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By A. R. Sorta, D. C. Sego

ABSTRACT Temperature, solute, texture, and thixotropic effects on time domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements of water content in oil sands tailings are investigated. Results indicate that TDR water content measurements are influenced by temperature, residual bitumen, and percent clay in the tailings. A correction of 0.03–0.10/ °C must be applied to the apparent dielectric constant (Ka) to account for the effect of temperature. The Ka-volumetric water content relationships of slurries differ significantly from the commonly used Topp calibration equation. The age of the tailings and the addition of phosphogypsum did not influence TDR water content measurements.

Jan 1, 2013

By K. V. Lindell

Introduction This paper describes a recent innovation in the design and construction of mine headframes. A reinforced concrete headframe was built by using sliding forms. A concrete headframe of conventional design was originally considered, but investigation of this project showed that it was doubtful if the bearing strength of the soil was sufficient to support the great weight of a structure of this type. In addition, the slope and the fractured condition of the serpentine bed-rock did not permit satisfactory piling. A conventional steel headframe with storage bins was then designed, but, due to the steel situation, delivery promises were set back many months. The concrete headframe was again investigated, and a design was adopted incorporating a circular headframe lower in height than that first considered, with skips discharging into a smaller surge bin. The upper section of the shaft collar was strengthened to result in a stable structure which would be supported by bed-rock, as well as by the concrete and steel lining of the shaft itself.

Jan 1, 1948

By Z. D. Hora

"There has been a number of new developments in British Columbia's industrial minerals field over the past few years. Several new industrial operations were started to diversify the line of British Columbia mineral production by magnesite, perlite and fuller's earth. Industry activities and geological projects have identified occurrences of rare earth minerals, niobium, kaoline, fireclay and zeolites. The Geological Survey Branch significantly improved its database on industrial minerals. New geological concepts based on recent work are opening a number of new opportunities f or further industrial minerals' exploration and development in British Columbia.IntroductionTraditionally, the value of industrial minerals produced in British Columbia in any given year comprises between 100/0and 15% of the combined value of minerals, coal, petroleum and natural gas. Over the years a wide variety of industrial minerals has been produced , often with different levels of marketings success. For some products, such as dimension stone and clay or shale products, initial strong demand gradually dissipated; for others such as asbestos and magnesite, new discoveries or new industrial activities created demand and new markets . In some cases, such as fluorite , talc, pyrophyllite and perlite, wider use has been prevented by small size, poor quality or remote location of the deposits. Also, British Columbia , with 2.6 million inhabitant s, provides only a limited market and the industry therefore has to look beyond provincial borders."

Jan 1, 1990

By Robert B. Parsons

"Investors in flow-through shares are going to need an expanded road map to find their way through a growing maze of tax rules affecting such shares. At the end of 1985, no fewer than three new sets of important tax amendments were tabled which could have a significant effect on flow-through share issues. This proposed legislation is discussed this month in Tax Notes.IntroductionIn a flurry of legislative activity at the end of 1985, the federal government tabled legislation which includes the introduction of new rules which will have a notable effect on investors in flow-through shares and on companies that issue such shares.First, on November 26, 1985, Bill C-84, the legislation to implement most of the changes announced in the May budget, was introduced in Parliament. This legislation includes the rules for the $500,000 capital gains exemption, a matter of considerable interest to flow through share investors.Next, on December 2, 1985, the government tabled a Notice of Ways and Means Motion which would extend the time horizon for spending flow-through share funds to include the 60-day period following the calendar year. But all news was not good news. On December 4 the government released its proposals for a minimum personal income tax, which would include rules that would catch an investor's CEE expenses and capital gains."

Jan 1, 1986

This paper describes the results of a laboratory study on the upgrading of Algoma siderite by the amine flotation of silica and silicate gangue. The experiments indicate that a virtually complete removal of silica is possible in a rougher flotation con-ducted in tap water at natural pH, without prior desliming of the ore. Grinding considerably finer than the apparent liberation size is essential for maximum silica rejection. A cationic collector, Aeromine 3037, gave best results when used in combination with a modifier. Of the several modifiers tested, a Dutch potato dextrin, Dextrin 4356, was found to be the most effective. Both iron recovery and the grade of the final iron product are enhanced by floating the pyrite contained in the ore prior to the amine flotation of the silica, and by scalping the magnetics from the silica concentrate. F OR over twenty years, the Algoma Ore Properties Division of The Algoma Steel

Jan 1, 1963

By W. H. Stheeman

"The high rock pressures at the deeper levels of the Tsumeb Mine have necessitated the changing of the mining methods and the introduction of cable bolts. After two rockfalls in the cable-bolted stopes, the mechanics of cable bolting were investigated. Practical methods were developed to find the best grout mixtures, the bond stresses between cables and cement, the bond stresses between rock and cement and the load on the cable bolts, which was mathematically calculated from data observed underground. The design of the cable bolt support system as used at the Tsumeb Mine is explained. GeneralThe Tsumeb Mine is in northern South West Africa/Namibia, approximately 400 km by road from the capital city, Windhoek, at an elevation of 1300 m above sea level. Mining operations in Tsumeb were started in 1905 by the Otavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft and continued, with an interruption during the Depre ssion, until 1940, when the mine was closed and taken over by the Custodian of Enemy Property. The present owner, Tsumeb Corporation Limited, obtained the mine in 1947 and restarted the underground mining operations in 1949 after the mine was dewatered. Currently, the stoping operations are between 26 Level (840 m below surface) and 38 Level (1260 m below surface). In addition, the mine is an important silver producer and has produced 670,100 kg of silver since 1947."

Jan 1, 1982

By Brian L. Beninger

This paper discusses the application of the computer to coal preparation process predictions. In broad terms, the computer is used to perform two main functions. Firstly, the given float-sink analysis is interpolated and extrapolated to cover the entire actual range of raw coal specific gravity. Assumptions based on historical data must be made at times. Secondly, the partition curve, which, from historical data, defines the efficiency of a specific coal washing process, is applied to the washability data in order to determine the expected clean coal yield and quality. The vast amount of numerical work which is required to make a prediction of this type exhibits the need for computer methods in this area.

Jan 1, 1979

By Steven Doyle

Presentation Outline ?Introduction to Brunswick Mine ?Mining Needs and Drilling Trends ?Maintenance Program ?Back to Basics ?Results ?Additional benefits Introduction Xstrata Zinc Brunswick Mine ?No. 12 deposit discovered in 1953, pilot mining 1957, u/g mining began in 1964 ?Zinc, copper, lead and bulk lead/zinc concentrates ?Since 2007, a fully owned division of Xstrata Zinc Canada ?Over 132Mt milled 3.4 % Pb, 8.8 % Zn and 102 g/t Ag ?Deposit dips approximately 70 degrees; strike length of 1200 m; currently mining from 250 m to 1125 m depth

Nov 1, 2011

By G. Van Weert, O. Wang

"As part of a general review of processing double refractory ores through Barrick Gold’s autoclaves / CIL facility at Goldstrike, blanking the preg robbing native carbon in the process solids with hard (m.p. 55 - 60 º C) paraffin wax was studied, specifically in relation to pressure oxidation. The improvement in CIL gold extraction was found to depend on the wax addition point, with hot, dry contacting of the ore in the presence of wax - prior to POX - yielding the largest, most consistent improvement in gold extraction.INTRODUCTIONDouble refractory gold ores present two barriers to gold extraction. The first is generally a physical barrier: the gold is encapsulated or dispersed in a matrix which is impervious to the gold lixiviant. In most cases, including Carlin Trend, NV, deposits, this involves a pyrite or arsenopyrite matrix, although minor gold may also be dispersed in competent silica (quartz) or iron oxides. Gold can be rendered accessible by oxidative destruction of such sulphide matrices. At Goldstrike this is practised by roasting and autoclave oxidation (Thomas, 1994). It is the latter route to which this paper refers.The second barrier refers to the actual gold recovery. Gold may be extracted from the pressure oxidized solids with cyanide, forming a gold cyanide complex. One characteristic of this complex is that it adsorbs on graphitic surfaces. This is taken advantage of on a large scale by gold millers, who use manmade activated, i.e., graphitized carbon particles to remove the gold from solution during leaching: the Carbon-In-Leach, or CIL process. The gold cyanide bearing carbon particles are larger than the ore solids and can be separately recovered by screening. Goldstrike uses the CIL technology to recover gold. The second barrier becomes problematic when the ore naturally contains graphitic orcarbonaceous material, hereafter referred to as native carbon (versus the man-made activated carbon). This material may also adsorb gold cyanide in competition with the activated carbon. Since the native carbon is ground with the ore it is much smaller than the activated carbon. Any competition between the two carbons may produce a loss of gold from the pregnant leach liquor to the process tailings. This phenomenon is called “preg robbing”. Goldstrike ores come from the Carlin trend, which is known for the occurrence of native carbon (Adams & Burger, 1998; Schmitz, Duyvesteyn, Johnson, Enloe & McMullen, 2001; Tretbar, 2004)."

Jan 1, 2012

By Ben Burger

This paper describes the design, the first three years of operation and optimization of a large, single stage SAG mill at Minera Yanacocha?s Gold Mill facility located in northern Peru. The Gold Mill was commissioned in March 2008 with a 32? x 32? EGL, 16.5MW single stage SAG mill, to process 5 million tonnes per annum high grade oxide Au/Ag ore. Operational control, feed size distribution, grinding media, mill liner, grate and pulp lifter optimisation have allowed the mill to operate 15-30% above design throughput rates, but with a product P80 coarser than design. As part of the optimization, full grinding circuit surveys were conducted. Historical operating data and survey data were analyzed and used to evaluate possible circuit changes and determine alternative operating strategies. A number of changes were implemented which allowed the SAG mill to operate similarly to a large ball mill and achieve finer mill product that was closer to design. This paper summarizes life to date data analysis and improvements made by Minera Yanacocha as well as the grinding circuit optimisation study conducted by Metso Process Technology and Innovation.

Jan 1, 2012

By O. A. Ojo, D. L. Chen, N. Zhou, J. Q. Zhang, A. K. Khan

Dual phase (DP) steels are designed to consist of hard martensite dispersed in a relatively soft ferrite matrix, which offers a favorable combination of high strength with good deformability. Fiber laser welding (FLW) is becoming increasingly important for joining advanced materials due to its flexibility and deep penetration. In this study, the microstructure of a dual phase steel, DP980, welded by FLW technique was carefully analysed. Gleeble thermo-mechanical simulation coupled with analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the FLW process produced significant microstructural changes in a narrow heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone (FZ), which can result in dramatic changes in mechanical properties. This is reflected in the micro-hardness profile obtained across the welded material. The salient phase transitions induced by the FLW, including the formation of new martensite grains in the upper-critical HAZ and FZ, are discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By L. Bos

The availability and reliability of large grinding mills and their Gearless Mill Drives (GMDs) are of paramount importance for the grinding process. Although GMDs have been in service for decades, and are known for their operational efficiency (reliability and robustness with reduced operating cost per ton), compared to conventional drives, in the last decade due to certain reasons some failures led to serious unscheduled shutdowns and significant insurance events. The majority of these notable "insured" failures have happened on GMDs installed on relatively large mills, as the financial impact of a failure is proportional to the through-put of the mill. Despite the occurrences of these events, as mining operations are driven by lower ore grades and the ability to continue reducing operating costs per ton, the trend for having larger mills is still very present and there is no reason why this trend should not continue. It is obvious that if not handled correctly, the possibility of large value GMD loss events, coupled with the continuing increase in mill size or required availability and reliability targets, could potentially lead to major conflicts as it becomes difficult for the insurance companies to judge the risk and hence may result in hesitation to insure these grinding circuits. This paper will not only describe the conflicting situation from both an insurer's perspective and from an equipment supplier's perspective, but also how these conflicting challenges can be successfully mastered. It has to be noted that not only the mining companies themselves, but also their insurance companies and the involved equipment suppliers have a common interest: to reach the highest availability and reliability in order to avoid or at least minimize unscheduled shut down times, and most importantly prevent unplanned events that result in extended production stoppages or reductions in through-put of GMD driven mills. From the very beginning onwards, the complete service concept together with emergency plans must be integrated on every level in the design of the grinding circuit. This approach must be implemented continuously and without compromises by all involved parties during all following stages, such as basic design, detail design, manufacturing, quality inspection and testing, packing, transportation, storage, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance. The concept of formal risk analysis related to mill operations, maintenance and spare parts strategies must be an integral part of mining companies? decisions related to the selection for installation and continued use of large mills powered by GMDs. The service concept in place for operating mills shall also have a clear focus on very early detection of any abnormalities, so that the risk can be mitigated and unscheduled shutdown times avoided. However, if a major failure occurs, then procedures and tools shall already be available in order to ensure that production impact is minimized.

Jan 1, 2012

By Jason Berenyi

Presentation Overview ? What is Potash? ? Where are the potash deposits? ? Current potash mines ? production, capacity and planned upgrades ? Saskatchewan Saskatchewan?s Potash Production Potential s ? Current Status of Potash Exploration ? Increasing Demand for Potash ? Saskatchewan global role

May 1, 2009

By A Palynchuk

The development of welded pipe has paralleled the general industrial development and, in particular, that of the petroleum industry. The petroleum industry's need for high-grade, economical pipeline material to make many 'of its projects feasible has been a significant factor in the development of light-wall, high-grade welded pipe. The modern welding processes, such as high-frequency, electric resistance, flash, submerged arc, etc., have some basically different characteristics. The modern high-frequency weld mill is a complex of specialized equipment that is integrated into a production unit. Each component in the unit performs a specific function in the production process. Quality control must be built into the process on an operating basis and, to maintain the quality required for pipeline standards, must be more than a policing operation. The further development of the welded pipe industry will be determined by changing and increasing demands. The technical and economic views and requirements that will influence the development have to be resolved.

Jan 1, 1964

By M. Melashvili

"The SART Process was introduced to the gold mining industry in the late 1990s and several commercial plants were built over the following 10 to 15 years. Most of these plants have operated well and enjoyed plant performance in line with expectations based on the underlying chemistry of the process. However, two of the plants have consistently suffered from high reagent consumption and poor product quality, which has motivated a re-examination of the process fundamentals.The primary product in the SART Process is synthetic chalcocite, Cu2S, and the stoichiometric requirement for sulphide addition is therefore 0.5 moles per mole of copper in solution. It is shown here that when sulphide is added in excess of this amount (generally with the express purpose of lowering residual copper in solution) it not only fails in its intended purpose, but can have a negative impact on the settling and filtration characteristics of the copper sulphide product, as well as the final product quality. Moreover, these problems are exacerbated the higher the selected operating pH in the pH 3 to 5 range, and the longer the residence time of slurry in this pH range.Freshly precipitated copper sulphide compounds are known to be very fine and slimy, with poor settling and filtration characteristics. It is therefore important to engineer the SART Process in such a way as to encourage growth in the average particle size of the precipitate crystals. This was the rationale for recycling a portion of the thickener underflow to the primary reactor when the SART Process was developed. However, the theory of crystallization predicts that compounds of extremely low solubility, such as chalcocite (Cu2S: KSP = 10-48), are unlikely to experience growth in crystal particle size through heterogeneous nucleation and are more likely to grow through aggregation. On this basis, the SART practice of recycling a portion of thickener underflow to the primary reactor in the commercial plants is unlikely to lead to crystal growth via nucleation, and could in fact promote breakage of the aggregates that formed in the thickener. Recycling thickener underflow could therefore have the opposite of the desired outcome. The result of testwork that is reported here lends credence to this theory and questions the wisdom of recycling in the SART process."

Jan 1, 2016

By A. G. Storey, J. B. W. Bailey

"The Noranda Process at the Horne Division ofNoranda Mines Limited now smelts approximately 350,000 short dry tons of concentrate a year, which is 40% of the total smelter throughput. Campaigns are averaging 200 days and refractory consumption is much lower than in the conventional smelter.In this paper, details ofrecent operation are given, together with updated projections for operation with higher levels of oxygen enrichment.IntroductionThe Noranda continuous smelting process has been in operation at Noranda, Quebec, for six years and in that time it has smelted a million and a half tons of concentrate. It is currently smelting 1,200 to 1,250 tons per day of concentrate on an instantaneous basis"" and it is handling approximately 40% of the Horne smelter throughput.This paper will describe the current operation of the process and the improvements that have been made since 1976, when the process was described by L.A. Mills et al.lSince early in 1975, a high-grade matte averaging 73% copper has been produced, which is then sent to the converter aisle for final treatment. All the information in this paper refers to the operation of the process in the matte mode .Early in 1978, Kennecott Copper Corporation started up their new smelter near Salt Lake City, Utah , which has three Noranda Process reactors operating with high oxygen enrichment of the tuyere air (2). These furnace s incorporate some design improvements, which will be described briefly."

Jan 1, 1980

By Ben R. Bjorkman

The future is here ? or at least that?s what Mine Planners predicted some 15 years ago ? that by 2004 we would have man-less mines running themselves using space-aged technology. Truthfully, though, there hasn?t been much change in mining methods in the past decade, but thankfully that?s all about to change. The benefits of autonomous ? even Tele-operated mining (especially in narrow-vein ore bodies) are wellknown: increased production hours by eliminating travel time to and from the face, continuous production at the face while crews screen and bolt behind the working equipment, less liability for workers? safety in certain areas, etc. But when plans are put in place to accomplish this vision, things stagnate and production carries on as before. This paper examines the components necessary to make that vision a reality. First we?ll detail the technology required to enable Tele-operation ? even autonomous operation of mining machinery, then we?ll look at what?s wrong with the current way we?re mining, and finally conclude with a critique of the machinery itself.

Oct 1, 2004

By W. A. Lang

Introduction In this review, which is the fifth of the series on the Progress in Coal Technology, an attempt has been made to outline some of the more important developments that have taken place in coal carbonization during the last decade. Research into both high-and low-temperature carbonization has been active for three principal reasons: (1) the growing shortages in most countries of high-quality coking coals; (2) the demand for smokeless fuels for domestic purposes; (3) the need for metallurgical coke for the increased output of steel in the post-war years. The growing importance of coal tars as a source of chemicals for the preparation of synthetic products and of coal gases for the recovery of sulphur is evident. Many of the researches initiated because of wartime necessity have been continued .and even expanded in the post-war years. High-temperature carbonization with a suitable coal yields a strong coke which is used primarily for metallurgical purposes, a tar with good marketable value, and a large yield of gas of medium calorific value. Low-temperature carbonization gives a more free-burning solid product suitable for a domestic fuel, a high yield of a tar which is generally regarded as superior to high-temperature tar for chemical purposes, and a smaller yield of a higher-heat-value gas.

Jan 1, 1951

By B. C. Tripathy, S. K. Padhy, R. K. Paramguru, Pinak Patnaik

"Cobalt is regarded as technology enabling metal among the less abundant metals found in the earth crust. Electrodeposition of the metal from aqueous sulphate solutions is the preferred technology for its commercial production. Certain additives are added in the electrolytic bath during electrodeposition for the production of uniform, smooth and bright deposits of cobalt metal with higher current efficiencies and lower energy consumptions. A detailed investigation has been carried out to determine the effect of additive Sodium octyl sulphate (SOS) on the electrodeposition of cobalt. The results indicated that the additive apart from increasing the current efficiency enhanced the quality of cobalt electrodeposits. A maximum current efficiency of 98.4% was achieved at 10 mg/L SOS. The presence of SOS in the electrolytic bath did not result in any noticeable change in the crystal orientation of the cobalt electrodeposits except at higher concentrations (50 g/L) of the additive. Scanning electron micrographs indicate that smooth, compact and uniform deposits of cobalt were obtained at 10 mg/L of the additive beyond which there is detoriation in the quality of deposits. Polarisation of the cathode was seen in the presence of SOS. The effect of SOS on the electro kinetic parameters: Tafel slope (b), transfer coefficient (a) and exchange current density (I0) has also been investigated.INTRODUCTIONCobalt is recognised to be a strategic metal among the various base metals, owing to its numerous applications in various industries. Cobalt as a metal finds its use in the preparation of rechargeable batteries, as an alloying component in the manufacture of space craft and jet engines, as a drying agent for paint varnishes, ground coats for porcelain enamels and in the manufacture of the catalysts for the petroleum and chemical industries (Davis, 2000). Although there is a huge demand of the metal the supply of the metal is limited due to its scarcity in the earth crust. The metal comprises of only 0.02% of the earth’s crust for which the metal is recovered from various ores of nickel and copper as a byproduct (Hawkins, 1998). The present day techniques for cobalt production includes mostly hydrometallurgical methods which are preferred over the earlier used pryometallurgcial methods carried out for the metal production. Almost 70% of the world’s cobalt produced currently is from hydrometallurgical techniques in which electrodeposition of the metal from aqueous solutions is the final step for metal production (Verney, 1988). The most preferred route for electrodeposition of cobalt metal involves a sulphate medium (Das and Subbaiah, 1984; Lenthall and Bryson, 1997; Sharma et al., 2005)."

Jan 1, 2016

By H. Groeneveld, C. A. Connally, P. J. Hoenmans, W. L. Mason, John J. Justen

"A miscible displacement pilot, using a slug of LPG driven by separator gas, was conducted in the Cardium Reservoir of the Pembina Field. The injection pattern was a 10-acre, inverted, isolated five-spot. Upon completion of the LPG-gas phase, an .experiment was conducted using a slug of water followed by gas. Calculated performance of the pilot is compared with actual performance. Equations are developed to cakulate the distribution of LPG into zones of varying permeability, to estimate the progress of the flood at different times in the various zones, and to estimate gas rates after breakthrough. The analysis indicates that permeability stratification was a dominant factor in con-trolling oil recovery and that oil was completely displaced from the swept pore volume. The results of the pilot indicated that miscible flooding is a practical means of pressure maintenance in this reservoir. The total recovery from the pilot area was good in spite of the early breakthrough of LPG. The effects of stratification were reduced by injecting a slug of water into the partially swept reservoir."

Jan 1, 1960