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By Shahram Tafazoli

This article presents a novel technology for sensing the size of rocks after blasting in hard rock mines. Blast engineers require rock size statistics to carefully adjust the blasting parameters. The rock fragmentation requirements vary depending on the ore type and crusher specifications. The most popular statistical parameters in the industry are the so-called P numbers (e.g., P80 and P100). A machine vision based system is introduced here for automatic image collection and fragmentation analysis of the material right inside the bucket or dipper of mining shovels. A heavy-duty camera provides the required imaging data to an embedded computer mounted inside the cab. A custom machine vision software continuously analyzes the captured bucket images and stores the suitable ones in local storage which are then fed to a Desktop software for automatic fragmentation analysis. This technology has been developed by Motion Metrics International and is commercially available as FragMetrics?.

May 1, 2009

By Pierre Gaucher

It is possible to selectively mine an orebody by combining the use of the SSW probe with any bulk mining methods as well as narrow vein exploitations. In other words, thanks to the use of the SSW probe, mining operators will be able to reduce and control dilution that is generally associated to every mining operation. Already, quick and substantial savings have been obtained. Falconbridge mines have demonstrated in Sudbury and Raglan operations, that the SSW probe can log nickel, copper and iron sulphides in blast holes. They have raised the grade and reduced dilution by outlining the limits of the ore zones before selectively loading explosives in the blast holes. By lowering the probe in a blast hole, a profile of the ore content is instantly measured and recorded. Logging cored diamond drill holes at the mine have demonstrated that the ore content (nickel, copper, cobalt, PGM) as assayed is proportional to the intensity of the probe?s electromagnetic response (EM), probably because the nickel / pyrrhotite ratio is uniform within a given orebody. The probe also measures the intrinsic conductivity of the sulphides and the percentage of magnetite. All probe readings are displayed and automatically stored at a 10-cm interval within the same reading unit. A 30-meter blast hole takes less than 2 minutes to survey. The whole instrument is light (12 kg) and very simple to use. One operator can carry the SSW system and survey either down or up-holes. The probe works from ?40°C to +50°C. Plotting the measurements of the SSW probe in blast holes (2-3-4-6-10 inches in diameter) before blasting allows to determine the exact shape of the orebody within the waste rock and uneconomic low-grade ore. Thus, only the portion of the holes that contains ore is blasted. The dilution is then much reduced and, by leaving the waste and low-grade ore in place, the mine saves on transportation, blasting, crushing, backfilling, milling, etc. Thousands of dollars are thus saved. Some savings may also be achieved during the development of stopes by guiding development drifts and by replacing diamond drilling by percussion drilling. In some circumstances, when the probe shows that some of the rich ore was not drilled-off, additional blast holes will allow to recover pockets of rich ore that otherwise would have been abandoned in the walls of a stope.

Oct 1, 2001

By B. Stimpson, K. Kosar, K. Barron

"A number of high wall failures have occurred in some of the Alberta coal strip mines of a type called by the authors ""Multiple block plane shear slope failure "". They cause rapid deterioration of the dragline bench, reduced productivity and maintenance costs.The failures are invariably associated with the presence of almost horizontal (± 5 degrees) bentonitic clay bands in the overburden, often immediately above the coal seam, and regress behind the slope as a series of tension cracks which isolate detached blocks. As many as 17 sets of cracks have been observed, at lateral distances in excess of five times the slope height from the toe.The theory of this mode of failure is presented and a limiting equilibrium computer program which will produce deterministic or probabilistic (Monte Carlo) solutions is briefly described. A case history of one such failure is documented. It is shown that the extent of the regressive failure is exceedingly sensitive to the water table elevation, leading to the conclusion that drainage, if practical, represents the best control strategy. IntroductionA number of high wall slope failures are occurring in some of the coal strip mines in Alberta of a type called by the authors ""Multiple block plane shear slope failure""(I). These failures cause a rapid deterioration of the bench from which the dragline operates, reduced productivity, and necessitate conregresses into the slope as a series of tension cracks and detached blocks. As many as 17 prominent cracks or crack zones have been observed, the last being in excess of five times the slope height distant from the toe.The block between each pair of cracks must be at limiting equilibrium, i.e. the factor of safety equals one. This condition can be used to determine the locations of the cracks which develop in sequence behind the face."

Jan 1, 1986

By Rob Morrison, Peter Cameron

"Many products and technologies have been developed from outcomes of research projects carried out by the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC). When these products and technologies are applied to the design and optimisation of blasting, comminution and separation, improvements in profitability can be realised.In 1970 Alban Lynch promoted two practical ideas to improve plant operations:• Ore and equipment properties can be separated allowing experience with one type of ore or equipment to be transferred to other types of ore and equipment. If this experience was encapsulated in a mathematical model, then these properties could be combined and used to simulate (ie. to design and to optimise) complete mineral processing circuits.• Many problems associated with scale-up from laboratory to industrial equipment could be eliminated by experimental work on full-scale equipment in the plant.Many JKMRC research projects have focussed on the development of models of unit operations in mineral processing and their application to process simulation.Models of comminution and classification developed at the JKMRC have been used since the early 1980's. Ore characterisation techniques developed to support these models are licensed world wide through JKTech. The application of comminution modelling techniques to blasting, which optimises the process feed size distribution is used in Mine-to-Mill® projects. The advances in the understanding and modelling of froth flotation over recent years have provided the opportunity for integrated ore characterisation and process optimisation from resource to product.JKMRC project outcomes often provide proven opportunities for the mineral industry to improve performance and productivity. JKTech was established in 1986 to commercialise and market the most promising outcomes and thus ensure their continuing availability to the mineral industry.They include:• Commercial software (JKSimMet, JKSimBlast and JKMetAccount).• Monographs (Comminution and Blasting).• Technologies (Mine-to-Mill® and flotation optimisation).• Hardware products (JKFrothCam, JKJetLift® and the Mineral Liberation Analyser).This paper summarises these technologies and their benefits."

Jan 1, 2003

By N. M. Soonawala

Detailed regional geophysical and geochemical surveys, ground surveys and drilling were undertaken to follow-up the federal-provincial Uranium Reconnaissance Program (URP) over the 27,OOO-km2 Kasmere-Munroe area in northwestern Manitoba. An analysis of the URP data showed a fair correlation between the regional airborne radiometric results and lake-bottom geochemical results, both of which also correlated with the regional geology. More detailed surveys defined anomalies with greater precision within the broad zones outlined by the URP. The ground follow-up indicated that URP anomalies can be caused by varying degrees of uranium concentration in the rocks. Mineralization of interest was found in leucogranites at several locations within the survey area. Anomalous uranium concentrations were also found in coarse pegmatites and Hudsonian granitic intrusions. It can be concluded that large-scale regional surveys can be followed up in relatively short periods of time to yield meaningful results if a properly planned exploration sequence is employed, each stage of which successively narrows the area of interest.

Jan 1, 1979

By Carlos F. Perucca

"Potassium is one of the three basic plant nutrients along with nitrogen and phosphorus. There is no substitute for potassium compounds in agriculture; they are essential to maintain and expand food production.Potash is extracted from buried ancient evaporites by underground or solution mining. This accounts for most of the potassium produced. Another important source is brine from landlocked water bodies, such as the Dead Sea, Salar de Atacama or Great Salt Lake.About 95% of potash produced worldwide is used in agriculture. The rest is found in several other industrial uses, including glass manufacturing, soaps, plastics and pharmaceuticals.Currently, three producers: IMC, PCS and Agrium operate 8 conventional and two solution mines in Saskatchewan, five of which run froth flotation circuits, two heavy media-flotation, two run forced crystallization and one natural crystallization.Potash in SaskatchewanPotash was discovered in Saskatchewan in the early 1940’s while drilling for oil. The deposits lie diagonally across the southern plains of Saskatchewan sloping southerly from a 1,000m depth at Saskatoon to more than 1,600 m depth at Belle Plaine and up to 3,000 m in depth in North Dakota. The known deposits are massive, accounting for more than 40% of the world’s known reserves."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. F. Banks

"The last time I spoke to you the potash industry was at a low point. Markets were bad and the industry depressed. Many people had left and there was very little being done in terms of development. The current situation is very much changed. The oversupply conditions have given way to a very tight supply capability. All of the firms in the business are expanding in one way or another. These expansions will run from simple debottlenecking through to complete new projects.In New Brunswick, the Potash Corporation of America is proceeding with a new project and the Dennison - Potacan Project is in progress. In Saskatchewan, the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan has an ambitious 2.5 billion dollar expansion program underway while those in the private sector are taking a somewhat less ambitious but equally significant approach to obtain further tonnage out of existing facilities.The significance of these expansions to mineral processors is that we can expect to see expanded employment opportunities and through necessity a surge in innovation and development in an industry that has been traditionally very conservative. This presentation will review potash processing with a view towards highlighting some of the more recent developments."

Jan 1, 1982

By Sanjeeva Latchireddi, Travis Orser

"Today’s high capacity semiautogenous grinding (SAG) mills expend vast amounts of energy and in doing so consume tons of shell liners and steel balls, while processing ore. The energy efficiency of these high throughput grinding mills can be attributed to the field of breakage and slurry discharge system. The charge motion and breakage of particles inside the mill depends on the shell lifters design, while the discharge of ground particles is controlled by the grate and pulp lifters. The limitations imposed by poor grate and pulp lifter design become increasingly apparent with increasing size of ag/sag mills and their operation in closed circuit. The design of these mill components has been largely based on trial and error and hence varies considerably between manufacturers. This paper discusses the use of two state of the art design tools - Millsoft™ and FlowMod™. Millsoft™ is an effective tool to design the shell lifters and optimize charge motion, whereas FlowMod™ simulates the slurry discharge system to design grate and pulp lifters. The application of these simulators will be discussed using case studies of full scale mills.INTRODUCTIONMany large mining operations around the world have one or more semi-autogenous (SAG) mills doing bulk of the work in their size reduction operation. The SAG mill is usually followed by a ball mill to finish the size reduction prior to the concentration step. In the past when primary, secondary and tertiary crushers fed material directly to large ball mills, the energy efficiency of the concentrator was determined for the most part by the ball mill operation, whereas now the energy efficiency of a plant often rests largely on the SAG mill operation. As a result mines have shifted their emphasis in optimization from ball mills to SAG mill"

Jan 1, 2005

By J. H. Crocket, J. Andy Fyon

"All gold deposits within the Tisdale Group are spatially associated with carbonate alteration zones; however, not all carbonate alteration zones are host to gold mineralization.Within the komatiitic and magnesium tholeiitic volcanic rocks at the base of the Tisdale Group, discordant and stratabound carbonate alteration zones occur throughout. The alteration zones consist of a ferroan dolomite - quartz inner assemblage which is enveloped by calcite-quartz and an outer chlorite-rich subzone. Factors which control the distribution of carbonate alteration include joint systems, flow contacts, synvolcanic faults and bulk composition of the host rock.Two environments of carbonate alteration can be recognized: 1) The subsea-floor alteration zones developed within the volcanic rock succession where hydrothermal fluids did not discharge directly onto the sea floor. Insignificant gold production has come from this alteration environment. 2) Seafloor zones, which represent points of hydrothermal fluid discharge into the hydrosphere, are spatially associated with felsic volcanic rock complexes and are host to syngenetic, auriferous cherty dolomite.Carbonatized, magnesium tholeiitic basalts, which are host to the auriferous, cherty dolomite, are enriched in antimony (>0.35 ppm), boron (>30 ppm), gold (>5 ppb) and lithium (> 35 ppm), but are depleted in copper ( < 70 ppm), with respect to carbonatized basalts not associated with gold. Orerelated, altered komatiitic flows can be screened using gold (>5 ppb), lead(> 10 ppm), arsenic(> 70 ppm) and antimony (>1 ppm).The habit, petrographic characteristics and certain geochemical characteristics of the altered volcanic rocks suggest that the hydrothermal fluid was of sea-water origin."

Jan 1, 1982

By Staff

Introduction As the Sherritt Gordon property is still in the development stage, . it is rather difficult to write a proper account of the mining methods and milling practice that will be used. While the general scheme of operation will remain the same, there will undoubtedly be many minor changes to meet special conditions which we cannot forsee at the present time. Most of the work accomplished to date has followed the usual routine of preliminary development in the Canadian North. However, we have learned a few things which might be of use to others operating under similar conditions. The most important of these is the saving in power cost made possible by the use of Diesels as against steam power when using wood fuel, and the movement of freight by tractors when rail transportation is not available. Location The property i6 located about 90 miles north of The Pas, or 40 miles northeast of the Flin Flon mine. A branch line from Cranberry Portage, on the?C. N. railway, between Flin Flon and The Pas, connects the property with the outside.

Jan 1, 1930

By Colin Hardie, Erik Bartsch, Guy Comeau

"The Xstrata Nickel Raglan Concentrator, located at the northern limit of Quebec’s Nunavik region has been in operation since 1997. Originally designed to process 800,000 tonnes per year of high grade nickel ore, plant capacity is currently approaching 1,200,000 tonnes per year due to an Optimization Project (FAG to SAG conversion) in 2005 and many recent processimprovements.In 2006, the Raglan Metallurgical Group with assistance from the Xstrata Process Support group decided to make SAG control one of its priorities in order to further increase throughput and improve stability. The original primary mill control logic delivered by the Optimisation Project in 2005 consisted of a simple PID loop controlling the mill charge (bearing pressure) through feed rate changes. Due to the multivariable, non-linear and disturbance dominated nature of the SAG circuit it was quickly found that this traditional PID control strategy was not able to adequately control the mill; resulting in poor stability, frequent operator interventions and less than optimum performance.This paper describes the successful integration of advanced field systems such as mill feed image analysis (Wipfrag) and crusher gap controller (ASRi), into a multi-variable fuzzy logic SAG mill controller. The process of how a strategy for control was developed and implemented directly in the existing control system (exploiting standard system capabilities) is discussed. It is also shown how this approach has provided mill automation which is simple, robust (despite erratic feed characteristics), and delivers both an increase in throughput and a reduction of variability.INTRODUCTIONOriginally commissioned as a Fully Autogenous Grinding (FAG) circuit in 1997, preparations to convert the Katinniq Concentrator Mill to SAG had in fact commenced as early as 1999, but were halted owing to alternative process improvements which achieved up to 1Mtpa as early as 2000. Up until this time, plant process controls had remained more or less static; modifications having been limited to those required by new equipment. Primary mill process controls and related measurements were at this stage limited to:"

Jan 1, 2008

By F. Ford, J. Dong

"Laboratory and miniplant testwork was carried out to reject uranium from an Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) deposit that contains an average of 60-70 ppm uranium with high variability. The dominate copper bearing mineral is chalcopyrite with minor bornite and trace covellite. The main gangue minerals are iron-rich chlorite, quartz and magnetite. The main uranium-containing mineral is uraninite (UO2). Downstream processes require the maximum uranium level of no more than 80 ppm in final copper concentrate.Mineralogical examination reveals that uraninite particles are finely disseminated with grain size of less than a few microns in the deposit requiring fine regrind in order to liberate uraninite from chalcopyrite particles. A lab flowsheet was developed to include ultrafine regrind of the rougher concentrate to the particle size of 80% passing 11-13 µm with up to four stages of recleaning in flotation columns. Finer regrind to 80% passing 5-6 µm may continue to improve liberation but does not decrease uranium level in the final concentrate. In each of the successive recleaning stages by flotation column after fine regrind, uraninite is rejected into the column tailings, with the final copper gold concentrate containing less than 70 ppm uranium from a feed containing 83 ppm uranium. The conceptual flowsheet was further tested in an integrated, continuous miniplant showing average 94% copper recovery with average 74 ppm uranium. The uraninite particles that report to the final concentrate are either locked with chalcopyrite or entrained as liberated particles of less than 5 µm in size.IntroductionIron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) deposits are copper and gold ores hosted within a large body of iron oxide and are significant ore deposits for copper and gold (Williams, et al., 2005). These deposits can also contain economic levels of other metals such as uranium and rare earth elements. The known sizes of IOCG deposits range from 10 to 4,000 million tonnes with grade of 0.2-5% copper and 0.1-3 g/t gold. One of the greatest IOCG deposits is Olympic Dam in South Australia. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest uranium deposit in the world. Gold and silver in the deposit also contribute significantly to the total revenue."

Jan 1, 2017

By F. D. Ford, Z. Dai, A. Byers

Manitoba Mining and Milling operations consist of three underground mines (Thompson T1, T3 and Birchtree), feeding the Thompson Mill. Three years ago, a collaborative effort involving Mines Exploration, Mines Project Development Group, Mill Technical Services and Vale Base Metals Technical Excellence Center was initiated to establish and verify the cause of high variability in concentrate quality and Ni recovery at the Thompson Mill. One outcome of this work was a program to systematically characterize the mineralogy and metallurgical performance of current and future orebodies feeding the mill. Mineralogy results show that high value enabling ores typically have a high pentlandite to pyrrhotite ratio and benign silicate mineralogy (mostly quartz and feldspar from sedimentary host rocks), while metallurgically challenging ores contain some combination of pyrite and/or hexagonal (non-magnetic) pyrrhotite and/or elevated quantities of talc (with associated carbonates) derived from altered ultramafic host rocks. The metallurgical performance of these two ore types has been simulated by an Excel particle flotation model, which calculates the relative floatability of particles based on the particle’s mineral composition and mineral locking determined from MLA images. The relationship between these mineral properties measured by MLA and metallurgical performance was established using 13 monthly composite samples from Thompson Mill. The model was then validated with results of laboratory flotation experiments on individual orebodies submitted for evaluation. The validated model can be used to predict plant metallurgical performance based on individual ore bodies feeding the mill. Individual orebody’s grade-recovery curves are assumed to be additive, and can be weighted in proportion to the mill feed to predict mill recovery over the same time period. The ore mixing can be done with a simple Excel spreadsheet and comes with a graphical output for easy visualization of the resulting grade-recovery curve.

Jan 1, 2015

By N. Sauret-Szczepanski, G. Patry, S. Gauthier, G. Potvin, C. Munger

Adsorption/thermal desorption with sorbent cartridges and analytical method using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed for the determination of tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and hexafluoroethane (C2F6) emitted from primary aluminum smelters. A customized cartridge was built like a packed column with a stainless steel tube filled with a specific resin. The optimization of adsorption and desorption parameters was carried out to support the PFC sampling for all aluminum production technologies. The proposed method showed good linearity for concentrations ranging from 10 to 500 ppbv for CF4 and from 5 to 500 ppbv for C2F6 with correlation coefficients above 0.999. In certain conditions, the detection limits of the analytical method reached 0.3 ppbv for CF4 and 0.15 ppbv for C2F6- Using this methodology, a field campaign was carried out using a sequential sampler allowing the simultaneous sampling of PFC with cartridges and sampling bags. The results showed no significant difference (t-test) between the two sampling technologies and no breakthrough was observed from the cartridges .

Jan 1, 2006

By Ralph Harris, Xia Qi, Frank Komsic

"Gold cyanidation kinetics which are often limited in commercial operations by the rate of oxygen dissolution from gas bubbles into the slurry, are discussed. Emerging technologies for improving the rate of oxygen dissolution are compared and the gas efficiency, energy use and operating performance of inverted cones and a device based on a jet diffuser are examined. The effect of solids loading is also reviewed and a relationship between operating parameters and the kilograms oxygen dissolved per kilowatt-hour is presented.Inverted cones are shown to create slurry settling problems at high gas flow rates and surface tension lowering agents are shown not to greatly improve the overall rates of oxygen dissolution.The novel jet diffuser technology operates at a range of gas to liquid ratios that improves its energy use over conventional technology and the performance of a number of designs are discussed.Gas efficiencies as high as 35% were observed with the novel diffusers at 40 cm diffuser immersion and are expected to increase at greater immersions. Energy use of 1.8 kg 02 I kWh were estimated for prototype full size diffusers operating at 100 cm immersion. Energy use of 3.S kg 02 /kWh is conservatively expected at 600 cm immersion.IntroductionGold ExtractionGold that can not be recovered by gravity separation can be recovered by either the Merrill-Crow process or the newer carbon in pulp (CIP) or carbon in leach (CIL) processes 1. Reductions in operating costs and improvements in gold recovery are central mill operating strategies. The present paper examines the potential for improvement that can be achieved in the gold cyanidation step of gold recovery. This paper introduces a number of emerging technologies and provides a basis for comparison of the performance. It shows that the basis for comparison of a particular technology depends on the type of gold extraction circuit employed and the type of reactants employed."

Jan 1, 1996

Scope / Agenda ? What is Situation Awareness (SA)? ? Background on SA theory ? SA is critical in a wide variety of domains ? SA and human performance ? Consequences of poor SA ? Significant challenges for SA in mining operations ? Technology centric design ? SA-oriented design methodology ? Goal-Directed Task Analysis ? Design ? SA Measurement and Evaluation ? Applications of SA-oriented design

Aug 1, 2013

By G. H. Hope

"Pamour Porcupine Mines of Timmins, Ontario operates two 3,000 ton per day concentrators which receive ore from eight to ten mines in the area. The area milling concept was adopted by Pamour in 1971 and has been used successfully since then. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the advantages and the problems of area milling. Pamour Porcupine Mines Limited operates two 3,000 ton per day concentrators which receive ore from eight to ten mines in the Porcupine region. The area milling concept was adopted as the route to survival for Pamour and has worked successfully. HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDProduction of gold from the Porcupine region in Northern Ontario started in the early 1900's and has been continuous since that time. Some of the major operators were companies such as Mcintyre, Hollinger, Dome, Pamour, Paymaster and the list goes on. An underground survey would reveal hundreds of miles of drifts and raises. The main group of mines extends from South East of Timmins to the Pamour Mine, 15 miles to the east. During the lean years of the sixties when gold prices were low, labour costs were rising rapidly, and ore grades were dropping, many of the area mines closed down their operations."

Jan 1, 1981

By Craig M. Sams

"Variable speed mill popularity has grown during the last 10 years with almost every SAG mill fitted with a variable speed drive. In addition, many of today’s larger ball mills are running a variable speed drive for various reasons. In the past, motor suppliers, especially gearless drive suppliers, have considered mills as being an overpriced rotor. This has lead to mills demanding more torque than what a motor can generate. This paper identifies the reasoning of what has happened and how to mitigate the mismatch in the future. Technical and economical issues are discussed, allowing mill operators to make an informed decision of which path to take in deciding what motor to put on a mill.INTRODUCTIONIt has been generally accepted in the past that motor suppliers and specialists in engineering companies understand the workings of a SAG mill or a ball mill and although there is a fair knowledge within the industry, in regards to mill torque requirements, the advent of variable speed drives in ball mills has shown the writer that a complete understanding of the mill torque requirements are not fully understood.This paper will discuss two aspects of mill torque requirements, (operating torque at various charge levels and start up torque), and how it relates to specifying the proper motor torque requirements.MILL OPERATING TORQUEMill operating torque at a given charge level and density in a mill is essentially constant throughout the entire speed range. For the purpose of this paper, we will take a 38’x 22.5’, 20’ EGL, SAG mill and provide the power draw at variable speeds but fixed loading conditions.The power draw and mill torque of this mill at 8% ball charge and 28% total loading (Highlighted) is shown below as Figure 1, at variable speeds."

Jan 1, 2007

By Owen Matthews

THE property of Cochenour Willans Gold Mines, Limited, is in Dome township, Red Lake area, northwestern Ontario, a hundred miles north of Kenora and close to the Manitoba border. &apos;Planes of Canadian Pacific Air Lines, Limited, serve the district daily, except Sundays, from Kenora, Ontario, and Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, passengers being trans-ported from Winnipeg to Lac du Bonnet by car. Freight is handled by the Patricia Transportation Company. It is brought in from Hudson, Ontario, on the Canadian National railway, in summer by water and in winter by tractor trains over the frozen lakes. The first staking on the property was done during the &apos;rush&apos; of 1926 and 1927 by William M. Cochenour, and on April 30th, 1928, a syndicate was formed, taking in claims of W. M. Cochenour and Dan Willans and H. G. Young. Surface trenching was carried on almost continuously until 1934. In October, 1932, Ventures Limited took an option on the property, and in December of that year they carried out an extensive diamond drilling programme, but considering the results did not justify further work, they relinquished the option. In July, 1934, further surface work was carried out under the supervision of W. P. Mackle and, on the strength of his report, Noah Timmins Incorporated took an option on the property and agreed to make an initial expenditure of $100,000 on development work. This was carried out under the direction of Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines and included the sinking of a shaft to a depth of 165 feet, establishment of a level at the 150-foot horizon, and some 1,900 lineal feet of drifting and cross-cutting. The results obtained from this work were not considered of sufficient promise and the option was terminated in August, 1935. Mr. Cochenour then approached Alex Mackenzie and associates, and the present Company, Cochenour Willans Gold Mines, Limited, was organized on April 9th, 1936, and sufficient money was raised to continue operations. Under the direction of W. P. Mackle, the shaft was deepened and a second level was established at the 275-foot horizon; but, due to several adverse reports by outside engineers, it was found impossible to raise sufficient money to carry on the work and operations were suspended in December, 1937. In January, 1939, an agreement was entered into with Gold Eagle Gold Mines for the milling in their plant of some Cochenour ore. A total of 4,959 tons was treated, and the results were so encouraging that further finances were raised by C. A. Gentles & Company, of Toronto. Following further development in the mine, it was decided to erect a mill. Construction was started on September 1st and the mill was turned over on November 29th. The first gold brick was poured on December 23rd.

Jan 1, 1942

By C. M. Campbell

IN 1902, a famous Canadian geologist made the following statement : ?&apos;From what we know row of the iron-ore fields of the Province, we may feel that Ontario is assured of a great future as an iron-ore producing country. Judging from the extent of the territory over which the newly discovered ranges have been found, Ontario should in the not far distant future take her place as one of the chief iron producers in the world". In 1905, an official of the Department of Mines said: "In ten years Canada will have b:ecome a great metallurgical country. You will see an iron industry in this Dominion larger than in any country in the world. Canada will yet furnish the world with its iron supply. It will be the same with iron as with wheat. A decade from now Canada will outstrip all other countries in wheat growing. The production of iron at a cheaper rate than it can be made elsewhere will cause Canada to take a similar position as far as iron is concerned". In 1924, a former President of the Institute, in arguing his claim for inconceivable mineral wealth in this country, stated as a "certainty" that iron-ore deposits on the scale of the ones in Minnesota would be found "again and again" in the Canadian Precambrian. In 1930, a Minister of Mines announced that "The country surrounding Churchill holds large deposits of valuable iron and coal", and he stated that, at that place, &apos;We will have an industry in iron that will compare with Pittsburgh". These statements are definite promises, just as definite and important as the statement "I promise to pay" on a note, and they are not fulfilled by casually stating, as is the habit, that someday we will work our low-grade iron ores. Nor are they fulfilled by stating, as is often done, "Oh, So-and-So did not mean that &apos; . Due to their importance and to the prominent positions held by the men who made these statements, they were widely circulated throughout Canada. They were taken at their face value, and on the strength of them and many more of the same kind in regard to our other resources we have planned and built, at huge expense, provinces, governments, civil services, railways, and other equipment. The reserves that were to justify these expenditures have not appeared. There has not been a ton of iron ore mined in Canada for many years, and important commercial reserves are unknown. We have built the mill, but adequate ore is lacking.

Jan 1, 1937