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By T. Lang

Clay sorbents from the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin represent important but still some-what neglected accessory raw material. Submitted paper is concerned with relation between mineral structure, sorptive efficiency and reclamation exploitation of these rocks. Characters and localities of main clay sorbents from the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin are shortly evaluated in an introduction. In next part, methodology of mineralogy survey for these accessory raw materials is stated, it is based on diffract analyse with D 5000 Siemens X-ray diffracto-meter. At the conclusion results are stated of mineralogy analyses from several clay sorbents. The determination of the zeolite and montmorillonite localities was accentuated. The paper presents also possibilities of practical clay sorbents utilization, especially by reclamation works.

Jan 1, 2014

"The Circular Economy (CE) will play an important role in shaping a resource-efficient society. Enabling this transformation from a linear to a CE requires precise quantification of resource efficiency and thus the economic viability of the system. Based on the development of simulation tools of classical minerals processing and process metallurgy, the Outotec (2018) HSC simulation platform could be further developed (gleaning from many academically published works of the author listed below), permitting the simulation of the CE system and to subsequently calculate its resource efficiency. It enables the estimation of a simulation-based Recycling Index (RI) from a product’s Bill of Material (BoM) and Full Material Declaration (FMD). It is a unique methodology for Design for Recycling (DfR) based on minerals engineering linked to a deep understanding of minerals and metallurgical process engineering. A key to this simulation is a detailed understanding of the mineralogy (both geological and designed) of the CE system and its many products, materials and systems, both in a geological mineral and a product-designer-mineral sense. In addition, a detailed understanding and quantification of the thermodynamic properties of the system (both energy and exergy/entropy) is key to understanding its economics and its limitations. With this approach, the actual losses of the CE system are shown and thus highlights the limits of the CE as defined by minerals and metallurgical process engineering principles. INTRODUCTION From the dawn of the industrial era up to today, many of our products have been created according to the principles of a linear economy: we find resources, make a product, and then dispose of it when we are done using it. But in recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need to move to a Circular Economy (CE), an approach that aims to maximize the usefulness of products, components and materials across the entire lifecycle. In terms of recycling, this means achieving maximum recovery of materials once products reach the end of their usable life while also maximizing resource efficiency. Of importance is therefore also not only the recovery of critical technology elements that make the CE system run, but also the criticality of the metallurgical infrastructure that must be present to recover these elements economically. Ellen Macarthur (2017) defines the CE as “Looking beyond the current ""take, make and dispose” extractive industrial model, the circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design. Relying on system-wide innovation, it aims to redefine products and services to design waste out, while minimising negative impacts. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural and social capital.” However, when translating this significant message to images, it is striking that the key extractive industry is not depicted in the Ellen Macarthur as well as EU depiction of a CE (EU 2015). Other CE discussions are also wanting in their fundamental detail and description e.g. Accenture (2015) and Beaulieu et al. (2016)."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. Batterham

"The history of mineral processing is indeed long and has always been tied to mining methods of the day. While many new processes and devices have been developed, the most significant trend in recent times has been the ever increasing scale of operations. There is serious doubt this ongoing trend is enough to match the global trend of falling grades and rising energy demands needed for mineral processing. As well we see that globally, the social licence to operate for mining (and hence mineral processing) is far from secure. Indeed, some argue that mining as we know it is dying and in the future, mining will be much more environmentally secure, even to the extent of insisting upon “in place” recovery and only bringing to the surface the valued product. In this paper we comment on the ramifications of broader uptake of more sustainable mining for mineral processing methods and address the specific question of whether recent progress in in place recovery will lead to a timely breakthrough. The answer proposed is that this is possible in the next 10 - 20 years but in the meantime, the focus is just as likely to be on removal of waste much earlier in circuits. Either way, mineral processing as we know it will change significantly. INTRODUCTION Mineral processing has a long history well covered in a recent publication (Habashi, 2006) who points out “the ancient Egyptians knew already that it would be easier to melt an earth rich in gold particles than another which is poor. As a result, all efforts were made to enrich the gold by washing away the light gangue minerals. Similarly, another ancient method for enriching gold particles from a river stream was by means of fleece, hence the Greek myth of the “golden fleece”. Since the middle ages, striving for improved economics has driven a string of innovative developments in milling and separation. The reader is again referred to the informative and illustrative text by Habashi."

Jan 1, 2018

By Thi Hien Tran, Huy Hoan Nguyen, Thi Thu Hien-Dinh, Hong Son Nguyen, Duy Anh Dao

"Lithium discovered in La Vi deposit, Quang Ngai province in the Central of Vietnam was estimated with a reserve of approximately 1.5 million tones of lithium ore, which was characterized by mainly lepidolite with muscovite, albite, and quartz. This study investigated reasonable flowsheet and optimal conditions of enrichment technology for lepidolite from the mined ore by flotation process, and producing Li2CO3 and LiCl from lepidolite concentrate by hydrometallurgical process. The significant conditions for froth flotation of lithium ore including particle size, pH of ore slurry, pulp density, chemical spending (collectors, activators, depressants, and frothers), stirring and flotation time were investigated. The identified reasonable flowsheet and optimal conditions for froth flotation the La Vi lithium ore processed lepidolite concentrate containing up to 4 wt.% Li2O with a recovery of 87.61 wt.%. The processes of sulfation roasting lepidolite concentrate using FeSO4.7H2O, then leaching in H2SO4 solution, and removing impurities were carried out to prepare a pure lithium-bearing solution for producing Li2CO3 and LiCl. The products containing 99.05 wt.% of Li2CO3 and 99.02 wt.% of LiCl were obtained with recoveries of 82.97 wt.% and 85.77 wt.%, respectively. The obtained results indicated that lithium ore in La Vi deposit can be processed to produce commercial lithium products and lead the study to develop technology for a new industry of lithium processing in Vietnam.INTRODUCTION Lithium is the lightest metal, which has many superior properties in both metal and compound (such as Li2CO3, LiCl...) states since its discovery in 1817 by Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson. Lithium is a favourable material for many high technology fields such as aerospace industry and chemical industry. Some industrial fields which present the main consumptions of lithium include ceramic, glass, aluminum alloy, lubricants, rechargeable Li-ion batteries, synthetic rubber, and pharmaceuticals. The worldwide production of lithium in 2014 was 31,700 tones, continually increased in 2015 of 5% presented 32,500 tones (USGS, 2016). The demand for lithium tends to increase because of the raising in consumption of lithium batteries. Lithium is mined from salar brines, mainly in Chile and Bolivia, but also from granites and pegmatites, which contain minerals with high lithium content such as spodumene - LiAlSi2O6 (Heinrich et al., 1978; Linnen et al., 2012); petalite - LiAlSi4O10 (Sitando & Crouse, 2012); zinnwaldite - KLiFe2+Al(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2 (Paukov et al., 2010; Kondás J. & Jandová J., 2006); lepidolite - K(Li,Al)3(Si,Al)4O10(F,OH)2 (Luong et al., 2013); and amblygonite - LiAlPO4F (Garrett, 2004)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Xu Wang, Bang Chen, Xiujian Luo, Wei Tang, Xiao’ou Xia, Fangming Liu

"The inertia cone crusher has lots of advantages, such as big crushing ratio, fine particle size, material layer crushing, good passing tramp iron performance and stable technical index, realized open crushing circuit and simplified crushing flowsheet. The crusher was input to China’s Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM) from Russia’s Mekhanobr-Tekhnika Research & Engineering Corporation at the beginning of the 1990s. This paper introduces that after years of absorption and innovation how Chinese researchers optimized and creatively designed about transmission mechanism, bracing structure, kinetic parameters, lubrication system, dust sealing system, damping system and hydraulic control system etc on the basis of keeping its advanced theory and unique structure, therefore the crusher’s stability was raised and the usage cost was reduced greatly. Accordingly the inertia cone crusher in China has been widely used in many fields, such as mineral resources and the recycling of metallurgical slag. The achievement in cooperation was fully affirmed by governments of Russia and China, and cooperation of science and technology in the mining and metallurgy industry between Russia and China is promoted greatly. INTRODUCTION From the early 1950s, the former Mekhanobr Institite(now Mechanobr-Tekhnika Research & Engineering Corporation) devoted itself to the research of inertial cone crusher and put it into industrial application in the late 1980s. Inertial cone crusher is like a maverick flower in the field of crusher. With its excellent performance and excellent application effect, it shocks the world and is destined to shine with a bright future. In the early 1990s, the chief leaders of the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM), Academician Sun Chuan-yao and Professor Zheng Baochen, captured the extraordinary performance and strong vitality of inertial cone crusher with keen eyes. So the two big institutes started the cooperation to introduce inertial cone crusher to China. Since then, Inertia cone crusher has been able to flourish in China and have achieved impressive results with two institutes’ continuous effort."

Jan 1, 2018

By C. L. Lin

Previous research on particle damage during high pressure grinding roll (HPGR) crushing was limited by the resolution of point-projection micro CT systems and the extent of damage was described by the percent of particles cracked for different crushing methods as determined at a voxel resolution of 40 microns. With recent advances in X-ray optics, the resolution afforded with point-projection micro CT systems has been improved by at least an order of magnitude using a lens-based X-ray micro CT system. With the use of X-ray lens imaging the resolution is determined by the lens rather than by the spot size of the micro-focus X-ray source. The high resolution X-ray micro CT (HRXMT) system made by Xradia with a voxel resolution of less than 1 micron is now being used for the characterization of particle damage during HPGR crushing. In this way, the direct 3-D determination of the internal damage of crushed ore particles which vary from 40 mm down to 100 microns in size is being studied at a voxel resolution of a few microns. The number, size, and shape of cracks can now be measured at this improved resolution and for the first time the specific crack surface area distributions of the crushed product can be calculated from HRXMT images using specially designed software tools for 3D analysis. Results from selected crushing operations are presented. Copper ore particles from HPGR crushing at high pressure (6 N/mm2) are severely damaged having crack specific surface areas as great as 10 mm2/mm3. Keywords: HPGR, particle damage, X-ray micro tomography, crack surface area

Sep 1, 2012

By Skinner. W.

"Introducing cutting-edge development work, which aims to simplify mineral processing flow-sheets, reduce costs and address environmental issues. Over the past four years Innovative Mineral Processing Technologies Pty. Ltd (IMPTEC) Australia have developed a Super-fine Crusher and a Planar Magnetic Separator which offer low cost, wet or dry alternatives to conventional grinding and conventional magnetic separation. Each of these machines has been successfully trialed at pilot scale and are now in the process of transitioning to commercial scale. This paper reports on the progress made in each of these fields. The potential scope for application of super-fine crushing technology as an alternative to grinding is potentially expansive and could include beneficiation of metalliferous ores, precious metal ore processing, hydrometallurgical processing, industrial minerals and coal processing, plastic fillers and ceramics processing as well as processing of cementitious slags and fly-ash. IMPTEC have recently achieved outstanding results at pilot scale with a dry combination of super-fine crushing and planar magnetic separation, which offers an alternative to the wet processing of magnetic iron ores. The dry combination has set new laboratory performance benchmarks when compared with the industry standard wet Davis Tube Tester. The test results have also established a strong evidence base showing that super-fine crushing achieves liberation of value minerals at coarser sizes when compared with grinding. The dry combination of super-fine crushing and planar magnetic separation also addresses environmental issues and completely eliminates grinding. An IMPTEC super-fine crusher is currently undergoing commercial trials, generating ultra-fine products from granulated lead blast furnace slag for use as cement substitutes. The performance of the super-fine crusher on this extreme duty highlights the potential benefits of super-fine crushing over the wide range of industries and applications where conventional grinding is employed.INTRODUCTION Present day mineral processing practices can become anchored in convention, where, inefficient methodologies are recognized and accepted as “best practice” or “industry standard”. Motivated by this challenge, IMPTEC has undertaken the development of radically different and improved methodologies in the fields of fine comminution and magnetic separation. Whilst, crushing is much less energy intensive and generally less capital and maintenance intensive than grinding, the technology has stalled due to the lack of crushing devices, which have the capacity to adapt to fine and ultra-fine duties. Grinding practice advances have been achieved through major increases in machine size and power. However, these advances are also accompanied by major escalations in capital, operating and maintenance costs. The economics of this strategy has become increasingly questionable. A typical example is the viability of low-grade magnetite beneficiation, which can hinge largely on the cost of grinding to fine and ultra-fine liberation sizes."

Jan 1, 2018

The air recovery from a flotation cell is the fraction of inlet air which overflows the weir as un-broken bubbles. The air recovery is an important factor in froth phase phenomena; such as gangue entrainment and froth recovery. Increasing the air recovery, results in a higher recovery of attached mineral particles. Air recovery can be measured experimentally on plant using image processing of the top surface of an overflowing froth. The air recovery is directly linked to froth stability and the bursting rate of the bubbles at the froth surface, making it very difficult to predict. Experimental results show a very strong correlation between the superficial velocity of the inlet air and the superficial velocity of the air leaving the cell through the froth surface due to bursting, calculated from the experimentally measured air recovery. This correlation holds over multiple banks from different plants. Development of a power law equation around the inlet air velocity and the bubble solids loading on the froth surface allows the superficial air velocity through the top surface of the froth to be predicted, and from this the air recovery. This model is valid for use when operating beyond the peak in air recovery.

Jan 1, 2014

By C. S. Gundewar

About 90% of the barytes produced the world over is used for oil and gas drilling as weighting agent in drilling mud to control pressure, prevent blow out and provide lubrication. This is because of its unique properties like high specific gravity, water insolubility and intentness. India is one of the leading producers and exporters of barites. The Mangampeth Baryte deposit in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, India being the largest single deposit in the world having a reserves of about 80 million tonnes. Approximately 50% of the total reserves of grey barites of Mangampet deposit assays less than 92% BaSO4, the minimum stipulated grade for oil and gas drilling industries. To reach and recover the high grade barite, the overlying low grade has necessarily to be mined out and removed. At present this is being stacked separately at the mine site involving lot of labour and transport cost. Considerable barites is contained in the dumps adversely affecting the conservation and creating lot of environmental hazards. IBM being the premier organization in India in the field of conservation of minerals and environmental protection in mining has recognized the importance of adverse effect of these huge dumps at site. The Ore Dressing Division of IBM, Nagpur has characterized these dumps and developed the flotation process on a sample assaying 66% BaSO4 and 23.3% SiO2. The flotation concentrate obtained assayed 93.7% BaSO4, 2.38% SiO2 with BaSO4 recovery of 80% and meets the requirement of the oil industry. The flotation concentrate being non-wetable, can not be used as such as weighting agent, and hence the collector coating on the concentrate was removed either by acid treatment or heating to make it water wetable. The concentrate was 92% -325 mesh and having a specific gravity 4.3. The barites concentrates so produced meets the size, grade and specific gravity specifications required for use in oil drilling industry. Apart from the financial benefits the process augurs well for the commercial exploitation of these huge dumps in terms of (1) additional recovery of these valuable minerals and conservation, (2) reduction in dumps value, (3) improvement in environment and offering an excellent potential for export.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. P. Das

Tumbling mill is an important unit operation in a mineral processing industry whose operation needs to be understood to make it an energy efficient unit. One of the important mill parameters is the impact spectra generated by collision of the moving charge mass on the mill shell. This process also generates mechanical vibration on the mill shell and propagates to the plumber block of the mill. In this work, we tried to understand the impact spectra by using different minerals such as Banded Hematite Quartzite (BHQ), Hematite and Quartz as mill feed of a semi-autogenous (SAG) mill. The said mill is of 1000 mm diameter and fitted with a force sensor on the mill shell and a vibration sensor on the plumber block. The analysis of the impact spectra was done by taking into consideration the peak impact force above a certain threshold value. It clearly shows that the impact force decreases as the particle size become finer irrespective of the mill feed material. This can be used as an effective tool by the mill operators to have an understanding of the mill product size reduction. The mechanical vibration tapped by a tri-axial accelerometer was analyzed by power spectral density analysis. The vibration signal analysis shows the variation in the power spectrum magnitude both at lower and higher frequency. It also shows inconsistency in case of BHQ where it shows a significant decrease in vibration at lower frequency and increase in vibration at higher frequency. Therefore, the impact spectra analysis is a better method compared to vibration analysis in understanding the mill product size reduction.

Sep 1, 2012

By Y. Q. Qui

In the bauxite flotation process for desilication, the middling treatment mode is the important factor to raise the flotation recovery of the preparation concentrate. The middling treatment mode mainly depends on A/S and the size composition. However, similar ratio of A/S should not be the single factor of re-dressing, size composition plays an important role also. Re-dressing the middling mixed with the tailings of concentrated to the rough ground for desilication and the concentrate of scavenged to the fine ground for desilication to raise the recovery of 5.83%, when compared two flow sheet schemes.

Jan 1, 2014

By F. H. Wang

The Yinmao Lead-Zinc Mine Co. Ltd. has got 50 years of mining history. In recent years, the manganese grade in the flotation tailings has been continuously increasing. In order to make fuller use of the existing resources, as well as to increase the company?s economic efficiency, our company adopted the technique ?magnetic separation? and ?iron removal? to effectively recycle the manganese concentrate resources.

Jan 1, 2014

By Gülay Bulut, Mustafa Özer, Yunus Emre Benkli, Olgaç Kangal, Istanbul Technical University, Mustafa Tarkan

"Zeolites are naturally occurring as hydrated aluminosilicate minerals. They belong to the class of minerals known as “tectosilicates” and are related to the common minerals feldspar and quartz. Seven natural zeolites that occur in large, commercially exploitable deposits, are: clinoptilolite, chabazite, mordenite, phillipsite, erionite, analcite, and ferrierite. Among them, clinoptilolite is the most abundant one and is not the best known, but is one of the more useful natural zeolite. Clinoptilolite [(Na3K3) (Al6Si30O72) 24 H2O] is very closely related to heulandite and is currently being considered for disuse it self as it may just be a variety of heulandite. It differs from heulandite significantly only in its enrichment in potassium and slightly more silica and it is argued that a separate mineral is not needed.There are large zeolite deposits in western part of Turkey. The sample used in this study was taken from the Gördes region of these deposits. Screen, chemical, XRD and mineralogical analyses were used to determine properties of the natural zeolite sample used in this work.According to the size distribution of the sample, it is found that the zeolite sample used in this study is below 1 mm in size and almost 80% of it is below 0.5 mm. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and mineralogical analyses show that the natural zeolite is found to be in the forms of clinoptilolite and heulandite. Clinoptilolite forms as a devitrification product of volcanic glass in tuffs. Quartz, clay minerals, orthoclase, plagioclase, biotite, seruzite-muskovite and epidote were observed as impurities. XRD analysis also shows that the sample contains approximately 58-60% clinoptilolite, 5% quartz, 5% feldspar, 10% smectite, 5- 10% illite and mica and remaining volcanic tuffs. Several types of mineral processing methods were performed in order to remove impurities from the natural zeolite sample to produce high purity zeolite. Gravity separation methods such as shaking table and superpanner were carried out for separating heavy minerals, while high intensity dry magnetic separation was used for discarding magnetic minerals."

Jan 1, 2003

By P. Raghavan1

Reverse froth flotation experiments were carried out in the laboratory using two different types of kaolins for the separation and removal of coloring titanoferrous impurities from cryo-filtered clay after subjecting to high shear pre-treatment. This high shear pre-treatment consists of high shear agitation of a high solids clay slurry with the dispersant (high shear dispersion, HSD) followed by high shear agitation with the collector (high shear conditioning, HSC). After this pretreatment, the slurry is diluted and reverse flotation is carried out. One sample is from, Gujarat, India (Mamuara clay, ?MC?) while the 2nd sample is from Amberg, Germany (AKW clay, ?AC?). While MC consisted of 89% particles below 2µm and analyzed 1.06% of TiO2 and 0.29% Fe2O3 and measured a brightness of 83.4 %ISO, the corresponding values for AC are 67% below 2µm, 0.3% of TiO2? 0.49% Fe2O3 and 83.4 %ISO. The flotation performance is found to be greatly influenced by the conditions of high shear treatment. Important variables are HSD intensity (rpm), HSD time, HSC intensity (rpm), HSC time, HSD/HSC time ratio, ?HSD+HSC? total time etc. Higher shear intensities favor both the impurity liberation and collection. For both clays, it could be shown that impurity removal increases as total pretreatment time (?HSD +HSC? total time) increases up to a certain limit. For MC, the HSD time was only half or less than that of HSC time, while for AC, HSD time is at least twice (or more) than HSC time which is just an opposite manifestation. This is believed to be due to the striking differences between these two clays. Most importantly, the shear frequency is found more influential than the shear rate for the overall flotation performance for both clays. Interestingly, at high shear frequencies, i.e., when a stirrer with more number of teeth on the rotor is used, the ?HSD+HSC? total time is greatly reduced. Again, increased shear frequency helps to reduce flotation time and significantly improves flotation performance. At optimum conditions, product titania reduced to 0.35% for MC whereas the same reduced to 0.13% for AC. The product of flotation of MC measured 85%ISO brightness while that of AC measured84.6%ISO thus enhancing the value of the final product. It could also be established that the high shear pre-treatment shows better flotation performance than that due to collector dosage. Keywords: high shear dispersion, high shear conditioning, titanoferrous impurities, shear rate, shear frequency, brightness, clay recovery, Mamuara clay, AKW clay

Sep 1, 2012

By D. Moradkhani

The heap leaching of oxide copper ores with copper cathode recovery by solvent extraction and electrowinning is now well established as a low-cost method of copper recovery. The main purpose of this study was to extract copper from the copper low-grade oxide ore of Chodarchaei mine using column leaching. The copper oxide ore contained 1.1% Cu and 1.75% Fe. The mineralogical analysis indicated the malachite (Cu2(OH)2CO3) was mainly composed of oxidized phases. The sulfuric acid leaching experiments were performed under the laboratory conditions. The influence of several parameters on the course of the reaction such as particle size, acid concentration, flow rate, and time was examined. The optimum collective extraction of copper and iron was obtained at a particle size of +10-15 mm for a leaching duration of 3 days with sulfuric acid concentration of 100 gpl and using a flow rate of 2.5 cc/min. Under these conditions, the recovery of copper and iron were 98.54% and 41.99%, respectively. Keywords: column leaching, copper, iron, working diagram.

Sep 1, 2012

By N. Karapinar

Ferrihydrite, a member of iron oxides family, has been used as an adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater. The success of the operation depends mainly on the efficient removal of ferrihydrite from the aqueous phase. Hence, the emphasis of this study was given on the separation of ferrihydrite by high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) method to overcome solid-liquid separation difficulties of ferrihydrite. Magnetic seeding technique in which the magnetite mineral was chosen as a seeding reagent was used to make magnetic separation available. The method clearly involves the attachment of ferrihydrite to a magnetic seed material and subsequent magnetic separation of ferrihydrite ? magnetite coagulates. Seeding of ferrihydrite with magnetic particles was achieved by exceeding the solubility limit of the ions in the presence of dispersed magnetite. Magnetic separation results of seeded ferrihydrite showed that maximum seeding performance is obtained in the pH range of 7.0~10.0. Iron/magnetite ratio had a marked effect on the separation of seeded iron oxide precipitate by HGMS. This ratio determines the operation parameters such as magnetic field strength and flow rate. It was concluded that when used with magnetic seeding technique, HGMS can be used to surpass separation difficulties of ferrihydrite used in adsorption-based treatment techniques.

Jan 1, 2014

By Atul Kumar Bhatnagar

TATA STEEL is the pioneer in coal beneficiation in India. The first coal beneficiation plant was set up in 1951 at West Bokaro and subsequently in 1953 in Jharia. Over the years more beneficiation capacity was added by setting up new coal washeries in both West Bokaro and Jharia, the coal divisions of Tata Steel. currently the beneficiation capacity available is 8.5 mtp aappx Being a captive supplier supplying the coking coal as per demands of our steel works is challenging in the sense that the intent is to leverage the captive raw material advantage and select the best strategy for maximizing value up to steel making. The beneficiation plants were designed to produce clean coal up to 17% ash. With the demand of increasing productivity at the blast furnace the clean coal ash was lowered. subsequently the processes were audited and efficiency improved. The next challenge was to improve the throughputs in the existing plants to maximize the clean coal production. The upgradation was designed in house and implemented to upgrade the plant from nameplate capacity of 2.1 mtpa to 4.5 mtpa while the yearly production targets were also achieved. The presentation will detail the different phases of improvements, process followed, challenges faced, and the results as achieved in the process. Keywords: coal beneficiation, India, coal washeries, beneficiation plants XXVI INTERNATIONAL

Sep 1, 2012

By I. A. Makalin, V. N. Yakovlev, S. V. Imangulov, I. V. Zyryanov

"The presented studies aimed at solving the problem of recovery of low-luminescent diamonds, which are not recovered using X-ray luminescence method of processing of diamond-bearing ore. The purpose of the studies is the determination of possibility and feasibility of recovery of such crystals using dual-energy X-ray transmission separation technology. In preparation for studies methods were developed for testing technical and process parameters of XRT-400 Aliud GmbH (Germany) sorter, manufactured according to design specifications of Yakutniproalmaz Institute, and XRT/D TOMRA Sorting Solutions GmbH (Germany) sorter, designed for processing of -50+5 mm ore, as well as RGS-1M, RGS-2 X-ray sorters, developed by JSC NPP Bourevestnik (St. Petersburg) in cooperation with Yakutniproalmaz Institute, for material size of -6+3 mm. In 2018, in-process tests of RGS-OD-3 X-ray sorter prototype on material size of -3+1 mm are scheduled. Studies to determine the content of low-luminescent diamonds and feasibility of their recovery using XRT-400 and XRT/D sorters at the Processing Plant #3 of Mirny Mining and Processing Division (MPD) were carried out. The results of the studies confirmed presence of such diamonds and possibility of their recovery using the dual-energy X-ray transmission method. In-process tests of RGS-2 X-ray graphic sorter were carried out at the Processing Plant #16 of Nyurba MPD. According to the results of sampling of RGS-2 sorter separation products, the recovery of -6+3 mm sized diamonds from tailings of X-ray luminescence sorters was achieved at the level of 96%, while the diamonds recovery was 98.5% in value terms, the concentrate yield was 0.1%. In-process tests of RGS-1M sorters at final recovery of the grease separation concentrate at the Processing Plant #3 of Mirny Division were carried out. Recovery of low-luminescent -6+2 mm sized diamonds by RGS-1M sorter amounted to 92.4% for single operation, and with the double control operation reached 99%. As a result, -6+2 mm sized base product recovery increased by 0.2%."

Jan 1, 2018

By H. Breuer

Mineral processing is characterized by a constant adaptation to changing raw materials and market conditions. It is the link between the mined raw material and a marketable product. As a lot of high grade reserves are exploited, a steady deterioration of raw material quality can be observed. At the same time, the customers´ requirements for product purity and consistent quality increase. Indian iron ores are characteristically friable in nature that results in generation of sizeable quantity of fines (0-10mm) every year during various stages of mining and processing in the country with grade varying from 50-60% Fe(T) and are high in silica/alumina (Al2O3 5-8%). The fines generated cannot be directly used for iron making (blast furnace/DRI units) in the country due its physical and chemical properties; therefore, large portion of it gets exported or dumped. Value addition to iron ore fines through various activities such as beneficiation & palletization is the need of the hour, which will not only be economically beneficial to the mining sector in the long run but also generate value addition & employment opportunities. Incentives may be given for adopting latest technologies for direct use of fines in iron making by agglomeration of fines in the form of Pellets and Sinters, as fines forms considerable part of iron ore resources. Due to selective mining, although the iron content of the ore is high but the alumina(Al2O3) content in iron ore is also significantly high which demands for beneficiation as high alumina will create problem during iron making like higher fuel consumption, poor quality of slag produced, reduced productivity of B.F. all mineral has been engaged in hematite iron ore beneficiation with its gravity and magnetic separators since the mid-nineties. The delivery of jigs started for the upgrading of iron ore for its utilization in a Direct Reduction Plant in Australia. Since then, various other installations with jigs for lumps and fines as well as upstream separators for fines are in operation in Brazil, Australia, India and South Africa. Low grade run of mine and/or dump ores are being processed with alljig®-, allflux®- and gaustec®-WHIMS as the core equipment. The article describes the technology in use, the characteristics of various iron ores and the product qualities achieved. The data presented shows the specific advantages of jig application on iron ore upgrading due to the possible high gravity cuts and the easy and low cost operation. The allflux®- technology provides the big advantage of high capacities and a two-step process, both in a single unit. The gaustec®-wet high intensity magnetic separators offer high capacity in combination with unsurpassed process flexibility. Keywords: iron ore, gravity separation, jig, upstream classifier, wet high intensity magnetic separation (whims), pelletization, sinteringMineral processing is characterized by a constant adaptation to changing raw materials and market conditions. It is the link between the mined raw material and a marketable product. As a lot of high grade reserves are exploited, a steady deterioration of raw material quality can be observed. At the same time, the customers´ requirements for product purity and consistent quality increase. Indian iron ores are characteristically friable in nature that results in generation of sizeable quantity of fines (0-10mm) every year during various stages of mining and processing in the country with grade varying from 50-60% Fe(T) and are high in silica/alumina (Al2O3 5-8%). The fines generated cannot be directly used for iron making (blast furnace/DRI units) in the country due its physical and chemical properties; therefore, large portion of it gets exported or dumped. Value addition to iron ore fines through various activities such as beneficiation & palletization is the need of the hour, which will not only be economically beneficial to the mining sector in the long run but also generate value addition & employment opportunities. Incentives may be given for adopting latest technologies for direct use of fines in iron making by agglomeration of fines in the form of Pellets and Sinters, as fines forms considerable part of iron ore resources. Due to selective mining, although the iron content of the ore is high but the alumina(Al2O3) content in iron ore is also significantly high which demands for beneficiation as high alumina will create problem during iron making like higher fuel consumption, poor quality of slag produced, reduced productivity of B.F. all mineral has been engaged in hematite iron ore beneficiation with its gravity and magnetic separators since the mid-nineties. The delivery of jigs started for the upgrading of iron ore for its utilization in a Direct Reduction Plant in Australia. Since then, various other installations with jigs for lumps and fines as well as upstream separators for fines are in operation in Brazil, Australia, India and South Africa. Low grade run of mine and/or dump ores are being processed with alljig®-, allflux®- and gaustec®-WHIMS as the core equipment. The article describes the technology in use, the characteristics of various iron ores and the product qualities achieved. The data presented shows the specific advantages of jig application on iron ore upgrading due to the possible high gravity cuts and the easy and low cost operation. The allflux®- technology provides the big advantage of high capacities and a two-step process, both in a single unit. The gaustec®-wet high intensity magnetic separators offer high capacity in combination with unsurpassed process flexibility. Keywords: iron ore, gravity separation, jig, upstream classifier, wet high intensity magnetic separation (whims), pelletization, sintering

Sep 1, 2012

By Luis Bergh, Francisco Díaz, Isabel Panire, Juan Yianatos, Luis Vinnett

"In this paper, industrial data of residence time distribution (RTD) in mechanical flotation cells is presented, which were measured in several plants using the radioactive tracer technique. Results include mechanical flotation cells of 100 - 300 m3, which were operated with effective residence times from 2 to 7 min. Tests were developed in forced air and self-aerated cells for liquid and solids (non-floatable) per size classes. Different RTD model structures including perfect mixer, Large and Small Tanks in Series (LSTS) and by-pass flow plus perfect mixer were evaluated and compared for single cells. The actual mixing regime was related to the effective residence times and cell designs based on the model fitting. By-pass flow percentages were typically lower than 10%, therefore the perfect mixer model plus a dead time was a suitable model structure in most cases. On the other hand, the arrangement of cells in series was effective in reducing the bypass flow observed in single cells (by-pass flow percentage greater than 5%). In addition, the N perfectly mixed reactor in series model was used to represent the mixing regime along flotation banks, which were operated with mean residence times in the range of 18 - 53 min. Results showed that N tanks in series plus dead time were closer to the actual values in most cases."

Jan 1, 2014