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By Matt Manson

?? Current Exploration and Assessment ?? Overview of Potential Development ?? Infrastructure ?? Opportunities and Challenges ?? Renard? 1-10 kimberlite pipes and ?Lynx-Hibou? kimberlite dyke system within ?Foxtrot? property ?? 50/50 Joint Venture between Ashton (a subsidiary of Stornoway) and SOQUEM ?? Discovered 2001-2003 ?? Québec is routinely assessed as one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world ?? Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. Is Stornoway?s largest shareholder and a leading mine developer in Québec

May 1, 2008

Of the many organic impurities present in Bayer liquor, sodium oxalate is known to have one of the most detrimental effects on the Bayer process. Because of its limited solubility, it will co-precipitate with gibbsite during the precipitation stage which results in many operational challenges for the refinery. Despite the importance of this phenomenon, the interaction mechanism between gibbsite and sodium oxalate is not well understood. In this study, the growth of sodium oxalate on three main morphologies (random agglomerates, prims and hexagons) of water-washed and caustic-washed gibbsite was observed under synthetic Bayer conditions using in situ optical microscopy. After a short induction period, oxalate started to nucleate on gibbsite crystals, and grew with a needle-shaped morphology which eventually developed into oxalate bundles. In addition, the results indicated that caustic washing was able to partly decompose gibbsite crystals and thus make the gibbsite surface rougher, which provides more potential sites for oxalate nucleation and growth. The growth rate of oxalate crystals on the basal (001) face of water-washed gibbsite was 1.33 µm/min determined by the time-lapse imaging of in situ optical microscope.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. van Huyssteen, M. Cantor

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited's Ahafo Operation has matured from its project ramp up stage into steady state operations after three years of operation. Management focus has shifted from addressing construction and commissioning problems to optimization and improvement. This focus change has coincided with the introduction by Newmont of a Continuous Improvement (CI) program across the company which provided a project management methodology that can be used in the execution of smaller scale projects. This paper focuses on the application of CI principles at the Ahafo Plant through the discussion of several case studies that demonstrate how these principles are applied.

Jan 1, 2011

By N. Novikov, M. Jastrzebski, N. Kryzhanovskaya, D. Shevchenko, I. Kapran, N. V. Novikov, T. Koehler, B. Zaporozhets

"The PFK FeNi Smelter was re-commissioned by Solway Resources in 2002, ending a long period of economic decline in the adjacent town. In 2009 Hatch was retained to design, supply and install a custom furnace crucible that would accommodate a capacity increase from 34 MW to 40 MW and increase campaign life through binding and cooling technologies, as part of ongoing improvement efforts. The involvement of PFK personnel was critical to the successful integration of the new furnace technology with the existing process and operational practice. The furnace upgrade project was completed in 18 months during 2010 – 2011. Since start-up, the furnace has exceeded production expectations, operating successfully at 42 MW.INTRODUCTIONAfter ceasing operations in the 1990’s, the Pobuzhsky Ferronickel Combine (PFK), located in central Ukraine, was stripped of useful equipment and deteriorated while dormant. The surrounding town experienced a period of economic decline throughout the 1990’s. Solway Industries purchased the complex in 2002 and began a systematic incremental program to re-commission the smelter using both local expertise and specialists from other parts of the former Soviet Union. This led to the re-birth of PFK as a successful toll-smelting complex, and a renaissance for the surrounding economy.As part of the continuing improvement program, PFK approached Hatch in 2009 to study the possibility of a capacity expansion from 34 MW to 40 MW. It was decided, based on the results of the study, to design and install a custom furnace crucible integrating the unique PFK FeNi process with modern Hatch furnace technology. This novel approach had many benefits, including: maximum re-use of existing furnace components (off-gas, feed equipment and transformers), minimal impact on upstream and downstream equipment and building structure, and the retention of a familiar operating regime. The latter was a key factor in the success of the project, as it allowed the extensive operating expertise of the PFK staff to remain highly relevant to the upgraded furnace. This led to minimized capital investment, a rapid start-up and no significant operational challenges switching over to the new equipment incorporating Hatch furnace technology."

Jan 1, 2012

By Julian Boldy

"A review of lI5 significant volcanogenic massive sulphide discoveries in the Canadian Precambrian during the past 65 years reveals that only 7% resulted from surface exploration methods aimed at depths below the effective reach of current geotechnical systems. This has been due to the relative ease of shallow discovery, resulting in the harvesting of ore deposits within 100 m of surface. This surficial layer has been more or less effectively supersaturated by routine exploration. In view of the fact that a mining district's metal content is not likely to be confined to a surficial layer, the time has come to explore the vertical dimension, prospecting for ore at depths in excess of 150 m in productive districts.Essential to this task is an understanding of the Precambrian volcanogenic ore deposit model. The deposits generally have .a tendency to be associated with the terminal phases of felsic volcanism, and to be located along certain time-stratigraphic horizons, marked by the products of volcanic exhalation. The significant massive sulphide deposits are discrete entities, ranging from the top 5% of deposits greater than 45 million tonnes in size, with a surface area of 0.30 km2, to median-sized deposits greater than 1.2 million tonnes in size with a surface area of 0.02 km2. These significant economic ore deposits range in value from $5.5 billion for the top 5% of deposits to $125 million for median-sized deposits. In terms of their frequency of occurrence, the former group has a 4% distribution and the median-sized deposits have a 15% distribution.An historical review of many of the principal Precambrian mining districts, such as Noranda and Flin Flon, shows that major tonnages are usually discovered during the initial phase of application of each new geotechnical search system, until carried to its ultimate limit of effective depth penetration. With the exception of the Noranda district, the mean depth of ore discovery in the other districts is still generally confined to within 50 m of surface.Targeting deep ore is difficult. One effective prospecting method is the detection of fracture-controlled mercury leakage haloes in outcrop (or core) above and peripheral to blind deposits. This technique has proved to be a useful pathfinder, and focuses attention on deposits buried at depths in excess of 700 m in some instances. Down-hole EM systems also promise to be effective in locating deposits previously bypassed by drilling. In addition, trend surface analysis programs of trace element geochemistry should be used as an aid to targeting ore by directing exploratory drilling along the plane of ore-hosting stratigraphy.By definition, mining districts have a proven ""favourability"" for the occurrence of ore. Discovery probabilities in these districts will be considerably enhanced if future search efforts are concentrated below a depth of 150 m, and more use is made of ""deep"" ore search systems coupled with sound geological reasoning. Deep drilling programs to a depth of800 m should initially be designed to search for the top 25% of deposits greater than 3.3 million tonnes in size, with a surface area of0.05 kmt. :a value of$310 million and a 12% frequency of occurrence; This can be accomplished for an over-all cost approximating $40,000 per drill hole. If the search depth is limited to 400 m, the over-all cost of each drill hole is $20,000, equivalent to expenditures routinely allocated to grassroots exploration drilling in the remote greenstone belts of the Precambrian. Depending on a company's objective, prospecting for deep ore offers a stimulating challange - though risky, it has its rewards."

Jan 1, 1981

ABSTRACT It is critical that historical processes and concomitant exposures to specific nickel substances be understood because some diseases linked to inhalation of certain nickel-containing substances have a long latency between first exposure and disease onset, and because nickel substances vary significantly in their toxicological properties. A discussion of the smelting history and related processes at Vale Canada’s (Inco’s) Copper Cliff, Ontario, smelter is integral to the understanding of these processes. The post-1950 processing history, equipment, propensity for aerosol formation, operational procedures, and ventilation controls used by Vale Canada in roasting, smelting, converting, and copper-nickel separation is discussed.

Jan 1, 2013

By A. J. Monhemius

"This paper reviews the history of modern iron-control processes in hydrometallurgy. Attention is paid to processes developed in the electrolytic zinc industry for removal of iron from zinc sulfate leach liquors and the problems faced by the industry in the safe disposal of the iron residues produced by these processes. Past lessons learned are projected onto current efforts to develop hydrometallurgical processes for treatment of copper sulfide concentrates. It is argued that any attempt to create a “hydrometallurgical copper smelter” will fail, unless methods are developed that can recover iron in a form that can be directly used by the steel or pigment industries.RÉSUMÉ Cet article passe en revue l’histoire des procédés modernes de contrôle du fer en hydrométallurgie. Il accordera une attention particulière aux procédés développés dans l’industrie du zinc électrolytique pour l’élimination du fer dans les liqueurs lixiviantes de sulfate de zinc anhydre, ainsi qu’aux problèmes rencontrés par l’industrie en termes d’élimination sans danger des résidus ferreux générés par ces procédés. En projetant les leçons tirées du passé sur les efforts actuels, on pourra développer des procédés hydrométallurgiques pour le traitement de concentrés de sulfure de cuivre. Beaucoup prétendent que toute tentative de créer une « fonderie de cuivre hydrométallurgique » échouera à moins de développer des méthodes permettant de récupérer le fer sous une forme pouvant directement être utilisée par les industries sidérurgique ou des pigmentsINTRODUCTIONThis paper resulted from an invitation to the author from the CIM’s Historical Metallurgy Committee to give a presentation on the early developments of iron control in hydrometallurgy. This was to take the form of a plenary lecture at the 4th Symposium on Iron Control in Hydrometallurgy, which formed part of the 28th International Mineral Processing Congress, held in Quebec City in September 2016.I was naturally flattered that the invitation was to give the lecture at an IMPC, the prestigious conference series that has been held since the 1950s. That this particular IMPC was to include the 4th Symposium on Iron Control in Hydrometallurgy, a conference series held only every 10 years, made the invitation even more appealing and appropriate. This was because I had been co-chairman of the First Symposium on Iron Control, together with my erstwhile colleague, John Dutrizac, which was held 30 years ago in Toronto."

Jan 1, 2017

By R. H. Chambers, L. Alderman

"The paper is introduced by an examination of the factors which have led to the present world-wide interest in charging preheated coal to coke ovens. Various possible methods of preheating and charging the coal are considered and reasons are given for the adoption of the methods chosen. The design of the pilot preheating plant for the British Coke Research Association is discussed and its influence on the design of the commercial units for the South African Iron and Steel Corporation's plant at Pretoria and the British Steel Corporation's plant at Beighton are explained. Operating procedures on the pilot plant are described, particularly with regard to the charging of the preheated coal. Design features of the commercial installations, engineered by Simon-Carves Ltd., are explained with emphasis on the built-in safety of the control system of the preheating plant, and the particular problems associated with the erection of such plants on working coke oven batteries. Commissioning and operating procedures are described and the problems associated with the integration of the preheating plant into the normal pushing schedule of the plant are discussed. Preliminary operating results with regard to the effect of preheating on coal throughput on the commercial plants and on the properties of the coke produced are given."

Jan 1, 1972

By Jim Excell, Jim Rothwell, Mike Rylati

"LocationThe Ekati Diamond mine is located at Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories.Brief Description of OperationBHP Diamonds Inc. has developed Canada's first diamond mine in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. BHP Diamonds Inc. is part of the BHP World Minerals Division ofBHP Minerals. The project is a joint venture between manager and operator BHP (51%) and the Blackwater Group (49%). The Blackwater Group comprises Dia Met Minerals Limited, Charles Fipke and Stewart Blusson.Production at the NWT diamonds project began in October with the mine officially opened October 14, 1998. The project is situated on an 853 000 acre claim block located in the Lac de Gras region of the NWT. It is about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife and 100 km south of the Arctic Circle. The seasonal winter ice road to the Echo Bay Lupin mine passes along the eastern margin of the project area. This allows road access each year from mid-January to mid-April. For the remainder of the year, the project is accessible only by air.HistoryIn 1980, Charles Fipke traced indicator minerals east from the Mackenzie River area. He discovered indicator minerals in the Lac de Gras area and staked mineral claims in 1989. A joint venture was formed between BHP and Dia Met in 1990, and in 1991, the first diamonds in the NWT were discovered at Point Lake by BHP and Dia Met. This initiated the largest staking rush in Canadian history. The joint venture launched an aggressive exploration program.Koala, Fox, and Leslie were identified in 1992 as potentially economic pipes.As soon as the project's potential was established, it was recognized that an enormous amount of work had to be completed in several areas before a mine could be developed, namely: technical evaluation of the resources; environmental and socio-economic evaluation to procure the necessary permits for the development; and engineering design to optimize mining and processing of the resource and to comply with specific environmental requirements."

Jan 1, 2000

By S. Koski

The Cerro Verde copper-molybdenum porphyry mine, majority owned and operated by Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold, is located 30 km southwest of Arequipa Peru. The concentrator, which produces copper and molybdenum concentrates, started operating in late 2006 with a 108,000 tpd design capacity, processing primary sulfide ore (mainly chalcopyrite and molybdenite). Plant capacity was recently increased to 120,000 tpd. The comminution circuit consists of one 60? x 113" primary crusher, four MP-1000 secondary crushers in closed circuit with dry screens, four 2.4m x 1.6m High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGRs) in closed circuit with wet screens, and four 7.3m x 11m gearless ball mills in closed circuit with cyclones. The HPGR circuit is fed by the Secondary Crushing circuit product at a T80 of 35 millimeters, and the HPGR circuit product feeds the Ball Mill circuit at a T80 of 3000 microns. This paper describes operating experiences with HPGRs during these first four years highlighting improvements in operating practices and presentation of data regarding operational efficiencies, also discussed are the primary benefits provided by HPGRs such as production of micro fractured particles, reduced ore Bond Work Index, and reduced power consumption. Cerro Verde represents the first installation of HPGRs in both the copper industry and large scale hard rock mining.

Jan 1, 2012

By R. W. Coburn

The results of field experiments on wells which required stimulation indicated that engineered well-completions will cause an increase in ultimate recovery at reduced costs. Techniques and tools have been developed which can be used to establish well conditions most conducive to successful stimulation. Cementing, perforating and treating are bound together so completely that the success of one phase is completely dependent on the .effectiveness of the preceding phase. A method of determining the efficiency or effectiveness of any given well-stimulation treatment has been derived. Pressure behaviour during a treatment can be analyzed to yield the total percentage of the formation which has been treated.

Jan 1, 1960

By R. A. King, B. G. Hunt, C. E. T. White

"This paper reviews the history, occurrence, properties, and uses of indium, and describes the commercial production and fabrication of that metal by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited (Cominco), at Trail, B.C'. Indium is produced commercially at Trail from dross retreatment furnace D.R.F.) slag, a complex by-product of the lead smelting operations. Furnace feed prepared from this slag is smelted with coke and limerock in an electric furnace. The e1ectric furnace bullion is parted electrolytically, producing a market-able lead-tin alloy containing about 8 per cent tin, and leaving the indium in the anode slime. Recovery of indium from the anode slime involves roasting the slime with sulphuric acid, followed by leaching with water, purifying the leach solution, recovering the indium by sponging with zinc or aluminum, and re-fining electrolytically. This process yields standard grade (99.97+ per cent) indium which is either sold or refined •to high purity ( 99.999 per cent) indium for special uses requiring higher purity metal."

Jan 1, 1959

By Pritii Tam Wai Yin, Tony Leong, Neetu Bansal, James Vaughan, Amiel Boullemant

Mercury is a toxic element that is associated with many industrial activities including the Bayer process. Mercury is known to enter the Bayer process with the bauxite feed material and has the potential to accumulate as the process solution is recycled. This paper explores the speciation of mercury in Bayer process streams. The process parameters considered are the oxidising-reducing potential, basicity and temperature. The results of a refinery circuit survey are presented and compared with the thermodynamic predictions. Electrochemical measurements on relevant synthetic systems are also included.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. A. Kessick

Current treatment and disposal procedures are compared for clay slimes resulting from the extraction of Alberta oil sands, the extraction of Florida phosphate matrix, the recovery of diamonds from kimberlite deposits in South Africa, the recovery of kaolin from clay deposits in southwest England and the upgrading of bauxite ore. Published research in the area is reviewed, and common trends which are emerging in the disposal of clay slimes are discussed.

Jan 1, 1978

By H. W. Fleming

In 1955, the results of a regional, geological interpretation of the northern portion of New Brunswick were used as a basis for selecting, for intensive exploration, three areas in which structural and stratigraphic conditions were believed to be favourable. Airborne electromagnetic work, in one of these areas, provided the justification for acquiring the Murray group. Even though the initial results were discouraging, this geological interpretation, combined with the fortuitous discovery of cop• per-bearing float, was sufficient reason for carrying out further work using geochemical methods. This work finally resulted in the discovery of the Murray massive-sulphide deposit, after about eighteen months of coordinated exploration on the property. While this deposit is a typical New Brunswick-type base-metal occurrence, extensive leaching has produced a fossil gossan that rendered it an elusive target for exploration techniques of limited penetration Full credit for localizing the target area is given to the geochemical techniques, but geophysical surveys were needed to provide the necessary

Jan 1, 1961

By S. B. V. Stewart, W. W. Forsyth

"Since the Mathew's method for open stope design was first proposed by Golder Associates in 1980 it has been applied at a number of mine sites in Canada. The initial hypothesis was based on a relatively small amount of data and the intervening period has allowed the collection of a significant amount of new data to test the validity of the method.This paper examines a brief history of the evolution of rock mass classification systems to provide background and emphasize their empirical and non-rigorous approach. It also presents the new data which appear to indicate that the initial hypothesis was reasonably good. The modification to the original graph proposed by Potvin is discussed as well as the applicability of the method to predicting the onset of caving. The original graph has been updated and has been subdivided into four zones described as ""stable""; ""potentially unstable""; ""potential major failure""; and ""potential caving"". The method is recommended as a useful open stoping design tool provided it is recognized that it is not a rigorous design method.Finally the paper proposes a recommended approach for application of the method by would-be users and addresses some typical pitfalls that may be encountered."

Jan 1, 1995

By C. R. Stelck

"AbstractThe Cardium formation of northeastern British •Columbia •contains an erosional unconformity that becomes progressively more severe northward until, •at Liard river, the stratigraphic hiatus eliminates the underlying Lower •Cardium sandstone, the Kaskapau formation, and the upper Dunvegan sandstones. The area of unconformity roughly coincides with the distribution of the continental facies of the earlier Dunvegan formation. Along Wapiti river, the zone fossil Scaphites ventricosus Meek and Hayden is found in the Bad-heart member of the overlying Wapiabi shale; Scaphites :preventricosus. Cobban marks the base of the Wapiabi shale; Scaphites cf. corvensis •Cobban is found in the middle shale member of the •Cardium formation. The log of the Red-Willow No. 1 well shows close similarity to the outcrop sections south of Wapiti river. The Cardium formation is mainly late Turonian in age. Two other pre-Cardium Turonian sands of north-eastern British Columbia are named the Wartenbe and Tuskoola sands.IntroductionTHE Upper Cretaceous Cardium (Bighorn) sandstone formation of the Foothills of northeastern British Columbia carries within its formational limits an erosional unconformity. The unconformity decreases to the southeast, becoming in immediate shoreline regions, now under the plains, a minor diastem. Such diastems, or stratigraphic intervals of non-deposition, occurring in the shallow unda-zone are paralleled in the deeper portions of the unda-zone by the phenomena of sub-aqueous winnowing. '.This winnowing and re-working •at critical depths creates sand areas with porosity."

Jan 1, 1955

By K. C. Grogan

"GeneralGIANT ORE is complex, with the gold values for the most part occurring in extremely close association with arsenopyrite, stibnite, jamesonite, and a wide group of antimonial minerals locally termed 'the grey minerals'. Pyrite is the most abundant of the sulphide minerals• and minor quantities of chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite also occur. Pyrrhotite has been found in some sections of the mine, but to date none of it has been nickeliferous. Native gold occurs in varying amounts throughout the ore bodies.In 1944, ore dressing investigations were commenced on diamond-drill core rejects and samples of surface outcrop ore. Results soon indicated that treatment to produce satisfactory recovery of the gold values would involve fine grinding to 80-85 per cent minus 200 mesh, recovery of free gold by jigs, followed by flotation, roasting of the flotation concentrate, and subsequent cyanidation of the calcine. Proceeding from this information, the flow-sheet was prepared, plant design worked out, equipment purchased, and construction of the treatment plant commenced in May, 1947.The crushing, grinding, and flotation units of the plant were rushed to completion and commenced operation on May 12th, l.948, at 225 tons of ore per day. This rate was maintained until January 27th, 1949, when the Allis-Chalmers roaster and cyanide plants were completed and commenced operation. During the period May 12th, 1948, to January 27th, 1949, gold recovered by amalgamation was the sole source of revenue. Flotation concentrate was stockpiled pending the completion of the Allis~Chalmers roaster and cyanide plants."

Jan 1, 1953

By Q. Liu, P. Katsabanis, J. A. Meech

A thermohydrodynamic computer code has been used to simulate dust explosions. For sulphide dusts, the thermodynamic predictions are used to investigate the effect of dust concentration, mineral content and inert materials as well as the quantity of sulphur dioxide produced. It was found that the amount of oxygen available for the explosion is very important and that the dust concentration which gives maximum explosion pressures is obtained at zero or slightly negative oxygen balance values. The sulphide minerals were found to have the following explosibility sequence: pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, covellite, chalcocite and galena, which is in agreement with mine experience. The results show that theoretical calculations can be used to predict explosion pressures and toxic gases produced by a dust explosion and therefore they can assist in the design of protective measures .

May 11, 1988

By Louis Frost

MINE ventilation has for many years been the subject of intensive study by numerous investigators who have presented their findings in forms that are understandable to the average mining man, and all this writer hopes to do is to review those findings in relation to the 'manager's' problem in mine ventilation. It would not, perhaps, be wholly correct to acclaim practical mine ventilation as an exact science, because of the many variables entering into the problem. Each mine has its own particular problem and ventilation characteristics. Fan design, in contra distinction to mine ventilation, is an exact science, but the designer cannot always take into proper consideration the practical variations to which each mine is subject. Fan designers, accordingly, are forced to base their design on such data as the mine manager or engineer is able to supply, and, when it is borne in mind that the mine characteristic is constantly changing, it is not at all surprising that fans do not always show efficiencies hoped for. In many instances, fans work far beyond the de-signer's limitations, and, in consequence, are an economic disability in the colliery cost-sheet, and it is of paramount importance that the colliery manager evaluate all the factors involved in relation to fan performance for the colliery to receive full benefit from its investment.

Jan 1, 1941