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By A. Morrison, D. Mesa, P. R. Brito-Parada

"Froth flotation is the most widely used mineral separation technique. It is based on the relative hydrophobicity of valuable and gangue particles. In a flotation tank, two distinct zones can be identified: the pulp and the froth. The pulp is a turbulent region in which hydrophobic valuable particles attach to air bubbles while hydrophilic gangue particles remain in the slurry. As the particle-laden bubbles rise, a mineralised froth zone is formed that overflows as a concentrate. Although the process is more than a hundred years old, there remain many aspects that are not completely understood, particularly for the froth zone. Thus, the rules governing the design of flotation tanks tend to focus on pulp zone parameters, which are largely based on operating data. An example of this is the design and operation of impellers. These tend to be designed paying attention to hydrodynamic phenomena in the pulp zone, but their effect on the froth zone has not been completely addressed. The role of impellers in a flotation tank is to break the air bubbles in order to generate smaller ones and to provide an environment that enables the collision between those bubbles and the particles in the slurry. This usually creates turbulent regimes that can affect the pulp-froth interface, destabilising the lower regions of the froth and affecting the overall performance of the process. Different impeller designs and retrofit modifications have been proposed in the past, addressing some of those issues. However, there is no systematic study of the effect of different impeller designs on the bubble size in the pulp and its links to the stability of the froth. This work tested the impact of an impeller designs combined with the use of a stator on the performance of an 87 litres continuously operated laboratory-scale flotation tank, with a focus on bubble size in the pulp and froth stability. The results showed that the implementation of a stator system decreased bubble size and increased froth stability. That resulted in an increase of mass pull, measured as a proxy of metallurgical recovery."

Jan 1, 2018

By Komar Kawatra, Joseph Halt

"Bentonite clay has been the traditional binder for iron ore pellets. However, bentonite increases pellets’ silica contents and is expensive. Researchers have proposed lowering bentonite doses by mixing it with other common binders. These mixtures may only be successful if the fundamental bonding mechanisms are understood. For example, what happens when bentonite (physical bonding) is mixed with fly-ash (chemical bonding)? What happens when bentonite is mixed with cornstarch (physical bonding)? In this paper, experiments are described where bentonite was mixed with various ratios of cornstarch and fly-ash, and pellets were agglomerated using 0.66 % w/w binder. Ca(OH)2 and CaCl2 were added as activator and accelerator, respectively, to the bentonite-fly ash mixture. Curves of pellet dry strength vs. bentonite-starch ratio were linear, suggesting the physical-physical bonding mechanisms were compatible - acceptable strengths (> 22 N) were produced at all bentonite-to-starch ratios. This was contrary to bentonite-fly ash mixtures, which displayed dry strength curves with a noticeable minimum due to competing binding mechanisms. Bentonite alone and fly ash alone produced acceptable strengths (> 22 N), but their mixtures resulted in weak pellets. Due to the positive results using cornstarch (CS) binders, the effects of CS solubility in water were investigated using two CS with high and low solubility (60 and 7.5 %). CS was premixed with bentonite at various ratios (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 %). Pellets were agglomerated using 0.66 % w/w binder. The dry strength of pellets ranged from 50-300 N using the high solubility CS mixtures, and from 50-85 N using the low solubility CS mixtures. Fired strengths exceeded 2200 N/pellet at all bentonite-cornstarch ratios. This research showed that cornstarch solubility is an important factor in determining its effectiveness as a binder for iron ore concentrates, but significant work is still necessary before it can be used as a bentonite replacement."

Jan 1, 2014

By Matt Kilburn, Liming Lu, Steve Suthers, Alexander Edenton, Rodney Smyth, Matt Adam

"Magnetite concentrate is naturally good for pelletising. However, due to the depletion of reserves of traditional high grade hematite iron ore worldwide, the usage of magnetite concentrate in sintering is expected to increase substantially. Magnetite concentrate is typically high in Fe grade and releases extra heat when oxidised to hematite. This will not only improve the quality of agglomerates produced, but also have a potential beneficial impact on the fuel consumption of the agglomeration process. There are an increasing number of magnetite projects currently being considered and developed. However the concentrates from some of these projects are too coarse as pellet feeds and much finer and denser than normal sinter feeds. Accordingly, special strategies are required in order to utilise the coarse magnetite concentrates at high proportions in pelletising and sintering. This paper discusses various raw material preparation technologies and blending optimization methods demonstrated to be effective for improving the sintering and pelletising performance of coarse magnetite concentrates. Pre-granulation and addition of binders, such as hydrated lime, were found to be particularly efficient in recovering the sintering productivity of sinter blends containing magnetite concentrates. In pelletising, HPGR (High Pressure Grinding Rolls) grinding enabled production of good quality pellets from 100% magnetite concentrates and optimized blends containing up to 70% magnetite concentrates also formed good pellets.INTRODUCTION Magnetite concentrates are often used as feed materials for pellet plants or sinter plants depending on their grades and grain sizes. To achieve the required quality of green and fired pellets, the concentrates often need to be ground very fine (80% passing 38- 45 m), which inevitably consumes a great amount of energy. Therefore, efficient grinding processes are required to reduce the amount of energy consumption needed to achieve the sizing and chemical specification of pellet feeds. The use of magnetite concentrates in sintering has the potential to improve sinter chemistry, which is deteriorating over time due to the slowly decreasing grade of direct shipping iron ores around the world (Yang and Mathews, 1997; Yang and Witchard, 1998, Yang and Davis, 1999; Yang 2005). However, methods are required to allow the utilisation of high levels of concentrates in sintering while maintaining productivity and sinter quality (Han and Lu, 2017)."

Jan 1, 2018

"The effect of operational conditions, such as air flow rate, impeller speed and solid concentration, as well as the effect of solids concentration and frother dosage, on the bubble size distribution produced in a lab scale flotation cell, were investigated. The cell was operated under batch conditions. The measurement of bubble size was accomplished using an automated photographic technique. The technique enabled fine and coarse bubble distributions to be measured in two-phase (liquid-gas) and three-phase systems (solid-liquid-gas). In each experiment, around ten thousand bubbles were characterized.This paper discusses the main results obtained using the new photographic technique and compares these with previous findings available in the literature. The results indicate that photographic techniques combined with digital imaging processing might become a standard technique for measuring bubble size distribution in flotation machines.HUT BUBBLE SIZE ANALYSERThe importance of having precise and reliable equipment for measuring bubble size distribution in industrial flotation machines has been widely recognized. The measurement of bubble size, particularly in three-phase systems, is rather complex due to the opaque nature of the pulp. However photographic techniques combined with ingenious sampling techniques are utilized for overcoming this difficulty. The technique named HUT, combines previously developed visualization methods with digital image processing procedures. In this technique bubbles and aggregates are exposed to a monochrome progressive scan camera. The acquired images are directly stored in a computer connected to the camera for post-processing. The sampling apparatus consists essentially of a vertical tube for collecting bubbles, a viewing chamber and a collection chamber, where particles carried by the bubbles are released. The function of the collection chamber is to maintain the viewing chamber clear for imaging purposes. Each image is automatically processed off-line, using digital image tools. In this paper the advantages and limitations of this new technique are described."

Jan 1, 2003

By Chuansheng Luo, Qiuyang Hong, Lili Zhang, Dongyun Liang

"The metallogenic rock of a sandstone-type Cu ore is arkose-quartzite as well as siltstone and the cement is composed of argillaceous minerals including sericite, chlorite, etc. and carbonate minerals including calcite, dolomite, etc. A detailed process mineralogy study on this complex copper ore was carried out using MLA combined with traditional research methods. According to the results, there are many types of Cu minerals including copper sulfideminerals, secondary copper sulfideminerals, copper oxideminerals, copper carbonate hydroxide minerals and copper silicate minerals in the ore. Based on the occurrence of Cu, the copper existing as copper sulfide minerals (bornite, chalcopyrite and chalcocite) and copper oxide mineral (malachite) which have a good floatability accounts for 49.28% while the copper (chrysocolla) hard to be recovered by flotation and the copper existing in the cement (sericite, chlorite, psilomelane and limonite) accounts for 48.65%, and the copper existing in the carbonate minerals (calcite and dolomite) accounts for 1.72%. The process mineralogy study indicates that the process "beneficiation combined with hydrometallurgy" should be applied due to the various occurrence of Cu. The abundance of calcite and dolomite is about 12%, so removing these acid-consuming minerals by floatation is an effective way to reduce the acid consumption in the hydrometallurgical process and the lowest Cu loss is 1.72%. So the process "floating copper minerals-floating calcium minerals (calcite and dolomite)-leaching copper from the tailings" is used in the pilot tests. The recovery of floating copper and leaching copper from tailings is 46% and 30% respectively, so the total recovery of copper is 76%. Compared with the original process "leaching copper from crude ore-floating copper from the residue", the total recovery reduces by 1% but the acid consumption of producing per ton of copper decreases from 37t to 12t. The new technology process has a great advantage."

Jan 1, 2014

By G. H. Li

Preparation strontium carbonate with celestite concentrate by flotation is studied by agglomeration-reduction roasting process. It is shown that, the drop strength of green pellet is greater than 4 times?(0.5m) -1 under the balling conditions of moisture of 9% and time of 18~20min. Lignin xanthate obviously improves the ballability of the celestite concentrate due to the increase of surface hydrophilicity, therefore, the balling rate is increased, as well as green ball strength. The drop strength of 7 times?(0.5m) -1 can be obtained when the lignin xanthate dosage is 0.5%~1%. Reduction roasting with anthracite shows that the SrSO4 conversion is 82%~83% for celestite concentrate pellet, under the optimal conditions of roasting temperature of 1100~1150? and time of 30min, and it is 10% higher than conversion of celestite lump under the same conditions. The strontium carbonate are prepared after roasted pellets are leached, purified and carbonated, and the SrCO3 content is higher than 97% , while the content of CaCO3 is less than 0.3%.

Jan 1, 2014

By Mike Daniel, Eric Wang

"Several new large copper and gold concentrators have been built and commissioned around the world in the past five to eight years. The success of the ramp-up from these very large concentrators has varied. CITIC SMCC Process Technology was engaged to assist some of these mines by gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence throughput capacity. As such, site-specific throughput forecast models that are influenced by SAG mill performance were developed. The forecast models are easy to interpret and modify and can greatly assist the mine management to make predictions and informed decisions for a range of site improvements. The models investigate the influence of SAG mill performance with respect to ore competency, derived from SMC Test® via the measured DWi model parameter. In some cases the benefits of blasting and from fine tuning milling operations are already incorporated into the "site-specific" forecast models. The methodology follows rigorous plant data analysis that is analogous to a "Mine-to-Mill®" optimisation project. The CITIC-SMCC model validation includes extensive data collection, which includes drill core analysis, ore characterisation and comprehensive comminution circuit operational data to assess the limitations within the comminution circuit within the operating mine. The results and models may be used to define the operating base lines of the processing areas and identify improvement opportunities upstream and downstream of the comminution circuit. The predictive capability of the models use logged production data and has enabled the user to differentiate between alternative circuit configuration options and identify optimum operating conditions. This approach minimises the ongoing requirement for costly plant surveys. The improvement strategy for each site, included the ongoing measurement of grindability, rock strength and via the Bond and SMC Test® respectively. Some commentary as to what other practitioners do with input data and their models is also presented as this highlights some of their shortcomings relative to the CITIC-SMCC methods."

Jan 1, 2014

By Yizhong Yuan, Dao Li, Nannan Xue, Tao Liu, Yimin Zhang

A new multi-stage counter-current circulation leaching process for extracting vanadium from stone coal was proposed, and the main factors on multi-stage counter-current circulation acid leaching process were investigated. The results show that the vanadium recovery could reach 86% under the conditions of sulfuric acid concentration of 4 M, liquid to solid ratio of 2 mL/g, temperature of 95 °C, reaction time of 60 min, mean particle size of 125 µm and circulation acid leaching stage of three. The losses of vanadium in acid leaching solution appeared during the four-stage acid leaching process. The strong adsorption performance of new formed KAl(SO4)2(H2O)12 crystal was main reason.

Jan 1, 2014

By Alexander E. Sobolev

The kinetics of oxidative dissolution of lead sulfide in solutions of nitric acid and sodium hypochlorite was studied using the rotating disk method and the factor experiment design. The dependences of the PbS dissolution rate on concentration of oxidant (HNO3 or NaOCl), temperature, disk rotation frequency, and duration of interaction were determined. The adequate kinetic models allowing calculating the specific dissolution rate at any combination of values of the influencing factors were obtained. As a result of the complex analysis of kinetic parameters, the modes of the each process proceeding were established, their macromechanisms were determined, and the limiting stages of the oxidative dissolution processes were revealed. The dissolution kinetics of lead sulfide in solutions of nitric acid was found to have several regimes. At HNO3 concentrations below 0.5 mol/L, the process proceeds in a mixed mode close to a diffusion-controlled. It is caused by low oxidative activity of HNO3 and considerable diffusional diffuculties at this acid concentration range. At the nitric acid concentrations more than 0.5 mol/L and less than 6.0 mol/L, the process was found to be kinetically controlled. The limiting stage of the interaction is the surface chemical reaction. The observed relatively high order of the dissolution rate with respect to the concentration of HNO3 was explained by the autocatalytic action of the acid reduction products. At nitric acid concentrations exceeding 6 mol/L, the process proceeds in a mixed mode close to a diffusion-controlled, and the dissolution rate sharply decreased that was explained by a decrease in the solubility of reaction products. When lead sulfide is dissolved in sodium hypochlorite solutions, at first time the amount of PbS transferred into solution remains close to zero. Gradually, as time goes, this amount begins to increase sharply. The dissolution rate rises and reaches the maximum value, further remaining constant. At the steady-state regime, the dissolution rate is independent of the duration of interaction and disk rotation frequency. The process was found to be kinetically controlled. The limiting stage is likely to be chemical reaction on the surface of solid lead sulfide. The obtained kinetic characteristics enlarge the database on hydrochemical oxidation kinetics of sulfides and can be used for the elaboration of the recommendations for the effective comprehensive exploitation of lead-bearing ores and concentrates. Keywords: lead sulfide, nitric acid, sodium hypochlorite, hydrochemical oxidation, dissolution kinetics

Sep 1, 2012

By Rodolfo Silva, Antonio Peres, Afonso Martins, Gilberto Ramalho, Mario Cabello

The consumption of aggregates in civil construction has increased considerably in Brazil for the last years. The extraction of sand and gravel generates significant environmental impacts. As the quarries and sand deposits are getting exhausted near the big cities, the price of aggregates is increasing. Meanwhile, the extraction of quartzite (dimensional stone) in the state of Minas Gerais has been done mostly in small quarries, with very low recovery, generating approximately six million tons of wastes a year, which causes pollution, increases final prices of products, decreases the life time of quarries and ends up in the closure of enterprises. The government agencies and the quarries’ owners understand that only by finding applications to wastes there will be development to the sector. The aim of this investigation was to study the application to the quartzite wastes as aggregate in the civil construction. Samples of quartzite wastes collected in a quarry were characterized by petrographic analyses. Laboratory tests of crushing and grinding were done to analyze the viability of reducing the size of coarse material to a finer one to be used as raw material in industrialized mortars and concrete pre-molded components.

Jan 1, 2014

In looking to the future of mineral processing the focus is typically on improved processing units. Basically it is a search for an elusive wonder machine that could revolutionise the economy of mining: the sorter that strips 50% of the ore with only a few % loss of value; the comminution device that uses 5% of the energy while producing fully liberated particles; or the recovery device capable of producing a 99% recovery at 99% grade. These aspirations are propounded against a reality backdrop of sorters rusting in back yards, mill throughputs below design and varying by 30%, cyclones flaring and cut-sizes fluctuating, mediocre recoveries and soaring processing costs. This disconnect between aspiration and reality appears, to these authors at least, to be a mighty chasm. Moreover, it remains one over which we are expected to magically leap rather than methodically bridge. Indeed one may be forgiven for thinking that should such a wonder machine come along, taking advantage of it would be highly improbable. Questions would inevitably emerge on how to feed the correct material, how to cope with the wide variability of feeds, how to control such advanced equipment and how to handle the new product from such a machine. It is likely these questions might lie unanswered, or more regrettably, unasked. It is generally accepted that as an industry we are exceedingly unlikely to teleport from the current status quo to an entirely new reality in a single flash. It is our thesis that the probability of these magical machines materialising is remote, and even if they miraculously appeared, we simply wouldn?t know what to do with them. Rather, it is our contention, that a step change will only arise through a staircase rather than from a single giant leap. We should focus on building those steps and linking them together into a firm structure ? a workable mineral processing circuit. This paper addresses the alternative of a coherent set of modest but significant improvements, integrated to produce the step change we desire: essentially, a reduction of processing energy to below 40%, which we believe is achievable without recourse to any mystical machines. A key underlying capability to designing these dramatically improved processes, is the weaving of independent process models into a coherent circuit simulation, in order to design the new generation of mineral processing circuits. Keywords: step change, circuit design, circuit simulation, energy reduction

Sep 1, 2012

By D. Kosior

Influence of frothers (a-terpineol and n-octanol) concentration on kinetics of a three phase contact (TPC) formation by a bubble colliding with a hydrophobic surface (Teflon) of different roughness was studied using a high-speed camera (1040 frames per second). It was found that the Teflon surface roughness and the frother concentration strongly affected time of the TPC formation (tTPC) and time of drainage (tD) of the liquid film separating the colliding bubble from the solid surfaces. With increasing Teflon surface roughness, from ca 1 to 80 µm, the time of the TPC formation was shortened by over the order of magnitude, from ca 100 to a few milliseconds only. At low a-terpineol and n-octanol concentrations, thetTPC values were shorter than in distilled water due to lowering the bubble velocity in the frother presence and diminished bouncing of the colliding bubble. However, at high frothers concentrations the tTPC values were prolonged, despite that the bubble velocity was similar. The prolongation of the tTPC at high frother concentrations indicates that air (micro- and/or nano-bubbles) was present at the Teflon surfaces of different roughness. The mechanism of the tTPCprolongation at high frother dosage is described.

Sep 1, 2012

Spent automobile catalyst is an important secondary resource of PGMs (platinum group metals) and the recovery is significant. Various methods of recovery technology have been reported and applied in practical production, including pyro- and hydrometallurgical processes. Since the grade of PGMs in the catalysts is so low, approximately 0.5 wt. %, the present recycling technologies require high energy-consumption, it is of great significance to enrich the PGMs with some energy saving physical separation methods as a pretreatment. Automobile catalyst is usually composed of cordierite phase as a substrate and alumina phase, with PGMs, which covers the cordierite phase. We adopted the quenching pretreatment, one method of thermal shock, to generate micro-cracks between the two phases and separate the alumina phase from cordierite. Quenching was carried out by heating the catalysts in an electric furnace of different temperatures followed by rapid soaking into cold water. It was found that the phase boundary between alumina and cordierite was broken in the quenching and selective separation (detachment) of alumina from the cordierite could be achieved in the following surface grinding. The effect of quenching was checked by microscopic observation, hardness measurement, and chemical analysis. This paper figures out the stress formula of the quenching process, which is largely connected with layer thickness and temperature gradient by using an FEM (Finite Element Method) simulation and clarifies the mechanism of crack generation in the quenching process. Keywords: automobile catalyst, PGM, quenching process, FEM

Sep 1, 2012

By John Ralston

"Interfacial chemistry plays a pivotal role in bubble-particle capture, for it controls whether or not attachment occurs. Surface heterogeneity, degree of surface hydrophobicity, bubble nucleation and related phenomena influence the stability of the aqueous wetting film between a particle and an approaching bubble. The latter must be unstable if capture is to occur. Various techniques that may be used to quantify this interfacial, chemistry-dominated behaviour, are described.The efficient capture of specific particles by rising bubbles and the delicate control of interfacial chemistry that leads to selective capture are central issues in froth flotation. For efficient capture to occur between a particle and a bubble, they must undergo a close encounter, a collision process dominated by hydrodynamics. Should this encounter bring the particle and bubble within the range of attractive forces, the intervening liquid film between the bubble and the particle will drain, leading to a critical thickness at which rupture occurs. The liquid-vapour interface then retreats over the solid particle surface until a stable wetting perimeter is established. The particle and bubble are then joined after this attachment process. The particle may only be dislodged from this state if it is supplied with sufficient kinetic energy to exceed the detachment energy in this detachment process. These various events are now well documented and may be followed using high-speed videomicroscopy (Schulze, 1984; Nguyen et al., 2001).The process of collision can now be described quantitatively for single bubbles colliding with bubbles under various flow regimes (Dai et al., 1998) and appropriate scale up is possible for multiple bubble particle collisions occurring under turbulent conditions (Pyke et al., 2002). In this paper we will be concerned with the role of interfacial chemistry and how this influences the attachment process."

Jan 1, 2003

By Chiharu Tokoro

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), high acid water containing heavy metals discharged from mines, has been recognized as major cause of mine pollution. In Japan, the government spends billions of yen every year to prevent pollution caused by AMD in about 80 abandoned mines. It is widely recognized that the treatment could continue for long decades or an even century. However, costs and environmental loads are uncertain during the treatment because a predictive model for the quality of AMD, the dosage of neutralizer, and the amount of sludge that is applicable for abandoned mines with limited data has not yet been established. In this study, a two-steps predictive model for solution composition and neutralization chemical requirements of AMD in future was constructed based on the geochemical modeling. Requisite input data of the model was the past historical water quality data from AMD monitoring, such as metal concentration and pH in the solution, instead of the sample rocks as other conventional prediction methods. In the first step, solution composition of AMD in the future was extrapolated from the available historical data using geochemical simulation considering the first order kinetics for the mineral dissolution. In the second step, neutralizer dosage and sludge generation in the future was predicted based on the geochemical simulation supposing the chemical equilibrium and oxidation state for all of elements in the solution. Based on case studies of two abandoned mines in Japan, solution composition, neutralizer dosage and sludge generation were estimated. The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of our model for the prediction of AMD quality and chemical requirements of neutralization treatment after mine closing. The model is useful for the estimation of the neutralizer dosage and the sludge volume in abandoned mines with limited data. Keywords: acid mine drainage, predictive model, geochemical modeling, first order kinetics, water monitoring

Sep 1, 2012

By Nirmal Weerasekara, Malcolm Powell, Mohsen Yahyaei

"The conditions under which rocks become superficially damaged during the grinding process are not well understood. The main purpose of the work presented here is to understand how superficial breakage occurs under incremental low-energy impacts. To enable this study a series of abrasion tests with multi-size pilot mills have been performed. Outcomes of numerical simulation corresponding to each test were examined to investigate the experimental results. Abrasion tests have been conducted using three grinding mill sizes (i.e. 1.8, 1.2, and 0.8 m). Two types of ore were used to investigate different hardness strengths. To ensure abrasion was the dominant mechanism, in all tests the mill speed was reduced to 40% of critical speed. The relationship between the Fractional mass loss rate and particle size was investigated by randomly collecting seven tracer particles from sizes -73+63, -53+45, and -37.5+31.5 mm. It was evident from the results that the Fractional mass loss rate of angular particles declines as the particle size increases whereas the Fractional mass loss rate decreases from fine to coarse in rounded particles. Results of Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations indicate that fine particles experience higher levels of collision energy per particle and this value reduces as the particle size increases and mill size reduces. This explains the higher Fractional mass loss rate of smaller particles as well as the increase in the Fractional mass loss rate as the mill size increases. Linked DEM and experimental data indicates that under these test conditions surface damage attrition is the dominant mechanism. This work suggests that DEM simulation can be implemented to predict the abrasion wear of particles in mills."

Jan 1, 2014

By T. Fujita

A high-grade fluorite ore is converted into hydrogen fluoride to produce many kinds of materials containing fluorine. Recently, it is becoming necessary to use low-grade fluorite ore due to the depletion of high grade ore. The low-grade fluorites usually have impurities such as SiO2, P, CaCO3 and arsenic. The most impurities such as SiO2, CaCO3 and P can be removed by using flotation method. However, the removal of arsenic is difficult, and the arsenic contamination decreases the hydrogen fluoride production percentage. The novel technologies for processing low-grade fluorite ore are urgently needed, in order to lower the arsenic concentration to less than 100 mg/kg. In this study, the removal of arsenic from low-grade fluorite ore has been investigated by means of an autogenous grinding using tower mill in sulfuric acid aqueous solution and 0.3 mm zirconia balls in water. The nano grinding in water can prevent the dissolution of 0.3 mm size zirconia balls as grinding media by sulfuric acid solution. Experimental results showed that the arsenic concentration was reduced from 260 mg/kg to 90 mg/kg and CaF2 recovery reached 90% by this process.

Sep 1, 2012

By M. Canbazoglu

In this study, optimum sulphuric acid leaching parameters of zinc and other valuable metals from two different waelz clinker samples were researched. Origins of the samples are electric arc furnace dust and original non-sulphite zinc ore waelz clinkers. The main zinc mineral determined as zincite in these samples. Collective dissolution of zinc and other valuable metals in waelz clinkers can easily achieved by sulphuric acid leaching of them. 96% of zinc can be dissolved at 80 ºC, 60 g/L sulphuric acid concentration, 60 min. leaching time and 1/5 solid/liquid ratio. Almost 90% of Cd, Cu and Co in clinker dissolved at these conditions while dissolution of Fe was almost 20%. The consumed acid amount for dissolved per ton of zinc is approximately 1.7 tons at these conditions.

Jan 1, 2014

By F. L. Mentg

The utilization of acid leaching tailings was studied. It is obvious that the Fe in acid leaching tailings can be leached into solutions as Fe2+. In this paper, the influence of conditions, including the concentration of ferrous sulfate, pH, temperature and velocity of air flow was investigated. The optimum conditions for preparing seed crystal are as follows: the concentration of ferrous sulfate is 20 g/L; pH is 9.5~10; reaction temperature is 10~20?; velocity of air flow is 0.4m3/h. The optimum conditions for preparing iron oxide red are as follows: the concentration of ferrous sulfate is 5 g/L; reaction temperature is 80~85?; velocity of air flow is 0.13m3/h. At last, the product of iron oxide red could be prepared by ammonia method.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Ranjbar, M. Khosravi Rad, A. Tohry

"The filling degree is defined as the volume ratio of the load inside the mill, which determines the power drawn from the motor, as long as the filling degree is not more than the optimum level. As the filling degree increases beyond the optimum level, the impact energy inside the mill will decrease and as a consequent, the mill power output will also decrease. Therefore, the mill filling degree is a key parameter in evaluating the grinding circuit performance, as it determines the mill reaction to the input feed. Since this parameter has an impact on the mill capacity, measuring the mill load is vital for control and optimization of grinding process. As in Choghart Processing Plant no instrument is available to measure the AG mill filling degree, an empirical model based on the bearing-oil pressure is proposed. The AG mill filling degree was related to the differences between the average pressure of input and output bearings, the circulating load and power drawn. It was shown that a quadratic model could relate the mill filling to the above mentioned measurements. This model showed that when the power drawn and circulating load decreases the bearing-oil pressure needs to be checked. If the bearing-oil pressure increases the feed rate needs to be decreased and steel ball be charged to the mill to increase the grinding and prevent mill overloading. INTRODUCTION The feed quality (size and hardness) affects the grinding process in AG mills. Reducing the top feed size and increasing the ore hardness reduce the mill efficiency and increase the particles with critical dimensions inside the mill. These will result in increasing the mill filling degree and reducing the mill throughput and efficiency (Wills and Finch, 2015). The volume ratio of the load inside the mill is called filling degree, which determines the mill power drawn. It is believed that if more energy is mainly spent on grinding (Wills and Finch, 2015). Therefore the mill power draw is used as a mean to control the mill efficiency."

Jan 1, 2018