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By Shuoshi Lu

The Cu-Co ore studied here belongs to the oxide type. The oxidation rates of copper and cobalt are69.30% and 78.78%, respectively. The content of Cu in ROM is 1.34% and that of Co is 0.096%. The ore contains 4.64% carbon.Based on the process mineralogy and previous metallurgy tests, the principalprocess flow-sheet of ?grinding fines 80% -0.074mm, sulphide flotation followed by oxide flotation, and flash flotation for oxides? has been determined.The handling of carbon is determined through tests. The depressant PNL-1 depressed carbon effectively, improved the recovery of sulphide minerals and reduced the reagents consumption.The operation of the flow-sheet was also changed to better at the same time. Keywords: Cu-Co oxide ore, process mineralogy, carbon depression, efficient depressant of carbon

Sep 1, 2012

By A. A. Sirkeci

In the scope of this investigation comparison between impact breakage and compression breakage were carried out for the separation efficiency of minerals using a chromite ore sample. The ore sample was broken below 1 mm employing a laboratory type roll crusher and an impact crusher. Concentration tests were conducted on -1+0.5 mm, -0.5+0.2 mm and -0.2 mm size fractions using a Wilfley type shaking table. Test results showed a remarkable difference between two types of breakage. Both concentrate grade and recovery was in the favour of impact crushing. Furthermore, the shape of the broken particles also showed differences such that in the case of impact breakage they were more spherical compared to compressive crushing. The results of the shaking table con-centration tests showed that a concentrate assaying 48.4% Cr2O3 were obtained with 78.5% recovery in the case of impact breakage. On the other hand the concentrate grade and recovery values were 48.8% Cr2O3and 52.4% respectively in the case of compression crushing. The losses in the tailings were also in favour of impact breakage proving that differential breakage occurred between chromite and gangue minerals.

Jan 1, 2014

By N. S. Voiloshnikova

Large-scale continuous ?Resin-In-Pulp? process tests were conducted at Irgiredmet. The object for testing was the sample of oxidized gold ore from one of Siberian deposit. Weak-base ion ex-change resin PuroGold was used as adsorbent. The duration of ?Resin-In-Pulp? tests was sufficient for a completing of three cycles ?Adsorption/Elution?. Gold in feed was 0.95 mg/L. Gold in solid phase of adsorption tails? 0.065 g/t. Gold in liquid phase of adsorption tails? 0.026 mg/L. Total gold in adsorption tails ?0.11 g/t. Gold recovery ?94.3 %. The use of regenerated resin had practically no effect on gold losses with adsorption tails. Alkaline cyanide solution (NaCN-20g/L, NaOH- 5g/L) was used as eluent for gold elution from loaded resin. Elution temperature ?60 °C. Number of eluent bed volumes passed ?10. Loaded resin analysis was following (g/ton): Au? 1700~1250; Ag? 400~460; Cu? 250~450; Zn? 5100~9600; Fe? 860~1200. Elution efficiency: Au? 95.3%~97.8%; Ag? 84.0%~88.0%; Cu? 84.0%~88.0%; Zn? 97.0%~99.0%. Although high zinc resin loading was shown zinc was eluted efficiently. The adsorption properties of fresh PuroGold resin, PuroGold resin after 3 cycle ?Adsorp-tion-Elution?cycles in comparison with AM-2B resin were tested. It was shown from adsorption isotherms that selectivity of PuroGold resin slightly less in comparison with AM-2B resin mainly due to its higher zinc adsorption properties. It was founded on base of test results that adsorption properties of PuroGold resin was practically constant during three ?Adsorption/Elution? cycles. Gold may be efficiently recovered by resin tested. There were no difficulties during gold elution from loaded resin and its regeneration. PuroGold resin was recommended for industrial use in RIP process. Process design criteria were developed and plant design is on progress at the moment.

Jan 1, 2014

By Sepideh Javanshir

The process of liquid?liquid extraction of gold from chloride solution is complicated by the presence of many variables acting simultaneously in an unknown non-linear fashion for the determination of the final extraction efficiency. In practice, it is quite difficult to develop a model for predicting various properties of such process. Therefore, an alternative approach based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is considered to assist in the simulation process. Artificial neural networks (ANN) are powerful tools that can be used to model and investigate various highly complex and non-linear phenomena. This paper presents application of Multi-Layer Perceptions (MLP) to construct relationship that will be employed to develop a quantitative method for the estimation of the extraction efficiency as a function of hydrodynamical parameters such as stirrer speed, [AuCl4]- and DBC concentration, organic and aqueous flow rate. The model is shown to be in excellent agreement with the experimental data (R2 value for training and testing data was 0.9992 and 0.9915 respectively). Therefore, it can be used to optimize the parameters of liquid?liquid gold extraction with dibutyl carbitol (DBC).

Sep 1, 2012

By P. Han

The preparation technological conditions and regeneration method of two novel granulated adsorbing materials of rectorite/fly ash composite (Material 1) and rectorite/water quenched - slag composite (Material 2) and the use of them to remove heavy metals from copper smelting plant wastewater have been studied. The experimental results showed that under the preparation conditions with the ratio of rectorite to fly ash or water - quenched slag of 1:1, the amount of the additive (Industrial Starch, IS) of 15% (Material 1) or 10% (Material 2), the addition of 50% water, and the calcination temperature of 500? (Material 1) or 400? (Material 2), the efficiency of heavy metal removal with the granulated materials was the best, whereas the ratio of disintegration loss was the lowest. Under the treatment conditions of natural pH, and with the addition of the granulated materials of 0.07g/cm3 (Material 1) or 0.05g/cm3 (Material 2), a reaction time of 60 minutes (Material 1) or 40 minutes (Material 2), and the adsorption temperature of 25?, the efficiency for the granulated materials to remove Cu2+Pb2+Zn2+Cd2+ and Ni2+ from the copper smelting plant wastewater was 98.9, 97.5, 96.7, 90.2, and 79.1, (Material 1) or 98.2, 96.3, 78.6, 86.2, and 64.2, (Material 2), respectively, and the quality indexes of the wastewater after treatment conformed with the first level of integrated wastewater discharge standard (GB8978-1996). When the adsorption of heavy metal ions on the surface attained saturation the granulated materials could be regenerated by washing with 1 mol/L sodium chloride (NaCl) solution and still with quite good heavy metal removal efficiency. The granulated adsorbing materials had the advantages of high efficiency of wastewater treatment, easy method of solid-liquid separation and regeneration, and a broad prospect of applications.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. Langwaldt

Ammonium-nitrate is a main component in blasting agents and dissolved ammonium residues may be discharged with mine water. The European Union aims to reach a good state of the water quality and recommends ammonium content below 0.5 mg/L for drinking water. Natural zeolites adsorb ammonium from water. In this work, the removal of low-concentration ammonium by commercial natural zeolites was studied in continuous tests. Natural zeolites made up between 83% and 95% of the mineral composition. The major zeolite minerals were chabazite and clinoptiolites and minor amounts of erionite and mordenite were as well present. The five natural zeolite samples, 500~710 µm, were conditioned to obtain zeolites in the Na-form. Ammonium adsorption onto natural zeolites depends mainly on the zeolite mineral type. The chabazite containing zeolite was superior over the four clinoptiolite samples for the removal of low concentrations of ammonium from water (pH of 7.5, flow 5 mL/min, room temperature). The adsorption capacity of chabazite was 48.3 mg NH4+/g zeolites, i.e. 73% of the theoretical exchange capacity 69 mg NH4+/g, during duration over 107 days and almost 6700 bed volumes exchanged. The four tested clinoptiolites had an ad-sorption capacity of 15.7mg to 25.0 mg NH4+/g zeolites. The natural zeolites were rapidly regenerated by an alkaline sodium chloride solution fed to the columns.

Jan 1, 2014

The flotation efficiency of magnetic concentrate of the Anhui hematite ore, which includes a great quantity of iron-bearing silicates, has been studied through reverse flotation test with a new type of collector Fly-102. The results indicate that collector Fly-102 has a strong adaptability to the variation of temperature, when the flotation temperature is in the range of 10? to 35?, using collector Fly-102 can obtain good flotation indexes. Collector Fly-102 has a strong adaptability to the variation of the slime contents and grades of the flotation samples. When the content of slime and the grade of the flotation feeds are 30% and 55.63% respectively, under the condition that the temperature is 15?, the open circuit flotation test was carried out with collector Fly-102. After one-stage roughing, one-stage cleaning and two-stage scavenging, a better result is got, the grade of iron concentrate reaches 67.12%, and the recovery of iron concentrate comes up to 84.15%.

Sep 1, 2012

By David Dreisinger

"The leaching of base and precious metal ores and concentrates continues to progress in both laboratory study and industrial application. These developments are being driven by the need to respond to difficult ores and concentrates that are not amenable to conventional treatment. In many cases alternatives are being developed to conventional treatment (e.g. Pyrometallurgy) for technical and economic reasons.In this paper, a brief general review of some new developments in leaching will be followed by a more detailed explanation of three process developments that have either been industrially applied or are expected to be applied in a short time frame. The three processes to be reviewed in detail are the Mt. Gordon Copper Process, the Anglo American Corporation/University of British Columbia Copper Process and the PLATSOL Process. These leaching processes operate at low (90°C), medium (150°C) and high (220°C) temperature and are successful in quickly and completely extracting metal values from ores and concentrates."

Jan 1, 2003

By David Dreisinger

"The leaching of base and precious metal ores and concentrates continues to progress in both laboratory study and industrial application. These developments are being driven by the need to respond to difficult ores and concentrates that are not amenable to conventional treatment. In many cases alternatives are being developed to conventional treatment (e.g. Pyrometallurgy) for technical and economic reasons.In this paper, a brief general review of some new developments in leaching will be followed by a more detailed explanation of three process developments that have either been industrially applied or are expected to be applied in a short time frame. The three processes to be reviewed in detail are the Mt. Gordon Copper Process, the Anglo American Corporation/University of British Columbia Copper Process and the PLATSOL Process. These leaching processes operate at low (90°C), medium (150°C) and high (220°C) temperature and are successful in quickly and completely extracting metal values from ores and concentrates.INTRODUCTIONThe process of leaching is widely used in hydrometallurgy to selectively recover a metal of interest from an ore or a concentrate. Leaching and by extension hydrometallurgy is well established in the recovery of copper (copper heap leach ? SX-EW), nickel (Moa Bay and Caron process), zinc (roast ? leach ? electrowin and zinc pressure leach), gold (cyanidation) and uranium (acid sulfate leach). Of course this success extends to many of the metals found in nature. Recently, the importance of hydrometallurgy appears to be increasing with hydrometallurgy viewed as an attractive alternative to both traditional mineral processing and conventional smelting/converting/refining. This increasing interest has led to intensive study and increasing application. Selected developments include:Copper ? the Mt. Gordon process and new concentrate processes such as INTEC, Activox, CESL, Dynatec, Total Pressure Oxidation, MIM Albion, BioCop, and the AAC/UBC Process.Nickel ? Voisey Bay process for hydrometallurgical treatment of Voisey Bay concentrate, HPAL processing of laterites at Murrin Murrin, Bulong and Cawse, atmospheric leaching of laterites, heap bioleaching of nickel sulfides by Titan Resources (Australia).Zinc ? establishment of zinc leach, solvent extraction and electrowinning technology for treatment of the Skorpion deposit in Namibia, new developments in atmospheric and pressure leaching, the Hydrozinc process.Gold ? development of a number of thiosulfate leaching processes for recovery of gold from refractory carbonaceous ores or concentrates."

Jan 1, 2003

By Ricardo Montero

At this time, over 300 tons of Au are used in electronic equipment each year with other precious and strategic metals such as Ag, Pt, Pd, Cu, Nb, Ta, etc. After the use-phase, the electronic devices become electronic waste (e-waste); consequently it is important to consider e-waste as a secondary supply for recovery of these metals. One of the most important components is the printed circuit boards (PCBs) because the amount of their precious metals is ten times higher than rich precious metals bearing ore. This paper presents the recovery of Au, Ag, Cu and Nb from PCBs of discarded computers using leaching column technique. The amount of these metals in used PCBs was: 613 g/ton of Au, 1515 g/ton of Ag, 36 g/ton of Nb and 23.4 % of Cu. The PCBs were crushed with a hammer mill until reaching a particle size between 3.33 mm to 0.43 mm. Then, it was leached with sodium cyanide solution in a glass column using the following conditions: sodium cyanide concentration 4 g/L, flux 20 L/kg PCBs day, pH between 10.5 to 11 and leaching time 15 days. Every day, after leaching, the pregnant solutions passed through a column with activated carbon to complete the closed loop system. The following recoveries were obtained: 46.6% of Au, 51.3% of Ag, 47.2% of Nb and 62.3 % of Cu. The products obtained are: a) loaded carbon that contains the desired metals and b) processed PCBs with precious metal contents. A preliminary technical-economic study shows the feasibility to create a small-scale PCBs recycling plant. The initial investment is on the order of US$ 155 639, considering the recovered metals from loaded carbon. The internal rate of return for 10 years period (IRR) and net present value (NPV) estimated are 27% and US$ 105 926 respectively. Keywords: printed circuit boards, recovery, precious metals, niobium, leaching column

Sep 1, 2012

By Ruiyang Zhang, Ping Fang, Dezhou Wei, Shuling Gao

A CFD based numerical simulation of flow characteristics of hydrocyclone was conducted with different structural and operational parameters to investigate its distribution characteristics and influencing mechanism. The results show there exist several unsymmetrical envelopes of equal vertical velocities among both upward inner flows and downward outer flows in the hydrocyclone, and cone angle and apex diameter have remarkable influence on the vertical location of the cone bottom of the envelop of zero vertical velocity. It is also found that some tangential velocity isolines exist in the horizontal planes located in the effective separation region of hydrocyclone, and feed pressure has almost no effect on the distribution characteristics of both vertical velocity and tangential velocity of flow in hydrocyclone, however the magnitude and gradient of tangential velocity are made increased obviously, so as to make the high density particles motion velocity to the wall increased and to make the cyclonic separation effect improved. The simulation results also show when the apex diameter increased, the pressure of the fluid field decreased, however the pressure grads in the apex district increased, and the degree of changing is different as the cone angle, which showed some interactive influence of cone angle and apex diameter on the fluid field of hydrocyclone. While the feed pressure also has almost no effect on the pressure distribution characteristics, however the its magnitude and gradient are made increased accordingly, which can improve the separation accuracy according to particle density.

Jan 1, 2014

By N. P. Haran

A detailed study was undertaken to beneficiate sub-grade iron ore sample from Kenojhar District, Orissa, India containing 57% Fe (T), 7.7% SiO2, 4.8% Al2O3, 4 % L.O.I. 0.4% TiO2,1.3 % Mn and traces of S(T) to make it suitable for the user industry. The mineralogical study indicated that it predominantly consists of haematite with subordinate amounts of goethite and clay. Quartz, Cryptomelane / Psilomelane, Pyrolusite, Gibbsite, Feldspar and Muscovite mica were present in very minor to trace amounts. The Denver grind ability tests indicated, that the sample could be categorized as ?medium soft to medium.? The Bond ball mill work index was determined to be 14.19 kwh per short ton. The beneficiation process involved classification followed by tabling of the classified sand, ground to minus 48 mesh size. The table slimes were subjected to Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS). The developed process yielded a composite concentrate from tabling and WHIMS operations assaying 65% Fe(T), 2% SiO2, 1.8% Al2O3, 2% Mn and 0.9% LOI with a recovery of 60.1% Fe (T), amounting to 52.5 wt.% yield. To meet the size specifications for pellet making, it was further ground. Dewatering studies were also carried out on the ground combined concentrate and rejects. The thickener area of ground combined concentrate using 0.02 kg/t of Sufloc A 1115 flocculant was 0.02 m2/tonne of dry solids per 24 h. And for the combined rejects using 0.12 kg/t of flocculant, it was 0.035 m2/tonne of dry solids per 24 h. The moisture content, in the pressure filtration cake, in the ground combined concentrate product was 10.0%, and productivity was 506.7 kg/m2h. Thus, by thickening and filtration of process products, 90% of water used in the process could be recovered. The study highlights the development of a simple and cost effective flowsheet with almost complete water recovery for a subgrade iron ore sample. Keywords: tabling, WHIMS, thickener, filtration

Sep 1, 2012

By Manochehr Oliazadeh

"Water shortage becomes a major challenge in mining industry. The best example is Chile where the Chilean authorities declared a state of emergency in 2012. Depletion of high grade ore-bodies necessitates the use of low grade ores. If the demand for metals remains constant, more low-grade ores need to be mined to produce the same tonnages of metals. This increases the water demand in mining industry. Mining industry competes with other industries such as agriculture and manufacturing. Agriculture and manufacturing consume 1500 and 2300 billion m3 water respectively. The global use is 4500 billion m3 while the mining uses 80 billion m3 of water per annum.To tackle the water challenges in mining industry and also avoid competing with other users for fresh water, many efforts have been made, including using lower quality waters to reduce the fresh water consumption in ore processing. Saline water or hyper saline water from seas or the ground is accessible; however the cost of desalination is remarkable. Desalination plants and associated pipelines and pumps capital cost can easily exceed $ 500 million. Saline water will certainly increase the operating costs due to high wear rate of mechanical equipment but at current situation of mining industry spending all this money upfront does not look attractive. Desalination leaves salt on land at mine site which may create environmental issues.Dry processing can be a solution for water shortage in mineral processing. Wet processes dispose tailings on land with little or no agricultural productivity. It also may contaminate surface and ground water and generate dust. This paper reviews the water consumption by various mineral commodities, discuss briefly about recent of application of salt water in mineral processes and finally discuss about dry processes as alternative solution for water shortage in mining industry."

Jan 1, 2014

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 X. Q. Cao

As the second largest phosphate resource in the world, Chinese phosphate ores generally grades with low of P2O5. The presentation of beneficiation test on the low grade of phosphate rock in this paper may be used for a reference for development and utilization of the similar reserves. The ore is a marine sedimentary phosphate rock containing low grade of P2O5 and high content of MgO and R2O3; The banded structure shows its suitability for heavy medium separation. The laboratory heavy liquid testing results indicate that as specific gravity of the heavy liquid is 2.85 g/cm3, a rougher concentrate assaying 28.71% P2O5 could be obtained while the rougher tailings contain only 4.47% P2O5. When the combined process with heavy liquid separation followed by direct & re-verse flotation is employed to treat the feed containing 21.15% P2O5, 3.79% MgO, 1.86% Fe2O3, 3.66% Al2O3, 23.75% A.I, and specific gravity of heavy liquid is 2.84 g/cm3, the optimum mesh of grind is 67.5% minus 200 mesh, a phosphate concentrate contained 32.51% P2O5, 0.48% MgO, 0.81% Fe2O3, 1.69% Al2O3 can be produced at a yield of 55.24%. The concentrate P2O5 recovery is 85% with which quality comply with the Class A specifications for production of phosphate fertilizer.

Jan 1, 2014

By H. R. Zhang

In this paper two optional production processes are presented for reasonable utilization of primary sylvinite in Qinghai province, China. The two kinds of products as chlorine-free potash fertilizers; potassium sulphate or potassium magnesium sulphate can be obtained. In the course of potassium sulphate production, using primary sylvinite from Qinghai salt lake as raw material with impurities such as sodium chloride and insoluble in primary sylvinite, it must be prepared by flotation before being converted into potassium sulphate. This final product has found wide use in tobacco industry in China. However, in some cases Chinese farmers would rather buy the fertilizer of potassium magnesium sulphate than high quality of potassium sulphate. With flotation process which is a little different from above mentioned, the potassium magnesium sulphate fertilizer may be produced by washing one of the flotation concentrate presented as picromerite, while another concentrate containing potassium chloride is treated as by-product.

Jan 1, 2014

By L. Burdukova

"In flotation, depressants are used to reduce the amount of gangue that reports to the concentrate and hence increase the selectivity of the flotation process. At the University of Cape Town extensive batch flotation tests are carried out to evaluate industrial depressants and standard procedures have been developed over the years.This study was conducted in order to develop an improved method for comparing depressants using machine vision as an aid. The modified method of batch flotation involved a test with prolonged intervals between scraping to allow more time for the froth to build up and mature.This method of testing showed increased differences between the flotation performance obtained as represented by grade recovery curves for carboxymethyl cellulose and guar depressants when compared to the standard method of testing with shorter scraping intervals. The improvement was attributed to reduced entrainment resulting from longer drainage time in the froth and therefore yielded a better test for comparing depressants on the basis of true gangue flotation with minimized entrainment. As expected, the sulphide recoveries were unaffected by the change in method. The machine vision system also added to the information obtained during these tests by recording bubble size trends throughout the tests which were later analyzed and related to the amount of flotable gangue in the froth. Modifications are recommended to improve the usefulness of machine vision in batch flotation."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. Gülmez

The complex ore deposit containing fluorite, barite and bastnaesite minerals is located in Beylikova Region of Sivrihisar town of Eskisehir Province of Turkey. The ore contains 40.80% CaF2; 35.35% BaSO4; 2.01%Ce; 1.5% La; 0.39% Nd and 0.1% Th. Barite recovery from this ore by flotation of the HCl leached tailings is presented in this paper. Rare earths are recovered by leaching. The leached residue (tailings) containing fluorite and barite is subjected to froth flotation to recover barite. The effect of pH and collector concentration on the flotation of barite have been studied in this work.

Sep 1, 2012

By T. S. Qiu

In view of the bad effect that Na-bentonite direct adsorb Pb2+-containing wastewater, this article has carried out two kinds modification treatment on Na-bentonite: the direct microwave radiation modification and microwave radiation organic modification by adding quaternary ammonium salt?cetyltrimethylammonium bromide,and analysis the main influencing factors of the modification effect. In static conditions, preparing Pb2+-containing wastewater as the research object, it has respectively studied the effects of Na-bentonite, microwave soil of direct microwave modification and microwave soil of organic modification on the process of adsorption Pb2+, and discusses the effects of pH value, temperature, adsorbent dosage, stirring time on the adsorption Pb2+ in wastewater by modified bentonite, at the same time it does a verification test to the practical Pb2+-containing wastewater. Comparison the effects of adsorption Pb2+ in wastewater, the results show that organic modified microwave bentonite is obviously better than direct microwave modified bentonite and Na-bentonite, and can make 6 mg/L Pb2+-containing wastewater meet the national discharge standards. Through scanning electron microscope, the result of test is that organic modified microwave bentonite is the cause of improving adsorption Pb2+ in wastewater. Preparing modified bentonite by microwave heating will not only shorten the response time, reduce energy consumption and work-load, but also modified effect is good.

Jan 1, 2014

By Y. H. Tang

For its surface features, micro-sized hematite is usually difficult to recover by magnetic separation; especially, the existing high gradient magnetic separator in industry can not utilize collecting matrix with thin silky rods for its property of being easily blocked; the lower size limit for recovery of micro-sized weak magnetic minerals is about 0.019mm, some even is 0.037mm. This paper introduces the application of the combined new technique of water-air joint discharging of concentrate and collecting matrix with different diameter silky rods in the field of recovery of micro-sized hematite by high gradient magnetic separator. The commercial test result for recovery of a certain hematite with size about ?0.037mm shows that the recovery can be promoted by 16.81% with basically same concentrate grade.

Jan 1, 2014