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By M. Redfearn

"DUST COLLECTION EQUIPMENT LIST Primary Dust CollectorModular Mikro-Pulsaire - Model 2G1-96TR Capacity: 20,000 c.f.m.Bags: Total of 288; 8' x 4 1/2"" diameterMaterial: Dacron HCE feltAir to cloth ratio: 7.55/1Bags are changed every 6-9 months. Sent to A & L Services for cleaning at a cost of less than 1/3 the price of a new bag. No new bags have been required since start-up 4 years ago.Blow hack: 35 c.f.m. at 100 p.s.i.Fan: Joy Manufacturing, Model 3300, Type 4S, Backward inclined fan.Impeller: 33"" diameter36"" diameter Inlet33"" diameter Outlet at 3200 f.p.m. velocity1945Motor:,60 H.P., 1780 r.p.m.Capacity: 23,400 c.f.m.Design:,20,000 c.f.m.,•Actual:,17,500-19,000 c.f.m. depending on bag condition.Dust Slurry Agitator: Port-a-flo Model 050-350Major Maintenance:The fan was sped up from 1830 to 1945 r.p.m. and balanced at the higher speed. Several months later the impeller destructed beyond repair. A new shaft and impeller was installed, casings straightened, and bearings reused. Unit is currently running at 1945 r.p.m. No definite cause for the impeller failure has been found, although it might be attributed to improper balancing."

Jan 1, 1976

By D. M. Muir

The mineralogy of residues formed during the pressure acid leaching of arid region nickel laterite ore varies according to the salinity of the process water, alkali cation additives and the overall acid loading. In fresh water, hematite is the main iron-bearing leach residue component, together with amorphous silica and hydronium or sodium alunite/jarosite [(H3O,Na)(Fe,Al)3(SO4)2(OH)6]. As the process water salinity increases, or as NH4+ or K salts are added, alunite/jarosite is the kinetically favoured iron-bearing phase accompanied by an increase in acid consumption. The alunite/jarosite appears as two XRD distinct phases with different Fe:Al molar ratios. In weakly saline water, iron-rich alunite/jarosite slowly transforms to hematite and an aluminium-rich alunite/jarosite together with the release of acid. The addition of potassium salts forms a more stable alunite/jarosite whilst the addition of ammonium salts leads to greater transformation of alunite/jarosite at 250°C. Weakly saline process water gives enhanced nickel recoveries, whilst strongly saline process water gives lower nickel recoveries but higher soluble iron because of chloro-complexation. SEM and microprobe analysis shows very little nickel is associated with the alunite/jarosite and hematite phases. Nickel losses to the residues are attributed to adsorption on amorphous silica and to a lesser extent on alunite/jarosite.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. E. Dutrizac

Mercury balances have been obtained for the flotation circuits at Pamour Porcupine Mines, Timmins, Ontario, and at Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation, Bathurst, New Brunswick. The mineral form of mercury in both deposits has been ascertained. At Pamour Porcupine, the mercury is approximately evenly divided among sphalerite, native silverelectrum and tetrahedrite-tennantite; at Brunswick Mining, this element is contained mostly in the sphalerite, although tetrahedrite (and possibly pyrite) also contains minor quantities.

Jan 1, 1979

By Free. Michael L.

Crushing ore prior to heap leaching enhances mineral liberation and creates fine particles that may require agglomeration to avoid permeability problems during leaching. Conventional modeling is relatively successful in describing general fluid flow and extraction in heaps. However, most models do not adequately account for the effects of mineral liberation and exposure or the effects of agglomeration, curing, and loading on heap leach performance. This paper will discuss methods to account for mineral liberation and exposure as a function of comminution. It will also discuss methods for incorporating liberation, exposure, and mineral locking as well as curing and fluid flow in heap leach modeling. It will also provide information regarding agglomeration and the effect of loading in heap leach modeling.

Jan 1, 2014

By William C. Martin

"Consolidated Sudbury Basin Mines Limited owns two mines, 4 miles apart, near the southwest end of Sudbury Basin. The Errington mine lies close to the north boundary of Creighton Township and about 18 miles by car from Sudbury. The Vermilion Lake mine is in Fairbank Township, on the south side of Vermilion Lake.The first discovery of base-metal mineralization within Sudbury basin was made by James Stobie in 1897 at Stobie Falls on the Vermilion River, half a mile west of the Errington mine. A few years later Alphonse Oilier made a discovery of massive pyrite with base-metal sulphides near the west end of the present Errington workings.No work of consequence was done on these discoveries until 1924, when Joseph Errington acquired options on a large acreage of ground which was later taken over by the Treadwell Yukon Company Limited. After considerable diamond drilling this company sank No. 1 shaft in 1926. In the next three years, a large amount of underground development was done, a pilot mill was constructed and operated for two years. All operations ceased in 1931 with the fall in metal prices. While in operation the pilot mill treated 186,172 tons of ore the average grade of which was 1·07 per cent copper; 1 10 per cent lead; 4·60 per cent zinc; 0·03 ounces gold; and 1 70 ounces silver.Up to the time of closing in 193 l there had been completed at the mine 26, 790 feet of lateral work and 75,500 feet of surface and underground diamond drilling. The company records, however, showed no figures on ore reserves, except broken ore in stopes amounting to about 60,000 tons. A study of the plans, prior to reopening the mine in 1952, showed 1,450 lineal feet of ore (at 1952 prices) opened up by drifting on the 300-foot and 500- foot levels. It is clear that no comprehensive picture of the structure was had at this time. The orebodies were considered to be very irregular pods scattered through masses of quartzite-carbonate in a sheared zone about 800 feet wide. In some way the ore was believed to be related to the tuff-slate contact zone. With this picture it was impossible to make a reasonable ore estimate or even gauge the tonnage potentialities with any feeling of reliability."

Jan 1, 1949

By G. F. Liu, S. Owada

Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), Pt, Pd, Rh, have been widely used as a three-way catalyst to clean discharged gas from automobiles and therefore a considerable amount of the spent catalysts is generated annually. This paper proposes a novel concentration technology of PGMs by utilizing the double-deck structure of PGM bearing alumina-ceria and cordierite phases. The applied technologies are a combination of heating-quenching, selective grinding and screening for separating alumina-ceria phase from cordierite. Temperature change as a function of quenching time and the thermal stresses applied to both phases were simulated and calculated by FEM, and it was clarified the mechanism of micro-cracks generation at the phase boundary and micro-cracks in alumina-ceria phase, which indicated that separation of alumina-ceria phase from cordierite and selective breakage of alumina-ceria phase could be achieved in the subsequent selective grinding with an attritor. This process could concentrate 46 wt% of alumina-ceria phase into fine fractions with 86 % recovery efficiency. The remaining alumina-ceria phase can be further recovered by applying flotation and so on.

Jan 1, 2015

By J. B. Evans

"NORMALLY the duties of the exploration engineer and geologist cover the initial, and possibly, the most important phase of mining property evaluation; that phase being the presentation of an opinion of the property's ore reserve potential in terms of tonnage and grade. The prime objective of this pa-per is to outline one method of bridging the wide gap that lies between a know ledge of a property' s tonnage and grade potential and an appreciation of the value of that property in dollars and cents.THE PRESENTATION OF PROPERTY EVALUATIONThe engineer engaged on a mining property evaluation, regardless of whether he be an independent consultant, or a company employee, has as his goal, the presentation of his appreciation of the property's potential value or worth within terms of reference acceptable to his principal.To furnish a complete evaluation report, the evaluator must firstly study all aspects pertaining to the particular property under consideration, then present his appreciation of the property's worth in some tangible form. The ultimate presentation is one giving a Present Value of the pro pert y in terms of monetary exchange. Such an idealistic presentation is not always possible; typical preventives being -insufficient reliable information, limited time, Jack of ability and absence of definite direction."

Jan 1, 1960

By S. J. Laskowski

In potash ore flotation, carried out in NaCI-KCI saturated brine (about 6-7 molar KC1 and NaCI solution), long-chain primary amines are used as flotation collectors. Long-chain primary amines are poorly soluble in water and their solubility further decreases at high electrolyte concentration. For ionic surfactants there is a characteristic temperature (Krafft Point, KP) below which their solubility is too low for micellization. In a previous study, the effect of pH on the KP of dodecylammonium chloride in water was determined [Q. Dai and J.S. Laskowski, Langmuir, 7, 1361-1365 (1991)]. This paper deals with the effect of electrolyte concentration on the KP of dodecylammonium chloride. The derived theoretical relationship between the KP and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) for dodecylamine can be used to calculate the KP for electrolyte concentrations of up to 0.5 mol/L (about 8% NaCI-KCI brine). A simple experimental procedure for the determination of the KP for higher electrolyte concentrations is also described. The results show that the Krafft point of dodecylamine increases from about 17-18°C (in distilled water) to about 80°C at 16% brine saturation.

Jan 1, 2006

By A. D. Dalvi

Economics, Resources, Environment and Technology are the major driving forces in the base metals industry. However, these factors are intertwined and together will propel the industry in the future. The demand for metals has grown with economic expansion, between 2 to 4 % p.a. The current growth cycle has been driven by economic expansion in China where the demand for base metals has risen from - 7 % of the world demand in the 90's to - 25 % of world demand today, and rising. Base metals are commodities and their demand and price are cyclical. Historically metal prices have declined in constant dollars, forcing the industry to reduce costs, increase productivity and increase the scale of operation for economies of scale. Due to resource depletion and capacity expansion the industry is driven to expand its reserve and resource base. However, in the case of sulphide deposits of copper and nickel it appears to be a losing battle. For nickel the laterites represent a vast source at this time. Their development requires development of new technologies to make these resources economic. Emission reduction is being increasingly mandated in most jurisdictions with all governments enacting progressively more stringent regulations. The industry has been responding with technological innovation. With the Kyoto protocol there is a push to reduce energy intensity in metal production. Technological innovation is driven by all the other factors and is leading to novel ways of doing exploration, mining and processing, that would maximize resource delineation and utilization, reduce costs, increase productivity, reduce energy consumption, maximize asset utilization and reduce environmental affects. Development of alternative technologies such as Pressure Acid Leach of laterite for nickel, bio-leaching, heap leaching, SX-EW etc are being adopted to achieve the aims of the industry.

Jan 1, 2005

By Lopatka. M. J.

This paper presents the results of 3 tons skid steer 6x6 wheel robot drive system field tests. The aim of the investigation was verification of assumed data for drivetrain diesain and forces identification in the drivetrain system during maneuvering and crossing obstacles. Robot has hydraulics drive system with motors in the wheels and hydraulic suspension system. The neded drive torque on wheels was determined by pressure measurnig on motors.

Aug 1, 2013

By V. A. Leão, M. L. M. Rodrigues, L. C. Sicupira, I. C. B. Rodrigues, T. C. Veloso

Brazilian sulphide ores can contain a significant content of chloride and fluoride, which are harmful to bacteria and thus bioleaching. This work summarizes a four-year research investigation on the effect of fluoride on both bacterial growth and sulphide bioleaching, supported by studies carried out with secondary copper ores. Firstly, the influence of fluoride on the kinetics of ferrous iron bio-oxidation with Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans was addressed. Values as low as 10.0 mg/L F- fully inhibited bacterial growth, although fluoride toxicity could be overcome by the presence of aluminium, which reduced the concentration of hydrofluoric acid through the formation of aluminium-fluoride complexes. This required at least a 2:1 aluminium/fluoride molar ratio, which ensured bacterial growth rate values similar to that observed in the absence of fluoride ions. Subsequently, both batch and column bioleaching with mesofiles (30 ºC), moderate thermofile (50 ºC) or hyperthermophiles (67.5 ºC) of two secondary copper ore samples were analyzed with focus on the relevant effects of fluoride-containing minerals on the bioleaching of such sulphide ores.

Jan 1, 2014

In Canada and other countries, legislation dealing with accurate factual disclosure for mining projects is being expanded to include more metallurgical design information. Grinding characteristics, metallurgical recovery of contained metal and environmental hazards associated with tailings disposal will be part of the Canadian package. This paper will examine only that portion of the plant design standard practice that relates to grinding ? in SAG mills and ball mills that grind ore from as received crushed material to final ground product that is fed to downstream plant recovery processes. Since grinding plants represent a significant portion of the overall concentrator cost, accountability in grinding design should no longer be left to chance, opinion, or hidden proprietary information. This is the 21st century. It is reasonable to expect that a factual basis will be needed so that a Qualified Person (QP) reviewing the grinding mill design can understand it. That will also involve how many and what quality of samples are taken to define the characteristics of the deposit, the accuracy of the tests used to measure ore hardness and the method by which the dimensions and power of the mills are determined. If these criteria are not met, the QP may have no choice but to call attention to the lack of convincing information regarding the grinding mill design for the project. At the same time clients are expected to demand getting the correct design information at a cheaper price, results in a more timely way, and accurate design to the point where the risk of tonnage shortfalls are reduced or eliminated. Tables will be presented to show how this can be done to current standards using existing technologies. At the same time it is acknowledged that current standards are ill-defined and that to achieve consensus among those involved in SAG mill design work, it may require that a consortium funded project be set up to establish what tests and methods for grinding design are suitable to meet the new standards for metallurgical disclosure. By running parallel design methods on several major projects over a period of 5 years, the process of how to design grinding circuits will be better understood because the projects will start at the design stage, include procurement of the mills and will end with a benchmark test on the plant. Selecting the samples and the best schedule for doing test work on core samples submitted and mill design, will be discussed in this paper. The issue of completing the grinding design in time for early procurement decisions is on the critical path for most major projects. Discussions between mining engineers, geologists and process engineers are needed early in the development cycle, at the scoping study level (SS), preliminary engineering assessment (PEA), prefeasibility study (PFS), and at the feasibility study stage (FS), to ensure that proper planning for design sample selection is done. Using adequate sampling and testing methods in a timely way allows early procurement of the grinding mills and minimizes project risk.

Jan 1, 2012

By S. R. Steinacker, H. Schnideritsch, J. Antrekowitsch

Primary copper industry flue dust plays an increasingly important role in the creation of matte and slag. From a thermodynamic point of view, the chemically formed section of fine particles play a techno-logically interesting role in comparison to the mechanical carry-over. Here, the volatilization and the sub-sequent condensation in the off gas system lead to a characteristic distribution of the contained elements which are represented by various compounds of desired metals like zinc and lead. On the contrary, certain undesired components such as arsenic, bismuth and cadmium accumulate within the product as well. This paper describes existing models and theories concerning the formation of flue dust in the copper smelting process and presents a thorough investigation of the physico-chemical fundamentals by verifying assump-tions with thermodynamic calculations. By fully understanding the formation patterns at different stages and temperatures within the process, better knowledge for flue dust in the first step of the pyrometallurgi-cal copper smelting can be obtained - hence leading to new ideas and incentives for the following stages in the copper production cycle.

Jan 1, 2015

Energy benchmarking is widely applied across industries to determine the potential to improve energy performance. Unlike the many technologies for which energy benchmarks and efficiency rating systems are already in maturity, benchmarking of mining processes is still in its infancy. Benchmarking energy usage in mining operations, where energy costs are high and represent a significant portion of overall operating expenses, is challenging due to the uniqueness of each mining operation. Mines vary in terms of geology, geographic setting, ore body geometry, mineralogy which impact the mining method, material handling, processing and waste management. In order to gauge the opportunity for reducing the energy intensity of individual operations and also to compare the energy performance of operations on a global scale, the deployment of new benchmarking methodologies, models and frameworks is necessary. As a step towards the establishment of an accurate framework for benchmarking the energy consumption of mining operations, comminution, one of the more energy intensive mining sub-processes, was selected as the focus of a new energy benchmarking method. The methodologies and processes used to onset fragmentation in a rock mass to the crushing or grinding of rock to a size that is suitable for economic extraction are predominantly dependent on the ore properties. For this reason, site specific factors, such as the size reduction requirements and ore hardness were included in an energy benchmark model so that the energy performance of comminution processes at different operations could be normalized and compared on a global scale. Single particle compression breakage has been identified by several prominent researchers in the field of comminution as the upper limit of energy utilization in size reduction processes. For this reason single particle compression breakage was proposed as the basis of a work index for ores to be used as an input for the benchmark model. Overall, the new method showed that the energy benchmark for mineral comminution can be normalized and subsequently compared for a range of mining operations once the ore hardness has been appropriately characterized.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. Tong, D. Robinson

"The stirred milling of nickel laterites offers possibilities for improving liberation and selective size reduction of soft nickel-bearing minerals in laterites. Batch grinding tests were performed in a netzsch™ lME4 stirred mill on siliceous goethitic, goethitic, and saprolitic nickel laterites. Tests on the -2,000 µm sample displayed the effects of selective comminution. The -38 µm product of grinding the -2,000/+38 µm feed confirmed the effects of selective grinding and nickel upgrading. Size classification followed by stirred milling is recommended for nickel upgrading. The energy requirement in the stirred milling was also investigated.RÉSUMÉ le broyage par billes de latérites comportant du nickel offre des possibilités d’amélioration de la libération et de la réduction sélective de la taille des minéraux nickélifères tendres dans les latérites. Des essais de broyage en vrac ont été effectués dans un broyeur à billes netzschMD lME4 sur des latérites nickélifères à goethite siliceuse, à goethite et saprolitiques. Des essais sur l’échantillon -2000 µm présentaient des effets d’une comminution sélective. le produit -38 µm de l’alimentation -2000/+38 µm confirme les effets d’un broyage sélectif et du rehaussement de la teneur en nickel. Pour améliorer la teneur en nickel, il est recommandé de classifier le minerai en fonction de sa granulométrie, puis d’effectuer un broyage à billes. l’énergie requise pour le broyage à billes a aussi été étudié."

Jan 1, 2015

By P. Abachi

Cemented carbides or hard metals that generally consist of hard tungsten carbide and a tough metal binder such as cobalt are important in many segments of the world economy, ranging from automobile related components to machining, cutting, and drilling tools. For metal cutting operations such as turning and milling, replaceable cemented carbide inserts are frequently used. The exposure of inserts to very severe conditions (e.g. temperatures as high as 1000°C) in combination with very high loads, limits their lifetime. When the tools and components are scrapped, they are collected with a view to recovering the tungsten carbide and cobalt due to both their environmental aspects and their strategic importance. In this work, a selective electrolysis process was used for recovery of WC powder particles from cemented carbide scraps. The WC-10Co and WC-10Co-VC up to 3 wt.% VC was produced using powder metallurgy route. The mean particle size of WC, Co and VC were selected as 2.5, l.5 and 2.2 µm respectively. Referring to electrochemical curves of WC-10Co cemented carbides in hydrochloric acid solutions with different concentrations, the recovery rate was enhanced in IN acid. Therefore, this solution was selected for recycling of all samples. The surfaces of as-produced and corroded specimens were investigated using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Detection of corrosion products was provided by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). According to results, the selective electrolysis process could be useful in the recycling of scrap carbide materials, although more studies should be undertaken on economical aspects of the process and the quality of samples produced using recovered powders.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. Jankovic

Numerous advantages have been recognized for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating at temperatures of 500-700°C. However, there are several issues related to low temperature SOFCs, such as high electrolyte resistance and high electrode polarization. One of the routes to enhance the electrode performance, particularly for the cathode, is to use new materials with optimized microstructure. In this work, the plasma-spraying technique, recognized to have several advantages over presently used deposition techniques, was used to deposit cathode materials onto ceramic and stainless steel substrates to obtain highly porous structures. Cathode materials with composition of Lao 6Sr0.4Co02Fe0 8O3 (LSCF) were employed in the powder form. The LSCF was prepared from powder precursors with different pore formers and binder levels, or from already produced, single-phase LSCF. The (La0.8Sr0.2)0.98MnO3 (LSM) cathode material was also processed for comparison purposes. The deposition process was developed to obtain coatings with good bond strength, porosity, film thickness and residual stresses. The phase and microstructure of deposited materials were characterized using XRD and SEM.

Jan 1, 2005

By R. Roufail

Mineral liberation is accomplished by comminution and is the first step towards achieving successful downstream processes such as flotation or leaching. In metal mining, one of the most effective comminution methods that is used to grind particles below 10 microns is stirred milling. In this paper the study of particle breakage mode vs. mill operating parameters is addressed. Stirred mills' grinding action is mainly attrition, but operation can be manipulated to include breakage by compression or impact loading. Macro and micro analysis of particle breakage and grinding mechanisms are correlated. Macro analyses convey information that relates grinding mechanism to particle size and shape. It is speculated that the breakage mechanism in the horizontal stirred mills is massive fracture for the coarsest particles and attrition (abrasion) close to the grinding limit where the size reduction ratio approaches 1.0. For micro analysis, the particle breakage mode has a direct impact on fracture type either transgranular or intergranular. Intergranular particle breakage leads to higher mineral liberation compared to transgranular breakage. Similar minerals would have more homogeneous properties that convey a stronger bond compared to dissimilar, heterogeneous mineral bonds. Transgranular fracture requires higher energy than inter granular fracture; trans granular fracture toughness of pure single phase mineral is about 10-14 % higher than the intergranular fracture toughness. This communication presents the results of an investigation to assess how operating conditions can affect trans- vs. inter-granular breakage.

Jan 1, 2009

By G. L. Palmer

"Abstract- ln 1986, anomalous sampling results for heavy minerals were obtained at various sites in Namaqualand on the west coast of the Cape Province. Drilling in 1987 at Graauwduinen penetrated up to 35 meters of heavy mineral-bearing Tertiary sands which extend several kilometers inland from the coast. The heavy mineral suite includes ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon and monazite, along with garnet, pyroxene and amphibole. Three deposits are recognized, two of which comprise the resource to be mined by Namakwa Sands Limited, a recently formed Anglo American Corporation subsidiary company.Mineable reserves in excess of 500 million tonnes have been delineated, sufficient to sustain mining for over 35 years at projected production rates. During the feasibility study, on-site investigations included test mining at various sites to assess mineability and to provide material for metallurgical testing in a pilot plant located at the site. Ilmenite produced at the mine will be smelted at a new facility to be built at Saldanha Bay . Saleable products comprise titania-rich slag, pig iron, zircon and rutile.During the exploration phase, company environmental guidelines were established and monitored. The feasibility study incorporated a Class 1 Environmental Impact Report, the contents of which were made public following the principles of the Integrated Environmental Management legislation."

Jan 1, 1994

By J. Stiksma, K. Buban, J. Oftsie, R. Kalanchey, S. Sadykov, E. McConaghy

The Kazakhmys zinc refinery in Balkhash, Kazakhstan, which employs the Dynatec Zinc Pressure Leach Process, officially launched autoclave operations on December 27, 2003. The Kazakhmys plant is the world's first greenfields zinc refinery based on Dynatec's two-stage pressure leach technology. Production of zinc was realized on February 9, 2004, when the first cathode was stripped. Currently the plant start-up is ongoing, with progression to two-stage zinc pressure leach operation and ramp-up to full design capacity continuing through 2004.

Jan 1, 2004