scholarly journals Creating a New Staple: Capital, Technology, and Monopoly in British Columbia’s Resource Sector, 1901-1925

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-237
Author(s):  
Jeremy Mouat
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Lead Zinc ◽  
Resource Sector

Abstract This paper examines the mining industry of British Columbia, the province's leading staple during the period when the region was brought within the network of world trade. Specifically, it describes the emergence of zinc production as the most profitable sector of the industry, from the early 1900s through to the mid-1920s. A good deal of importance was attached to discovering some means of treating zinc ore in the early 1900s. Increasing amounts of zinc were being found in the silver-lead ore of eastern British Columbia. Zinc was seen as a contaminant, and smelters penalised mine-owners who shipped ore that was over 10 per cent zinc. The presence of zinc rendered relatively valuable ore (in terms of its silver and lead content) uneconomical. Concern over “the zinc problem” was such that, by 1905, the federal government, responding to the lobbying efforts of mine-owners, appointed a commission “to Investigate the Zinc Resources of British Columbia and the Conditions Affecting Their Exploitation”. During the next twenty years, mining companies in the Kootenays explored a number of different ways to overcome zinc's unfortunate impact upon the mining industry. These efforts to discover an adequate means to treat zinc ore illustrate the way in which technology and capital became the key ingredients of a distinctively new mining industry. The paper argues that the emergence of zinc mining reflected a fundamental restructuring of the industry, as the focus shifted from the discovery and exploitation of bonanza deposits of gold and silver to the less spectacular production of copper, lead, and zinc. Technology, economies of scale, and substantial capital investment were the hallmarks of the new industry. Not only was the industry profoundly altered — experiencing what other scholars have described as the second industrial revolution — but new vertically integrated companies displaced the traditional mining company. The paper describes the clearest example of this trend, outlining the early career of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada [Cominco], a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Cominco was able to put in place the necessary technology to tap its enormous lead-zinc deposit at Kimberley, and successfully treat zinc at its Trail refinery. Within two decades, and largely as a result of its ability to treat zinc, Cominco became the most profitable mining company ever to operate in British Columbia. The conclusion suggests some consequences of Cominco's ascendancy.

scholarly journals Application of a roof support monitoring system for analysis of work parameters of a powered longwall system

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 03022
Author(s):  
Dawid Szurgacz ◽  
Jarosław Brodny
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Hard Coal ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
Decisive Action ◽  
The Internet Of Things ◽  
Roof Support

In recent years, the world economy has undergone dynamic technological changes known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the main areas of these changes is the practical use of information systems to optimize production processes. Universal digitization results in the emergence of cyber-physical systems that, apart from the Internet of Things, are beginning to be used more and more widely in many industries. These changes are being applied also in the mining industry, including the Polish coal mining. Competition on the global energy market and growing requirements in the field of work safety and environmental protection make it necessary to take decisive action to modernize and adapt this industry to global standards. The article presents the results of the use of information technology in the process of hard coal production in mines owned by Polska Grupa Górnicza S.A., a leading coal mining company in Poland. The paper focuses on the operation of the powered roof systems which, in addition to protecting the work environment (longwall area), is also a construction base for the entire longwall system. The monitoring of the operation of individual sections of the support therefore allows control and evaluation of the condition and efficiency of the entire powered unit. The solution proposed by the authors should enable this process to be carried out.

Geology and Mining: Mineral Resources and Reserves: Their Estimation, Use, and Abuse

SEG Discovery ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon M. Jowitt ◽  
Brian A. McNulty
Keyword(s):  
Capital Investment ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Critical Metals ◽  
Reserve Estimation ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Regulatory Constraints ◽  
Reserve Estimates ◽  
Over Time

Editor’s note: The Geology and Mining series, edited by Dan Wood and Jeffrey Hedenquist, is designed to introduce early-career professionals and students to a variety of topics in mineral exploration, development, and mining, in order to provide insight into the many ways in which geoscientists contribute to the mineral industry. Abstract Resource and reserve estimation is a critical step in mine development and the progression from mineral exploration to commodity production. The data inputs typically change over time and reflect variations in geoscientific knowledge as well as the modifying factors required by regulation for estimating a reserve. These factors include mineral (ore) processing, metallurgical treatment of the ore, infrastructure requirements for mine and workforce, and the transportation of processed products to buyers; others that will affect the production of metals and/or minerals from a deposit include economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social, and governmental factors. All are needed by the mining industry to quantify the contained mineralization within mineral deposits that likely warrant the significant capital investment required to build a mine. However, these resource and reserve data are estimates that change over time due to unpredicted variations in the initial inputs. Paramount to the two estimates are the quality and accuracy of the geologic inputs and the communication of these to the professionals tasked with making each estimate. Geostatistical processing of the grade of the resource has become a dominant element of the estimation process, but this requires transparent and informed communication between geologists and mining engineers with the geostatistician responsible for mathematically processing the grade data. Regulatory constraints also mean that estimated resources and reserves seldom capture the full extent of a mineral deposit. Similarly, co- and by-product metals and minerals that are commonly produced by mines may not be captured by resource and reserve estimates because of their limited economic contribution. This suggests that reporting standards for co- and by-products—particularly for the critical metals that may have a sharp increase in demand—need improvement. Finally, the importance of these data to the mining industry is such that informing investors and the broader public about the nature of resource and reserve estimates, and the meaning of associated terminology, is also essential when considering the global metal and mineral supply, and the role of mining in modern society.

scholarly journals Editorial for the Launching of Mining Journal

Mining ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Mostafa Benzaazoua
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Mining Industry

Worldwide, the mining industry played a very important role in the first industrial revolution during the previous century [...]

scholarly journals FROM ORANJE NASSAU TO PULAU LAUT : THE INVEST OF COAL MINING IN SOUTHEAST KALIMANTAN FROM 1845 TO 1931

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Mansyur -
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
World Market ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
The World ◽  
Coal Market ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The 19Th Century

European Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century brought great changes not only in Europe itself but also in other parts of the world including Indonesia which was used to be a country of Dutch colony. The invention of steam-powered ships triggered the Dutch to use steam-powered vessels as the alteration of yachts, wind-powered ships, in the 19th century. At the beginning, the steam-powered ships used rotating wheels in the left and right side; however, the ships finally used ordinary windmills or propellers. The decrease and the lack of this production was getting worsened the competition of other producer countries in world market and the unstable coal market and in crisis year in 1930, Pulau Laut Mining Company production dropped so that it was closed down in the same year.

scholarly journals Considerations in the Search and Exploration for Minerals in British Columbia

1973 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
John R. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Commercial Production ◽  
Common Method ◽  
Development Activity ◽  
Public Offering ◽  
Exploration And Development

In the following article, Mr. Mackay discusses the acquisition and develop ment of mineral property under the provisions of the Mineral Act of British Columbia. The writer reviews three main types of agreements (and the more important terms of the various agreements) used for the acquisition of an "interest" in mineral claim. Financing is requisite of any exploration and development activity, and the author examines various sources of funds available for financing in the mining industry, concentrating on the most common method, incorporating company to take over the development of the mining property, with particular emphasis on the various procedural steps which must be followed before public offering can be made. Finally, Mr. Mackay briefly examines the problem of placing mineral property into commercial production.

scholarly journals Economies of Scale and Network Economies in Industry 4.0. Theoretical Analysis and Future Directions of Research

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Büchi ◽  
Monica Cugno ◽  
Rebecca Castagnoli
Keyword(s):  
Mass Production ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Production ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Enabling Technologies ◽  
Production Models ◽  
Cost Differentials

This paper analyses the role of cost differentials in the fourth industrial revolution. It uses a literature review in order to identify origins, definitions, enabling technologies and changes in company productivity. Research results show how certain Industry 4.0 enabling technologies help obtain better economic results in mass production and others that support new production models in mass production: mass customization and mass personalization. This paper is of a theoretical nature and identifies certain reflections concerning Industry 4.0’s role in managerial literature by providing interesting lines to be developed in future directions of research.

Value co-creation in asset integrity and improvement portfolio: evidence from the Australian mining industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenton Lawson ◽  
Larissa Statsenko ◽  
Morteza Shokri-Ghasabeh
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Portfolios ◽  
Project Lifecycle

Purpose Adopting a qualitative research design and following a single case study research methodology 21 semi-structured interviews with asset integrity project managers (PM), project sponsors (PS) and members of the project management office (PMO) were conducted. These were complemented with company’s project management framework documents and tools and direct observation by the researcher’s observation. Design/methodology/approach The data on the value creation in the mining asset integrity and improvement project portfolio was collected through 21 interviews with PM, PS and members of the PMO and complemented by observational data and the analysis of the Australian mining company process documentation. Findings The study finds that establishing a culture of delivering value supported by functional governance is critical for effective value creation practice in asset integrity and improvement project portfolios. In addition, early engagement of the key stakeholders with clearly defined roles and utilisation of project value management artifacts, enables effective value delivery throughout the project lifecycle. Originality/value The research offers an empirically grounded framework to facilitate value creation throughout the project lifecycle in asset integrity and improvement project portfolios drawing on a benchmarking case of an Australian mining company.

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