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By Minghao Hu, Hongbo Zhao, Jun Wang, Wenqing Qin, Rui Liao, Central South University

"In the present work, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis and electrochemical analysis were carried out to investigate the intermediate species and electrochemical dissolution process of chalcopyrite in the presence of sulfur and iron oxidizing microorganisms. For bioleaching of chalcopyrite by the sulfur oxidizing microorganism Acidithiobacillus caldus, the redox potential was always lower than the appropriate value and chalcopyrite was mainly directly oxidized to polysulfide (Sn 2-), thus resulting in low copper extraction. As for bioleaching of chalcopyrite by the iron oxidizing microorganism Leptospirillum ferriphilum, chalcopyrite was mainly directly oxidized to polysulfide at the initial stage where redox potential was lower than the appropriate value and resulted in low dissolution rate. At the middle stage where redox potential was appropriate (about 350–480 mV vs. Ag/AgCl), chalcopyrite was mainly transformed to intermediate species of Cu2S rather than polysulfide, thus resulting in high dissolution rate. At the later stage where redox potential was higher than the appropriate value, chalcopyrite was mainly directly oxidized to polysulfide which caused the later passivation of chalcopyrite. Finally, a model of electrochemical dissolution process of chalcopyrite in the presence of sulfur and iron oxidizing microorganisms was provided.INTRODUCTIONBiohydrometallurgy is considered as one promising mineral processing technique in processing low grade ores due to the advantages of simplicity, low cost and eco-friendly. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the most abundant copper-bearing resource, accounting for appropriately 70% of the known reserves in the world, while is recalcitrant to bio-hydrometallurgy mainly due to the coated passivation layer (Klauber, 2008; Li, Kawashima, Li, Chandra, & Gerson, 2013). However, the detailed dissolution and passivation mechanisms of chalcopyrite bioleaching are still uncertain. The microorganisms assisting chalcopyrite dissolution can be mainly classified into three types, including mesophilic microorganisms (e.g., Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans), moderately thermophilic microorganisms (e.g., Acidithiobacillus caldus, Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans and Leptospirillum ferriphilum), and extremely thermophilic microorganisms (e.g., Metallosphaera sedula, Sulfolobus sp., Acidianus sp., and Sulfurcoccus mirabilis). Moderately thermophilic microorganisms have a better prospect in the future industrial application of chalcopyrite bio-hydrometallurgy (Olson, Brierley, & Brierley, 2003; Rohwerder, Gehrke, Kinzler, & Sand, 2003). Hence, investigating the detailed dissolution and passivation mechanisms of chalcopyrite bioleaching by moderately thermophilic microorganisms is of important significance, which will provide essential information for promoting chalcopyrite bioleaching by moderately thermophilic microorganisms in laboratory or industrial plant."

Jan 1, 2016

By A. Alfantazi, E. Asselin

"The corrosion of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) was studied from room temperature up to medium temperature (~160°C) under conditions relevant to medium temperature chalcopyrite leaching processes. The corrosion rates were measured by immersion and electrochemical tests in sulfuric acid. The influences of chloride, cupric and ferric ions on the corrosion rate and behavior were also investigated. Corrosion of the CP-Ti did not account for the total current density measured by linear polarization tests. The corrosion rates of CP-Ti under medium temperature leaching conditions were surprisingly high. The corrosion rate measured in ferric containing solution at 160°C was approximately 20 mm/yr.INTRODUCTIONTitanium exhibits excellent corrosion resistance in many aggressive environments because of the formation of a very chemically stable, highly adherent, and protective oxide film on its surface (Mitsuo et al., 2002). Because titanium is the only metal available at a reasonable cost that resists the high temperature corrosive slurries in many leaching processes, it is often chosen as autoclave liner material where it is subjected to severe conditions of acidity, temperature and pressure (Grauman and Say, 2000).A number of distinctly different hydrometallurgical processes for the pressure leaching of chalcopyrite have been developed and patented by various companies and they can be classified into low, medium and high temperature regimes (McDonald and Muir, 2007). For example, chalcopyrite concentrate may be processed at medium temperatures (115-175°C) and pressures of 800-2200 kPa (Dreisinger, D., 2006; Sahu and Asselin, 2011). The lixiviant may contain 20 to 55 g/L sulfuric acid, 8 to 12 g/L chloride ions, 10-25 g/L Cu2+ (Jones, 1995, 1997, 1999), and less than 1 g/L Fe3+ (Defreyne et al., 2005). The amount of these additions is determined by the grade of the ores and details are shown in Table 1."

Jan 1, 2012

By A. W. Jolliffe

DESPITE the widespread occurrence of scheelite in Canada, domestic production of this strategic mineral is still quite insufficient to meet wartime needs. Two difficulties have invariably arisen in prospecting for or developing scheelite deposits: scheelite is a difficult mineral to identify, and secondly, its distribution is commonly so erratic that the value of a deposit cannot be determined without arduous and expensive methods of sampling and wet assay. Scheelite's property of fluorescing under certain ultra-violet lamps overcomes the first difficulty and is the basis for a quantitative method developed to overcome the second. It is found that, by use of an ultra-violet lamp, the value of many scheelite deposits may be accurately and speedily determined. The method requires neither elaborate apparatus nor exceptional skill on the part of the operator, and is most applicable to those deposits where the bulk of the scheelite occurs in fairly pure aggregates that are at least one-tenth of an inch across. It has been used in grading some two hundred scheelite-bearing veins in the Yellow-knife-Beaulieu region, Northwest Territories, and various occurrences in the Porcupine district, Ontario. The method requires the measurement of the total area of scheelite exposed in any reasonably large measured cross-section of a deposit. From the areal percent of scheelite so obtained, the tungstic oxide (WO,) content of that part of the deposit may be calculated by means of equations of simple derivation.

Jan 1, 1942

By Magdy Ibrahim

This paper presents experimental design and development of a low-cost remote sensing hardware designed to support automated site data acquisition for near real-time progress reporting of construction operations. The developed hardware utilizes open source microcontroller equipped with multiple sensors that include 3D accelerometer, GPS, Data logger and Bluetooth. The use of open source microcontroller makes the developed design cost effective; freeing it from the need for costly license fees. Its platform configuration is flexible; enabling the addition of temperature, weight and other sensors, Wi-Fi and Xbee capabilities to suit individual field applications. Pilot tests have been carried out in laboratory and outdoor environments. The results prove effectiveness and robustness of the developed configuration. The paper provides description of the individual components used in the development of this prototype hardware. It also describes the technical characteristics, capabilities and limitations of the developed hardware. The findings of comparison with alternative technologies used for outdoor tracking of construction operations are presented. The comparison is carried out with respect to range, cost and suitability for outdoor environment. The developed hardware is expected to support a wide range of applications including tracking of earthmoving operations, highway construction and onsite resources. As well, it is expected to enhance safety on construction jobsites.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. Li

To accommodate the large payloads and harsh operating conditions associated with heavy vehicles in the mining industry, off-the-road (OTR) tires are typically used with heavy mining vehicles. These tires have increased abrasion and wear resistance due to their thicker tread, sidewall and bead thicknesses. Given these features, OTR tires are much stiffer than conventional passenger vehicle tires and cannot be mounted to a single-piece rim without damaging the structural integrity of the tire during the mounting process. Therefore, multi-piece wheels are used with OTR tires to facilitate mounting. While these assemblies are necessary, several instances of their failure have been reported to result in injuries or fatalities within the mining workplace. Many of these failures were specifically reported to be caused by the disengagement of the wheel lock ring - a component used to securely engage the assembly during operation. In this study, a threaded-connection locking mechanism has been proposed in place of the traditional lock ring design. The performance of this threaded-connection was numerically evaluated in a pull-out test against a conventional five-piece wheel assembly. The pull-out test was devised as a means of quantifying the engagement ability of each wheel?s locking mechanism. A high degree of modelling accuracy was maintained throughout the analysis by validating the vertical and horizontal static loaddeflection behaviour of the rim model of the five-piece wheel assembly against experimental data. Through validation, the model data were found to be within 10.5 and 4.80 %, for vertical and lateral loaddeflection behaviour, respectively. Results from the pull-out analysis found that the threaded-connection demonstrated a 113 % increase in the force required for disengagement to occur relative to the conventional five-piece design - a force of 9,550 kN in total.

Aug 1, 2013

By Claude Hubert, Alex C. Brown, Michel Richard, Rejean Sirois

"The Pierre Beauchemin gold deposit, situated 15 km NW of Rouyn-Noranda, produces an average of 1050 tonnes of ore a day. Reserves are 1.2 Mt grading 5.6 g/t Au. The deposit, located in a shear zone within the Flavrianpluton, in the Blake River Group, is hosted by four major rock types: meta-trondhjemite, meta-tonalite, hybrid rocks and meta-diorite (the prefu; ""meta-"" is omitted thereafter). The trondhjemite, tonalite, and metamorphic hybrid rocks are spatially distributed as a series of sub-horizontal tabular sills that form a genetically related group. Early fractures that permitted either the emplacement of pre-diorite felsic dikes or the formation of a visible alteration caused by early fluid circulation might have been developed in response to initial strain created during regional deformation. These fractures were precursors to the emplacement of diorite and the development of major shear planes. Sub-horizontal north-trending en échelon diorite lenses are observed at the mine. Together, these diorite lenses constitute larger scale diorite zones which are observed at the scale of the pluton. The diorite zones are interpreted as evidence of an episode of sub-vertical extension sustained by the layered trondhjemite, tonalite and hybrid system. The anisotropy created by the less competent sub-horizontal en échelon diorite was an important factor. In shear zone development and subsequent mineralization. The tonalite and diorite accommodated further defomation and developed the main N030°/40° ESE shears along with the spatially associated N060°/50°-60° SSE, and the N000°/10°-40° E shear zones. The N000° shears are interpreted as refracted or deflected equivalents of the N030° shears. The combined shears compose the Eldrich shear system which trends approximately N030°/40° ESE and has had a general reverse movement with a minor sinistral component.Gold mineralization occurs in all four major rock types as en échelon sigmoidal shaped lenses associated with the major N030° deformation system. The distribution of ore lenses can be divided into two categories: The first category occupies sub-horizontal diorite zones. The lenses trend N-S, dip 100 40° E, and are associated with shear zones, sub-horizontal fractures or tonalite-diorite contact planes. The second category of lenses is found in felsic granitic rocks; the lenses trend either N0300!40°ESE or N060°/50°-60° SSE. Local hydraulic breccia zones are observed near ore zones occupying felsic granitic rocks. These breccias may have resulted from high fluid pressures brought upon by confinement as a result of impermeable zones in an anisotropic tonalite-diorite system."

Jan 1, 1990

By V. Songmene, R. Khettabi, J. Masounave, R. D. Njoya

L'augmentation régulière des règlements environnementaux et de la sécurité au travail deviennent de plus en plus strictes. L'usinage fait partie des opérations industrielles qui peuvent causer des problèmes de santé au travail et sur l'environnement. La plupart des particules de poussières produites pendant toutes les opérations d'usinage à sec ou lubrifie causent des nuisances environnementales graves. Le travail propose étudie l’influence des paramètres de coupe, des alliages et des états des matériaux sur la formation des copeaux et sur la génération de poussière lors de l'usinage à sec. Deux modes d'usinage (le fraisage et le perçage) sont abordés. Une loi reliant la ténacité des matériaux aux émissions de poussières est proposée. Les effets des matériaux et de leurs conditions, ainsi que des procédés d'usinage sur la génération des poussières ont été mis en évidence. Des mécanismes de formation de poussières sont identifiés et reliés à la formation des copeaux.

Jan 1, 2006

By D. R. Keck

"SINCE the .Canadian Chemical Company has no direct connection with mining operations, and I have had no experience with mining, there is little I can tell you that you do not already know. However, we have had considerable experience with certain types of metallurgical problems and I would like to discuss with you some of these problems and their solutions by our metallurgists.In order to acquaint you with the type of plant and processes to be employed at Edmonton, I would like first to take a few .minutes to trace briefly the history -of the Canadian Chemical Company's affiliate, The Celanese Corporation of America. In the early •part of the twentieth century, two young Swiss brothers, Camille and Henri Dreyfus, received their P.h.D. degrees in chemistry. They were extremely interested in work which was being carried on at that time to find a suitable synthetic fiber that could compete with natural fibers, both quality and price-wise. Early man-made fibers were both coarse and hard to dye. The Doctors Dreyfus• poured all their earnings into research and ultimately developed cellulose acetate filament. During World War I, the Dreyfus brothers were invited to the United States to produce cellulose acetate 'dope' for airplane wing coverings. Dr. Camille Dreyfus built the first American plant for fiber production at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1924.Due to resistance of textile mills to the new fibers, Celanese was forced to set up its own dying, weaving, and finishing mills to prove the new materials. Through the years, however, this operation has •been retained primarily for fabric development purposes,.. with the majority of the acetate being sold to other textile mills."

Jan 1, 1953

By W. A. Green

To those who may not be familiar with the history and organization of the Flin Flon mining property from the rime of its examination and option by the Harry Payne Whitney interests until the present start of operations by the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company, Limited, this paper may give a better understanding of the property. More technical discussions are being presented to you by the men most closely connected with the various operations of the property. Location The Flin Flon mine is situated along the boundary line between the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan at approximately. 54° 45? north latitude, but largely in Manitoba. Prior to the advent of the railway, the property was quite isolated. The summer route was over a course of some 175 miles, consisting of a 125-mile boat trip from The Pas, first up the Saskatchewan river, then across Cumberland and Sturgeon lakes to Sturgeon? Landing. From Sturgeon Landing, a .16-mile portage was necessary to Camp 2 on lake Athapapaskow. From Camp 2 the route consisted of a canoe trip of 32 miles across lake Athapapaskow, up the northwest arm of Schist lake, then up Ross creek to the Company's docks, and finally a 2-mile walk to the property. The winter route was just under 100 miles in length, the difference being due to the fact that a more direct route could be followed over the frozen lakes. It went up the Saskatchewan river for a short distance above The Pas and then, leaving the river, the road followed Reeder, Rocky, and Sturgeon lakes to Sturgeon Landing, and from there over the same route as the summer one, only across the frozen lakes.

Jan 1, 1930

In the present work, the effect of pH, non-ionic polyacrylamide flocculant and anionic polyphosphate on rheology and settling behaviour of colloidal TiO2 suspensions (15 ? 50 wt% solid) is investigated. Maximum particle aggregation, reflecting in the highest suspension settling rate and maximum shear yield stress was achieved at pH 7.2, the isoelectric point (iep), consistent with DLVO expectation. However, the maximum aggregation condition at the iep also resulted in the poorest suspension consolidation behaviour. Significantly enhanced consolidation was achieved for a more dispersed suspension at pH values away from the iep but at reduced settling rate. Thus, when pH alone is used to control conditions which facilitate strong interparticle attraction, a high settling behaviour which is not conducive to compact consolidation results. Improved suspension consolidation may be achieved at the iep via anionic polyphosphate addition which leads to attenuation of the strongly attractive van der Waals forces and emergence of "soft" repulsion due to weak inter-particle electro-steric forces. The weak repulsion act to lubricate particles involved in the hydrodynamic interactions which controls the compressibility of the sediment bed, allowing a compact consolidation of solids to be obtained. Alternatively, non-ionic polyacrylamide homo-polymer (Magnafloc 333) was fairly effective in flocculating titanium dioxide suspensions leading to high settling rate and acceptable pulp consolidation at the iep.

Jan 1, 2006

By Takahiko Okura, Chiharu Tokoro, Shunta Shibuya

Copper concentrates bearing arsenic as enargite (Cu3AsS4) or tennantite (Cu12As4S13) have disadvantage on copper smelting environmentally and economically, so those concentrates should be treated decently. In this paper, some experiments of arsenic removal from several kinds of copper concentrates by heat treatment in an inert atmosphere were discussed. In this study, several samples in which arsenic contents varied 0.18 to 8.3 wt % were heated to the temperature range of 400 °C to 700 °C under argon gas flow during 1 hour. The heat residues and volatilized materials (V.M.) were analyzed by XRD, XRF, ICP-AES, XAFS and MLA to analyze residual concentration of arsenic and residual mineral composition. Experimental results showed that arsenic removal from copper concentrates advanced in 2 steps; at the temperature range of 500 ° C to 550 °C and of 550 °C to 650 °C, respectively. MLA analysis showed that a few of arsenic in enargite was removed by 550 °C heating and a majority of it was still combined with copper and sulfur as tennantite. On the other hand, arsenic in tennantite was removed almost completely by 650 °C heating. Furthermore, a particular type of arsenic mineral, such as Cobaltite (CoAsS) still remained after heating at 700 °C.

Jan 1, 2014

By T. D. Traubert, J. T. Dietz, D. Catena

"Canadian process industry experts have often observed the strong trend for U.S. industrial safety and environmental laws to creep across the border. These experts will be interested in new United States (OSHA) regulations (29 CFR 1910.119), and anticipated new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that will require over 28 000 U.S. refineries and chemical plants employing more than three million workers, to begin a comprehensive Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) of these complex plants immediately. Impending EPA regulations are expected to expand these efforts and add process Hazard Frequency and process Hazard Consequence reviews for many additional industrial locations.These regulations were created to reduce catastrophic industrial accidents, and emergency releases of hazardous chemicals which endanger employees, the public, and the environment.Accurate, and field verified Piping and Instrument Diagrams (P&IDs) are essential to permit a meaningful Process Hazard Analysis or emission release to be done. Today accurate P&IDs often do not exist. Many companies that have started to update their old P&IDs have found the process to be far more difficult, time-consuming,and expensive than they ever thought.This paper describes a new technique of computer drawn ""Intelligent"" P&IDs that can make a Process Hazard Analysis less expensive, more accurate, easier to perform, and provides lasting benefits to the plant owner long after the PHA has been completed."

Jan 1, 1993

By 13409, B. Arjang

"Ground stresses are one of the significant factors in the context of rockbursts and underground instability at some hard rock mines in Canada. Overcoring strain relief measurements using triaxial strain cells were performed at several mine sites to provide stress data for stability evaluations and mine design. Pre-mining stress determinations carried out at depths between 60 m to 1890 m resulted in the following average stress gradients:Maximum horizontal stress, s Hmax = 8.18 + 0.0422 MPa/m depthMinimum horizontal stress, s Hmin = 3.64 + 0.0276 MPa/m depthAverage horizontal stress, s Ha = 5.91 + 0.0349 MPa/m depthVertical stress, a; = 0.0266 ± 0.008 MPa/m depthThe maximum and minimum horizontal compressive stresses, with an average ratio of J.75 ± 0.45, prevail in east-west and northerly directions, respectively. Horizontal compressive stresses in excess of vertical overburden load were determined, indicating large variations in ratios to a depth of about 1000 m with decreasing trend toward depth.From present data, a particular regional zoning for the magnitude and direction of horizontal stress fields cannot be outlined.A common feature at mines with near vertical orebodies is that the maximum horizontal stress acts perpendicular to strike while the minimum horizontal stress is aligned on-strike. The vertical stress components approach the gravitational overburden load."

Jan 1, 1991

By Y. Huang

Corrosion of GaAs in aqueous electrolytes is a major limitation in implementing GaAs-based photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion systems, In this work, the corrosion behavior was investigated by electrochemical methods and surface analysis approaches, in both H2SO4 and NH3?H2O solutions, Open-circuit measurements showed that the cleaned GaAs surface was very sensitive to water/air, Impedance measurements for n-GaAs showed that an inductive loop only appeared at a high corrosion rate because a reaction intermediate is the oxidant for a further decomposition step in combination with chemical reaction with water, The results suggest that the same corrosion/decomposition mechanism occurred on n-GaAs in the two solutions, When the surface-hole concentration was low, the hole injection or generation process was the rate-determining step, At large reverse bias on n-GaAs, with high-hole concentration, the corrosion rate was limited by a Faradaic adsorption process, involving an adsorbed intermediate, The different surface compositions after corrosion in the two solutions can be explained by the dissolution of As(0), Further oxidation of As(0) to As(III) in NH3?H2O solution is still slow, as suggested from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis,

Jan 1, 2005

By M. W. Wadsley

"Physical and chemical property models are widely used in process engineering. There exist, in the published literature, completely empirical models of ''thermodynamic properties"", that is, property models that are not consistent with the laws of thermodynamics. There also exist property models that purport to be thermodynamically consistent but are flawed in their implementation. There are also published property models that are consistent with the laws of thermodynamics but that do not reproduce property values with an acceptable accuracy. A practicing engineer might be asked to assess very different property models for which there are a variety of claims. This paper discusses features of thermodynamic and empirical property models that may assist in their practical evaluation and implementation."

Jan 1, 2005

By H. H. Bleakney

THIS paper presents evidence that in 3 1/2% nickel steel, the published temperature for the Ac1 transformation, l,275°F., represents the completion of that transformation, and that its inception occurs approximately 275°F. lower, at about l,000°F. The formation of austenite within this range, especially at the higher temperatures, and its subsequent decomposition to martensite, results in considerable impairment of the properties of the steel. That the solid solution found to occur below l,275°F. is austenite has been questioned, but the evidence herewith presented, while not decisive, appears to be reasonably convincing. INTRODUCTION The February, 1939, issue of Metals Technology contains a very interesting paper by I. N. Zavarine, Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In that paper, Professor Zavarine presented photomicrographs illustrative of the microstructures produced by heating nickel steels to a temperature slightly below the carbon change point, and holding them at that temperature for various lengths of time. His illustrations show that the structures found after such treatment do not consist merely of ferrite and carbides, but are characterized by the presence of a third phase, which he describes as a' 'sub-critical solid solution'. The occurrence of this third phase in increasing amounts is accompanied by an increase in strength and a loss of ductility and impairment of elastic ratio of the steel. Some years ago, one of the authors encountered the above-mentioned phenomenon in treating large forgings of 3.5% nickel steel. After normalizing and then drawing at l,250°F., very poor mechanical properties were obtained. Investigation of the steel disclosed no inferiority in quality. Eventually, after considerable waste of time and money, a draw temperature of l,150°F. was tried. This treatment resulted in a very great increase in elastic ratio, over 5 per cent increase in percentage elongation, and proportionate improvement in reduction of area.

Jan 1, 1941

By T. A. Lazier, C. S. Longley

"Paymaster Consolidated Mines, Limited, owns several groups of claims in various parts of the Porcupine district. The area in which mining has been carried on includes parts of lots 5, 6, and 7, con. 1, Tisdale township, and twelve adjoining claims in Deloro township to the south. Highway No. 67A between South Porcupine and Timmins crosses the property.The discovery of the Dome mine in 1909 caused a rush of prospectors to the district and in a few weeks practically all territory adjacent to the Dome was staked. At that time work was started on the West Dome, West Dome Lake, Apex, and Standard properties. These were consolidated in 1930 to form the present Company. Gold was produced from the West Dome Lake from 1915 to 1930, and from the Standard-Paymaster from 1922 to 1928. The total production of the previous and present companies from 1915 to November 30, 1946, has been 487,170 oz. gold and 149,342 oz. silver from 2,337,554 tons of ore."

Jan 1, 1954

By Navid Bahrani

The grain-based model (GBM) has resolved the difficulty of matching both the directtension (sc) and unconfined-compressive (st strengths of typical brittle rock by providing a synthetic material that mimics deformable, breakable polygonal grains cemented along their adjoining sides with deformable, breakable interfaces modeled as smooth-joint contacts. In this paper, a GBM utilizing a parallel-bonded base material is calibrated to match both st and sc of Lac du Bonnet granite and then used to simulate a Brazilian test. The Brazilian strength (sB) is slightly overestimated and the failure mode includes ductile post-peak response that is not representative of what occurs in laboratory Brazilian tests. By reducing the grain tensile strength, grain failure occurs during the Brazilian test and a more realistic failure mode that includes brittle post-peak response is obtained. However, the unconfinedcompressive strength of the modified material is too low. Sensitivity analysis on the grain and grainboundary strength properties demonstrates that the grain tensile strength controls the sB/sc ratio. Because the grain strength is controlled by the parallel-bond properties and the lowest achievable st/sc ratio in a parallel-bonded material is ~0.25, it is concluded thatsc, st and sB for a typical brittle rock cannot be matched with a GBM that utilizes a parallel-bonded base material.

Jun 1, 2012

By John F. Gartner

"Traditionally, the geologists of Canada have been occupied with the tasks of finding new mineral bodies, locating gas and oil fields or hunting for economic deposits of industrial minerals. A very minor percentage of graduate geologists have applied their skills to solution of the ""urban blight"" or employing their understanding of ""Nature"" for the optimum use of land by mankind. However, things are changing quickly. The role of the geologist in the planning process is being established. It is an exciting time! Geologists are now being consulted on a wide range of urban planning problems. These vary, tor example, from assessment of the geological environment for the new communities of Erin Mills and Meadowvale, which will have total populations in excess of 100,000 people (truly a satellite city), to a complete geological/ geohydrological assessment of the new sanitary landfill for the city of Guelph.Use of geologic techniques and methods for urban studies must be enhanced with certain skills not taught, in the past, to the geologist. These include airphoto interpretation, soil mechanics, geohydrology, municipal engineering and highway engineering to mention a few. The geologist has the unique training to assess the natural environment and to discover, warn and explain the implications of man's attempt to command his environment."

Jan 1, 1972

By K. Sawamukai, S. Ogasawara, D. Umenai, T. Tsuruta

"Removal of cobalt, strontium or cesium ion from the aqueous solution containing each metal ion only using microorganism was examined. Arthrobacter nicotianae which had a high ability to remove cationic metal ion was used for the removal of each metal. The removal of cobalt, strontium or cesium using A. nicotianae cells was affected by the solution pH, concentration of metal ion, and cell amount. The effects of above mentioned factors on the removal of each metal and time course of strontium from the solution containing each metal only using A. nicotianae cells were reported in this paper. INTRODUCTIONRadioactive elements, such as cesium, iodine, strontium, plutonium, barium, cobalt, lanthanum, yttrium, and tellurium, were detected around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was damaged by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami followed.The removal of radioactive elements from contaminated sources is a worthwhile subject to investigatein terms of environmental control. Research efforts have been especially concentrated on studying microorganisms that remove uranium including bacteria (Andres et al, 1993, Hu et al, 1996, Marques et al, 1991, Strandberg et al, 1981), actinomycetes (Byerley et al, 1987, Friiss and Myers-Keith, 1986, Golab et al, 1991), fungi (Byerley et al, 1987, Galun et al, 1983a, Galun et al, 1983b,Tsezos and Volesky, 1981, White and Gadds, 1990) and yeasts (Strandberg et al, 1981, Schmate II et al, 1978).We have investigated removal and recovery of uranium from aqueous systems using microorganisms isolated from uranium mines. We identified some strains of bacteria with extremely high uranium removing abilities (Sakaguchi et al, 1996), and thus, the microbial biomass may be considered as an adsorbing agent for the removal and recovery of uranium and heavy metals present in aqueous systems around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.In the present study, we screened various species and strains of bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and yeasts for their ability to adsorb uranium (Tsuruta, 2002). Basic features affecting uranium adsorption?co-existing cations and anions, cell amounts, pH, and the adsorption time course?by Arthrobacter nicotianae cells, which adsorbed the largest amount of uranium, were also investigated. In addition, we examined the removal of an other actinoid element, thorium ion, which may be present with uranium in refining effluents.In this paper, the removal of cobalt, strontium, or cesium from the solution containing each metal ion using A. nicotianae cells is discussed."

Jan 1, 2012