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By H. W. Hughes

"The Wasamac Gold Mines mill, situated 10 miles from Rouyn-Noranda on highway 59, commenced milling April 1st 1965 at a rate of 700 tons per day. This has gradually increased to over 1200 tons per day in December. The mill has done up to 1400 tons on occasion.The ore was formed in the Wasa shear zone by means of replacement. The minerals which replaced the original rocks were carbonates, quartz, pyrite, chlorite, gold and silver. Work index varies from 9. 6 on the chlorite to 11. 6 on the quartz. The gold is very finely disseminated throughout the gangue and while associated with the pyrite is not included in the pyrite. Very seldom is gold found or seen in the free state.Test work showed a medium fine grind of 85 to 90 per cent was necessary to achieve a 95.00 per cent extraction. Straight cyanidation time of 30 to 36 hours was indicated. This has been borne out by subsequent mill performance with a grind around 87 per cent minus 200 mesh and extraction ranging from 95 to 96 per cent.When it was decided to bring the Wasamac property into production, the Bicroft Uranium Mines Ltd. crushing and grinding units together with one pebble mill and the pachuca tanks from Dyno Uranium Mines Ltd. were purchased.Wasamac crusher house and mill buildings are of laminated wood construction, covered with 5/ 8th inch plywood and corrugated iron sheeting."

Jan 1, 1966

By R. D. H. Wigmore

"The title of this paper probably sounds quite simple and self-explanatory. The problem, however, was not a simple one, and proved somewhat baffling and expensive over a period of years. After outlining the problem, and the methods which were used to overcome it, we will present our solution, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the partial solution which we reached.We have in the cyanide circuit at Upper Canada two Dorr Single Tray Thickeners with 30 ft. diameter wood stave tanks 12 ft 4 1/ 2 in. deep. In the years prior to 1948, when the tonnage was 250 to 280 tons per day, two stage thickening was practised. As the tonnage was increased to 450, 500, and finally 560-600 the thickeners were used in parallel.Some settling problems were encountered, and in those days the means to combat these problems were very few. The only remedy was to dump in pounds and pounds of lime. Then along came a few reagents, and the writer remembers one in particular, - 11 Carboxel11 (carboxymethlycellulose). When water or solution was added to this reagent, the result was a gooey mass somewhat resembling tapioca. One drawback was that it stayed in this state, and didn't go anywhere. A method was finally developed of containing the mass (or mess) on a fine screen, and dissolving some of it was a fine spray of solution. The only thing the writer recalls was that it was not a very effective settling agent.Shortly after this time, along came the new flocculents, first a few, and then many, and our settling problems were over.But when the settling problem was solved at Upper Canada, some other problems were creeping up on us."

Jan 1, 1965

By M. Fall

The progressive depletion of ore available at shallow depths in several underground mines around the world means that underground mining operations would increasingly be carried out at greater depths and therefore at higher temperatures. However, our understanding of the effect of hot temperatures on the response (mechanical, economical, environmental) of cemented paste backfill (CPB) is still limited. Hence, an extensive laboratory investigation was conducted to study the performance of young and aged CPB, in response to deep mine temperatures. Several CPB samples with different compositions, cured at different temperatures (20 to 50°C) and different times (7 to 160 days) were tested regarding their mechanical properties, economical performance (binder consumption) and microstructural properties. The results show that hot temperatures significantly affect the performance properties of CPB at young and advanced ages. An increase in the curing temperature leads to a considerable improvement of the rate of gain of CPB strength and also to a significant increase of the strength of CPBs studied. CBP samples cured at hot temperatures show lower binder consumption and finer pore structure. Results of this study could serve as background information for the development of optimal mine backfill design procedures.

May 1, 2007

By Nosa O. Egiebor, Kafui Nyavor

"The effectiveness of sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrogen peroxide pressure oxidation on the cyanide extractability of gold from a double-refractory concentrate is presented. Whileover90% of the sulphide content could be oxidized by either of the two acid pretreatments, only 65% was achieved by the peroxide oxidation. Carbon oxidation by both acid and peroxide pressure oxidation were less than 15%. Although the peroxide pressure oxidation pretreatment resulted in much lower sulphur and carbon oxidation, it gave pretreated residues with decreased levels of preg-robbing activities and higher gold recoveries during subsequent cyanidation, thus indicating some deactivation ofthe preg-robbing carbon during pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide. The refractoriness due to carbon preg-robbing activity was found to contribute more to the refractory behaviour of the concentrate than the occlusion of gold particles by the sulphide mineralization.IntroductionGold ores and concentrates are classified as refractory when a significant portion of the gold content cannot be extracted efficiently by conventional cyanidation, even after fme grinding (Weir and Berezowsky, 1984); (Demopoulos and Papangelakis, 1987). The refractory behaviour of precious metal ores and concentrates is generally attributed to two main factors: The presence of carbonaceous materials which could cause preg-robbing activity during cyanidation (Zaitseva et al., 1973); (Nice, 1971); Scheiner et al., 1971); (Eisele et al., 1983), or occlude gold-bearing minerals (Wells and Mullens, 1973); (Gasparrini, 1983); (Chen and Reddby, 1990), and the occurrence of sulphide minerals which can occlude gold, thus reducing the access of lixiviants (Schwartz, 1944); (Weir et al., 1986); (papangelakis and Demopoulos, 1990); (Michaelis, 1989); (Schweigart, 1965). When the refractoriness is due to a combination of these two factors, the ore or concentrate can be referred to as being ""double-refractory"". Because of the rarity of gold ores exhibiting this double-refractory phenomenon, only a few studies have been carried out on their suitability for pretreatment by existing techniques."

Jan 1, 1992

By Steve Forgeron, Brendan MacKenzie, Kevin MacPherson

"The geological composition of strata immediately adjacent to coal seams has a significant effect on the safe and efficient extraction of coal from underground mines of the Sydney coalfield. Geological features such as paleo-sandstone river channels, seam splits, floor rolls, paleo-soils and stone-filled rupture features can rapidly alter the competency of immediate roof and floor strata, significantly reduce the height of the coal seam, cause rapid variations in seam gradient and influence the in situ and run-of-mine quality of the coal.The impact of these features on the over-all mining operation can be significantly reduced if mine management can be for-warned of their impending occurrence. Using the information acquired from boreholes, geological mapping, x-ray diffraction analyses, microscopic studies, geophysical logs and seismic surveys, sedimentary models have been constructed which enable the mine geologist to predict, with increasing accuracy, the future occurrence of deleterious geological features ahead of the working face."

Jan 1, 1986

By E. Poiate, P. A. L. P. Firme, D. Roehl, M. A. Carrion, A. M. Costa

Drilling high-pressure/high-temperature wells in salt rock formations is still a challenge for the energy industry. Creep and solubility is part of the salt rock physical-chemical behaviour, which must be considered in the design of the wells. The stress redistribution caused by drilling, in addition to thermallyactivated processes, triggers creep deformation, leading to borehole closure and the imposition of loads on the casing. The drilling fluid is designed by computer modeling in order to control the creep strain rate to a limit which allows the drilling operations and the casing setting. Depending upon the composition of the drilling fluid, chemical reactions on the salt wall may occur, especially in case of water-based fluids in highly soluble salt rocks. In those cases, cavities by dissolution (washouts) can be generated and the casing column remains uncovered by the cementation and laterally unconfined along the cavity length. This scenario is propitious to the loss of integrity of the casing due to phenomena such as plastic collapse, buckling and non-uniform loading on the casing provoked by the closure of salt formation around it. The casing should remain intact during the wellbore life-time. In this work, a section of a typical well crossing salt formation composed by halite and carnallite is considered. An idealized-cylindrical washout cavity inside a highly soluble salt layer is assumed. The purpose here is to evaluate the effect of the dimensions of the cavity on the integrity of the casing. Several typical diameters and lengths of the cavity are adopted. Numerical analyses are carried out with an in-house finite-element system composed by the pre-processor MTOOL 3D®, the simulator ANVEC 3D® and the post-processor POS 3D®. Salt rocks are modeled as visco-elastic materials. Creep is simulated by the Double Mechanism Creep Law, widely employed in Brazilian salt rock mechanics research. Cement and casing (steel) are modeled as elasto-plastic materials described by the Mohr-Coulomb and the von Mises criteria, respectively. Casing integrity is evaluated with respect to vertical and horizontal displacements. Vertical displacements imposed to the casing can provoke the failure of the column by plastic collapse or by buckling. Besides that, horizontal displacements of salt due to creep closure shall lead to the undesirable contact with the casing. Failure envelopes based on displacements are generated. The results of the simulations have shown that the casing failure by plastic collapse occurs preferentially in short columns, as well as buckling occurs in long and slender columns. The occurrence of both failure modes is more frequent in large-diameter cavities. Additionally, failure caused by contact between salt and casing occurs preferentially in short-diameter cavities.

Jan 1, 2015

By W. G. McBride

THE present demand for men with engineering training exceeds anything in the history of the profession. Recent estimates indicate that mechanization of war has reached such a stage that at least twelve horsepower is required now for every one horsepower needed to run the machines of the first Great War. The scale of operations exceeds anything in the past, while more territory and people are involved than ever before. Many of our allies have inadequate or no facilities for producing the thousand and one articles absolutely necessary to the conduct of modern warfare. Lack of preparedness has made it necessary to produce at an unparalleled rate to gain parity with the enemy, while our losses have been so heavy that replacement, in itself, presents a task which might well stagger less courageous peoples. This means that not only is there an unprecedented demand for engineers to produce the machines, munitions, and supplies of war, but there is a correspondingly large need for men with engineering skill in the uniformed forces to operate and maintain the vast numbers of ships, 'planes, tanks, trucks, radios, and a myriad of other devices to carry on the varied activities of war. This abnormal demand came upon us after almost ten years of stagnation in the engineering industries. During this time many trained engineers drifted into other callings, while the lack of jobs for graduates caused a falling off in the number of men training for this profession. Consequently, the supply of well trained engineers was below normal when the madman of Germany precipitated us into the present turmoil. Added to all this, we in Canada are still suffering from governmental inefficiency in the utilization of the available supply of engineers. In the armed forces, engineers have been assigned to office and other work where their engineering training is not only wasted but for which men with more suitable training could be found. Mining engineers are debarred from service as aeronautical engineers, and students in mining engineering are denied the bursaries provided for aiding students in engineering. Mining and metallurgical engineers are both barred from the Ordnance department of the army. This arises from a misunderstanding in relation to engineering training. In Canadian engineering schools, all engineers are given a sound training in the branches of human knowledge which are fundamental to engineering: mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The basic difference between the several categories of engineers lies in the fact that training in the application of this fundamental knowledge to the solution of engineering problems is given in different subjects.

Jan 1, 1942

By Q. J. Xu

In blasting sensitive areas, the use of traditional blasting for rock fracture is restricted. Soundless cracking technology has been presented to achieve rock fracture instead of blasting. However, when the diameter of a borehole is larger than 50 mm, it is very dangerous that the soundless cracking agent (SCA) will have a tendency to gush from the borehole, which also leads to cracking failure. In this paper, a new large scale borehole soundless cracking technology is presented, using a new enlarged drill bit and mechanical plugging, which could solve the hole gush problem. Experiments were made to measure the expansive pressure of the SCA working in boreholes of F40 mm and F100 mm. The difference between two sizes of cracking phenomenon was compared and analyzed to show that large scale borehole soundless cracking has larger expansion pressure and faster reaction speed than traditional soundless cracking. Based on the experimental data, finite element analysis was utilized to study the stress concentration and stress distribution between two neighboring large boreholes in several media during the cracking process. Using the data from experiments with finite element numerical simulation, the brittle material fracture condition was analyzed to design the parameters of the borehole mesh. With the theoretical analysis, the technological process and reference parameters of large scale borehole soundless cracking were proposed, including the borehole spacing, burden distance, depth of the borehole and so on. Then a single rock was cracked with the new enlarged drill bit and new plugging, and the results proved the feasibility of the new large scale borehole soundless cracking technology, which achieved the expected goal of improving the cracking ability and reducing the cracking time. This paper presents a new efficient rock cracking method for blasting sensitive areas, and which could apply to mining engineering, demolition engineering, excavation engineering and other engineering applications where there is a demand soundless and non-vibration fracturing of rock.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. C. Galloway, G. L. Tiley

"Mine hoist brakes must meet the following statutory performance criteria:- There should be two independent braking systems; at least one should act directly on the hoist drum.-If one brake fail s, the others should be able to retard and stop the hoist safely before the descending conveyance, carrying the rated load, reaches any obstruction.- When all brakes apply, decelerations should not be so violent that men travelling in the conveyance are injured.- The brakes shall not overheat and fade during an emergency stop.This paper discusses design principles and capacities of caliper and disc type brakes, when applied to double drum and friction hoists of equivalent capacity.IntroductionThis paper is about the brakes that are used on mine hoists; their functions, especially in emergencies, typical design, and how they are operated, controlled, tested, and adjusted.There are two basic types of mine hoists:1. Drum hoists, where the ropes are attached to, and coil on drums. The simplest system has only one drum. Most such hoists, however, have two drums, attached to a common shaft. Ropes are wound on each drum in opposite directions, so that when one conveyance is being raised, the other is lowered. The conveynaces may travel in vertical or inclined shafts. In the latter case, the hoist s are referred to as slope hoists.2. Friction hoist s, where the headropes are not attached to the wheel, but are in contact with it for an angle of lap of, typically, between 180 and 195 degree s. Forces are transmitted from the hoist wheel to the head ropes by friction.The lower ends of the conveyances are connected to balance ropes , approximately the same weight per foot as the headropes."

Jan 1, 1986

By G. Chi, W. J. Davis, S. Watters, D. Hoy, S. Castonguay

"The Poplar Mountain gold occurrence in western New Brunswick is hosted in the Poplar Mountain volcanic complex (PMVC), which is located along the southern segment of the regional Woodstock fault zone. The PMVC consists of three principal units including, in ascending order, a porphyritic felsic volcanic unit, a volcaniclastic unit, and a mafic volcanic unit. U-Pb dating of zircon indicates that the age of the volcanic rocks is younger than 459 ± 3 Ma, and 40Ar/39Ar dating of mineralization-associated sericite indicates that the age of mineralization is 411 ± 3.7 Ma. Gold-mineralized zones occur in all the lithologic units but mainly in the porphyritic felsic volcanic unit. Gold zones are not controlled by individual faults but are characterized by high-density brittle fracturing, thin carbonate-quartz veining, and intensive ankerite-sericite alteration, superimposed on an earlier chlorite-calcite- quartz alteration. Gold is associated with arsenopyrite, which mostly occurs as disseminations in the host rocks, and to a lesser extent with quartz-carbonate-sericite veins and quartz-cemented breccias.Geochemical data indicate that mineralization-associated alteration is characterized by enrichment of K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, Ba, As, Sb, W, C, and S. Fluid inclusion data indicate that the mineralizing fluids are composed of H2O, salts, and CO2 with variable amounts of N2 and CH4; salinities range from 2.3 to 10.6 eq. wt.% NaCl, but mainly from 2.3 to 5.6 eq. wt.% NaCl, and homogenization temperatures lie mainly between 220° and 270°C. Fluid pressures at the site of mineralization are estimated to have been 770 to 1200 bars, corresponding to a depth of 2.9 to 4.6 km at lithostatic pressure. The d18OSMOW and d13CPDB values of mineralization-related ankerite range from +14.5‰ to +16.5‰, and -6.8‰ to -8.3‰, respectively. The d18O values of the ore-forming fluids are estimated to be 6.4‰ to 8.3‰ at a temperature of 250°C. These carbon and oxygen isotope data fall in the field of magmatic fluids and in part the field of metamorphic fluids.Considering the geological setting of the region, abundant granitic intrusions, the similarity between the age of mineralization (411 ± 3.7 Ma) and the nearby Pokiok batholith (402-415 Ma), and the enrichment of granophile elements in mineralization-related alteration, the ore-forming fluids were probably derived from a granitic intrusion underneath the PMVC. These fluids were focused along structures related to the Woodstock fault. The Poplar Mountain gold occurrence might be compared to some granitic intrusion-related gold systems based on the geochemical data presented herein. L’indice aurifère de Poplar Mountain dans l’ouest du Nouveau Brunswick est contenu dans le complexe volcanique de Poplar Mountain (CVPM), lequel est situé le long du segment sud de la zone de faille régionale de Woodstock. Les trois unités principales du CVPM sont, de la base au sommet, une unité volcanique felsique porphyrique, une unité volcaniclastique et une unité volcanique mafique. La datation U-Pb de zircons indique que les roches volcaniques sont plus jeunes que 459 ± 3 Ma, et la datation par la méthode 40Ar/39Ar de séricite associée à la minéralisation assigne à la minéralisation un age de 411 ± 3.7 Ma. Bien que les zones minéralisées en or soient présentes dans toutes les unités lithologiques, on les retrouve surtout dans l’unité felsique porphyrique. Les zones aurifères ne sont pas contrôlées par des failles individuelles mais sont caractérisées par une grande densité de fractures cassantes, de minces veines de quartz-carbonate, et par une altération en ankérite-séricite intense qui se superpose à une altération antérieure en chlorite-calcite-quartz. L’or est associé à l’arsénopyrite, laquelle est principalement présente à l’état de disséminations dans la roche hôte, et à un moindre degré avec des veines de quartz-carbonate-séricite et des brèches à ciment de quartz.Les données de géochimie indiquent que l’alté"

Jan 1, 2008

By Jianzhong Liu

Based on the characteristics of overburden rock strata movement, surface ground subsidence and casing deformation and failure, a tension-shear combination failure model of surface borehole was set up. The main controlling factors of the mining-induced deformation and failure of surface borehole were researched with this failure model and the limit analysis method. The mining methods and geology conditions mechanics action mechanism to surface borehole and its time ?space evaluation rule was found. The surface borehole deformation and fracture rule were advanced. It provides theoretical support to optimizing layout, structure type, security measure and local casing protection of surface borehole.

Aug 1, 2013

By E. R. Rivenbark

"The coal handling plant represents an investment of about $100 million in coal handling and storage equipment. The coal receiving is done by a continuous ship unloader that can handle ships in the 60 000 T range at Q rate of 1750 /ph. A unique feature in the system is a stacker/reclaimer unit which will work inside a dome storage structure. The coal for the unit will include any low sulphur coal that can be delivered by sea at an economical price blended with New Brunswick high sulphur coal.ThE flue gas scrubber is a wet limestone system capable of 95% SO2 removal. The scrubber will utilize about 150 000 tonnes of limestone per year and will produce commercial grade gypsum by the forced oxidization method.IntroductionWith the need for new generating capacity being required, New Brunswick Power reviewed, in 1985, its options for the next unit. The study indicated that the most attractive option for New Brunswick Power would be a coal-fired unit capable of receiving imported coal at a sea port. The site selection process resulted in three site options being considered.The existing Coleson Cove and Dalhousie sites, and the Belledune site were considered. To meet load distribution needs, it was then decided that the unit had to be located in the northern section of the province, thus eliminating the Coleson Cove site. The Belledune site was selected because it had the capacity to have additional units added where as the Dalhousie site would have only been able to accommodate one unit"

Jan 1, 1994

By Robert B. Parsons

"It is quite likely that more than a handful of junior exploration companies will receive some startling news from their accountants this spring when 1989s tax returns are being prepared. These companies could find that, for the first time ever, they will have to write a cheque to the federal government on account of a new federal capital tax which became effective July I, 1989IntroductionMany mining companies which have never had to pay a federal income tax are finding that they indeed have a tax liability for 1989. Non-producing companies, such as junior exploration companies, almost automatically assume that they don't have to pay any income tax. But, a new tax imposed under the Income Tax Act catches especially the company that has no income.Effective July 1, 1989, a federal capital tax (some call it a corporation minimum tax) is payable by any corporate carrying on business in Canada where the corporation has ""taxable capital"" exceeding $10 million. As a result of the popular use of flow-through shares in recent years, many junior exploration companies are finding that their balance sheets show capital stock over $10 million, and that they are consequently caught by the new tax. Further, some of these companies are finding, to their chagrin, that the tax for 1989 was due on February 28, 1990, and that non-deductible interest is ticking away on unpaid taxes."

Jan 1, 1990

By D. A. Barr

"Most of the lode and placer gold production in the Canadian Cordillera has been derived from mines and placers in the Intermontane and Omineca belts. Gold has been produced from rocks of Precambrian to Eocene age, but the preferred host environment contains Upper Paleozoic to Upper Jurassic eugeosynclinal or arc-type sedimentary and volcanic rocks adjacent to plutonic complexes which have a wide variety in both size and composition. Auriferous quartz lodes occur in fissures and shear zones which are commonly subsidiary to strong fault zones. In common with most vein-type deposits, structural complexities are an essential part of the mine environment.Gold production from the Canadian Cordillera to the end of 1978 totals 35.0 million ounces, of which 47 per cent has been produced from placer mining, principally in the Klondike and Cariboo districts. The balance has been derived from lode gold (80 per cent) and base metal (20 per cent) mines.Gold reserves in producing mines and deposits committed for production as of January 1, 1978 were 87.4 tons, or 21.6 per cent of total Canadian gold reserves contained in all types of deposits. Although more than 100 lode mines have operated in the Canadian Cordillera since the turn of the last century, over 75 per cent of the lode gold produced by 1978 was recovered from five mining camps, namely the Rossland, Hedley, Bridge River, Premier and Barkerville.The average grade of the principal producers in these camps was about 0.45 ounce of gold per ton. Individual camps yielded from 3 to 8 million tons during their operating lives, which varied from 28 to 43 years. The last of these mines ceased operating in 1971.Most of the total lode gold production has been derived from quartz veins, frequently with associated carbonate and ankerite, occupying fractured and faulted zones in Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks closely associated with a variety of intrusions. A review of the literature suggests that several deposits may have evolved by remobilization of ore constituents from earlier concordant gold-bearing formations. The principal metallic minerals in the deposits are native gold, electrum, tellurides, pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite.As the mineralogy suggests, many of the Cordilleran lode gold deposits have yielded important co-products or byproducts, including silver, copper, lead, zinc, cadmium and tungsten. Significant by-product gold production has also been derived from porphyry copper, volcanogenic, replacement and pyrometasomatic deposits, particularly in recent years.No major lode gold discovery has been made in the past 67 years, although little exploration activity for gold has taken place during the last 30 years. Several relatively small lode gold and gold replacement deposits have been discovered in recent years, either serendipitously (Chappelle) or on very low initial budgets (Northair and Carolin). Based on well-established precedents, one or more of these may eventually be developed into a large mine.A detailed study of the Canadian Cordillera gold deposits based on recent genetic models could prove rewarding, not only in up-dating information on their origin and depositional characteristics, but in stimulating the search for undiscovered gold deposits, in the Cordillera and other parts of Canada."

Jan 1, 1980

By Peter A. Hacquebard

"The early history of the Geological Survey of Canada is closely connected with coal geology investigations in the Atlantic Provinces. In 1843, Sir William Logan, the first director of the Geological Survey, measured the 4441m thick shore section at Joggins in Nova Scotia. Detailed mapping of the coalfields were subsequently carried out by H. Fletcher during the latter part of the nineteenth and first part of the present century. During the 1920-1940 period, the stratigraphy of the carboniferous WIZS' established by WA. Bell, who later also became a diretor of the Survey. Bell's work WIZS' followed by coal geology investigations of A.A. Hayes, W.S. Dyer, EA. Goranson, G. W.H. Norman, J.E. Muller, T.B. Haites and P.A. Hacquebord.The activities and accomplishments of the Survey geologists during the past 150 years are presented in this paper.General Outline of Survey Activities in Coal Geology During the Past 150 YearsIn 1842, when the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) was established, the industrialization of the major countries of Western Europe and North America was actively persued. The energy required for this industrialization was obtained from the only fossil fuel then available, namely coal. The measure of a country's major mineral wealth at that time was the availability of mineable resources of coal. Eastern Canada, where mining had been carried out since 1720, was known to be well endowed with valuable coal deposits. In the major fields of Nova Scotia (Fig. I) several large-scale operations had been started during the middle and latter part of the nineteenth century.The significance of coal, therefore, was well understood, and exploration surveys specifically oriented toward coal were carried out by the Geological Survey from its earliest beginning. The first report of a detailed geological description of the coal measures of eastern Canada was prepared in 1843 by Sir William Logan (1845), the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. This early work was continued and complemented in 1896 by H. fletcher (1906), who during the latter part of the nineteenth century and first part of the present century systematically mapped the coal-bearing regions of Nova Scotia, which he considered all to be of approximately the same age."

Jan 1, 1992

By R. F. Errington

"Radioactive minerals are found together with the more familiar ore minerals in veins, gossans, and pegmatites, Since they have a peculiar property, that of giving off penetrating radiation, the simplest means of field detection is by the use of some radiation detector.The two principal radioactive elements one may encounter are uranium and thorium. These may occur separately or together. At present there is very little demand for thorium and hence radioactive occurrences should be examined with some care to determine which element is present. To do this it may be necessary to have a chemical analysis made of samples from the occurrence. Uranium minerals that do not carry appreciable thorium have a conventional occurrence in quartz or carbonate veins. They are distinctive in appearance. Pitchblende, the principal ore, is hard, black, and very heavy. It weathers readily to soft, powdery minerals •brilliantly coloured orange, yellow, and sometimes green. It may be associated with familiar minerals such _as native silver, nickel-cobalt sulphides and arsenides, chalcopyrite, and hematite.It is the purpose of this paper to review very briefly the types of radiation detectors available .and to draw some general conclusions as to the types most suitable for particular applications.The highly penetrating gamma radiation is the most useful for detection of radioactive mineralization. The alpha rays have little or no penetration, and beta rays are stopped by thicknesses of a millimeter or so of material. We shall confine our remarks principally to those instruments intended to detect gamma radiation. These are of three types."

Jan 1, 1950

By Robert B. Wickham

"American Barrick has always balanced its aggressive operating approach with a conservative financial strategy. In fact, what enables their mining team to pursue such aggressive plans with confidence is the conservative financial strategy adhered to by the company. These policies are built on a prudent mix of gold linked financings, equity and gold price hedging.This paper outlines these policies and focusses in particular on American Barrick's gold price hedging program.IntroductionThe company's balance sheet at the end of 1990 clearly shows the wisdom of its conservative policies. Total assets have grown to over US$1 billion; cash has grown to US$312 million and shareholders' equity to US$645 million. All amounts included in this paper are quoted in U.S. dollars. Increased gold production and an effective gold price hedging program also combined to produce record income from operations, earnings and cash flow in 1990.The first half of 1991 is also indicative of the benefits of the company's conservative financial policies. Increasing production, together with its comprehensive gold hedging program, has generated increased earnings, even in a period of falling gold prices.All year-over-year numbers for the first six months are up. Gold production was 36% higher; earnings of $40.2 million $ 0.30 per share - were 46% higher than 1990.Barricks revenue continued to increase despite gold prices remaining unchanged during 1990. Barrick's hedging policy protects the company from falling gold prices on the basis that the upside looks after itself. Their hedging program - including various goldlinked fmancings - enabled Barrick to realize an average price of $437 per ounce of gold sold in 1990, compared with the Comex average gold price for the year of $384 per ounce."

Jan 1, 1991

By E. P. Cadwell

"Throughout the years Cyanamid has been a supplier of cyanide and a supplier of information to the mining industry. In general, the knowledge of mineralogy is greatly overlooked. Mineral deposits in the Western hemisphere have been exceedingly rich in the past but now they are becoming poorer. In other words, we will have to use our talents to the utmost to extract the precious metals and base metals from these ores. Modifications of some of the mineralogical equipment displayed here belong in the mill.Cyanidation of copper has been one of the main projects in our labs in recent years. De-rimming or de-filming of copper in order to upgrade copper concentrate was the main aspect investigated. A study was made as to how wide spread was the filming of secondary copper on pyrite, and to what extent it affected the copper industry. It was very wide.Often there is no conception as to what the minerals are. One open pit copper producer with a chalcopyrite ore was producing a copper concentrate with a 5% copper value whereas chalcopyrite contains 35% copper. They used primary and secondary grinding and a regrinding section. The ore contained about 8 parts chalcopyrite to one part of other copper minerals. In tests, a 3 1/ 2% copper rougher concentrate, cleaned without regrinding but conditioned with cyanide for a low contact time of 30 seconds produced a 30% copper concentrate with 90% recovery by removal of the film. It was of utmost importance that some quantitative mineralogical analysis be made before flow sheet changes were made. Every man should be trained to do his own microscopic examination in order to get quick answers. The fundamental thing in all mineral dressing is to first of all know the minerals and the mineral associations."

Jan 1, 1964

By Kari Niiranen, Andreas Boehm

LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB) is operating underground iron ore mine, with three beneficiation and pelletizing plants in Kiruna, Northern Sweden. The wet low intensity magnetic separation (WLIMS) is regarded as the crucial part of silicate mineral separation from the ore. The Kiirunavaara iron ore deposit shows a rather low content of silica (ca. 2.3 to 3.3 % SiO2) but the silica grade is expected to increase in the deeper parts of the deposit. This can be problematic in the case of DR pellet quality with an average silica grade under 0.75 % SiO2. A laboratory scale methodology was developed for the systematic characterization of the ore for mineral processing with the focus on silicates at the Institute of Mineral Processing, University of Leoben. This methodology is combining mineralogical, geochemical and process mineralogical characteristics. Automated mineralogy (QEMSCAN) was used to study the modal mineralogy, the distribution of silicate minerals in different particle size classes after comminution, the deportment of silicon (Si) between various silicates and degree of liberation and intergrowth of magnetite and silicates. Based on the mineralogical investigations, actinolite, phlogopite and even quartz and albite are the predominating SiO2 bearing minerals in the ore. The important result of the investigations was the discovery of two separate subtypes within the high silica ore type B2 based on their mineralogy and mineral processing characteristics. The crucial part of the investigations of intergrowths and liberation of magnetite results was the magnetic separation tests carried out with the Davis magnetic tube. The binary intergrowths of magnetite and the silicate minerals (mostly actinolite) are the most common type of mineral association discovered. The significant characteristics in the intergrowths of magnetite and actinolite are the fine-grained magnetite inclusions in actinolite which may end up increasing the SiO2 grade in the magnetite concentrate despite magnetic separation.

Jan 1, 2016

By R. A. Frith

"Belts of Yellowknife Supergroup volcanic and sedimentary strata in the Slave Structural Province are separated by granitoid complexes. The strata and most intrusive rocks are 2.7 and 2.5 Ga old, but rocks around 3.1 Ga have been recognized in some of the complexes and are believed to represent a once-extensive sialic crust. Volcanics were erupted along rifts in this crust and the rifts became sites of crustal foundering and the development of troughs that filled with turbidites of volcanic and granitoid provenance. Present margins of the granitoid complexes may be close to the original margins of deposition of volcanics, with associated mineral deposits, and close to the thickest parts of basins of sedimentation.The Hackett River volcanic belt extends 100 kilometres between Mara River and Back River and is crudely S-shaped, with a northern sector surrounding a core of granitoid basement rocks, a northeasterly facin g central sector and a southerly facing southern sector. Up to 8 kilometres of andesitic volcanics with intercalated felsi c volcanic rocks are preserved within the central sector. The f elsic rocks include thick lenses of volcaniclastics with large, quartz-eye-bearing clasts, but the known metal deposits are not associated with these. Both of the deposit areas, the Hackett River area in the northern domal sector and the 'A itch ' Lake area 40 kilometres to the south in the central sector, are near the tops of relatively thin atypical volcanic sequences above suspected basement rocks. The Yava deposit near 'A itch , Lake overlies a unit of subaerially deposited, welded, andesit ic ash flows and the Hack ett River deposits overlie highly metamorphosed volcaniclastic rocks that include suspected ignimbrites.The deposits are notably argentijerous and lead-rich. They consist of stratigraphically zoned sheet-like bodies of iron sulphides, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite underlain by altered rocks containing chalcopyrite stringers. The Yava deposit was formed where hydrothermal fluids exuded through the fractured floor of a flooded caldera basin. The Hackett River deposits may have been formed in a similar setting and it is not inconceivable that all the known deposits in the belt were formed in a single large caldera basin, although there is no independent evidence for the required major fault separation between the Hackett River dome and the 'Aitch' Lake area."

Jan 1, 1980