Educational Short Courses

February 23-25, 2024 | Phoenix Convention Center

All courses include:

• Course materials
• PDH credit
• Coffee breaks
• Lunch

Additional registration required.

MSHA Part 48 Annual Refresher (Underground and Surface)

Overview

This Annual Refresher Course is an 8-hour course and fulfills MSHA’s Part 48 annual training requirement for anyone working at either a surface or underground mine. Upon completion of the course, students will receive an MSHA Form 5000-23 certifying that they have completed 8 hours of annual refresher training for surface, underground or both types of mines, dependent upon the designation indicated on the attendee’s original MSHA Form 5000-23.

Course Content

• Barricading & refuge alternatives
• Electrical hazards
• Escape & emergency evacuation plans
• Explosives
• Fire warning & firefighting
• First aid (Emergency medical procedures)
• Ground control
• Health & safety standards
• Illumination & night work
• Mine gases
• Miner health
• Prevention of accidents
• Self-rescue & respiratory devices
• Transport & communication systems
• Transportation controls
• Ventilation
• Working in area of highwalls, water hazards, pits & spoil banks

Instructors:

Colorado School of Mines
Energy, Mining and Construction Industry Safety Program

Fundamentals of Mineral and Metallurgical Processing

Overview

This short course is open to anyone wanting to learn about mineral processing and extractive metallurgy operations. It is good as a refresher or introductory course and particularly targets mining and geological professionals, particularly those needing a background in metallurgy (i.e., geometallurgy). In this regard, the course begins with simple concepts such as sampling, analysis (mineralogical, chemical and size), material balances and smelter schedules. It then introduces attendees to processing methods and equipment, mostly those utilized in the mining industry but also the recycling industry. Various unit operations are reviewed including comminution (crushing, grinding, screening and classification), mineral separations (flotation, magnetic, gravity and electrostatic), and metal production and purification (hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy and electrometallurgy) as well as environmental management (dewatering, tailings disposal, and waste treatment for water, dust and air). Flowsheets of typical operations are reviewed throughout with implications on flowsheet development.

Morning Session

History, Definitions, Mineral Properties, Basic Processing, Mass Balancing and Blending; Recovery-Grade Curves, Flowsheets and Unit Operations, Smelter Schedules, Particle Size, Comminution, Sizing, Sampling, and Analysis.

Afternoon Session

Solid-Liquid Separation ‐ Thickening, Filtering, Centrifuging and Drying; Mineral Separation by Gravity, Magnetic, Electrostatic and Flotation; Hydrometallurgy Separation by Leaching, Solvent Extraction, Resin Adsorption, Precipitation and Electrowinning; Pyrometallurgy Separation by Calcining, Roasting, Smelting, Refining and Fused-Salt Electrolysis.

Instructors

Courtney Young, Montana Technological University, Butte, MT
Corby G. Anderson, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Introduction to Water Management for Mining and Mineral Processing

Overview

The course will give an introduction to key elements of water management systems at mine and processing sites and the major water quantity and quality issues faced by these. It will focus primarily on base metals (Cu, Zn-Pb-Ag, Ni) and precious metals (Au, Ag), however some aspects will also apply to iron ore, lithium and other metals.

It will describe and show the linkages between components of the water management system including water supply and treatment for process use, surface water collection, storage and diversion, mine dewatering, interaction with tailings dewatering and tailings storage facility reclaim, process water recycling and management, flow and quality instrumentation and monitoring, and water treatment for discharge.

There will be specific focus on the interactions between water and minerals processing and tailings management, including how the selection of water sources, process flowsheets and tailings practices and relative location of mining, processing and waste management facilities affect engineering design, operability and costs associated with water use, conveyance and treatment.

Content will mainly focus on the North American context for water management, however relevant examples from South America, Northern Asia, Australia and Europe will also be included.

The course will help participants understand the interdisciplinary nature of water management in mining and processing and to build a base level of knowledge to be able to better communicate and understand water related technical issues, cost drivers, risks and opportunities within their organizations. This will help those who complete the course to participate effectively in collaborative problem solving of water related challenges such as maintaining safe and sustainable production and avoiding conflicts and regulatory barriers for mine development.

As this is an introductory course, there will not be detailed content on specific water treatment technologies, design for water conveyance and storage systems or water system modelling using advanced software such as GoldSim. The course will provide a foundation for more advanced content as professionals build their expertise in water management through their careers and on the job training.

The course will be a mix of lecture style content and interactive collaboration sessions. It is part of the programming that CEEC, the Coalition for Eco Efficient Comminution, is producing as part of its Global Water Initiative.

Specific aspects include:

• Water reporting frameworks, including ICMM Water Reporting Good Practice Guide
• Terminology and definitions associated with water management at mine and processing sites
• Impact of flowsheet and tailings management archetypes on water use
• Saline/seawater use in processing and main challenges including corrosion and metallurgical impacts
• The impact of climate change on site water balances, and how to make mine operations more resilient to it
• Potential for Acid and Metalliferous Drainage and how it can be managed through segregation, waste management design and water treatment
• Communication of water management issues with stakeholders and Indigenous groups to build understanding and address uncertainties and concerns
• An introduction to economic trade-offs associated with alternatives for water supply, demand reduction and treatment, in the context of mining, processing and waste management alternatives.

This is an introductory course, it is not designed for specialist engineers with extensive experience in water supply, treatment or water modeling.

Instructor

Laurie Reemeyer, Resourceful Paths

Tailings Dams Fundamentals: Engineer of Record – Terms of Reference Development and Use

Overview

The CDA/USSD Tailings Dams Joint Working Group on Engineer of Record (EOR) will present a short course on developments related to the Terms of Reference (TOR) for EOR services for tailings dams. The TOR details the requirements, responsibilities, and obligations of the EoR and the mine owner (Owner) that engages the EoR. It is essential to the EoR/Owner relationship to clearly define the roles and expectations to set the team up for success. The short course will provide general guidance on what should be included in a TOR for EOR services, and the session will break down examples of how the TOR provides benefits for both owners and consultants.
Example benefits include clearly defined lines of communication, appropriate battery limits, responsibilities during emergency response and planning for conflict resolution. The TOR framework can be applied to all EOR models (internal owner EOR and external consultant EOR) and all styles of facilities (active, inactive and closed).

Participants will leave the short course with tools and examples to help them develop a new TOR, or review and evaluate how robust an existing TOR is.

Morning:

TOR Fundamentals and Guidance – What to include in your TOR with Q&A and discussion

Afternoon:

TOR Examples and Scenarios – What can go wrong if you have a poor/incomplete TOR with Q&A and discussion

Instructors:

Amanda Adams, Stantec
Andy Small, Klohn Crippen

A Comparison of the New SEC Regulation S-K 1300 on Modernization of Property Disclosures for Mining Registrants to Canadian National Instrument 43-101

Overview

Day 1:

• The regulatory scene in the US and Canada
• The multi-jurisdictional disclosure system
• Background to the introduction of S-K 1300
• Timeline for compliance with S-K 1300
• Summary comparison of IG 7 to S-K 1300 to NI 43-101
• Definition of key terms within S-K 1300
• Qualified Person concept
• Disclosure and estimation of:
  • Exploration results
  • Exploration targets
  • Mineral resources
  • Mineral reserves
•  Mining studies: content requirements and purpose of studies
  • Initial assessment
  • Pre-feasibility study
  • Feasibility study

Day 2:

• Requirements and content needed for:
  • Summary property disclosure
  • Individual property disclosure
• Internal controls
• Triggers for filing of Technical Report Summary under S-K 1300 vs NI 43-101 Technical Report in Canada
• Discussion on different types of Technical Report Summaries required, depending on property stage
• Technical Report Summary content versus NI 43-101 Technical Report content

Instructors

Greg Gosson
Stella Searston

Bulk Material Handling: Key Design Practices to Increase Conveyor Safety and Reliability While Decreasing Total Cost of Ownership

Overview

Join us as we discuss key practices and factors that should be addressed during the conveyor mechanical, structural, and transfer chute design phase as well as installation and maintenance practices to increase reliability and mitigate safety risks associated with operating and maintaining a conveyor system while decreasing total cost of ownership.

New, upgraded, and retrofit conveyor systems are often designed to meet only the most basic performance specifications at the lowest capital cost. What effect does increasing capacity and motor power have on the remainder of the conveyor components? Does the motor starter type affect the reliability of other conveyor components? What considerations should be made in specifying and selecting mechanical components for long term reliability? What condition monitoring is available and how can it be used effectively? How are the transfer chutes going to be designed to control material flow, to reduce or eliminate high wear areas, and when they do require service is the design user friendly? How can material flow properties and DEM modeling increase transfer chute reliability and decrease maintenance? Have the loading, transfer, and discharge areas been properly designed to minimize dust generation and material spillage? What dust mitigation systems have been employed and how effective will they be? What installation tolerances and maintenance practices can be followed to extend the life of the system.

Day 1

Understanding and defining the safety and reliability expectations of your system.
Review of safety standards and recent changes for conveyor systems (ex: MSHA, OSHA, ASME)

Design considerations to maximize the safety and reliability of your system.

• Mechanical design considerations
• Structural considerations for safe and easy access
• Belt training, surge capacity, restarting after a plug chute scenario
• Condition monitoring

Day 2

Design considerations to maximize the safety and reliability of your system – (continued)

• Transfers chutes, loading zones, dust and spillage control design considerations
• Other spillage prevention and dust mitigation topics.
• Impact on conveyor system when increasing capacity and/or increasing motor power challenges encountered at operating mines and plants Ongoing field problems for open discussion and review Success stories and lessons learned

Solvent Extraction Technology Applied to Metals Recovery

Overview
Solvent extraction (SX) is typically only one unit process in a series of unit processes to recover and purify metals. It has been used commercially to recover uranium since the mid-1950s and copper since 1968. The list of metals recovered commercially using SX include uranium, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, rare earths, vanadium, molybdenum, rhenium, germanium, platinum group metals and others. The value of solvent extraction lies in its ability to deliver high purity final products and in its flexibility to accommodate changing conditions in the feed to the SX circuit. This course provides a broad, in depth introduction to the use of solvent extraction in hydrometallurgical applications. The various extractants, diluents and modifiers, if needed, are covered in some detail. The importance of knowing what metal and nonmetal species are in the solution to be treated is discussed. Research from simple laboratory shakeout tests to full pilot-scale test work needed to generate requisite data for flowsheet and equipment design is presented. The use of isotherms generated in the laboratory to facilitate flowsheet development is illustrated using examples of commercial SX processes. Common operating problems are discussed and several unexpected technical problems that required significant work to understand and solve will also be discussed.

Day 1

Background

General Principles, Objectives of Solvent Extraction, Metal Species Extracted Commercially

Components of the Organic Phase in a Solvent Extraction Plant

• Reagents Types
• pH extraction isotherms for metals
• Synergistic Mixtures
• Modifiers
• Diluents
• Sources of organic losses

The Copper Solvent Extraction Process

• Chemistry of the copper leach/ solvent extraction / Electrowinning Process
• General structure of oxime copper extractants
• Extraction isotherm data, McCabe Thiele diagram
• Problems with various species in the copper leach solution
• Degradation of oxime copper extractants
• Solvent extraction staging, mixer settler designs and other equipment
• Mass balances
• Mixing continuity
• Coalescers in SX plants
• Crud and crud treatment, Clay treatment to clean the organic phase
• Copper L/SX/EW plants (2021)

Copper extraction in the presence of Cobalt

• Sable Zinc site

Day 2

Uranium Solvent Extraction

• Uranium SX, reagent, extraction and stripping chemistry
• Uranium SX in the presence of molybdenum (rhenium extraction in the presence of molybdenum)
• Uranium SX in the presence of vanadium
• Vanadium +5 solvent extraction
• Olympic Dam copper and uranium SX plants

Nickel Solvent Extraction coupled with cobalt recovery from laterite ores

• Ammonia Leach Solutions
  • Queensland Nickel Flowsheet, need for improved Ni and Co recovery, new
• Queensland nickel flowsheet including Ni SX and benefits of SX
  Sulfuric acid leach solution

   

  • Cawse flowsheet
  • Murrin Murrin Flowsheet, Co SX selective over Ni
  • Goro Flowsheet, Co and Ni co-extraction from dilute acid sulfate solution
  • Cobalt extraction selective over Ni from acid chloride solution

Solvent extraction of palladium

Rustenburg PGM Refinery

Zinc Solvent Extraction

• Skorpion Zn L/SX/EW plant

Germanium Solvent Extraction

• Teck zinc plant at Trail, BC

Two Interesting Reagent Degradation Problems

• Nitrate degradation of Oxime Copper Extractants
• Ammonia degradation of Betadiketone Copper Extractant LIX 54

Instructor
Gary A. Kordosky

CMSP Review Course

Overview

Planning to pursue the Certified Mine Safety Professional (CMSP) credential, and looking for something to jump start your preparations? This course is designed to provide a high-level review of the CMSP Body of Knowledge.

Attend this course to:

• Refresh your foundational safety and health knowledge
• Assess your strength and weakness around CMSP domains
• Determine areas for further study prior to taking the CMSP exam.

This course does NOT include the CMSP exam, but will help prepare you to take that credentialing exam.

Course Content

This 3-day review covers five primary domains including:

• Fundamental Knowledge of Science & Engineering
• Leadership, Organization & Culture
• Safety, Health & Risk Management
• Management Systems, Regulations & Assurance
• Professional Skills, Conduct & Ethics

Instructor

Eric Lutz, Director International Safety, Health and Risk Center at University of Arizona