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By Réjean Lévesque

SIDBEC-NORMINES a été incorporée en 1976. Depuis la fin de 1977, ses activités comprennent outre la concentration au lac Jeannine, près de Gagnon, du minerai de fer extrait du gisement du lac Fire, I'exploitation d'un atelier d 'enrichissement secondaire et une usine de bouletage à Port Cartier. L 'objectif principal de SIDBEC-NORMINES est de produire six millions de tonnes de boulettes d'oxyde de fer par année, dont trois millions auront une faible teneur en silice afin de répondre aux exigences de la réduction directe. Les installations de SIDBEC-NORMINES sont adjacentes aux installations portuaires de la Compagnie Minière Québec Cartier, à l'est de la ville de Port-Cartier. L 'ensemble est conçu pour produire les deux types de boulettes avec deux circuits d'agglomération installes en parallèle. La production de concentré enrichi (68% Fe et plus) est obtenue dans une usine d'enrichissement utilisant le precédé de séparation magnétique hum ide ahaute intensite (separateurs Jones). À l'usine de bouletage proprement dite, on effectue Ie broyage du concentré et sa mise en boulettes sur disques; l'in duration des deux types de boulettes est obtenue sur deux chaînes d'agglomération Dravo dont chacune a une capacité annuelle nominale de trois millions de tonnes.

Jan 1, 1979

By Anil K. Beersing

Effective drainage systems are required for reclamation of mine-disturbed areas to control surface water runoff and avoid excessive erosion. For the conventional structural design approach, armouring material necessary to satisfy the design criteria should not move during the design flood event since displacement would uncover the erodible underlying materials. This paper discusses an alternative geomorphic approach for designing drainage channels and watershed landscape. The approach is based on quantitative studies of geomorphic processes operating in a watershed. A design based on the geomorphic approach replicates the configuration, channel regime, sediment volume and hydrology of natural and mature drainage systems. Movement of some armouring material is acceptable in such an approach because the channels are allowed to mature by natural degradation and aggradation, with erosion rates comparable to the natural environment. The key advantages of a geomorphic approach over a purely structural approach include reduced sizes of armouring material, geomorphologically sustainable landscapes, ?walk-away? or maintenance-free design and reduced liability in the future. The geomorphic approach is illustrated using the example of a coal mining operation in northwest U.S.A. The paper discusses field data collection, design criteria, typical design details, and construction methods.

Apr 1, 2005

By R. Patrick

As a unique South African organisation, CSIR: Division of Mining Technology (Miningtek) strives to support the mining industry by improving health, safety and productivity through developing, adapting and transferring technology. Considerable effort is currently directed towards the development of potential non-explosive mining methods with the potential to allow continuous mining in narrow reef conditions. Besides improving productivity, continuous mining results in concentrated mining which has a significant impact on reducing infrastructural costs. Impact Ripping and Water Pulse Rock Breaking have been tried on gold mines, whereas Activation, Mini-Disc? cutting and the Plasma Holemaker are currently being tested on platinum mines. The organisation?s many years of experience in novel rockbreaking, together with its world-wide collaborator network, has placed it in a unique position to assist the mining industry and manufacturers in developing and/or adapting existing technologies for application underground. Currently a range of technologies are being investigated, which have reached different stages of maturity. The main technologies under investigation are; - Impact ripper system - Water pulse rock breaking - Activated undercutting rollers - Mini disc cutters - Electric rock breaking

Oct 1, 2001

By Benjamin A. Allou

La seule production de columbo-tantalite réalisée en Côte d?Ivoire est effectuée dans les éluvions et alluvions du gisement d?Issia, localisé au Centre- Ouest de la Côte d?Ivoire. Même si un lien direct avec les roches granitiques est suspecté, aucune attention particulière n?a été accordée à l?étude de la minéralisation primaire en relation avec l?évolution des granites et des pegmatites associées. Ces granites, qui sont en intrusion dans les roches sédimentaires du Protérozoïque inférieur, comprennent : le granite orienté à deux micas (Lobo), le granite orienté à muscovite dominante (Bitapia) et le granite porphyroïde non orienté à muscovite dominante (Issia). Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que les pegmatites à Nb-Ta-Be-Li sont liées au granite de type Issia. Les observations de terrain et les analyses sur roche totale des granites montrent que: (1) les trois principaux granites de la région sont de type- S et peralumineux dans leur composition, (2) ils ont été formés pendant la période tardi- à post-Éburnéenne, (3) le granite d?Issia fut le dernier à se mettre en place. Les pegmatites liées au granite d?Issia ont été classées en quatre types : Apegmatites stériles; B- pegmatites à Be; C- pegmatites zonées à Nb-Ta-Be; et Dpegmatites zonées à Be-Nb-Ta-Li. Les pegmatites zonées comprennent les zones suivantes: I- zone à aplite; II- zone graphique; III- zone à albite, microcline, béryl et columbo-tantalite; IV - zone à microcline massive; V- zone à quartz. Ces pegmatites présentent une zone d?altération métasomatique externe. La minéralisation de Ta, Nb et Be est liées à la zone III des pegmatites de types C et D, et celle de Li est associée aux greisens qui peuvent être observés n?importe où dans les pegmatites de type D. Les données de terrain et de laboratoire indiquent que le granite d?Issia est la roche parentale des pegmatites à éléments rares de la région. Les pegmatites minéralisées sont distribuées seulement autour du granite d?Issia et les patrons des terres rares des granites et ceux des pegmatites à éléments rares sont très similaires. Les analyses de la composition totale montrent un lien génétique entre le granite d?Issia et les pegmatites à éléments rares. Il est suggéré que les pegmatites ont été formées durant le transport et la cristallisation fractionnée du magma.

May 1, 2003

By M. A. T. Cocquerel, M. G. Burcher, J. G. Eacott

"This paper is based on work carried out to examine the feasibility of increasing the smelting rate of two oil-fired calcine-charged reverberatory furnaces . Various constraints prevented physical enlargement of the furnaces and so allention turned to the use of preheated combustion air or oxygen enrichment to bring about the required increase in production. As a basis for further calculation, a furnace heat balance is determined using the smelting metallurgy and combustion data for the current operation. Various other operational data are tabulated and compared with similar data from other operating copper smelters.New heat balances are derived for various levels of combustion air preheat at the current smelting rate, and the effects of air preheat on oil consumption, combustion air and waste gas volumes are tabulated. These data are used to demonstrate the level of increased throughput which would be obtained before constraints in existing gas handling equipment are encountered.A similar exercise for oxygen enrichment is set out, with oil consumption, combustion air and waste gas volumes at various enrichment levels tabulated for the current smelting rate. These data are in turn used to demon strate the smelting rate which would be achieved at a practical level of enrichment before waste heat boiler and gas handling constraints are encountered.The energy implications for both cases are summarized."

Jan 1, 1980

By André Desbiens, Jocelyn Bouchard, René del Villar

"The metallurgical performance of the column flotation process is determined by the concentrate grade and recovery. Although the former can be continuously measured using an on-stream analyzer, the latter must be estimated by a material balance calculation based on seldom verified steady-state assumptions. Consequently, the automatic control and optimization of flotation columns should be performed using secondary variables having a strong influence on the metallurgical performance, such as froth depth, gas hold-up or bubble surface area flux and bias. The aim of this paper is to present a model-based automatic control strategy using froth depth and bias measurements obtained from virtual sensors developed at Laval University. Preliminary pilot plant results on two-phase (water– air) and three-phase system (water – minerals – air) will be presented and eventual industrial implementation of such a strategy as well as the possibility of achieving effective real-time optimization from bias and froth depth measurements will also be discussed.INTRODUCTIONFlotation columns have been widely studied and used in mineral processing for about twenty years. Although a great deal of work has been accomplished to understand the influence of different variables such as froth depth (H), bubble surface area flux (Sb) and bias (Jb) on the metallurgical performance, the measurement of some of these variables is still difficult to be performed – except at the laboratory level – because in most cases, no commercial device yet exists.As a result of this, it is almost impossible to achieve neither efficient control nor optimization of the process at the industrial level, even in open-loop operation. This paper aims at presenting a simple control strategy of froth depth and bias. Description of the sensors used to achieved measurements, preliminary pilot plant results for froth depth control, eventual industrial applications and possibilities for process optimization are also treated."

Jan 1, 2003

By S. McAlister

"Falcon Concentrators Inc. has developed a high capacity centrifuge for the recovery of fine, free gold as well as other metals and minerals which were previously thought to be unrecoverable by gravity means. Development started in the early 1980's and the first commercial operation was commissioned in 1986. Gold applications include scavenging conventional gravity and cyanidation circuit tailings, cleaning gravity concentrates, cleaning flotation concentrates to melting grade, scavenging flotation tailings, and placer mining. Recent development work by Falcon has expanded the applications scope of the centrifugal concentrator to include many minerals amenable to gravity concentration including iron, tin, industrial minerals, and hazardous wastes. This paper discusses this technology including its history, present applications, and future potential. OVERVIEW OF CENTRIFIJGAL CONCENTRATIONUsing centrifugal force to enhance the separation of materials by differential specific gravity has been researched for over a century. Many attempts have been made to concentrate minerals in high gravity fields. Patents were granted on this subject as early as 1891 (see Figure 1). Patenting activity continued into the 1920's and has been relatively quiet since. It is significant that no centrifugal system of gravity concentration has been broadly accepted by the mineral processing community until recently. Much of the world's reserve of mineral deposits which are amenable to conventional gravity concentration technology (coarse-grained) have been mined and therefore there is an increasing demand for technology which can economically recover the fine-grained gravity recoverable minerals in the remaining deposits. In addition, centrifugal concentration can play an increasing role in solving environmental problems by offering an inexpensive method of concentrating hazardous materials such as uranium, plutonium, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals. The overall cost of disposing of these substances safely can be drastically reduced if they are recovered into a concentrated form prior to disposal."

Jan 1, 1992

By Stuart Elliot

Brownfield project portfolios are notoriously hard to manage. Day to day there is a constant stream of changes and challenges within projects and across the whole program. When the budget year is over, we?re often left wondering: did the facilities get what they really needed? Did we get value for the capital that was spent? Did we get all the project control and process improvement that we paid for? Great work has been done over the years by the Project Management Institute, Construction Industry Institute and Independent Project Analysis to identify what leads to project success, develop project delivery systems and equip project leaders to perform better. But is attention to individual projects all we need when the job is to deliver a portfolio of many projects? Let?s work with an analogy for a moment, and say a project is like a car, and a project manager the driver. Why can?t all the projects in the portfolio get home in time for dinner? The answer, of course, is that the commute home is about traffic, not just about cars. The road, the signals and the actions of other drivers affect us in our individual cars. Optimizing traffic flow is not about managing individual cars, it is about creating the conditions that allow all traffic to move as smoothly as possible. When we?re stuck in traffic, it doesn?t really matter that we are skilled drivers who know our exact location and our engine?s vital signs. Success with a brownfield portfolio requires more than the equivalent of driver training and a good GPS in every vehicle. Managing the annual budget requires more than tight management of each project. This is not a suggestion to abandon project management in the brownfield multi-projects world; the idea is to find and apply the right tools for delivering a portfolio. Remember, we want confidence in 3 areas: 1. that the facility is getting what it really needs, when it needs it 2. that we are getting value for money invested in facility modifications and improvements, and 3. that our controls are adding value by guiding our improvement What are those portfolio tools? The job they have to do is distinct from project-level thinking: ? Create a clear and balanced business pull for project ideas ? Maintain a respectable plan for fiscal, resource and business control ? Organize the work into a steady flow ? Manage the nature and timing of value-driven project substitutions and priority changes ? Focus on overall business value added and best use of resources ? Repurpose the projects organization into being the way the facility gets improved

Nov 1, 2011

By C. Larsen, E. Gratch, B. Flintoff, R. Bradburn

"In 1973 Brenda Mines Limited first investigated the potential use of a process computer to aid in the development of a control system for the concentrator grinding circuit. This initial study and its results are reviewed (1) in a previous paper.Since that time the computer system and its applications have been expanded. After the initial success of grinding circuit control, a second process computer was purchased to function as a back-up device. The two processors are currently operated in a foreground-background mode which allows extensive use of the computing facility for engineering and development work as well as operator training.Because of the relative ease of expansion, the computer has been incorporated into a flotation control system as well as an electrical peak power savings program.It is the purpose of this paper to review the successful application:; of the process computer and to indicate applications which are envisaged for the future."

Jan 1, 1978

By W. Roy Dunbar

"The Porcupine area is in northern Ontario at the intersection of N. Lat. 48° 30' and 81° W. Long. It is 125 miles due north of the Sudbury nickel range. Practically all the mineral production of this area has come from the townships of Tisdale, Deloro, Whitney, and Ogden, in order of importance. The accompanying map of the Porcupine area and its extensions to the east and west (Fig. 4) has been included to show what I consider to be an essential objective of this paper, a perspective for exploration.The discovery of gold ore in the Porcupine area at such an early date resulted from the extension of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario railway and exploratory survey lines north into unexplored territory, for the early history of Porcupine is inextricably tied to the exploration along Niven's survey lines and the extension of the railway north from Cobalt to Nellie Lake. The following are the more significant events leading to the discovery of gold in Porcupine.1896-E. M. Burwash, employed by the Ontario Bureau of Mines, examined the country along Niven's base line and noted quartz veins that carried traces of gold. He was attached to Niven's survey party.1899-The late W. A. Parks reported on the geology of the portage route from Mattagami river to Night Hawk lake, for the Ontario Bureau of Mines. He noted the occurrence of gold in quartz veins and reported “I regard the region south of the trail to Porcupine lake as giving promise to the prospector"". He also was attached to Niven's survey party.1901-Charles Camsell, while prospecting for the Algoma Central railway, did some work on a vein occurrence carrying low gold on ground now known to be part of the Hollinger mine (3).1907- Extension of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario railway to Nellie Lake.1909- Bannerman followed up Indian story about occurrence of coal, and found iron formation. He remained to prospect and found the gold-bearing vein of the Scottish Ontario property."

Jan 1, 1954

By Grant Goddard

Cameco?s ?Double U? Strategy ? Double existing production ? To 40 million lbs U3O8 annually ? By 2018 ? Existing operations ? Saskatchewan ? United States ? Kazakhstan ? Projects under evaluation ? McArthur River expansion ? Kintyre (Australia) ? Inkai Block 3 (Kazakhstan) ? Development properties ? Cigar Lake project Measures of Success ? Safe, healthy and rewarding workplace ? Supportive communities ? Clean environment ? Outstanding financial performance

Nov 1, 2011

By H. F. Letient, D. C. Johnson

At the 25th Annual B.C. Mine Reclamation Symposium in September 2001, Huckleberry Mines Limited received the Jake MacDonald Reclamation Award for its exemplary mine waste management plan, conceived to prevent the onset of acid rock drainage (ARD) and facilitate reclamation of the site. The mine is an excellent example of a total mine waste management plan, with all materials scheduled in detail for the life of the mine. The filling plan for the waste management facility takes into consideration the requirement for permanently flooding the potentially acid-generating rock. From an acid generation point of view, the tailings fall in the zone of potentially acid-generating material. To avoid long-term ARD concerns, it is planned to float pyrite out of the tailings toward the end of the mine life, thereby generating a non-potentially acid-generating tailings stream which will be used to cap the deposited mine waste. The pyrite-rich tailings will be discharged into the deeper portion of the impoundment. On closure, a permanent water cover will be maintained over the mine waste. Only beaches of non-potentially acid-generating tailings will remain exposed. Mining will be phased to also allow one of the pits to provide storage for potentially acid-generating rock and to be flooded at the end of mine life.

Jan 1, 2004

By Oy Leuangthong

The McMurray formation in the Athabasca oil sands deposits of Northern Alberta is part of the world?s second largest proven crude oil reserves. The formation is characterized by stratigraphic layers that correspond to three different depositional environments: Marine, Estuarine and Fluvial facies. Resource estimation for oil sands has traditionally relied on polygonal and inverse distance schemes. These techniques are simple and straightforward in practice, but they do not permit reliable uncertainty assessment. This paper describes the modeling of the McMurray formation using modern geostatistical techniques. Geostatistical modeling should be performed within homogeneous geological facies. The methodology for geostatistical simulation within each of the identified facies involves: (1) assessing the most appropriate stratigraphic transformation for optimisation of the correlation structure, (2) determining representative distributions with declustering and debiasing techniques, (3) modeling spatial continuity of the bitumen grade, fines grade, water saturation and other petrophysical variables, (4) performing estimation and cross validation as checks against simulation results, (5) performing simulation for uncertainty quantification of bitumen and fines grade, and (6) model checking of simulation results against the input data and comparisons against the kriged models. These steps are described in detail. The application of these models for uncertainty quantification in support of resource classification is also discussed.

May 1, 2004

By C. H. Lee, K. Adham, D. Lemieux, J. P. Mai, A. M. S. Hussein, S. Francey

Copper concentrates contain an increasing amount of arsenic, as the older sources of cleaner ores are depleted. At the same time, the market-determined price penalties on arsenic rich concentrates are rising due to limited arsenic treatment capacity at smelters and increasingly stringent environmental emissions limits, necessitating arsenic removal from the copper concentrates. Heating the concentrate to about 700°C can remove significant amounts of arsenic (as elemental and/or sulfide); however, it is important to achieve that removal economically and with due consideration to post-roasting arsenic (toxic waste) treatment. A comparison is made among different roasting options (kilns, multi-hearths and fluid beds) to qualify their potential application to arsenic roasting of copper concentrates. Both direct and indirect methods of heating as well as inert, air and oxygen atmosphere options are considered. Technology comparisons are made with respect to the roaster’s operation, its off-gas treatment and arsenic stabilization. INTRODUCTION In the last twenty years, the arsenic content in globally produced copper concentrates have risen steadily due to the depletion of cleaner ores and the increase in complex concentrate production. Smelter contracts typically limit arsenic to less than 0.5wt%, with a penalty paid per unit of additional arsenic and other contaminants such as antimony. While penalties can vary, they can be on the order of $70/dry metric tonne of concentrate per 1% of arsenic. Strategies used by miners to avoid the price penalties have been to blend clean and complex concentrates, and to remove arsenic from complex concentrates to achieve smelter limits. Arsenic can be removed from copper concentrates by the heat-induced decomposition of the predominant enargite mineral (Cu3AsS4) at ~700°C. Roasting at such elevated temperature is a commercially proven option, but still suffers from process, cost and environmental challenges. After roasting, the released arsenic sulfide fumes can be separated from most of the entrained concentrate dust in cyclones. Then, the As2S3 laden off-gas can be oxidized to generate a still volatile oxide (As2O3), which can be further separated from the residual concentrate dust in a hot electrostatic separator. Next, the off-gas can be cooled with air or water, to either deposit the arsenic oxide in a dry or dissolved state. Dissolved arsenic acid can be oxidized to As(V) and reacted with iron to yield a stabilized ferrihydrite precipitate or scorodite that can be safely disposed. In the case of dry arsenic trioxide, it can be mixed with reactants (e.g. iron) and fluxes before thermal stabilization in a glass matrix, thus eliminating the need for costly oxidation.

Jan 1, 2019

By S. Banisi, J. Marois, A. R. Laplante

"This paper compares the behaviour of gold and ore in the grinding circuit of Hemlo Gold Ltd. Particular attention is given to grinding kinetics, classification behaviour, and liberation. For grinding kinetics, laboratory grinding of gold flakes and silica, 840-1200 um in size (14/20 mesh), was also performed to provide a standard for comparison and to study in a controlled environment the mechanisms of breakage, folding, smearing and impacting.Grinding kinetics were characterized at laboratory scale with breakage and selection functions. The breakage function showed that 75% of gold disappearing from the 840-1200 um class reported to the 600-840 um; this figure is much higher than for silica ( 46%) or most other minerals, and implies that comparatively fewer fine fragments are produced from the breakage of gold flakes, on account of gold's malleability. The selection function of silica was four times that of gold. At plant scale, the ratio of the selection function of ore and gold increased from 6 for at 50-100 um to 20 at 500-1000 um.Observation of original flakes and their fragments with the scanning electron microscope showed that the main mechanism of ""grinding"" from the 840-1200 um to the 600-840 um class was folding rather than actual breakage. This was confirmed by a measure of individual flake weight. The postulated breakage cycle is that relatively globular flakes become increasingly serrated through grinding; they can then regain their original shape through folding and reflattening into cylindrical and spherical shapes, as the majority does; however, some fragments will at this point undergo actual breakage. Photographic evidence is presented to support the proposed mechanisms.Smearing of gold unto silica was observed when silica was ground after a gold, and embedding of silica into gold flakes when gold was ground after a silica. Both mechanisms occur whenever gold and harder minerals are jointly ground, and result in ""unliberation"" of gold. It is postulated that smearing of gold onto other minerals plays an important role in explaining how gravity recovery can increase overall gold metallurgy, especially when used ahead of flotation.Classification of gold in the primary hydrocyclones takes place at a much finer cut-size than ore, 20 vs. 57 um. This and the slower grinding kinetics result in high gold circulating loads in the primary loop, 6700%, and a gold content in the primary cyclone underflow (PCUF) is twenty four times that of the ore. The gold size distribution for primary cyclone overflow is much finer than that of the ore, although they are essentially similar in the PCUF.Liberation, or more accurately ""gravity recoverability"", was assessed with a 7.5 cm (3"") Knelson concentrator. It varied between the thirties for the primary mill discharge and two cyclone overflows, to highs of 89 to 92% for the PCUF and secondary mill discharge, 89 and 92%, respectfully."

Jan 1, 1991

By Heikki Laurila, Sirkka-Liisa Jämsä-Jounela, Jarkko Karesvuori

"Artificial Intelligence includes excellent tools for the control and supervision of industrial processes. Several thousand industrial applications have been reported worldwide. Recently, the designers of the A1 systems have begun to hybridize the intelligent techniques, expert systems, fuzzy logic and neural networks, to enhance the capability of the A1 systems. Expert systems have proved to be ideal candidates especially for the control of mineral processes.As successful case projects, an expert system based on on-line classification of the feed type using neural data analysis is described in this paper. The essential feature of this expert system is the classification of different feed types and their distinct control strategies at the plant. In addition to the classification, the expert system has a database containing information about how to handle the determined feed type. This self-leaming database scans historical process data to suggest the best treatment for the ore type under processing. The system has been tested in the Outokumpu Finnmines Oy, Hitura mine. Other projects have been reported to be in progress.INTRODUCTIONIn the past ten years considerable researches have been done in the application of artificial intelligent methods in process industry. The technologies of fuzzy logic, neural networks and expert systems have received several thousand applications worldwide: monitoring and analysis of process operations, fault diagnosis, supervisory control, feedback control and scheduling and planning of operations. Recently, the designers of these systems have begun to hybridize these intelligent techniques to enhance the current capability of expert system. Complex signal processing, neural networks, fuzzy logic and rule-based systems are also implemented to develop new so-called smart or intelligent sensors, actuators or components. Field buses are playing a more and more important role in automation systems and in imbedded systems. The development of field buses has allowed the distribution of smart components over networks."

Jan 1, 2000

By Ammar Henchiri, Godfrey McDonald

"Breakwater Tunisia S.A.’s Bougrine mine is located in a semi-arid region of Tunisia characterized with Triassic salt domes. Due to extensive agricultural land-use in the mine area, a zero-discharge tailings facility design and high water recycling rates to the concentrator were chosen to minimize the environmental impact to the surrounding area. The process water supply has an accumulation of naturally occurring salts due to high evaporation rates and the need to recycle 70% of the process water. The elevated salt content of the process water had an adverse effect on the efficiency of the flotation reagents, which led to the production of lower quality zinc concentrate.The impact of the water salinity on the zinc concentrate quality was documented by extensive laboratory testing. A feasibility study was prepared and a decision was made to install a reverse osmosis plant for desalination of the process water. A plant was constructed during 2000 which currently supplies up to 85 m3/hr of de-mineralized water, equal to approximately 45% of the total process water requirement. The salinity of the process water decreased from about ten to twelve grams per litre before installation to less than three grams per litre. Together with minor modifications to the concentrator circuit, Breakwater Tunisia has increased the zinc concentrate grade from 50% zinc to 55% zinc without compromising the zinc recovery rate of approximately 84%.This paper discusses the successful installation of a reverse osmosis desalination plant that allowed Breakwater Tunisia to improve the grade of the Bougrine mine zinc concentrate and thus increase the net smelter return.INTRODUCTIONBreakwater Resources Ltd., through a wholly owned subsidiary, Breakwater Tunisia S.A., acquired the Bougrine underground mine and related assets in September 1997. During the winter of 1997/1998, the company rehabilitated the mining equipment, modified the concentrator circuit, developed a new mine ventilation system and prepared a new mining production program. The mine was reopened on May 2, 1998 and was in commercial production as of June 1, 1998."

Jan 1, 2003

By Richard Dahl, Richard P. Taylor, David H. Watkinson

"Abstract - Detailed mapping of the Eastern Gabbro, Coldwell Complex, Ontario, revealed that the copper and platinum-group-element deposit on the Marathon property is confined to a coarsegrained to pegmatitic gabbro-diorite intrusion, the Two Duck Lake intrusion (TDLI). Exposed along the eastern boundary of the Coldwell Complex, the TDLI was emplaced as a sill whose orientation is slightly oblique to the general structure of the Eastern Gabbro. The TDLI has been subdivided into lower, middle and upper sub-units on the bases of lithological, textural, mineralogical, and geochemical criteria. Both border sub-units are sulfide-, base- and precious metal-enriched, and exhibit abundant evidence of host-rock assimilation. The primary mineral assemblage in the TDLI is plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxides, with accessory orthopyroxene, biotite, apatite; this primary mineral assemblage is essentially preserved in the core of the intrusion (i.e., the middle subunit). The Cu-PGE Marathon deposit, delineated mainly in the upper sub-unit of the intrusion, consists of disseminated Fe-Cu-Ni sulfides, and platinum-group-minerals derived by hydrothermal remobilization from primary magmatic sulfides. Enrichment in Cu and PGE resulted from partial replacement of original Fe-Ti oxides and pyrrhotite in the primary mineral assemblage by reaction with (a) residual magmatic fluid, and (b) fluids derived from the breakdown of host rock xenoliths and hydrothermal alteration along the lower contact of the TDLI. Résumé - La cartographie détaillée de l’Eastern Gabbro, Complexe Coldwell, en Ontario, révèle que le gisement de cuivre et éléments du groupe du platine de Marathon est confiné à une intrusion gabbro-dioritique, de grain grossier à pegmatitique, l’intrusion Two Duck Lake (TDLI). Cette intrusion s’est mise en place sous la forme d’un filon-couche légèrement discordant sur la structure de la bordure orientale de l’Eastern Gabbro. On y distingue trois sous-unités, inférieure, centrale et supérieure, sur la base de zonations lithologique, minéralogique et géochimique. Les sous-unités marginales sont enrichies en sulfures, métaux usuels et précieux, et montrent de nombreux indices d’assimilation des roches hôtes. La paragenèse minérale primaire inclut le plagioclase, l’olivine, le clinopyroxène, les oxydes ferro-titanés et accessoirement et localement, l’orthopyroxène, la biotite et l’apatite : cet assemblage est surtout préservé au coeur de l’intrusion (sous-unité centrale). Le gisement de Cu-EGP de Marathon, situé principalement dans la sous-unité supérieure, comprend une minéralisation disséminées à sulfures de fer, cuivre, nickel, et minéraux du groupe du platine, dérivés de sulfures magmatiques primaires par remobilisation hydrothermale. L’enrichissement en Cu et EGP résulte du remplacement d’oxydes ferro-titanés primaires par réaction avec des fluides tardi-magmatiques, et des fluides assimilés le long de la bordure inférieure de l’intrusion, dérivés de la fusion partielle des xénolites et de remobilisations hydrothermales."

Jan 1, 2001

By M. P. Amsden

"Ecstall Mining Limited, a subsidiary of Texas Gulf Incorporated operates the Kidd Creek Mine, a 10,000 tons per day base metal producer, near Timmins, Ontario. Two different ore types are mined and milled: copper-zinc and silver-lead-zinc. At the highly automated Ecstall Concentrator the ores are processed by selective flotation in threes individual circuits. One of the most important metallurgical tools for process control is a sample system incorporating continuous on-stream x-ray analysis. Recently this system was further automated by adding computer control of reagents for two copper-zinc flotation circuits. The computer programs, utilizing optimum seeking methods and smelter contract terms, have increased copper recovery 0.8%, zinc recovery 1.6%, and reduced reagent costs by 12%. Although not anticipated, copper and zinc concentrate grades were improved modestly as well.INTRODUCTIONSEcstall Mining Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Texas Gulf Incorporated operates the Kidd Creek Mine, one of the world's major base metal producers, near the old gold mining centre of Timmins, Ontario. Discovered in 1964, the property was brought into production in November, 1966. Originally designed for 9,000 tons per day, the operation now treats 10,000 tons per day of two different ore types mined from a single open pit. In the near future, open pit ore will be supplemented by ore from an underground operation now being readied for productionAt the Ecstall Concentrator the ores are processed by selective flotation in three individual circuits. The whole plant is highly automated and control is coordinated from a central control room. The treatment process follows conventional practices although fine grinding is required for optimum flotation recoveries. Normally, two circuits treat copper-zinc ore at a combined rate of 6,500 tons per day while the third circuit treats 3,500 tons per day of silver-lead-zinc ore. Special production averages 2,400 tons per day."

Jan 1, 1973

By David Stephenson, Hugo Granados, Steven Klohn

"HudBay’s Constancia project is a copper molybdenum concentrator located in southern Peru. In 2010 Ausenco was contracted to perform a feasibility study optimization review which resulted in an improved design with significantly increased throughput capacity at a minimal increase in capital cost. Construction began in 2012 with commercial operation commencing in May 2015. This paper outlines the process plant design as well as describing the plant’s major equipment selections, start-up and early operations experiences.IntroductionHudBay Mineral’s Constancia project is located at 4200 meters above sea level (masl) in southern Peru, approximately 630 km south-east of Lima, Peru. The property can be accessed by road from Cusco, Peru, (approximately 110 km to the north), or from Arequipa, Peru (approximately 215 km to the south). Matarani, accessed via Arequipa, is the closest port.Constancia is located within the Yauri-Andahuaylas metallogenic belt. The region contains several large copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposits such as Antapaccay (by Glencore) and Los Chancas (by Grupo Mexico), and copper skarn deposits such as Tintaya (by Glencore) and Las Bambas (by MMG). Constancia’s ore reserves contain copper and molybdenum with trace amounts of gold and silver.Ore is mined by an open-pit operation. The process plant recovers copper and molybdenum concentrates, storing tailings in a conventional tailings management facility. Infrastructure at the site includes a grid power supply (via a 70 km overhead transmission line from Tintaya), water supply, workshops and an accommodation camp. Mine life is 22 years.Site construction works began in 2012 with first copper concentrate produced in late 2014. The project was executed for approximately 1.75B$USD.Ausenco’s design approach focussed on developing a capital efficient copper molybdenum concentrator. This paper outlines key features incorporated in the concentrator design, plant layout and equipment selection, as well as start-up experiences and early operational results."

Jan 1, 2016