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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 Kosuke Hosoda, Shuji Owada, Hiroyuki Tokuichi, Hirobumi Ohta, Chiharu Tokoro, Moto-o Sato, Katsushi Okumura, Hiroto Ogawa, Hideaki Umezawa

The Japanese government enforced the "Small Domestic Appliances (SDAs) Recycling Law" in 2013. The law targets metals such as Ta, Nd, Dy, Co, and W to be recycled. Considerable amounts of these minor rare metals are mounted on printed circuit boards (PCBs) of the SDAs and/or e-scrap (electric and electronic scraps). Although precious metals and copper can be recovered from the e-scrap in non-ferrous metals smelters, most of the minor rare metals report to the slag in these smelters in non-recoverable forms. These metals are often used in particular types of devices, and therefore it is possible to concentrate them by separating such devices before feeding to the smelters. In previous work we developed technology for "Device Separation" to concentrate several minor rare metals, but some problems remained, such as how to remove the PCBs from e-scrap bodies, and how to detach devices from PCBs after their removal from escrap bodies. This paper proposes a two-stage crushing process in which, firstly, PCBs are removed from the e-scrap body with various crushers, and secondly, devices are detached from the PCBs involving the application of elevated temperatures. It was found that in the first stage, crushers with physically flexible rotating media such as chains, which provide high collision probability with the sample and consume relatively low energy, can quite effectively separate the PCBs from the e-scrap bodies non-destructively. In the second stage, heating was found to be remarkably effective in helping to detach mounted devices from PCBs, also non-destructively. This paper will also discuss the detailed mechanism of the heating effect on the detachment of devices from PCBs.

Jan 1, 2014

By Richard Murphy

"The general geology of the Great Bear Lake area has been described by; D. F. Kidd in the Summary Report of the Geological Survey for 1932. A brief description of the Eldorado mine was prepared by C. S. Lord for Memoir 230; Mineral Industry of the Northwest Territories; published by the Geological Survey in 1941. Recently; a detailed geological examination of the mine area has been initiated by the Geological Survey and; under A. W. Jolliffe's leadershif; J. D. Bateman; H. B. Thurber; and M. Feniak have prepared a number of maps and reports; as yet unpublished. Detailed mapping of the mine has been carried out since August; 1943; by A. W. Esty.Kidd has shown that, in the largely granitic country along the east side of Great Bear lake, the Echo Bay district is one of several underlain by older rocks . These he has divided into the Echo Bay and Cameron Bay groups. The former are strongly altered sediments, .porphyries, and lavas; the latter and younger group is predominantly sedimentary and far less altered. Associated with the granite, which everywhere intrudes the sediments and volcanics, are earlier differentiates. Later than all these rocks are various basic intrusives, collectively termed diabase. All the rocks are of Precambrian age."

Jan 1, 1954

By A. A. Wessels, D. P. Allison

"Mine hoists are built to handle a certain nameplate capacity; they are specified and designed according to the required duty. However, as production capacity increases in other parts of an operation, the hoist capacity can become the critical constraint. Such a situation occurred at Lundin Mining’s Neves-Corvo operation. This paper examines how each component of the existing hoisting system was examined and optimized. Through a combination of engineering study and hoist simulations, the annual hoisting capacity was improved by 24% through increases in payload capacity and available hoisting time combined with a reduction in cycle time, while no changes were made to the hoist motor, drum or headframe. The additional payload capacity was achieved by reducing the mass of the hoist ropes and skips, and improving load monitoring systems. The cycle time was reduced through the shortening of the creep distances and increased availability through the installation of a shaft collar safety platform, alternative guide rope bushes, and superior liners for both the skips and underground measuring flasks. Enhanced cooling of the hoist electrical system was also incorporated to increase hoist availability by reducing downtime during hot summer months. The changes will increase the capacity from the current 4.5 mega tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to a planned 5.6 Mtpa and are being implemented over a 2-year period whilst maintaining the mine production during the upgrade work. INTRODUCTION Neves-Corvo Mine Neves-Corvo is primarily a copper and zinc mine producing copper, zinc and lead concentrates. The operation is owned and operated by Somincor, the Portuguese subsidiary of Lundin Mining. Located in the Alentejo district of southern Portugal, the operation is situated approximately 15 km southeast of the town of Castro Verde, where summer temperatures can reach as high as 45ºC, and approximately 220 km southeast of Lisbon. The principal means of mine access is via a ramp from surface, with the vertical shaft used to hoist ore and waste from the 700 m level, while conveyors descend from the 700 m level to transport ore and waste up from the deeper levels of the mine. The mine is highly mechanized and several different stoping methods are employed, with the most significant being bench-and-fill and drift-and-fill. The Neves-Corvo mine currently exploits five orebodies: Neves, Corvo, Graça, Zambujal and Lombador for copper and zinc-lead ores which are processed in one of two plants. All the orebodies are currently exploited over their full elevation with the exception of Lombador which is only mined down to the 220 m level, approximately the top 50% of the orebody, known as Lombador Phase 1."

Jan 1, 2019

By Jim Wickens, Andy Cole, John Pekrul

"The roaster facility at Barrick Goldstrike Mine treats double-refractory sulfidic/carbonaceous gold ore. Prior to oxidation in the roasters, the ore is ground in two parallel dry grinding circuits utilizing 19’ Ø x 75’ double rotator mills. The design plant throughput was 12,000 dstpd. However, process improvements have significantly increased throughput rates by 25-50%. The current daily throughput record is 20,078 dstpd. Grinding circuit improvements contributing to this success include feed size reduction, ball size optimization, automatic ball charging optimization, and operating strategy changes. In addition to the changes already made, this paper discusses future optimization initiatives including on-stream particle size analysis and “real-time” ore hardness determination techniques.INTRODUCTIONBarrick Goldstrike Mines is located 29 miles Northeast of Carlin, Nevada, USA. Through 2001, the property has produced over 23 million ounces of gold making it one of the premier gold operations in the world.Prior to Barrick’s ownership, the property began producing gold from a small heap leach operation in 1975. The small-scale heap leach production continued through 1986, and in January 1987, Barrick acquired the property. Increased exploration activity by Barrick significantly increased gold reserves. In August 1988, a 4,500 dstpd mill facility was commissioned to treat high grade oxide ore. Also, heap leach operations had significantly expanded. In 1990, the mill was expanded to 6,000 dstpd, and the first autoclave was commissioned to treat refractory sulfide ore. By the end of 1996, the mill and pressure oxidation facility had expanded to 16,000 dstpd and heap leaching had ceased as oxide reserves were exhausted. In 2000, a roaster facility was commissioned to treat double-refractory sulfidic/carbonaceous ore."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. Holland, T. Krumins, E. Olin, J. F. M. Castilleja, J. Geldart, C. Fleming, I. Jackman

A flowsheet has been developed to treat the flotation tailings from a copper mine in Mexico to recover gold and silver by cyanidation and carbon-in-pulp (CIP). The plant will treat ~15,000 t/day of a 60:40 blend of current flotation tailings and the mine’s historic tailings. The tailings also contain a significant amount of cyanide-soluble copper, and the economic viability of the project is strengthened by recovering most of the copper and cyanide associated with this process. The solution and solid phases in the CIP tailings will be separated in a counter current decantation (CCD) circuit and the CCD solution overflow will be treated by a SART Process. Copper precipitates as a salable copper sulphide product in the SART Process and the cyanide that is associated with the copper complex is regenerated as free cyanide. After SART, a portion of the SART product solution will be recycled to leach to reuse the free cyanide, while the remaining solution will be used as wash water in the CCD circuit. Incorporation of the SART Process in the flowsheet allows the CIP circuit to be operated aggressively as a gold plant, which means most of the silver in solution passes through CIP to SART. Silver co-precipitates with copper in SART and is recovered very efficiently with the copper sulphide by-product. Incorporation of SART also allows the leach and CIP circuits to be operated with relatively high levels of free cyanide, which enhances silver leach kinetics and helps keep copper from loading onto the carbon in CIP. The flowsheet was developed in the laboratory and successfully demonstrated in a fully-integrated pilot plant in 2018.

Jan 1, 2019

By T. J. Fee

Introduction The International Nickel Company have been pioneers in mine rescue work in Ontario. Following the fire in the Hollinger mine in the spring of 1928, the Company purchased ten self-contained oxygen breathing outfits, ten all-service gas masks, an oxygen high-pressure pump, life line, inhalator, ten cap-lamps with batteries, and a complete stock of spare and accessory parts. An instructor from the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, came to the Creighton mine for one week and trained twenty men in the use and limitations of all equipment. Monthly training courses were commenced in the fall, and have continued to the present time. Of the original twenty men trained, ten are still on the Creighton mine rescue teams. In the meantime, and as an aftermath of the Hollinger fire, the Work-men's Compensation Board of Ontario and the Ontario Department of Mines established a central mine rescue station at Timmins. This was completed in the spring of 1930. It was then decided, in view of the great expansion in mine development in the Sudbury district, to build and equip a similar station to serve all the mines there, namely, Creighton, Frood, Garson, Falconbridge, Sudbury Basin, and Errington. An extensive survey was made and a central location selected opposite the Frood mine. The International Nickel Company donated a site, and the station was completed in the fall of 1930. The station is a two-storey brick building, 27 ft. by 47 ft., with a large garage adjoining it. The ground floor is used for equipment and for training the crews. On the second floor are living quarters for the superintendent and his family. The garage houses a closed truck, in which all necessary equipment can be taken to any desired point for training purposes or for actual mine rescue work, if and when necessary. The garage is also used as a gas room, where the men are trained in an irrespirable atmosphere. A gas-tight observation window between it and the training room enables the superintendent to see and direct the men undergoing training, weight exercisers and other devices being used.

Jan 1, 1935

By B. J. Walsh

ABSTRACT Segregation of sphalerite minerals in zinc concentrates into christophite, marmatite and ordinary sphalerite by means of magnetic fractionation is investigated. A Frantz ferromagnetic filter, 1.2 amp., and a Dings magnet, 0.3 amp., is used to fractionate seven zinc concentrates produced in the Province of Quebec. The Dings magnetic product contains the pyrrhotite, and the sphalerite as christophite. The Frantz magnetic product contains sphalerite as marmatite, while the Frantz nonmagnetic product contains ordinary sphalerite. The results indicate that the magnetic susceptibility of sphalerite increases with increasing isomorphous iron content and that a satisfactory separation into christophite, marmaite, and ordinary sphalerite may be accomplished by magnetic fractionation. INTRODUCTION SPHALERITE, the chief ore of zinc, is almost never pure zinc sulphide. Iron is almost always present isomorphously replacing an ?equivalent amount of zinc. What may be referred to as 'ordinary' sphalerite contains up to 10 per cent iron. More highly ferriferous varieties, with 10 to 26 per cent or more iron, have been named marmatite .and christophite.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. Pandher, R. Schonewille, N. Tripathi

Advanced process modelling tools were developed for the Xstrata Nickel Sudbury Smelter flow sheet using a combination of FACTSAGE TM METSIMTM and ARENATM software. These tools were employed to assist with plant optimisation, emission control, process design, troubleshooting and case studies as applied to the smelter. The development of process modelling tools in pyro-metallurgy commonly involves an in-depth study of the therm o-chemical properties (heat capacity, liquidus temperature, etc.) of all high temperature phases, usually matte and slag. The preferred tool for this purpose is FACTSAGETM, a well-known then-no-chemical modelling software package. The results from the therm o-chemical model have been subsequently incorporated into the development of a process model for the entire smelting facility using the METSIMTM platform. Such process model also includes a number of special features adopted to effectively simulate the complex industrial phases; matte and slag systems. To ensure the robustness and reliability of the process model, several process parameters and assumptions were verified with laboratory and plant data. Consequently, the model includes the ability to examine the impact of a number of plant parameters on potential plant performance. Primary variables are the percent sulphur elimination during concentrate roasting, furnace matte grade and degree of matte metallization. Key output parameters include operating temperature, furnace coke requirement, sulphuric acid production, CO2 emissions and overall energy requirements. Selected outputs from the process model (for example blowing time, slag production rate and matte converting rate) can then be utilised in the development of a discrete event model (DEM) for the smelter using ARENATM software. Incorporation of reliable and validated mass balance parameters enhances the robustness and reliability of the DEM model. The integration of then-no-chemical, process and DEM modeling tools has a distinct advantage in planning plant trials and examining process design initiatives at Xstrata Nickel's Sudbury Smelter. The present paper discusses the development of these three models and the synergies existing among them. Typical results from all three models are also presented.

Jan 1, 2011

By R. Pandher, R. Schonewille

Advanced process modelling tools were developed for the Xstrata Nickel Sudbury Smelter flow sheet using a combination of FACTSAGETH METSIMTM and ARENATM software. These tools were employed to assist with plant optimisation, emission control, process design, troubleshooting and case studies as applied to the smelter. The development of process modelling tools in pyro-metallurgy commonly involves an in-depth study of the therm o-chemical properties (heat capacity, liquidus temperature, etc.) of all high temperature phases, usually matte and slag. The preferred tool for this purpose is FACTSAGETM, a well-known then-no-chemical modelling software package. The results from the therm o-chemical model have been subsequently incorporated into the development of a process model for the entire smelting facility using the METSIMTM platform. Such process model also includes a number of special features adopted to effectively simulate the complex industrial phases; matte and slag systems. To ensure the robustness and reliability of the process model, several process parameters and assumptions were verified with laboratory and plant data. Consequently, the model includes the ability to examine the impact of a number of plant parameters on potential plant performance. Primary variables are the percent sulphur elimination during concentrate roasting, furnace matte grade and degree of matte metallization. Key output parameters include operating temperature, furnace coke requirement, sulphuric acid production, CO2 emissions and overall energy requirements. Selected outputs from the process model (for example blowing time, slag production rate and matte converting rate) can then be utilised in the development of a discrete event model (DEM) for the smelter using ARENATM software. Incorporation of reliable and validated mass balance parameters enhances the robustness and reliability of the DEM model. The integration of then-no-chemical, process and DEM modeling tools has a distinct advantage in planning plant trials and examining process design initiatives at Xstrata Nickel's Sudbury Smelter. The present paper discusses the development of these three models and the synergies existing among them. Typical results from all three models are also presented.

Jan 1, 2011

By M. Vallée

Several reviews of mineral project performance in the past 35 years indicate a pattern of occasional, but recurrent, mining project failures due to shortcomings in geological information and estimation, mineral processing and metallurgical testing, feasibility study objectives and requirements, and project start-up methods. A commitment to quality assurance and continuous improvement methods and to obtaining “ENOUGH DATA, OF APPROPRIATE QUALITY” is essential. Recent international and Canadian proposals for mineral resource and ore reserve definitions have taken a nonprescriptive stance that will undermine the formulation of requirements, guidelines and industry standards for efficient deposit delineation and estimation, and for the determination of project feasibility. To help reduce problems, every feasibility study supporting a mine development and production decision should be based on objectives and methods adequate to reach completion targets similar to the bankers’, as a good business target for a profitable project. In a resource/reserve system, the use of reserve should be restricted to a project that meets required technical, economic and legal feasibility requirements for successful project implementation, and the definitions of these categories should provide explicit limits. Current shortcomings will limit the ability of the Qualified Person to provide “adequate professional practice,” fulfill his/her professional responsibilities to his employer or client and provide adequate information to the investing public. We must take advantage of present opportunities for Setting New Standards for the new Millennium.

Jan 1, 2000

By L. T. Loe, A. S. Norsk, Mo i. Rana

High production rate and good stability demand the optimization of all phases of electric pig iron smelting. This is important with respect to slag chemistry, which to a large extent regulates the process temperature in electric smelting. Controlled basicity and slag volume. and a satisfactory screen analysis of the reduction material and sinter, are of the utmost importance for smooth furnace operation. Large variations in slag volume and in B/ A and C/Fe ratio will have an influence on the furnace resistance and thus the specific energy development in the furnace, which lead to variable reduction of SiO.. The result will be variable hot -metal quality and un-stable furnace operation.

Jan 1, 1970

By S. Felderhof, W. S. Vaughan

"Over the years, it has been increasingly difficult for the minerals industry to raise the necessary capital for its activities. To alleviate this phenomenon, complete transparency and capital market efficiency is needed. Since a company’s mineral resources and mineral reserves base is an essential component to obtaining capital, reporting these assets must also be transparent and efficient. This must occur, however, at an international level given that mineral industry operations, and its financing, are international. To achieve this, an international committee (i.e. Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe, and the United States) was formed and has been developing standards for the reporting of mineral resources and mineral reserves.The effectiveness of these standards, however, depends on adoption by the required regulators. Unfortunately, these standards have not been recognized by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Instead, the SEC adheres to its old standard (Industry Guide 7), making it increasingly expensive and difficult for international mining companies to obtain capital in the United States. Compounding the problem is the SEC’s influence over the current work of the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Organization Organization of Securities Commissions. These organizations are in the process of standardizing international accounting practices and international securities rules and regulations. Their current position may prevent adoption of the industry-developed mineral resources and mineral reserves standards which are internationally recognized."

Jan 1, 2005

By S. Vongpaisal, T. R. Yu

"A set of new blast damage criteria has been developed, with special reference to blasthole mining operations, for assessing damage by incorporating the vibration level, rock properties, site characteristics and the effects of ground support systems. The main objective of this work was to provide a database with reasonable accuracy for use in optimizing blast design, numerical analysis and ground control expert system module development.The new damage criteria allow one to estimate the degree of damage to rock structures in terms of a dimensionless parameter defined as Blast Damage Index (BDI). This allows for the description of blast damage in a unified form, and facilitates the development of codes for numerical modelling to express the degree of blast damage universally. A number of field investigations from several stope production and slot opening blasts at a large underground base metal mine were carried out to verify the developed index. The results show a good correlation between the observed damage and the type of damage predicted from the BDI values.Practical measures are also provided for minimizing blast damage in large underground blasthole mining operations"

Jan 1, 1996

By J. H. D. Hargrove, A. F. Snowball

Atmospheric pollution control has become increasingly important in re-cent years with laws and public opinion having required the reduction of contaminants from industrial gas effluents. Treatment methods have advanced to make possible, with proper plant design and operation, a satisfactory removal of these contaminants. Gases from Cominco's metallurgical operations at Trail, approximating 900,000 c.f.m., are treated by baghouses, electrostatic precipitators, cyclones, or wet scrubbers. The tabulated data include gas and dust conditions, plant performance, and some details of plant equipment. Discussion emphasizes the special features, scope of application, and basic design principles of the treatment methods, all based on Cominco experience. Recovery of over 99 per cent of the fume and dust is achieved by the major installations from which effluent gases go to atmosphere. Cooling of gases for baghouse recovery and conditioning for electrostatic precipitation are mentioned. Co3ts are tabulated for some of the installations on the basis of a unit of 1,000 cubic feet of gas. Suggestions are made on the procedure for assessing a smoke treatment problem and for selection of suitable equipment.

Jan 1, 1959

By J. Châteauneuf, R. Dupéré, D. Mrabet

"In gold processing plants, it is common to start gold cyanidation in the grinding circuit by simple cyanide addition or as a result of recycling residual cyanide. In such cases, advantages such as a decrease in gold lockup and reduced leach time have been noticed. The prevailing conditions in grinding circuits such as intense mixing, particle breakage and friction or high temperature are quite different from those found in tanks and so is the resulting cyanidation behaviour. To gain a better understanding of the cyanidation behaviour in mills and of the pertinence of cyanide addition in grinding circuits, lab tests were conducted using an industrial ore from Canadian Malartic mine. In this study, the effects of different parameters on cyanidation in grinding circuits were examined; parameters such as such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, cyanide concentration and pH. The results showed that the kinetic benefits of high temperature in the mill can overcome the low dissolved oxygen concentration thus leading to an overall gold dissolution kinetics improvement for temperatures up to 50°C. However, gold leach in the studied grinding circuit at lab scale caused an increase in cyanide consumption with a higher generation of iron cyanide and SCN-. These results were confirmed by tests in the Canadian Malartic plant where the cyanide addition was moved from the SAG mill to the leaching tanks resulting in a 20% savings in cyanide consumption.IntroductionCyanidation in grinding circuits can benefit gold processing by decreasing gold lockup and by reducing leach time. However, other aspects regarding gold and cyanicide dissolution come into play in the conditions prevailing in grinding circuits. Indeed, high turbulence, high temperature, recycling load, friction and particle breakage make cyanidation behaviour in grinding circuits different from in-tank cyanidation (Marsden and House, 2006). In several cases, cyanide in grinding is limited to a very low level or completely avoided such as in circuits with gravimetric separation, for ores requiring oxidative pretreatment or for preg-robbing ores. In other cases, water management imposes a certain recycling of residual cyanide. This problem is generally addressed by a case-by-case approach. However, the chemistry of cyanidation in mill circuits is worth investigating in order to assess the advantages and disadvantages."

Jan 1, 2016

By Claude MacDonald, John H. Ashburn

"IntroductionIndustrial growth and technological change over recent years had been accompanied by two major sources of concern to management and employees: (a) increase in occupational injury and illness and the resultant costs involved; and (b) equipment damage and breakdowns in concentrated production lines causing more extensive loss potential.Due to economic factors, management attention has focussed more on production and quality than on safety, health and related loss potential sources. As a result , occupational safety and health activism has grown, government legislation of compensation and occupational safety and health standards have progressively developed and stronger liability attitudes have been taken by courts of law.To improve efficiency and allow development in more competitive markets, rising labour costs, equipment costs and safety related financial losses have dictated that attention be given to conservation of all resources. Conservation of resources, people, equipment, material and environment, can no longer be addressed in isolation but must be managed integrally with production and quality. To this end, systems have developed utilizing sound management principles applied with equal intensity to production, quality and loss potential"

Jan 1, 1987

By R. D. Prettie

Wood preservation may be defined as the art of protecting wood from decay. In its broadest sense, however, it includes a much wider field. It might be more properly de-fined as the art of protecting wood from destructive agents, such as decay, insects, marine borers, mechanical wear, etc. The earliest data on record for the preservation of organic bodies is found in Egyptian manuscripts. The bodies which we call mummies were impregnated with antiseptics, of which the principal were natrum (sodium sesqui-carbonate), sodium chloride, and sodium sulphate. After being steeped in the solution, they were subjected to either a boiling or baking process in a bituminous preparation. The first attempts in Europe to preserve timber were made by the Greeks and Romans. They extracted essential oils from the juniper and cypress trees, and either rubbed these oils into the wood they wished to preserve, or bored thousands of small holes in the wood and poured the preservative oil into the holes. The famous statues of Jupiter and Diana were carved out of wood. The ceremony of pouring in the preservative oil by the High Priests was a religious pageant of great importance, of which there are many records.

Jan 1, 1926

By D. Yuan, M. Sitter, S. St. Jean, M. Collins

The Ambatovy Joint Venture comprises an operating lateritic nickel mine, ore slurry pipeline, pressure acid leach plant and nickel refinery in Madagascar. The hydrometallurgical process selected by Sherritt for treatment of the Ambatovy ore is a long-term, sustainable approach to producing nickel. Sulphur, used to prepare hydrogen sulphide, which is used to produce mixed sulphide intermediate, is recovered in the refinery as ammonium sulphate fertilizer. Additional sulphur is used to generate sulphuric acid for treatment of the ore in the high pressure acid leach (HPAL) step; fossil fuel consumption is minimized by using the heat generated from the exothermic reaction between sulphur and oxygen in the acid plant to produce power and steam. Steam consumption is minimized by design of efficient flashing and preheat systems for HPAL, while the high temperature of the HPAL step serves to minimize acid consumption. Fossil fuel consumption by the operation as a whole is further minimized by locating the leach plant and refinery near the port of Toamasina and utilizing a 220 km slurry pipeline to transport ore from the mine to the leach plant. In addition, Ambatovy has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability programs such as the biodiversity management program at the mine and local procurement in Madagascar. In this paper, the hydrometallurgical process for nickel and cobalt recovery from Ambatovy ore is described, along with highlights of Ambatovy’s approach to sustainability in Madagascar.

Jan 1, 2015

By P. G. Rueffel

"Natural deposits of sodium sulphate are the result of normal geological processes. They are world-wide in occurrence and are found in depressions in arid and semi-arid regions. Primarily, the sodium sulphate deposits of the prairies are post-glacial and differ from rock salt deposits, which originated from connate water (fossil sea-water). Sodium sulphate on the Canadian prairies occurs as brine or in beds of intermittent and/or permanent crystals. Most beds are contaminated with various amounts of silt, sand and decayed organic matter. Soluble impurities such as chlorides, carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium and sulphates of magnesium and calcium are leached out from the soil of the surrounding run-off area of the deposits.In this paper, the origin of sodium sulphate, and the physical and chemical aspects related to the development of the Ingebrigt Lake deposit are dealt with. The problems of garnering raw material, and of refining and de-hydration are discussed, with emphasis on the Ingebrigt Lake plant. The utilization of the ""Total Power Concept"" in a sodium sulphate plant is described. The principal uses of sodium sulphate are also discussed."

Jan 1, 1968