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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 L. C. Stevens

The particular purpose of this paper is to direct attention to the development of underground conveying as applied to methods of working coal in the mines of Alberta. Historical A retrospective view of coal mining discloses a continuous effort, on the part of those interested, to substitute mechanical contrivances for hand labour. A patent for a coal-cutting machine was granted to Michael Menzies in 1761, at which time much of the transportation of coal underground was accomplished by means of sledges. Early forms of cutting machines attempted to duplicate the action of a miner's pick, and one hundred years lacer than Menzies? patent we still find this class of machine, driven by water power or compressed air, in use to a limited extent. A coal-cutter using the principle of a circular saw and worked by hand was exhibited in London in 1851, and from these crude beginnings the machines of today have been evolved. Transportation of coal underground has similarly been subject to considerable improvement. The above mentioned Michael Menzies took out a patent in 1750 covering the use of a self-acting incline plane, which is probably the earliest record of any system devised to lighten the load of the crammer or car-pusher of those days. In the year 1868 the Gillot & Copley machine was patented, this being a compressed-air-driven disc coal-cutter which proved highly successful. The chain cutters were a natural development from this type, and for a number of reasons they have been even more successful in the majority of cases.

Jan 1, 1930

By Paul Ransom

Sullivan Production and Present Value ? Mined 150 million tonnes ? 6.0% Pb, 5.5% Zn, 2 opt Ag, + Sn, Cd, In ? May 2006 Value + US$43 Billion ? 50% of metal from first 37% (55MT) of tons ? True original size ~ 110-120 Mt @ 17%Pb+Zn ? 30MT unconsolidated fill + HW cave

May 1, 2006

By M. Laframboise, M. Buarzaiga

High-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of nickel laterites has received considerable attention in recent years. High paymetals extraction, good selectivity, and advances in pressure hydrometallurgical technology are some of the reasons for this interest. Falconbridge Limited (Sudbury. Ontario) investigated the HPAL process using both fresh water and seawater for ore processing. The use of seawater resulted in a chloride concentration of 7.8 g/L in the autoclave feed. A test program was developed to study the effect of process water and leach temperature on the leaching behaviour of different ore compositions from the Koniambo deposit in New Caledonia. The work showed that salinity has a major effect on autoclave chemistry. This paper explores the results.

Jan 1, 2004

By Christopher Andreae

"Years before the present iron and steel works were established at Sydney, several thriving although short-lived iron work s operated in Nova Scotia. These furnaces reflected the general nineteenth-century North American experience with iron work s. At the beginning of the century, small furnaces struggled to supply local needs. Charcoal was the principle fuel and water powered most furnace equipment. By the end of the century, a few huge primary iron and steel work s dominated production for Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.Two sites achieved prominence in the nineteenth-century Nova Scotia iron industry: Londonderry and Ferrona. Londonderry, the larger and longer-lasting of the two sites, is today a small village on the south flank of the Cobequid Mountains, about 30 km west of Truro. Prior to the establishment of an iron works in 1849, no community existed. At the peak of operation in the 1880s, however, over 2,600 people were located there. The second site, Ferrona, today is a mere crossroads on the map, about 10 km south of New Glasgow. Following the construction of a blast furnace there in 1892, a small village grew up around the furnace, but once the furnace was blown out in 1904, the population gradually drifted away.Early HistoryThe history of Nova Scotia's iron industry began in 1604 when Samuel Champlain became the first European to identify iron ore in the future province. Despite this early acknowledgment, iron was not smelted commercially in Nova Scotia for another two hundred years. Although primitive smelters of the period produced more iron than could be used locally, early settlers depended on imports of iron from Britain and the United States."

Jan 1, 1983

By Dennis Hoffmann

"Abstract - Banded iron formation rocks associated with massive sulfide lenses in the Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Cu-Ag deposit in the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, South Africa , were investigated with respect to the geochemistry of manganiferous silicate-rich bands. Two common varieties of these are: amphibole- and garnet-rich iron formation bands. The results reveal that the former are enriched in Fe, Mg, Cu, Co and S. The garnet-rich bands are enriched in Mn, Ca, P, Pb and Ba with significant detrital contamination of Ti, Al, Zr, Cr, Y, V, Ni and Nd.The silicate-rich bands have compositions, in terms of, Si/Al, Si/Fe, Fe/Mn, La/Ce and Co/Zn, comparable to submarine chemical sediments which precipitated from hydrothermal fluids. The garnet­ and amphibole-rich bands are interpreted as ""evolved"" and ""immature"" hydrothermal sediments, respectively. The latter resulted from rapid precipitation after exhalation, whereas the former had a longer residence within sea water. The silicate-rich bands both exhibit increasing Mn/(Mn+ Fe) fractions, which are consistent with a variation expected from proximal to distal depositional settings. The prevalence of garnet-rich bands over amphibole-rich bands is interpreted as the result of injection of hydrothermal fluids from a single vent situated along the northwest margin of the Broken Hill deposit."

Jan 1, 1994

By Edward Sampson

Bases of National Power At a time when the economy of the world is in a particularly troubled state it is appropriate to examine some problems of the distribution of natural resources. I should like particularly to call attention to the remarkable increasing demand for natural resources, to give an analysis of the demand for certain mineral resources, and to direct attention to some problems in satisfying this demand. All industrial power is based on natural resources and the most basic of these are soils, energy resources, and mineral resources. There is a strong interrelation of these resources, more than is obvious, and I shall take up certain aspects from the point of view of a geologist. Few nations are well endowed with all three of the kinds of natural resources I have mentioned and much has been done by some small countries whose peoples are industrious and enterprising and where conditions for free world trade have been favourable. However, major industrial power is dependent on a substantial endowment of all three classes.

Jan 1, 1949

By Güney

"An investigation carried out to determine the tendency of coals to heat spontaneously in terms of time-temperature curves coupled with the resulting oxidation products in an adiabatically controlled laboratory setup is described. Tests were made at differing moisture conditions, including oxidation and also oxidation with either adsorption or desorption of water vapour on coal.From the experimental evidence, there is reason to believe that the oxidation of coal, although an important factor, is not the predominant one in the development of spontaneous heating. In addition to the temperature increase in coal and the gaseous products evolved due to auto-oxidation, the process is accelerated by adsorption and retarded by desorption of water vapour on coal."

Jan 1, 1971

"The Code was developed in 2004 through the Collaboration Agreement between Institution of Mining Engineers of Chile (IIMCh) and the Ministry of Mining (Chile) in Dec 2002. It is an amalgamation of current practices with respect to standards and procedures for exploration prospects, mineral resources, and reserves for the purpose of public reporting. Certification is required to prepare and issue information on mineral assets according to the guidelines that regulate the technical, economic, and environmental aspects that satisfy the conditions set by the Chilean capital and financial markets.The Mineral Resources Committee of the Instititution of Mining Engineers of Chile (IIMCh) is pleased to introduce theCode for the Certification of Exploration Prospects, Mineral Resources and Reserves which is the result of a Collaboration Agreement between the IIMCh and the Ministry of Mining established in December, 2002.This code synthetizes the present practice of the mining industry in regard to standards and procedures applied to exploration prospects, mineral resources, and reserves with the purpose of reporting publicly on financial instruments based on these mine assets in the capital markets. These standards follow general criteria already adopted and applied by capital markets in those countries characterized by a very dynamic and well developed mining sector such as Australia, Canada, Southafrica, United Kingdom, and others. The work done by the Mineral Resources Committee of the IIMCh has had the recognition of the Combined Reserves International Reporting Standards Committee (CRIRSCO) that leads the establishement of an international code in these matters. CRIRISCO is an entity formed by representatives of the countries previously mentioned, a representative of the Society of Mining Engineers of the UStates and a representative of the IIMCh. The Institution thanks the Ministry of Mining, the representatives of these Ministry in the Mineral Resources Committee, and specially the Minister of Mining, Sr. Alfonso Dulanto Rencoret due to the genuine support given to the IIMCh in the preparation of this Code.The Institution also thanks the Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros (SVS) because of the help given continuously to the Committee as well as by the interchange of opinions and suggestions received during the preparation of this document."

Jan 1, 2003

"Many advances in glass technology and processing are being made and the possibilities for glass as a material in the future appear unlimited. Float glass, glass-ceramics, high-strength sheet and container glass, glass-reinforced plastics, glass for electronic equipment, aerospace glass, glass fibres, glass vehicles, glasses with selective-reflective coatings and glare-reducing glasses, to name a few, provide areas of significance at present and for the future. There appear to be great opportunities, in certain localities of Canada, to develop new sources of raw materials for an expanding Canadian glass industry.New developments in the structural clay products industry have centered around facing brick as a structural load-bearing material, prefabricated brick panels, large-sized units, isostatic pressing of sewer pipe and auto-matic settmg of brick. Fast-firing techniques, using prefired or calcined raw materials, and the development of high-strength products will result in the use of a wider range of raw materials in the whiteware and structural clay products industries.Porcelain enamel, a material used for many years in domestic appliances and for sanitary ware, now is used extensively in architecture, agriculture, water tanks, highway signs and reflectors, and in products where resistance to corrosion-plus-temperature is important. Exotic composites of ceramics and metals, and specialized ceramic coatings applied on metals by various techniques such as flame spray, plasma jet, or vapour and chemical deposition have proved useful in materials for aircraft power plants, rockets, missiles and nuclear applications."

Jan 1, 1967

By E. E. Cudby

"FOLLOWING the Leduc discovery •by Imperial Oil in 1947, The California Standard Company began to acquire land in the area immediately west of Edmonton and in line with the Leduc reef trend (Figure 1).The California Standard Winter-burn Province No. 1 in Lsd. 10, Section 4, Township 53, Range 25, West 4th, which was spudded, on the basis of a seismic anomaly, in December, 1949, failed to find reef. This well was located on the eastern .edge of a large land block which California Standard and Imperial Oil had pooled as a joint venture, with California Standard a:s the operator (Figure 2).The culmination •of an extensive exploration and land aquisition programme was the drilling of the California Standard-Acheson Province No. 1 well .in Lsd. 13, Section 2, Township 53, Range 26, West 4th. On August 24th, 1950, a drill stem test was run in the D-3 zone which had been encountered at 4,969 feet, and a flow rate of 702 barrels per day •of 36° gravity oil was obtained. Just previously, Imperial Oil had completed a similar programme in the Stony Plain Reserve with the swabbing-in of Imperial Stony Plain No. 1. These two discoveries set off a drilling programme to determine the extent and value of the oil accumulation.Subsequent drilling of wells some successful .and others not by several other companies as well as California Standard bias, .to date, still left much to be determined as to the approximate delineation of the productive limits of the Ache-son-Stony Plain area. However, to August 31st, 1951, there were twenty-one D-3 producers north of the reserve and three in the Stony Plain Reserve."

Jan 1, 1952

By F. Qi, T. Frišcic, C. Mottillo

"One of the principal goals of modern industry is to minimize the environmental impact and increase the materials- and energy-efficiency of transforming raw materials into valuable products. This paper will highlight our latest laboratory-scale research in low-energy, low-solvent reactivity of metal oxides and their conversion into popular metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (e.g. Basolite® Z1200 component ZIF-8), and metallodrugs (e.g. bismuth subsalicylate, active component of Pepto-Bismol®). Mechanochemical ion- and liquid-assisted grinding (ILAG) and ""accelerated aging"" techniques will be presented, along with novel low-energy and solvent-free approaches, inspired by geological weathering processes, for converting metal oxides into metal-organic materials. INTRODUCTIONThe development of environmentally-friendly processes, which would in the same time be more materials- and energy-efficient than the existing ones, is one of the central concerns of modern chemical research. In that sense, the focus of the chemist has been mainly on the preparation of carbon-based organic molecules and adaptation of traditional organic synthesis to the recently delineated ideals of Green Chemistry. However, there is a growing realization within the chemistry community that significant energy, materials, and ecology-related benefits can be achieved and, indeed, targeted in the transformations of materials that are typically associated with inorganic chemistry and minerals processing. The principal aim of this highlight contribution is to illustrate how, through the use of approaches associated with solventfree chemistry and mechanochemistry (James et al., 2012), one can develop a clean and efficient system of chemical and materials transformations involving oxide precursors that normally belong to the realm of inorganic chemistry and mineral processing. In particular, this contribution will provide an overview of the recently developed mechanochemical and solvent-free reactivity of metal oxides towards small organic molecules. These mechanochemical reactions, including the methods of liquid-assisted grinding (LAG, Frišcic & Jones, 2009) and ion- and liquid-assisted grinding (ILAG, Frišcic, 2010), have so far provided a radically different means to construct advanced metal-organic materials (e.g. porous metal-organic frameworks, [MOFs] or metallodrugs) by rehabilitating metal oxides as precursors, eliminating the use of bulk organic solvents, and avoiding the use of high temperatures."

Jan 1, 2012

By N. Ogbonna, D. G. Dixon

Although heap bioleaching has been recognized as an economic alternative for treating low grade mineral ores, the underlying physical, chemical and biological processes involved are complex. A detailed investigation into the dynamics of heap bioleaching processes has provided much insight into the underlying complexities, and has led to the development of a sophisticated modelling tool - HeapSim. This tool can be of great help in the design and operation of heap bioleaching processes. In this paper, the mathematical model implemented in HeapSim is examined. The model takes into account mineral kinetics, particle level effects, bacterial growth, oxidation and adsorption, gas absorption, pore diffusion, bulk advection, gas balance and heat conservation. Three case studies where the model has been applied are briefly discussed. Computational Analysis in Hydrometallurgy 35th Annual Hydrometallurgy Meeting held in conjunction with the 44th Annual Conference of Metallurgists of CIM Calgary, Alberta, Canada Edited by

Jan 1, 2005

By S. C. Tadolini, J. M. Goris, J. L. Gallagher

Cable supports offer several advantages over traditional secondary support methods by enhancing stress redistribution to pillars and gob areas, minimizing or eliminating timbers and cribs that reduce ventilation, eradicating material-handling injuries related to placement of crib supports, and providing a cost-effective alternative to secondary support. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), researching alternatives to traditional roof support methods, designed and installed high-strength cable supports to improve the stability of longwall gate road entries in a western U.S. coal mine. With the cooperation of industry, methods were developed to install and evaluate cable supports in a tailgate area using traditional resin cartridges. The cable-bolted areas successfully maintained roof support throughout the developed entries. Cable supports have replaced wood cribbing as secondary support in the bleeder entry system and have minimized or eliminated the use of cribbing in the longwall tailgate entries. This paper describes the theory, application, and advantages of cable supports and presents some mine measurements made to assess the cable performance during the retreat process of longwall mining.

Jan 1, 1999

By lchimura. R. .

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and Centro de Investigation Minera y Metalurgica (CIMM) commenced a five year project from 2001 to modify the treatment of the furnace dust from Teniente converter containing harmful elements like arsenic and lead. The project was supported by Japanese and Chilean governments, and a demonstration plant was installed and operated at Las Ventanas Smelter and Refinery (Division Ventanas CODELCO). The basic and detailed engineering was made by Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd (MMS) based on the joint study among JOGMEC, CIMM and Division Ventanas CODELCO. Arsenic in flue dust is lixiviated by sulfuric acid and fixed as crystalline ferric arsenate, where leachability of arsenic will be lower enough than the regulation, 5mg/I by TCLP (Toxicity Charactaristic Leaching Procedure) of USEPA. On the other hand, the recovered copper from the dust will be fed to the copper production process at Las Ventanas Smelter and Refinery, while zinc will be recovered as the exportable product. As introducing the crystallization and growing stage, the stable crystalline ferric arsenate formation can be achieved under the normal pressure.

Jan 1, 2007

By I. Westermann, K. Marthinsen, M. S. Remøe

"Al-Mg-Si alloys often add small additions of e.g. Mn or Cr, to form dispersoids, which may act as nucleation sites for Mg2Si particles after homogenization. The purpose is to ensure a high density of uniformly distributed small ?’-particles, which can be dissolved during further processing prior to the final age hardening step. However, their density and spatial distribution are critically dependent on the homogenization procedure. It is therefore important to have a robust and reliable method for assessing their spatial distribution. In the present work an existing methodology for assessing spatial uniformity, the Global Shannon Entropy (GSE), has been implemented and evaluated for different dispersoid structures characterized by scanning electron microscopy. This metric is highly dependent on the parameters used, but by careful selection of adequate parameters, it can be effective in detecting non-uniformity. An important weakness with the GSE was identified, and a modification to improve on the ability to differentiate degrees of non-uniformity is suggested. To evaluate the proposed methodology, the effect of heating rate on dispersoid precipitation behaviour during homogenisation of four Al-Mg-Si alloys with different Mn/Cr-content has been investigated. The metric with the new term has demonstrated promising results, and improved the ability to differentiate degrees of spatial uniformity.INTRODUCTION Al-Mg-Si series alloys are the most common aluminium extrusion alloys and are attractive for applications in a range of sectors (e.g. construction, automotive and recently also in consumer electronics), due to their generally good combination of strength, ductility and corrosion resistance. However, their extrudability and end properties depend critically on the alloy chemistry as well as prior processing conditions. Coarse ß-AlFeSi or Mg2Si-particles typically have a detrimental effect on extrudability, while small dispersoid particles may affect recrystallization, grain growth and precipitation of Mg and Si. The strengthening potential in the final age hardening step depends strongly on the amount of Mg and Si in solid solution after extrusion. The manner in which these particles are spatially distributed will decide whether the final product will exhibit uniform properties, and the number density and sizes will determine the extent of the effect. As such, these are important characteristics."

Jan 1, 2018

By D. W. Davis, P. Landais, L. J. Robb

Abstract -Nodules of carbonaceous matter have been observed in several Archaean peraluminous granites adjoining the gold- and uranium-bearing Witwatersrand Basin. These nodules, which resemble solid bitumen, usually replace uraninite or uranothorite and are paragenetically late. They show many similarities to kerogen seams and nodules associated with the conglomerate horizons in the Witwatersrand Basin, including composition, maturation, intimate association with uraninite, and a late paragenesis. U-Pb isotope ratios for granite-hosted and Witwatersrand kerogens define a single, albeit somewhat diffuse, Pb-loss discordia suggesting an upper intercept age of circa 2300 Ma. Carbon isotope analysis indicates lighter ?13C values for the granite-hosted nodules than for the sediment-hosted kerogen seams. Raman spectroscopy indicates that granite-hosted kerogen is more highly ordered than Witwatersrand seam kerogen. A model is presented which links the granitoid­ and sediment-hosted organic matter to an event of oil generation in the Witwatersrand Basin circa 2300 Ma ago. Light hydrocarbons migrated through the sediments and into underlying/adjacent granitic rocks, undergoing polymerization and accumulation in response to radiation accompanying the presence of high-uranium phases.

Jan 1, 1994

By Anita Marks

In 2007 Copper Mountain Mining determined that there were sufficient resources to consider reopening the Similco Mine near Princeton, BC. The mill facility that had been built by Newmont Mining in 1972 was closed in 1996 and all of the process equipment removed. The mill had been built on the west side of the Similkameen River to facilitate mining of the Ingerbelle Deposit. In 1980 construction was completed on a primary crusher and cable belt to deliver ore across the Similkameen River from the Copper Mountain deposit to the Ingerbelle mill. With the decision to restart mining of the Copper Mountain deposit, the decision was made to design and build a 35,000 tpd grinding and flotation mill near the mining operations. This paper discusses the application of historical operating data for the selection of the mills for the new grinding circuit and provides an overview of the grinding circuit design.

Jan 1, 2012

By Robert Macdonald, William Coombe, John F. Lewry

Gold occurrences have been known in the La Ronge Domain for many year . Mineable reserves have more recently been outlined and there is every prospect of a major gold camp being established in the domain within this decade. The La Ronge Domain lies in the Lower Proterozoic 'Trans-Hudson Orogen' and is part of a collage of Early Proterozoic crust comprising volcanoplutonic arcs, batholiths, associated volcaniclastics and volcanogenic sediments lying between the Superior Craton to the outheast and the reworked Archean basement/Aphebian cover terrain to the northwest. The domain has several lithostructural subdivisions, the most important of whjch , from a gold exploration point of view, is the Central Metavolcanic Belt. This belt is composed dominantly of a range of metavolcanic rocks and gabbroic to granitic intrusives, which geochemically resemble younger subduction-generated 'primitive' arcs developed on oceanic crust. U-Pb zircon geochronology indicates that the arc volcarusm and pre- to late-kjnematic plutonism occurred about 1890 Ma to 1850 Ma ago. The belt has an attained grade of upper greenschist to amphibolite facies and is relatively undeformed , though high strain zones occur locally. Most gold occurrences in the La Ronge Domain have been found in the Star-Waddy Lakes area of the Central Metavolcanic Belt, and in the Sulprude-MacKay Lakes area to the south which is interpreted as a tectonically dismembered part of the main belt. Both tratiformand vein-type gold occurrences are present in the domain; vein-type predominate and form nearly 90 per cent of the occurrences. The stratiform-type occurrences show a regional lithological a sociation with iron-rich sediments within proximal felsic volcanjc sequences. Some vein-type occurrences appear related to brittle fracturing associated with intrusive emplacement (the magmatic-hydrothermal "syn:' and "subvolcanic" veins) and faulting. However, most of the vein-type occurrences exhibit a spatial association with regionalscale ductile shear and other high strain zones, and were probably formed by metamorphichydrothermal processes.

Jan 1, 1986

By K. B. Chaudhurl

The thermodynamics of the reactions taking place are examined with the aid of equilibrium diagrams for the Pb-O-S system. Based on investigations of chemical, mineralogical and differential-thermo analyses of intermediate products of different desulphuration degrees, an attempt is made to explain the mechanisms of the reactions in the smelting shaft of the KIVCET furnace. The differences between this and other direct lead smelting processes are demonstrated by these thermodynamic and kinetic considerations. Proceeding from these results, the practicability of direct lead smelting processes is discussed with reference to the composition of the primary feed materials to be processed. This comparison also considers the behaviour of minor metals, the products obtained and their characteristics in respect to further treatment. For assessing the operating costs, the over-all energy consumption is considered taking into account various price relations between electric energy and fuels/reductants. Based on the peculiarities of the various processes, an attempt is made to compare the necessary means of meeting the pollution control requirements. The paper concludes with reference to the criteria and problems involved in comparable evaluations.

Jan 1, 1978