MINING IN CANADA

By: Matt, Ivan, Chris, Gideon, and Brent

Factors Involved In Opening A Mine

As with the Ekati Diamond Mine in North-Eastern NWT, one of the biggest problems is that many mines are very far from most roads.

Factors Involved In Opening A Mine

Another problem is that eventually a mine will reach its “economic depth”. That is when it becomes economically unfeasible to continue mining. Some mines, including the Ekati Mine, then begin underground mining operations.

Other problems include shortages of equipment, people, supplies, ect.

Sustainable Development In The Mining Industry

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable Development when an industry moves towards being more sustainable, so that they can be used by future generations. This is all done so that the environment can remain healthy.

How does this apply to mining in Canada?

Because Canada is a large contributor in the world of mining, we mine a lot. Unfortunately this usually destroys the environment surrounding the mine. Canadian Mining companies must plan carefully before any mining operations. Mining can be a very destructive industry and all measures must be taken to avoid this.

Sustainable Development Sustainable Development - any construction that can be maintained over

time without damaging the environment; development balancing near-term interests with the protection of the interests of future generations. (Dictionary.com)

  This applies to the mining industry because today we do a lot of mining for ourselves. We mine things like nickel, silver, copper, gold, zinc, coal etc. and use it for many things in our lives. If we don’t sustain the development of mining or over mine, these resources may not be available for future generations. It doesn’t mean we cannot mine, we just need to mindful of how much we do in order to share it with people in the future. While doing this it also helps the environment. For example; nickel is estimated to be non-existent by 2048 (Natural Resources Canada). We can extend this time by keeping track of how much nickel we mine and use.

Where are these mines?

• Milling is taken part in the area of the mine.• Milling is the process of separating the waste and

the mineral so miners only get the mineral that they want

• To get the two materials apart, the dirt goes through a processing plant at the mine

• It uses crushing, separating, filtering and drying to get the ore.

Milling

• There are three processes of smelting• Roasting: It is where they take out the carbon and sulfur out

of the ore.• Reduction: It is in a very high temperature furnace which

takes out the final oxygen atoms and it makes the element turn in to a metal.

The last step is Fluxes• They put chemicals together so the element turn in to a

metal like steel, a gold bar or in to jewellery.

Smelting

• Mine tailings are extremely poisonous waste rock that has been used through the process plant.

• The tailings are rocks that have no ore in them.• Since the process plant uses water, the excess water is

poisonous as well.• The tailings are stored in a pool of water.• The water evaporates eventually and grass grows on it

eventually by using fertilizer to help.

Mine Tailings

• It is the outflow of the poisonous water from the tailing pool.

• It happens when mines are abandoned because in order for the Acid Mine Drainage to happen, the mining crew have to pump out the water so it wouldn’t flood.

• The pumping stops when it is abandoned and the poisonous water creates rocks since the chemical reaction with the air.

Acid Mine Drainage

METHODS OF MININGIvan Zubaryev

Open Pit Mining-Extraction of minerals and rocks in a pit or borrow.

-Used when the resource is close to the surface.

-Dug on benches which are vertical levels of hole.

-Walls of mine are usually angled to ensure safety.

-Clay, gold, coal, copper, granite, diamonds, marble limestone.

Underground Mining-Refers to a variety of ways to retrieve hard minerals.

-Access using declines, shafts, or adits.

-Declines: Spiral tunnels that decline to the bottom.

-Shafts: Vertical excavations.

-Adits: Horizontal excavations, which goes into the side of the mountain.

-Zinc, iron, nickel, tin, lead, gold.

Contributing to acid rain-Sulfur dioxide and oxygen combined producing sulfur trioxide.

-Sulfur trioxide can react with water in the atmosphere produce sulfuric acid.

-Carbon dioxide and water in the atmosphere creating carbonic acid

Mining

By:Gideon

What are Ores?● An ore is a rock that holds

minerals.● Minerals made from ores

and called ore minerals● Ore minerals can be

refined to make other elements or metals.

● Ores can be obtained by mining

● Ores are considered as a non-renewable resource because they do not naturally re-form at a rate that makes us able to use them constantly.

Copper and Quartz● Two major ores minerals are

Copper and Quartz.● Malachite is a ore that

contains minerals able to make copper.

● Sandstone is an ore that contains minerals able to make Quartz

● Quartz is used in the making of sandpaper, glass, liquid filters, and jewelry

Metals

Industry contributions to Canada’s GDP

Goods-producing industries 2010

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

28,486Mining and oil and gas extraction

54,967Manufacturing

158,326Construction industries

73,467 Utilities32,624

Statistics Canada – www.statcan.ca

Basic Steps Taken in Mineral Exploration

Prospecting - searching for minerals on the surface

Staking of a claim - lets everyone know you wish to explore the area staked

Stake a mining claim - when tests show there are valuable minerals present

Detailed exploration - determines if there are enough minerals to mine

Sampling and drilling - core samples are taken to determine area and quantity of mineral(s)

Natural Resources Canada -

www.nrcan.ca

Vocabulary Assays-The testing of a metal or ore to determine its

ingredients and quality Crown Land-Land belonging to the state in some parts

of the Commonwealth Jurisdictions-The official power to make legal decisions

and judgments Tills-Boulder clay or other unstratified sediment

deposited by melting glaciers or ice sheets

Bulk sampling-A large sample of mineralized rock Dictionary.com