Search Documents

By F. Mackay, S. A. B. da Fontoura

"The theoretical solution for a viscoelastic well was presented by Gnirk and Johnson in 1964. From this an exercise was executed to validate the numerical simulation of a cemented salt well. The exercise comprised the geomechanical behavior through time of a cemented salt well, this was achieved using a finite element commercial software. This simulation showed the accuracy of the theoretical solution for viscoelastic materials such as salt rock. The theoretical solution presented elastic and viscoelastic analytic equations for the tangential and radial stresses. The equations for the elastic material (casing and cement) and for the viscoelastic material (salt rock) are presented here: Where equations 1a & 1b are the radial and tangential stresses of the elastic material; equations 2a & 2b are the radial and tangential stresses of the viscoelastic material; and a, r and b are the geometrical parameters explained in Figure 1. These equations are function of Pb, a stress time dependent factor that comes from the Burgers model of viscoelasticity. This is well explained in Gnirk and Johnson (1964) and for the sake of simplicity is not disclosed here. Po is the stress at section A-A’ dependent of the depth h."

Jan 1, 2015

By W. P. Corking

"The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship of the goldbearing ore to structure at the Pickle Crow mfoe. Information beyond this scope may be found in the reports and papers of Hurst( l), Bothwell(2), Thomson(3) , and Monette( 4).The property lies on Crow river, in Patricia district, 80 miles northeast of Allanwater, and about 125 miles northeast of Sioux Lookout on the Canadian National railway. From April of 1935, when the mill began operation, to the end of 1944, a total of 564,890 oz. gold and 49,275 oz. silver were recovered from 958,416 tons of ore.Mining on the property is at present carried on in two separate orebodies, the Howell and the No. 2 vein. Stoping has been carried on from every level on the Howell vein to a depth ot 2,450 feet below the surface and from several levels on the No. 2 vein through a mile long cross-cut on the 750-foot level to the Howell vein workings. A steadily increasing volume of ore is being obtained from the No. 2 vein.Each of the two orebodies consists of vein quartz with small amounts of other gangue minerals either in a single vein or a stockwork of veins. Both lie within sheared walls and carry gold in the free state. Fig. 1 shows the position of the veins with respect to the surrounding rocks. It will be noted that the delineation of the beds of iron formation shows that the lava flows and minor, interbedded sediments that make up most of the country rocks are areally folded and contorted.STRUCTURENearly all gold found to date in sufficient quantity and concentration to make ore in the Pickle Crow area is confined to these major quartz veins . Both strike a little north of east and dip north, and in both cases the attitude of the enclosing rocks is somewhat more north of east in strike and more steeply north in dip than that of the veins. As a result of this disposition both veins migrate across their enclosing rocks at a moderate angle in both dip and strike. (In this connection it should be noted that No. 2 vein dips at a considerably flatter angle than its host rock, but has a very pronounced rake to the northeast, effecting the same result as in the Howell vein.)"

Jan 1, 1954

By Amir Karami, Derek Kinakin, Catherine Schmid

The Mathews Stability Graph Method (Mathews et al., 1981) has been used by geotechnical engineers and mining engineers for over 40 years to estimate the performance of longhole open stopes in underground mines. The method is widely used and accepted by practitioners because it is relatively simple to use and can be modified to account for observed performance at a given mining operation. While the simplicity of the method increases its accessibility and utilization, it does not intrinsically account for variability in the various inputs, including rockmass quality, structure, stress, or stope orientation. This paper presents a modified approach for the Stability Graph Method, whereby Python scripts are used to process available geotechnical datasets and combine them with actual or potential distributions of Q parameters, induced stress, structure, or stope orientation. The resulting Stability Numbers are then plotted as a contoured distribution on the Stability Graph.  This allows the practitioner to quickly incorporate large datasets into the analyses, while also developing an understanding of how variability in rockmass quality, induced stress, structure, or stope orientation could affect stope stability.  This paper presents the fundamental principles of the Stability Graph method, the Python script and workflow, and two case studies to demonstrate the utility of the tool.

Oct 1, 2024

By Haofeng Xie, Lijun Peng, Xujun Mi, Xue Feng, Xiangqian Yin, Zhen Yang, Guojie Huang

The Cu/Al composite wires have been widely used in cable industry. Especially in the development of aerospace, the light weight character of wires is particularly important. The wires are fabricated by a drawing process and heat treatment. Mechanical and electrical properties are measured and analyzed. The bending behavior is studied by scanning electron microscope. INTRODUCTION Cu/Al composite is a typical bimetallic composite that has been used in plenty of fields such as automobile and aerospace. The composite has the advantages of excellent conductivity as well as low weight, which cannot be obtained from single copper or aluminum. Industrial products of Cu/Al composite include Cu/Al composite joints (Uscinowicz, R., 2013), Cu/Al bimetallic sheets (Li, X. et al., 2011), Cu/Al flat bar (Wu, Y. & Liu, X. & Xie, J., 2014) and CCA wires (Ahmed N., 1978). CCA wires refer to the composite wires that copper layer concentrically coated on the surface of aluminum core conductor, implementing solid combination of two metals on the interface and forming an integral. At present, the aircraft cable generally use copper or copper alloy conductor, which makes the wire in the aircraft occupy a considerable proportion due to the large density of copper. Therefore, the use of Cu/Al composite wires instead of copper wires for weight loss, is of great significance to the development of aerospace technology industry. Heat treatment is an indispensable procedure to improve plasticity during cold working process, which is of great importance to preparation of wires (Wang, Q. et al., 2008). During the heat treatment, the Intermetallic Compounds (IMCs) are inevitable formed at the contact area of Cu/Al due to the occurrence of diffusion (Lee, S. et al., 2012). According to the results of former researchers, kinds of IMCs were discovered. Antoine Gueydan (2014) identified the formation of three IMCs (Al2Cu, AlCu, and Al4Cu9) at the interface between copper and aluminum after thermal aging. IMCs have a significant effect to the properties of Cu/Al wires. Bending performance is a vital property for the actual application of wires. The brittle IMCs may create a stress concentration that can cause crack initiation during bending process. This work focus on the mechanical properties of Cu/Al composite wires after heat treatment. The effect of various annealing condition on mechanical and electrical properties are studied, in order to find the appropriate annealing conditions, which produce optimal combination properties of Cu/Al clad composite wires. Bending fracture of composite wires is discussed by morphology observation.

Jan 1, 2019

By A. Burduk

The traditional approach to managing information flow between a mine underground and overground, applied in copper mines of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., is mostly based on exchanging spoken information using the mine telephone network and printed documentation. This way of information flow significantly influences effective use of time of a shift foreman employed at a mining division. In order to minimise multiplication of significant information generated as paper documentation, a concept of an IT system module to input basic data concerning operation of the mining division was developed. The idea is based on computer software that permits inputting data in the underground and their immediate sending to the overground. The above-mentioned solution will permit significant reduction of administrative work time that each foreman has to do on each shift. The time saved on filling forms and communication will permit the foreman and the other workers involved in information flow to spend more time for execution of their basic duties. In the case of the supervision employees working in the overground, the IT system will allow all the interested persons to be informed directly, with no necessity to transfer the information on the situation in the given mining division by turns from one to another. On the other hand, saving time on administrative works will permit the foreman employed in the underground executing more detailed inspection of workplaces in his subordinate mine division. Thus, availability of the foreman for the mining division operation will be improved. KEYWORDS

Aug 1, 2013

By W. N. B. Armstrong

CORROSION of metals, for the purpose of this talk, may be divided into two general classes, namely, atmospheric and chemical. Atmospheric corrosion is caused by the natural agents -water, air, salt, and temperature -as well as by the agents arising from industrial operations which pollute the atmosphere. Chemical corrosion affects metals in refineries and chemical plants where severe conditions exist due to .acids, alkalies, salts, solvents, gases, ?steam, etc. A special condition is encountered on road equipment and motor vehicles due to the large amounts of corrosive salts which are used on our roads in the winter. Exposure to corrosive conditions such as those referred to above causes metal to be destroyed and, therefore, it has to be protected. The non-metallic or organic coatings used to protect the metal are themselves destroyed ultimately by these same conditions. Since all types of organic coatings do not have the same kind and degree of resistance to degradation, a particular kind of -coating must be used for a particular set of conditions in order to obtain the maximum benefit. In ?addition to the above mentioned agents, organic coatings are degraded ?by sun-light, which is probably the severest single factor in the breakdown of organic coatings exposed outdoors. We can divide organic coatings, in a general way, into the following classes: (1) Conventional coatings, and (2) Special coatings.

Jan 1, 1958

By J. P. Messervey

THE story of the efforts made by the Department of Mines of Nova Scotia in the search for and investigation of mineral resources for the Canadian war effort began in the spring of 1937. During the past five years, however, heavy enlistments in the Active Service Forces by employees of the mining industry of the Province caused a recession in the production of coal, salt, and other essential minerals required to keep industry rolling on a wartime basis. A marked increase was shown during the period in prospecting for 'strategic' minerals, not only by individuals but also by some of the foremost mining companies. The Provincial Government offered encouragement in this field of endeavour by the enactment of legislation whereby the prospector was enabled to secure the maximum area of ground in a prospecting license at a minimum of cost. The labour requirements on the ground staked, however, remained unchanged. The Nova Scotia Department of Mines continued active investigation of minerals vital to the war effort. These included fluorspar, barytes, diatomite, limestone, and coal. Fundamental knowledge concerning the geology and mode of occurrence of these minerals was accumulated and extensive diamond drilling was carried out on the promising occurrences. Work in these fields is being continued.

Jan 1, 1945

By N. B. Clarke

LIMESTONE, as a name, covers a great variety of stone consisting of varying amounts of calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and impurities such as silica, alumina, and sulphate of lime. In the iron and steel industry, limestone is roughly divided into two classes, namely Calcite, when the magnesium carbonate content is below 10 per cent, and Dolomite, when the magnesium carbonate is over 10 per cent. In practically all metallurgical melting, the quality of the finished product is related to the character of the slag, and limestone is used as a flux to achieve the proper analysis and consistency. The function of the slag is to absorb the undesired elements of the bath and also to act as a protective cover over the metal. The carbonates of calcium and magnesium are the effective agents in fluxing, and the silica, alumina, sulphur, and other foreign matter are objectionable impurities which should be as low as possible, totalling not over S per cent and preferably below 3 per cent, since all of these so-called impurities must be fluxed by the lime and magnesia of the stone. When the lime and magnesia of the stone have to be used to flux its own impurities, there is that much less of these two oxides left for fluxing the impurities from the balance of the charge, and, as a result, more lime-stone must be used than is desirable with good practice.

Jan 1, 1939

By Glenn Davis

In the world of large scale open pit mining, the majority of a mines operating cost is tied to the removal and transportation of the overburden waste material. Typically, many large haul trucks are employed to transport this overburden from each excavating face. The trucks transfer the waste material from deep within the pit to waste dumps on the surface incurring significant costs in operators, road construction and maintenance, vehicle maintenance staff and support facilities, fuel, tires, and spare parts, as well as the capital cost of the truck fleet itself. In addition, the haulage of the actual mined material carries similar operational costs. In both cases, these costs grow as the mine face advances and pit haulage distances increase. Reducing truck haulage is one key to the success of the Dual Truck Mobile Sizer (DTMS). Being the world?s first fully mobile truck dump station, transportation costs can be significantly reduced as the mine face advances. Furthermore, when used in conjunction with a shiftable face conveyor and a mobile overland hopper, substantial cost savings can be achieved. The mobility of the system allows for the considerable reduction in the haul truck fleet. Overall mine site emissions levels are greatly reduced by the fleet elimination, as well as keeping the majority of the hauls on a flat grade within the pit. Emission levels on a typical truck will dramatically spike as the angle and the length of the haul are increased. Moreover, comparing diesel engines versus electric powered conveyors to move the material contributes to the realized savings.

May 1, 2010

By W. E. Oching, M. M. Ghomshei

Attracting and retaining workers in mining industry has become an uphill battle to many mining companies. As workers with significant experience retire, it is getting more difficult to attract not only new workers but also top talent to the mining industry to replace professionals exiting the workforce. To make matters worse, students’ enrolment in the post-secondary mining programs in Canada and USA is continuously declining year after year for reasons not directly linked to job market. This raises a question of how can the future needs of mining be met? This paper focuses on avenues for collaboration of industry and educational institutions to meet the current and future needs of mining. It provides effective approaches that mining institutes can engage with program advisory committees, role of the mining industry in supporting both faculty and students, how to harness the benefits of diverse workforce in the country and use of innovative technologies to attract young workers in mining. This work presents Human Resources (HR) professionals with tools that they can use to hire and retain skilled workers with strong interest to work in the mining industry. It also provides HR professionals with an opportunity to re-evaluate their restructuring practices during economic downturns as they reduce number of employees on temporary or permanent basis. The paper stresses the need of working together of the mining stakeholders including mining industry, academic institutions, First Nations’ communities and provincial(state) and federal governments to meet the current and future demands of mining as the industry experiences shortage of labour and low students’ enrolment in post-secondary mining programs. It is shown that mining educational institutes can enhance their programs and recruitments through establishing a better communication with all stakeholders. This communication can be facilitated by creating a national advisory board, to work with all mining programs at the national level for sustainable mining.

Jan 1, 2023

By P. J. Mackey

"The metal producing industries in Canada and in the U.S. in many ways owe their technical beginnings to Welsh technology. The first copper smelter in Canada started in 1849-50 with a Welsh reverberatory furnace and skilled furnacemen brought across from Swansea to operate the equipment1- The Rocky Mountain smelting industry began with the installation of furnaces resembling the Swansea smelters(2). It was only later that the North American industry developed newer and improved methods. This article briefly describes the metallurgical history of the Lower Swansea Valley, being that section of land stretching northward from Swansea along the banks of the River Tawe, and bordered by hillsides east and west of the river. The Valley has had a classic cycle of development and decline common to industrial areas of Britain which grew in the Industrial Revolution. Perhaps more than any other area today, the Swansea Valley represents a complete cycle of use from agricultural to the peak of industrial development through to decline and dereliction. The conditions which made the Tawe Valley attractive to certain industries were laid down nearly 300 million years ago with the Carboniferous swamps and forests which covered the area, later forming the south Wales coalfield. As a result of glacial action and the deposit of glacial outwater and alluvial gravels, the valley adopted the traditional configuration, with its rocky sides occasionally remaining exposed. Up to probably about the 16th century, the Lower Swansea Valley was similar in use and appearance to many other valleys in the region. From the 14th century, the natural oak woodland had provided a continuous source of timber to produce charcoal for iron making as well as for structural purposes. Agriculture was the main activity in the valley in this period, but it was likely that the farmers also mined small amounts of coal by way of ""bell pits"", and adits into the coal seams."

Jan 1, 1999

By Christine Hansen

?Kiss my Asteroid? Unofficial Title Human life is tied to minerals It?s worth noting that: The living human body consumes minerals. The minerals we take in multivitamins show the close linkage between human beings and mineral resources. Unlike tourism or specialized manufacturing, a human being could not live without mineral consumption. Minerals and their consumption is a tangible part of human life.

May 1, 2013

By J. P. Cooney

Placer Dome is learning from experience in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as in North America, that contributing effectively to sustainable human progress in the areas of its operations presents unending challenges to think creatively, communicate effectively and remain culturally sensitive. People must be better off in terms of their economic circumstances, their social conditions and the quality of their natural environment not only during the life of the mines, but after mines close. Stakeholders, all those who are directly or indirectly affected by a mining project, should be able to participate in decisions which affect them. The development of sustainability strategies, the monitoring of sustainability performance and the implementation of sustainability programs are best done in partnerships with governments, communities, nongovernmental organizations and multilateral development institutions. Ultimately, the success, if not the survival of mining, will depend on our ability to get the sustainability equation correct.

Jan 1, 2000

By P. Nayak

"Comminution is an energy intensive and expensive process consuming approximately 40-50% of the total processing costs in a mining operation. This process poses an even greater challenge with gold ores due to their low elemental concentration and small particle size. Over 99.9% of the ore fed to the mill is waste which must be removed during the ore processing stage. Preconcentrating the Run of Mine (ROM) ore before feeding the mill will result in significant cost savings. In partnership with Sacré-Davey Engineering, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited identified this opportunity and is currently evaluating the implementation of sorting technology to preconcentrate the ore or upgrade the waste material at its operations. This paper will discuss the steps adopted by Agnico Eagle in the evaluation and installation of sorting technology at its operations. Since the Company has a large portfolio of operations, the first step in the project was to shortlist the operations that had the highest probability for successful application of the technology. Following this, the top three operations were selected for bench scale evaluation. The projects which showed the most economic potential were then considered for detailed evaluation and pilot plant installations. This paper provides an insight into the methodology followed by Agnico Eagle and Sacré-Davey in the evaluation of the technology.INTRODUCTION The benefits of ore sorting technology are being increasingly understood by the mining industry today. The application of ore sorting in gold mining is attractive due to the nature of the mineral distribution. The presence of high value minerals distributed in an extremely small mass of the ROM ore creates a tremendous opportunity for preconcentration with ore sorting. Since Agnico Eagle currently has a portfolio of eight operating mines and numerous development projects and exploration properties, the challenge was to identify the deposits which had the most favourable mineralogy and grade distribution for successful ore sorting. The success of ore sorting is mostly based on the minerals present in the deposit and the grade distribution. The minerals signify the amenability of the deposit for ore sorting and the kind of sensing technology to be used. On the other hand, the grade distribution demonstrates the amount of material that can be rejected without losing value. In order to understand a deposit’s characteristics, it is important to examine the sample’s behaviour with various sensors and then assay it to know its actual value. It is a common practice in the mining industry to document assay value of drill cores and/or material feeding in and out of the mill. However, those VALUES (are insufficient to understand the grade variability on a granular basis. To capture the ore variability in very high resolution and significantly improve the selectivity of the material feeding the mill, it is vital to assay the samples on a rock-by-rock basis, as this is the level of resolution which will be examined by the ore sorter during sorting. A careful and elaborate procedure was followed in evaluating the technology at Agnico Eagle’s operations which is discussed in this paper."

Jan 1, 2019

By W. W. Beaton

The Coxheath copper mine is situated on the north side of the Coxheath hills and opposite the French Vale, at a distance of about 10 miles southwest of Sydney, Cape Breton county. The deposit was discovered in 1880, and the first work on the property was carried out with local capital. Lacer some Boston men became interested and formed a Company to finance the undertaking. This group operated the mine intermittently for approximately 20 years, spending close to one million dollars on the undertaking. Three shafts were sunk to depths of 110, 190, and 340 feet, and further underground workings to the extent of approximately one-half mile were driven. Also, an extensive surface programme was carried out. in which many test pits and hundreds of feet of trenches were dug, Early in the summer of 1928 the Arno Mines, Limited, optioned the property and immediately started an exploration campaign. A series of trenches were dug along the parallel vein system, and over 4,000 feet of diamond-drilling was done. The results obtained were so encouraging that a mining plant was erected in the fall of chat year and No. 2 shaft was drained. A complete new plant was installed, consisting of one 120 h.p. Fairbanks-Morse Diesel engine, direct connected to a Sullivan angle compound, air compressor; an 80 h .p. Leonard boiler, which supplies power for the 7 by 11 Ingersoll-Rand hoist; and a Sullivan class C steel sharpener and oil furnace. Two 250-gallon Cameron pumps, one operated by steam and the other by air, were placed in the mine so that, in case of a break-down, the mine would not be flooded.

Jan 1, 1930

By M. A. Stogran-Baker, S. Cole

"Fluorspar mining occurred in the St. Lawrence area from the 1930s until the mid 1980s. In 2013, CFI discovered a new ore body, the AGS vein, which proved amenable to more economic open pit mining methods. A new mill was designed to produce 200,000 tonnes per year of high quality, acid-grade fluorspar concentrate. The simple mill flowsheet includes crushing, dense medium separation (DMS), grinding, sulphide flotation, pulp thickening, fluorite flotation, thickening, and concentrate filtration. The type of flotation cell used is being installed for the first time in North America. Site clearing commenced in the spring of 2016, followed by mill building erection completed by the fall of the same year. Civil and mechanical installation as well as site-wide construction was completed by the end of September 2017. Commissioning commenced, and at the time of paper submission mill production is on track to ramp up to full capacity by the beginning of 2018. This paper will focus on the use of fluorine NMR analysis applied to fluorite and the development of on-stream analysis, flotation cell selection and the decision to install the new cells, and the water control program designed to maintain process control with the least possible environmental impact.HISTORY St. Lawrence is located on the south-eastern coast of the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador. The first occurrence of fluorspar in the St. Lawrence area was recorded in 1843 by British geologist J.B. Jukes (DNR 2010). Fluorspar was likely extracted in small quantities prior, however commercial fluorspar mining did not commence until 1933 at the Black Duck Mine. The Black Duck Mine operation processed ore by washing and screening – acid-grade was hand-picked from the oversize, the undersize was sold as a lower grade product. The Black Duck Mine was closed in 1941 (Wilson 2010). The American Fluorspar Limited (New Fluor) commenced operations on the Director vein in 1936, and was bought by Alcan in 1942 (Cooper 2012). Alcan also developed the Iron Springs as well as the Tarefare deposits. The Black Duck Mine mill had closed, and a new mill was built. This new mill crushed the ore prior to dense medium separation, the sinks of which were sent to Quebec for use in Alcan’s aluminum smelter (CFI 2016). Alcan shut down it’s mining operations in 1977 due to the dropping price of fluorspar as well as labour disputes. In 1986, the British-based Minworth Limited began producing ore from underground at Blue Beach North and Blue Beach South, as well as from open pits at Tarefare and Director veins (Cooper 2012). A new mill was built by Minworth in order to process the ore using flotation to produce an acid-grade concentrate. The low price of fluorspar caused Minworth to shut down operations in 1990. Whilst exploration has been ongoing, no mining had occurred in the area since 1990."

Jan 1, 2018

By Muhammad Usman Siddiqui

Managing and analysing the vast amounts of data collected in a mining project effectively is crucial for enhancing the project's economic feasibility. The efficient utilization of this data is critical to minimising the time spent on projects and increasing project value. Process engineers can effectively integrate geometallurgical data into plant operations by employing analytical tools like Python, significantly optimizing the mine-to-mill process. This practical approach is a game-changer in the mining industry. Classifying a geomet dataset into units of similar characteristics (properties of the ore) is an important outcome of a geomet study. This approach simplifies data classification, allowing for class-by-class process modelling, which improves the decision-making process in mine planning and development. Classifying a geomet dataset involves using grade, lithology, and test work data (if available) to create blocks of similar characteristics, known as ‘geomet units.’ Compared to conventional methodologies, these units provide context and empirical evidence that can be more accurately mapped onto block-by-block process flowsheet development and net present value (NPV) estimation. This robust classification method reduces a project's technical risks and influences the initial mine planning sequence to maximise profitability. Defining robust geomet units with data sets with similar material is challenging due to the vast amounts of data available and the database's high heterogeneity. The methodology's purpose is to minimise time-consuming low-value-adding aspects of geometallurgy. The approach is different for a greenfield and a brownfield study, as all the valuable data in a brownfield process can be utilised to define the geomet units. Python has various libraries providing multiple machine-learning algorithms to assist in classification. The k-means algorithm is used for clustering, and the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method is used to quantify the effect of each feature on the clustering results. However, even with automation, the methodology still requires a keen eye to account for the nuances that appear from project to project.

Oct 1, 2024

By C Kumar

Scaffolds are temporary structures built to facilitate construction activities on site. A considerable amount of resources are allocated to scaffolding on industrial projects. Variability in geometrical features and space accessibility of structures on industrial projects, in addition to involvement of different trades that share the use of scaffolds, requires an extensive understanding of scaffolding requirements. Hence, it?s important to plan and estimate scaffolding man-hour requirements for the different construction areas on an industrial site. Contributing factors involved in such estimates include the list of trades that work in a construction area, trade working hours, volume of work, geometry of equipment erected, etc. A simulation template for predicting scaffold erection man-hour values for individual construction areas in an industrial project was developed in Simphony 4.0. The template is based on mapping the geometry of equipment and other factors to man-hours of scaffold work. The template facilitates the use of distributions as inputs and produces a range estimate of scaffold man-hours. The mapping is based on a linear regression model derived from existing project data from PCL Industrial Management Inc. The template is being further developed to incorporate the ability to predict scaffold erection schedule and material requirements based on construction work areas or equipment lists of an industrial construction project.

Aug 1, 2013

By M. H. Allan

"This paper presents the geographic and geological setting of Saskatchewan Power Corporation's Poplar River Mine in south-central Saskatchewan, about 8 miles from the U.S. border. Generally the mine, which is being expanded to four million tons per year, is in an extremely disturbed geological area with severe dewatering problems. The lignite coal, which is strip mined, is supplied directly to an electric power generating station by means of a 7-mile unit-train private railroad.A number of unique reclamation and socio-economic problems were encountered because of the proximity to the U.S. border and because of the lack of experience of the regulatory authorities in projects of this kind. These are described in some detail, as well as the performance of one of the largest draglines in Canada. IntroductionThe Saskatchewan Power Corporation is a publicly owned utility which has the franchise to supply electricity and natural gas to all customers within the boundaries of Saskatchewan.Saskatchewan is a province which can almost be divided in two: the populated southern portion, principally devoted to farming, and the northern portion which is mostly on the Precambrian Shield and consists of lakes, rocks and muskeg. This portion is largely uninhabited except for a number of small villages. However, in the last few years there has been considerable mineral exploration and development, notably for uranium. This has helped considerably in the diversification of the basic agricultural economy of the province.Saskatchewan consists of 251,700 square miles, 761 miles north to south and an average of 335 miles east to west. It has a population of approximately 960,000, giving a population density of four persons per square mile. The Saskatchewan Power Corporation supplies 357,249 electrical arid 221,378 natural gas customers."

Jan 1, 1982

By W. L. Goodwin

Twenty-five years ago mining engineering in Canada was not a profession. To-day the members of the mining fraternity can fairly claim for 10themselves the professional status. If their pretension is not fully warranted by fact it is not for lack of any technical attainment or service to the public but by reason merely of their neglect to cultivate the cohesion and consciousness that are the outward and visible signs of a professional body. This paper is an attempt, first to sketch briefly the course of the events during the past thirty-five years that have resulted in organizing the mining industry of this country in its present form; then to notice the principal features of the professional organization of this day; and finally to point out that an important part of the work of the mining engineer remains in the state of chaos that characterized the whole of it three or four decades ago, and to suggest a remedy. Thirty years ago there came a great wave of interest in mining in Canada, based principally upon the discovery of gold-quartz and gold-copper throughout wide areas in Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia.

Jan 1, 1926