Since 1971, Island Copper Mine has been operating an open-pit mine, mainly for copper on the north shore of Rupert Inlet. Rupert Inlet is the most easterly inlet of Quatsino Sound on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Fig. i). The ore body was estimated to contain 250 million tons of reserves. Mining is proposed to be continued until 1996, at which time the reserves will have been dep...

SmartTag is a radio frequency identifi cation (RFID) based technology designed to allow tracking of ore from its source through blasting, run-of-mine (ROM) pads, crushers, intermediate stockpiles and fi nally into the concentrator. This paper presents current developments and the future direction of the SmartTagTM ore tracking system, as well as presenting some case studies. Successful applicat...

Due to economical and environmental issues, utilization of mineral wastes, e.g. iron ore mine tailing (IOMT), as road materials can be recommended as a sustainable alternative. In the present study, mechanical properties, as well as resistance to freezing and thawing cycles (F-T) of low plasticity clay soil stabilized with different percentages of Portland cement (0, 6, 9, 12 and 15%) and diffe...

The Eskay Creek gold-silver mine, located in northwest British Columbia, is an unusually high-grade ore deposit. The mining industry continues to spend more than $2 million each year on exploration for similar deposits in the area. The geologic setting at the minesite is well studied, but large tracts in north-central British Columbia require more detailed surveys to determine if favourable sit...

How Mining Releases Toxic Metals Large amounts of waste rock and tailings contaminated with toxic metals can be produced by mine sites. In the case of the Donlin Creek mine, there are only 0.072 ounces of gold for every ton of ore, a figure that does not take into account the waste rock. Toxic substances contained within the rock and tailings are more easily released once these substances are p...

A crucial problem in the mining industry is to determine the optimal sequence of extraction of blocks, in which the mine has been structured for exploitation. Typically a mine can be constituted by several thousands or millions of blocks. The sequencing models for this structure are very complex giving rise to very large combinatorial linear models. Operational mine plans are usually produced o...

BACKGROUND Libby, Montana, was home to the largest vermiculite ore mine in the United States. The processing, use, and transport of the ore, which was contaminated with amphibole asbestos, led to generalized contamination of the community. The mine closed in 1990. OBJECTIVES We examined the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in 2000-2001 and their association with history of vermiculite expos...

LKAB’s Kiruna Mine is located above the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, and produces about 24 million tons of iron ore per year, making it is the second largest underground mine in the world today. The orebody, a world-class high-grade magnetite deposit, is approximately 4 km long and 80 m wide on average, and lies roughly in the north-south direction, with a dip of some 60 degrees. Surface m...

The objective of this thesis is to optimise the fragmentation at Boliden Minerals open pit mine Aitik. Blasting is one of the main operations in mining, and its performance has a major impact on the overall economy of the mine. The fragmentation process affects not only the local productivity and unit costs of the mining department. It also affects the performance of the subsequent comminution ...

RECENT investigation of samples labelled zaratite from the Lord Brassey Mine, near Heazlewood, Tasmania, in the mineral collection of the Museum of Victoria revealed the presence of the rare nickel carbonate, otwayite, and the rare nickel hydroxide, theophrastite. X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe and infrared analysis were utilised in the study, which failed to confirm the presence of zar...