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By A. Deepatana

This study compares the use of an aminophosphonate chelating resin Purolite S950 and a sulphonic acid strong cation exchange resin Purolite C160H to recover nickel and cobalt from the synthetic bioleach solutions. Batch adsorption of metal citrate is performed as a function of metal citrate concentration (15~2000 mg/L) and solution pH (0.01M and 0.1M citric acid). The adsorption mechanism as inferred from the fit to Langmuir (LM), Freundlich (FM) and Redlich-Peterson (RP) models demonstrates that nickel citrate adsorbed onto C160H appears monolayer in comparison to that adsorbed onto S950 exists multilayer. In contrast, cobalt citrate adsorption onto both C160H and S950 agrees with the LM model. The results have shown that loading capacities of nickel and cobalt citrate onto C160H are 60 and 65 mg/g whereas those observed onto S950 are 16mg/g and 6 mg/g respectively. These are achieved in metal citrate prepared in 0.1 M citric acid. Resin regeneration is conducted in using 2 M nitric acid solution. The results show high efficiency of nickel and cobalt citrate elution from Purolite C160H. Findings from this study suggest Purolite C160H is a suitable adsorbent for recovering nickel and cobalt from bioleaching solutions.

Jan 1, 2014

By Leopoldo Gutierrez

Eight oil sand ores with the bitumen content ranging between 3.6 and 15 wt.% and the fines content (-44 micrometers size fraction) between 9 and 69 vol.% were subjected to the standard alkali extraction test used to measure the degree of oxidation of metallurgical coals. The results showed that there is a strong correlation between the absorbance of extracted solutions at a wavelength of 520 nm and the ratio of the fines content to the bitumen content. The latter factor is directly relevant to assessing the extractability of bitumen from oil sand ores. Bitumen extraction tests showed that the bitumen recovery decreased from 90 % to 30 % when the absorbance at 520 nm increased from 0.23 to 0.64. A comparison of the UV/visible spectra of solutions obtained from the alkali extraction tests with solutions of Aldrich Humic Acids suggest that low bitumen/high fines oil sand ores release substantial amounts of organic matter very similar, if not identical, to humic acids. In contrast, high-bitumen and low-fines ores do not release as much of the organic matter, and UV spectra of these leached substances are quite different from those of humic acids. Overall, the results show that chemical composition of bitumen in the tested ores varies greatly with ore type and oxidation, and that the alkali extraction test is a promising technique to quickly assess the extractability of bitumen from a given ore type.

Sep 1, 2012

By Megha Patel

"The objective of this project was to investigate the application of Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) technology to provide real-time on-belt elemental analysis of feed ore in base metal sulphide processing, in this case at the Mount Isa Mines Zinc-Lead Concentrator Heavy Medium Plant (HMP). After initial exploratory testwork proved successful, a Geoscan On-Belt Elemental Analyser was retrofitted onto the existing HMP feed conveyor. Dynamic calibration of the Geoscan was conducted based on laboratory XRF analysis results of the HMP feed conveyor hammer autosampler samples from May to November 2013. Comparison of the Geoscan results to the laboratory XRF analysis results during and after dynamic calibration indicated the technology had acceptable accuracy to be incorporated into HMP process control. The variation between the two sets of data includes all primary sampling, sample preparation and XRF analysis errors as well as the Geoscan errors themselves. The Geoscan instrument precision must be calculated separately through a duplicate sampling campaign and independent laboratory analysis before extending the scope of its range of application beyond HMP process control. The expected benefits of integrating the Geoscan real-time data into HMP process control are optimised HMP metal recovery, improved cost efficiency and improved stability of the downstream processes (milling and flotation). Utilisation of the Geoscan will also enable improved feedback to mines on grade control and dilution, and provide additional information on individual ore types when fed as campaigns to HMP."

Jan 1, 2014

By A. Lewis

"Thiol collectors including the xanthates and dithiophosphates have dominated the sulfide mineral processing industry for over a century. Tecflote represents completely different chemistry, without sulfur or phosphorus, and will float all sulfides and associated precious metals. As these collectors are surfactant in nature, they comprise a head group which binds to mineral surfaces, a spacer and a long hydrophobic tail. The modification of the spacer behind the head group allows for collector optimisation for different sulfide ore types and process conditions.The Tecflote surfactants have been designed to be either very selective against pyrite at the natural pH of the ore (pH 7-9) or to float all sulfides including pyrite. Depending on the ore type and the process flow sheet, the use of lime can be maintained, reduced or completely eliminated.Tecflote can be used either as a rougher collector giving good recovery and grade for the sulfide minerals or it can be used to target valuable minerals after regrind and through cleaner flotation. It has repeatedly shown to be very effective at holding onto gold through the cleaner steps. The low solubility has a significant impact on the mechanism and surface activity of the collector, resulting in a very different flotation response compared to conventional thiol collectors.INTRODUCTIONXanthate was first made in 1882 by Zeise and first used in flotation in 1924 (Keller, 2018). In 1946 Keller patented thionocarbamate as a collector, which was produced by Dow Chemicals (Keller, 2018). Later it was replaced by Dow product Z-200, while dialkylthionocarbamate was discovered by Harris et al. (Harris, 1954. No significant chemistry change to collectors has occurred since they were introduced in the mid-20th century and now that the feed grades have been declining over the last decades creating a need to find more selective collectors to extract difficult and complex ores and pushing the industry to look at other reagents."

Jan 1, 2018

By I. Baltov

The Chelopech Mine, located in Central Bulgaria, is one of Europe?s largest underground copper- gold mines, currently mines and processes approximately one million tonnes of ore per year. Copper concentrates containing gold and silver with significant arsenic content are produced and sold on the world markets. The operation was acquired by Dundee Precious Metals in 2003. A modernization program for the Mine and Plant has since been in progress to increase both production and mechanical reliability, and also to optimize metallurgical recoveries. Since then, mine output and plant throughput have doubled, plant availabilities and utilization have increased significantly, and overall metallurgical performance for copper and gold improved. The paper presents the systematic approach for obtaining and analyzing data, communicating it, and making suggestions for changes to the technological parameters and flowsheet in order to maximize metal recoveries. These studies have correlated the ore characteristics (particle size distributions, metal assays, and Cu and Au mineralogical and phase analyses) with the actual plant performance (kinetics, recoveries, and throughput). Cu recovery by size has been calculated from the mineralogical analyses of feed, concentrate and tails, with the most significant losses being identified in terms of fraction and phase recoveries. This has provided the recommendations (some of them tested in plant) for changes in the grinding and flotation circuits.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. M. Bradshaw, V. Rocher, L Kabondo, B. Combrink, C. A. Snyders

Media losses are a significant contributor to the operational cost in a dense media separation (DMS) circuit. Of these losses, up to 80 wt% can occur on the drain and rinse vibrating screens. Although these screens are an integral part of any DMS circuit, surprisingly little work can be found in open literature regarding the effect of aperture configuration on the drain rates (draining water and medium). To establish the effect of slot aperture size, experiments were conducted on a 0.6 x 1.2 m vibrating screen with polyurethane (PU) panels at slurry densities between 1.6 – 2.8 kg/L, and volumetric flow rates of 19 – 25 m3/h for both ferrosilicon and magnetite. Results showed that an increase in the volumetric flow rate led to an increase in drainage rate, moisture content and medium carryover. Once an optimum volumetric flow rate was exceeded, a further increase in flow rate resulted in a decrease in drainage rate with a sharp increase in moisture and medium bypass to the oversize stream. An increase in ferrosilicon slurry density led to a decrease in drainage rate with an increase in moisture and medium bypass with each of these rates increasing as the slurry density increased. For magnetite, a gradual decrease in drainage rate was observed with increase in slurry density and volumetric flowrate beyond the screen optimum point. It was found that an increase in aperture size from 0.63 x 8.8 mm to 0.8 x 8.8 mm to 1.0 x 13 mm resulted in an increase in ferrosilicon drainage rate of between 1.3 - 1.8 m3/m2/h depending on the flow rate and slurry density with a reduction in moisture and medium carryover of between 1.0 – 1.2 % and 14.1 – 20.2 kg/t/m respectively. For magnetite, the drainage rate increased between 1.0 - 1.4 m3/m2/h as the slot width increased from 0.63 x 8.8 mm to 0.8 x 8.8 mm while an increase in slot length from 0.63 x 8.8 to 0.63 x 12 mm only resulted in an increase in drainage rate of 0.1 - 0.5 m3/m2/h.

Jan 1, 2018

By Ye Chen, Jianhua Chen, Meng Liu, Yuqiong Li, Xiao Mu, Cuihua Zhao

"Sulfidization-amine is the most effective method for the recovery of smithsonite (ZnCO3), however the interface interaction details remain unclear. The sulfidization-amine flotation mechanism of smithsonite has been studied by Density Functional based Tight Binding (DFTB+) method in this paper. The slab model of ZnCO3 (101) surface was built and the adsorptions of a monolayer of HS- and S2- ions were conducted to model the sulfidization effect on the ZnCO3 (101) surface adsorption. DDA hardly interacts with the hydrated ZnCO3 (101) surface. Under the low concentration of Na2S, HS- ions form a Zn-SH-SH structure on the ZnCO3 (101) surface, which hinders the interaction between DDA and surface Zn atoms. Under the high concentration of Na2S, a layer of ZnS is formed on ZnCO3 (101) surface, which is favorable for the adsorption of DDA on the surface. This is consistent with the flotation practice where smithsonite flotation requires a large amount of sodium sulfide. The results could provide a microscopic investigation into the sulfidization-amine flotation mechanism of smithsonite.INTRODUCTIONSmithsonite (ZnCO3) is an important and typical oxide mineral of zinc. It is a semi-soluble salt mineral with a solubility product constant of 1.46 × 10-10 (Weast, 1973). The most common and effective method to recover oxidized zinc ores is froth flotation (Caproni et al., 1979; Pereia and Peres, 2005; Kashani and Rashchi, 2008). It is well known that the flotation of oxidized zinc minerals is much more difficult than the flotation of zinc sulphide minerals (Hosseini and Forssberg, 2007).The recovery of zinc oxide ores with poor floatability attracts more and more attention due to the depletion of easy-recovered of zinc sulfide ores.Sulfidization-amine flotation, which using Na2S as sufidizing agent and amine as collector (Mckenna et al., 1949; Rey, 1954; Abramov, 1961; Rey, 1979; Hosseini and Forssberg, 2007). This method is the most successful technology used for zinc oxide minerals flotation in large-scale industrial applications since it was invented in the 1950s (Önal et al., 2005; Pereira and Peres, 2005). There have been numerous experimental researches on the sulfidization-amine flotation of smithsonite. Shi et al., (2013) studied solution chemistry of smithsonite flotation system. Feng and Wen (2017) studied the formation of zinc sulfide species on smithsonite surfaces and its response to flotation performance. Wu et al., (2017) investigated the sulfidization behavior of smithsonite with the use of zeta potential, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS). Their measurement results confirms the chemisorption of sulfur ions and the formation of ZnS film on the smithsonite surface after Na2S treatment, however the influence of HS- ions on the surface and the influence of sulfidization on the amine adsorption have not been discussed."

Jan 1, 2018

By Sanjay Agarwal

Polymetallic sea nodule is a good source of manganese having 22.3% Mn, 5.4% Fe, 6.14% Si, 1.1% Cu, 1.15% Ni, 0.076% Co & others. These nodules are available in plenty on the sea beds, generated over thousands of years. Nodules mainly consist of manganese dioxide and iron oxide phases and other metals are entrapped in the complex cage of these Mn-Fe oxides phases.World-wide research is going on sea nodules as an alternative future source of many metals, which has led to intensified efforts to develop practical and economical processes for recovery of these metals. Very little attempt has been made world over on manganese extraction from sea nodules. We at CSIR-NML, India have developed a direct reduction smelting process of nodules to recover manganese as Fe-Si-Mn alloy. This alloy is extensively used in the steel industry as deoxidizer and as an alloying element to make different grades of steel. Lab scale experiments were conducted to study the manganese distribution between Fe-Si-Mn alloy and FeO-SiO2-MnO-CaO-Al2O3-MgO slag at different temperatures by varying the basicity of the slag. The direct reduction smelting of nodules is carried out on 1 kg scale in 50 kVA electric arc furnaces to have Cu, Ni and Co alloy and Mn rich slag. This manganese rich slag is further treated in 50 kVA arc furnace to produce Fe-Si-Mn alloy. The composition of Fe-Si-Mn alloy obtained is in the range of Mn: 60-65%, Si: 14-17%, C: 1- 2%, S: 0.03% and the balance iron which is acceptable grade for industrial use. The equilibrium amount of MnO in the final slag is controlled by the temperature of the final melt and the silica, lime, alumina content of the final slag. Increasing the basicity of the slag plays a major role in minimizing the loss of MnO to slag, increasing the amount of SiO2 of the slag, increases the manganese loss in the slag. Increasing the CaO/ Al2O3 ratio of the slag decreases the manganese loss in the slag. Increasing the MgO/CaO ratio of the slag increases the manganese loss in the slag. Thus by adjusting

Sep 1, 2012

By A. Singh, M. Ntlhane, V. Ross, M. Dlame

"Fine valuable particles are often lost to flotation tailings streams due to inefficient collection by air bubbles as well as passivation of surfaces by oxidation and slimes. The application of high-shear hydrodynamic cavitation devices (HCDs) to overcome this problem has already proven to be a considerable success in the industry. This paper details the results of further investigations that were undertaken at Mintek to better understand the mechanisms involved when preconditioning feed slurries in an HCD. By promoting inter-particle attrition and conditions of high shear within the reactor, cleaning of particle surfaces is enhanced as well as the formation of superfine (nano) bubbles which are believed to aid their agglomeration and subsequent collection by normal sized bubbles. In order to broaden the envelope of understanding with regard to application of the technology, rather than tailings material as investigated earlier, a Platinum Group Mineral (PGM) UG2 ore from the Bushveld Complex in South Africa was used in this study. The results of a series of batch flotation tests in a 10L Denver cell are presented, being conducted after the feed has been subjected to different methods of preconditioning. It was demonstrated that the preconditioning significantly improved the flotation kinetics of the PGMs, the optimum being obtained after around 20 passes through the reactor. This was accompanied by a much enhanced recovery-mass pull relationship and a significant improvement in the grade-recovery response. Significantly, the selectivity between the PGM and the deleterious chromite (expressed as Cr2O3) gangue more than doubled under these conditions. Modelling of the PGM data by means of the modified Kelsall model indicated that both the fast and slow floating rate constants were improved.INTRODUCTIONIt is well known that the flotation recovery of fine and ultrafine particles, typically less than 10 micron in size, is a challenge (Yoon et al., 1989; Miettenin et al., 2010). Although these particles are typically well liberated, due to their very low mass and inertia, the collision efficiency with air bubbles is low as a result of the inability of particles to penetrate the liquid streamlines around bubbles. Hence the probability of contact is often regarded as the ratedetermining step in flotation of ultrafine particles. Introducing more power into conventional flotation machines is likely to solve only part of the problem, as conventional mechanisms are effective only to a point in terms of shear and micro-turbulence. Further challenges are posed by the treatment of low-grade or oxidised tailings dump material, where valuables are passivated due to prolonged exposure to the atmosphere or slimes. Over the years, various mitigating strategies have been investigated, including the use of dissolved air flotation (Martinez-Gomez et al., 2013; Calgaroto et al., 2015), shear flocculation (Subrahmanyam and Forssberg, 1990), seed or carrier flotation (Tabosa and Rubio, 2010), sonication to clean particle surfaces (Aldrich and Feng, 1999; Newell et al., 2006), high intensity conditioning (Bulatovic and Salter, 1989; Chen et al., 1999; Tabosa and Rubio, 2010), and various electrochemical approaches such as changing Eh in order to promote formation of dixanthogen, dissolution of oxidation products by lowering the pH, activation by sulphidisation (Newell et al., 2006; Becker et al., 2014), and the use of alternative collectors."

Jan 1, 2018

By Z. Pokrajcic

The traditional comminution circuit is a major consumer of energy ? both as electrical energy and through consumption of media and wear resistant liners. Up to 40% of electrical energy con-sumed at a mine site is attributed to comminution however only a few percent of this energy is used in the generation of new surfaces from size reduction. This paper describes the evaluation of modifications using simulation models based on two operating comminution circuits. The aim of these modifications is to decrease both the amount of electrical energy consumed in the size reduction process, known as direct energy, as well as to decrease the consumption of grinding consumables such as steel grinding media and mill liners, designated as indirect energy. The approach is two-fold: ??Employ, where possible, autogenous grinding techniques to eliminate the need for grinding media and reduce mill liner wear. ??Optimise the use of the grinding energy distribution in the comminution circuit by using more energy efficient grinding devices to target typically problematic features of a comminution circuit such as critical size material from the primary mill and overgrinding in the secondary mill. The investigations show that significant total energy savings, as high as 50% in some cases, can be achieved by employing the techniques described while maintaining circuit throughput and product size. Investigations also show potential benefits in downstream flotation processes as the product size distribution generated from the eco-efficient circuit is generally ?narrower? in shape for improved flotation performance and containing less material in the coarse fraction for overall better liberation.

Jan 1, 2014

By V. A. Chanturiya

In Pt- and Au-keeping complex ores processing, about 10% ~ 15% of noble metals are lost with true tailings that are due to low floatability of Pt- and Au-keeping minerals by the conventional collectors. With the aim to achieve the effective recovery of noble metals at flotation of Pt-Cu-Ni and Au-keeping ores organic complex reagents keeping electron-donating atoms of nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur or phosphorus may be offered as selective collectors for the indicated minerals. These rea-gents tend to form complex compounds with PGM. Besides this, Cu-Ni-Pt and complex Pt and Au carbonated mica ores are characterized by finely disseminated (up to nanometer size) mineral forms of Pt in multivalent states. In this connection, the use of a combination of the strong ionic collectors with nonionic reactants that are capable to derivate complex compounds with multivalent PGM seems to be expedient for this type of ores. In the research new complex reactants were tested such as cyclic alkylene-trithiocarbonates, oxyalkyl butylxanthogen acid ethers, a combination of the collectors ? mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) and dialkyldithiophosphates (DTP). Sorption and flotation tests were made with monomine-ralic samples of chalcopyrite, pentlandite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and Pt-Cu-Ni sulfide ore samples. Sorption properties were examined by the extractive UV spectrophotometric method and potentiometric measurements. To indicate a structure of modified xanthate solutions the method of a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was applied. The chromatographic behavior of the basic components of modified xanthate solution ? ButX, cyclic propylene-trithiocarbonate (PTTC), diethyl-dithiocarbamate (DEDC) and the product of its modification ? oxypropyl-S-ether of dithiocarbamatic acid was studied on plates ?Silufol UV ? 254?. The composition of organic solvents and its ratio in a mobile phase was deter-mined for simultaneous chromatography of the main components of a reaction mixture. It was found that operating selectivity of MBT, DTP and cyclic alkylene-trithiocarbonates incorporated in modified xanthate in relation to Pt-Cu-Ni and Au-containing sulfide minerals might be explained by an electoral sorption of this nonionic collector on a surface of the minerals studied. It was demonstrated that the application new reagent modes with the use of a combination of designed complex reactants helped to increase the extraction index of Pt- and Au-keeping minerals from complicated ores.

Jan 1, 2014

By Yosep Han

Mechanically-induced chemical reactions between natural beach ilmenite (FeTiO3) and silicon (Si) have been examined by a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) analyses. The effect of various milling time on the phase transformation, crystallite size, and lattice strain of a beach sand ilmenite with silicon, and on their leaching behavior in hydrochloric acid (HCl) has been investigated. For mechanically activated FeTiO3, the crystallite size decreased and lattice strain increased monotonically with time of milling. However, the mechanochemically synthesized ilmenite with silicon showed a relatively smaller crystallite size and greater lattice strain compared with the mechanically activated ilmenite under the same milling condition. In accordance with the elapse of milling time, the intensity of both pure FeTiO3 and mechanically activated FeTiO3 gradually decreased. However, in case of the mechanochemically synthesized ilmenitereduction of FeTiO3 by silicon resulted in formation of rutile TiO2 at the milling time of 20 h and afterwards. Additional leaching experiments were carried out at an HCl/ilmenite (wt%) ratio of 20:1. The concentration of HCl was 3 M and the reaction temperature ranged from 70 to 90 oC. Mechanical activation was observed to significantly enhance the dissolution rates of both iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti) in HCl. Particularly, effects of both milling time and silicon addition on the dissolution rates of titanium and iron were significant, while those of temperature were relatively minor under the conditions investigated in this study. Keywords: mechanochemical treatment, natural beach ilmenite, silicon, leaching behavior

Sep 1, 2012

By A. V. Byvaltsev

Adsorption of cyanide complexes of gold, silver, copper, mercury, nickel, cobalt, iron, zinc and cadmium has been studied. Adsorption isotherms of the mentioned metals from individual solutions for different free cyanide concentrations have been obtained. Values of the constants of Freundlich isotherm equation have been calculated. Metal cyanide complexes affinity to activated carbon was determined.

Jan 1, 2014

By V. I. Ryaboy, I. V. Ryaboy, E. D. Shepeta

"The problem of separation of copper minerals and arsenopyrite remains relevant because of environmental requirements. The selective action of reagents with the thioamide group (thioamides) is known in iron sulfide’s flotation of pyrite and pyrrhotite. The aim of this study was to reduce the arsenic content in the copper concentrate when using thioamides by reducing the flotation of arsenopyrite in the flotation of the sulfide part of the skarn scheelite-sulfide ores. We have chosen the most widely used thioamides for the study, such as Z-200. We also synthesized new reagents with the thioamide group. The most selective and the most powerful thioamide copper collector were used for further studies. Reduction of arsenic content in copper concentrates is achieved in the following way: You need to apply a strong thioamide collector with a selective but weak dialkyldithiophosphate collector, or vice-versa, a selective, but a weak thioamide collector should be used with the dialkyldithiophosphate reagent with strong collective properties. The proposed combination presents industrial interest because of its accessibility. The application of thioamides in copper minerals and arsenopyrite selection has showed that these reagents have fewer selective properties than dialkyldithiophosphates. To achieve the comparable recovery of copper using dialkyldithiophosphates requires markedly greater consumption of thioamides, due to their lower hydrophobic ability. The application of a composition of thioamides and dialkyldithiophosphates allows to increase the recovery of copper and to obtain a lower arsenic content in copper concentrates compared to their individual use. The lowest arsenic content in the copper concentrate is obtained in the composition consisting of the newly synthesized thioamide with strong collective properties and selective dialkyldithiophosphate. The addition of even small amounts of xanthate to the composition of thioamides and dialkyldithiophosphates causes a sharp increase in the arsenic content in the copper concentrate without a notable increase in copper recovery."

Jan 1, 2018

By F. M. Zafar Kaifi

Magnesite producing companies rely on high grade purity MgO. The mineralogy of magnesite has a significant impact on the manufacturing of magnesite bricks. The manufacturing process of bricks companies utilizes 90% magnesite from 85%~90% MgO. The main objective of the magnesite bricks was to utilizes the indigenous raw material available in bulk quantity. With better under-standing of chemistry of the mineral species and strict control of bricks manufacturing/processing conditions can be better produce efficiently, a low cost high quality bricks with minimum detrimental environmental impact.

Jan 1, 2014

By A. A. Lavrinenko, N. I. Gluhova, L. M. Sarkisova, D. V. Makarov

"The purpose of the study is to study the feasibility of using sodium diisobutyl dithiophosphinate (DDP) to enhance the recovery of platinum group elements from low-grade refractory copper-nickel ores characterized by a portion of nickel and platinum group elements (PGEs) locked in the dominant sulfide mineral — pyrrhotite. These ore characteristics dictate the need to produce a bulk PGE-containing sulfide concentrate due to the difficulties of producing selective concentrates without a significant loss of the metals.New data on the adsorption and flotation performance of DDP-containing collectors were obtained by measuring the electrode potential, hydrophobicity of the sulfide mineral surfaces and by means of extraction spectrophotometry and flotation studies. The interaction between DDP, pyrrhotite, and pentlandite leads to the formation of surface hydrophobic layers consisting mainly of disulfide and a small amount of metal compounds. These adsorption layers are formed by the reaction with butyl xanthate. In the case of cooperite, DDP reacts with the surface, forming not only disulfide, as in the case of butyl xanthate, but also a complex platinum compound. DDP-containing agents demonstrate stronger collecting properties with respect to sulfide minerals of copper-nickel ores compared to butyl xanthate, which is explained by a stronger hydrophobizing effect and foaming properties.The addition of a combination of DDP-containing agents and butyl xanthate at a ratio of 3:1 for the recovery of sulfides and PGEs in the bulk flotation of copper-nickel ore made it possible to improve the recovery of Ni, Pt, and Pd by 13.6, 9.2, and 9.4%, respectively, relative to the recovery achieved in flotation with butyl xanthate.Bulk flotation with the addition of a composition of DDP-containing agents and butyl xanthate allows the most complete recovery of all valuable elements and is the only technologically feasible method for processing of lowgrade ores, when it is impossible to produce without loss high-grade selective concentrates suitable for smelting."

Jan 1, 2018

By L. Filippov

"Nickel is an important metal with the total global consumption of about 2 million tons per year. It is sourced from both sulfide and laterite ore, but currently laterites are becoming more attractive for nickel production due to the depletion of high grade nickel sulfide ores. Laterites are generally processed by hydro or pyro-metallurgy and therefore, pre-concentration of nickel before such processes is very important. In this paper the effect different physical methods (including flotation) on the pre-concentration of nickel in laterite ores will be discussed. The ore used in this study was a laterite from South East Asia. Nickel was upgraded using different methods such as magnetic separation, flotation and sizing. The effect of ore mineralogy on choosing the best strategy to upgrade nickel will be discussed. The findings of this project will help to unlock a substantial volume of nickel with significant value from laterite ores.INTRODUCTION Nickel is an important metal with the total global consumption of about million tons per year which has grown rapidly during last decades (Mackey, 2011). Nickel is sourced from two different types of ores, sulfide and laterite. The majority (about 70%) of the world’s nickel resources occur as laterite ores which are often complex, and low grade, and therefore expensive to treat using conventional methods (Xu et al., 2013). Today, nickel laterites are more attractive for production of nickel as the amount of high grade nickel sulfide ores has diminished (Janwong, 2012). Therefore more economic processes to recover nickel from these resources should be developed.It should be noted that nickel laterite mineralogy is complex, and nickel often presents as ultrafine inclusions in a number of mineral phases. Because of the low nickel concentration and variable distribution in these phases, effective upgrading by physical separation processes would be challenging. Researchers have tried to improve nickel laterite flotation recovery by using a number of feed preparation techniques. A summary of the nickel grades obtained using flotation and magnetic separation as reported in the literature is presented in Table 1. It can be seen that only minor nickel upgrades have been reported. Quast et al. (2015) have concluded that the complex mineralogy of nickel laterite ores makes it difficult to achieve any significant nickel upgrading by physical techniques, including flotation. They achieved 40% increase in the nickel content (from 1.0% to 1.4%) at a nickel recovery of 43% (Quast et al., 2015). Various attempts in USA, New Caledonia, India and Australia, to upgrade nickel in laterite using magnetic separation have not been successful (Quast et al., 2015). A recent comprehensive review on topics influencing nickel laterite flotation has shown that further investigations in the flotation of laterite ores are undoubtedly warranted (Farrokhpay & Filippov, 2016)."

Jan 1, 2018

By C. G. Anderson

Industrially proven and applied nitrogen species catalyzed (i.e. NSC) acidic pressure leaching has been utilized to treat a number of ores, concentrates and recycled materials. This versatile technology offers many advantages including low temperatures, low pressures, low capital costs, low operating costs, faster throughput and less costly materials of construction than conventional pressure oxidation. This paper will elucidate the application of this technology for production of gold, silver, palladium, rhodium, zinc, germanium, gallium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, rhenium and nickel. Recycled material applications will also be elucidated. In addition, details of an application for treatment of a refractory chalcopyrite copper and gold bearing ore will be presented and pertinent economics discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Y. F. Hou

This paper reports the results of the study of the influences of concentration and modulus of sodium potassium silicate solution (Na-K activator) and curing mode on the phase composition, mi-crostructure and strength development in the geopolymers prepared using Class F fly ash. X-ray dif-fraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and MAS NMR are utilized in this study. It shows that the compressive strength increases while sodium potassium silicate solution modulus increases, but when modulus exceeds 1.7, the compressive strength decreases, and it decreases markedly while modulus is greater than 2.0. The compressive strength improves with increase of sodium potassium silicate solution concentration. When the concentration is 36%, the compressive strength reaches the maximum. Elevated temperature can increase the strength of samples synthesized using sodium potassium silicate solution with 32% concentration and modulus 1.2. Compared to the strength of the sample cured at 50?, the strength of the samples cured at 65? and 80? are higher at 1 day and 3 days, but when cured at 80?, strength is smaller than that cured at 50? for 7 days. When temperature is too high, too long curing time will decrease the strength. Long precuring at room temperature before application of heat is beneficial for strength development, and there is about 10%~50% increase in strength of the samples cured at 1 day precuring and 2 days elevated temperature as compared to the strengths of the samples cured for 3 days at elevated temperature or cured for 28 days at room temperature. The main product of reaction in the geopolymeric material is amorphous alkali aluminosilicate gel.

Jan 1, 2014

By Xing Yang, Zhen Peng, Guangwen Zhang, Haifeng Wang, Yaqun He

"Triboelectric separation of ilmenite ore based on the tribocharge differences between ilmenite and gangue minerals was conducted in this study. Triboelectric characteristics of ilmenite and its associated minerals were studied using polyvinyl chloride (PVC), pentatricopeptide repeats (PPR), copper, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), stainless steel (SS), teflon and quartz glass (QG) tribochargers in lab triboelectric unit. Results demonstrated that the ilmenite particles tribocharged positively while gangue minerals tribocharged negatively using PVC as tribocharger. The particle size also has a significant effect on tribocharge, and the -0.125+0.074 mm is the optimal size fraction of triboelectric separation. Charge-mass ratios of minerals increase with the increases of tribocharging length, but the increasing rate gradually reduce. At 1.5 m tribocharging length, charge-mass ratios of ilmenite, quartz, feldspar and mica are up to 6.07 nC/g, -6.05 nC/g, -4.30 nC/g and -4.56 nC/g, respectively. Based on the triboelectric characteristics of each mineral, triboelectric separation of ilmenite was conducted, and the grade of ilmenite ore increased from 15.47% to 28.40%. INTRODUCTION As a transition metal titanium plays an irreplaceable role in medical, aerospace and materials due to its light weight, high strength and corrosion resistance. Pure titanium dioxide is an excellent white pigment and is widely applied in industries of paint and textile. Ilmenite is the main raw material for titanium industry. For the beneficiation of ilmenite, series methods have been proposed, such as the application of dry magnetic and wet gravity separations to separate the ilmenite from the zircon and rutile. Electrostatic separation is extensively used in the beneficiation of heavy mineral sands for the recovery of rutile, zircon and ilmenite while flotation is used to separate fine ilmenite (Mehdilo et al., 2014; Fan et al., 2014). Compared with flotation and gravity separation, electrostatic separation does not consume water, and native properties of materials will not be changed and energy consumption will be reduced (Wang et al., 2014). Thus, the wide application of electrostatic separation and other dry separation methods is a trend in separation and purification industry, especially in water-scarce areas."

Jan 1, 2018