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By R. Holmwood, M. Faris, P. Holloway, M. Collins

Sulphuric acid addition is a major driver of the economics in the processing of nickel laterite ores by high pressure acid leaching (HPAL). Understanding the optimal acid addition rate is essential for the success of any HPAL operation, and this is especially true at Ambatovy, where the composition of the feed tends to vary significantly on a day-to-day basis. Most studies on the effect of acid on nickel extraction in HPAL have used laboratory testwork as their basis. Although these studies are invaluable in assessing the economics of a new project, they are limited by the range of ore composition that can be tested and the differences between the operation of the laboratory equipment and the commercial plant. To enable optimization of the acid addition at Ambatovy, operating data from the HPAL operation were obtained using OSISoft’s PI system and the data from several periods were examined to develop relationships between acid addition and nickel extraction. The initial relationships from 2014 focused on the acid required to achieve a target nickel extraction of 95%, with aluminum and magnesium in ore and feed slurry solids content as the major variables. As Ambatovy ramped up through 2015 and 2016, the calculated acid requirement was further refined to address the effects of HPAL temperature and retention time, and the oxidizing/reducing characteristics of the ore, and to generate acid requirement relationships as a function of ranges of nickel extraction. These relationships supported raising the target nickel extraction to 96% and enabled the development of an economic model between acid addition and nickel extraction.

Jan 1, 2017

By F J. Pearce

The Steel Company of Canada, utilizing the S-L process, has produced partially and highly reduced pellets for use in the blast furnace. Experimental blast furnace tests, using reduced pellet burdens, have been carried out. The changes in production rate, fuel rate and general performance of both the S-L and the blast furnace processes are indicated. Introduction T HE ore burdens for a blast furnace may be improved in two ways: chemically, by concentrating the ore to a high degree of purity; and physically, by agglomerating or closely sizing the ore particles. Today, many b1ast furnaces are charged with closely sized agglomerates, some of which contain upwards of 66 per cent iron. The further improvement of these burdens by chemical concentration may, in many instances, be uneconomic due to the large losses of iron that occur during processing. Assuming that it would be possible to reject all of the gangue minerals, the maximum level of concentration of iron in the hematitic ores would be only about 70 per cent.

Jan 1, 1964

By Janice Zinck, Maziar E. Sauber

"To counter the recent uncertainty in the rare earths market, diversify the supply source, and help meet the future demand in this sector Canada initiated development of several new rare earth deposits. In the past few years, a number of various studies on rare earths plant design have taken place mainly covering process development, process selection, and flowsheet design. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of known domestic and potential resources and reserves of rare earths and their status quo with a focus on the metallurgical processes using the information available in the public domain. Plant designs currently under consideration in Canada are reviewed and evaluated. An outline of the areas of opportunity for selective innovation and technology development in the rare earths flowsheet development and the associated risks and rewards is provided.INTRODUCTIONThe rare earth elements (REE) have a very small annual market, but they are categorized as very strategic metals vital to global economic growth due to their indispensability to the development of modern defence system, green technologies and electronic applications. The International Union of Applied and Pure Chemistry (IUPAC) defines the REE as the 15 elements on the lanthanide series on periodic table of elements, plus yttrium and scandium. REE are classified as light rare earth elements (LREE; La to Gd), and heavy rare earth elements (HREE; Tb to Lu). Physical properties and chemical reactivity of yttrium is similar to those of HREE, thus it is categorized as such. Properties of scandium are not similar enough to classify it as either a LREE or HREE (Weng et al., 2015; Sappin & Beaudoin, 2015). However, the mining industry does not always abide to this definitive classification of the split between LREE and HREE. Therefore, in a comparative study of projects, there is a need to pay attention to how the elements are classified."

Jan 1, 2016

By L. F. Haven

"The desirable shovel speed-torque curves are described, along with the characteristics of the more important electrical components used to approximate these curves. A particular shovel regulator system combining these components is discussed in detail and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the system are given.INTRODUCTIONIN 1959, STATIC CONTROL was for the first time successfully applied, installed and operated on a mining machine in North America. Since that time, a great deal has been learned about this control by the people maintaining these machines as well as by the de-signers.In 1961, the first SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) or thyristor control system was installed on an excavator. This control differed from the earlier static control in that thyristor excitors supplied the generator fields directly. The development of thyristors of a sufficient rating to supply amounts of phase-controlled power to the generator fields eliminated the bulky Mag. Amp. -Rectifier combination previously used."

Jan 1, 1969

By E. W. Shaw

The past year (1950) has been a big one for the oil industry in Canada, with new records being set in almost every phase of exploration and development activity. New highs were reached in acreage holdings, in geophysical activity, in wildcat drilling, and in field development and production. The only item that did not show a substantial increase over recent years was the amount of reserves added by new discoveries. This was not due to a decrease in the number of new discoveries, however, hut rather to the fact that most of the discoveries were made during the later months in the year and could not be fully evaluated by the year end. The foregoing remarks pertain mainly to activity in Western Canada. In Eastern Canada, operations continued on a modest scale. with exploration drilling down slightly from the previous year but with development drilling and production at about the same level. Returning to Western Canada, it is observed that the general exploration play was one of expansion and intensification. The issuing of new petroleum and natural gas regulations by the province of British Columbia precipitated a moderate entry of companies into the northeastern part of the Province.

Jan 1, 1951

By G. V. Fernandez

Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde S.A.A leaches secondary copper sulfides. In recent years, the mine has introduced innovations that have improved the management of mineral crushing, agglomeration, curing, and leaching. The crushing plant, for example, uses the concepts of degree of balance and percentage of time in an operationally balanced state which, displayed in real time, facilitate more intensive and uniform utilization of the crushers. High agglomerate quality is ensured with the correct dose of moisture, which is adjusted to the changing characteristics of the mineral through the use of electrical conductivity measurements. The amount of acid used for curing the agglomerate is also adjusted by using quality control information. Finally, the stockpile irrigation regime is managed using the criteria established by the "Lixiviant Request Rate", which optimizes the addition of leaching solution, creating such benefits as faster recovery, and reduced acid and energy consumption.

Jan 1, 2007

By V. Caps

Gold has been often used as an alloying component in order to increase or modify the catalytic properties of an active metal. For example, in the hydroconversion of methylcyclopentane, Riahi et al [1] shown that the addition of gold to palladium or platinum enhances the activity which becomes greater than that of the pure metals whereas the selectivity towards products resulting from ring expansion increases. Molenbroek et al [2] presented a detailed study on Ni-Au catalysts which exhibit activity for steam reforming and have been proved to be more resistant toward carbon formation than the pure Ni catalysts. Blocking of highly reactive Ni edge and kink sites by Au atoms is assumed to be the reason for the increased robustness of the Ni-Au catalyst. Nevertheless, the own catalytic properties of pure gold have been almost ignored up to the pioneering work of Haruta et al [3] which demonstrates the high activity of gold for CO oxidation at low temperatures. Other reactions such as WGS reaction, propylene epoxidation or benzene total oxidation have then been shown to be catalyzed by gold [4]. This discovery induced the publication of papers devoted to analyze the different factors controlling the activity of gold catalysts. Among them the most relevant appears to be the gold particle size, the nature of the support [5] and the preparation methods [6]. Clearly distinguish between support and size effect is not straightforward. Indeed, the calcination step often needed to synthesize supported catalysts on different supports, leads to different particle sizes showing that particle size and support are interdependent. To circumvent this difficulty, Au-based supported catalysts have been synthesized by using laser vaporization and low energy cluster beam deposition. The as prepared catalysts have then been characterized and tested in CO oxidation reaction.

Oct 1, 2003

By A. M. Glendinning

"IntroductionLocationTHE PROPERTY of Aunor Gold Mines, Limited is in Deloro township, Ontario, about three miles southeast of the town of Timmins. It consists of a group of eleven claims located between those of Buffalo-Ankerite Gold Mines, Limited, and Delnite Gold Mines, Limited.GeologyThe ore zone at the Aunor mine consists of a narrow band of fine grained pillowed andesite, irregular bands of 'brown to green carbonated andesite, and lenticular bodies of quartz feldspar porphyry. The zone strikes N.80°E., dips 60 North, and has been traced for 5,000 feet across the property. It varies in width from 0 to 250 feet and is bounded on the north and south by masses of dark bluish-grey tale chlorite schist. These schist bands have widths up to 500 feet.The ore occurs in a series of parallel and branching veins confined to the limits of the zone. These veins tend to terminate and die out on the footwall schist contact, striking generally parallel with the ore zone. In wide sections of the zone, 150 to 250 feet, the veins range in width up •to 3.5 feet and may occur in two or three horizons across the width of the zone, each mineable independent of the other. They tend to dip a little flatter than the general dip of the zone. Where the zone is narrow, the veins are so closely spaced and numerous they can be mined together and in some places the complete zone has been mined from schist to schist."

Jan 1, 1953

By Peter M. Power

A microscopic study was made of a series of simultaneous slag and metal samples taken from a low carbon basic open hearth heat. An attempt was made to identify the various micro-constituents found. As the various impurities in the bath are oxidized, the metal structure changes from that of high-phosphorus white cast iron to that of low.-carbon steel. A detailed study of phosphorus distribution is included. The acid run-off slag has an .acicular orthosilicate structure which changes on 'shape-up' to a very basic tri-calcium silicate and calciuim ferrite structure. Many unidentified minor constituents are present in the slags. Though metallography will never replace chemic.al analysis of the bath, the microsopic study of polished slags has some promise of being useful in slag control work.

Jan 1, 1956

By E. Busse

"Heath Steele Mines Ltd. operates a lead-zinc-copper mining and milling complex in New Brunswick.• During the past seven years, as ore reserves increased, the mill capacity was first expanded to 1,600 tpd and then to 3,000 tpd. In the last expansion, instead of building a completely new 3,000-tpd mill, or adding to existing installations, Heath Steele retained service facilities, buildings, ore bins, Jab, etc., and removed and replaced almost all existing process facilities. Requiring a complete mill shutdown, the expansion had to be carried out in minimum time. Also, new equipment had to fit into existing space. Critical path networks of the project were prepared, a tight schedule for construction was mapped out and progress charted daily to detect problems before they could interrupt the schedule. Heath Steele supervised the purchasing, handling and storage of new equipment, maintained liaison with the engineering contractor and became a sub-contractor, using its own staff to install all flotation equipment and process piping. The 1,600-tpd installation was dismantled and a 3,000- tpd unit was successfully put onstream in 5 months - on time and within budget. One benefit stemming from the expansion: production increased 87 per cent while operating and maintenance labour rose only 8 per cent."

Jan 1, 1972

By C. H. Stockwell

RICE LAKE-BERESFORD LAKE area, situated 100 miles northeast of Winnipeg (Figure 1), is Manitoba's foremost gold mining district, although it is exceeded in gold production in the Province by the Flin Flon base-metal mining district. At present, the area is producing at the rate of about one and three-quarter million dollars annually, almost entirely from the San Antonio and Gunnar mines. The total production to date is about $14,000,000. Of this total, over $7,000,000 has come from the San Antonio mine, over $2,000,000 from the Gunnar mine, about $4,000,000 from the Central Manitoba mine, and the balance from several smaller properties. The writer has led Geological Survey parties in the area for the past four summers. The present paper gives a summary of the results of this work and also includes the findings of C. S. Lord, who was in charge of a party for one year. Much valuable information was obtained from earlier published reports on the area and from officials of mining companies, to whom the writer is indebted for their kindly co-operation. It is impossible in this short paper to give proper credit to the earlier workers or to discuss certain points o disagreement between their conclusions and those presented here. For further information the following references may be consulted.

Jan 1, 1940

By N. Bahrani

Photogrammetry surveys were used to document a footwall slab failure that occurred at a surface coal mine located on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Photographs taken before and after the failure provided the pre- and post-failure geometry of the slope and the failed slab. A 2D finite element model was constructed using slope profiles. The model contained joint elements that represented the bedding surface upon which the slab slid and the model was used to analyze the footwall slope. The in situ stresses, rock properties and the bedding surface shear strength and stiffness properties are discussed. The process of mining out a valley and exposing a highwall was modelled. As expected, elastic valley rebound occurred in the model, but shear stress and shear displacement reversals along the slip surface were also observed. The modelling results provided new insight into shear strength degradation that occurs when the pit floor approaches and then passes a specific point in the highwall.

Jan 1, 2009

By C. R. Powell, W. H. Maher

"This paper presents a short history of the development of milling at Buchans, Newfoundland, and a description of the operation.History and DevelopmentTHE original ore discovery was made at Buchans in 1905 by Matty Mitchell, a Micmac Indian who was prospecting for The Anglo Newfoundland Development Company, which company was then preparing to build a paper mill at Grand Falls, some 50 miles east of Buchans. A development program, initiated in 1906, was terminated in 1911 because of metallurgical difficulties. Intermittent testing was carried out by The American Smelting and Refining Company, and in 1925 a satisfactory method of concentration by flotation was found. Following this, intensive geophysical reconnaisasnce, succeeded by diamond drilling, uncovered two additional orebodies similar to the original discovery at Buchans River."

Jan 1, 1966

By Norma G. González

La littérature et notre expérience en Bolivie dans une communauté minière très divisée comme celle de Huanuni nous montrent le besoin d?envisager des négociations gagnant-gagnant entre communauté et entreprise minière, non pas comme un point de départ, mais comme un résultat à atteindre, qui nécessite la préparation de conditions préalables. Cela implique fondamentalement de mettre l?accent sur le processus qui permettrait par la suite aux parties de mieux traiter les questions de contenu. Suivant cette hypothèse générale, l?initiative conjointe entre le Ministère des ressources naturelles du Québec et le CECI ?Développement des mécanismes de négociation entre communauté et entreprise minière? peut dégager, après un an et demi d?expérience pilote dans le site minier de Huanuni, département d?Oruro, Bolivie, les leçons préliminaires suivantes. Ce processus requiert: ??Agir, en tant qu?organisme consultant tierce partie, selon des principes et une méthodologie qui relèvent de la Communication publique et de la Médiation ; ??Comprendre et agir à partir de la ?réalité sociale? des parties en présence: l?entreprise minière, l?État et les différents groupes de la communauté; ??Intervenir sur les ?réalités sociales? des parties, par des actions d?éducation et de diffusion dans le but de préparer les personnes, les institutions et les organisations de la société civile, à des changements durables du modèle de communications existante; Approfondir la compréhension de la ?réalité sociale? du conflit (la culture du conflit, les méthodes populaires de résolution des problèmes et de gestion des conflits) afin d?offrire aux bénéficiaires les technologies appropriées pour la transformation de cette culture de confrontation violente en gestion constructive des conflits. Par ricochet, nous espérons ainsi faciliter l?attraction des investissements dans le secteur minier.

May 1, 2001

By S. R. Steinacker, H. Schnideritsch, J. Antrekowitsch

Primary copper industry flue dust plays an increasingly important role in the creation of matte and slag. From a thermodynamic point of view, the chemically formed section of fine particles play a techno-logically interesting role in comparison to the mechanical carry-over. Here, the volatilization and the sub-sequent condensation in the off gas system lead to a characteristic distribution of the contained elements which are represented by various compounds of desired metals like zinc and lead. On the contrary, certain undesired components such as arsenic, bismuth and cadmium accumulate within the product as well. This paper describes existing models and theories concerning the formation of flue dust in the copper smelting process and presents a thorough investigation of the physico-chemical fundamentals by verifying assump-tions with thermodynamic calculations. By fully understanding the formation patterns at different stages and temperatures within the process, better knowledge for flue dust in the first step of the pyrometallurgi-cal copper smelting can be obtained - hence leading to new ideas and incentives for the following stages in the copper production cycle.

Jan 1, 2015

By X. Cao, H. Huang, Z. Dai

"Crystal phase of copper-containing slag regulation by the slag viscosity, cooling speed and cooling method, where the slag viscosity is related to the temperature and alkalinity. According to the mineralogy properties of a copper-containing slag, experiments of crystal phase regulation and flotation were conducted. When the copper-containing slag that adding a small amount of calcium oxide was cooled slowly at a rate of 3°C/min and about 1050°C n a cinder inclusion system, the viscosity of slag can be remained under 0.25 Pa·S and more than ??% of copper particles that the grain size is larger than 20 ?m in slag. The whole flow of flotation experiment was carried out to recover copper from the copper-containing slag with crystal phase regulating and the copper concentrate grade was ?????%, the recovery efficiency of copper was 94.18%.INTRODUCTIONChina's annual output of copper slag is more than 6 million tons, the current total has reached 80 million tons. It is equivalent to 640 thousand tons of copper metal with the copper grade of 0.82%. Most of the smelting slag were storage. It is not only occupy the land and pollute the environment, but also make a huge waste of resource (Alp, Deveci, & Süngün, 2008; Carranza, Iglesias, Mazuelos, Romero, & Forcat, 2009; Gorai, & Jana, 2003), therefore, it is good way to achieve copper slag resources by the effective recovery of valuable component from copper smelting slag, which is an important measure of the current process of copper smelting slag and implement the central authorities to vigorously develop the circular economy, improve the recycling of resources, increase copper production of intensive development (Zhou, et al., 1994; Zhang, Zhang, & Wang, 2005). Currently, researches on comprehensive utilization of the coppercontaining slag made a much progress (Wei, 2004; Liu, Gai, Yang, Sui, Li, & Fu, 2008; Liu & Zhu, 2008; Zhang, 2010; Sun, Chen, & Tang, 2012; Qin, Wang, Ren, Wei, Peng, & Gu, 2012). Flotation is one of the most effective method to recover the copper from smelting slag, which has the features of low cost and high efficiency (Song & Liu, 2001; Zhang, Wang, & Li, 2012). But the copper particles in the copper smelting slag distribution is very uneven, and the thickness of the material is very serious. The copper content in the micro level is higher, the size of copper sulfide ore is less than 0.043 mm, which leads to the difficulty of the monomer dissociation (Tossavainen, Engstrom, Yang, Menad, Lidstrom, Larsson, & Bjorkman, 2007; Moustakas, Mavropoulos, Katsou, Haralambous, & Loizidou, 2012). In this study, according the process mineralogy of a smelting copper slag, the crystal of smelting copper slag was optimized by controlling the temperature, alkalinity, cooling rate and cooling method, which makes the fine copper mineral particles in the copper slag crystal further, and can be used to meet the particle size requirements of flotation, thereby enhancing the flotation of copper."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. E. Udd

A core sample for this study was taken from the sulphide ore of the Geco Mine. The subsequent research was based on the assumption that a part of the scattering of strength-grade data could be correlated with variations in the chemical and/or mineralogical compositions of the samples. The results demonstrate clear relationships between strengths in tension and compression and the zinc-iron contents of the rocks.

Jan 1, 1977

By B. Haugrud, E. McConaghy, M. Collins, G. Smith

"Laterite ore processed by the Ambatovy joint venture in Madagascar is primarily limonitic in nature, containing approximately 40–45 wt.% Fe and 1.1 wt.% Ni. The process selected for treatment of this ore considered the behaviour and deportment of iron in each step of the commercial flowsheet. Such considerations included nickel and cobalt recoveries, reagent consumptions, liquid-solid separation characteristics, and intermediate and final product purities. In this paper, the results for the first three years of commercial operation at Ambatovy are compared with the design parameters, with emphasis on the behaviour of iron.RÉSUMÉ Le minerai latéritique traité par l’entreprise commune Ambatovy au Madagascar contient principalement de la limonite, composée de 40–45 % en poids (wt%) de fer (Fe) et de 1,1 wt% de nickel (Ni). Le procédé choisi pour le traitement de ce minerai tenait compte du comportement et du maintien du fer à chaque étape du schéma de traitement commercial. Parmi les facteurs pris en compte figuraient les récupérations de nickel et de cobalt, les consommations d’agents réactifs, les caractéristiques de séparation des liquides-solides ainsi que la pureté des produits semi-fini et final. Cet article compare les résultats des trois premières années d’exploitation commerciale à Ambatovy aux paramètres d’étude, en insistant notamment sur le comportement du fer.INTRODUCTIONThe main component of nickeliferous laterite ore is iron, and the Ambatovy deposit in Madagascar is no exception. Ambatovy ore is primarily limonitic in nature, containing approximately 40–45 wt.% Fe and 1.1 wt.% Ni. The nickel content of the ore is approximately 1/40th that of the iron content by weight; therefore, successful recovery of nickel depends on close control of the behaviour of iron in the selected process.The Ambatovy area is located 80 km east of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Exploration dates back to 1960, when the Malagasy Service Géologique carried out a limited pitting and auger-drilling program. Phelps Dodge Corporation (now Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.) was granted the mining rights to the property in 1995 and carried out significant resource definition, environmental assessment, and engineering studies between 1995 and 2001 (Chou, Rooke, Williams, & Hanks, 2000). In 2003, Dynatec Corporation, which was formed in 1997 by the merger of Dynatec International Ltd. and Sherritt International Consultants Inc., signed a joint venture agreement with subsidiaries of Phelps Dodge to evaluate the Ambatovy nickel project. Dynatec became extensively involved in the development of the project, including process selection and pilot plant testing in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta (Collins et al., 2004, 2005; Collins & Vardill, 2005; Collins, Buban, Holloway, Masters, & Raudsepp, 2009). Dynatec acquired 100% of the project in 2005 and a joint venture between Dynatec, Sumitomo Corporation, Korea Resources Corporation (KORES), and SNC-Lavalin Inc. (SLI) was formed shortly thereafter to provide funding for further development. SLI was responsible for engineering, procurement, and construction management of the commercial facilities. Sherritt International Corporation reacquired Dynatec Corporation, including 40% ownership in the Ambatovy nickel project, in 2007. The current Ambatovy joint venture consists of an integrated nickel and cobalt mining, processing, refining, and marketing enterprise between subsidiaries of Sherritt (40% owner and mine and plant operator), Sumitomo Corporation (32.5% owner), and KORES (27.5% owner)."

Jan 1, 2017

By C Carbonneau

In order to successfully produce columbium pyrochlore concentrates, St. Lawrence Columbium and Metals Corporation had to face two principal problems met in several new operations but possibly made more acute than usual owing to the newness of the project. 1.-The ore is particularly complex, as it is made up of an elaborate intermingling of carbonates and discontinuous ultra-alkaline rock bodies of various ages and types in which no less than seventy mineral have been re-ported. Obvious petrographic or structural controls are lacking. Ore boundaries have to be defined on the basis of assay results and the determination of several minerals which occur in trace amounts. 2.-The pyrochlore concentrates produced had to com-ply with a set of stringent specifications. This fact, combined with the low Cb205 content of the ore, necessitated the use of a beneficiation process that would have to operate at a concentration ratio greater than 100:1. A brief description of the mill circuit is given. Mill stability was obtained through extensive mineralogical study of the mill feed coupled with close geological and engineering control of the mining operations.

Jan 1, 1965

By C. R. Machado

Sossego Mine was the first Vale SAG mill operation to process copper-gold ore. It is located in the state of Para, in the south-eastern Amazon region of Brazil. In the first six years of continuous operation, Vale investigated different alternatives for improving circuit performance by investigating operating conditions, mainly focusing on the SAG mill. Today, after a steady increase over five years the annual production rate seems to have stabilized. It is hoped this work will show how the SAG operating practice have been perfected with time and as new data are collected. Historical data of mill grind-outs and crash stops helped create operation curves depending on the ball charge volume and total charge volume. Also noted were impacts on throughput due to the effect of reducing liner weight and the ore type characteristics.

Jan 1, 2012