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By Kumar Ranjan, Kumari A. V. Asha, G. E. Sreedhar, Banerjee R. Raja, M. Narasimha, R. Shivakumar

In this paper, numerical simulation of magnetite, medium segregation and coal partitioning have been made in a 350 mm diameter cyclone. An attempt is made to assess the nature of impairment in efficiency in relation to the increasing amount of near gravity materials in coal. The CFD model approaches the Algebraic Mixture (ASM) model with the granular option and Reynolds stress model (RSM) to resolve the air core and turbulent mixing of the medium and coal particles. The partition characteristics of the DMC were modelled using both Lagrangian & Eulerian particle tracking for particles ranging in size from 0.5 to 8 mm and in density from 1200 to 2000 kg.m-3. Lagrangian frame work based Discrete Phase model used to simulate the coal particle trajectories inside the DMC and attempted to understand the residence time of different size and density coal particles. It was observed that coal particles having density near to separation-density (having fifty percent of probability to under flow and overflow) are exhibiting increased residence time than any density particles. As expected the smaller size coal particles shows higher residence time than the coarse coal particles. CFD simulations on effect of NGM mass fraction are simulated and analyzed using ASM model including for coal and magnetite. Coal particles with high NGM content show significant effect in misplacement of coal particles towards wrong products at all relative densities. The residence time of the particles increases because of its increased interaction with near dense particles. The effect of NGM fraction on overall cyclone performance as well as detailed flow assessment in terms of residence time distribution, NGM particle concentration profiles with respect to LZVV is presented.

Jan 1, 2018

By S. J. Liu

The conventional collector for bauxite mineral is oleic acid, which is highly insoluble and must be used in high dosage in bauxite flotation operations, that is the great drawback of oleic acid in use. A series of hydroxamic acid were synthesized, and their collecting ability to certain minerals in bauxite: diaspore, kaolinite were studied. The collecting power of various reagents to diaspore in an incremental sequence were shown as follows: benzyl hydroxamic acid<amylic hydroxamic ac-id<heptylic hydroxamic acid<oleic acid<octylic hydroxamic acid; while the incremental sequence of the collecting power to kaolinite was like this: benzyl hydroxamic acid<amylic hydroxamic ac-id<heptylic hydroxamic acid<octylic hydroxamic acid<oleic acid. It could be seen that octylic hydroxamic acid had the capability of high collectivity and good selectivity, and octylic hydroxamic acid was chosen to use in the following experiments. Reduced zeta potential showed the adsorption of the anionic collector on the mineral. By the adsorptive capability and IR tests, the adsorption of octylic hydroxamic acid on diaspore was determined to be chemical absorption, which was greater than that of oleic acid, as it was physical absorption. Results of floatation experiments on manually mixed minerals indicated that the collectivity and selectivity of octylic hydroxamic acid were better than oleic acid.

Jan 1, 2014

By A. I. Urvanzev, N. V. Shikhov

"In this paper, we present the study’s results of electrical separation processes on the basis of new separator designs, new technological solutions, and newly discovered effects. We considered the options of enrichment by magnet separation of magnetite and titanomagnetite ores, ores and products containing chromium and manganese, ores of non-ferrous and precious metals. During pneumo-electric separation of mixed iron ore of SMPC, 43.3% of the output of the concentrate with an iron content of 61.7% was obtained in one step, with extraction of 70.5%. The paper also presents the results of the finalization on the air-electric separator of the magnetic fraction when separating oxidized ores of MPPOO (mining and processing plant of oxidized ores) on the Jans polygrade magnetic separator. A concentrate was obtained with an iron content of 65.1% with the extraction of 95.0% and tails with an iron content of 13.0%. The possibility of obtaining low-silica concentrates from these ores with an iron content of 67.15 and a quartz of 2.88% is shown. Also, the results of tests on the enrichment of chromite ores on the firing-magnetic scheme with corona-electrostatic separation are considered. On the initial ore of the Don MPP (mining and processing plant), a concentrate with a content of 61.8% Cr2O3 was obtained with a quartz content of ~ 1.0%. The results of pneumo-electric separation with triboelectric charge of the separated particles are presented. The results of the tests indicate a principal possibility of enriching chromite ores without costly high-temperature roasting. Dry technology of enrichment of manganese ores with the use of electrical separation increases the quality of the oxidized concentrate to the first grade and raises the total extraction by 2 times. For the Chineya deposit of titanomagnetite ores with copper impurities, electroseparation operations were carried out on two samples with a Cu content of 1.93 and 3.75%, respectively. For a sample with a Cu content of 6.02%, a copper concentrate output of 24.42% was obtained with a Cu content of 23.82% and the extraction of 94.88%. The results of enrichment by electroseparation of gold-containing sulfide ores can have the practical importance. For ores of the Berezovskoye deposit, a pyritic concentrate containing 100 g / t of gold was obtained after two or three operations of IES (integrated energy systems)."

Jan 1, 2018

By B. Suresh

Iron ore in Bellary-Hospet region is friable in nature and generates a significant amount of micro-fines (-150 µm) during mechanized mining, handling and processing. Present beneficiation practice generally employs spiral classification followed by hydrocycloning to remove slimes (-15 µm). The iron ore fines, beneficiated at JSW Steel Ltd., Karnataka generates tailing having 48-52% iron content in the form of slimes, which accounts for 50 to 55% by weight with respect to classifier overflow. The loss of iron as slime is considerably high. In this context, laboratory studies were carried out with different combination of beneficiation techniques with an objective to develop an efficient flow sheet to achieve better product grade and recovery from classifier overflow. The results revealed that de-sliming process by hydrocycloning in combination with either magnetic separation or froth flotation leads to increased iron loss in tailing. Based on investigation it is observed that forward flotation is beneficial over the reverse flotation. The experimental approach of forward flotation on classifier overflow followed by magnetic separation on flotation tailing resulted in overall product grade of 62.9% Fetotal and 70.3% yield. The tailing contains 34.6% iron, which accounts for 29.7% by weight with respect to classifier overflow.

Sep 1, 2012

By Silvia França, Hudson Couto

"In this paper, an alternative beneficiation process was developed to recover nickel minerals from low-grade weathered ores. The studied sample, 0.3% Ni grade, is essentially composed of nickel sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite); magnetite and silicates (mostly talc and amphibolites) are the primary gangue minerals. The particle size distribution was controlled using a grinding operation to avoid producing an excess of fine particles by overgrinding. The sample underwent a grinding step for the fine degree of liberation. The slimes (-20 ?m) were removed via two desliming stages in hydrocyclones (diameters of 1.5" and 2"); the ground material, which was classified in a range of (-150+20) ?m, was processed by column flotation in three different stages: rougher flotation for magnesium silicates, rougher flotation for sulfides, and cleaner flotation for sulfides, using pilot flotation columns (2" and 6" in diameter and 20 ft high). The goal of using the preliminary magnesium silicate flotation step was to remove hydrophobic minerals (mostly talc) that would float naturally with the sulfides, which would decrease the Ni grade in the concentrate, as well as to reduce the MgO content because this compound is considered harmful in metallurgical processes when a grade greater than 9% is used. The final concentrate obtained in the cleaner flotation step reached up to 2% Ni and 7.0% MgO. The global and flotation recoveries in the process were approximately 30% and 60%, respectively, due to the losses of Ni during the desliming process. Despite this low global recovery, the adopted beneficiation process can be considered an interesting alternative to produce nickel concentrate from tailings or waste materials."

Jan 1, 2014

By A. Koizhanova

Kumistinskoye gold- and silver bearing ores (Republic of Kazakhstan) as well as standardized test solutions containing gold, silver, copper, zinc and iron were studied. The best results in silver and gold recovery from Kumistinskoye gold- and silver bearing ores were achieved through use of complex cyanide-thiosulfate solutions as compared to individual cyanide solutions and thiosulfate solutions. It was found that such complex solutions substantially step up leaching process herewith increasing precious metals recovery rates. Thermodynamics of studied chemical processes was calculated. Reaction order, kinetic constant and activation energy of gold leaching process through use of cyanide-thiosulfate solutions were identified. We managed to prove that the sorption rates and holding capacity in process of gold anions recovery with anionite AM-2B are comparable to sorption characteristics for cyanide solutions. Keywords: gold, silver, copper, zinc, iron, cyanide-thiosulfate solutions, anionite AM-2B

Sep 1, 2012

By William Skinner, Jonas Addai-Mensah, Keith Quast, David Robinson, Jason Connor

A review of the laboratory- and pilot plant-scale physical separation techniques for the beneficiation of nickel (Ni) laterites shows limited efficacy. To date, the only upgrade technique adopted commercially, prior to hydrometallurgical processing of Ni laterites, is the removal of a barren, coarse size fraction in the feed by classification. In the present work we investigated two low grade (~ 1%), goethite-rich Ni laterite ores’ upgrading by magnetic separation, attritioning/coarse, (lower Ni-grade) gangue rejection and flotation techniques. Low intensity (0.1T) dry magnetic separation at ambient temperature of raw samples and those pre-heated at temperatures up to 450 °C showed evidence of pay metal Co and Mn bearing asbolane and/or lithiophorite minerals pre-concentration in the magnetic fractions. Ni distribution, however, did not show any noticeable magnetic upgrade but followed the weight distribution. Other ore pre-treatment methods (e.g., desliming and sulphidisation) followed by froth flotation with anionic and cationic reagents also led to noticeable (~35%) Ni upgrade. This is due to the deportment of Ni across several gangue host mineral phases (i.e. Fe oxide/hydroxide and a range of silicate/aluminosilicate minerals). From chemical analysis, after disaggregation of ~ 1% Ni grade feed ore, coarse (-600 + 38 µm) and fine (-38 µm) fractions of ~0.6% and 1.3% Ni grades respectively, were also produced, suggesting that a significant upgrade in Ni content can be achieved by rejecting the + 38 µm fraction with the loss of <40% of the Ni. The ore mineralogy, particularly the complexity and high number of un-liberated Ni-bearing phases, greatly compromises physical separation methods for these ores, with the possible exception of screening after disaggregation of the fines inherent in the run of mine ores.

Jan 1, 2014

By B. A. Kutlin

29% of the total ore mined in the Russian Federation for copper production is finely disseminated copper-zinc-pyrite ores of the Ural Region. Physical and chemical characteristics of pyrite copper-zinc ores make for difficulties in obtaining high indices during processing. At present, the authors have elaborated the technology to improve the quality of copper concentrates up to 20.0% for the ones obtained during pyrite copper-zinc ore processing (based on the example of the ore mining and processing enterprise ?Uchalinsky GOK?, Russian Federation). There are examples of use of fair-sized pneumo-mechanical flotation machines by modernization of processing plants. Keywords: copper-zinc-pyrite ores, Ural region Russian, selective flotation, pneumo- mechanical flotation machines

Sep 1, 2012

By Venkataramana Runkana, Aditya Pareek, Vishnu Masampally, Nagaravi Kumar Varma Nadimpalli

"Recovery and grade of the ore produced are two important metrics, which define the profitability of a mineral processing plant. Achieving high grade and high recovery at the same time in a mineral processing plant is difficult due to conflicting nature of the two objectives. To explore the operability limits of the plant operations and find the set of operating conditions that can help achieve the best possible recovery and grade, there is a need to solve a multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem. Past research focused on building a plant-wide simulation model or on optimization of individual units or a part of a mineral processing plant like grinding circuit, crushing circuit, etc. However, it is necessary to consider optimization of the complete plant in order to optimize the plant performance. Here, we have formulated the mineral processing plant performance optimization as a MOO problem. We have applied machine-learning algorithms such as random forest to build models to predict the recovery and grade of the ore. A non-dominated sorting-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm called NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) was employed to solve the MOO problem. Since the number of parameters that influence recovery and grade are quite large, we have applied machine-learning algorithms for feature selection or identification of key process variables. Pareto optimal conditions were determined for manipulated variables like grinding mill throughput, speed ratio at SAG mill, speed of centrifugal pump, water addition at different locations etc. The results obtained are useful in identifying the operability of a mineral processing plant to achieve the optimum grade and recovery for a given feed grade and the processing circuit. INTRODUCTION Copper is majorly mined or extracted as copper sulfides from large open pit mines in porphyry copper deposits. Among all the available ores, sulfides are the most commercial ores, especially chalcopyrite (Greenwood and Alan, 1997). Copper grade in these ores generally lies between 0.4 to 1.0%. In order to perform smelting operation, the grade of copper has to be improved to around 30% (Biswas et al. 2013). This targeted copper grade is achieved through two stages of mineral processing. Firstly, the copper in the ore has to be liberated by crushing the mineral rock. Secondly, the liberated copper in the crushed ore is then physically separated from other minerals like nickel by froth flotation techniques."

Jan 1, 2018

By Z. Cheng, Y. Han

"For non-sulphide minerals such as oxidized minerals, fluoride minerals, and oxysalt minerals, there are generality in the molecular structure of their floating collectors, and similarity in crystal structure of the minerals. In the paper, adsorbing mechanism of these collectors on the surface of these mineral particles in different pH pulp was investigated by means of Pauling's rules & valence bond theory, Valence-shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR) theory, Crystal and ligand field theory, and quantum chemistry simulation by DMol3 and CASTEP modules of Material Studio software. Besides, the role and status of hydrogen bond in the floating adsorption mechanism were studied emphatically, and the confirmation and characterization of hydrogen bond were explored also based on the test results. What is more, the conclusion “the effect of hydrogen bond can not be overlooked in adsorbing mechanism of flotation collectors on the minerals” and a new viewpoint of multi-polarity collaboration and hydrogen bond coupling were summarized eventually based on analysis of the measurements. Finally, a novel collector 2-Amino-3-Methyl Heptyloxy-Propylamine (AMHP) was developed based on the new viewpoint of molecular structure design, and its collecting performance was exhibited.INTRODUCTIONWhen it comes to the recovery of flotation, it is necessary for researchers to investigate the flotation mechanism of collectors. In traditional theory, when collectors were used to collect minerals, the attractions between collectors and minerals were divided into chemical, electrostatic and physical attractions (Wills, B.A., 2006). Especially, because of the reaction between sulphide minerals and sulphydryl collectors is complex and various mechanism has been proposed (Yoon and Basilio, 1993), when collectors were used to collect non-sulfide minerals, it can be classified into oxyhydryl anionic collectors and cationic collectors. In traditional theory, the adsorption of oxyhydryl anionic collectors were due to water-repulsion, and the adsorption of cationic collectors were due to electrostatic attraction between the polar head of the collector and the charged electrical double layer on the mineral surface (Wills, B.A., 2006)."

Jan 1, 2018

By E. N. Levchenko, K. V. Bulatov, G. I. Gazaleeva

"The article highlights the new procedure of choosing special methods of disintegration for very complicated rare ores. Especially, there is a complex approach to criteria of comparing different types of crashing machines. Criteria are as follows: degree of crashing, degree of grinding, degree of slime creation and the new creations criteria for selection. The procedure is tested on tantalium and zelestinium ore. A new methods was shown the preference impact crashing machine MD-7 for zelestinium ore. In product of crashing 0,050 mm size are 9.4 %, 0,005 mm size – 2.5 %.This is gut result, and show the best indexes of slime creation. The check of the proposed new methods was done when comparing the crushing of tantalium ores of the Otboynoe deposit in cone inertial and centrifugal impact crushers and roller press. A research was conducted different crashing machines under laboratory and semi-industrial conditions. Different operation modes of crushers were also checked. The comparison of the crushing selectivity criterion and degree of crashing showed that the centrifugal impact crusher (CC) and roller press (RP) has the lower indexes than the cone inertial crusher (CIC). Degrees of crashing for different crashing machines are:centrifugal impact crusher – 10.1;roller press – 10.8;cone inertial crusher – 14.2. The crusher CC the selection criterion is 0,632 units, RP – 0.730, where as for the crusher CIC – 0.848 units. The best crushing mode for the crusher CIC-300? is as follows: turning angle of debalance is 0°, peripheral speed of a cone rotation – 1420 r.p.m, specific energy consumption- 4.99 kW*t/t. Crusher CIC-300? is the best for tantalium ores of the Otboynoe deposit. The new methodic are verification.INTRODUCTION Rare metal concentration circuits are complex, energy-intensive, and costly. The reasons for this include the multimetal nature of the rare metal ores, their volatile material composition and low grade. That is why careful selection of ore preparation circuits is of great importance for minimizing the energy inputs and maximizing the liberation of the valuable minerals. Recent research (Khopunov, 2011, Gazaleeva, 2015) has demonstrated that the most efficient comminution processes available to the mineral processing industry are selective disintegration, crushing and grinding, allowing to liberate the mineral particles along the cleavage in the comminution process. These methods are indispensable for the processing of finely disseminated refractory ores prone to slime formation. Many rare metal ores found in Russia are of this type."

Jan 1, 2018

By Nina Panteleeva, Elena Afonina, Stanislav Titkov, Jury Buksha

"Flotation processing of water-soluble minerals (potassium ores, sedimentary salts of salt lakes) is currently the main method for production of potassium fertilizers and concentrated carnallite which is the initial product for production of metallic magnesium. Flotation of sylvite (KCl) and halite (NaCl) is carried out in the electrolyte solutions: KCl-NaCl-H2O and KCl-NaCl-MgCl2-H2O. The report presents the results of studies of the effect of concentration and the electrolyte type on the size of air bubbles in a flotation cell in comparison with the floatability of mineral constituents of potash ores. The floatability in electrolytes of various compositions has been studied: - of sylvite (KCl) by alkylamines, - of halite (NaCl) by alkylmorpholines, - of silicate-carbonate slimes contained in the ore by ethoxylated surfactants. The reagent modes (regimes) activating the flotation desliming of potash ores have been developed."

Jan 1, 2014

By Tiago de Souza, Caroline Gonçalves, Carlos Eduardo de Castro, Everton Dias

The Miraí plant from Votorantim Metais, has two screening stages to the bauxite classification after scrubbagem. The final product has hold the larger size of 0,84 millimeters (20 mesh). There are two sieves Haver & Boecker (model R-TE 3658 x 10972), which have four modules with cut size sieves of 10 mesh (1.70 millimeters) and ¼ inch (6.35 millimeters) on the primary screen, and 20 mesh (0.84 mm) on the secondary screen, all made of polyurethane. The actual configuration was established according to the empirical tests realized that aimed the increase material load on the secondary screening. However, having in mind the screening process improvement and use the fractions smaller than 0,84 mm, which have significant levels of Alumina and low reactive silica, was proposed a new test of change the sieves opening for 6 mesh in the primary screen and 28 mesh for the secondary sieve. The objective of this work was measure the ore alterations on the particle size distribution on the screening steps, increasing the plant weight and ratio recovery before and after the test.

Jan 1, 2014

By F. Bello, J. Engels

"During 2012 and 2013, Minera Esperanza conducted a series of thickening and deposition trials to identify design and operational parameters associated with increased thickening of its tailings. These trials focused on benchmarking the current solids concentration of tailings (62 - 64%) in anticipation of an increase to 67% solids once two new 45 m diameter deep-cone paste thickeners are commissioned in 2014. These trials studied the sedimentation and rheological characteristics of the existing tailings and performed deposition modelling to assist with developing short- and long-term designs for the tailings storage facility. To verify and optimise these models, Minera Esperanza considered a series of laboratory, pilot, and industrial-scale deposition trials. This paper provides a review of the trials conducted in the laboratory and at industrial-scale and considers the results and optimisations for the short- and long-term design of Minera Esperanza’s tailings storage facility."

Jan 1, 2014

The quality of iron ore fines in terms of high iron content and low levels of deleterious impurities such as Silica, Alumina, Sulphur and Phosphorous is a critical parameter, in sintering and subsequent iron and steel making processes. As the higher-grade ores become depleted, there will be a stronger focus on treating lower-grade haematite/goethite ores and developing suitable beneficiation techniques to reduce the levels of impurities. Innovative flow sheets, based on new and commercially available technologies, is required. These will be needed to include gravity concentration devices, which can handle coarse and fine feed sizes. In this paper, efforts made to reduce the silica and alumina content of a low grade iron ore fines (<1.0 mm size) sample from the Pilbara region in Western Australia are described. The feed sample, a goethite abundant lower grade iron ore fines, which was a plant reject assaying 48.66% Fe with 13.61% SiO2and 5.09% Al2O3 was investigated. To this end, an experimental campaign was undertaken, and beneficiation studies were conducted on the sample using a Floatex Density Separator (FDS), a gravity device which can be operated for size classification and/or relative density separation. The objective was to produce high-quality iron ore material suitable as sinter feed. An iron concentrate with a grade around 57.0% Fe (Calcined Fe of about 63.0%) was achieved while recovering around 67.0% of the feed weight. In addition, a rejection of substantial content of Silica (>75%) and Alumina (>66%) was achieved while securing >77% iron recovery. On the other hand, sharp classification efficiency with low values of imperfection around 0.20 was obtained. Consequently, the response of the lower grade iron ore sample to FDS application, has vast potential to reject deleterious impurities as a single stage separating beneficiation equipment. Remarkably, it was demonstrated, that a great amount of goethite, abundant in lower grade iron ore fines/plant rejects, which are currently being either stockpiled and/or dumped as waste, can be treated using FDS application and potentially can add a significant value to the iron ore mining industry by recovering additional iron ore fines. Keywords: deleterious impurities, beneficiation techniques, classification, relative density separation

Sep 1, 2012

By G. Sedelnikova

This paper is aimed to elucidate the problem of copper losses in pyrometallurgical slag. Currently, flotation is used to recover copper from the slag and return the metal into the pyrometallurgical process, but the percentage of recovery frequently remains unacceptable. The process of copper leaching from the slag flotation tailings using biologically regenerated ferric sulfate is considered here as an approach to the issue. A sample of the slag flotation tailings containing 0.67% Cu and 4.99% Zn was supplied by the Urals Mining and Metallurgical Company (UGMK, Russia). The Cu and Zn speciation analysis of the sample demonstrated that Cu occurred as 58.1% oxide, 15.4% native Cu, and 18.1% secondary sulfides whereas chalcopyrite proportion was as low as 8.4%. Prevailing Zn species were refractory (58.9% Zn ferrite), and zinc oxide and silicate species made just 37.2% of the total metal content. The silicate generated silica gel that strongly hampered filtration. As demonstrated, Cu recovery is a possibility, which is apparently not the case with Zn. In this work, the stirred tank bioreactor acid leaching employing bacterial Fe3+ sulfate solutions was studied, with ferric sulfate being a product of Fe2+ biological oxidation and not the chemical reactant adding of Fe3+ sulfate. Acidithiobacillus, Sulfobacillus, and Leptospirillum bacilli were employed in Fe2+ biooxidation. Temperature, pH, Eh, S:L ratio, leaching time, and Fe3+ concentration in the source leachate as the process controls were considered. As demonstrated, the process employing biologically regenerated ferric sulfate proved to be more efficient than conventional chemical leaching. Under the optimum conditions, the proportion of Cu extracted into leachate during 2 hours was 79.1%, and that of Zn 27.2%. Precipitation of high-grade Cu sulfide served to extract the metals from the leachate, and Cu extraction was 99.7%. All in all, 23.2% Cu, 0.03% Zn, and 0.02% Fe was returned into the pyrometallurgical process. Keywords: slag flotation tailings, copper leaching

Sep 1, 2012

By Z. F. Dai

The Thompson Nickel Belt, located in Northern Manitoba, Canada, contains more than 400 million tonnes of ultramafic low-grade nickel mineralization in 9 deposits. One of these, the Pipe deposit, was mined between 1971 and 1983 producing a Ni concentrate of 9% to 11% grade at 73% recovery. The operation was terminated because the poor recovery, low Ni grade and high MgO con-tent of the concentrate made processing this ore uneconomical at the metal prices prevailing at that time. Vale Inco is now re-evaluating these deposits with the intent of providing a new source of concentrate for its Thompson integrated processing facility. It is known that serpentine slimes coating on the sulphide surfaces are responsible for the poor metallurgy. Various desliming methods were tested including settling, elutriating, tabling and hydrocycloning. Hydrocycloning has proven to be the most effective means of desliming. With a feed assaying 0.70% Ni and 33% MgO, a rougher flotation concentrate assaying 22.7% Ni and 4.8% MgO was produced at a Ni recovery of 62.5% (relative to the feed to grinding), with no utilization of slimes dispersants. Another 16.6% Ni recovery was achieved in scavenger flotation resulting in a total Ni recovery of 79.1%. Batch flotation tests using various flowsheet configurations to optimize the grinding, desliming, reagentizing and flotation conditions are in progress.

Jan 1, 2014

By W. G. Liu

Phenyl malonic acid (PMA), a new chelating collector, which contains a phenyl structure and a malonic acid chelating group, has been synthesized and its collecting capabilities to calamine, hematite, quartz and hemimorphite are also studied in laboratory. From the experimental results, it can be seen that the PMA has somewhat flotation ability to calamine, hematite and quartz, while it nearly has no collecting ability to hemimorphite. With the increase of PMA concentration, the flotation recovery of calamine increases. When the dosage of PMA was 560g/t and at pH=7~9, the flotation recovery of calamine gets its maximum of 45.94%. The test results about the influence of pH on the flotation recovery of quartz show that the flotation recovery increases with the increase of pH, and the maximal flotation recovery can be gained in alkaline media. On the other hand, PMA has stronger flotation capability to hematite than to other minerals. The flotation recovery of minerals increases with increase of PMA concentration. When the dosage of PMA is 560g/t and at pH=5~7, the flotation recovery of hematite is 82.96%. Mean-while, the influence of pH on the flotation recovery of hematite was studied and test results showed that, as pH increases, the flotation recovery sharply rises until pH=4, then the increasing rate de-creases outstandingly, at pH=6 the flotation recovery reaches its maximum of 82.96% and it de-creases speedily in alkaline media. Finally, through the measurement of infrared spectroscopy and in terms of solution chemistry of collector, the flotation mechanism has been discussed. It was concluded that the adsorption of PMA on minerals surface is chemical adsorption in nature through two oxygen atoms in the polar group of phenyl malonic acid chelating with the metal ions of minerals surface to form a hexagon-cycle chelate complex: C(=O)-O-M-O-(O=)C.

Jan 1, 2014

By E. Gock

Based on the scientific investigations on mechanochemical synthesis of metal sulphides from metals or metal compounds and sulphur or sulphur compounds, the article describes the industrial production of nanoscale metal sulphides. Special operational conditions such as inert atmosphere, size and type of the grinding balls, grinding time and specific energy input are taken into consideration. A system configuration for the manufacturing of sulphides at a capacity of 100 kg/h is presented.

Jan 1, 2014

By Maurício Torem, Gabriela Huaman, Antonio Merma

The purpose of this review paper is to succinctly present the most significant works related to Mineral Processing and Environmental Bioremediation and developed by the Mineral and Environmental Technology Group (METG) of the Materials Engineering Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). In mineral processing it was emphasized the use of the Rhodococcus opacus bacteria as a bioreagent in the bioflotation of some mineral samples (magnesite, calcite, hematite, quartz and apatite). The adsorption of the bacterial cells on the mineral surface can be due to specific and/or non-specific interactions, which will depend on several factors, as their surface charge and hydrophobic character. The zeta potential evaluation of the mineral particles before and after interaction with the R. opacus cells showed that the biomass modified the zeta potential profiles of the minerals, which confirm the adsorption of bacterial cells on the mineral surface. Moreover, the bacterial cells adsorbed caused a change in the mineral flotability which is related to a change in their hydrophobic character, thus, the mineral bioflotability was found to be dependent on the pH and the bacterial concentration. On the other hand, the environmental bioremetiation assessed the biosorption potential of three metal ions (lead, copper, and cobalt) by four different biomass Streptomyces lunalinharesii, Rhodococcus opacus, Rhodococcus ruber and coconut shell powder. For this purpose, biosorption process was characterized under different operating conditions such as initial pH and biosorbent dosage. The Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium data obtained at different concentration.

Jan 1, 2014