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By K. Turgeon, D. Larivière, L. Whitty-Léveillé, J. -F. Boulanger, C. Bazin

"The processing of ore containing rare earth elements leads to the production of an impure solution of these elements. The separation of the rare earths from the impurities and the production of individual elements is usually carried out by solvent extraction. The effectiveness of the extraction conditions and of the reagents is generally tested in the laboratory. This paper deals with the processing of results from solvent extraction laboratory tests planned to generate data redundancy. A method is proposed to take advantage of the data redundancy by accounting for the pH variation during the extraction. The parallel processing of several tests also allows estimating the equilibrium constants for the extraction. The proposed method produces equilibrium constants that are more reproducible than values estimated using conventional approaches. The method is illustrated with solvent extraction tests conducted on synthetic solutions of rare earth elements.INTRODUCTIONThe processing of ores containing rare earth elements (REE) usually includes the production of a concentrate of the minerals carrying the REE. These minerals, for instance monazite and bastnäsite, contain the 14 elements from La to Lu plus yttrium and scandium. As an example monazite has the general formula of (La,Ce,Pr,Nd,Sm,Eu,Gd,Tb,Dy…Lu)PO4 with a typical lanthanum content of 20-26%, cerium content of 40-50%, praseodymium of 4-6%, neodymium of 16 to 20%, and decreasing concentrations of heavier elements (Gupta & Krishnamurthy, 2005). During the processing of a REE mineral, it is generally not possible to isolate and separate a single REE from all the rest. The mineral molecules need to be broken (usually via a heat treatment followed by leaching with a base and/or an acid) to produce an aqueous solution of the REE of the ore. After purification of the solution, the REE can be precipitated as a bulk concentrate and sold to a refinery that separates the REE into particular groups of REE such as the light versus heavy REE or into individual elements such as lanthanum, neodymium, or europium oxides to yield value-added products."

Jan 1, 2016

By The Staff

"THE Wabana iron ore mines, owned and operated by the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation, Limited, .are on Bell Island in Conception bay, on the east coast of Newfoundland. Mining began on surface in 1895 and, although open-pit work is still done on a small scale, the entire output may be considered to•be derived from extensive submarine workings. In 1958 the average daily production of hematite ore was close to 12,000 tons, almost all of which was concentrated in a heavy-media plant. SUMMARYThe character, occurrence, and extent of the submarine bedded deposits enabled early operators to meet prevailing market demands with the minimum attention paid to exploration. Mechanization of the mine and the pressure for sustained high tonnages since 1955 have emphasized the importance of an expanded exploration and development programme.A serious handicap has been the impossibility of utilizing normal diamond drilling methods to explore ore conditions in advance of mining faces. Drilling between tl1e bedded zones has been done but the major difficulty has been to delineate ore reserves in the lower bed, which has the greatest ore potential of the three mineable seams."

Jan 1, 1960

By A. Lee Barrett

"THE COAL INDUSTRY of the United States• and Canada has made great progress in recent years. Coal mining in •the old days represented one of the most arduous tasks for labour and industry, but over the years great progress has been made in reducing the effort required from labour. Also, the tonnage produced per man, the cost of the coal per ton, and the overall safety of the operation, have been greatly improved.Looking back over the past fifty years:, the era can be divided into four principal parts: (a) hand-loading, (b) track mining methods, (c) off-track mining methods, and (d) continuous mining. For many years, all of the coal was won by hand-mining methods. The first forms of mechanization •resembled the move from the horse •and buggy to the automobile. Early track mechanical mining methods were usually adaptations of the direct methods involved in hand-mining, with each improvement directed toward some specific process. A revolutionary development came about with off-track mining methods. The first efforts in this direction were provided by off-track mechanical loading machines, which loaded the cars •on track and differed from conventional track mining methods only in that the loading machines themselves operated on the mine floor. With the advent -of the shuttle car about ten years ago, true off-track mining came into being, and real progress in this direction began to be made.At the present time we •are at the beginning of a new era -.the era of continuous mining. There will be a period of development with some time needed before the system is generally applied throughout the industry, but -already enough •has been done to indicate rather dearly what the future holds in this direction."

Jan 1, 1953

By J. A. Allan

The utilization of natural deposits of salt is one of the oldest industries in Alberta. In 1820, Sir James Richardson visited Salt river, and in the same year D. W. Harmon states chat "clown Slave river, there are several places, where almost any quantity of excellent dean white salt may be taken, with as much ease as sand along the seashore. From these places the greater part of the northwest is supplied with this valuable article". This reference is to the salt chat occurs around springs on Salt river at the northern boundary of the Province. This and other occurrences will be described later in this paper. It is not on account of the development of salt and gypsum in Alberta chat this paper has been prepared, but rather to draw attention to the widespread distribution of salt-bearing and gypsum-bearing rocks, and to the stratigraphic importance of these rocks . The origin of the deposits of salt, gypsum, anhydrite, and dolomite is discussed, and the economic significance of these minerals is considered. There is no salt production reported from Alberta in 1928.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. Stiksma, R. Kalanchey, M. J. Collins, G. Owusu, R. Raudsepp, K. R. Buban, L. A. Barta, I. M. Masters

This paper describes the results of testwork for the treatment of Ambatovy laterite ore by a pressure acid leach process, with recovery of the soluble nickel and cobalt values as mixed sulphide intermediate by precipitation with hydrogen sulphide, and subsequent refining of the mixed sulphide to nickel and cobalt metals. These process development studies were carried out primarily in 2004, as part of a bankable feasibility study for the Ambatovy Nickel Project. The Ambatovy orebody is located in Madagascar. The mini pilot plant testwork was carried out in the Dynatec metallurgical laboratory in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The results of the testwork were very encouraging, including nickel and cobalt extractions in the range of 95.5% to 97.0%, and 94.0% to 97.0%, respectively, in the ore leach step with sulphuric acid. High recoveries of nickel and cobalt were achieved throughout the remaining process steps, yielding separate nickel and cobalt metal powders with better than acceptable purity.

Jan 1, 2005

By Robert E. McIvor

"The design/optimization of the pump and cyclones to maximize grinding circuit efficiency first requires a concise understanding of, and clearly defined specifications for, desired grinding circuit performance. Subsequently, the pump and cyclone performances that provide the desired grinding circuit performance can be defined. Once the performance requirements of each process unit are determined, selection of physical equipment parameters that will deliver those performances can be carried out.The Functional Performance Equation shows that there are two distinct efficiencies in closed circuit ball milling. One of these, “Circuit Classification System Efficiency” (CSE), is the fraction of “coarse” material inside the ball mill upon which grinding energy is deliberately expended, versus the remaining fraction of “fines” or finished size material inside the mill, upon which grinding energy is wasted (on over-grinding). The role of the pump and cyclones is to maximize CSE, which is the desired grinding circuit performance. The obtainable target CSE for any given circuit can be estimated, for example, by referring to a plant data base of CSE’s. Design/optimization guidelines then allow us to specify the pump and cyclone performances that will achieve the target CSE.This paper outlines the step-by-step, systematic method of pump and cyclone selection which maximizes CSE. Numerous examples of its successful application are provided.THE FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE EQUATIONObservation of the feed and product size distributions going into and discharging from the mill in grinding circuits with low versus high circulating load ratios initially led to the definition of “Circuit Classification System Efficiency” (or CSE, McIvor, 1988a), and subsequently the discovery of the Functional Performance Equation (McIvor, 1988b; McIvor et al, 1992). The CSE is the fraction or percentage of “coarse” (usually in reference to the plus P80) size material inside the mill, versus “fines” or product size material finer than the circuit P80. It can be readily calculated by taking the average of the percentage of said coarse material in the mill feed and mill discharge streams. As this also represents the percentage of the mill energy expended on targeted, coarse size material, it is directly proportional to overall grinding circuit efficiency and production rate. This is all clearly expressed in the Functional Performance Equation for ball milling circuits, for which the derivation has often been presented (e.g. McIvor, 2006)."

Jan 1, 2011

By J. R. Goode

"The Las Cristinas deposit in Venezuela contains reserves of 12.8 million ounces of gold at a grade of 1.20 g/t (Crystallex, 2004). The deposit comprises fully oxidized saprolite (SAPO) overlying a layer of sulphide-enriched saprolite (SAPS) which lies above carbonateleached bedrock (CLB) and carbonate stable or un-leached bedrock (CSB). Gold occurs at about the same concentration in all lithological groups. The bedrock units contain minor amounts of copper (about 0.1%) as chalcopyrite, while SAPO contains virtually no copper which has been leached and deposited in the SAPS zone.A previous owner began investigation of the Las Cristinas deposit in 1991. Over the next seven years, the company drilled 1,174 holes with a total length of 159 km, conducted extensive metallurgical testwork, including pilot plant operations, and completed feasibility studies. Construction was started in 1997 and again in 1999, however, on each occasion was suspended.Crystallex has been producing gold inVenezuela since the early 1990s. In 1997, Crystallex acquired Inversora Mael which had held two of the claims to the Las Cristinas concessions since 1986. In September 2002, Crystallex entered into a definitive agreement with the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) to develop the Las Cristinas deposit.An extensive program of studies and testwork was started in late 2002 to determine an optimum development plan for Las Cristinas. Mine Development Associates, SNC–Lavalin Engineers and Constructors, SGS Lakefield Research Limited, J.R. Goode and Associates, and A. Laplante at McGill University acted as the main contractors.Because of the potential value of by-product copper, earlier flowsheets used carbon-inleach for SAPO, but processed all other ore types by flotation to produce a gold-copper concentrate with cyanide leaching of cleaner tailings to maximize gold recovery. Cyanide recovery was necessitated by the high copper content of the leach feed. Initial studies of available data by Crystallex revealed that direct leaching of all ore types would provide about 11% more gold recovery than the previously selected flotation route with reduced capital and operating costs.Bench and pilot-scale studies have confirmed that a SAG-ball mill-gravity-CIL route is very effective for all ore types and will give about 89% gold recovery. This paper describes the testwork conducted in 2003, discusses a 20,000 t/d plant design, and presents economic data."

Jan 1, 2005

By W. T. Sampson

Introduction The Kirkland Lake (Ontario) property of Wright-Hargreaves Mines, Limited, - consists of four claims. The two main shear zones or 'breaks' of the Kirkland Lake camp extend through three of these claims, for a distance of approximately 3,500 feet. These claims are on the northeast side of the original lake. The water in this section of the lake has now been replaced with mill tailings. The degree of success of any completed undertaking, especially in the mining industry, reflects the personnel involved. I state with pleasure that the successful deepening of No. 5 winze from 6,400 feet to 7,272 feet was largely due to the co-operation and skilled workmanship of Shaft Captain J. Myelde and his efficient 'leaders'. This winze was sunk at a time when it was most difficult to obtain experienced shaftmen, with the result that the crews did not wholly consist of experienced men (although their desire to learn shaft sinking soon gave good results). This condition added greatly to the responsibilities and duties of those in charge, whose first consideration was for the safety of those engaged in the work, and I take great pride in recording that the entire sinking programme was completed without a lost-time accident. Location of Winze Due to the information obtained through deep diamond-drill holes collared below the 6,000-foot level being of sufficient importance to warrant further exploration, it was decided to deepen the existing No. 5 winze rather than sink another winze. This decision meant that the sinking must be co-ordinated with and proceed simultaneously with operations in the winze, where mining was being carried on between the 3,900-foot and 5,100-foot horizons, inclusive.

Jan 1, 1948

By R. C. Gegg

The property of MacLeod-Cockshutt Gold Mines, Limited, is in the Little Long Lac area of the Thunder Bay Mining Division, Ontario, about four miles south of the Canadian National railway station of Geraldton. The town of Geraldton is about 170 miles east of Port Arthur and 22 miles west of Long Lac, which is on the main line of the Canadian National railway. The Trans-Canada highway passes through the property and during the winter season the road is maintained between Port Arthur and Long Lac. Electric power is supplied by the Hydro-Electric Commission of Ontario from their Cameron Falls plant and is distributed at 44,000 volts by a local transformer station. Early History The South orebody was discovered by diamond drilling in the spring of 1936. This is a porphyry contact orebody with major pyrite and minor arsenopyrite mineralization. Some gold is present in the 'free' state, but for the most part it is locked in the pyrite, with little or none in the arsenopyrite. Preliminary test work was based on comparing straight cyanidation with bulk flotation and cyanidation of the concentrates. The overall results by the two methods were found similar, but for economic reasons the flotation-cyanidation process was adopted. Before the mill came into operation, a new and entirely different type of orebody, consisting of massive sulphide lenses in banded iron formation, was discovered to the north of the existing workings. These bodies are an intricate mixture of pyrite and arsenopyrite, both carying gold.

Jan 1, 1949

By G. G. Bowser

PERUSAL of a list of present-day commercial explosives perhaps does not convey a full realization that there has been a great deal of improvement since the original dynamite was discovered nor that, in recent years, great developments have taken place in specialized explosives. This is true particularly of high-explosives for use in metalliferous mining or what is more commonly termed 'hard-rock' mining. Not many decades ago, only two or three types of explosive were avail-'able for commercial use. One was black blasting powder. Another was ordinary nitro-glycerin dynamite in various strengths. Black blasting powder remains with but very little change. Despite its ancient lineage, it is still with us as perhaps the sole explosive in use today which is almost identical in appearance, physical properties, and working ability or execution co the original. Which dynamite the story is different. Its evolution may be likened to that of the dog, nitro-glycerin as first discovered being the counterpart of the wild dog and, like it, dangerous and hard to control. The original dynamite as made by Nobel might then be considered as representing the first domesticaced species. This original dynamite, however, has been 'crossed with other bloods' until one sees now many distinct 'breeds' in the list. Present-day explosives still have the 'bark' and the 'bite', but with control and research have come many improvements; and types have been created which are specially adapted for particular kinds of work. We still have the direct descendant of Nobel's dynamite in the form of an improved nitro-glycerin dynamite. This C-I-L explosive, Polar Dynamite, is no longer the best type to use in the hunt for gold, silver, iron, and other metals. There have been developed other explosives more suitable for chat work. In Canada, such explosives are accomplishing this work effectively, not only where climatic conditions are moderate but through the rigours of our northern winters, with their sub-zero temperatures.

Jan 1, 1938

By Rick Valenta

Is the Labrador Central Mineral Belt part of the IOCGU Club? ?I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER.? GrouchoMarx Acknowledgements ?Ian Dunlop, Matt Lennox-King, Mark O?Dea, Dave Barbour, Derek Wilton, Lucas Marshall, Roland Butler, Mark King, Sally Howson,

May 1, 2006

By W. F. Baker

Location and History God's lake is in the northeastern part of Manitoba, about 400 miles northeast of Winnipeg, or about 250 miles due north of Red lake, Ontario. The lake is quite large, having an overall length of 54 miles and a maximum width of 18 miles. There are numerous islands in the lake, the largest of these, known as Elk island, being about 15 miles long and 3 miles wide in the widest part. The accompanying map (Figure 1) shows the location of God's lake and of the mine. The God's Lake area has long been regarded as promising country for the prospector, but, due to its inaccessibility, practically no prospecting was done prior to 1927. In the years 1927-1931, inclusive, a few prospectors visited the area, but no discoveries were made. In 1932, Bob Jowsey and Archie McDonald entered the area from Island lake. They first prospected in the vicinity of Knife lake, which is immediately south of the main part of God's lake, and then moved on to the latter lake, heading for the north shore of Elk island. The first afternoon on God's Lake, when looking for a place to camp on the north shore of what is now known as Jowsey island, Jowsey discovered a quartz porphyry dyke which was cut by a number of gold-bearing bluish quartz stringers. On the strength of this discovery, he and McDonald began at once to stake the Reno group of claims. Rumours of the discovery brought in other prospectors, and other groups of claims were staked to the east, along the north shore of Elk island. A second discovery was soon made by Dan McCrea on his Gold Standard claims, three and a half miles to the east of the original discovery. Staking still continued to the east, along the north shore of Elk island, and Bob Brown and Harvey McKenzie staked the Akers group on a discovery approximately two miles east of McCrea's discovery. Through the efforts of Jowsey, the Reno, Rand, Elk, and Cona groups, belonging to the original syndicate for which Jowsey and McDonald staked, were combined with the Gold Standard, Greenstone, and Akers groups, and the Company known as God's Lake Gold Mines, Limited, was formed. Several additional groups of claims were later taken over by the Company and a considerable area of adjoining ground was staked to round-out the property.

Jan 1, 1935

By R. E. Hamilton

"The requirements for effective optimization of a mineral dressing operation are discussed, with specific reference to a flotation system . Also considered are the relation-ships between automatic control and optimization pro-grams. Variables are classified into the following groups, and the significance of the classification is discussed: (a) Directly measurable (b) Directly manipulable (c) Uncontrollable (d) Calculable from measurable variables (e) Affected by changes in manipulable or uncontrol-lable variables. New sensors for measuring variables not normally measured are described."

Jan 1, 1967

By J. P. Messervey

Dr. K. A. Clark: No one will doubt the statement of fact that, during drilling operations through the bituminous sand beds in the Mildred-Ruth Lakes area, the core-barrel was found to contain bitumen with minor amounts of sand instead of bituminous sand. But many will doubt the interpretation of this fact as meaning that beds of bitumen occur interstratified with the bituminous sand beds. They will prefer to hold faith in the laws of physics, which deny that sand will float on oil or that fluid under pressure will not flow away through a permeable medium, until it is proved that the appearance of the oil in the core-barrel was not due to circumstances surrounding the drilling of the bituminous sand beds. The implication of the interpretation that sand is floating on oil is clear and it is unacceptable. Bituminous sand is unconsolidated sand more' or less saturated with a viscous oil. It is as difficult to conceive of bituminous sand lying on top of a body of the viscous oil as it is to conceive of unconsolidated sand more or less saturated with water lying on top of a body of water. The only difference between the two concepts is that the oil is viscous whereas the water is fluid. Oil-soaked sand placed on viscous oil would, when released, sink through the oil slowly, whereas water-soaked sand would sink through the water quickly.

Jan 1, 1947

By J. D. Allan

"IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to present a general picture of the Lynn Lake nickel area of northern Manitoba. The geology of the area will not be discussed in great detail, nor will the mining op; rations presently being conducted. Both subjects will be treated briefly and, in addition, mention will be made of some of the problems encountered in mapping in the area. some of the questions which still remain unanswered, methods of prospecting that have been applied and the future possibilities of the area.For present purposes, the Lynn Lake area will be considered as extending from west of Lynn lake to east of Barrington lake. Thus, more correctly, it should be termed the Lynn Lake-Barrington Lake area. It comprises five 15-minute map-areas, or a total of 800 square miles, in a block 47 miles east-west and 17 miles north-south.Lynn lake itself is about 120 miles north of Sherridon, Manitoba, the closes t rail terminal. The area is part of the Granville Lake sheet which was mapped by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1932, 1933, and 1935, the results being published in Summary Report 1933. Part C, and as Maps 343A and 344A on a scale of four miles to o.ne inch. In 1940, the McVeigh Lake area was mapped by the Geological Survey of Canada on a scale of 1,500 feet to 1 inch and a map was issued in 1945."

Jan 1, 1950

Mineral engineering is defined as those engineering activities that relate to the discovery, development and utilization of mineral resources. Using petroleum engineering as an example, it is shown that the breadth of the field to be studied is a major educational problem. Breadth of field is aggravated by the rapidity with which technological demands may change. At present, special short courses serve to update engineering education. Recent experience suggests an increased rate of change for the future. The fact that engineers have typically human needs and goals, and the fact that engineers respond to these in our free society, introduces a third class of problems. One approach to the solution of these problems is the unified engineering curriculum based on a core of subject mat-ter common to all engineering. Experience suggests that the unified curriculum is an effective method to minimize the importance of the first two problem areas presented, and shows a degree of success in handling some problems within the third area. Perhaps, for the good of all segments of society, it is best to have both career-oriented and unified curricula represented by educational institutions of high quality.

Jan 1, 1963

By P. Pal Roy, R. B. Singh

"This paper focuses on a number of interesting results to establish the theory and principle of air-deck blasting. It also gives the mechanism of breakage that takes place in air-deck blasting under varying charge load conditions. With these aspects in mind, the mine management can implement this up-coming technology to enhance safety and higher productivity. IntroductionThe method of air-decking has become an increasingly popular technique in production and presplit blasting. In the blasthole, an explosive column is combined with an airchamber. The main aim of the technique is to control breakage through effective distribution of explosive energy and thereby enhance uniform rock fragmentation. An air column lowers the initial pressure of the explosive products and simultaneously increases the time of interaction for the detonation front with the surrounding rock, which enhances rock breakage.To study air-deck blasting, CMRI initially conducted experiments using indigenously developed, low-cost wooden spacers of different sizes and strengths. Air-deck blasting was first tried using these spacers in 1993 at Jambad OCP, ECL and Chasnalla OCP, IISCO. The experiments were extended in 1994 at Bermo Mine, DVC. The results were subsequently published by Pal Roy et al., in 1995. It is worth mentioning that the performance of air-deck blasting during this period was only compared with conventional blasting practices without going into detail of the theory behind the process."

Jan 1, 2001

By A. Ignatieff

"THE WORLD'S coal resources represent the largest component of non-renewable energy resources. Coal is now regaining Its position following a temporary decline, particularly in North America during a period of about a quarter of a century. This period provided the opportunity to improve both surface and underground mechanization, thereby increasing the productivity and improving conditions for humans in the mines. Similarly, in preparation, improved cleaning of coal from various impurities including sulphur was achieved, to meet the more demanding requirements for coking coal. Progress was also made in combustion, particularly related to the reduction of pollution. Canada participated in most of these developments, despite the country's strong commitment of the use of hydrocarbons during this period. _Bearing in mind the vastness of this land (3.85 million sq. miles) by comparison with countries like U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and China, Canada's coal resources estimated to date are not large and they are scattered. The original evaluation of 1913 estimated the ""reserves"" from seams over one foot in thickness and a limiting depth of 4,000 ft at 1.2 trillion metric tons. D:. ~.R. MacKay, in his evaluation for the 1946 Royal Commission on the coal industry, known as the Carroll Commission, reduced the ""reserves"" to 99 billion short tons. The increased knowledge now available would indicate that the 1913 estimated was too liberal and the 1946 estimate too conservative but both were closer to a resource than to a reserve designation. Some adjustments of Dr. MacKay's estimates were made in 1970 by B.A. Latour of the Geological Survey of Canada and L.P. Chrismas of Energy, Mines and Resources Canada (EMR). In the last decade the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board has developed its own methods of evaluating coal resources and reserves. A methodical approach of exploration and evaluation was carried out by Saskatchewan jointly with the federal government of the lignite resources of Southern Saskatchewan. A similar joint program is in progress in Nova Scotia. Meanwhile, the industry itself carried on an extensive exploration program on the outcrops of promising projects in the Inner Foothills belt of Alberta and British Columbia in preparation for surface mining on a very large scale, with some development of hydraulic mines. All these activities have been reflected in the increase of the country's resources and reserves, which now fortunately are separately defined. In 1979 EMR issued Report E.R. 79/9(1>; the data were developed in 1978 and provided to the World Energy Conference Organization<2>. In 1980 the World Coal Study (Wocol), an international group that included Canada carried out a study which updated the W.E.C. data, indicating some reduction of the 1978 figures; quantities were reported in million metric tons of coal equivalent (C.E.)*(Jl."

Jan 1, 1985

By T. Hidayat, D. Shishin, V. Prostakova, M. Shevchenko

The chemical compositions of copper feed streams are becoming increasingly complex following the growing demand for metals and corresponding shortages of primary sources. The optimisation of process conditions requires an accurate description of phase equilibria and thermodynamics. Integrated experimental and thermodynamic modelling research program on the characterisation of the complex, multi-component, multi-phase gas-slag-matte-speiss-metal-solids Cu2O-PbO-ZnO-Al2O3- CaO-MgO-FeO-Fe2O3-SiO2-S-(As-Bi-Ni-Sb-Sn-Ag-Au) system is being carried out to support companies undertaking the pyrometallurgical primary production and recycling of copper. The experiments involve high temperature equilibration in controlled gas atmospheres, rapid quenching and direct measurement of equilibrium phase compositions with quantitative microanalytical techniques, including electron probe X- ray microanalysis and Laser Ablation ICP-MS. The thermodynamic modelling is undertaken using FactSage computer package with advanced thermodynamic solution models. The continuing development of research methodologies has resulted in significant advances in research outcomes. Implementation of the results of these fundamental studies involves an ongoing collaboration of researchers and industry technologists. An overview of recent progress in research, implementation and applications in industrial practice are given in the paper. INTRODUCTION Rapidly developing technologies increase the demand for various metals in number and volumes. Modern technological devices such as mobile phones, computers, other electronic devices, have dozens of metals—all those metals have to be a) produced and b) recycled. The fast transition in mobility from fossil energy delivered through combustion to renewable energy first stored in bakeries and delivered through electric engines introduce a significant change in the metal demand in terms of both type and volume of metals. Pyrometallurgy is playing a key role in supporting these changes in our industrialised society.

Jan 1, 2019

By G. P. Gormley

"Future open pit metallurgical coal mines in western Canada will be developed in complex geological environments. The success of these operations will be influenced by the mine operators&apos; ability to prepare accurate mine plans and to predict and, subsequently, 10 control both out-of-seam dilution and coal recovery. Quintette Coal Limited has been mining its tightly folded and severely faulted Mesa depo sit at annual rates of up to 9 Mt of raw coal, since October 1982. Ongoing development drilling combined with continuous utilization of blast hole information, has been required to achieve an acceptable geological data base for short range mine planning. Thrust faulting has been a primary geological cause of difficulty in selectively mining waste and coal, which has resulted in higher than expected dilution in plant feed. The same geological phenomenon has also increased reserves by 6.3% and allowed for expanded mine plans to include a lower thrust plate, ultimately doubling the mines original reserve base. This paper illustrates the geology of the Mesa deposit and the type of work involved in its interpretation. Regional GeologyThe Quintette Coal Limited (QCL) property is located in the Peace River Coal Field of northeastern British Columbia. In this area, northwesterly-trending folds of the Rocky Mountain foothills are commonly cut by multiple, low-angle thrust faults, which dip to the southwest. The Lower Cretaceous Gates Formation, of near shore continental origin, contains 5 to 7 mineable seams of medium volatile bituminous metallurgical coal (Figs. I and 2). These seams normally range in thickness between 0.75 m and 9.5 m and have an aggregate thickness of between 15 m and 22 m."

Jan 1, 1988