CryoDrive: The effects that implementation of cryogenic engines would have on underground mining processes

Cryogenic engines, such as the Dearman engine, produce work and substantial cooling with zero emissions at the point of use, due to their liquid nitrogen ?fuel? supply. Background work has shown that technically, (power, turn down ratio, responsiveness, torque), there are few identifiable factors that would prevent this type of engine from being very effective […]

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Deep learning for tooth wear monitoring of mining shovels

The main objective of this project is using deep learning algorithm to enhance the current state of the art tooth wear monitoring system used in mining shovels. Unlike the current approach, the proposed deep learning method operates by building a model from input images in order to make data-driven predictions. We use deep learning approach […]

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Geologically-constrained geophysical inversions of a kimberlite pipe: A new approach to diamond exploration

Diamond-bearing kimberlites are enigmatic deposits due to their complex volcanic plumbing systems and variable preservation. Diamond concentrations will vary greatly with deposit-type, however, it is often difficult to effectively distinguish between types (without drilling) due to alteration or poor preservation. Furthermore, while geophysical methods are well established and effective techniques for kimberlite exploration, they require […]

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Selective recovery of antimony and arsenic from copper sulphide concentrate

Many copper deposits contain significant amount of arsenic and antimony and being overlooked because of it. These impurities are currently subject to smelters penalty. Development of an efficient technology for removal of these impurities and converting them as sellable products will make a number of deposits economic that are currently not being mined. The current […]

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Developing advanced ore sorting sensing systems for gold deposits

This research focuses on novel sensor-based algorithms for sorting rocks and categorizing them as good (valuable) and bad (worthless) rocks. The sensors in the sorter will “see” the rocks characteristics, whether it’s their color or atomic density or the desired element and send a command to a mechanical arm, for example, to separate the two […]

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Cyanide-Free Leaching of Gold Using Iodine/Iodide based lixivinat

Iberian Minerals is a junior mining company, based in Canada. The Company recently acquired Mineworx Technologies, based in Vancouver, British Columbia and is now focused on various mining technologies. One such technology we are developing is an eco-friendly, non-cyanide based leach extraction for gold processing utilizing iodine as a complexing agent. The research and development […]

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Kinetics of dispersion of fine phosphate particles associated with organic matter

This research project seeks to improve the process which is used to recover fine phosphorous particles from mine tailings. Phosphorus based fertilizers are important for plant growth and essential to large-scale, high-efficiency farming methods. However, the processing method used to obtain phosphate from phosphate-bearing ore is not very efficient. Upward of 13 % of the […]

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Evaluation of cyanide and thiosulphate lixiviant systems for KSM Seabridge gold circuit

Most of the gold that is produced by hydrometallurgical processes is recovered by cyanide leaching. However, the reactive nature of some minerals questions the applicability of cyanide technology for selected applications. The current research is designed to evaluate the cyanide technology as well as an alternative processing path for a particular material through extensive experimental […]

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Application of Variable Speed Drives for Improved Grinding Energy Efficiency

The research program is aimed at developing operating systems that enable grinding mill speeds to be controlled in responses to variations in ore properties. Although there are studies that show speed control can improve productivity and significantly reduce energy requirements, mines presently used fixed speed systems for their ball and tower mills. With development of […]

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