direction (Figure 1). By accurately dating enough flows, a time scale of the dates of reversals has been established. During the past four million years, nine reversals have occurred synchronously all over the world (Cox, Darymple and Doell, 1967, McDougall and Chamalaun, 1966) (Figure 2). It appears that the scale can be extended back to Precambrian times (McMahon and Strangway, 1967). This time scale is the first of the 'three identical ratios."

Jan 1, 1968

By M. Fall

The progressive depletion of ore available at shallow depths in several underground mines around the world means that underground mining operations would increasingly be carried out at greater depths and therefore at higher temperatures. However, our understanding of the effect of hot temperatures on the response (mechanical, economical, environmental) of cemented paste backfill (CPB) is still limited. Hence, an extensive laboratory investigation was conducted to study the performance of young and aged CPB, in response to deep mine temperatures. Several CPB samples with different compositions, cured at different temperatures (20 to 50°C) and different times (7 to 160 days) were tested regarding their mechanical properties, economical performance (binder consumption) and microstructural properties. The results show that hot temperatures significantly affect the performance properties of CPB at young and advanced ages. An increase in the curing temperature leads to a considerable improvement of the rate of gain of CPB strength and also to a significant increase of the strength of CPBs studied. CBP samples cured at hot temperatures show lower binder consumption and finer pore structure. Results of this study could serve as background information for the development of optimal mine backfill design procedures.

May 1, 2007

By W. Hrynewich

"The Central Canada Potash facility, a division of Noranda Metal Industries Limited, is located 3 kilometres south of the junction of Highways 16 and 2, about 75 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The site occupies 26~ hectares of land and includes well-equipped machine and electrical _shops, a 325,000-tonne muriate storage and reclaim warehouse, a stores warehouse, processing plant (mill), two mine shafts (one for production, the other for servicing and personnel transport), as well as a two track product loading complex. Access to the site is by road and railway (CN and CP Rail). Suppliers of operating and maintenance use both means of transportation, whereas muriate shipments are entirely by railway.Currently five continuous mining machines - one a Goodman 526 borer and four Marietta 911-A units produce some 10,500 tonnes of ore per operating day. A smaller Voest-Alpine Af.1-100 boom type miner is used for floor cutting which was previously done by a production unit. In order to maintain safe, competent ground conditions only 35 percent of the total ore is extracted. At this rate mine reserves are deemed adequate for about 100 years. The plant has operated since August 1969 and has a current practical annual capacity of 1,270,000 tonnes of muriate. As of June 30, 1981, some 11.9 million tonnes of muriate had been produced from 31.4 million tonnes of ore. Of the total muriate, 6.1 million tonnes was granular, 4.8 million was coarse, and 1.0 million was standard. No standard product has been made since August 1978."

Jan 1, 1982

By J. A. Brusset

Introduction I am indebted for most of the information in this paper to Mr. P. S. Lea, Deputy Chief Inspector of Mines of Great Britain, and Mr. A. E. Crook, Engineering Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Fuel and Power. Other coal-mining men in Canada may be as surprised as I was to learn that there are twenty-five Diesel locomotives in service underground in British gassy coal mines. Many more are in use underground in non-gassy coal mines and in metal mines. Approval has been granted for an additional fifty flame-proof locomotives to be used in gassy mines, and these should be in operation by the end of 1946, or as soon as manufacturing facilities permit.

Jan 1, 1946

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

ABSTRACT: As part of an overall study of properties and processes influencing consolidation of oil sands fine tailings resulting from different extraction processes, self-weight consolidation tests were per-formed. Fourteen 2 m and 1 m high standpipe tests were instrumented to monitor the rate and magnitude of consolidation of seven fine tailings materials. Tests provided valuable information about the variation of consolidation related to differences in fine tailings material properties that result from a change in bitu-men extraction process (caustic versus non-caustic). In addition, the effect of adding a coagulant to caustic fine tailings was measured. Test results are presented and discussed in terms of consolidation rate long-term volume decrease, compressibility, and downward drainage. Non-caustic fine tailings had fasterinitial consolidation, which is important in tailings ponds for reducing storage capacity and returning decant water at a faster rate to the extraction plant. Similar results were obtained for caustic fine tailings with a coagulant addition. However, long-term settlement of the different fine tailings appears to con-verge to a similar value over time because it is then governed by effective stress.

Jan 1, 2011

By Richard P. Reiff

"The Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) program has been involved in numerous rail wear tests since its inception in 1976. A number of specialized tools have been developed to aid in assessing specific performance parameters including gauge face wear, head height loss, metal flow, head area loss, hardness, and welded rail end batter. The layout of a test site, including position in curve, number of measurements per rail, and train operation must be properly controlled/monitored to provide valid wear comparisons.This paper will provide an overview of the above-mentioned tools and techniques. In addition, a summary of recent test results from FAST, including information on head hardened rail investigations, will be provided. A set of guidelines for establishing a revenue service field test site will also be provided to aid users in performing evaluations of their own.IntroductionBackground of Rail Wear Testing at FASTThe Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) located at the Transportation Test Center, (TIC), Pueblo, Colorado has been involved with testing of rail since program initiation in 1976. A huge data base of rail wear information has been gathered from FAST operations under a variety of rail metallurgies, lubrication conditions, and measurement techniques. Attempts at obtaining meaningful rail wear information from early (1976-1978) FAST rail wear data was hampered by two main factors: (I) measurement techniques were insufficiently accurate for the amounts of wear being experienced, and (2) the lubrication was not sufficiently controlled to obtain uniform conditions for a sufficient measurement time period.Subsequent test periods were operated with improved measurement techniques and controls that ensured statistically valid data. The policies and conditions that permit accurate rail wear assessment will be reviewed and outlined in this paper, along with some specific TIC and field examples that will allow the user to improve the accuracy of a field rail test on their own operating property."

Jan 1, 1988

By M. A. Tomlinson, A. Di Feo, T. C. Cheng

"Goldcorp is evaluating the potential for economic reprocessing of historic tailings at several sites, including the Aunor A facility located in Timmins. The overall project is investigating the ability to recover value, remove sulphide minerals and alternative tailings re-deposition strategies. Desulphurization of tailings will eliminate potential acid generation while improved tailings re-deposition could reduce long-term liabilities and closure costs. Through a task-share project between CanmetMINING and Goldcorp, tailings obtained from Aunor A site have been characterized using mineral association analysis and diagnostic separation techniques. The selected tailing samples contain about 2 g/t of gold. Mineralogical analysis has identified coarse agglomerates bound with gypsum and significant free gold, confirmed by high recoveries in cyanide leach tests. However, despite no evidence of surface passivation on the minerals, conventional flotation techniques were found to be ineffective in concentrating gold or sulphides due to the high fines content and highly agglomerated particles.INTRODUCTION Aunor Mine is one of the historic mines that belongs to Porcupine Gold Mines (PGM) in Timmins, Ontario. PGM has undertaken an extensive mine closure program to remediate the legacy and closed mines with the funding supported by operating mines since 2006. Over the course of 100 years of operation in the Porcupine camp, it is estimated (Stevens et al., 2013) that about 130 million tonnes of tailings have been generated. Aunor Mine produced 2.5 million troy ounces of gold between 1940 and 1984, while processing over 7.6 million tons of ore. The original gold grade of Aunor Mine ores was about 10 g/t. With 95% gold recovery at the time, an estimate of 0.5 g/t of gold remains in the Aunor Mine tailings. Aunor Mine has two tailings impoundment areas: designated as Aunor A and Aunor B. The two sites are similar in size, about 7 hectares each. The amount of tailings in the Aunor A site alone is about 3.2 million tonnes. In 2017, bulk tailings were sampled from five designated locations in Aunor A. They were characterized using mineral association analysis and diagnostic separation techniques. The bulk tailings samples contained about 10% total sulphur, 10% iron, 2% arsenic and 2 g/t of gold. The prime objective of this collaborative work between CanmetMINING and Goldcorp is to facilitate the timely development and deployment of innovative tailings reprocessing solutions, specifically in the areas of desulphurization, and recovery of metals. This work targeted specific tailings of interest to Goldcorp which goals are to improve its environmental footprint and to reduce long-term liability. Thus, it is imperative to look for innovative reprocessing options that can overcome not only technological challenges but also achieve economic benefits to offset the costs associated with reprocessing the tailings. Moreover, the greater goal is to demonstrate and deploy tailings reprocessing solutions to solve one of the industry’s most difficult challenges for a sustainable mining industry in Canada."

Jan 1, 2019

By T. W. Wlodek

In this paper the relative merits of shot peening, induction surface hardening, spiral-rolling, and the combination of these surface treatments, are evaluated on the basis of their capacity to increase the fatigue strength of drill steel. The S-N relations for plain car-bon steel (SAE 1080) and Ni-Cr-Mo drill steels in the as-rolled condition were determined previously, using the new Canadian method of testing drill steel introduced at the annual meeting of the Institute in Toronto in 1950 (19). S-N curves have now been determined by this method for these two drill steels in the following conditions: shot-peened and drawn, induction hardened, induction hardened and shot-peened, and spiral-rolled. ( S.R.) . The ratios of the fatigue strengths of these steels after surface treatment, to their fatigue strengths in the as-rolled condition, are compared and the most beneficial treatments are thereby pointed out. The expected range of stresses and their distribution during actual drilling operations are estimated from data available, and the mechanism of failure of drill steel in the as-rolled and surface-treated conditions is analyzed. The magnitude of the surface compression stresses and their effect on ?fatigue strength are discussed.

Jan 1, 1958

By P. G. Smith, A. Axiuk

The objective of this paper is to present, from a practical perspective, a review of the most relevant maintenance procedures that are accepted or prescribed to be the most effective in optimising service life potential and to ensure continued safe use of steel wire ropes for shaft mining applications. The paper will address the most common operational issues encountered in the care and operation of shaft ropes for both conventional drum hoists and multi-rope friction winders. For each distinct maintenance procedure presented, a limited amount of theory is discussed to identify the underlying mechanisms at play that must be addressed and to emphasize the logical basis for the recommended course of action. It is recognised that each installation is unique and that the recommended maintenance procedures may not always be practical or cost effective from an operations standpoint under select circumstances, however the intent remains to promote industry best practices for the knowledge and benefit of the mine hoisting community, from experienced maintenance personnel to new entrants to the industry alike.

Jan 1, 2023