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By Y. C. Liu

Ningxiang-type iron deposit is a most important sedimentary oolitic hematite deposit in China. Its? detected ore reserves are 3.72 billion tons, which is 73.5% of all detected reserves, and there are about 10 billion tons of prognostic resources. It is considered as the ?poor mine? for a long time be-cause of its difficult prooerty. But based on the ore characteristics of different deposits, the technological characteristics of ore are different with great diversity in ore baring horizon, distribution range, deposit scale, ore petrology, ore mineral assemblage and iron content. Through the study of deposit features and technological mineralogy of different Ningxiang-type of iron deposits in China, and based on industrial types and natural types of ore deposits, we divide different technological types according the technological features of the ore such as mineral composition, particle size, dissemination, occurrence of useful elements and harmful elements, the main physical and chemical properties of mineral and geological conditions of deposits, etc, moreover, propose the different utilization, mineral processing technologies and product schemes for the different types of ore.

Jan 1, 2014

By T. Sreenivas

This paper describes results of laboratory studies on recovery of dissolved uranium values from alkaline leach slurries of a medium-grade uranium ore from Gogi (Karnataka, India) using the resin-in-pulp (RIP) process. Besides anionic carbonate complex of uranium, the other major ionic constituents of the leach solution are CO32-, HCO3-, SO42- and MoO42-. The total dissolved solutes (TDS) are about 45 g/L. Various commercially available strong bases anionic resin-in-pulp (RIP) grade resins ? both macroporous and gel type, were studied with respect to their loading capacity. Parametric variation studies were then carried out with the short-listed resins. Results of the semi-continuous counter-current extraction and elution tests indicated extraction efficiency of about 98% and practically complete elution of the loaded uranium values with NaCl eluant using a gel type polystyrene based resin grafted with quaternary ammonium ion. Keywords: uranium, hydrometallurgy, ion exchange, resin-in-pulp

Sep 1, 2012

By F. Ngoroma

Concentrators processing PGM bearing ores make use of polysaccharide depressants to reduce the recovery of the undesired naturally floatable gangue minerals, mainly silicates, present in the ore. Recent work has shown that high depressant dosages can completely depress naturally floatable gangue and thus prevent it from reporting to the concentrate. These high depressant dosages can, however, have a negative effect on the recovery of valuable minerals present in the ore by reducing the stability of the froth. In order to counterbalance the effects of depressant addition, frothers are added. It is, however, preferable to maintain independent control over bubble size and froth stability which is difficult to achieve with only one frother. An alternative strategy is, to use a blend of frothers, e.g. a weaker frother in combination with a stronger frother. Such a system allows an additional degree of freedom: changing the ratio of the two frothers, that would provide more independent control of bubble size and froth stability. This study demonstrates, through the use of batch flotation tests, how blending low molecular weight alcohols with commercially available frothers impact the solids and water recovery, as well as the valuable mineral recovery and concentrate grade in different PGM ores. Higher water and solids recoveries together with higher valuable mineral recoveries (>90% copper and >70% nickel) were obtained from tests using frother blends.

Sep 1, 2012

By X. Q. Chen

According to the different characters of the middle-low grade bauxite, based on the normal flotation & reverse flotation technology, the author innovates the new technology which is named bi-flotation, it integrates the advantages of normal flotation & reverse flotation, while avoids their disadvantages. Take Henan middle-low grade bauxite as research object, according to the pilot experiment of bi-flotation technology, the concentrate A/S is 9.37 and the recovery of alumina is 80.18% by flotation separate the raw ore which A/S is only 4.19.

Jan 1, 2014

By G. B. Abaka-Wood

"The versatility of froth flotation has made it vital in the beneficiation of rare earth elements (REE) minerals from either high or low grade ores of complex mineralogy. There has been a significant increase in the tonnage of rich iron oxide tailings obtained from extraction of primary commodities such as copper and gold in Australia, which have been identified to have very low grade rare earth oxides (REO) (= 1%). There is a vast knowledge gap in the upgrade of REO from such tailings. The aim of this research is to investigate the feasibility of the use of fatty acids for the upgrading of REO from selected iron-oxide rich tailings. Two forms of fatty acid collectors (oleic acid and sodium oleate) were employed in this investigation. Bench scale flotation tests were carried out using a Denver D-12 cell.The effects of pulp pH, fatty acid dosage, particle size distribution (-150 +75 µm, -75 +38 µm and -38 µm) and conventional depressants (sodium silicate and starch) dosage on flotation recovery of REO were investigated. A comparison of the flotation results indicated that sodium oleate was the more efficient fatty acid for REO flotation at all the pulp pH investigated. The flotation performance is demonstrated to be particle size-dependent. The results on the effect of depressants dosage indicated that both sodium silicate and starch were unselective in reducing the recovery of hematite (Fe2O3) and quartz (SiO2) with corresponding decrease in REO recovery. Generally, Fe2O3 and SiO2 formed substantial contents of the flotation concentrates obtained, both in the absence and presence of depressants, which indicates liberation is a major challenge in achieving selective REO upgrade and recovery.The flotation tests carried out on the iron-oxide rich tailings suggest the possibility of REO upgrade using fatty acids, although particle size distribution and minerals liberation are key limiting factors in achieving selective REO upgrade and recovery."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. Ceylan

Pyrite is present as a gangue mineral in most of complex sulphide ores and most of time it is removed as a tailing. However, beneficiation of pyrite from tailings could be important because of its economical value and for the environmental concern. This paper presents a research for the enrichment of pyrite from copper plant tailings, Siirt-Madenköy/Turkey, by flotation. Siirt-Madenköy copper mine is operated by Park Electric Production Mining and Industry since 2005. In order to obtain the pyrite from Siirt-Madenköy copper plant tailings, laboratory test work has to be done to determine the type of reagents, the flowsheet, and the size of plant. The objective of the company is to develop a pyrite flotation circuit for concentration of pyrite from tailing dam to obtain 500.000 tons/year pyrite concentrate. There are about 3 million tons tailings that containing pyrite in the tailings dam. Experiments were carried out with three different types of tailings from the plant and the pyrite concentrate with 46% Fe and 90% recovery has been obtained. Therefore, this study shows that high grade pyrite with high recovery can be recovered from the tailings.

Sep 1, 2012

By Abhilash

Different methods of utilizing refractory bauxite and disposing red mud are practiced throughout the world, but none of them are known to be environmentally innocuous due to the complexity and /or high cost, and none has been found to be feasible on an industrial scale. Under these conditions, the use of bioleaching process seems promising. The present study emphasizes on the isolation of native extremophiles from the source Indian bauxite and red mud, with their detailed cellular and physio-chemical, and biochemical characterization. These organisms were tested for their ability to thrive in physically or geochemically extreme conditions. The gram positive capsule rich mesophiles and thermophiles were tested for removal of gangue minerals from the bauxite and red mud samples. Keywords: refractory bauxite, red mud, extremophiles, bio-beneficiation, gangue

Sep 1, 2012

By J. D. Miller, C. L. Lin

In general, x-ray computed tomographic (CT) techniques are able to provide 3D images of the internal structure of opaque materials in a nondestructive manner. The unique cone beam geometry allows acquisition of all 2D projections with only one rotation of the sample thus providing for fast data acquisition and better x-ray utilization, as a complete 2-D detector array receives the cone-shaped flux of rays. Thus, an isotropic 3D volume can be reconstructed without the mechanical translation and the stacking of sequential slices as is the case for more conventional CT scanners. In this regard, a state-of-the-art, custom designed xray microtomography facility to provide very detailed 3D spatial analysis of multiphase particles has been installed and is in operation at the University of Utah. The reconstructed 3D tomographic volume allows for an adjustable spatial resolution from 5 to 20 microns for sample dimensions from 10 to 40 mm in diameter, respectively. Utilization of this custom designed cone-beam x-ray microtomography system is discussed. Applications described include: coal washability analysis for the design and operation of coal preparation plants, liberation analysis for evaluation of grinding practice and separation efficiency, mineral exposure analysis for prediction of the ultimate recovery from heap leaching operations, and analysis of the pore structure network of packed particle beds for simulation of flow through such porous structures as encountered in filtration and heap leaching.

Jan 1, 2003

This investigation addressed two products from Samarco?s desliming circuit, namely underflow of cleaning cyclones and underflow of desliming cyclones. The roughing cyclones receive the product of the grinding circuit. The underflow of the roughing cyclones feeds the cleaning cyclones and the overflow feeds the desliming cyclones. The underflows of cleaning and roughing cyclones are combined to constitute the feed of the flotation circuit. These fractions were characterized and a new process route was proposed. The size distributions of the two fractions are quite different. The desliming cyclones underflow presents higher amount of material passing 37 µm and of ultrafines as compared with the cleaning cyclones underflow. Laboratory scale flotation tests were performed in a mechanical machine aiming at comparing the performances of these products in the presence of the reagents employed in the concentrator. Pi-lot scale column flotation yielded enhanced iron recoveries for both products in comparison with those achieved in laboratory mechanical cells, without impairing the concentrate quality. The in-crease in recovery was more significant in the case of the cleaning cyclones underflow. These results suggest the use of columns in the flotation of this product aiming at increasing the overall iron recovery. Nevertheless the results also showed that the use of columns to float the cleaning cyclones underflow should also be taken into consideration. Despite the fact that this product requires a longer residence time in order that the required silica content in the concentrate is achieved, the indication is that higher levels of iron recoveries might be reached. The conclusion is that, due to the different behaviors of the two products, they should be processed in distinct circuits to maximize the iron recovery.

Jan 1, 2014

By P. Ying

An auxiliary system connected with SEM-EDX for rapid identification of mineral and rock sample has been developed. With the aid of a synthetic spectrum library created, using the compare and match techniques provided by INCA software in EDX the mineral or rock sample names for refer-ence can be given at the same time analyzed.

Jan 1, 2014

Nowadays, the more successful plants are those who have adopted effective and efficient strategies to optimise their plant operation. As the ?heart of the plant? could be viewed as the mil-ling/grinding area, one of the key steps in plant optimisation is, therefore, ensuring the mill is operating properly. In the past, when primary, secondary and tertiary crushers fed material directly to large ball mills, the energy efficiency of the concentrator was determined for the most part by the ball mill operation, whereas now the energy efficiency of a plant often rests largely on the semiau-togenous grinding (SAG) mill operation. As a result, mines have shifted their emphasis in optimization from ball mills to SAG mills. The grinding mill?s energy efficiency essentially depends on ore characteristics and the discharge rate of broken particles, which in turn depends on how efficiently the discharge pump (grate and pulp lifters) operates. The essential function of pulp lifter being to transport the broken material and slurry out of the mill, its design optimization therefore affects the discharge capacity (or mill throughput) of AG and SAG grinding mills. This paper will discuss how the optimised design of the pulp lifter/ discharger has helped to eliminate material transport issues such as flow-back and carry-over of slurry and pebbles to in-crease the energy efficiency of SAG mill using the actual operational data.

Jan 1, 2014

Cyanide is reactive to copper minerals and is not suitable to extract the gold from the copper bearing ores. Ammoniacal thiosulfate is considered an excellent alternative lixiviant for leaching copper bearing gold ores. Unfortunately the results of high reagent consumption and poor gold ex-traction were found by thiosulfate leaching of synthetic gold ores containing chalcopyrite, chalcocite or bornite and a mild refractory copper-bearing sulfidic gold ore. In this investigation, several processes have been applied to reduce the impacts of these minerals on gold leaching. The process included: the pre-oxidation of copper sulphide minerals in water or ammonia solution, the reduction of dissolved oxygen in the lixiviant (0.3 ppm DO or 0.7% oxygen), adding phosphate anion in the leach or pre-leach stage, and the addition of a strong copper ligand (e.g., EDA and DETA). The results indicated that the gold extraction could be improved to 93% with the thiosulfate consumption being reduced to less than 8 kg/t. The dissolution of copper minerals was found to be the major reason for increased consumption of thiosulfate and the highly reductive leached surfaces are responsible for the reduced gold extractions.

Jan 1, 2014

By T. Fraszczak, U. A. Peuker, T. Mütze, T. Leißner, A. Wikedzi

The present paper highlights on the comminution and liberation properties of two greisen-type lithium bearing-mica ore blends (L1, L2) subjected to different breakage devices; cone crusher (CC), roller crusher (RC), rotor beater mill (RBM) and a screen mill (SM). The particle size distribution (PSD) of the products from each device were evaluated to search for an appropriate PSD model using Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann (GGS) and Rosin-Rammler (RR) functions. In order to determine an appropriate function that could better describe the PSDs from the devices used, the coefficient of determination (R2) was used as a criterion. In terms of mineral liberation studies, due to costs, only products from rotor beater mill (RBM) were examined through an automated scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique. It was found that RBM, RC and SM products were better described by the RR model than the GGS model with higher R2 values (0.97-1.0). However, cone crusher products for L1 were better described by GSS model, while that for L2 were better described by RR model. In terms of the spread of size distribution as indicated by RR model parameters, RC products were more uniformly distributed compared to products from other devices, for both ore blends. Also the RBM products were more scattered than products from other devices. The results indicate that the composition of individual ore blends affected the comminution products PSDs since different PSD model parameters were obtained for samples comminuted by same devices. The modal mineralogy of the two ore blends indicate both to be rich in quartz, topaz, zinnwaldite and muscovite. Further, the result indicate that, for both ore blends, zinnwaldite phase is more enriched in the fraction < 250 µm. Moreover, better liberation of zinnwaldite is observed for L1 compared to L2. This could be explained by differences of the two ore blends in three aspects; the nature of mineral association, reduction ratio of the fractions analysed and the nature of spread of the size distribution.

Jan 1, 2018

By F. L. Wang

The purification process of water-mining carnallite and rough potassium chloride concentrate from Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Group Co. Ltd. are investigated by the preprocessing-reverse flotation technology respectively. The results show that the impurities such as calcium sulfate and sodium chloride can be effectively removed from water-mining carnallite ore and rough potassium chloride concentrate by the new technology, the low-sodium carnallite is obtained and the final potassium chloride product greatly upgraded. The content and the recovery of KCl in the low-sodium carnallite are 25.78% and 97.50%, meanwhile the content of NaCl, CaSO4 in the low-sodium carnallite are 0.56% and 0.24%, and the removal of sodium chloride and calcium sulfate in the low-sodium carnallite are 97.48%, 85.10% respectively. The KCl content and recovery of high quality potassium chloride product are 98.25%, 96.70%, and CaSO4 content is 0.40% with 83.24% calcium sulfate removed in the high quality potassium chloride product.

Jan 1, 2014

By Xiaoping Xu

An albitization granite type tantalum-niobium ore from Jiangxi Province, China was taken as the research object in this paper. The main valuable minerals in this ore are tantalite-columbite and uranmicrolite, and the minerals that can be comprehensively recovered include cassiterite, sulfide minerals, topaz, zinnwaldite, and quartz-feldspar. Based on the research results of process mineralogy, the roughing process of gravity separation for coarse particles combined with flotation for fine particles is proposed. The combined cleaning process of flotation-gravity-magnetic-electric-hydrometallurgical separation is adopted for the rough concentrate of gravity separation while the combined cleaning process of gravity-flotation- hydrometallurgical separation is adopted for the rough concentrate of flotation. High intensity magnetic separation is used to separate and recover zinnwaldite and quartz-feldspar from gravity tailings. By mineral processing for the crude ore containing (TaNb)cassiterite concentrate is 0.0003% with a grade of Sn 63.22% and a recovery of Sn 47.42% while the yield of sulfide concentrate is 0.0783% with a grade of Pb 33.15% and Zn 27.09% which can be separated to get lead and zinc concentrate respectively. The yield of topaz concentrate is 0.1545% and the topaz mainly distributed in the size range of -0.4+0.074mm, which can be made into abrasive products of different particle sizes after classification. The yield of zinnwaldite concentrate is 16.91% with a grade of Liwhiteness of 75%, which is a glass-ceramic material of good quality. 2O5 0.0346%, Sn 0.04%, Pb 0.10% and Zn 0.33%, the tantalum-niobium concentrate with a yield of 0.00278%,a grade of (TaNb)2O5 53.61% and a recovery of (TaNb)2O5 44.49% is obtained. And the yield of 2O 1.34% and Rb2O 0.40%. The yield of quartz-feldspar concentrate is 30.42% with a grade of K2O+Na2O 8.98% and Fe2O3 0.11% and a natural All of tantalum, niobium, cassiterite, topaz, zinnwaldite, quartz, and feldspar are recovered effectively. Keywords: tantalum-niobium ore, gravity separation for coarse particles, flotation for fine particles, comprehensive recovery

Sep 1, 2012

By L. Q. Luo

SHP-F3200 wet high-intensity magnetic separator (HIMS) was successfully used to separate the complex and weakly magnetic iron ores being composed of specularite, limonite and siderite in Ji-uquan Iron and Steel (Group) Co Ltd (JISCO). It is more and more difficult to separate iron ores from gangues, such as quartz, jasperite and phyllite, as the properties of iron ores gradually become more complicated and refractory. Some technologies have been used to improve SHP-F3200 HIMS, including modifying angle of magnetic polar from 90°to 83°, cooling exciting coils by oil instead of air, adding reverse-washing device to wash off magnetic particles, adjusting the tooth-space of matrix from 5.0 mm to 3.5 mm or 2.5 mm, so as to enhance the recovery of fine iron ore particles. It is still difficult to meet the requirement for recovering more difficultly-separated iron and the demands for high-grade concentrate of iron. In this paper, after analyzing magnetic force exerting on iron ore particles within different separating sections of SHP HIMS, it is proposed to apply the flowing-film technique into the HIMS. Thus a new-type LY matrix is designed to form magnetic gradient vertically, combined with a special flowing-film feeder to improve the existing SHP HIMS. The moving pattern of magnetic particles in pulp in HIMS separation district also has been analyzed in this paper. And the test on the SHP-F700 HIMS shows, under the condition of iron ore containing 30.52% Fe, with particle size of ?0.074 mm accounting for around 75%, if applied with flow-film technique, the iron recovery will be up from 69.45% to 76.07%, by 6.62 percent, with the same grade of concentrates of iron. The calculation of iron yield of every size fraction and the tests showed that film magnetic separation (Film-MS) could promote the iron yield of each size fraction, denoting an excellent result of application of the film technique to SHP HIMS. The mechanism of the film magnetic separation technique is to convert the turbulent flow and disordered movement of dynamic mass particles in the pulp into a directional and ordered laminar flow along the surface of tooth plate so as to strengthen the separation effects.

Jan 1, 2014

By Zhang Zhonghan

A domestic tungsten-tin ore presents very complex property. How to effectively recover the scheelite, wolframite and cassiterite in the ore has long been a difficult problem to be solved urgently. On the basis of process mineralogy study, a main flow-sheet for effective recovery of tungsten-tin minerals has been developed, which including ?fine grinding of feed?bulk flotation of all sulfides followed by their selective separation?iron recovery by LIMS?tungsten-tin minerals bulk flotation using new technique developed by our institute?tungsten-tin recovery by gravity from above tungsten-tin bulk flotation tailings?. As for the treatment of tungsten-tin bulk rougher concentrate, several flow-sheets of tungsten-tin separation by direct hydrometallurgy or a flow-sheet consisting of scheelite cleaning at elevated temperature followed by the gravity separation of scheelite cleaner tailing?separation of wolframite from cassiterite by dry HIMS or by direct hydrometallurgy are developed. For a low grade head ore, all valuable sulfide, magnetite, scheelite, wolframite and cassiterite are recovered with satisfactory in lab scale test. Keywords: micro-fine cassiterite, tungsten-tin bulk flotation, gravity separation-flotation-dry HIMS combined flow-sheet, hydrometallurgy

Sep 1, 2012

By E. T. Tuzcu

In this manuscript, a new approach for modeling the rate of grinding process is explained. A review about grinding rate definitions so far is given and the possible ultimate way for grinding modeling is given as modeling the rate based on energy spectra. The traditional/phenomenological approaches for modeling size distribution of grinding mills give their place to a new generation modeling technique. Developments in the computational methods and necessity to model product size distribution of large mills, larger than ball mill size, paved the way for this novel technique. The traditional grinding rate models are mostly based on the back calculated breakage parameters from the experimental data. However, direct modeling of breakage parameters and hence the prediction of size distribution of the grinding mills may become possible with this approach. The material breakage data and discrete element method (DEM) energy spectra are the main components of this approach. Albeit the focus in this study is on modeling of breakage rate under impact mode of breakage, the abrasion mode of breakage was also tested by carrying out abrasion tests. Impact mode of breakage was analyzed using ultra-fast load cell device (UFLC) and drop weight tester. Dry tumbling test was carried out for abrasion experiments. Obtained material breakage versus energy data are combined with the collision energy spectra to obtain the breakage rate function. In addition, the material breakage versus energy information from the tests is converted into breakage distribution function. The model was verified in a lab scale mill (90 cm diameter-15 cm length). 10 to 15 kg of limestone was ground using 50 mm steel ball at varying conditions, i.e., rpm, volume loading. It is shown that the proposed model predicts all (1, 2, 4 min.) grinding intervals for all experiments highly accurate.

Sep 1, 2012

By Narasimha Mangadoddy

The complex nature of multi-phase flow in dense medium cyclones has restricted plant operators and designers to rely on empirical equations for predicting the performance. A number of empirical cyclone models have been developed in the past (Wood, 1990; Dunglison, 2002). In recent years, this subject has been broached with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Most of the CFD models have not considered the correct rheological behavior of magnetite medium while simulating the medium segregation inside the cyclone. These models mostly predict excessive underflow volumetric flow rates. In this paper simulations of magnetite medium in a dense medium cyclone, were conducted in FLUENT where the particle phases were simulated using the modified Mixture model. The turbulence was resolved using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model. The rheological behavior of medium was considered in the form of Granular viscosity, Newtonian and Non-Newtonian models corrected with particle loadings and fraction of ultrafines. Multi-phase simulations using granular viscosity option although predict the overall split product medium densities reasonably close to experiments, the mixture viscosity values are restricted to substantially lower values, similar to water viscosity. Simulations using Newtonian viscosity model corrected with particle loading, and fine fraction below 53µm size is predicting overall mixture viscosity levels well over water viscosity levels, but under predicting the under flow the underflow medium density. Multi-phase simulations using Non-Newtonian Herschel-Buckley model, calibrated for superfine magnetite medium measured viscosities, is closely predicting the medium segregation with gamma ray tomography data. Overall predicted product medium densities, underflow volume split are close to the experimental data. This model is can be further used to simulate coal portioning and hence in developing new designs.

Sep 1, 2012

By J. Gong

Fine mineral particles pose two challenging problems in froth flotation, i.e., ineffective recovery of fine hydrophobic particles and mechanical entrainment of fine hydrophilic particles. The first problem has attracted much research effort while the second problem has received much less attention. We have recently proposed a method to deal with mechanical entrainment, i.e., utilizing the flocculating power of polymeric depressants to flocculate fine gangue particles and making the flocs big enough so that the mechanical entrainment of these particles can be reduced or eliminated. In this paper, we report results on the use of polyethylene oxide (PEO) in controlling quartz gangue in the flotation of sulphide ores. PEO was found to flocculate fine quartz and lower its entrainment. It was also found to modify air/water interfacial properties and acted as a frother, which could increase gangue entrainment. Nevertheless, when used at starvation dosages, PEO was found to significantly improve the grades of the floated sulphide concentrates.

Jan 1, 2014