Search Documents

"IntroductionIn the 1970s, environmental concerns and associated liabilities were a new and unknown aspect of corporate risk. Today, social concerns and the associated conflicts that they can generate constitute a rapidly expanding aspect of risk. Although not a new phenomena — the Bougainville copper mine was forced into closure in 1988 — social risk has emerged as considerably more important, and increasingly visible, in the last few years. Social risk is now an aspect of all mining activities which needs to be calculated into project assessments, and to be managed throughout the life of a project. While social risk has a number of aspects at the corporate level, such as company image and shareholder relations, at the level of the individual project, its primary component is social acceptability, and the principal tool for managing it is the Social Licence to Operate.Social Risk in Latin AmericaThroughout Latin America there are newly modernized mineral codes and economic systems introduced over the last ten years which, together with new environmental legislation, look very much like regulations in developed countries. To the corporations, the existence of these instruments means that the risks from the environmental issues associated with the project are known; they are legislated, defined, quantifiable and hence manageable.It seems ironic that, just when comprehensive regulations for the environmental management of mining have been put in place throughout Latin America, there arise an increasing number of challenges to mining activities. For, in spite of the apparent guarantees provided by these new legislative reforms, communities in Latin America today are more frequently standing up and taking exception to the presence of mining companies, or the ways in which the companies are conducting themselves. The viability of projects becomes threatened because they are considered socially unacceptable, a phenomenon that we describe as social risk. These challenges are less about opposing mining activities than many people would think. Rather, they are based on an increasing desire on the part of the local population to have some measure of control over their own future, and to participate in the development process from the earliest stages."

Jan 1, 2000

By P. C. Thurston, T. Setterfield, D. H. Watkinson

"The Maybrun copper deposit IS In a succession of pillowed basaltic flows in the Wabigoon sub-province, northwestern Ontario. The rocks have primary flow morphologies and remarkably well-preserved crystallization textures, including quench-textured plagioclase, in spite of metamorphism to the amphibolite facies. The sulphide assemblage chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite-cubanite with minor sphalerite and pyrite is primarily in interpillow spaces and is stratabound. Basaltic rocks immediately enclosing the copper sulphide minerals have an enrichment in Fe, Mg and K and depletion in Ca and Na relative to surrounding flows. The Maybrun deposit is interpreted to have formed contemporaneously with volcanism and alteration, and was subsequently metamorphosed with the enclosing basalts.IntroductionThe association o f significant base metal accumulations with mafic submarine flows in the Archean is as yet poorly documented. Such deposits, where noted, have typically been small, and are therefore commonly over looked. The Maybrun Mine, a 2.6 x 106-tonne copper deposit in pillowed basalt, has many similarities with large, well-documented volcanogenic deposits. Given the interpretation of the Maybrun Mine to be volcanogenic in origin, there is n o reason why similar processes could not produce large deposit s. This is an important realization in an area where Archean submarine mafic rock s are very common, but frequently are examined only superficially. As gold commonly occurs in deposits such as Maybrun, even modest-sized deposits may be economic. The basalts at Maybrun are remarkable for amphibolite-facies rocks because of their extremely well-preserved delicate volcanic textures, including quench textures.The Maybrun Mine is one kilometre south of Atikwa Lake, in the Wabigoon sub-province of the Superior structural province, 75 km southeast of Kenora, northwestern Ontario, at longitude 93°35'W, latitude 49°25'N (Davies, 1973). Archean metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks and intrusions underlie the area. Goodwin (1970) concluded that the mafic and minor felsic metavolcanic rocks, as well as the overlying metasedimentary rock s, were an eastward extension of the lower cycle of the Keewatin type section for the Lake of the Woods area. He estimated that the stratigraphic thickness of Keewatin rock s in this area is about 6900 m, of which 87% is basalt. The flows contain numerous interlayered sills, predominantly of basaltic composition; they have been extensively folded, faulted, metamorphosed to amphibolite facies and intruded by numerous felsic bodies, most importantly the Atikwa Batholith."

Jan 1, 1983

By W. T. Robson

LAKE Shore Mines, Limited, with property at Kirkland. Lake, Ontario, was incorporated m 1914 and commenced product10n m March, 1918, with an initial capacity of about 60 tons per day. Since that time a gradual expansion has taken place until a present capacity of approximately 2,300 tons per day has been reached, giving a total annual gold production valued at approximately $16,000,000. At the time of incorporation of the Company, the Lake Shore property consisted of four mineral claims and four fractions, totalling 171.05 acres. In 1934, four claims belonging to the Minaker Kirkland Gold Mines, Limited, were acquired and a controlling interest purchased in the Kirkland Hudson Bay Gold Mines, Limited. Both these properties adjoin the Lake Shore claims on the south. From the accompanying compilation of the world's largest gold mines for 1934 (1), it will be seen that, while Lake Shore holds sixth position in respect to the number of ounces produced, there are twenty-five gold mines which treat a greater tonnage of ore. This is an indication of probably the most unusual feature of the Kirkland Lake deposits, namely, the high aver-age tenor of the ores. coupled with the comparatively large tonnages available.

Jan 1, 1936

By P. Favreau

This paper describes the progress accomplished at the Noranda Technology Centre in the field of three-dimensional computer-aided underground blast design. Traditional methods of laying out underground blasts are reviewed, and the new computer-aided approach is described. Time savings achieved through the use of BLASTCAD can be advantageously used to better engineer blasts, using models and blast vibration analysis. Future work involving the attachment of blast models directly to the system is also addressed.

Feb 1, 1993

By N. Katsikaros, A. Lewis-Gray, P. Richards

"To optimize gold recovery in complex leach-to-electrowinning processes, Gekko Systems developed the Gekko resin exchange column (G-REX) as an intermediate step, using a highly gold-selective resin to isolate contaminant metals. The AuRIX®100 resin produced by Purolite is licensed exclusively to Gekko, with the G-REX column designed specifically for this resin. Operational experience has been gained at the Castlemaine Goldfields Ballarat gold mine. In near-continuous operation since 2008, the Ballarat plant treats unclarified concentrate leach solution. The extension of this technology to higher throughputs and more complex chemistry is discussed.RÉSUMÉ Afin d’optimiser la récupération de l’or dans des procédés complexes impliquant la lixiviation suivie de l’extraction électrolytique, Gekko Systems a développé la colonne Gekko de résines échangeuses d’ions (G-REX) comme étape intermédiaire, à l’aide d’une résine hautement sélective pour la récupération de l’or qui permet d’isoler les métaux contaminants. Gekko détient la licence exclusive pour la résine AuRIX®100 produite par Purolite, et la colonne G-REX a été spécifiquement conçue pour cette résine. C’est à la mine d’or Ballarat de Castlemaine Goldfields que l’expérience opérationnelle a été acquise. L’usine de Ballarat, en exploitation quasi-continue depuis 2008, traite une solution concentrée non clarifiée de lixiviation. L’extension de cette technologie à des capacités supérieures et à une chimie plus complexe est examinée.AURIX®100 RESINAuRIX100 resin is a crosslinked polystyrene alkaline resin developed by Henkel (Virnig, Mackenzie, & Adamson, 1996). The resin beads are off-white in colour and spherical, with a nominal size of 100% +600 µm. This resin is highly selective for gold and silver over many metals, by way of extracting precious metal–cyanide complexes from leach solutions with a pH of less than 11.5. The higher end of the pH scale produces the best selectivity according to the order of preference: Au > Ag > Hg > Zn > Ni > Cu > Co > Fe. Purolite produces the resin and Gekko Systems maintains licensing of AuRIX100 resin for use in its G-REX column, as part of its unique suite of gravity gold–handling equipment.Significant cost savings over carbon-in-solution (CIS) systems are realized with AURIX100 resin: approximately 4–12% in capital savings and 27–40% in operating costs (Virnig, Mackenzie, Katsikaros, & Gray, 2004). Additionally, AuRIX100 resin is not susceptible to fouling; that is, the resin does not load with inorganic salts or organic compounds that would affect the loading and extraction of precious metals. To counter any potential for fouling by inorganic salts, a dilute acid wash is periodically conducted in service on the resin to unblock resin pores."

Jan 1, 2017

By G. E. Agar

"The distribution of gold in the grinding-classification circuit of an operating gold plant was determined by assaying the size fractions of samples from each of the streams. This analysis identified the streams with the maximum potential for gravity recovery of gold and revealed that there was up 110 seventy-five times as much gold in the primary cyclone underflow as in the concentrator feed.Laboratory jigging and tabling tests were done on samples from two of the streams to determine what the recovery might be with a gravity circuit and to show that a high grade concentrate could be produced. A numerical simulation procedure was used to calculate a material balance for a circuit that included gravity separation on the primary cyclone underflow. The numerical simulation optimistically indicated that as much as 84% of the gold might be recovered in a reasonable grade of concentrate even though the recovery in batch bench scale tests was only 14%.Incorporation of a gravity separation device would reduce the inventory of gold in the grinding-classification circuit.INTRODUCTIONMany gold concentrating plants include a gravity concentration operation while others do not and the reasons that some do and some do not is not clear. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of gravity circuits are discussed by Penman (Penman 1987) without clear cut resolution. Penman's comments elicited an interesting response from Lloyd (1989) who produced a simple way to determine if the addition of a gravity concentration circuit would enhance the recovery of gold. Lloyd's method does not consider the cost of running the circuit so it only partially answers the question. There are reports in the literature (Wells and Patel 1991, Matwijenko 1988) that as much as 60% of the entire production comes from a gravity circuit when it is used, and that the grade of the concentrate produced often exceeds 65% gold, an assay that far exceeds most Merrill-Crowe precipitates that are sent to refining. In at least one instance (Hood 1984) a range of recovery from 40-50% was indicated from laboratory test work and the plant subsequently realized recoveries in the range of 26-40%. Despite these favorable numbers other plants use gravity separation when as little as 20% of the gold is recovered in the gravity concentrate (Carter 1992)."

Jan 1, 1993

By Dwayne D. Tannant

The Adra tunnel near Naramata BC experienced a fire in 2010 that burned timber sets within the tunnel and caused severe spalling of rock from the roof and tunnel walls. The nature of the damage is documented and efforts completed to rehabilitate and open a portion of this tunnel to the public are described. The use of shortcrete and rock bolts is a technically and economically superior support system to timber sets as well as being far more fire resistant.

Jun 1, 2012

By J. Font

The RAF or copper fire refining process at the Caletones smelter of CodelcoChile consists of several pyrorefining stages that successively lowers the levels of S, Fe, Pb, As, Sb, Te, Se and to some extent 0 in the copper melt, allowing the production of high quality fire-refined copper of 99.93 % purity (RAF copper). This chemical feature of the RAF copper is only achieved by quite long processing times, and a considerable consumption of fluxes and fuels in the RAF vessels. The main goal of this study was to improve the RAF process performance by thermodynamic considerations and industrial scale tests, i.e., an in situ approach for the process as featured by intensive sampling, characterization and subsequent modifications. Thus, both theoretical and industrial data were derived, and based on kinetic and thermodynamic evaluations, a higher operational standard was achieved for the RAF process. These new operational practices allowed enhancing the overall economic of the RAF process, by reducing the time and operational costs, and consequently increasing the availability of the vessels.

Jan 1, 2007

By B. K. Gorain

"The Air-Metabisulfite (AMBS) process has been developed to treat complex copper, molybdenum and precious metals (gold, silver) bearing ores using brackish and sea water. This process was able to produce significantly better copper concentrate grades and higher recovery than possible using conventional lime and/or cyanide based processes for certain complex ores with high sulphide gangue minerals. The AMBS technology in now used commercially following a rigorous evaluation process emanating from laboratory curiosity to plant applications. In addition, many projects have embraced this technology at a feasibility level involving various complex ore bodies.This paper presents a summary of the findings from testing the AMBS technology on various ores types. Experiences gained from this successful development from bench to piloting and then to plant applications are also presented in this paper.INTRODUCTIONProcessing of sulphide copper, molybdenum and precious metal ores typically involves flotation of copper bearing minerals while depressing non-sulphide and other non-copper sulphide minerals such as pyrite, pyrrhotite and sometimes arsenopyrite. Though in many precious metal ores, the values are in these sulphide minerals as well. The conventional method employed in the industry to produce a saleable copper concentrate requires depression of these non-copper sulphide minerals using an alkaline pH above 9.5, though 10.5 to 11.5 is more common. Alkalinity is controlled by the addition of a pH modifier. Lime is normally employed as a pH modifier due to its relatively low cost; however, the costs associated with adding lime can be significant and the effectiveness of lime as a depressant could be drastically reduced when the process water supplied to the flotation circuit contains high level of dissolved salts. In some cases, a small amount of cyanide is used along with lime to depress non-copper sulphide minerals especially when its proportion to copper sulphide minerals in the ore is higher than three."

Jan 1, 2016

By F. Grant

"General *The mining experiences of the coal mining industry in Western Canada have been extremely varied, with the mining companies having to adjust their operations or fail due to the harsh economy of the country in the first part of the century. The bituminous or mountain mines had the railways as main consumers with, at times, optimism that potential steel producers would require metallurgical coal. The prairie and foothills mines mainly provided household fuels, with the fine coal sold to local thermal power plants at discounted prices. In practically all cases fuel competition was very keen, and the less successful mines ceased operations in short-time spans. Knowledge of the parameters that governed the success or failures of the past coal operations should be of value to the present and future mining companies. The initial coal mines were small and were started to supply local demand. These mines had little in the way of capital machinery, engineering, or transportation equipment; therefore the mining methods and mine plans were very simple. The first industrial-sized mines imported most of their management and mining methods from other mining areas, mainly Great Britain. It took time to change the bias of management and mining methods to the requirements of strata characteristics, with rapid closure to those mines that were slow to adapt working methods. The main markets for coal were for household fuel, thermal power plants and railways, with very few other industrial markets developed. The economy of the period was harsh and cyclic and the coal mines were affected more than most industries by these boom and bust periods. It led to the survival of the fittest or the most efficient. Due to the economy, mechanization was introduced to the mines very slowly, with the inability to sell coal fines at a profit being another reason for the delay. Manual labour with hand tools was the main means of production. The work was heavy and arduous, and the pay was based on contract coal tonnage; therefore both men and management paid close attention to details so that nonessential work could be eliminated. Mine openings were dimensioned so that coal could be loaded easily by hand and support requirements were kept to the minimum. Transporting and handling the timber supports required heavy labour; thus the most efficient dimensions were chosen to suit the strata. On the other hand, during the main production seasons the mines tried to make the strata stress work for them so that the pressure was kept on the coal face to keep the coal loose while the strata, a short distance back, was induced to cave to minimize the abutment stresses. This caused mining to be an art, using skills developed by experience with the strata. This led to the development of efficient mine layouts with the openings dimensioned to the strength of the strata and the type of support available. The lack of capital and mechanization, and the manual labour, induced the mines to correlate their service and haulage systems with their mining methods. This caused many innovations that proved very practical."

Jan 1, 1985

By R. J. Craig

Introduction All mining operations produce rock dust. Inhalation of rock dust, particularly if it has a high silica content, causes silicosis. Silicosis is, therefore, recognized as a hazard of the mining industry and has been made compensable throughout most of Canada. Most of the dust in any mining operation is caused by rock drilling and blasting operations and the movement and transportation of broken rock. Dust from blasting cannot be eliminated, but it can be controlled by means of increased ventilation, the use of water sprays, and the control of blasting hours. Dust from ore movement can be reduced by keeping the broken rock in a moist condition at all times. The dust from the rock drilling operation has been found to be the most difficult to control. Concentrations of dust caused by rock drills in stopes can usually be reduced to the safe minimum of 300 particles per cubic centimeter (p.p.c.c.) by diluting the air with increased ventilation. In development headings, where the machines are more confined, this is not always practicable. Therefore, the dust must be eliminated at its source. This paper deals with the reduction of dust from Leyner machines by adopting improved designs.

Jan 1, 1947

By L. J. Bryson, C. A. Biley

"Anglo American Platinum’s Rustenburg Base Metals Refiners (RBMR) produces Ni and Cu cathode from slow cooled converter matte after Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) are magnetically separated for further processing. In 2010, execution of the RBMR expansion project was commenced to increase the production capacity to 33 ktpa Ni. The expansion, which is currently still in a ramp-up stage, brought about several fundamental changes to the circuit chemistry, including the installation of a dedicated Pressure Iron Removal (PIR) autoclave. This provided an independent outlet for iron from the refinery, which previously deported to the residue from the leach circuit and was toll refined. At the same time as changes in the circuit associated with the RBMR expansion were being made, the plant experienced a significant increase in iron and copper units per nickel unit in the feed. The decoupling of the leaching and iron removal process steps has had significant advantages for the robustness and control of the overall circuit, in particular pertaining to the preparation of a nickel electrolyte of sufficient purity to produce LME grade nickel. This paper details the primary changes to the RBMR circuit chemistry with a particular focus on iron deportment and the benefits derived from the installation of the PIR autoclave.INTRODUCTIONAnglo American Platinum mines and refines Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) through a complex processing pipeline in its South African operations. Mined ore is first treated through several mineral processing stages, geared to the recovery of base metals and associated PGMs, followed by smelting and refining operations that aim to separate base metals from PGMs and recover the value components to purified, saleable products. The focus of this paper is the Rustenburg Base Metals Refiners (RBMR) complex which receives a PGM-containing converter matte, then physically separates PGMs and base metals, and recovers nickel and copper to cathode by utilising leaching, precipitation and electrowinning processes.With new mining operations coming online and the continued increase in PGM ore arisings, it was necessary to undertake an expansion project at the Base Metal Refinery (BMR) to increase production capacity from 21 ktpa to 33 ktpa Ni. Complicating the expansion project was the requirement of continued production through all stages of design, construction and implementation and, due to stringent capital constraints, the utilisation of all existing equipment installed during a previous expansion in 1981. Against this backdrop, the expanded BMR flow sheet involved significant changes to the chemistry, especially iron management. These changes in iron management allowed for the separation of iron and copper residues and significantly increased the robustness of the plant to changes in feed mineralogy as well as the potential to increase production duties of the existing equipment."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. B. McKay

It is the purpose of this paper to present an initial report on the construction and operation of the Fluo-Solid roaster at the property of Campbell Red Lake Mines, Ltd., Balmertown, Ontario. The roaster prepares for subsequent cyanidation the bulk flotation concentrate obtained from four hundred tons per day of gold ore. The mill flow-sheet 'includes jigging and amalgamation; flotation; cyanidation of flotation tailing; and roasting followed by cyanidaition of flotation concentrate plus amalgamation tailing. Overall mill recovery for the year 1950 was 90.2 per cent. Recovery possible by straight cyanidation of this ore would not exceed 80 per cent. The ore contains considerable arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite as well as pyrite, with lesser quantities of nickel, zinc, and copper minerals. The mineralization is for the most part extremely fine. The roaster first went into operation on August 7th, 1949, and at the end of 1950 it had roasted 10,916 tons of concentrate. The average recovery of gold from calcine during that period was 94.86 per cent in the primary stage of calcine cyanidation. The average assay of calcine residue from primary cyanidation for the entire period was 0.37 oz. per ton. Both laboratory tests and plant metallurgical balance calculations indicate a further recovery of approximately 10 per cent of this 0.37 oz. when the calcine residue is again cyanided, in the flotation tailing cyanidation circuit.

Jan 1, 1951

By O. Espinoza Ortega, S. Song

A process scheme has been devised to improve the silver recovery and the grade of concentrates from the scavenger concentrate of a silver ore flotation circuit. Based on modal analysis studies it was found that silver sulfide minerals in the scavenger concentrate were associated as simple binary particles and finely disseminated in sulfide and non-sulfide gangues. Fine grinding of the concentrate improved the grade-recovery curve of silver to a very limited extent owing to heterocoagulation between liberated fine silver sulfides and coarse particles of gangue. This heterocoagulation phenomenon was prevented by grinding the concentrate in the presence of the dispersing reagent sodium hexametaphosphate. The silver grade-recovery curve was improved by practicing. before the conventional flotation step, a selective aggregation step for the fine silver sulfide particles using the non-polar oil kerosene, the sulthydryl collector Aerophine 3418 and conditioning the pulp under strong agitation conditions.

Jan 1, 2004

By D. J. Hains

IN this paper we shall examine the Why, Where and How concerning the agglomeration of iron ores and concentrates. Fig. l answers the questions @f why there is so much interest at the present time in the art of agglomeration. The use of sinter or pellets in the blast furnace has materially increased their rated •capacity. ':'President Hains Company Ltd. Engineering J. S. McMahon ( 1) reports an increase from 653 tons of .pig iron per day to 1140 tons of pig iron per day with the use of a 100 per cent sinter burden on one of his blast furnaces. In the United States the use of 100 per cent pellets has increased pig iron production from approximately 1800 tons per day to over 3000 tons pig iron per day (2). In our economic system the general objective is to produce more and better commodities cheaper. Fig. 2 shows the decrease in coke consumption with increased tonnages from the furnaces when using -

Jan 1, 1961

By S. Kariyawasam, R. McNealy

Pipelines are subject to multiple threats often requiring quantification of pipeline risk and engineering evaluation of in-line inspection and other data to effect discovery of conditions defined by the regulation. Public concern and pressure from regulatory bodies are accelerating the need for pipeline operators to formalize and intensify their approach to integrity management. Most operators need a phased approach to progressively adopt the most relevant and needed assessments. The organized and relevant assessment steps need to be introduced according to data available and maturity of the integrity management program. Each refinement to the quantification offers distinct advantages to the user. In this paper, the progressive integrity assessment solutions using quantitative methods are presented. Methodologies for engineering evaluation of integrity in-line inspection data for immediate and future integrity are summarized. Corrosion is used as an example, but the approach is applicable to any time-dependent defect based hazard. Strategies for pipeline integrity management are discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By I. I. Inculet, M. A. Bergougnou, J. D. Brown, R. M. Quigley, D. K. Faurschou

"Coal from Hat Creek, B. C., has been successfully beneficiated to remove ash while retaining calorific value by a dry electrostatic separation process using a fluidized bed for triboelectrification. Two samples of Hat Creek coal used in the beneficiation experiments have been characterized particularly with respect to their mineral and clay content. The calorific value recovery exceeds the simple dry coal recovery because of the heat lost in altering the clay minerals of the ash fraction during burning. Recoveries and ash contents of the beneficiated coal are comparable to recoveries by water washing, but the dry process avoids the potential water pollution problems.IntroductionProposals have been made which suggest an interim Canadian coal production target for the end of the century which will require a four- to fivefold increase over the 1977 production. This implies a nominal annual growth rate of about 6070 to achieve a production rate of 115 to 140 million tonnes/year. Whether or not this target is realistic, it is becoming increasingly evident that coal must be utilized more fully on a world-wide basis. The crisis in Iran has provided the latest stimulus to renewed interest in Canadian coals for domestic use and export.The emerging new era of coal utilization for fuel and chemical feedstock will not, however, generally tolerate the level of coal technology which prevailed prior to the availability of abundant cheap oil and natural gas. Economic, environmental and resource management considerations will necessitate, for example, the use of improved methods of beneficiating coal. Continued development and application of conventional processes, principally aqueous, involving heavy media and cyclones will solve many of the problems. However, less conventional processes may be preferable or necessary in certain applications."

Jan 1, 1980

By S. Surapunt, C. M. Nyamai, K. Itagaki

"The use of liquid copper as a medium for zinc extraction has been used in the Warner Process as a method of processing zinc-lead sulphide ore. The recovery of zinc metal is based on the reaction:ZnS(s) + 2Cu(l) = Zn(g) + Cu2S(l)In this method, thermodynamic and phase equilibria investigations of the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS systems are of importance and form the basis for the liquid sulphide phase which appears as a product and is used as a solvent in the Warner Process. Phase relations in the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS ternary systems were determined experimentally at 1473°K to provide a fundamental basis for the new zinc smelting process. The results show that the solid solubility of ZnS in the two systems is very small (2 wt% to 3 wt% ZnS in FeS, 4 wt% ZnS in Cu2S for the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS system; less than 0.5 wt% ZnS in both PbS and Cu2S for the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS system). The Raoultian Activity Coefficient of ZnS in the liquid mixtures and the vapour pressure of zinc over the matte in both systems is relatively large (?° = 7.7 – 15.8, Pzn(atm) = 0.088 – 1.026 for the Cu2S-FeS-ZnS system; ?° = 8.9 – 12.9, PZn(atm) = 0.075 – 0.214 for the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS system). On the FeS-ZnS join, the only phases detected are FeS and iron-rich sphalerite (Zn, Fe)S. The binary join mixture occurs at about 92 wt% FeS-8 wt% ZnS at 1473°K. Electron microprobe examination of the quenched samples indicate about 47 wt% to 48 wt% FeS in sphalerite and about 2 wt% to 3 wt% ZnS in the iron sulphide phase. On the Cu2S-ZnS join, microprobe analysis reveals that the maximum solubility is 4 wt% Zn in liquid Cu2S and 3.6 wt% Cu in solid ZnS. In the Cu2S-PbS-ZnS ternary system, microprobe analysis of the quenched samples indicate on average, 5 wt% ZnS in the liquid phase region. The only phases detected on the PbS- ZnS join are ZnS and PbS. The eutectic phase contains, on average, 13 wt% ZnS. The phase relationships, very low solid solubilities of zinc sulphide in the liquid mixtures of both Cu2S-FeS-ZnS and Cu2S-PbS-ZnS systems, coupled with the high Raoultian Activity Coefficient of ZnS as well as the high vapour pressure of zinc over matte all favour the partitioning of zinc metal into the vapour phase. This new process is cost effective and bypassesthe expensive and tedious conventionaltechnique of zinc production involving oxidationof the sulphide ore by roasting followed bya reduction process to extract the zinc. Theresults indicate that a new zinc smelting technologyusing the Warner Process would bemore efficient and preferable over the traditionalmethods of zinc extraction."

Jan 1, 2002

By A. Varma

Successful technology commercialization occurs when a company is focused on creating shareholder value by providing a reliable product at a price point attractive to the market, while at the same time maintaining strict control of its internal cash burn rates. Developing a technology platform and a market platform are equally important in the commercialization of new technologies such as fuel cells. This paper will discuss some of the key barriers that may prevent successful market entry for emerging and disruptive technologies, such as: R&D priorities, supply chain / manufacturing issues, materials, cost reduction strategies, customer needs, developing a market pull strategy, institutional barriers such as existing regulatory/approvals processes and/or current design/purchasing practices, product reliability and resilience, and finding the right path to market. SDTC is an arms length foundation that aims to financially support the successful market entry of emerging and disruptive technologies that can provide significant environmental benefits to Canada. The fuel cell industry, which represents one such technology, is at a critical point in its evolution where market receptivity and the technology platform are converging to potentially create significant customer advantages for fuel cell products being developed today. Since its inception in 2001, SDTC has received over 850 business cases from which it has identified successful strategies to overcome the noted barriers to commercialization. While maintaining commercial confidentiality, the SDTC database will be mined to: Identify specific success stories that have overcome various barriers and discuss their strategy; Identify specific fuel cell related industry experiences that hinder successful market uptake. The general attributes and trends of successful technology developments identified in this paper will hopefully provide guidance to technology developers and prepare them to successfully tackle the next set of hurdles on the path to commercializing their technology, once they have proven their technology works in the laboratory.

Jan 1, 2005

By M. F. Goudge

MAGNESIA refractories and magnesium metal are both essential war commodities. The need for magnesium, which had just made its debut as a commercial metal a few years before the outbreak of the present war, is widely known because this new and valuable light metal has already received much publicity. Less widely known but equally important in the war effort are magnesia refractories. They are indispensable to the efficient functioning of the great metallurgical plants producing steel, nickel, copper, and other metals, where, because of their resistance to extreme high temperature and chemical attack, they are used in lining the furnaces, which are operated at a white heat. The demand for refractories in the metallurgical industries rose rapidly upon the outbreak of war, and now, in consequence of the continued great expansion under way in the manufacture of steel, nickel, copper, and other metals, the need for magnesia is greater than ever. Since 1915, part of the Canadian requirements of basic refractories has been supplied from the deposits of magnesitic dolomite in Argenteuil county, Quebec. The products from these deposits are excellent for many uses, but the magnesitic dolomite has too high a content of silica and lime to be used in making a type of magnesia brick required in nickel converters, and in the roofs of reverberatory furnaces used in the copper and steel industries. There is now a large and growing demand in Canada for bricks and shapes for these uses. This demand has always been supplied from the United States. Makers of these products in the United States, in turn, formerly imported most of the necessary high-grade, dead-burned magnesia from Austria and Manchuria. Not only are these sources closed, but refractory chrome ore from the Philippines is no longer available and chrome refractories may have to be in large part replaced by magnesia.

Jan 1, 1942