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By Phillip Mackey, Elmira Moosavi-Khoonsari

L'industrie du cuivre traverse une période passionnante, marquée par une forte demande, de bons prix et l'ouverture de nouvelles grandes installations. L'année 2022 a battu des records de production de cuivre, ce qui laisse entrevoir un potentiel de croissance supplémentaire. De grands projets sont en cours, comme la technologie Double Flash à Manyar, en Indonésie, qui peut produire plus de 500 000 tonnes de cuivre par an. À Munda, en Inde, on a construit la plus grande usine de cuivre du monde, qui produit plus de 1 000 000 tonnes de cuivre par an en combinant deux phases. De plus, l’installation de cellules de flottation de dernière génération au Mexique, au Chili et dans d'autres pays témoignent de la volonté de l'entreprise d'utiliser les technologies les plus récentes [1]. L'importance du cuivre dans la transition énergétique est évidente, l'accent étant mis à la fois sur la croissance et sur la protection de l'environnement. Cela se traduit par le développement d'usines de premier ordre dédiées aux pratiques durables.

May 2, 2024

By John A. Hudson, Xia-Ting Feng, Joseph S. Y. Wang

Evolution over decades and progress over last five years have been made in many topics of interests to rock mechanics, geosciences, physics, and multi-disciplinary interactions in underground research laboratories and development facilities, as well as in underground energy recoveries and environmental assessments. Rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering advances are associated with quantifications of disturbed/damaged zones and rock alternation and bursting processes and creation of underground spaces and accesses associated with deepening of shafts and lengthening of tunnels. Geophysics and earth sciences advances are associated with continuing collections of seismic, electromagnetic, and gravitational data and conducting various thermal, hydrological, mechanical, chemical, and biological investigations, both separately, simultaneously, and in different coupled ways. Astroparticle and underground physics advances are associated with many long term experiments to detect rare events and needs for increasing larger and deeper halls to accommodate next generation detectors, shielings, and isolations. There are also increasing interesting in underground settings to explore multidisciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences and technologies. Energy and environmental sciences and assessments have evolved from traditional oil and gas focuses to recent activities associated with green resources and alternative recovery/disposal strategies. The evolution and progress of these interdependent and related fields are discussed in this quadrennial Congress.

Jan 1, 2015

By S. Shairp

At the Hudbay zinc pressure leach plant, filtration and washing of the second stage leach slurry takes place on a vacuum belt filter prior to disposal to tailings. Due to periods of poor filterability, laboratory studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of temperature of the filter feed slurry, and to compare filterability to the resulting cake particle size distribution.

Jan 1, 2014

By William G. Pariseau

"This contribution describes linkage of stress concentration at the face of tabular excavations, for example, longwall coal mine panels, at a meter scale to surface subsidence at a kilometer scale. Joints are considered according to orientation and spacing at an intermediate scale. A new dual-node, dual-mesh technique based on first principles uses a multi-scale technique that allows for computing whole mine surface subsidence while also allowing for computational details of stress, strain and displacement about main entries and pillars, panel entries, and bleeder entries. The technique is implemented in a conventional continuous Galerkin finite element program that has been in use for many years.The advantage of the dual-node, dual-mesh technique is the capability to do a whole mine analysis that takes into account interaction between all sections of a mine where stress transfer over long distances is often the rule rather than the exception while at the same time allowing for details of stress concentration at working faces where caving is initiated and subsidence begins. The technique, outlined recently during ARMA 2014 (Pariseau, 2014), is applied to an underground coal mine in central Utah where mines are developed from outcrops in steep canyon walls. Meshes contain over 10 million, three-dimensional nodes; runtimes are typically overnight, as a practical matter. Results compare favorably with mine subsidence measurements made over a period of several years and show the capability of this new technique to provide useful design guidance for tabular deposits such as underground coal mines. The role of variability or uncertainty in strata properties is illustrated in element safety factor distributions about development, bleeder and main entries and pillars. Such details are new in this contribution. Energy tracking for mine-induced seismicity is also new. Results show a high correlation between number of events and failed elements and suggest a simple index to mine induced seismicity."

Jan 1, 2015

By Chris Yellowega

The construction and startup of a new mine is a daunting task. To successfully locate, design, build and startup an immense human endeavour like a new mine, takes perseverance, planning, dedication and significant capital. The application of capital requires a thorough evaluation of risk and where that risk is most properly limited to create the risk/return profile. One area of significant capital and thus, significant risk is the selection and maintenance of the very machinery needed to deliver the creation of investor wealth. Albian Sands Energy is the operator of the new Muskeg River Mine located north of Fort McMurray in Alberta?s oilsands. The Muskeg River Mine is owned by a joint venture of three companies: Shell Canada, Chevron Canada Ltd.and Western Oil Sands. The mine is designed to run 400,000 tons per day, 365 days per year. The mine conditions vary from material as hard and of similar consistency to pavement to underfoot conditions as soft as saturated sands. Water cannot be drained below surface conditions, shovel teeth can disappear in less than 24 hours and the primary business is often constructing large civil structures that have little to do with the delivery of ore. The mine starts with the deposit (if it doesn?t exist, nothing else matters), moves into the design, the feasibility study and the approval. The evaluation of risk and the strategies surrounding the control of that risk truly lie after these stages are complete. The strategy and execution stage is where risk is eliminated or accommodated. The point at which the investors money is being spent is the point at which the decisions made cannot be reversed. It is of absolute importance that the execution of the decisions are consistent with the strategy agreed to, lest the investors need to be asked for more money. The key sources of risk identified for the Muskeg River Mine were recruitment of trained and experienced personnel and the delivery of ore to maximize early (<2yr) cash flow. The Muskeg River Mine personnel determined that to minimize risk, personnel would be recruited to operate the mine equipment yet, the requirements for maintaining the equipment would best be held by the manufacturer. The strategy was to obtain the correct equipment for the operation of the mine and leverage the supplier?s expertise to ensure the mine wasn?t training a maintenance organization at the same time as a mining organization. In essence the key strategy for the mine start up and early operation was to leverage the equipment suppliers to maintain and repair the equipment. Albian Sands would maximize the utilization of Maintain And Repair Contract?s.

May 1, 2003

By J. C. Rudolph

"THE TOPIC on which I am speaking this afternoon is ""The Future of the Canadian Oil Industry.'' At the time of C + 100, we should take a searching look at ourselves, an honest appraisal of our achievements and a forthright accounting of our shortcomings as well as the uniquely Canadian aspects of this industry. I would like to put before you some of my views on the direction we are taking in the exploration field and in the production field. I would also like to speak briefly on some of our problems and the role of the various segments of our industry in solving these problems.First of all, let us look at the exploration picture. We are in the midst of an exploration boom. There were 133 seismic crews active in Western Canada this winter, the highest since 1957, land prices are appreciating rapidly, Canadian oil reserves increased + 16 per cent during 1966, there is a great demand for technical personnel of every kind and the whole industry, except the drilling segment, seems to be prospering. This surge of activity has its roots in two major occurrences. The first of these was the change in the pro-ration system in Alberta, the major producing province, accompanied by the change in spacing pat-terns. The proration change was designed primarily to encourage in-creased exploration and it has certainly had this effect. It has also had the unforeseen effect of put-ting everyone into what we, in the oil business, call ""elephant hunting."" In other words, the days of the development of barely economic, marginal fields are over. Oil companies today are only interested in high-reserve, high-productivity, high-quality reservoirs."

Jan 1, 1968

By L. J. Cabri

A gold sample assaying 11.4 g Ault was selected for this study. Approximately 99% of the gold in this sample occurs as discrete gold minerals; the balance occurring as invisible gold in pyrite (determined by SIMS analysis). The sample was coarsely ground and sieved, yielding -38, 17, 22 and 22 wt.% in the -400+160 um, -160+80 um, -80+40 µm and -40 µm size fractions. Assays of the size fractions gave a gold distribution of -32, 20, 21, and 27% respectively. Processing with the hydroseparator (model HS-02) gave two tailings products and one concentrate from each size fraction. Assays of the concentrate from each size fraction gave gold recoveries of -7, 7, 24, 19%, respectively. Polished sections were prepared from each hydroseparation product and studied by image analysis to automatically search for gold minerals. Calculations were done using the surface area of the grains of gold minerals found on the polished sections.

Jan 1, 2005

By Wallace R. Horn

"MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN :I begin this talk by making a couple of comments which are of the nature of disclaimers.Firstly, and as the Chairman has otherwise indicated, I was neither ""born into"" nor have I spent more than a few years of my professional life in the mining industry. I mention this because many might, and perhaps rightly, consider that an added qualification in presenting a report of what the industry has accomplished. Indeed, I am not here to blindly defend all of its actions and inactions in respect to environmental control over the years. Nor am I here to seek absolution of the industry's past transgressions - if indeed that is the word. Mistakes might be a better one. I concluded some time ago that the effects of those mistakes are too difficult to assess against the sea of errors of our total society. I should mention too that I am not an environmental engineer or specialist - only a portion of my interest is involved with this field. Perhaps this permits a perspective which allows a more accurate and objective view.One further comment here. My job today, as I understand it, is to generally report upon the nature and extent of the response of the metals mining industry to control of the environment. In the case of an industry operating at more than a hundred locations and for various reasons at various stages of progress, it is not an easy job. On the other hand, I wanted to avoid the use of generalities because, especially within the context of environmental or ecological opinion and of the practice of condemnation of industrial segments, I think we've had about enough of generalities until we know far more than we do.Finally, I am quite aware that a statement of future plans to achieve environmental control does not impress or satisfy as many people as it may have done some years ago. Public opinion demands to know what is currently underway, today."

Jan 1, 1972

By G. O. Oniyide, H. Yilmaz.

"This paper presents the result of the research done on the effect of temperature on the dilatancy of rocks from the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), where the South African Platinum mines are located. The BIC has higher virgin rock temperature (VRT) than the gold mines of the ‘Witwatersrand Basin Complex’. If the platinum mines advance to ultra-deep levels as the gold mines, since the Merensky Reef has been reported to extend beyond 5km, then the virgin rock temperature at 5 km below surface would be approximately 140oC. Hence, there is a need for the investigation of rock behaviour at high temperatures. Five different rock types (norite, leuconorite, mottled anorthosite, pyroxenite and chromitite) were tested in a 2600 kN servo-controlled multi-purpose triaxial testing machine. The tests were done at a constant strain rate of 5 x 10-1 S-1 and a confining pressure of 10 MPa within temperature range of 20 °C (ambient temperature) to 140 °C. The results show a general strength reduction and increasing dilation angles with increasing temperatures. The results also demonstrate that dilation angle is close to the internal friction angle at lower temperatures; however, they are greater at higher temperatures.INTRODUCTIONMany challenges are faced with increasing depth of mining in underground mines. The most obvious are heat, in-situ stresses and those associated with logistics. Issues related to underground heat have mainly focused on the side effect of heat on workers' health, increasing production costs as a result of higher cost of ventilation. The effect of increasing temperature with increasing depth on the behavior of rock has not been given much consideration. Generally, gold mines in South Africa are deeper than the platinum mines but the latter have higher temperature gradient, which makes the platinum mines to be warmer at similar mining depths. Although the study of the effect temperature on the behaviour of rock can be beneficial to both gold and platinum mines, the focus of the research is limited to the platinum mines because of their higher temperature gradient. Donoghue (2004) stated that the virgin rock temperatures (VRT) and air temperatures increase with depth, due to the geothermal gradient and auto-compression, that is, compression of air by its own weight."

Jan 1, 2015

By J. C. Beidelman

One of the oldest settled portions of Canada is that "strip of land" extending into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, known as the Gaspe peninsula, with the Bay of Chaleur on its southern boundary. This "strip of land" is still so very sparcely populated that only at a few places does settlement extend more than a few miles from the coast. ? The peninsula is 160 miles long, 75 miles wide and with the exception of the above mentioned settlements is a mountainous wildness-void of all roads or inhabitants. Developments in the interior, of all nature, out-side of the cutting of timber by limit holders, was entirely lacking until the year 1915, when mining was first commenced. In the summer of 1844 Sir William Logan made a preliminary survey across the peninsula, from Cape Chat on the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cascapedia on the Bay of Chaleur, passing through a country ?of which very little was known at that time. After a rather rough trip to the headwaters of the Grand Cascapedia river, Logan&apos;s party descended this river to its mouth, passing ten miles west of what is now known as the Federal mines. There is no record of Logan, or of any of his party, finding zinc or lead ores of any character on their journey across the peninsula, and until 1909 no precious or base metals were discovered within reasonable distance of Logan&apos;s survey.

Jan 1, 1924

By B. Voyzelle

The deterioration of highway and bridge infrastructure has received considerable attention in recent years because of the billions of dollars needed for repair and rehabilitation. A major factor contributing to this problem is the corrosion of steel reinforcement. Reinforcing steels with good corrosion resistance and relatively low price are therefore essential for maintenance, cost reduction and service-life extension of the steel-reinforced structures. This article describes the development of low-alloying steels that offers good corrosion resistance with reasonably low cost. Topics include steel microstructures, mechanical properties, corrosion performance, industrial applications and economic aspects.

Jan 1, 2005

By Guangyuan Li

A 3-D block-spring model (BSM) has been developed for simulating the behaviour of jointed rocks. The model uses a discontinuous formulation and an iterative procedure to solve the large displacements in jointed and faulted rock masses. The 3-D BSM has been used to simulate mining excavations in jointed rocks around an open pit and underground settings. The applications have demonstrated that it is a practical tool to solve complicated problems of rock mechanics in civil and mining engineering. This model has recently been modified to incorporate complex geological conditions, such as underground water flow (seepage), unstable blocks and the time-dependent behavior of backfill materials. To demonstrate the capability of the 3-D model this paper presents the fundamentals of the 3- D BSM and its application for open-pit mining. A complete computer package BSM3D has been developed based on the 3-D block-spring model. The package consists of a solving engine for numerical analysis and a Windows based processor for mesh generation and results display. The multi-functioned pre-processor provides tools and menus to help users setting up models easily and conveniently. The fully featured post-processor allows users to view the results in different windows and orientations. The graphical results include contours, vectors, animation of rock movement, and the failure state of the rock structures.

May 1, 2001

By F. J. Alcock

The Appalachian region of Canada comprises the three maritime provinces; Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; and Prince Edward Island; and that; part of the Province of Quebec lying south and east of Logan's fault. This; major thrust runs in a gently curving line from lake Champlain to Quebec; city and thence down the valley of the St. Lawrence to pass between Anticosti; island and Gaspe peninsula. To the northwest lies the St. Lawrence; Lowland division of the Interior Plains geological province; a region underlain; largely by early Palxozoic strata; which for the most part lie horizontal; or with low dips; where faults occur they are predominantly of the normal; type; and only locally are the beds cut by intrusive rocks. To the southeast; on the other side of the fault zone; an entirely different set of conditions is; encountered. There; Lower Devonian and older strata stand at high angles; are sheared and thrust faulted; and are intruded in many places by granitic; igneous bodies. The present paper is designed to outline briefly the geological; and structural history of this geological province and to emphasize; the part that structural conditions have played in connection with mineral; deposition.

Jan 1, 1954

By R. A. Campbell

Pig iron and silicospiegeleisen were produced experimentally from a very low-grade manganiferous iron ore from Steep Rock, Ontario, by a two-stage electric smelting process. The most favourruble operating conditions were determined for each stage. Cement clinker then was made by calcining the slag from the second stage of smelting, with additional limestone and alumina. (This slag would normally be a waste material). The cement clinker produced had the composition of commercial Portland cement, and met the physical test requirements of the Canadian Standards Association Specification A5-1951 for normal Portland cement as well as could be expected for a material produced on .such a small scale.

Jan 1, 1958

By U. Caliskan, S. Miskovic

Gravity separation is a technique that depends on the difference in density of minerals for their separation. Although this method is one of the oldest separation techniques, it is still preferred in the industry because of its low capital and operating cost while it is environmental-friendly. In this paper, we present a new numerical methodology that can be used to investigate dynamics of dense slurry flows in gravity separation systems. A simple channel with a set of riffles is selected as a test platform in order to observe the effect of the riffle shape on segregation profile of particles with different densities. It is believed that the riffle shape would affect the slurry flow and possibly cause one class of particles to segregate within the riffle zone. The turbulence, as a disturbance effect within the riffle zone, causes heavy particles to displace the light, that is, the heavy particles will be trapped in riffles, while the lighter particles are carried by water to the end of the channel, which is an example to uninterrupted suspension. MP-PIC model in OpenFOAM is used to study the effect of riffle shape and slurry percentage of solids in this simple gravity separator on particle segregation profile of four discrete mineral density classes, which are Quartz/Clay (SG 2.6), Pyrite (SG 4.2), Chalcopyrite (SG 5.1), and Gold (SG 19.32). Gold particles are found to be readily captured and retained in the riffles because of their high density, while particles with the intermediate densities are more influenced by the flow. The developed model framework has been proven robust and capable of providing physical results even for the flows with a very high percentage of solids, characteristic for mineral processing operations. INTRODUCTION Gravity-based ore concentration techniques make use of differences in density of minerals within an ore to enable separation of valuables from the gangue. As some of the oldest techniques used for ore beneficiation, they are known to offer a range of benefits such as low specific energy consumption and low capital and operating costs (Burt, 1999; Falconer, 2003; Holland-Batt, 1998), however, they suffer from low selectivity, poor separation efficiency, and low capacity. Gravity separation techniques are common practices in the mining industry and are employed widely for the precious mineral concentration, iron ore recovery and coal preparation (Kroll-Rabotin, Bourgeois, & Climent, 2013; Laplante & Spiller, 2002; Williams, 1997). For example, gravity separation systems are highly applicable for precious metal enrichment operations by being included in primary grinding circuits, shaking table tailing separation, pre-concentration of leach feed and flotation concentrate enrichment for both flash and conventional flotation purposes (Burt, 1999; Falconer, 2003; Holland-Batt, 1998; Laplante & Spiller, 2002; McAlister, 1992). Gravity separation can be employed in the copper processing circuits by being integrated into the pre-flotation circuit to capture the gravity recoverable gold (GRG) and any free copper aiming to enhance the gold and copper recovery of the plant. When native copper and GRGs are present in the deposit, this integration not only facilitates plant overall performance via removal of the valuables early in the circuit, but it also reduces downstream operational expenditures due to less retention time of coarser copper particles in the system.

Jan 1, 2019

By Lan Vu

"The Ferderber mine consists of a series of Archean gold-bearing quartz lenses within a shear zone that crosscuts the central part of the quartz diorite Bourlamaque batholith. This zone has sharp contacts with the enclosing quartz diorite, and on average strikes N70E and dips 65SE. Along the contact with the shear zone, the quartz diorite is chloritized, sericitized and carbonatized. The chlorite schist within the zone is probably derived from mafic dykes.The geometry and distribution of structural features within the Ferderber shear zone suggest a long history of repeated movements. The majority of gold-bearing lenses were first emplaced during a probable early period of brittle shear which resulted from strike-slip movement. They were then folded and pulled into boudins by a later episode of reverse movement that accompanied ductile shear. New mineralized veins were emplaced in the shear zone and deformed at this time.Mineralized veins are dominated by quartz, carbonates, tourmaline and micas. Gold is more common within pyrite where chalcopyrite is abundant and is generally in contact with both pyrite and chalcopyrite at ""triple point"" grain junctions. This intimate association suggests that copper may have played an important role in gold deposition.Recent exploration has shown that the Bourlamaque batholith is cut by many parallel or en echelon shear zones. Study of ""Landsat"" and aerial photographs has indicated a number of linear structures striking ENE-WSW and ESE-WNW which form a conjugate system. The intersection of these two structural trends presents an interesting exploration target."

Jan 1, 1990

By A. L. Mular

Some specific cases of the collection of data from industrial grinding and classifying operations, and the development of models from the data so obtained, will be described. The problems encountered, the effort involved, and the value of the derived models in improving the plant efficiencies will be discussed and documented where possible.

Jan 1, 1971

By David S. Wong

With air emission limits for total particulates continually tightening, management of `potroom dust&apos; or airborne particulates from aluminium smelting potrooms is of increasing importance. To better understand how settled and airborne particulates are generated within a potroom, methodologies have been developed to sample and analyse the compositional signature of dust, in relation to its sources. During a smelter case study, these methods allowed tracking of mineralogical phases in dust across a range of potroom locations, showing that the mechanisms of dust generation do vary spatially and vertically in a potroom. Such methodologies may also be applicable to other metallurgical industries.

Jan 1, 2011

By W. H. Zieman

NORMAN WEISS, Milling Engineer, American Smelting• and Refining Company: The subject of the Forum on Rod and Ball Mill Liners is very fascinating, and there is no end of discussion when operators get together on grinding. However, the hypotheses and suppositions easily outrun the facts, especially when we •consider the inaccuracy of many reported observations. Still surprisingly small is the number of concentrators even reasonably well equipped to measure power consumption of each grinding mill, together with running time, so that data on this tangible factor, at least, can be obtained with precision. While the more elaborate devices of this nature, producing for each 24-hour period the total power consumption, average kilowatt hours per hour, short-term demand chart, instantaneous demand, and print-out, may cost in the neighbourhood of $2,500 per mill and may be difficult to justify, the combination of an ammeter, watthour meter, and running-time meter will cost only a few hundred dollars, so there appears to be little reason not to in-stall them in view of their numerous advantages.

Jan 1, 1959

By R. Vergunst, E. A. Devuyst, G. Robbins

"INTRODUCTIONThe Inca process for continuous cyanide removal from industrial wastewaters was patented in 1984 by G.J. Borbely, et.al. (1). The process requires SO2, air, lime and a copper catalyst. Both free and complexed cyanide are oxidized to cyanate in the pH range 8 to 10. Cyanide bound to iron is removed by precipitation as a ferrocyanide insoluble salt and other base metals are removed as hydroxides.The process was piloted in 1982 on barren bleed solution at Campbell Red Lake Mines Ltd., Ontario (2). Since 1982, the Inca SO2-air cyanide removal technology has been applied in twelve commercial installations. The process has significant advantages over other commercial processes in the completeness of cyanide removal and lower reagent requirements and costs.COMMERCIAL INSTALLATIONSBy the end of 1988 Inca will have applied its patented cyanide removal technology to twelve commercial operations. Three of these, namely Scottie Gold Mines, Dupont of Canada Expl. Baker mill and Carolin, all in British Columbia, Canada, have ceased cyanidation operations but SO2-air cyanide destruction results were good for all mills, particularly so for over two years for the Scottie mill.Removal of cyanide from CIL slurry tailings is applied at Equity Silver (9,500 tpd) and Inca's new 1,200 tpd mill at Inca/Golden Knight. Detoxification of CIP tailings is carried out by Colosseum California (3,600 tpd) and Canamax's Ketza River operation (360 tpd). Repulped tailings from Merril-Crowe flowsheets are treated at Total Erickson's Mount Skukum mill (300 tpd) and Skyline's Johnny Mountain mill (200 tpd) and barren bleed at Inco/Queenston's McBean mill (500 tpd). Lynngold's MacLellan mill (1,800 tpd) treats pond supernatant water. Plating shop cyanide effluents are decyanized at Kuntz Electroplating in Kitchener, Ontario. Many of the above commercial operations were described in some detail in previous publications (3,4). Typical installations are described in this paper. A summary of operating results is given in Table 1."

Jan 1, 1989