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By P. Miranda, K. Le, G. Maes, R. Peters

"The Mount Milligan Mine, owned by Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TCM), started operations in September of 2013. It is located between the communities of Fort St. James and Mackenzie and is the first major metal mine to open in British Columbia in 15 years. Based on reserves as of January 1, 2014, it has an estimated 22 year mine life with 2.1 billion pounds of copper and 6 million ounces of gold in reserves. Like all commissioning operations, there have been issues achieving design throughput and recovery due to flow sheet design, equipment failures, control philosophy, and reagent scheme. Efforts to improve overall mill performance include equipment modifications, reagent screening and testing, and grind size testing. Applying these changes to the mill and working closely with the mine has resulted in continuous improvement each month as Mount Milligan looks to achieve the nominal design capacity of 60,000 dry metric tonnes per day in the later part of 2015. Considerable focus is being placed into ensuring size reduction equipment is utilized effectively. Additional modifications and tests are being undertaken to steadily improve processes and alleviate restrictions in the mill. This paper will discuss the start-up and present ramp-up history of Mount Milligan, the current mill processes, and the steps taken to achieve expected production numbers.OPERATION BACKGROUNDMount Milligan is an open-pit copper and gold operation wholly owned and operated by Thompson Creek Metals. It is located approximately 155km northwest of Prince George, British Columbia, between the communities of Mackenzie and Fort St. James. The copper-gold porphyry deposit contains a Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 706.7 Mt at 0.18% Cu and 0.33 g/t Au, containing 2.84 billion lb. copper and 7.50 million oz. gold. Mine life is currently estimated at 22.1 years (“Feasibility Update – Mt. Milligan,” 2009). The mill is designed to process 60,000 dry metric tonnes per day and produce 400 dry metric tonnes of concentrate per day averaging 25.5% Cu and 40 ppm Au. Concentrate is delivered by truck and trailer to Mackenzie followed by rail to Vancouver for overseas shipping to various customers.Mount Milligan is considered a “zero discharge” operation meaning no process or surface water will be discharged to the environment. As well, stockpiling is very limited and is only permitted for a short period of time. This scenario presents several unique challenges. Scheduling of ore/waste production must be carefully planned as waste rock is used to build the tailings storage facility (TSF). Reagent selection is also important as persistent chemicals will have a tendency to build up in reclaim water which feeds the process water tank."

Jan 1, 2015

By Richard K. Sandaas

Start Date: April 4, 1988 Completion Date: Dec. 29, 1989 Contractor: SCI Contractors Past and present transportation centers will come together at International District Station, located at the south entrance to the tunnel next to the turn-of-the-century Union Station train depot. The area will bustle once again with activity as commuters and visitors converge on the modern transit station at the edge of Seattle's International District. Buses coming from south Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 will enter the tunnel through this station. [ ] International District Station is an open-air station, 1,060 feet long and 82 feet wide (about 15,400 cubic yards of concrete were used to build the station). A concrete lid over the southern portion of the station staging area is held in place by 131 support piles. The station will include entrances on Jackson Street and King Street. Union Pacific Realty is planning to build an office and retail complex upon the lid. The station also has an international flair. Symbols of the Chinese zodiac will be etched into the station plaza floor. The station platform walls will be lined with large steel panels embellished with designs in origami?a Japanese folded paper art form. [ ]

Jan 1, 1990

By George K. Clement

Manual estimating method through use of equations, factors and curves for preparation of feasibility type estimates for capital and operating cost of mining and primary beneficiation in the United States and Canada of various types of minerals occurrences, except fossil fuels, using state-of-the-art technology. User should have basic estimating experience in the mining industry and/or related fields. Primary usage of this handbook will be for the preparation of preliminary estimate within a reasonable degree of accuracy with relative small amounts of hard input data. Output may be used to determine if a more finite type of estimate should be produced.

Jan 1, 1978

By Chris Ringas

The safe operation of gas transmission pipelines is increasingly coming under the spotlight. Increasing environmental pressure is also forcing pipeline owners and operators to ensure the integrity of their pipelines. The integrity of a pipeline is usually determined using intelligent pigging, often referred to as In Line Inspection (ILI). However, in many cases, gas pipelines cannot be pigged for a variety of reasons. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) has recently published Recommended Practice (RP) 0502, referred to as the External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA) Methodology to assist pipeline owners with assessing the condition of pipelines that cannot be pigged. 2. External Corrosion Direct Assessment - NACE RP 0502 The ECDA Methodology is conducted in four phases as follows: ? Pre-Assessment ? Indirect Inspection ? Direct Examination ? Post-Assessment In the Pre-Assessment Phase, all the relevant historical and current data relating to the pipeline in question is reviewed. This covers pipeline, construction, soils/environmental, corrosion control and operational data. The aim of the Pre-Assessment Phase is to determine whether ECDA is feasible, and if so, to define the ECDA Regions and finally to select the Indirect Inspection Tools that will be used for each region. Typical overline techniques used for overline surveys include the following: Voltage gradient surveys ? DCVG or ACVG

Jan 1, 2006

Minerals are vital to any industrialized civilization. Annually, the United States uses more than 4 billion tons of new mineral materials, or about 40,000 pounds per person-about half being mineral fuels and the other half being metals and nonmetallics. Stable and economic domestic mining, mineral, metal, and mineral reclamation industries are essential to the economy. The value of United States energy and processed materials of mineral origin exceeds $200 billion annually. Although a number of minerals are imported, especially some designated as "strategic and critical," most U.S. mineral supplies are derived from the domestic mines and processing facilities that you will be seeing, reading about, and visiting as you use this visitor guide. We hope you enjoy your experiences. This pamphlet, a guide to mining and mineral operations that may be observed or visited and some other points of interest relating to minerals, is intended to aid tourists and students who are interested in mining. Some may wish to study our Nation's romantic past; others may plan to enter the minerals industry as a career; still others may have a primary interest in conservation practices. The pamphlet is also intended to aid State and local officials, Chambers of Commerce, and mining firms in answering some of the many questions of tourists and students.

Jan 1, 1977

By I. P. Barbosa, P. S. M. Soares, I. O. C. Masson

"Permanent magnets have been applied extensively to several electronic products such as printers, TV sets, microphones, microcomputers and headphones, presently manufactured in large scale by industrial economies. Sm-Co alloys represent about 20% of the world market for permanent magnets and their industrial processors generate 20-30% of magnetic scraps which can be recycled. This paper discusses a process route to recycle SmCo5 using acid treatment, solvent extraction of Sm and electrowinning of Co. The results confirm the feasibility of the alternative proposed. Basic operational variables are suggested as guidelines to design a plant for recycling magnetic scraps.The use of hydrometallurgical processes to recycle scraps from the industry of permanent magnets has been suggested in some recent papers related to recycling of metallic alloys [ 1 ]. These research efforts might be understood as a worldwide tendency towards the development of self sustainable metallurgical processes which mean the reduction of environmental impacts.CETEM -Center for Mineral Technology leads in Brazil several research programs concerning recycling and treatment of industrial residues. The work on samarium purification and concentration by solvent extraction, producing also a solution of cobalt sulfate as partially reported here is one of these programs. Previous results related to the sulfuric acid digestion of SmCo5 are presented somewhere else [2]"

Jan 1, 1997

By M. W. Lewis, J. Werner

Fluctuating metal prices, declining head grade, and increased operational costs are forcing many open pit mining companies to look to their balance sheets for significant cost reductions in order to remain competitive. Maintenance continues to represent a significant proportion of the total operating costs in the mining industry. Compared with the other major cost components of the mining process, very little effort has gone into maintenance optimization. The potential payoff from maintenance optimization on the cash cost of the commodity is enormous. A large percentage of these costs are incurred in unscheduled maintenance events, which typically cause serious disruptions to the production process. These maintenance-induced production losses can be a significant contributor to the overall operating costs. A structured proactive maintenance approach using the latest advances in technology can achieve dramatic cost reductions and productivity improvements. Remote condition monitoring systems are becoming increasingly commonplace and have the potential to identify problems prior to failure. Detection of equipment degradation prior to failure will enable repairs to be scheduled thereby reducing costs and interruptions to production. Remote condition monitoring technology has evolved rapidly in recent years, with a host of new tools becoming available to assist mine operators in improving their maintenance operations. These tools have capabilities such as remote real-time vital signs and performance monitoring, alarm/event handling, trend analysis, and maintenance workflow management. When these monitoring tools are used in conjunction with a mine management system, the vital signs data can be integrated and associated with maintenance history, predictive maintenance data, operational information, and geographical information. This integrated approach to the management of vital maintenance data will help shift the mobile equipment maintenance paradigm from reactive to proactive. This paper will introduce a proactive approach to the management of the maintenance process and the tools required to facilitate this process.

Jan 1, 2005

On June 20, 1972, Ocean Energy was awarded Contract No. H0220055, entitled Portable Task Luminaire System Development. Initially, this was a 12 month program consisting of three phases: Phase I -- Design of the Luminaire System and Battery Chargers, Phase II -- Fabrication of Prototype Units, Phase III -- Fabrication of Production Prototype Units and Battery Chargers. In addition to developing the Portable Task Luminaire System, however, this contract was amended a number of times in the course of the program to include the development of a Low Coal Portable Task Luminaire, a Rib Mounted Luminaire System, and a Machine Mounted Luminaire System, all based upon the same high frequency fluorescent lighting and safety technologies involved in the Portable Task Luminaire. This report covers the activities of this program as amended, and includes the development and fabrication of all of the systems. This report constitutes the final fulfillment of the contract.

Jan 1, 1974

By Steve Thoman

After the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) initiated an overview of the Caltrans Bridge Design Specifications (BDS) and bridge seismic design practice in California. This overview is continuing under the direction of the Applied Technologies Council (ATC-32), to review and revise as necessary existing standards, performance criteria, specifications, and practices for design and construction of new bridge structures within California. The ATC-32 project began in August 1991 and is expected to be completed in 1995. Since 1990, Caltrans project-specific seismic criteria have been developed and implemented on the I-280 and I-480 projects in San Francisco. Caltrans and an independent seismic safety review panel continue to develop and implement these criteria on other projects. In 1991 and 1992, project-specific seismic criteria were used on the I-880 reconstruction project in Oakland. The seismic safety review panel considered the I-880 seismic design criteria a state-of-the-art methodology to ensure seismic safety against collapse of bridge structures subjected to a maximum credible seismic event. This paper highlights the 1992 "I-880 Reconstruction Project Seismic Design Criteria Review" report prepared by the Seismic Safety Review Panel and Caltrans Division of Structures and will compare pre-1989 BDS and AASHTO methodologies to the I-880 criteria.

Jan 1, 1996

By Tristan Worsey, Nathan Rouse, Kyle Hall

Drilling accuracy is the foundation to any successful blast operation. Even the best blasting practices cannot overcome poor drilling and still obtain desired results. Inaccuracies in boreholes can result in flyrock, increased vibration, uneven floor, and other undesired effects. As depth increases, variation in actual burden and spacing is expected even if collars are located precisely. Problems arise when this deviation reaches a point where it adversely affects the function of the blast design. Not only can unsafe conditions such as insufficient burden at the face develop, but poor fragmentation can compound adverse effects. As with any troubleshooting, problems cannot truly be fixed if they cannot be measured. As a result, significant work has been done in the past on this subject. Currently, there are both cheap and expensive methods used to quantify deviation for a given borehole. However, implementation of these techniques is limited. In general production blasts, little is known about the variance in designed versus true borehole geometry. This is especially true if the blaster does not see telltale signs of drilling deviation. However, losses in blast performance may exist and provide an opportunity to obtain better fragmentation and reduce fines. As drill and blast operations strive for better optimization, greater focus is being placed on drilling accuracy and solutions to this problem. The following paper details the use of several current methods for deviation measurement in order to help prevent compromises of safety and improve overall blast performance.

Jan 1, 2018

By Jonathan Taylor, Irwan Halim, Frederick (Rick) Vincent

The new underground facilities for the LINAC Coherent Light Source project at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, CA, are constructed in very weak sedimentary rock interspersed with uncemented zones. In addition to several 21-footwide (excavated) tunnels, the NATM excavations include a large, 49-foot wide (excavated) cavern, an unprecedented size in this geology. The critical design issues include characterization of the weak rock, some shallow rock cover areas, and very stringent criteria for final invert slab movements within the tunnel. The design also incorporated severe seismic criteria, since the site is in close proximity to the San Andreas Fault.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. E. Phillipson

The Mine Safety and Health Administration?s (MSHA) Roof Control Division (RCD) collects a variety of geological and engineering information pertaining to mining conditions in surface and underground mines throughout the United States. Recently, lineament analyses, trends of geologic structures, and inferred stress directions based on mapping at mines with problematic ground conditions, have been integrated into a GIS. The incorporation of different kinds of information into the same geographic coordinates and map projection, placed on digital geologic maps, allows site specific data to be evaluated in a regional geospatial context, identifying trends in the orientation of horizontal stress or patterns of structural geologic features. As more information is collected, the GIS will evolve as a tool for district- and basin-wide evaluations of controls on ground instability, and may evolve into a predictive tool for some kinds of geologic hazards. In addition to the geologic and geotechnical evaluations, the GIS also serves as a searchable database of previous mine investigations. The database can be searched for a variety of criteria, and the results displayed in real geographic coordinates to find the locations of previously visited mines or to evaluate mine fatality and injury data. This not only allows old reports to be found, but also places the information in a geospatial context with respect to neighboring mines or geographic areas. The GIS also has the capability to serve as a digital mine map repository, where maps can be stored in digital, georeferenced format for display in relation to each other and various themes of interest. This allows evaluation of multiple seam mining interactions and proximity to other mines, and on a national level could serve as an abandoned mine map database.

Jan 1, 2008

By David Seaman, J-P Franzidis, Emmy Manlapig

"A new device has been developed to directly measure the bubble loading of particle-bubble aggregates in industrial flotation machines, both mechanical flotation cells as well as flotation column cells. The bubble loading of aggregates allows for in-depth analysis of the operating performance of a flotation machine in terms of both pulp/collection zone and froth zone performance. This paper presents the methodology along with an example showing the excellent reproducibility of the device and an analysis of different operating conditions of the device itself.The device has been used to investigate the froth selectivity of attached particles. Simultaneous measurements were made using a different froth recovery measurement technique in the same flotation cell. A comparison of these techniques shows that in this case, particles are selectively detached from bubbles at or near the pulp-froth interface.INTRODUCTIONA flotation cell can be considered to operate in two distinct phases or zones; namely the pulp or collection phase and the froth phase. The pulp zone is responsible for the formation of hydrophobic particle-bubble aggregates, whilst the froth phase is responsible for the separation of these aggregates from surrounding suspended hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles. Thus, the froth phase is the grade determining phase in flotation. A measurement of the bubble load (the mass of particles attached to air bubbles in units of mass/volume) will enable the analysis of the performance of both the collection zone at creating bubble-particle aggregates and also the froth zone at separating these aggregates from surrounding pulp.A measure of froth zone performance that has been used extensively in flotation research is the Froth Recovery, Rf, of a particular system. Froth recovery is defined as the mass of particles collected in the concentrate launder by true flotation as a fraction of the mass of particles entering the froth phase. The measurement of bubble load allows for this term to be calculated easily, rather than having to go through the laborious task of, for example, changing froth depths to determine this performance criterion (Contini et al., 1988; Vera et al., 1999b; Feteris et al., 1987)."

Jan 1, 2004

Advances in Optical Image Analysis and Textural Classification of Iron Ore Fines

Sep 13, 2010

global mining boom and in-creased demand for iron ore has lead to a resurgence in the mining industry in Minnesota. At the combined 81st Annual Minnesota Section of SME Meeting and 69th Annual University of Minnesota Mining Symposium, April 15-16 in Duluth, MN, this resurgence was the hot topic as new mining projects were featured in the keynote session. The meeting attracted more than 400 mining industry professionals, including engineers, executives, mining managers and suppliers from around the world. This year?s theme was ?New Ventures in Mining.? The meeting included concurrent technical papers sessions, a keynote session that featured three distinguished speakers and a panel discussion that provided updates on new mining developments in the state. The Minnesota Section of SME technical papers were presented in concurrent sessions, one on mining and one on mineral processing. The mining session included papers on drilling, ore blending, slope stabilization, dust control and operations management. The mineral processing session included papers on plant-control technology, ball mills, pellet strength and fans. Also offered was an SME short course titled ?Simulation based pellet induration optimization.? The Minnesota Section of SME held its annual business meeting during the conference. The 69th Annual University of Minnesota Mining Symposium technical sessions were held on April 15 and also consisted of concurrent sessions on mining and mineral processing. Mining session topics included logistics management, real-time performance measurement, uses for taconite aggregate and environmental issues. The mineral processing session included papers on ore liberation characteristics, zeta potential studies, induration modeling, fuel optimization and conveyor belts. The combined conference included a tradeshow with more than 80 booth spaces featuring vendors offering products and services to Minnesota?s booming mining industry. More than 900 people, including conference registrants and special invited guests of the vendors, at-tended the tradeshow opening reception. This was the largest trade show in many years ? an indication of the vitality of the mining industry in Minnesota.

Jan 1, 2008

By T S. Cochrane

This paper is based on observations made during a recent visit by the writer to three of the dust research laboratories .in West Germany, each .of which is mainly concerned with studymg the composition and character of the respirable dust produced in mines or at industrial sites. The three institutes are discussed as regards their orgamzat10n and duties, their methods of dust sampling and analysis, and recent trends in research and development. An extensive bibliography completes the paper. Introduction A RECENT trip to Europe to attend international conferences m Austria and m Belgium gave the writer the opportunity to visit a number of research laboratories and mines in Western Europe. The visits to the dust research laboratories in West Germany are the basis of this report. In Germany, cooperative associations formed prior to and since the turn of the 20th Century to promote the safety and welfare of their workers have recognized the effects of airborne dust on the general health of the labour force.

Jan 1, 1964

By J. Goyman, K. R. Rawling

"1.1 Location and Transportation ServicesNanisivik Mines Ltd. is located at latitude 73°, 3,200 km north of Montreal and 700 km north of the Arctic circle, on the south side of Strathcona Sound, which is an arm of Admiralty Inlet, in Northern Baffin Island. The orebody and mill site are 4 km distant from Strathcona Sound which provides deep water anchorage for ocean transportation of concentrate to Europe during the short northern shipping season from mid-July to mid-October.The operations and the resident community have direct jet aircraft service from Montreal two days per week, and local nights connect with other Arctic communities in the northern Baffin region. Bulk supplies and general cargo are delivered in the summer shipping season.1.2 HistoryThe Texas Gulf Sulphur Company, now Kidd Creek Mines Limited, staked claims in the Nanisivik area in 1957 and carried out exploration through to 1968. After the Kidd Creek orebody was found, Texas Gulf optioned the property in 1972 to Mineral Resources International Inc. (MRI), which undertook further exploration and completed a feasibility study.Nanisivik Mines Ltd. was formed in 1975, with MRI as the majority shareholder and minority shareholdings held by Metallgesellschaft, Billiton and Texas Gulf. Strathcona Mineral Services Limited was retained to manage the project during both the construction and operational phases."

Jan 1, 1984

These proceedings consist of papers presented at three Bureau of Mines Technology Transfer Seminars on ergonomics in the mining industry. These seminars were held in December 1981, and covered topics relating to ergonomics and mining in the areas of the man-machine interface, and design of the work environment. This area of research is directed toward reducing accidents traditionally associated with human error.

Jan 1, 1981

By AIME AIME

THE John Fritz Gold Medal for 1929 was presented to Herbert Hoover at the Executive Mansion on April 25, at a luncheon given by Mr. Hoover to present and past members of the Board of Award, preceding medalists, and presidents and secretaries of the American societies of Civil, Mining and Metallurgical, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineers. The presentation party of forty engineers which gathered at the White House, from all parts of the United States, was made up of past presidents of the four senior national engineering societies that established the John Fritz Medal and included five men who had received the medal in previous years. These former medalists were Edward Dean Adams, J. J. Carty, J. Waldo Smith, Elmer A. Sperry and Ambrose Swasey. This medal is the highest honor bestowed by these four national engineering societies, having a membership of 60,000. It is awarded not oftener than annually for "notable scientific or industrial achievement, without restriction on account of nationality or sex." In accordance with custom, the award to Mr. Hoover was made tentatively and without announcement in October, 1927, and was formally con- firmed and announced one year later.

Jan 1, 1929

About MAC ? The national organization of the Canadian mining industry ? Mining, smelting and refining of base and precious metals ? Mining of iron ore, diamonds, uranium, oil sands, coal and industrial minerals ? Many associate members ? www.mining.ca

Aug 1, 2013